Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, October 2021
A young child is happy to play with other children for a while but its heart lies with its mother. It is happy as long as its mother is in sight. Likewise, us modern day Buddhists are happy to play with the dharma for a while but our hearts lie with the world. We will […]
Whatever we are attached to becomes our boss. Our desires enslave us.
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, Autumn 2021
If you wish to progress in your practice it is very important to think positively of others. This is more than doable because every person has something positive or admirable about them. Merely by the fact of being human – of all the six different classes of beings, humans are rare and special – so […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, August 2021
Yesterday Olga requested some practice instructions. She said she gave up everything in order to come here and rely on me – her career, her status, her financial security and so on. So what I’ll say in reply is, ok, you gave up these things to come and train under my guidance, now on top […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 27th August 2019
If we regard our afflictions as something like garbage to be thrown out and gotten rid of, then we won’t look at them very carefully. As soon as we notice an affliction, we will immediately want to get rid of it, won’t we? Taking this approach our practice will become more and more difficult and […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, Summer 2021
Our normal way of being will show us how our practice is going, not how long we can sit on the cushion.
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 21st July 2021
In Tibetan Buddhist circles you hear many people theses days referring to their lama as Buddha so-and-so, or Dorje Chang so-and-so. But in truth only those who have attained accomplishment can see their lamas as Dorje Chang, Vajradhara. Ordinary beings cannot. I think I have quite strong faith in my Lamas, I think it would […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 21st July 2021
Venerable Tashi came to see me today to confess that he had become angry at me for what he thought was me wasting his time. But, Venerable Tashi, you should know that if you had even a shred of a practitioner’s way of thinking, and are someone who is truly careful with their time, then […]
Meditation Retreat, Kagyu Samye Ling, Scotland, 10th Oct 2016
In general we should set aside a particular time for formal practice, and keep to it very conscientiously. Within the sessions we should apply the methods taught for clearing agitation and dullness, and do our very best not to fall under their sway. The level of concentration and care with which we should try to […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 3rd June 2021
In the Buddhist view we each have to take responsibility for ourselves. We cannot expect the Buddha to bless us out of our suffering. For example, Devadatta was born in hell before the Buddha’s very eyes and the Buddha couldn’t stop it from happening. We each experience the results of our own actions. What the […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 3rd June 2021
A few years ago a middle-aged Tibetan man, a shopkeeper in Boudha, Nepal, came to see me to receive transmission and instruction for a practice he wanted to do. We had a chat and he said something that made me feel he had a better understanding of the teachings on the preciousness of human life, […]
The three jewels are not outside of our own mind, if they were, they wouldn’t be able to give us refuge or protection.
The more we understand emptiness, the more confidence we will have in the law of causality.
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 14th March 2021
Whether we come to have a good understanding of the dharma or not is determined by how well we are able to understand the intention of the lama who is teaching us. In truth, what we are trying to learn in the dharma is nothing other than the intention and view of the lama. It […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 8 December 2020
I sometimes think that I am a faithless individual, because I rarely have faith in the types of lamas and things that other Buddhists seem to have faith in. At other times I think I have very strong faith, but it is just a bit unusual. For example, I can come across an old Nepali […]
