We become attached to our wealth and possessions, to food and clothing, to our home — all the good things of life. Through clinging to these things, we get distracted. We might have faith in the Dharma and understand that we need to practice, but we are so distracted that we don’t get around to […]
The moment we say, “I’ve been born,” someone can reply, “Yes, and you are going to die. The sign of your approaching death has already appeared.” We may think that we can put our feet up, relax for a while, and take it easy, but that’s not how it is. Instead, we need to realize, […]
Bodhicitta is focused on all beings without exception. This differs from ordinary compassion in that usually we feel compassion for those who are obviously suffering and wish that they be free from suffering, but we may not feel compassion for those that are doing well or who are apparently happy. However, the aspect of great […]
It is true that when we look at our minds, we have afflictions and thoughts, we have all kinds of suffering and problems. But at the same time, we always have the innate potential to transcend these. The reason why we have this innate potential is that the nature of the mind and the nature […]
The attainment of Buddhahood, the path through which it is attained, really begins with the generation of bodhicitta, which is the intention to attain liberation so that one can bring all beings to that same state. Since this is the motivation with which the path is begun, when the result of the path, buddhahood, is […]
If we consider the buddhas, their main concern is others, not themselves; they always act to help other beings, and we can see all the qualities this brings. The opposite would be people like us, ordinary beings in the world, who are only interested in ourselves; we are very egocentric and only concerned with ourselves. […]
We need to make our preparations now and be diligent about it. We may think, “I really want to practice the Dharma, but right now I’m really busy. I have a lot of things to do. I’ll get to the Dharma when my work is done.” This way of thinking is an obstacle that will […]
We may ask how Mahamudra meditation and Mind Training are related. There are two kinds of truths or realities, the conventional and ultimate. Mahamudra is a very high-level teaching that concerns the ultimate truth of reality. But sometimes we are unable to realize that ultimate meaning, and because of this, various things happen to us. […]
Ordinary love and compassion are compared to a mother with no arms who sees her only child being carried away by a river and cannot do anything to save her child. But the compassion developed from directly seeing buddha nature is not this helpless kind of compassion; it is a compassion that has power. Therefore, […]
People often ask me, “What is the best way to make sure our children grow up to appreciate the Dharma and become Buddhists?” The advice I give is to get along in your family. If the members of a family all get along and are kind and loving, honest and straightforward, peaceful and affectionate with […]
Just as if we had taken hallucinogens, whatever happy or sad appearances we see are samsaric, confused appearances of the mind. Even when we are not intoxicated, everything we perceive in this life comes out of confusion that arises from the power of karma. Whether we have the perception of being a human or animal, […]
Striving at the Dharma means being diligent about the Dharma. How do we do that? We need to do it with our body, speech, and mind – all three. Is it enough to be diligent with just our body or just our speech or just our mind? No, it is not enough. Thrangu Rinpoche
If we had no negativity in our mind, there would be no opportunity for suffering to arise. The first thing to do is overcome the inner enemy: the real enemy isn’t outside of us, it is the negativity within us that leads us to do negative things that cause suffering. If we can overcome this […]
You cannot simply remove mental afflictions (kleshas), by saying to yourself, “I will not generate any more mental afflictions,” because you do not have the necessary freedom of mind or control over the kleshas that would allow you to do so. In order to relinquish these, you need to actually attain this freedom of mind, […]
Anger’s nature is not rendered empty by looking; it was already empty and always will be. As anger is empty in essence, it cannot be changed or transformed in any way whatsoever. As anger, or any other thought or emotion has no concrete nature, by looking into it and recognizing it, it naturally subsides. Only […]
When we say that mind is empty, we do not mean that it is a void in the way that space is empty. Space is indeed empty but it does not have the ability to know, to see, or to reflect. Space is “dead emptiness.” When we say that the nature of mind is emptiness, […]
The reason that we can’t find mind when we look for it is that mind doesn’t have an essential nature of its own. This nonexistence is what the Buddha called emptiness or shunyata. This emptiness does not need to be verified through complicated philosophical reasoning; it is simply the nature, or essence, of the mind. […]
The reason we practice meditation is to attain happiness. With regard to short-term happiness, we usually mean either physical pleasure or mental pleasure or both of them. But if you look at either of these pleasant experiences, their root has to be a mind that is at peace and free from suffering. As long as […]
The short-term benefits of meditation are more than mere peace of mind, because our physical health as well depends to a great extent upon our state of mind. Therefore, if you cultivate a state of mental contentment and peace, then you will tend not to become ill, and you will tend to heal easily if […]
The first of Three Roots in the Vajrayana are the gurus, who are the root of blessing. Blessing refers to the power of the Dharma — that which in the Dharma is actually effective, which actually brings the result of the Dharma. Obviously, in practicing we need that effectiveness — the power or blessing of […]
