Excerpts > General

No Time for Anger

Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 21st July 2021

Venerable Tashi came to see me today to confess that he had become angry at me for what he thought was me wasting his time. But, Venerable Tashi, you should know that if you had even a shred of a practitioner’s way of thinking, and are someone who is truly careful with their time, then […]

Study or meditation?

Teachings on the "Torch of Certainty", 2015

When people hear the word ‘Buddhism’, the first thing that comes to mind is probably meditation; they feel that meditation is the essence or the root of Buddhism. There is good reason for that but there is another perspective that is less common, which is that study is foremost in Buddhism. One of the many […]

The Liberation Stories of the Kagyu Masters – Day 14

Online Teaching from Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 14 June 2020

Question: If we truly want to follow the path of the Mahamudra in this life, is it possible to do this whilst engaging in an “ordinary life” with jobs, partners, houses and so on? Or, if we want to make the most of this precious human birth and follow the gift of dharma, do we […]

The Liberation Stories of the Kagyu Masters – Day 10

Online Teaching from Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 10 June 2020

When we hear that Tilopa received teaching directly from Vajradhara, it is difficult to understand. We think the three kayas of a buddha are different buddhas, teaching in different places at different times. But in reality it is not like this, it is simultaneous. What we perceive depends on our level, our perception. Those with […]

The Ways of Practitioners – Part 2

Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 6 August 2020

Being a practitioner doesn’t mean that we go to a place with the intention to practise and do sessions. We’ve all come here to the retreat centre with that thought in mind, but that thought alone is not what makes someone a practitioner. A practitioner has a very special or unique way of thinking, which […]

Nurturing the Seed of Dharma

Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 7th April 2020

Some who run dharma institutions feel that if their students or members were to direct all their time and effort to study and practice that there would not be enough people to look after the daily running of the centre. For example it has happened more than once, and in both the East and the […]

Worldly is Worldly – Dharma is Dharma

Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, 24th Mars 2020

If you still have a worldly view, you could found a monastery and it would be a worldly act, you could start a dharma centre and it would be a worldly act, you could even teach the dharma and that too would be a worldly act. But if you have a dharma view, all that […]

It’s Not Where You Might Expect

Advice given to the western students in Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, July 2016

Real Buddhism is not in the texts, not in the monasteries, not in the retreat centres, not in the shedras, not in the dharma centres, nor are you likely to find it in the towns and cities. And you might think, ‘If Buddhism, the dharma, is not in the monasteries, where is it?’ What we […]

Repair not Despair

Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, 10th February 2020

The word for dharma in Tibetan is ཆོས་ (chö), which is related to the word འཆོས, which means to repair or to correct. When I see those who consider themselves students of mine conducting themselves unskilfully, I may well tell them that they are doing wrong, with the hope that they will see why it […]

Not In My Name

Kagyu Samye Ling, Scotland, 15th June 2019

What I have to say concerns me personally. At the moment I’m quite sure there are a number of people who are highly critical of me, who don’t like me. But in my eyes I don’t have a single enemy in this world. I don’t mind what people say about me, I’ve got nothing against […]

Be Normal

Admonition to students, Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, 7th February 2020

Just be normal. I do not expect you to be accomplished yogis. I do not expect you to be great bodhisattvas. But if you can be normal, level headed, decent, polite people, the sort of person who is switched on, easy going and courteous, that will suffice for now.

Don’t Be Weird

Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, 12th January 2020

Don’t think it doesn’t matter what people think about you. It makes a big difference to them and to you. If you do or say something that causes someone to have negative thoughts, that is bad for them and since you were the cause of that, it is bad for you. Every action brings a […]

A Study of Your Own Heart

Namo Buddha Seminar, Nepal, 14 April 2019

We are not learning something new when we study the dharma. We tend to study the dharma in the same way that we learn a new language – but that is not right. In the study of dharma we are trying to recognise the desire that we have – desire is not new to us, […]

Off to the Mountains

Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 12 December 2019

We often see new Buddhists, or old Buddhists who have not studied much dharma, getting ahead of themselves and making plans to run off to the mountains. This shows a lack of understanding and experience of dharma. In order to practise alone in solitude, and to be able to practice properly, we must have first […]

The lama-student relationship and money

Kagyu Samye Ling, Scotland, 12 October 2017

Money becomes a real obstacle in forming a true lama-student relationship. So if it’s real dharma you want, if it’s a real lama-student relationship you want, then this is something you should keep in mind. For example, if you see me to be a lama of yours, and you genuinely wish to rely on and […]