Two criteria must be met to rely on a lama. You need a lama that you have faith in and a lama that you can learn from. Without faith, even if the lama is giving you time, things will not go well for you. If you have faith but the lama is not giving you […]
Milarepa said, “Practice by bringing all dharmas into one.” This is something we really need to reflect upon carefully. It is quite difficult for us to understand that all the Buddha’s teachings are one. We think that they are different from one another. The main reason for this is that we don’t know how to […]
Practicing the Dharma does not rely on having money or material possessions. The Dharma is the correct way of thinking, the right way of seeing the world; to practice it is to learn how to think and perceive properly. True practice is not about external actions, but about continually turning inward until we reach a […]
Sometimes we think negatively about someone, seeing them as a bad person. But that is not the best way to relate to others. Think of it like this: when someone is physically ill, we don’t say, “They are bad.” We recognise the illness as the problem; the person remains fundamentally good. Similarly, mental afflictions like […]
We often mistake fabricated dharma for real dharma or authentic practice. Most of what we call practice—prostrations, mantra recitation, meditation—is often just a mental fabrication. We quote the Buddha or our lamas and practice based on their words, but because we don’t genuinely assimilate what is said, we feel compelled to ‘do something’ or ‘make […]
We often feel it is a sad and unfortunate situation when our parents are sick and we have to drop our lives to care for them. But I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently, and it’s not a sad situation—it’s a time for joy. Our lives are short, and the number of opportunities we […]
I must not let my students become my servants. I have no intention of becoming a revered figurehead with those around me considering themselves my underlings. I am not working for that, with that attitude. I am working with the attitude of a father. As I see it, it is my responsibility to help those […]
Through our practice, we must improve our ways of thinking and habits by reflecting: “What was my intention when I first started practising? How has that changed? How have my thoughts changed? If I continue on this path, where will it take me? What sort of person will I become in the future?”These are essential […]
The Dharma, or Buddhism, has been extremely kind to me. It has played a profound role in my life and transformed my outlook. It has instilled in me a deep sense of responsibility to help anyone who crosses my path, regardless of their relationship to me. It is thanks to the Dharma that I am […]
We study in order to ascertain true reality. Our mind needs to be free from bias, unswayed by philosophical or religious views and ideas when studying. We must do our best to let go of our presumptions. It is okay initially to start with the mindset that you are studying Buddhism, but we can’t let […]
We must protect our Dharma environments. The environments and cultures we create are even more important than the lamas. You could have an excellent lama who only wishes to act in accord with the Dharma but they will be unable to if the environment in which they are operating has become overcome by the world. […]
Question: How can I make my office work practice? Answer: I doubt I have the necessary intelligence, knowledge, and other qualities to be able to teach you that. Nor am I confident that you would be able to practise it, even if I could teach it. We both would have to be exceptional individuals to […]
Student’s question: What to consider when setting up a shrine at home? Rinpoche’s answer: Personally, I don’t think having many different statues and sacred representations is necessary. It is customary for Tibetan shrines to be filled with many different statues and so on. I think one should have a single, excellent quality and inspiringly beautiful […]
The first form of meditation is to engage in activities and techniques of mind. They are not so difficult to do because our minds are extremely adept and well-practiced in doing and creating. Like AI is very capable at creating, our natural intelligence is a master of creation; it constructs our entire reality. It can […]
May I suggest that when you attend a Dharma-event, a retreat, etc., that you not complain and make trouble for the organisers? Otherwise, they will likely become disheartened and hesitant to arrange such events in the future. To persist under such circumstances they would either have to be very patient or profiting greatly from the […]
