When one is practicing the Dharma and there are no great obstacles, it is easy to develop internal obstacles to one’s practice. They occur because one begins to think that one has a great practice and feels very proud. This pride itself is a great obstacle to one’s Dharma practice and meditation. Thrangu Rinpoche
The only thing that helps us when we die is whatever virtue we have been able to accumulate during our lifetime. If we have been able to generate a lot of very positive spiritual energy, it will help us, but all our worldly possessions or fame won’t make a difference. Thrangu Rinpoche
We should be quite gentle in judging ourselves and remember that the habits we are fighting against come from beginningless time and are very strong. So from time to time there will be some backsliding — though in the long run there is progress and improvement. Furthermore, remember that even having entered the gate of […]
When we are under the influence of attachment, we discriminate between good and bad, beautiful and ugly, and then cling to what seems to be attractive and shun those things which seem bad. Attachment and aversion are disturbing emotions that arise from not understanding the nature of things as they are and as they appear. […]
What is clinging to a self rooted in? Actually, it is not rooted in anything. If we see that, then naturally ego-clinging will not happen. The reason it has no root is that when we look for the object that we are clinging to as “me,” as a self, we cannot find it. Thrangu Rinpoche
When a strong affliction such as anger arises, we have the unbearable feeling that we need to hurt someone or say something mean, but where is the affliction? What is its essence? When we examine it and meditate, we see that its essence is by nature empty. If we realize this, it automatically has no […]
Because we cling to this notion of a self, we continue to aggrandize this self and work for its benefit. By eliminating the illusory notion of a self, directionless working for all sentient beings occurs spontaneously as in the activities of a Buddha. Thrangu Rinpoche
The essential nature of a bodhisattva or a Buddha is that he or she embodies the enlightened qualities of the five Buddha families, which pervade every living being without exception, including ourselves. To achieve the realization of these five Buddha families it is necessary to abandon the five afflictions of attachment, anger, ignorance, pride, and […]
Vasubhandu said that in genuine shamatha, the mind is able to rest in mind. The mind becomes so relaxed that it rests in itself, just as it is, in a natural way, undisturbed by thoughts. “Distracted” in Tibetan is yeng wa, (Tib. gyeng ba), which means “swept away” or “wandering off.” The word distracted in […]
It is said that we must recognize the mind as it is, in other words as completely naked. “Naked” here means that the mind is not covered or obscured by anything. If we can really immerse our self within this original, bare state of mind, we will automatically understand the right view, and everything that […]
The novice meditator feels that there is someone meditating and something that is meditated upon — a mind and an object of meditation. It is by looking again and again into exactly what it is that meditates and what the object of meditation actually consists of that we find — not intellectually, but in actuality […]
Becoming attached to any type of meditation — experiences, visions, dreams, whatever — will bind you. Do not regard these things as having any particular positive or negative value or judge them as good or bad. They are just appearances within the mind, which do not justify desire or fear. Thrangu Rinpoche
When we are deluded about the natural state and roaming about in samsaric existence, is our nature in any way worsened? No, it is not. The basic state of Mahamudra, the natural state itself, is not spoiled by confusion. It does not change in any way whatsoever. Is the natural state of Mahamudra improved through […]
The Sanskrit word samadhi is translated in Tibetan as tingdzin, which literally means “deep holding.” The mind is held firmly and deeply so the meditation becomes very stable. Samadhi can refer to either tranquility meditation or insight meditation. By doing this deep meditation, we experience the flavor of samadhi—the exquisite taste of meditation. Thrangu Rinpoche
You must…be very careful not to mistake the idea of emptiness for the actual experience. The idea of emptiness has to do with intellectual understanding, proving assumptions and drawing conclusions, whereas experience is to see it for what it is, within you, not as a theory but in actuality. You should make sure that you […]
When you experience the nature of your own mind, it is in itself, in its own nature, something that is extraordinarily peaceful, extraordinarily pleasant and blissful. Thrangu Rinpoche
The nature of our mind is awareness, and awareness is naturally liberated. We do not need to do anything to it. We do not need to think of it as something to take up that we need more of, nor do we need to think of it as something bad to be blocked or suppressed. […]
The root of all happiness is the mind; the root of all suffering is the mind. The root of all afflictions and the root of all faith, devotion, love and compassion come down to the mind. If we know the nature of our mind, we can make use of the great treasure and eventually gain […]
Not recognizing the emptiness of phenomena is the cause of suffering. If we have a strong belief in external phenomena, this leads us to regard external phenomena as either good or bad. If we feel that the external phenomena are good, then we develop strong attachment to these external phenomena. If we regard external phenomena […]
The realization of the nature of the mind is not something we can find by searching for it from afar. It is present within the essence of the mind itself. If we do not alter or change that in any way, that is enough. It is not as if we were lacking something before, so […]
