We should live our life doing what we feel is the best thing to do. The main focus of each day’s activities should be that which we see to be the most worthy and meaningful activity. Living like this, even when we come to our final day of this life, we will not feel the […]
One day in 2012 I was just about to travel to Samye Ling in the UK to teach the 3rd Karmapa’s Profound Inner Principles at the retreat centre there. A few days before, I took a borrowed copy of the text to a photocopy shop. The lady behind the counter promised that she’d have a […]
I occasionally chat with a close friend of mine. Our conversations are mostly banter, we love to pull each other’s legs. He is a very learned khenpo and also a tulku (a rare combination). He is somebody who truly lives by the courage of his convictions. It might be good for you to hear what […]
What we see outside is a reflection of our own minds. Therefore, we can’t change our experience from the outside, we must change ourselves. This is seen to be an essential point in Buddhism. We must first identify the flaws that lie within us, then, as we gradually correct them and improve as people, the […]
When attempting to help others, we will face various difficulties and troubles. We might be falsely accused of wrongdoing, or criticised by others in various other ways. We may become frustrated and discouraged by such experiences, which become major obstacles to our practice. This is because to exert ourselves in benefiting others, earnestly while taking […]
Don’t try to study the dharma from textbooks. You need a human being teacher who knows you. The texts don’t know you, therefore they can’t talk to you personally and point out your issues. What we learn in the dharma is ourselves. February 2023, Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal
If you want to practise the dharma, your first thought should not be to obtain a particular teaching or practice. The first step is to find a lama. The ideal lama is someone who is humble, who has let go of everything concerning the world and is endowed with the qualities explained in the texts. […]
There is nothing superior in Greater Vehicle Buddhism than to help others, and the highest form of help is to impart education and knowledge. Drupon Khen Rinpoche 15th January 2022
If I, the so-called lama, can provide my so-called students with all the necessary conditions and opportunities to study and practise the dharma, and they become learned and well-practised, I would be considered a success. I will have fulfilled my role. Should I fail to make that happen, it wouldn't matter how hard I worked, […]
The law of causality (karma) is not a Buddhist idea, it’s just how things are.
How to turn anger into virtue? When you feel anger starting to churn within you, you can think: "I will take on all anger of all sentient beings, such that no sentient being will be troubled by anger again." Not only will this thought diminish your anger in the moment, the anger becomes a source […]
As long as we haven't become a Buddha, there will always be areas to work on and improve. Since most of us are blind to our own faults, we need someone to point them out to us – a lama. Unfortunately, many lamas nowadays don't fulfil this role. Even when they do, they often do […]
Those who further the Dharma are Buddhists, and those who destroy the Dharma are Buddhists. This was clearly prophesied by the Buddha when he said that those who would bring about the destruction of Buddhism would be Buddhists and not those of other religious traditions, etc. We may think that it was fanatical foreign invaders […]
If someone mistreats you because they don’t like you but you don’t react negatively with anger, it won’t be long before that person changes their mind about you. They will gradually come to think, ‘This person is not so bad after all, they are easy going.’ Even if that particular person doesn’t change towards you, […]
To gauge whether someone is a practitioner of the Greater Vehicle or not, we should look at their compassion. And the marker of being a practitioner of the Lower Vehicle is strong renunciation. If someone has no renunciation, they have not even entered the path of the Lower Vehicle yet. Excerpts from Mind Training teaching […]
