The best way for a lama to teach his students is by example, by his own actions. He should act in ways that are consistent with what he says. This is very important. For instance, if a lama teaches, ‘The nature of samsara is suffering and futile. You should let go of your attachment to […]
People spend more than a decade going to school, some closer to two decades. Why? So that they can learn to be capable and successful in their chosen career and can get on in the world. Is that a fair assessment? Would anyone recommend that a child who lacks basic education start working? No. Why […]
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, Summer 2022
My retreat lama, Karma Sherab, was something of a scholar in his younger years. At one point after he had served his root lama, Lama Tsepal, and had received mind instructions, Lama Tsepal said the only text he should read from then on is the Words of My Perfect Teacher. From that time onwards, for […]
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 […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 1st June 2022
A sign of a true lama is that they give up what normal worldly people like and pursue. If a lama gives up the chance to become famous, that would be a sign that they might be a real lama. Everybody wants more money, so if a lama has the chance to come into some […]
"There's nothing worse than a selfish dharma practitioner." Drupon Khen Rinpoche – 30.05.22
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, Spring 2022
A retreat lama once died in the retreat place where I and my main lamas and their root lama (Lama Tsepal) stayed. It was before my time though. The lama who had died was sitting upright on his seat in meditation posture, while other retreatants were doing prayers and meditating. When Lama Tsepal entered the […]
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་། […]
