Advice given to western students at the start of the six-year retreat programme at Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, 13 January 2015
We all feel that we have to become good Dharma practitioners. And what it means to be a good dharma practitioner is to have a view that is different from normal worldly views. We simply can’t become dharma practitioners whilst maintaining a worldly view, because that can only take us along the path of samsara, […]
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 […]
Teachings on 'A Torch for the Definitive Meaning', Sekhar, Nepal, 1st March 2015
Reprimanding a student is often much more profound than just explaining the words of a text. Usually when we receive teachings on a text, we don’t feel all that much, nothing really hits home. But when we are told off, something registers. We may become a little upset at first, but later a personal truth […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, February 2017
Real understanding can never be found amongst the pages of a book. But if we can learn to look into everything we experience in the same way that we look at a mirror, we will always be gaining fresh and ever deepening insight, most importantly about ourselves. Think about how we use a mirror. We’re […]
Teachings on 'A Torch for the Definitive Meaning', Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Center, Nepal, February 2015
In brief, a source of refuge is something that, when we place our hopes in it, it actually gives us refuge, gives us protection and helps us. And that which is helped is principally the mind. It is the mind that needs to be helped because all of our suffering and difficulties stem from the […]
Meditation Retreat, Kagyu Samye Ling, 9 October 2016
The way our minds work is very strange. The smallest little thing we see or hear can totally change how we feel. Someone casts a smile in our direction or treats us in a way that we like, and that’s enough for us to love them and feel happy. If a few moments later that […]
Teaching on ‘The Four Dharmas of Gampopa’, Thrangu Vajrayana Buddhist Centre, Hong Kong, 29 June 2013
Something very important we need to be aware of, is that we don’t have good understanding of the dharma and what it is. Therefore we don’t really appreciate the dharma as much as we might think. It’s very important that we are aware of this. Here is an example that clearly shows how we think. […]
Meditation Retreat, Kagyu Samye Ling, UK, 9 October 2016
When it comes to meditation, we have to rely on our own experience. If we just take what somebody else says, take their experience of meditation and attempt to replicate it, things are not going to go very well. Like that, we will never come to know meditation for ourselves. To give an example: let’s […]
Thrangu Sekhar Retreat Centre, Nepal, 4 February 2017
One of the biggest mistake I have seen Western Buddhists make when it comes to receiving dharma teachings, is feeling that somebody who can explain the teachings well, is a suitable teacher. There is no thought that the teachers themselves need to have the particular view which they are explaining. This attitude comes from a lack of understanding of the dharma.
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 […]
An excerpt from Drupon Khen Rinpoche’s final day teaching on The Seven Commitments from Kongtrul Rinpoche’s Heart-Nectar Advice, given to the shedra students at Namo Buddha. 8th July 2018.
We should think constantly about where we are placing our efforts each day, and what good comes from it. Then we should think about what changes we might need to make. The dharma teachings given in the texts and oral instructions are there to help us change ourselves; this is the way we should think […]
Words of advice from Drupon Khen Rinpoche in response to a student's wish to become a bodhisattva
Try not to think about yourself too much and instead focus on the well being of others. Try to feel, ‘If I’m sick, fine. If I’m having a hard time, fine. As long as others are well and happy, that is enough for me.’ If you can think and feel like this you will become […]
Teaching at First UK Kagyu Monlam 2018
To those of you who have deep feelings for the Dharma, you need to be clear about what you need to do. You need to give the priority to study and practice rather than focusing on the external conditions for practice. Better buildings doesn’t mean better study; it’s quite possible that simpler buildings and simpler […]
Teaching at First UK Kagyu Monlam 2018
We only make plans for living and we do not make plans for dying. When there is an important task and a big event we count down the days. But we do not do this for our death. The truth is we are moving closer and closer to death each minute.
