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 […]
In the teachings of the vajrayana, it is clearly taught that once someone attains full liberation, they do not become nothing. The process of purification finally reveals, and therefore there remains, an enduring wisdom that is of the nature of nonconceptual compassion. Thrangu Rinpoche
Remember that the disturbing emotions of anger, delusion, pride and jealousy are not beneficial in the slightest, but are extremely harmful. Again and again they create problems for ourselves and others. Engender the attitude that, “It is a bad idea to continue like that. I should change.” This frame of mind does not totally eliminate […]
Progress in the practice depends upon cultivating faculties of mindfulness and alertness, which are lucid and sharp. If we do not maintain them, or if they are not intense enough, we will not be able to cut through the undercurrent of our thoughts. Thrangu Rinpoche
This is something we can look at and see for ourselves. When we act with a kind heart and good motivation, without any greed or lust, without any aggression, and without any delusion, that is virtuous. If, on the other hand, we act with a bad motivation out of the greed that wants only to […]
What should you do after you get up from your meditation session? Consider all phenomena to be like illusions or dreams. You should do all your activities of walking, sitting, eating, and lying down within that state of mind. Thrangu Rinpoche
Thoughts are merely an impression of something being there. It is only when we fail to recognize the essence of this vividness that thoughts feel very concrete, if not overwhelming. However, when you look into the nature of thoughts and emotions, you will find that they only seem to exist; they have no concrete reality. […]
The practice of meditation consists of working with thought. As thoughts arise, they are the natural display of the mind, and we simply do not follow them. By not following them, we also don’t try to stop them or get rid of them. By not following our thoughts, we find that the thoughts will lessen […]
Thoughts are just displays of the mind. They may be waves stirring up the all-ground consciousness, but this is not a fault. If you just rest loosely in them, they will disappear right there. This is why when we meditate we should let the thoughts that occur in the sixth mental consciousness relax into the […]
Some people cannot enter the gate of Dharma at all. Their lives come to an end without their even hearing about the Dharma. Unlike such people, we have had the extremely good fortune to hear about the Dharma and even start to practice the Dharma, so there is no reason whatsoever to be discouraged. We […]
Whether or not we have great responsibilities to fulfill, whether or not we are very busy, whether or not we are rich, whether or not we are scholars, or whether or not we do menial labor, none of these things has any bearing on the practice of Mahamudra. Under any circumstances, we can always practice […]
When we watch a television program, we have no trouble identifying places, persons, animals, mountains, and so on. Through becoming involved with the program, we identify with what we are seeing and begin to feel an emotional response. Actually what we are looking at are not places, persons, animals, or mountains, but points of light […]
Suppose a teacher gives us the mind transmission, pointing out the nature of our mind when we are at the beginning of our path. We have this wonderful experience and think that something fantastic has happened to our meditation, but the next day the experience might not be so clear, and the following day, even […]
If we meditate on the mind, we can understand the mind as it is. With this understanding, whatever good qualities need to be developed will be developed, and whatever negative qualities need to be abandoned will be abandoned. Along the way good qualities, such as faith and confidence in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the […]
The main practice in vajrayana consists of the generation stage, the cultivation of the practice of regarding oneself as the deity. From an ordinary point of view, we might regard this as useless. We would think, “Well, I am not a deity. What use is there in pretending to be a deity?” But in fact, […]
Mindfulness has three characteristics. First, one has a sharpness and clearness of mind in which the instructions are not forgotten. Second, although the mind is very sharp and focused, there are not many thoughts arising because meditation is nonconceptual, so the mind is naturally focused one-pointedly on an object. Third, because one has trust and […]
Thrangu Rinpoche We shouldn’t feel that Dharma occurs only when we sit down and meditate. Dharma should be present with us all the time. Dharma should be practiced in everything we do, at all times and in all our actions. Of course, at the moment we can’t act like Milarepa or the Buddha, but at […]
What makes the bodhisattvas, the children of the buddhas, appear? First they generate strong compassion for all sentient beings. They appear because they have the mind of compassion and bodhicitta. Therefore, what we should really have the most interest in and the most faith in is compassion. The root from which all the happiness and […]
