Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 5th December 2021
We shouldn’t bother wishing to be like the rich and famous. We probably have no idea of the trouble, anxiety and feelings of dissatisfaction that plague them. We should instead look up to and aspire to be like those who have control over their minds. When I was in Namo Buddha just now, I was […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 20 August 2020
Everyone on the planet is busy doing something or other; you almost never see anyone spending their life just lying around doing nothing. Nevertheless, only a few achieve great and meaningful things in their life, the vast majority do not. Why? It is because most people are aimless, they are only contending with the things […]
When we are listening to the dharma, meditating or practicing, if our way of thinking is along the lines of, ‘May this be good for me,’ then our motivation is poor. As I said already, all of our difficulties and problems stem from this very strong sense of ‘me’. So if we are taking that […]
Teaching on 'A Torch for the Definitive Meaning' at Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, 28th May 2015
Photo: Fr. Giuseppe Berardelli, a 72-year-old priest in Bergamo, Italy, who gave a respirator (that his parishioners had purchased for him) to a younger patient (whom he did not know), has died from coronavirus. Many people think that one becomes a bodhisattva by helping others, but that is not necessarily the case. Giving a […]
Teaching given to Chinese students at Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, 14 August 2019
My constant and most important prayer is that I may be able to ignore myself and my own needs, and to always hold sentient beings at the centre of my heart – to keep others in mind and to forget about myself. When I’m seized by moments of mindfulness, I recite or bring to mind […]
9th One-Week Meditation Retreat, Hong Kong, June 2019
I honestly hope and aspire to one day be able to practise the greater vehicle, mahamudra, dzogchen and other secret mantra practices. But in this life, if I am able to have an authentic practice of the lower vehicle I would be absolutely delighted and think I am doing something amazing. Actually, it’s what I […]
Meditation Retreat, Samye Ling, UK, 9 October 2016
Since it is the mind that determines our experience, it is essential to have some understanding of the workings of it, the way it is. Although not a material object, our mind can tie itself up in knots when engaged in certain negative ways of thinking, just like a silkworm spins out silk threads and […]
Meditation Retreat, Kagyu Samye Ling, UK, 8 October 2016
How we start out is very important. We should engage with our meditation with enthusiasm, feeling it to be something wonderful and very beneficial. We should not start out with fear and anxiety, feeling ‘I’m not able to do this.’
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 22 February 2017
When we do a practice and it makes us feel good, we think, ‘This is it! This is the one,’ and work at that. But if it doesn’t make us feel good we think, ‘This isn’t benefiting me. I’m not so keen on this.’Basically, our only thought is of feeling good, which is a massive […]
