Excerpts > Q & A

Mahamudra Please

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 […]

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 […]

Q & A : Belief in Past and Future Lives

Teaching at Tara Rokpa Centre, Groot Marico, South Africa, 1st September 2017

Question: The belief in past and future life is intrinsic to being a Buddhist. I’m not looking for definitive proof, but the seed of doubt in my mind noticeably affects my practice. Please could you help me to destroy this doubt and deepen my motivation. Answer: Generally this is a difficult but also very essential […]

Q & A : Blind Faith

Discussion in a local Buddhist study group in Taipei, Taiwan, 24 October 2017

Student’s Question: How should we respond if some of our family members challenge our belief in Buddhism as being just blind faith?   Rinpoche’s Answer: The way I think about it is, if our families say that our belief in Buddhism is just blind faith, they are right. I’d tell them they’re spot on and […]

Q & A : Karma is Habit, Habits are Changeable

Excerpt from Drupon Khen Rinpoche’s book (in Chinese), Sit down - Find the mind. A teaching on The Four Dharmas of Gampopa in Hong Kong Thrangu Vajrayana Buddhist Center, in June 2013

Student’s Question: Isn’t it taught in the Buddhism that the karma we have cannot be cleared away, even by a buddha or a deity? If that is the case, what use is there for us to practice Dorje Sempa (Vajrasattva)? Rinpoche’s Answer: I think there’s a mistaken understanding here. When we think about ‘karma’ or […]