See the dharma in every experience. All sentient beings possess the buddha-nature, the tatagathagarba, and the cause of buddhahood. We must consider them with warmth and a kind heart. We progress on the path and cultivate loving-kindness, patience and compassion as we learn to see other beings as pure. These qualities provide us with the […]
There is a specific practice that can be done to help overpower the feeling of self-importance. First, inhale all the obstacles, difficulties, and adversities with your breath. Let them hit your feeling of self-importance like cannonballs until it crumbles like dust. Then enjoy the freedom and lightness of being liberated from the prison of ego-clinging. […]
Dedicate whatever happiness you enjoy to all sentient beings, wishing that whatever you have gained from your own virtuous actions will help nurture and serve everyone. All that you do and experience, all your happiness and suffering, should lead to the development of bodhicitta. Your confidence should become so firm that you are able to […]
The main point of the union of appearance and emptiness is that emptiness is not the absence of phenomena, but the absence of its nature. That is why things can appear in so many different ways even though they are devoid of intrinsic reality. The inseparability of appearance and emptiness is the most essential and […]
From the relative perspective the guru appears in human form, turns the wheel of Dharma, and shows the path. Develop unchanging faith in your teacher and then mingle your mind with his. By remaining in that state and maintaining the natural flow of awareness — perfect simplicity without any fabrication — you will realize the […]
The phenomenal world is just like dream. Phenomena appear solid, but they do not exist in the same way as they appear. There is no solid reality behind them; from the very beginning, they are empty of intrinsic existence. There is nothing but a dynamic stream of ever-changing, interdependent relationships. Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
Buddha-nature is the luminous, ceaseless, and primordial nature of mind. It has not been fabricated or created by various causes and conditions. It does not dwell as a separate entity that truly exists. It did not begin and therefore it cannot cease. It is simply the ultimate nature of phenomena. Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
Ultimate reality cannot be apprehended by concepts. We can, however, in an experiential way that transcends the ordinary conceptual mind, achieve a genuine understanding of reality as being the union of appearances and emptiness. Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
Appearances, like dreams, are devoid of any intrinsic existence. They come from nothing and leave nothing behind no matter how long they last. How can they appear if they are devoid of intrinsic existence? In fact, they can manifest in infinite ways like a dream or a rainbow that appears only through the combination of […]
If we recognize the unchanging, absolute nature of phenomena, we will also recognize their intangibility. Things appear yet are empty; they are empty yet appear. Emptiness is not the absence of phenomena, and phenomena are not the absence of emptiness. Rather, there is a union of appearance and emptiness. Just having a glimpse of understanding […]