True Dharma

The Dharma is about truth, not about making up something new; it is about coming to know what the reality of our experience is.

When we study and practise the Dharma, the first task is not to learn something new to memorise, but to become clear about ourselves, as we are.

We all have afflictions—attachment, aversion, self-clinging, ignorance, and so on. Yet, to truly recognise these afflictions is not easy. Even someone who has studied the Dharma for twenty, thirty, or forty years may still not have recognised them properly.

If we have truly recognised our afflictions, there would be no talk of, “I do not have time to practise. I have a job, a family, and so many responsibilities.” Just as someone who knows they are seriously ill would put everything aside to seek treatment, someone who has truly recognised the danger of afflictions would naturally prioritise practice.

Afflictions are not outside of us. They arise in the mind. Yet the mind has no shape, no colour, and cannot be pointed to or examined by any instrument. Because of this, recognising the mind—and the afflictions within it—is genuinely difficult.

The spiritual master can only offer signs and pointers. Based on these, each of us must use our own intelligence to understand what is happening in our own minds.

The purpose of studying and practising the Dharma is to discover what is actually going on within ourselves—to recognise what is risky, unhelpful, and in need of change. When we see these clearly, we have something to work on and something to be careful about.

The question is not how much we have learned or memorised. The question is: How can I change myself for the better?

1 June 2026, Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal