As ordinary people, we often complain about others abusing us, disrespecting us, and harming us. But if we practice exchanging self for others — the letting go of self-cherishing thought and cherishing others instead — these troubles simply stop. As we do this practice we will find we no longer receive harm from others and […]
The Tantric path is entered through attaining the general path, meaning the three principal aspects of the path: renunciation, bodhichitta, and the realization of emptiness. This makes it very clear that we need these three realizations before we can enter the Vajrayana, otherwise any tantric practice we do will not even be the cause for […]
Things do exist, but they exist because they are empty. That is why the I exists; why phenomena exist; why birth, aging, and death exist; why suffering and the cessation of suffering exist. All these exist in mere name. For ordinary people like us, however, everything that is false in life appears true. Whether something […]
When I introduce the concept of the buddhas and bodhisattvas working for sentient beings to Westerners, I normally recommend that they first use their own experience of compassion as an example, as this makes it easy to understand. When we feel compassion for someone, we want to help, not harm her. In other words, we […]
Nobody can tell from external appearances who has renounced this life and who hasn’t. Renunciation is a state of mind and having lots of possessions is no indication at all. Even though somebody is a king with countless servants, stores of jewels and possessions and many rich apartments, we can’t conclude that his mind is […]
When our mind is totally aware there’s no I on these aggregates, then whether somebody praises us or puts us down, it doesn’t affect us, it doesn’t bring our life up or down. There’s continual inner peace, happiness and tranquility. We don’t suffer due to the external conditions, we don’t create negative karma by delusions […]
It is no more logical to think “I am more important than this person” than it is to think “I’m more important than this insect.” Such a view has not one single logical reason to support it but is merely dictatorial and egotistical reasoning. An ant’s life may be of little consequence to us, but […]
As it is said in the teachings, first think that every happiness — day-to-day happiness; future life happiness (deva and human rebirth); nirvana, the blissful state of peace for oneself which is experienced forever; and even the total cessation of the obscurations and completion of realizations, the peerless happiness — comes from the mind. All […]
If you listen to the advice of the Buddha – who has only compassion for sentient beings and no trace of self-centred mind; who is perfect in power, wisdom and compassion; whose holy mind is omniscient – all you get is benefit. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
You have to remember buddha nature. In the emptiness of your heart, remember you have buddha nature. Delusions are not permanent, they are not part of you, they are temporary. You can be free from delusions and negative karma. Like a mirror covered by dust, you can clean it. The more you clean it, the […]
When you are not clear about the purpose of your life, you are never clear when it comes to making decisions that affect your life. You always hesitate and are always in danger of making the wrong decision. When your only purpose for living is the benefit of others, it is very easy to make […]
Live with compassion Work with compassion Die with compassion Meditate with compassion Enjoy with compassion When problems come, Experience them with compassion. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
The whole thing, so many practices, all come down to live the daily life with bodhicitta motivation to put all the effort in that whatever you do. This way your life doesn’t get wasted and it becomes full of joy and happiness, with no regrets later, especially when you die and you can die with […]
If you have compassion in your everyday life, you collect the most extensive merit and purify much negative karma in a very short time. Many lifetimes, many eons of negative karma get purified. That helps you realize emptiness. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
From morning to night we do everything with the self-cherishing mind. Inside the house, outside the house, getting dressed, walking around, talking to people, working, eating, seeing things, shopping, going to bed—we do everything with self-cherishing. Even though everything we do is motivated by the wish to obtain temporal happiness and avoid temporal problems, in […]
Meditation on the impermanence of this life and the certainty of death is an extremely powerful method to destroy the delusions of anger and pride. If we want to destroy pride, anger, attachment and many other negative minds right away, the most powerful method is this meditation. If we want to relax and be happy, […]
Giving up the eight worldly dharmas does not mean making these eight objects non-existent; it means making attachment to them non-existent. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Leave the mind in its natural, undisturbed state. Don’t follow thoughts of “This is a problem, that is a problem!” Without labeling difficulties as problems, leave your mind in its natural state. In this way, you will stop seeing miserable conditions as problems. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Every time a problem arises, the essential thing is to immediately become aware that the problem comes from our selfish mind, that it is created by self-cherishing thoughts. As long as you put the blame outside yourself, there can be no happiness. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Whenever you hear that someone else has been successful, rejoice. Always practice rejoicing for others – whether your friend or your enemy. If you cannot practice rejoicing, no matter how long you live, you will not be happy. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
