2nd UK Kagyu Monlam, Kagyu Samye Ling, Scotland, 13 June 2019
What is meant by the true dharma? It is a certain way of mind. It is not something outside of one. There are two areas of dharma: the dharma of scripture and the dharma of realisation. We can say that the methods found in the dharma that correct our way of thinking are the dharma […]
Namo Buddha Seminar, 16 April 2019
I know you all love your mahamudra and dzogchen, don’t you? There’s probably not one of you in this room who have not had an introduction to the nature of mind. So I have a question for you: Who introduced the nature of mind to you? Who introduced mahamudra to you? I’m sure immediately the […]
Teaching at Tara Rokpa Centre, Groot Marico, South Africa, 1st September 2017
Question: The belief in past and future life is intrinsic to being a Buddhist. I’m not looking for definitive proof, but the seed of doubt in my mind noticeably affects my practice. Please could you help me to destroy this doubt and deepen my motivation. Answer: Generally this is a difficult but also very essential […]
Discussion in a local Buddhist study group in Taipei, Taiwan, 24 October 2017
Student’s Question: How should we respond if some of our family members challenge our belief in Buddhism as being just blind faith? Rinpoche’s Answer: The way I think about it is, if our families say that our belief in Buddhism is just blind faith, they are right. I’d tell them they’re spot on and […]
Teaching on 'The Precious Garland of the Supreme Path' to the retreat staff, Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal
The Sanskrit word ‘guru’ translated as ‘lama’ in Tibetan, has the sense of weightiness; meaning the individual is laden with excellent qualities. These qualities have nothing to do with a person’s position or status, nor with their level of education, but are principally concerned with the way they think: their renunciation, bodhichitta and view of […]
Kagyu Samye Ling Zimbabwe, 10 September 2017
Meditation is to leave the mind just as it is, relaxed and easy, without thinking too much. But we find this incredibly difficult to do. As soon as we sit down and relax, we feel we have a bit of free time and start thinking and making plans. It is for this reason that when […]
HwaYue Foundation, Taiwan, 21 October 2017
Once you have examined a lama in whom you have faith and decided to put yourself in their hands, then from that point on don’t worry too much about what Dharma they’re teaching. If the lama you rely on is good, then whatever they teach will be directed at remedying your faults and wrong ways […]
Teaching on the Precious Ornament of Liberation at HwaYue Foundation, Taiwan, 21 October 2017
Gampopa said, ‘Rely on a holy lama endowed with realisation and compassion.’ This tells us that a genuine lama is someone with realisation, who has wisdom and compassion, and directs all their efforts to teaching and guiding students on the path to liberation. Such a lama is a holy lama. When I was staying in […]
First UK Kagyu Monlam 2018, Samye Ling, UK
Most beginners see the three jewels as an outer object, as something separate from ‘me’. This is the beginner’s view, and it will not lead us to Liberation. The basic Buddhist view is that the Three Jewels are not something that truly exists externally. Buddha, Sang-Gye in Tibetan, shows us, or demonstrates to us our […]
Excerpt from the weekend teaching in Kagyu Samye Ling, October 2018
A good student will appreciate and feel fortunate to have their faults pointed out by their lama, because they are trying to change and improve themselves. Since they are a good student they will know that their ultimate nature is good and pure, and that the faults are transient or incidental. So they will not […]
Kagyu Samye Ling Zimbabwe, 11 September 2017
When it comes to meditation we should keep things simple right from the start. We shouldn’t have too many ideas within, nor too much clutter and stuff we think we need without. If we don’t keep things simple, we might find ourselves in a situation where we want to meditate but, lacking some ‘vital’ item, […]
Advice given to western students at the start of the six-year retreat programme at Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, 13 January 2015
We all feel that we have to become good Dharma practitioners. And what it means to be a good dharma practitioner is to have a view that is different from normal worldly views. We simply can’t become dharma practitioners whilst maintaining a worldly view, because that can only take us along the path of samsara, […]
Meditation Retreat, Samye Ling, UK, 9 October 2016
Since it is the mind that determines our experience, it is essential to have some understanding of the workings of it, the way it is. Although not a material object, our mind can tie itself up in knots when engaged in certain negative ways of thinking, just like a silkworm spins out silk threads and […]
Teachings on 'A Torch for the Definitive Meaning', Sekhar, Nepal, 1st March 2015
Reprimanding a student is often much more profound than just explaining the words of a text. Usually when we receive teachings on a text, we don’t feel all that much, nothing really hits home. But when we are told off, something registers. We may become a little upset at first, but later a personal truth […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, February 2017
Real understanding can never be found amongst the pages of a book. But if we can learn to look into everything we experience in the same way that we look at a mirror, we will always be gaining fresh and ever deepening insight, most importantly about ourselves. Think about how we use a mirror. We’re […]
