It’s all a matter of habit. Many people become addicted to smoking and drinking. Some people become so obsessed with money that it is all they can think about. For many of us, it is our loved ones that occupy our minds all the time because we are so habituated to the love we have […]
A bear was hunting marmots to eat when he found a burrow housing a whole family of marmots. He greedily pulled one out and held it under his arm while he set to catching the rest. He caught a second and placed it under his arm next to the first. Unbeknownst to the busy bear, […]
The followers of the four main Buddhist philosophical schools* are seemingly very critical of each other’s views. But it is good to keep in mind that all of these views were taught by the Buddha. The criticisms are not based on personal preference; they are given as a means to improve the other’s view and […]
Just as thieves try to go unseen and hide their swag, practitioners should tame their minds quietly and conceal their good qualities. Drupon Khen Rinpoche Karma Lhabu 19th July 2022
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, Spring 2022
When I see the students I’ve guided leave retreat and then make no effort to pursue the dharma, it becomes clear that I haven’t helped them at all. It pains my heart when I see that. The fact that some of them stop practising and receiving dharma teachings shows that after teaching them daily for […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, Spring 2022
From what I have seen, most Western Buddhists are not so concerned about the buddhadharma. You have no real thought of learning the full breadth of the teachings in order to master them. Yes, to master them for your own development, but also in order to preserve the continuity of the teachings for future generations. […]
"May I never kowtow to money or status." Drupon Khen Rinpoche 10.07.2022
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 15 May 2022
If you are serious about the dharma, try to let go of what you are attached to and try to accept what you find difficult to accept. At the very least try to question your likes and dislikes. This alone will open up a new path for you and you will be able to make […]
"There's nothing worse than a selfish dharma practitioner." Drupon Khen Rinpoche – 30.05.22
This depicts Dromtonpa Gyalway Jungne while he was studying with Setsun Lama from Kham. As his eyes read a text, his hands mill barley flour, his feet soften a leather hide and he churns milk on his back. It demonstrates the unbelievable diligence with which he pursued his studies and served the lama. འདི་ནི་འབྲོམ་སྟོན་པ་རྒྱལ་བའི་འབྱུང་གནས་ཁམས་ཀྱི་བླ་མ་སེ་བཙུན་གྱི་སྐུ་མདུན་ནས་སློབ་གཉེར་གནང་སྐབས་ཀྱི་འདྲ་རིས་སྟེ། ཕྱག་གིས་རྩམ་པ་འཐག་པ་དང་། […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, May 2022
Many people are very fond of doing voluntary work in the dharma centres and at dharma events {Rinpoche was addressing a predominantly Chinese audience}. But you should remember that the most important thing when relying on your Lama is to learn the dharma. Sacrificing the opportunity to attend a dharma teaching to do volunteer work […]
Mind Training teaching with HuaYue Foundation, Taiwan, 2015
We think that by practising the dharma we will only improve, but over the years I’ve seen many people, if not the majority of people, deteriorate as they spend more time in the dharma. The first year when people enter the dharma they are very enthusiastic, even though they do not know very much about […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, November 2022
A reply to a student’s request for advanced meditation instruction. I sincerely wish for you to know Mahamudra. Perhaps I feel a greater sense of urgency about it than even you do yourself. You may wonder why I teach meditation when I travel abroad, but not to you here in the retreat centre. Well, truth […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat, Nepal, 24th January 2022
Today a Chinese nun came to see for advice about where to go for the dharma. She said since it seems like she doesn’t have the opportunity to stay here in the retreat centre, where could she go to get good opportunities for the dharma. I was stumped, I didn’t know what to say. The […]
Once we have become a Buddhist, it is essential to hold the following view: ‘Since all sentient beings are subject to suffering just as I am, I shall not harm a single one of them.’
