Lama Zopa Rinpoche full length teachings

Everything we perceive, from objects to colours, is a result of the mind labelling and imputing meanings onto them. By recognizing the imputed nature of phenomena and the contradiction between appearance and reality, we can prevent the mind from solidifying mistaken beliefs and contributing to delusion, attachment, and other negative emotions.

By focusing on wisdom and understanding the ultimate nature of things we can overcome the ignorance that perpetuates delusions and cultivate a more peaceful and compassionate mind. We should consistently cultivate the motivation to benefit others, similar to a loving mother caring for her child. This motivation should be maintained throughout daily activities, not just during formal Dharma practice. Continuously monitoring and adjusting our intention to align with benefiting others helps maintain a genuine altruistic mindset.

By skillfully applying the principles of Dharma, daily actions can become a source of purification and a means to collect extensive merit. We should use the transformative power of intention and mindfulness, even in seemingly ordinary activities like sleeping to integrate Dharma practice into all aspects of our lives, utilizing every opportunity for spiritual growth and benefitting others. Engaging in circumambulation and walking meditation are practical ways to integrate these teachings into daily practice.

Our own mind has the power to shape our experiences and emotions. Labelling and interpretation play a significant role in determining what we perceive as good or bad, friend or enemy. By understanding and controlling our labelling process, we can shift from suffering to happiness, and positively influence our own well-being as well as that of others. This emphasizes the importance of mindful awareness and the potential for personal transformation through mental training.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche uses the twelve links of dependent origination to illustrate the evolution of samsara, the cycle of birth and death, and how our own mind is at the root of this cycle. Not only do the seven results of suffering come from the consciousness and karma, but all appearances in our world, whether positive or negative, stem from our mind's labelling and conceptualization.

We should spend time deeply contemplating the connection between our mind and our experiences. This understanding empowers us to choose our responses and become creators of our own happiness and well-being. By recognizing the role of our consciousness, karma, and ignorance in shaping our experiences, we can take control of our reactions, create happiness, and break the cycle of suffering.

This teaching was given at Institut Vajra Yogini, France as part of a Four Kadampa Deities Retreat from April 18 to May 11, 2003. You can see all the teachings from this retreat here:

https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/4-kadam-deities-2003/

The teachings of the Buddha provide a universal and fundamental path for liberation from suffering, which encompasses engaging in wholesome actions while refraining from unwholesome ones, subduing the mind, and following the Four Noble Truths.

While these teachings might seem peculiar to those unfamiliar, they are universal truths. Understanding karma reveals that positive actions and virtuous thoughts lead to happiness, while negative actions and thoughts result in suffering. Just as doctors diagnose sickness and its origins, the Dharma identifies the causes of suffering and its remedy, making it universal.

Transforming the mind through wisdom and detachment leads to the cessation of suffering. This transformation involves perceiving the ultimate nature of the self and other phenomena, culminating in the direct realization of emptiness. Lama Zopa Rinpoche asks us to contemplate the impermanent nature of all causative phenomena, including one's life, possessions, surroundings, and sensory enjoyments and how they can cease at any moment.

The negative imprint of past ignorance projects a truly existent appearance onto phenomena, creating the illusion that they inherently exist. The root cause of suffering is our tendency to grasp onto this false appearance and believe it to be true. This mistaken belief has been a source of suffering throughout countless lifetimes. By understanding the illusory nature of phenomena and breaking free from this misconception, one can attain liberation and lasting peace.

By meditating on emptiness and recognizing the illusory nature of the truly existent appearances projected by ignorance, we can begin to understand the emptiness of all phenomena. Even the knowing mind itself is empty, not truly existent. By understanding that all aspects of our practice and experience are empty of inherent existence, we begin to dissolve the grasping and misconceptions that perpetuate suffering.

Meditation on emptiness can serve as a powerful antidote to overwhelming desires. By viewing phenomena as illusory and impermanent, we can weaken the grip of desire and prevent it from taking hold. Just as a powerful bomb can destroy its target completely, the contemplation of emptiness can dismantle desire's hold over the mind.

Samsara and liberation, happiness and suffering, are all created by the mind's conceptualization. Every action, thought, and intention has consequences, and the mind is the ultimate creator of one's experiences. By practicing mindfulness, using the teachings to subdue delusions, and applying them to everyday life, we can transform our minds, create positive karmic imprints, and pave the way towards liberation and enlightenment.

This teaching was given at Institut Vajra Yogini, France as part of a Four Kadampa Deities Retreat from April 18-May 11, 2003. You can see all the teachings from this retreat here:

https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/4-kadam-deities-2003/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche discusses the importance of helping young people and the concept of universal education as a means to achieve this goal. He expresses a sense of urgency for universal education, as he believes there is a need for a method that can bring peace to individuals and the world, regardless of their religious background.

Rinpoche envisions an organization that focuses on youth and promotes universal education, aiming to cultivate good hearts and inspire young individuals to become compassionate and peace-loving beings who positively impact the world. By fostering compassion, wisdom, and good conduct, individuals can bring peace not only to themselves and their families but also to their countries, the world, and all sentient beings.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche illustrates the power of generating compassion towards a single sentient being by sharing the story of Getsul Tsembulwa, a disciple of the great yogi Nakpo Chöpawa, encountering a woman with leprosy who needed help crossing a river. This story shows how compassion towards even one sentient being can lead to enlightenment. The stronger the compassion, the quicker the path to enlightenment becomes. By giving up one's life and sacrificing for the welfare of another, heavy negative karma is purified, allowing one to see the true nature of the deity. Generating compassion towards one sentient being can make that being the most kind and precious person in one's life.

Generating compassion leads to bodhichitta, which is the root of the Mahayana path of enlightenment. By cultivating compassion, one can achieve all the realizations of the path, traverse the five paths and ten bhumis, and attain tantric realizations that expedite the path to enlightenment. Through these realizations, one gains the infinite qualities of a Buddha's holy body, speech, and mind, which are unimaginable and limitless. Even making a small offering, such as a rice grain or a flower, to Buddha or a representation of Buddha, brings inconceivable benefits. The ultimate result of such an offering is full enlightenment. Once enlightened, one can liberate countless sentient beings from samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment, thus continuously benefiting others.

It is important to practice holy Dharma throughout life, as death is certain and only holy Dharma can guide one at that crucial moment. Rinpoche advises keeping the mind in the lam-rim, the stages of the path to enlightenment, and engaging in virtuous actions aligned with the teachings. By doing so, every aspect of life becomes meaningful and contributes to one's progress towards liberation and enlightenment.

At the end of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's talk, he delves into meditation on emptiness. Realizing the emptiness of the self, the ultimate nature of the "I," is crucial. One should perceive the self as completely nonexistent, without even the slightest atom of inherent existence. This realization strikes at the root of samsara, ignorance.

This teaching was given at Institut Vajra Yogini, France as part of a Four Kadampa Deities Retreat from April 18-May 11, 2003. You can see all the teachings from this retreat here:

https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/4-kadam-deities-2003/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche pays homage to Chenrezig (The Compassion Buddha) and Gelongma Palmo, a fully ordained nun who embodied the qualities of the three-time buddhas and had a deep understanding of the past, present, and future.

In a blissful realm, a unique lotus was discovered, and the holy child, Chenrezig, was found inside. Chenrezig made a vow to lead all beings to enlightenment and emitted beams from his holy body, liberating beings in the six realms. However, feeling overwhelmed by the suffering of sentient beings, Chenrezig's commitment wavered, causing his holy body to crack. Amitabha Buddha descended, blessed the pieces, and transformed them into eleven faces.

Gelongma Palmo, the daughter of the king of Orgyen, renounced worldly life and became a fully ordained nun. She excelled in the five knowledges and strictly upheld her precepts. Due to past karma, she developed leprosy. In a dream, she was advised to practice Chenrezig, which reduced her pain. However, she eventually grew bored until, in another dream, Manjushri advised her to practice Chenrezig and gave her a pill symbolizing attainment.

After taking the pill, Gelongma Palmo's infections disappeared, and her sickness gradually healed. By reciting the short and long mantra of the Compassion Buddha and performing nyung-nä, she completely healed her sicknesses within a year. Through her loving-kindness and compassion, she gained control over the ten guardians and eight nagas, who became Dharma protectors.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche shares stories of the extraordinary effects of reciting OM MANI PADME HUM, such as the purification of negative karma and the generation of blessings for oneself and others. He also shares stories about the lineage lamas of the Chenrezig practice.

There is a special connection between the Compassion Buddha and the Tibetan people. Historically, Chenrezig has been a special deity for Tibet. Nowadays, Western people also have a close connection with Chenrezig as many of them receive teachings and guidance from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is considered an incarnation of Chenrezig.

Reciting mantras like the Eleven-Face mantra and OM MANI PADME HUM, even once, can purify heavy negative karma, and regular recitation can have immense benefits, including purification and the generation of blessings that can extend to future generations. Reciting the mantra while swimming in water can purify the negative karma of the animals living in the water.

This teaching was given at Institut Vajra Yogini, France as part of a Four Kadampa Deities Retreat from April 18 to May 11, 2003. You can see all the teachings from this retreat here:

https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/4-kadam-deities-2003/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche discusses a meditation practice focused on the sound of rain, suggesting two meditations: one on the conventional truth of the rain and the other on the emptiness of the rain. The meditation involves analyzing how the sound of rain appears to one's mind, questioning whether the sound is merely labelled by the mind or if it appears to exist independently from its own side. The correct view, according to the Prasangika school, is that the sound is merely imputed by the mind on the base of the sense of the ear.

Meditate on the sound's hallucinatory nature and its emptiness, recognizing that the sound is not inherently existent and is merely imputed by the mind. The goal is to differentiate between the hallucinatory appearance of the sound and its ultimate nature, emptiness. Meditation on emptiness helps break the root of samsara, but it is crucial to start the practice with bodhichitta motivation to make one's life most beneficial for sentient beings.

We can meditate intensively on the emptiness and ultimate nature of the sound, using the example of a dream where sounds are believed to be true but are actually empty and non-existent. By understanding the false nature of dream sounds, one can recognize the projection of inherent existence on the sound perceived in waking life.

Rinpoche talks about the importance of mindfulness and awareness in daily life, using the lam-rim (graduated path) as an antidote to delusions and a means to practice awareness. Sound can be used as an object of meditation to cultivate wisdom and bodhichitta, leading to liberation and enlightenment for oneself and all sentient beings.

This teaching was given at Institut Vajra Yogini, France as part of a Four Kadampa Deities Retreat from April 18 to May 11, 2003. You can see all the teachings from this retreat here:

https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/4-kadam-deities-2003/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how to think well about why we are doing this retreat; about how to make the retreat most beneficial. Many of us received the permission to practice the four Kadampa deities from HIs Holiness the Dalai Lama, and so doing this retreat well with lam-rim meditation, trying to develop our minds in the path to enlightenment, is to repay His Holiness’s kindness. Rinpoche also dedicates the retreat that the political leaders in mainland China come to recognize that His Holiness is the Buddha of Compassion and give Tibet back to the Tibetan people, for peace throughout the world, for the quick success of the Maitreya project, for the flourishing of all the FPMT centers and projects, and for all sentient beings to achieve enlightenment. Rinpoche explains this is how we should think in every session.

Rinpoche then explains that in order to be qualified to receive the permission to practice the four Kadampa deities, we need to receive a great initiation. Then we can generate ourselves as a deity and visualize the mandala, which are fundamental tantric practices that are causes to swiftly achieve enlightenment.

Rinpoche guides us in developing a strong motivation of bodhicitta. By recalling the preciousness of this human rebirth, how rare it is, how difficult it is to create its causes, and how valuable it is in benefiting not only ourselves but all sentient beings from whose kindness we receive every past, present and future happiness. We must bring every single sentient being to enlightenment as quickly as possible, and what makes it possible to achieve enlightenment quickly is by practicing tantra. This should be our motivation for receiving the Chenresig initiation. And then the main purpose of reciting the mantra Om Mani Padme Hung is to develop compassion.

Rinpoche shares several stories illustrating the results of killing and stealing. The presence of insects and animals eating crops is a result of negative karma related to stealing. By killing them, one may temporarily eliminate the current individuals causing damage, but the underlying karmic cause remains, leading to new beings appearing and continuing the cycle. Therefore, the problem persists unless the negative karma is purified.

This teaching was given at Institut Vajra Yogini, France as part of a Four Kadampa Deities Retreat from April 18 to May 11, 2003. You can see all the teachings from this retreat here:

https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/4-kadam-deities-2003/

Without Lamrim, life is seen as problematic, creating suffering and lacking real happiness. Lamrim practice is more crucial than material wealth, as inner peace and happiness stem from the mind's development. All forms of happiness, whether mundane or supramundane, ultimately originate from Dharma. Having a strong mind, imbued with compassion, wisdom, and an understanding of Dharma, helps diminish the impact of life's difficulties and we can effectively cope with challenges, experiencing more happiness and peace.

Universal responsibility is the key to cultivating compassion, preventing harm to others, and bringing peace and happiness. There’s incredible, great urgency, without delaying even a second, there’s the need to change our own mind, to develop the mind, the good heart. From waking up to going to sleep, we should approach every action with the intention of serving sentient beings, promoting their happiness, and living a meaningful life rather than the unhealthy mindset of self-cherishing. Happiness arises when one thinks of others rather than focusing solely on oneself. Whenever we cherish the I, the minute we cherish the I, the nature of that thought is not a happy mind, it’s not a relaxed mind. Changing this attitude leads to a sense of freedom and relaxation in the mind.

Scientific evidence has shown a connection between a disturbed mind and physical health issues, individuals with impatience and a bad temper are more prone to heart attacks. There is a correlation between a self-centred mindset and the ease of experiencing anger and negative emotions.

This teaching was given at Institut Vajra Yogini, France as part of a Four Kadampa Deities Retreat from April 18 to May 11, 2003. You can see all the teachings from this retreat here:

https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/4-kadam-deities-2003/

On April 8, 2023, five days before showing the aspect of passing away, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered a White Tara oral transmission and visualization at Kopan Monastery to Glen H. Mullin and a group of his students.

This was one of Rinpoche’s last recorded teachings in this life and offers timeless advice on benefiting and cherishing others.

Rinpoche begins the White Tara oral transmission at 36:27 of the video

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered teachings and advice to a group of Vajrasattva retreaters at Kopan Monastery on April 7, 8, and 9, 2023.  In his final teaching from this series, Rinpoche discussed how to develop one's mind in Dharma, the necessity of practising the lamrim and concludes by offering the oral transmission of The Essential Nectar. This was one of the last teaching events Rinpoche offered before showing the aspect of passing away on April 13, 2023.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered teachings and advice to a group of Vajrasattva retreaters at Kopan Monastery on April 7, 8, and 9, 2023.  In his second teaching from this series, on April 8, Rinpoche discussed the benefits of purification practice, the necessity of pleasing and receiving the blessings of the guru, the importance of meditating on death and impermanence, and continues offering the oral transmission of The Essential Nectar. This was one of the last teaching events Rinpoche offered before showing the aspect of passing away on April 13, 2023.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered teachings and advice to a group of Vajrasattva retreaters at Kopan Monastery on April 7, 8, and 9, 2023. In his first teaching from this series, Rinpoche overviewed some of the many benefits of purification practice and began offering the lung of The Essential Nectar. This was one of the last teaching events Rinpoche offered before showing the aspect of passing away on April 13, 2023.

A long life puja was offered by the entire FPMT organization to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on December 21, 2022 at Kopan Monastery during the fifty-third Kopan lamrim meditation course. This puja was offered in accordance with the advice of Khandro Kunga Bhuma (Khandro-la), and is part of a collection of practices offered for Rinpoche’s health and the well-being of the entire FPMT organization.

During this puja, Rinpoche spoke about the meaning and benefits of the long life puja and how to visualize all the offerings to make it most beneficial.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche began a refuge ceremony on December 25, 2022 from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery by explaining the importance of relying on Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. By protecting our karma we are able to be free from samsara.

Before the refuge ceremony begins (at 13:33), Rinpoche explained the Lesser Vehicle refuge and also Mahayana refuge and shared the motivation for taking refuge.

While guiding those in attendance in prostrations, Rinpoche discussed the significance of holding one’s hands in the mudra of prostration at the crown of the head, throat, and heart, explaining that this purifies the negative karmas collected with body, speech, and mind from beginningless rebirths and creates the cause to achieve Buddha’s holy body, speech, and mind. Rinpoche also discussed what to visualize when doing prostrations and the benefits of this practice.

Rinpoche then offered refuge and lay vows.

Please note, the video recording stops just before Rinpoche begins a jenang ritual of Vajrasattva.

Put all of your effort into realizing dependent arising, Lama Zopa Rinpoche urges in his December 25, 2022 teaching from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal. It is childish to believe that things exist from their own side, Rinpoche explains, so don’t cling to hallucinated appearances.

Whatever you are doing, meditate on how the I came into existence. Why? Because all problems come from believing that the I exists from its own side. The more you meditate, the more you realize that what exists from its own side does not exist at all.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered the complete oral transmission (lung) of The Essential Nectar of Holy Doctrine, also known as the Essence of Nectar, one of the eighteen great lamrim texts by Yeshe Tsondro. It was given over two teachings from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery on December 22 and 23, 2022.

This recording is the second teaching from December 23.

This is one of the most important texts for anyone sincerely studying the lamrim or who receives lamrim preliminaries from Rinpoche. All are welcome to take this oral transmission from the videos and receive it. As Rinpoche has explained, even if you don’t understand the words at all, even hearing the sound of Buddha’s teachings becomes a great purification and collection of merit. It is very important not to distract your mind or let it wander.

Anyone with interest may receive this very previous oral transmission from Rinpoche by listening to the two videos as Rinpoche has instructed.

Rinpoche begins offering the oral transmission at 1:33:02.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered the complete oral transmission (lung) of The Essential Nectar of Holy Doctrine, also known as the Essence of Nectar, one of the eighteen great lamrim texts by Yeshe Tsondro. It was given over two teachings from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery on December 22 and 23, 2022.

This recording is the first teaching from December 22.

This is one of the most important texts for anyone sincerely studying the lamrim or who receives lamrim preliminaries from Rinpoche. All are welcome to take this oral transmission from the videos and receive it. As Rinpoche has explained, even if you don’t understand the words at all, even hearing the sound of Buddha’s teachings becomes a great purification and collection of merit. It is very important not to distract your mind or let it wander.

Anyone with interest may receive this very previous oral transmission from Rinpoche by listening to the two videos as Rinpoche has instructed.

Rinpoche begins offering the oral transmission at 1:31:40.

In this world, there are so many ways to help others, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains in this teaching given on December 20, 2022 from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal. With a bodhicitta motivation, we receive more than skies of merit, and then we can benefit so many sentient beings.

First, we need to equalize ourselves with others, we must cherish others like we cherish ourselves. Secondly, we exchange ourselves with others. Rather than working for ourselves alone which is just one person, we can work for others—eat for others, sleep for others, help for others, be healthy so we can help others, do business for others, shopping and daily life—everything we can do for others.

It is most important to help others. Even a small service like offering your seat to someone who needs it, offering any small benefit to help someone else, this is so important. This is so important. It is great pleasure to serve others, to take care of others. Serving others is what makes life meaningful. This is how to develop bodhicitta—from each service you offer to someone else, you achieve enlightenment.

On the occasion of Lama Tsongkhapa Day, December 18, 2022, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered a teaching at the fifty-third Kopan November Course about the very special qualities of Lama Tsongkhapa's teachings.

One of the qualities is how Lama Tsongkhapa clearly explained the lamrim. This makes it possible for us to not make mistakes on the path to enlightenment.

Rinpoche explains that Lama Tsongkhapa received teachings directly from Manjushri, like a guru and disciple in the same room. The essence of what Manjushri taught Lama Tsongkhapa are the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment.

Another special quality of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings is his clarification of the Prasangika-Madhyamaka view of emptiness. These teachings were so clear and extensive, “the finest,” Rinpoche explains.

This view is very important—to believe that things truly exist from their own side, or to believe that nothing exists at all—both of these wrong beliefs prevent us from abandoning the root of samsara, the ignorance holding the I as truly existent.

We bear unbelievable hardships for this body that we cherish more than anything. We keep it clean, spend lots of money on clothes and food for it, spend time exercising, doing hard work for money, and so much worry and fears taking care of the body. This is the same for billionaires and poor people, there is so much discontentment and dissatisfaction, we try to get everything we can from the world, we try to find happiness but we experience continual physical and mental problems, relationship, and business problems. In spite of all these hardships we bear for the body, one day we will die, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains in this teaching given on December 17 from Kopan Monastery during the fifty-third lamrim meditation course. All of these efforts and hardships we undertake for our body, if done with attachment to this life, becomes negative karma. It is so difficult to think of future lives, we can’t bear it. We don’t think of impermanence-death in everyday life. Every day we think we are going to live many years. Even on the same morning that we die, we may think this. We cheat ourselves bearing hardships for this body, which we only have for this one life.

Rather than using this body to obtain things that have no meaning, we can use it and bear all hardships to practice Dharma, for the happiness of future lives. If we postpone our Dharma practice, we have no way of knowing how long we are going to live. Some people think they will practice Dharma only when they are old. But there’s no guarantee we will ever become old.

Rinpoche explains the benefits of receiving lungs (oral transmissions) and the motivation for receiving them. Rinpoche then offers those in attendance the oral transmissions of “Calling the Guru from Afar,” and the Dorje Khadro fire puja (at 1:30:52 in the video).

Any action stained by the eight worldly dharmas becomes nonvirtue, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains in his teaching given on December 16 at Kopan Monastery during the fifty-third lamrim meditation course. Even spending one’s whole life in retreat in a cave in the Himalayan mountains or in Africa somewhere; even if you teach Dharma your whole life, if you do these things with attachment to the happiness and comfort of this life, it becomes negative. To practice Dharma means to renounce the eight worldly dharmas.

We can look at problems as positive, as hallucinations like in a dream. When problems are appearing, instead of believing that appearance is real, which causes so much suffering and torture from believing that it is real, analyze how whatever appears is a hallucination. This is the answer to anger, attachment, pride, it helps with everything. It is like an atomic bomb over delusion, it is the bodhisattva practice.

If we think about how the I exits, as a dependent arising, you destroy the delusions. We can be the best psychologist, teacher, doctor, and police — this provides a solution to every problem, when we don’t cling to hallucinated appearances but see them as empty. Ignorance fabricates a truly existent I and cheats us. This is an important mindfulness practice, to look at the hallucination as a hallucination. The I is merely imputed by the mind, action is merely imputed by the mind, the object is merely imputed by the mind, so everything is merely imputed by the mind — that’s what we must think to eliminate problems.

Harming those who harm us is very ignorant, Lama Zopa Rinpoche warns us in his December 15 teaching from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery. Fighting back when someone harms us is the behavior of an animal. We create mountains of negative karma when we fight back due to harming others. The result of this is endless samsaric suffering, it goes on and on and on.

Conversely, if we practice patience and compassion and don’t harm others, the result is benefit—we receive so much support and happiness from others, and this goes on and on. What animals and insects do, and humans who harm those who harm them, this is great ignorance and results in unbelievable suffering.

Rinpoche discusses the various ways we can benefit animals and insects including bringing them around holy objects and blessing their food and water. Rinpoche also shared stories of insects who created extensive merit in relation to holy objects.

In Buddhism, the right view is dependent arising, and the right conduct is not to harm. Everything comes from the mind, we have to meditate on this. Every problem we experience was created by our mind, there’s no one to blame, we have to change our mind to make it happy and in the nature of virtue and health. If the mind is dirty, everything appears as a problem. The negative can appear positive by transforming the mind. We can experience anything negative that happens to us for sentient beings, taking it on for all sentient beings. We can experience it and offer it for all beings to be free from samsara and achieve enlightenment. The more we understand the kindness of sentient beings and how they are so precious, the more we can experience suffering for them.

When problems arise in our lives—someone has harmed us or perhaps we have harmed someone, we can relate our own experiences to the meditation on how everything comes from the mind, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains in this teaching from December 14 at the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal. All happiness and suffering comes from the mind—we are the creator, everything we experience comes from our karma.

When we don’t accept that what we experience comes from our own mind, it is very difficult to practice patience and compassion for those who harm us, and we want to harm back. It is important to see our own examples from our own life that everything comes from the mind. Then we are able to subdue our minds, practice compassion, and help many people through our experience. It is so important, rather than believing that everything we experience is true, to think of it as a hallucination.

Anger can’t arise when we recognize any problem as a hallucination—it is empty, it is merely labeled, so like this we need to meditate on dependent arising. This is so important to destroy ignorance, which is the root of all delusion. This is an important daily life meditation, not only studying emptiness philosophically, we need to digest and experience it. Otherwise, if we don’t meditate, we are just collecting information.

We should have bodhicitta motivation in our daily life, our work, and in everything we do, Lama Zopa Rinpoche reminds us in this teaching given on December 13, 2022 from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal. This is the best motivation to have—to remember that you are just one and others are numberless.

Then there are so many things we do to achieve temporary happiness resulting in so many hardships. We risk danger and death to achieve temporary happiness through attaining wealth, becoming famous, or pursuing hobbies such as climbing Mount Everest. Bearing hardships to achieve ultimate happiness—the ceasing of all the delusions and karma—this so much more important.

Rinpoche reminds us that the FPMT organization has everything one needs to prepare for and help at the time of death, including the Liberation Cloth, which contains powerful mantras to benefit those who have passed away, including our pets and animal friends.

Rinpoche discussed the “best preparation for death” which is to practice patience and stop anger. When we get angry we lose our freedom, we lose our own peace and happiness because anger destroys our good karma. Because our mind is obscured, we never know who is a bodhisattva, enlightened being, or even your own guru, so by directing anger at others we risk destroying eons of merit. Anger also postpones our realizations and causes us to be reborn in the lower realms.

Rinpoche also discusses the virtues of practicing contentment and controlling desire. So much of life’s problems come from desire and attachment. When we practice contentment it is a preparation for death and all future lives up to enlightenment.

Practicing patience, not harming others—every time you are able to do this, you are preparing for your death in the best way possible.

Things can suddenly change in life with no warning, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains in a teaching given at the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery on December 12, 2023.

We never expect that someone close to our heart could die without warning, but this happens all the time in the world. If there's a strongly grasping mind, we can easily become crazy when this happens, and it can take a long time to recover. In addition, in the West we don’t know how to help the person who died. We live our lives with the expectation that ourselves and everyone in our lives will live forever.

The purpose of being born human is to be more kind, to have a good heart, and to give happiness to everyone we meet. Not only human beings, but also insects—no matter how tiny they are, we must try not to harm and only benefit others as much as possible.

#LamaZopaRinpoche began this teaching, given on December 9, 2022 from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, reminding us that everything comes from the mind—depression, feeling suicidal, and everything we experience. When problems arise it becomes clear whether we are able to actually practice Dharma or not. If we examine our motivation in daily life, what arises is mostly anger and attachment. Virtuous thoughts are very rare. As a result, most of our actions come from negative karma and the result from them is suffering.

With one single action to benefit others, we achieve two goals: happiness for others and happiness for ourselves. Before becoming buddhas and bodhisattvas, they generated the realization of bodhicitta. This realization comes from great compassion understanding the numberless sufferings of numberless sentient beings. Rinpoche stressed the importance of having loving-kindness and compassion in our lives.

All of the problems in our lives come from the self-cherishing thought and not cherishing others. It is good to always think of serving others. If you live your life this way, you don’t cheat others, you don’t cause suffering, only happiness. Your future lives get better and better. We need to realize what samsara is and the nature of suffering. This is needed to generate compassion, bodhicitta, and to become a bodhisattva and a Buddha.

Achieving happiness depends on how we use our minds. We need to change ourselves. If we don’t want suffering we need to change our mind. We need to realize emptiness, actualize bodhicitta, and achieve enlightenment.

Everything comes from the mind, #LamaZopaRinpoche reminds us in this second teaching from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery, given on December 8, 2022. Samsara, nirvana, suffering, enlightenment, all appearances we have, anything we hold as good or bad - all of this comes from the mind. Rinpoche uses the letter Z as an example. This letter appears and we hold on to that appearance. In fact, everything is like this. Nothing exists from its own side, not even an atom. Everything comes from the mind, is merely imputed by the mind, and later due to the false hallucination, appears as totally existing.

Do everything for sentient beings, Rinpoche advises, with a bodhicitta motivation. We have to cultivate the thought to naturally wish to lead every sentient being we meet to enlightenment, like how a mother feels for her child who fell in a fire. Even one second of her child being in a fire is unbearable to her. This is how it should feel toward sentient beings is samsara.

Rinpoche shared the following quotation from Lama Tsongkhapa's Three Principal Aspects of the Path to Enlightenment:

Without the wisdom realizing ultimate reality,

Even though you have generated renunciation and the mind of enlightenment,

You cannot cut the root cause of circling.

Therefore, attempt the method to realize dependent arising.

To eliminate ignorance, we have to realize the Prasangika school’s view of emptiness. The four schools happened in Buddha’s time in India, but the Prasangika view - this is the one we have to realize.

Rinpoche offers the oral transmission of the Heart Sutra starting at 2:14:33 in the video.

In this first teaching #LamaZopaRinpoche offered to the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, on December 7, 2022, Rinpoche thanked everyone for coming to Nepal to learn lamrim (the gradual path to enlightenment) and get to know the mind. The purpose of this is not just to intellectually learn, but to train the mind in non-anger, non-attachment, non-ignorance. We have tried everything for our happiness - studying in the university, trying yoga, so many activities in our busy lives done with self-cherishing thought. But we didn’t think to protect our minds, didn’t think of developing ourselves. Lamrim introduces us to who we are. The more we know Dharma, the more we know ourselves. Otherwise, we cheat ourselves with wrong concepts and ignorance.

The answer to why we have been suffering since beginningless rebirths is in the lamrim. The effect of meditating on the lamrim is peace and freedom because it leaves so many positive imprints for the mind to become closer to enlightenment. It brings the light of Dharma wisdom within oneself. This is called the gradual path to enlightenment because we can’t just jump to bodhicitta without having the lower realizations, we need the foundation. However, even though we are starting at the beginning, it is important to practice with the motivation of bodhicitta.

#LamaZopaRinpoche offered this teaching at the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan on December 11, 2022.

Other’s happiness depends on how we act with our body, speech, and mind. Not only within our families, but everywhere we go in the world, anyone we meet, even animals, their happiness is in our hands, so we must be kind and peaceful. We have responsibility for the happiness and suffering of others, not just for our own. And everyone is the source of our own happiness—past, present, and future up to enlightenment. They are the source of numberless Buddhas, Dharma, and Sangha. Starting with our parents, partners, children, and extending outward to everyone—poor, rich, educated, uneducated, we must respect everyone. We should respect everyone just like we respect His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Yeshe.

We must be kind with our body, speech, and mind by doing pleasant actions to others. We can use sweet words, praise, and honorific language to others, this makes them very happy. No one, including animals, likes rude sounds directed at them, this causes others to feel threatened or run away. We can offer a smile from our heart to others, it not only creates the cause to be a very beautiful person in future lives, it also becomes the cause of enlightenment when done with bodhicitta. We can also be kind to others with our mind—how we think about those we meet, cultivating loving-kindness and compassion toward them, this is incredible. By having a good heart benefiting others, everything becomes the cause of enlightenment.

We can’t bring peace and harmony into our lives or our work with a selfish mind. A selfish mind causes others to be unhappy with us and creates so many problems. We have to work for others, at the beginning of anything we do, we can think, “I want to help others, I want to help others.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continually stresses the importance of remembering impermanence and death, preparing for our own deaths, and helping others at the time of death. In this teaching, given at Thekchen Choling in Singapore on September 1, Rinpoche reminds us how unbelievably rare it is to receive this perfect human rebirth. Since we have been so fortunate to receive this, and we cannot say for certain when we will die, we must make the most use of the opportunity we have as human beings, in the most beneficial way—by practicing Dharma.

During along life puja offered to Rinpoche on September 11 at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, Rinpoche offered the teaching, "The Long Life Puja is Not a Real Long Life Puja." In this teaching, Rinpoche explains many aspects of the long life puja that are so powerful to consider. 

Requesting the guru to have a long life purifies negative karma created in relation to the guru, Rinpoche explains. Disturbing the guru’s holy mind, having non-devotional thoughts arise, belittling the guru—these are very heavy negative karmas which are purified by doing the requesting prayer to the guru. Requesting the guru to have a long life also becomes a method for us to have a long life. The long life puja is a "very special party," Rinpoche reminds us. "If you read the prayers, if you pay attention, it leaves a positive imprint on your mind to actualize the path to enlightenment, sutra and tantra, by listening to Lama Chopa. You understand? It is a very incredible teaching."

"We are doing a long-life puja, but it is not there," Rinpoche explains. "A reallong life puja is not there. Everything is empty from its own side. Not nihilism, but empty from its own side. So not only this long life puja, but our whole life, from birth to death, from beginningless rebirths up to now and also into the future, there is nothing real appearing from its own side. It's all a hallucination. You have to meditate like that."

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued hisvideo teachings on thought transformationfrom Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore in August and September, 2022. Here is a summary of the most recent teaching recorded on September 14, 2022:

By not harming others, we are creating the cause for peace in the future, Rinpoche explains. If we fight those who harm us in this life, it creates the cause to fight them again in future lives. This can go on for eons with no peace. Those who win create the cause to lose in the future, and those who lose create the case to win in the future. This is repeated on and on endlessly, a cycle of negative karma and no harmony. If we follow the path of not harming, not fighting, this is the way to create peace in the future. 

Rinpoche leads a tonglen meditation starting at 2:35:27 in the teaching.

Rinpoche also offered the Refuge ceremony and some advice regarding taking refuge, starting at 49:56 in the teaching.   

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued hisvideo teachings on thought transformationfrom Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore in August and September. Here is a summary of the teaching offered on September 10, 2022:

During Rinpoche's September 3 teaching (#134: In Your Life as a Couple, Practice Good Heart), Rinpoche offered the oral transmission for Lama Tsongkhapa's Utilizing Suffering in the Path to Enlightenment. Rinpoche began giving commentary on this important thought transformation text in the September 7 teaching (#135: The Great Difference Between Taking and Not Taking Vows).

In this latest teaching from September 10, Rinpoche continues the commentary on Utilizing Suffering in the Path to Enlightenment starting at 40:06.

During this commentary, Rinpoche discusses the benefits of experiencing suffering, including:

When You Experience Suffering, You Develop Renunciation of SamsaraWhen You Experience Suffering, You Develop Trust in the Objects of RefugeWhen You Experience Suffering, It Dispels ArroganceWhen You Experience Suffering, You Become Careful of Negative KarmaWhen You Experience Suffering, You Enjoy VirtueWhen You Experience Suffering, You Develop Compassion for Sentient Beings

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued hisvideo teachings on thought transformationfrom Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore in August and September. Here is a summary of the teaching offered on September 7, 2022:

The most important Dharma, Rinpoche teaches us, is compassion. If you are becoming kinder and more compassionate, this means you are practicing Dharma.

Rinpoche discusses the importance of taking vows. Our virtue is much more extensive after having taken vows than if we have not taken any. This is also true for the non-virtues: it is heavier negative karma for someone ordained to commit a trivial misdeed than for a lay person to indulge in the ten non-virtues. This is why it is so heavy when people who hold bodhisattva vows, and even more so, tantric vows, commit misdeeds. We should take and receive vows to receive a human rebirth again because there is no cause for a higher rebirth other than practicing ethics. We create great merit even by keeping even one precept. By taking vows, one's virtue increases continuously—even while sleeping, and by not having vows and committing non-virtue, one's negative karma increases continuously. Because of this, we need to purify our negative karma to stop it from increasing every day.

Rinpoche offers the lung of the Vajrasattva long and short mantras (1:31:17), to help us with our practice or purification.

During Rinpoche's September 3 teaching (#134 In Your Life as a Couple, Practice Good Heart), Rinpoche offered the lung for Lama Tsongkhapa's Utilizing Suffering in the Path to Enlightenment.  In this teaching, Rinpoche began translating and offering commentary on this important thought transformation teaching by Lama Tsongkhapa at 1:40:14. 

For those of us living as a couple in relationships, we need to practice having a good heart. With body, speech, and mind, we have incredible opportunities to collect good karma. If we dedicate our own lives to serving others, to create happiness and reduce suffering in others, then we influence our companions to gradually do the same. This is really offering so much help to them, helping them to be free from samsara and attain enlightenment more quickly. Even if not thinking about enlightenment, even if not Buddhist, it is still very logical to practice a good heart because it brings so much happiness to others.

Rinpoche offers the oral transmission of Lama Tsongkhapa’s thought transformation teaching, Utilizing Suffering in the Path to Enlightenment at 1:13:44 in the video.

At the end of this teaching, Rinpoche also shared some advice offered to a geshe in Singapore who contracted Covid-19. Rinpoche requested that copies of this advice be made available so that those who receive it will, “enjoy the most and be most happy.” This full advice is available to all here: https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/how-to-think-about-obstacles-and-look-at-everything-as-positive/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued his video teachings on thought transformation from Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore in August. Here is a summary of the teaching offered on August 16, 2022:

Rinpoche offers some of the history of how he began teaching courses at Kopan Monastery in Nepal and how the FPMT organization began (starting at 28:12).

Real happiness comes from a good heart, Rinpoche reminds us, not come from the outside. Using the example of Milarepa, who externally had nothing but had incredible realizations and inner peace and happiness, we can see that happiness comes from the mind, not from what we have. Believing that happiness comes from outside, including how much wealth we accumulate, causes great suffering and dissatisfaction, as well as so much worry and fear.

For those of us living as lay couples, Rinpoche advises that we practice the ten virtues together and Rinpoche also suggests practicing the ten Dharma conducts.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued his video teachings on thought  transformation from Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore in August.  Here is a summary Thought Transformation video #132, offered on August  14, 2022: Make your suffering into the best happiness, Rinpoche urges us. All of  the pain we face in life came from our mind—our self-cherishing thought  with attachment, anger, and ignorance harmed others and now we  experience the evolution of that. We can use our pain as a cause to  achieve enlightenment, not only for ourselves like taking drugs for our  benefit alone, but for all sentient beings. This is so important to  write down and remember every day. When something undesirable  happens, remember this. Whether physical or mental pain—we can make  it into the best happiness by enjoying it. Every single suffering of all  sentient beings we take onto the path of enlightenment. This makes life so  happy.

Whenever we see a suffering sentient being we can do this, we can  practice tonglen, by sincerely taking on other sentient beings’  suffering and giving our happiness to them in return. Each time we do  tonglen, we collect more merit than the sky and become closer and closer to enlightenment, and more and more distant from samsara. 

The goal is to experience the suffering of sentient beings so that they  become enlightened, free from samsara. While there is pain, death,  relationship problems, etc., we experience it for all sentient beings,  for them to be free from suffering and achieve enlightenment.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued his video teachings on thought transformation from Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore in August. Here is a summary of the teaching offered on August 13, 2022:

To live life as a couple, you need wisdom and compassion, Rinpoche teaches us. If we don't have this, life together is so much suffering, so many problems. This is due to thinking in the wrong way—with the self-cherishing thought and ignorance, which are the opposite of compassion and wisdom. Depending on how much compassion and wisdom a couple has developed is the degree to which they will be happy or suffer. Each person has to have compassion for the other, and also they must each have the wisdom to see which actions in relation to the other are right or wrong. Otherwise, the relationship is total hallucination.

The more you learn Buddhadharma, the more wisdom you develop. To try and help each other, encourage each other to abandon negative karma as much as possible and inspire each other to create good karma. To do this, you can engage in compassionate activities together, helping others.

In these degenerative times, we desperately need lojong—thought transformation—where we transform suffering into happiness.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued his video teachings on thought

transformation from Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore in August.

Here is a summary of the teaching offered on August 10, 2022:

It is very important to understand how anger destroys your happiness. By

getting angry at a bodhisattva, our merits are destroyed, we will be

reborn in hell, and realizations will be delayed. And by getting angry

at a buddha, even more merit is destroyed. Since we cannot tell who is a

bodhisattva and who is a buddha, we have to be very, very careful of

anger and put so much effort into practicing patience. We can train our

mind to practice patience, it gets easier the more we practice. Since

anger is the cause of hell suffering, we should stop it. Therefore,

motivate every morning to practice patience. Otherwise, anger suddenly

arises. You have to prepare yourself with determination to stop it.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered this teaching on August 7, 2022 to elders who attend Chinese-language Sunday morning talks with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore. This is excellent universal advice for students young and old!

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his video teachings on thought transformation from Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore at the request of Telo Tulku Rinpoche, Ganden Tendar Ling FPMT Buddhist Center, Aryadeva FPMT Study Group, and the Save Tibet Foundation in Russia. Here is a summary of his August 6, 2022 teaching:

Most of the world is suffering, Rinpoche reminds us. Whether rich or poor, there is suffering from disease; dangers of the elements such as earthquakes, floods, or fires; violence - the suffering of samsara is constant. Even science cannot stop these dangers. Dharma is the only way to be free from all of these sufferings by purifying the mind which is the cause. Our happiness and suffering depend on how we think, and Dharma is medicine for the mind.

The definition of Dharma, according to the Kadampa geshes, is any action of body, speech, or mind that becomes an antidote to delusions. Dharma is anything that benefits, that brings happiness beyond this life up to enlightenment. Until we are free from samsara, we need happiness in all future lives.

A few hours after his discharge from a hospital in Singapore for a medical procedure, Lama Zopa Rinpoche joined the Amitabha Buddhist Centre (ABC) community in Singapore for their special celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 87th birthday on July 6, 2022. Rinpoche offered incredibly powerful and precious words about His Holiness’s qualities, guru devotion, and impermanence. 

“Definitely in your heart, rely on His Holiness and often do requests,” Rinpoche advises us. “Request the success of realizations and to grant blessings in your heart and to bless your heart to transform it into the path to enlightenment. As His Holiness often emphasizes, bodhicitta and emptiness. Often when he talks, every time, that is kind of the basis, the foundation. So you practice like that from your heart. From your side, you rely on him, you request and rely on His Holiness, then definitely from His Holiness’s side, definitely he will all the time guide you from life to life, up to enlightenment.”

“You might think His Holiness is not there,” Rinpoche explained, “But in reality, His Holiness is there. You have to know that. His Holiness sees you all the time. His Holiness sees you day and night. Whatever you are doing, His Holiness sees you all the time. Because the past numberless buddhas, present numberless buddhas, and future numberless buddhas see you all the time, without break even for a second, never distracted away from that, even for a second.” 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his video teachings on thought transformation. Here is a summary of a teaching given on June 26 from Kopan Monastery, Nepal, at the request of Telo Tulku Rinpoche, Ganden Tendar Ling FPMT Buddhist Center, Aryadeva FPMT Study Group, and the Save Tibet Foundation in Russia. 

The first kindness of sentient beings is that they are the source of all past, present, and future happiness including enlightenment, Lama Zopa Rinpoche reminds us. They are from whom we receive Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha and in whom we take refuge. A buddha comes from a bodhisattva. A bodhisattva comes from bodhichitta, and bodhichitta comes from great compassion. Great compassion comes from all those sentient beings whose minds are obscured and suffering including every hell being, every hungry ghost, every animal, every human being, every sura, and every asura being.

Before you practice thought transformation, you have to understand that sentient beings are so precious and we must stop harming others. If we remember the kindness of sentient beings, naturally we will respect them and the mind will be less depressed.

Rinpoche discusses “the second kindness,” the kindness of sentient being when they were our human mother (55:30), offering commentary on several points related to this.

The “third kindness” is that our shelter, food, and clothing came from the kindness of sentient beings (1:13:47).

Sentient beings are like a guru, Rinpoche explains. They are wish-granting jewels more precious than gold, diamonds, or sapphires. Cherishing even one sentient being brings us to enlightenment. In fact, the happiness of all sentient beings is in our hands.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his video teachings onthought

transformation. Here is a summary of a teaching given on June 25 from

Kopan Monastery, Nepal, at the request of Telo Tulku Rinpoche, Ganden

Tendar Ling FPMT Buddhist Center, Aryadeva FPMT Study Group, and the

Save Tibet Foundation in Russia.

The foundation of thought transformation is to stop harming others,

Rinpoche explains. When anything undesirable happens to us, we believe

it came from outside, we never relate it to our own mind. If we didn’t

harm others in the past, nobody could harm us in the present time. If we

are harmed by people or animals, anger arises and we want to harm them

back, we view them as an enemy. If we really want to stop experiencing

harm, we have to learn and understand karma, we have to stop harming

others.

When we practice Dharma, we take care of the world. If we think in a

positive way, there is peace for oneself and peace for others - we can

bring peace to the world and in our family by practicing Dharma.

Practicing Dharma means taking care of the mind and benefiting others.

Happiness follows a good heart and suffering follows a bad heart. With a

good heart, when we speak to someone or undertake any activity - it

becomes virtue, the result is only happiness. This is why it is very

important, in any action of body, speech, and mind in daily life, before

we start, generate a good heart, a Dharma mind. Then every action

becomes Dharma.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his video teachings on thought

transformation from Kopan Monastery in Nepal, offered to students from

China and Malaysia via Zoom on June 13.

All of the 84,000 teachings of Buddha are included in the advice to not

harm sentient beings and to benefit them, Rinpoche explains. If we harm

sentient beings, we can’t benefit them. All of the suffering we

experience ourselves, as well as the suffering we cause others to

experience, is caused by our self-cherishing thought. Our worst enemy is

our self-cherishing thought. From Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara(v.

8.120):

If you want to quickly guide

Yourself and others,

Secretly practice

Exchanging yourself and others.

The conclusion, Rinpoche explains, is that the solution to our problems

is bodhichitta. Our main practice in life should be bodhichitta,

cherishing others. Without giving up the I, we cannot abandon suffering.

The less self-cherishing and the more we cultivate the good heart, the

less problems we have.

Rinpoche discusses the kindness of mother sentient beings, and also the

kindness of those who are not your mother starting at (1:07:28) in the

video.

In preparation for offering the refuge ceremony, Rinpoche discusses four

of the five lay vows which one can take in addition to refuge. One can

take refuge alone or any/all of the following vows in addition: the vow

to abandon killing (1:16:57), the vow to abandon sexual misconduct

(1:19:43), the vow to abandon stealing (1:20:27), the vow to abandon

lying (Rinpoche did not discuss this vow in this teaching), the vow to

abandon alcohol (1:21:37).

Rinpoche offers the refuge ceremony at (1:24:48).

Rinpoche offered this teaching to students from China and Malaysia via Zoom on June 12, 2022 from Kopan Monastery, Nepal.

By taking refuge in the Dharma, we should stop harming sentient beings, Rinpoche reminds us. And more than that, we should benefit them. In fact, the real refuge practice is cherishing sentient beings. If we take care of them the most, if we cherish them the most, that is the best offering to all the Buddhas, Dharma, and Sangha. To show respect for everyone is the best practice.

Sentient beings are so precious because the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha came from them. Even those who we call enemy, who get angry with us, who harm us with their body, speech, and mind. These people are unbelievably precious because Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha come from them as well. The more we realize the kindness of sentient beings, the more we will dedicate our life to them.

Throughout this teaching, Rinpoche also continues to discuss what to abandon and what to practice after having taken refuge in the Sangha.

Rinpoche offered this teaching, recorded on June 11, 2022, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal for a group of students in China and Malaysia.

Numberless buddhas of the past, present, and future can see our suffering and that we need happiness, Rinpoche explains. They want to help, they want to guide us. However, from our side, if we don’t rely on them by going for refuge, all of their power together cannot guard us, cannot save us, cannot keep us from the lower realms. Therefore, take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha so we don’t cheat ourselves. The reason why we have been suffering in samsara from beginningless rebirths is because we haven’t followed the Guru, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

Rinpoche discusses what to abandon and what to practice after having taken refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/having-taken-refuge-what-to-abandon-and-what-to-practice/

This podcast is from a teaching that Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave about Buddhist refuge for the graduation ceremony of the first cohort of Human Spirit, an Israel-based Buddhist-psychoanalytic training program over Zoom. Here’s a summary of Rinpoche’s teaching, which was offered on June 8, 2022, from Kopan Monastery in Nepal.

All happiness and suffering come from the mind, not from the outside, Rinpoche reminds us. Since we want happiness and don't want suffering, the vast subject of the mind should be of utmost importance for us to investigate. To become healthy—both physically and mentally—we practice meditation, study the Dharma, and learn about the mind in order to clean it up. A negative and unhealthy mind brings sickness and suffering in so many forms. By continuing with effort to clean up the mind, going deeper and deeper through meditation and analysis, you can completely cease delusions and karma and remove the cause of suffering.

By realizing the ultimate nature of the mind—the ultimate nature of I—then we can develop wisdom and realize emptiness. This is ultimate Dharma. The real refuge is ultimate Dharma. This is like taking medicine; it ceases the cause of suffering, delusions, and karma. Since Buddha revealed the path, in the analogy of medicine, Buddha is the doctor. You take refuge in the Buddha when you take refuge in the Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha. And the Sangha are those who help you actualize the absolute Dharma and understand conventional Dharma through the scriptures. So this is why we take refuge in the Sangha.

Anger makes us very frightening and ugly, and causes us to want to harm others. So much negative karma of the body, speech, and mind are created when we view others as the enemy. This is why the benefits of practicing patience are unbelievable. By completing the perfection of patience, it is impossible for anger to arise. All the gross and subtle obscurations are ceased, purified. Then the mind becomes an enlightened mind. When the mind becomes enlightened, we can liberate the numberless sentient beings from suffering. This is the ultimate benefit to oneself and others, unlike anger which only harms self and others. When you practice patience, there is no enemy. In this way, the person who gives you an opportunity to practice patience is the most precious one in your life! 

We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche’s video and reading the full transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching. Find links to the transcript and more:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/the-real-refuge-is-your-wisdom-realizing-the-ultimate-nature/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave this teaching to students attending the three-month Vajrasattva retreat at Kopan Monastery in Nepal on April 28, 2022.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave this teaching to students attending the three-month Vajrasattva retreat at Kopan Monastery in Nepal on April 27, 2022. Here’s a summary of Rinpoche’s teaching.

If you want to know the truth of the world, the truth of yourself, and if you want to be free from the oceans of samsaric suffering, then you have to know the root cause of suffering, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains. You need to meet the correct teachings and that depends on merit. And you have to have faith and make correction prayers and dedications. Otherwise, it’s difficult. You could meet Buddhism but fall into eternalism or nihilism.

Rinpoche offers the retreatants a brief history of how the first month-long Kopan Course began (14:37 in the video). There have been fifty-two courses since this first course in 1971.

Generating bodhicitta when listening to the teachings is unbelievable. So we listen to the teachings for all sentient beings—not only to free them from samsara and bring them to nirvana—but for ultimate happiness, the total cessation of obscurations and the completion of realizations.

Rinpoche leads the group in offering coffee and cake, including the Clouds of Offering Mantra (48:08 in the video).

Rinpoche continues the teaching, saying that it is so important to understand what the I is. All problems go away when we understand this, Rinpoche assures us. But when we believe in the hallucinated appearance of the I, so many problems arise. Abandoning nonvirtue is the source of happiness for us.

Rinpoche explains the four parts of completing the action of killing (1:17:12 in the video), discusses the purification practice utilizing the four powers (1:43:19 in the video), and offers some stories of those who have committed the heavy negative karma of killing and how they purified these mistakes.

--

We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche’s video. Find links to more resources, including the transcript:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/abandoning-nonvirtue-is-a-source-of-happiness-for-you

“Your coming here to do Vajrasattva, wow, that’s really what you need,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche told the students attending the three-month Vajrasattva retreat at Kopan Monastery in Nepal on April 26, 2022.

In this teaching, Rinpoche discusses how our ignorance leads to attachment and anger, which make us miserable. By attending courses, studying, and meditating, we can come to understand how our our minds hallucinate. The more we understand about emptiness and how things truly exist, the happier we become. In addition, developing our compassion and living in service to others gives us the greatest happiness.

Rinpoche offers three ways to meditate on emptiness and provides commentary for each (starting at 1:38:40 in the video):

1. Meditate that everything is a hallucination.

2. Meditate that everything is merely imputed.

3. Meditate that everything is empty.

We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche’s videos. Find links to more resources, including the transcript:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/by-doing-vajrasattva-you-are-doing-exactly-what-you-need-to-do/

Our minds are wrapped up in hallucination, Lama Zopa Rinpoche says in this highly charged teaching recorded on March 30, 2022.

Speaking to students attending the three-month Vajrasattva retreat at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, Rinpoche says we must use the wisdom of Buddha’s teachings to see the truth, to recognize all the hallucinations we are wrapped up in. The world has so much suffering due to this ignorance. So it is very important to understand how we hallucinate, Rinpoche explains. The teachings of the Buddha show us this, and that is why they are so important.

At the end of the teaching, Rinpoche offers the oral transmission of the Vajrasattva mantra (1:30:05) and the oral transmission of Dorje Khadro fire puja practice (1:42:50) to the students in attendance.

Find links to resources for this teaching:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/why-buddhism-is-so-important/

On April 6, 2022 Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered this teaching to students prior to giving a Milarepa Initiation in Shivapuri Village, Nepal.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues teaching on refuge in this new video. Rinpoche explains how “taking refuge is not only reciting words." He offers the example of a robot, which does not have a mind and which only recites words without feeling. Rinpoche then talks about the many ways we can benefit numberless sentient beings by taking them around holy objects and having holy images and mantras for them to see and so forth. Rinpoche also reviews the different kindnesses of sentient beings. Rinpoche concludes the video, returning to the topic of refuge and explaining what taking refuge is. When you truly go for refuge, you want to be saved because you are afraid of the lower realms and samsara. You also have total faith that the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha can guide you to safety, and you want to rely on them. Read more about his teaching here.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his teachings on refuge from Kopan Monastery in Nepal. In this video Rinpoche reminds us that understanding the topic of refuge is so important because it can take a whole life of studying or even many lifetimes to understand it. Rinpoche offers commentary on Phabongkha Rinpoche’s teachings on refuge from Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand as discussed in “Day Twelve” of this famous twenty-four day teaching on the lamrim. 

Rinpoche emphasizes that the more you think about other religions, the more you become devoted to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; and if you have two refuges, you lose your refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Rinpoche discusses the disadvantages of the Bön religion in detail and warns that “taking refuge is not only reciting words.” Read more about his teaching here.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues teaching on refuge. Quoting from Lama Seringpa, Rinpoche explains how we should immediately cast away our self-cherishing thought, which creates all our suffering. Then we should immediately cherish others, from whom we received ultimate happiness. 

We must also understand the three types of suffering--the suffering of pain, the suffering of change, and pervasive compounded suffering--and how we are bound to samsara. Since beginningless rebirths we have been reborn countless times in the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. “We need to be free from this,” Rinpoche says.

Read more about his teaching in our blog here.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues teaching on refuge, emphasizing that refuge is not something simple that you hear and chant. Instead, one has to understand the four noble truths extensively and also understand the qualities of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Rinpoche explains that it is extremely important to understand what ties us to the suffering of samsara. When we fully understand how karma and delusions lead to all suffering, we develop the “upset mind renouncing samsara,” which is so valuable. Read more about his teaching here.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues teaching on refuge, emphasizing how important it is to not belittle the guru with whom you have made a Dharma connection. Quoting the Fifth Dalai Lama, Rinpoche explains that what you see as mistakes by the guru are actually your own mistakes. Instead, you should see all that the guru does as positive. You should also be very careful about from whom you take refuge. Rinpoche illustrates this with cautionary stories and warning about practicing Dogyal. Rinpoche also offers a translation of the Mahayana Sutra Called “Going for Refuge to the Arya Three Rare Sublime Ones.” Read more about his teaching here.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues discussing refuge in this recent teaching, reminding us that there are many ways in which we can help others, even with limited experience with and understanding of the path. For example, we can build holy objects and offer Dharma books and teachings to others, which helps them purify mistakes, create merit, and dispel ignorance. About the benefits of taking ultimate refuge in Buddha, one won’t be reborn in the lower realms and by taking strong refuge in Buddha, one’s heavy negative karmas get purified. And if the merit of taking refuge was materialized, Rinpoche explains, it would not fit in three-thousand-fold galaxies. Read more about his teaching here.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues discussing refuge in this new video, reminding us that we must be careful about the objects in which we take refuge and making the point that it is best to go for refuge to Buddha. When you are dying, in order to not be born in the lower realms, to purify negative karma, to obtain a higher rebirth, Rinpoche says emphatically, "Rely on Buddha!" To free you from samsara, to achieve nirvana, ultimate happiness forever—"Rely on Buddha!" Buddha has all the power and qualities to guide you. Read more about his teaching here: https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/dont-think-taking-refuge-is-something-easy/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche discusses the importance of taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha while we have this precious human rebirth; explains why Buddha can definitely guide you, especially if you go for refuge to Buddha; and reminds us that cherishing others most is the path of the bodhisattva. Read more about his teaching here: https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/if-you-go-for-refuge-to-buddha-buddha-definitely-guides-you/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche discusses the benefits of making offerings to stupas, in particular Boudha Stupa in Nepal. Then, joined by Kopan senior Sangha, Rinpoche leads an offering practice to Boudha Stupa, which with you can follow along. 

Rinpoche also offers commentary on verses from Liberation Upon Hearing: The History of the Great Jarung Kashar Stupa by Padmasambhava on the benefits of making offerings to Boudha Stupa. Read more about his teaching here.

In this new thought transformation teaching video, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offers insight into the nature of depression and provides methods to reduce it. Rinpoche emphasizes that our mistaken view of how the I exists plants the seeds for depression. By looking into how our mind labels things good and bad, when nothing exists from its own side, we can begin to see that there's no basis for depression to arise. Read more about his teaching here.

In this new thought transformation teaching video, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offers insight into the nature of depression and provides methods to reduce it. Rinpoche emphasizes that our mistaken view of how the I exists plants the seeds for depression. By looking into how our mind labels things good and bad, when nothing exists from its own side, we can begin to see that there's no basis for depression to arise. Read more about his teaching here.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues offering teachings specifically intended for ordained Sangha, but everyone is welcome to benefit from Rinpoche's advice. He begins this video teaching, recorded on August 19, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, by reminding us that we have received this perfect human rebirth with the freedom to practice Dharma qualified by the eight freedoms and ten richnesses. This rebirth is extremely rare and precious. Even having the first freedom of not being born in hell is most precious.

It is important to understand your own samsaric suffering. If you don't, you can’t generate compassion for all sentient beings. You must view being in samsara as being in the center of a fire. You have to feel all of your suffering as unbearable, not as pleasure. From that, great compassion for every sentient being comes. From that, bodhichitta arises—the thought to free all beings from oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment. For that, we need omniscience and enlightenment for ourselves. No one achieves enlightenment without saying goodbye to samsara.

This life is amazing, but it can stop at any time. Right now there are numberless beings dying in the mother’s womb, as babies, as children, in middle age, in old age; one's breathing can stop at any time. It is like a bubble in water or lightning in the sky.

Rinpoche then discusses the power of holy objects and the benefits of building statues, stupas, and temples. Often building statues and temples doesn’t make sense to Westerners. They think it is too expensive and a waste of money, Rinpoche explains, because they don’t understand the benefits.

Rinpoche quotes from and gives commentary on Sutra Requested by King Prasenajit.

Referring to the teachings of Pandita Nagkyi Rinchen, Rinpoche says that even the creatures killed under the feet of people building a temple will not fall into the lower realms.

According to the White Lotus Sutra, even looking at a drawing of a buddha when you are angry causes you to gradually see ten million buddhas.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that the real stupa is the realizations of the path to enlightenment within you. You need to dedicate yourself to actualizing the lamrim. No matter how much practice, prostrations, and mantras you do, the main path is listening, reflecting, and meditating on the lamrim.

You cannot receive the blessings of the buddhas without a guru. The guru is the channel through which the ten-direction buddhas guide you and speak to you. You should serve the guru with the mindfulness that the guru is the channel for all the buddhas. The guru is not just someone who gives you a Dharma education. That is a very ordinary view. Without strong guru devotion, heresy and anger arise in relation to the guru, and you create the heaviest negative karma among the negative karmas. Because the essence is pleasing the guru, you need to concentrate on that in everyday life. By pleasing the guru, negative karmas get burned in one second!

Some people spend their whole lives meditating without an object because they don’t have a correct guru. After some time, your mind becomes dull. In this world it is very difficult to meet a perfect guru. For those that do not have the merit to meet a perfect guru and receive perfect teachings, and who have so much suffering and are going on the wrong path, you can develop compassion for them.

You also cannot achieve enlightenment without bodhichitta. As much as possible, do everything with bodhichitta. Even if you don’t have a realization of bodhichitta, but have a bodhichitta motivation, everything you do becomes a cause for enlightenment. By making requests to your guru with firm devotion, you develop realizations.

In order to achieve enlightenment in a brief lifetime, you need to practice highest yoga tantra because otherwise you lose the opportunity. Then, to be able to develop compassion, to be able to develop the graduated path to enlightenment, you need to purify the obstacles, obscurations, and negative karma, and collect the necessary conditions and merit.

The essence of the practice is persevering in the higher training of morality. You should take the individual liberation vow as your heart practice. Morality is the heart practice. You cannot practice Dharma separately from keeping your promised morality. You should keep the three vows that you have taken: the individual liberation vow, the bodhisattva vows, and the tantric vows.

Where you go in your future life depends on your present actions. You can tell what types of actions you did in the past by looking at your current life, and where you will go next life depends on today.

Click here to read the original blog and for links to the transcripts, video and more.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche begins this teaching, recorded on August 17, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, by reminding us that while we are so fortunate to have received this rare and perfect human rebirth, which is qualified by the eight freedoms and ten richnesses, death can happen at any time, even before this teaching ends.

Therefore, the real purpose of life is not just to achieve liberation from samsara for ourselves alone, but to never harm and only benefit all sentient beings by freeing them from the oceans of samsara, the total cessation of the gross and subtle obscurations and the completion of realizations. That means every single one, including every ant and fly, and even those you can’t see with your eyes. As a human, this should be the purpose of life. This should be our attitude all day and night, even if we are enjoying ourselves in a five-star hotel, even if we are in the process of dying—we can enjoy for sentient beings, we can die for sentient beings! To bring every sentient being to enlightenment by oneself alone is the purpose of life, therefore we must achieve a state of omniscience as quickly as possible. Therefore, I’m going to listen to the teachings.

Rinpoche shares that the current incarnation of Domo Geshe Rinpoche is going to be an incredible benefit to the world by helping the teachings spread and last a long time. Rinpoche currently offers help for this young lamas’ yearly expenses.

Rinpoche also shared some stories of Sera Je Khen Rinpoche Lobsang Delek’s life in the Buxa Duar, the camp in India where refugee Tibetan monks lived in the 1960s.

Rinpoche reminds us that these teachings are specifically for the ordained Sangha, to remind them that it is most important to live a life in ordination and that this is not just some hippie trip. However, anyone is welcome to listen and benefit from this advice.

Rinpoche then discusses sections from Garland of Jewel Light by Geshe Tsewang Samdrub. He begins by offering commentary on the four doors for receiving downfalls from breaking vows:

1. A lack of conscientiousness.

2. A lack of respect.

3. Not knowing the vows.

4. Having many delusions.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has emphasized the need to live an ethical life, to be a good human being, Rinpoche says. To do this, you need discipline to practice patience, tolerance, compassion, loving-kindness, and forgiveness for those who harm you, and to immediately apologize when you harm others.

Rinpoche explains the four ways to prevent downfalls, citing Garland of Jewel Light:

1. Continuously possessing conscientiousness.

2. Having great respect for the vows of morality.

3. Knowing the vows.

4. Striving in the remedy to the delusions.

When you do these, the doors to making mistakes and downfalls are closed.

Rinpoche then goes over the benefits of protecting morality, again from Garland of Jewel Light:

1. All your collections of goodness will increase and develop.

2. You will be praised by the buddhas.

3. You will be praised by the devas.

4. You will be praised by your friends.

5. You will be worthy of being praised by even yourself.

6. You will be worthy of being naturally praised.

7. Your reputation will cover all the directions.

8. You will listen to the holy Dharma.

9. You will not forget the holy Dharma you listened to.

10. Your realizations of the paths and bhumis will increase.

11. When you die you will be happy and you will go to a happy transmigration.

12. Day and night you will be happy.

13. You will be protected by the devas.

14. You will be happy in front of holy beings.

15. You won’t be able to be harmed by human beings and non-human beings.

16. You will receive whatever enjoyments you need without effort.

17. Whatever prayers you do will succeed.

The results of living in pure vows are very powerful. "You become Dzambhala!" Rinpoche says. "When other people make offerings to you and respect you, they collect much merits. And then, if you pray for them, your prayers are so powerful that there is success for them. Like that, your pujas and your prayers are very powerful."

--

We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche’s video and reading the full transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching. Links to the transcript, translations, and more:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/being-sangha-is-not-a-trip/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche begins this teaching, recorded on August 14, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, by reminding us of how fortunate we are to wake up in the morning with a perfect human rebirth that is qualified by the eight freedoms and ten richnesses. The life we have is like a candle flame in the wind or a bubble in the water, and can be stopped at any time by death. Rinpoche references verse 55 from Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend.

Last night many people went to bed, thinking they had another day to live, but their body became a corpse instead. However, you were able to wake up. Every day you are able to wake up is a real birthday. If you can recognize impermanence and death, it is like skies of happiness! You didn’t die! You aren’t in hell! You weren’t reborn as a hungry ghost or an animal! You can still use your perfect human rebirth to collect merit and purify negative karma. Even reciting OM MANI PADME HUM without a bodhichitta motivation, you collect more merits than drops of water in the ocean, more than blades of grass growing on the hills.

When your breathing stops it will be difficult for your mind to be happy. Rinpoche quotes a verse from Gungthang Tenpai Dronme’s Verses of Advice for Meditating on Impermanence.

Rinpoche then reminds us of the motivation for listening to these teachings. At this time, while we are still breathing, it is not enough to achieve liberation from samsara for oneself. That alone would be a meaningful life, but it is not sufficient. The main purpose of life is to benefit sentient beings, not harming a single one, and more than that to free them from oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment by oneself alone. To do that, we must achieve full enlightenment. Therefore, with a motivation to accomplish this, we listen to the teachings.

Rinpoche offers advice to the gelongs about what brings happiness according to several verses of the Sutra of Individual Liberation (from sojong). You can hear Rinpoche discuss these verses and his commentary on each starting at 11:50 in the video.

Without morality, Rinpoche stresses, we cannot accomplish our own work, let alone successfully work for others. "Therefore," as noted in the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva by Thogme Sangpo (verse 26cd), "to protect morality without wishing for samsara is a practice of a bodhisattva."

For a bodhisattva, those who offer harm are like a precious treasure (Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, verse 27ab).

Therefore, cherish evil beings like a precious treasure, as advised in Eight Verses for Training the Mind by Langri Tangpa.

Rinpoche stresses that it is important to understand what this means. People who create harm for others create so much negative karma and have so much suffering. When you see that it is like you have found a precious treasure, a diamond, gold, a sapphire, a wish-granting jewel in the garbage. They are so precious and rare that you must cherish them, like how some cherish money so much! Why? Because by cherishing them you generate strong renunciation of your own samsara and sooo much compassion for them. From that, you generate strong bodhichitta, and from that, quick enlightenment. And with that you can liberate the numberless sentient beings from oceans of samsaric suffering. A jewel or money doesn’t do that, but this type of person can! So cherish them.

Another verse Rinpoche emphasizes in this teaching and suggests we write down in our prayer books is verse 28 from Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva:

Since even the hearer-listeners and solitary realizers, who achieve only the works for self,

Are seen to make effort, like putting out a fire on the head,

It is a practice of a bodhisattva to make effort to receive all qualities

For the sake of all transmigratory beings.

Write the above verse down so you can learn it, Rinpoche says. Otherwise, your motivation will always be controlled by the self-cherishing thought. “Today I don’t feel like it. I don’t want to recite my prayers or OM MANI PADME HUM. I feel too depressed.” Reading this verse helps you remember that you are doing it for all transmigratory beings, not just for yourself.

Rinpoche also suggests writing down verse 5.12 from Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara.

The one enemy you have is inside you—your mind, your anger. How you destroy this enemy is by practicing patience. By controlling the mind, everything else is controlled and you have no fear. The most important practice is to control your mind. Subduing one’s own mind is the teaching of Buddha, the essence of everything.

--

For links to the transcript, translations, and more:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/the-most-important-practice-is-to-control-your-mind/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche begins this teaching, recorded on August 11, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, by reminding us that we are so fortunate to have received a precious and perfect human rebirth. While it is precious, it is also fragile and can be ended at any time with death. In this precious life we have received teachings on how we should not harm any sentient being, and not just the ones we love and like to help, but including those we don’t like such as mice, rats, spiders, cockroaches, and mosquitoes. When mosquitoes come near your ears you become very concerned with the real I, which doesn’t even exist in mere name. This has been happening since beginningless rebirths. So much suffering, including all wars, comes from believing in the real I! Even spiders and ants suffer due to believing in the real I.

The pandemic and all of the disasters of the world are happening because of ignorance. This all comes from the mind. Therefore, you have to take care of the mind: don’t let it go berserk. If you don’t want to suffer, if you don’t want bad things in the world, if you don’t want problems with the environment, if you want to make a happy world, then take care of the mind.

Rinpoche shares several stories about how great bodhisattvas are able to manipulate the elements or perform actions that look like miracles. They are able to do this due to their minds. Whether you make the world more peaceful or not depends on your mind. Rinpoche also shares the story of how the young incarnation of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama said, “I’m the one who works for all beings” to the lama Keutsang Rinpoche when he came to check whether the four-year-old child recognized him. Rinpoche expressed being moved to tears when he heard that His Holiness had said that as a young child.

Rinpoche then discusses verses 5.4-5.5 of Bodhicharyavatara:

Tigers, lions, elephants, bears,

Snakes, and all enemies,

The guardians of hell beings,

Evil spirits, and likewise cannibals,

Are all fastened

By fastening only this mind.

They are all subdued

By subduing only this mind.

Rinpoche urges us to write these verses down in our prayer books so we will see them every day. Especially when we are angry or selfish, or when we have so much attachment. When we subdue our minds, everything is subdued. When we have control over our minds, we are free from fear. By controlling our minds and making them free from attachment and anger, from the self-cherishing thought, and from the ignorance holding the I as real when it’s not, then, all those who would otherwise harm us are subdued.

We produce all the suffering we experience with our mind, so the solution for problems, harm, enemies, and fear is to pacify the mind.

Verse 5.12cd of Bodhicharyavatara says:

If you subdue the mind of anger alone,

It is like you have subdued all your enemies.

And as Nagarjuna said:

If you kill your anger,

You kill all your enemies.

We have to learn this if we want to bring peace and happiness to the world. Otherwise, you just talk, talk, talk. Everything depends on whether you control your mind or not. Rinpoche translates verse 5.3 of Bodhicharyavatara as:

If you fasten the elephant of your mind

With the rope of remembrance all the time,

All fears will become nonexistent

And all virtues will come into your hands.

By subduing the mind, which is like a crazy elephant, you can achieve anything you want. Whether or not you experience samsara or nirvana, hell or enlightenment—this all depends on whether or not you control your mind.

Verse 5.17 of Bodhicharyavatara says:

If someone doesn’t know the supreme principal of the Dharma,

The secrecy of the mind,

Even if they wish to achieve happiness and destroy suffering,

They will wander in samsara without meaning.

and verse 5.18cd:

Except for conduct protecting the mind

What is the use of so many conducts?

Rinpoche explains that all the capacities of the mind are based on keeping the higher training of morality. He shares the story of how Lama Yeshe stopped a fire with his mind. He also shares a story about how Geshe Lama Konchog saved a child, who all the doctors said was going to die, by the power of his mind through doing puja. The West needs to learn that world peace comes from the mind, not from outside influence.

Discussing verses by Chen Nga Lodro Gyaltshen, Rinpoche says that when you don’t keep and protect your vows and your practice of morality, you will be criticized by all the buddhas, and your friends will scold you. You will even criticize yourself! But if you keep pure morality, all the buddhas will praise you and all of your prayers will succeed.

During the dedications, Rinpoche shares the story about a young buffalo he recently liberated and named Bodhichitta.

--

For links to the transcript, translations, and other resources:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/dont-let-your-mind-go-berserk/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his teachings for ordained Sangha, which are open to all who wish to benefit from his advice. He explains in this video, recorded on August 10, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, that trying on being Sangha, like trying different foods hoping they bring you happiness, is not being real Sangha. You can enjoy wearing the robes and trying them on, but if it is just like a trip, your mind is not Sangha. If your mind is messy and not healthy, you easily give up your liberation and enlightenment.

Rinpoche then reminds us of the motivation for listening to the teachings. A perfect human rebirth—qualified by the eight freedoms and ten richnesses—is extremely rare, Rinpoche explains. It is not enough for ourselves to be free from the oceans of samsaric sufferings. The real purpose of life is to not harm others and on the basis of that to benefit the numberless sentient beings and free them from the oceans of samsaric sufferings by oneself alone. We listen to the teachings to achieve this.

As Rinpoche explained in his recent teachings, by engaging in nonvirtue, you become habituated to it and do it again. By doing this, you make your future lives sooo difficult. You know that it’s bad, but you can’t stop doing it due to past habituation. In fact, much of your behavior is due to habituation with negative karma, and due to that habituation, it becomes more and more difficult to separate from negative karma. You think only of today’s happiness, not about future lives. Your wrong concept is cheating you, causing you to drown in an ocean of attachment and anger.

The coronavirus manifests in different ways according to one’s karma. Some people have some pain and sickness, some have no symptoms, and some die. Rinpoche discusses some of the different ways the virus has manifested in people he knows, and also the possibility that he had the virus himself just with very mild symptoms. When we meet with suffering, we don’t remember karma. We can even believe killing ourselves is the solution to the pain we are experiencing. When one is having emotional problems, spirits can also harm you. Rinpoche shares some examples of people who have been harmed by spirits.

Rinpoche then reads and gives commentary on the Sutra on Having Perfect Morality. (This starts at 50:19 in the video.)

Referencing Nagarjuna in Letter to a Friend, Rinpoche reminds us again that even great pain in the human realm is nothing compared to a small suffering in the hell realm, and the suffering has to be experienced until the negative karma finishes.

Rinpoche concludes by saying that Sangha are given unbelievable freedom by being able to purify twice a month with sojong, which is the monastics’ confession day. You should think that Guru Shakyamuni Buddha is reciting sojong for you. Because we can’t see Buddha in that aspect, he recites in the form of the abbot. You see the abbot reciting it, but you should know that it is actually Buddha reciting for the Sangha. Buddha is so kind. Unbelievable, most incredible.

For links to the transcript, translations, and more resources:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/by-the-force-of-habituation-you-uncontrollably-engage-in-nonvirtue-again/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche begins this video, recorded on August 6, 2021, at Kopan Monastery, reminding listeners that while this teaching is being given specifically for ordained Sangha, anyone is welcome to take the advice offered.

If you haven’t spent your life with a good heart and a positive mind, Rinpoche warns, and instead spend your life trying this and that until life finishes, then you will go to the lower realms. There are many wrong views available to you in this life. You have to check the quality of these views carefully, the same way you check the quality of clothing or food before you purchase it.

Rinpoche then recounts several stories, including about the building of Lama Yeshe's stupa at Tushita Meditation Centre, Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche, and Serkong Dorje Chang.

Rinpoche reminds us of the motivation for listening to the teachings—to free the numberless sentient beings from oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment by oneself alone. Therefore, you think of how you must achieve the state of omniscience to do that. Therefore, you are listening to the teachings.

Being attached to sex has not freed you from the oceans of samsaric suffering, Rinpoche observes. Since beginningless times, every sentient being has been one’s own husband, wife, children, and so forth. You have cheated yourself by thinking that the pleasures of this life that you experience are new. You believe you are meeting someone for the first time.

By learning Dharma, you can recognize right and wrong concepts. Usually in the world, any suffering is attributed to outside influences: animals, insects, other people. Rinpoche explains that this is from not knowing Dharma. Learning about Dharma is learning about your life, your mind, and your concepts. It is learning what is the right mind and what is the wrong mind, so you can stop having the wrong mind. Then you can have a healthy, beneficial, harmless, and right life, and have all the good things right up to perfect enlightenment.

You have been totally deceived by your attachment and wrong concepts since beginningless rebirths. Therefore, there is nothing to be attached to. It’s all a hallucination! Since there is nothing to be attached to, you should renounce samsara. Samsaric happiness is only suffering; this is the heart of Buddhism.

You experience suffering until your negative karma finishes, Rinpoche explains. Even great pain in the human realm is nothing compared to a small suffering in the hell realm.

Rinpoche then shares the four suffering results of sexual misconduct:

1. The Ripened-Aspect Result of Sexual Misconduct: This means a rebirth in the lower realms.

2. The Possessed Result of Sexual Misconduct: You are born as a human being but the environment is muddy, dirty, unhealthy, and has contagious diseases and viruses. Even if we just spend five minutes in a place like this, that is the result of past sexual misconduct.

3. Experiencing the Result Similar to the Cause of Sexual Misconduct: However you harmed others, you experience others doing this type of harm to you.

4. Creating the Cause Similar to the Result: This is done due to habituation with the past negative karma of sexual misconduct. Even if you think an action is bad, you do it uncontrollably. By engaging in nonvirtue, you become habituated to it, and do it again and again. This is the same for stealing, telling lies, killing—any negative behavior you're engaged in.

Even in lay life you can abandon sexual misconduct. There are five lay vows one can take to help abstain from negative actions such as sexual misconduct. In this teaching we are discussing the purpose to become Sangha.

Rinpoche then recites the Phagpa Chulung Rolpai Do Mantra: OṂ HANU PHASHA BHARA HE YE SVĀHĀ. He explains that each time you see this mantra, it purifies your negative karma, one hundred thousand eons!

Rinpoche also holds up the Buddha's Teachings on Our Lives card and explains that this is so important to have in a room in one’s home, even in the bathroom.

---

We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche’s video and reading the full transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching.

Find links to the transcript, translations, and materials mentioned in this video:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/being-attached-to-sex-has-not-freed-you-from-the-oceans-of-samsaric-sufferings/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche begins this teaching, recorded on July 31, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, by referencing this quote by Thogme Sango in Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva:

All sufferings come from desiring happiness for oneself.

Full enlightenment comes from the thought of benefitting others.

Therefore, exchanging one’s own happiness for the suffering of others

Is the practice of bodhisattvas.

Rinpoche gives commentary on this passage and explains that all undesirable things, all the sufferings we experience, come from desiring happiness for oneself. Therefore, exchanging one’s own happiness for the suffering of others is the practice of bodhisattvas.

When pleasure and problems happen, you can see whether or not you are practicing Dharma. When a problem comes, it is like you are completely drowned in the ocean. Instead of thinking of Dharma to solve and overcome your problem, you are "under" the problem, not having control over it. When pleasure comes, you are totally distracted by it, you are under the control of worldly concern and attachment, again—like you are drowning in the ocean. This is when you can see if you are practicing Dharma or not.

Because you are a human being, and not a stone or wood, you can benefit others. Even the ants or mosquitoes—you can make sure not to step on them, you can take them around holy objects, you can do what you can to benefit them. Reciting OM MANI PADME HUM three times and blowing on any sentient being purifies so much negative karma. If you aren’t living to benefit others, you are living a very dry, uninteresting, boring life! Using your life to achieve enlightenment is not boring at all.

Rinpoche then reviews the motivation for receiving oral transmissions and teachings. He also discusses the great yogi Thangtong Gyalpo in preparation for the oral transmissions he gives later in the teaching.

Before the oral transmissions, Rinpoche explains that the benefits of reciting and hearing OM MANI PADME HUM are extensive. Rinpoche lists many of these benefits and provides commentary on each:

• Reciting it one time purifies the four defeats of a fully ordained monk

• Reciting it purifies the five heavy negative karmas without a break

• Reciting it seven times purifies the negative karma of one hundred lifetimes

• Reciting it twenty-one times purifies the negative karma of 1,000 eons

• Reciting it 108 times purifies the negative karma of 40,000 eons

• Anyone who hears it gets a higher rebirth

• When you recite it, your mind is free from expectations and therefore pure

In short, Rinpoche stresses to us that we must recite OM MANI PADME HUM while we still have a perfect human rebirth.

Rinpoche then offers, “a million, zillion, trillion” thanks to all the one hundred Sangha who join together on Saturdays for twenty-four hours to recite OM MANI PADME HUM for the COVID-19 pandemic. He also thanks everybody at Chenrezig Institute who arranged all the technical aspects that allow for this to happen online.

Rinpoche ends this video by offering commentary on and the oral transmissions in Tibetan of three prayers of Thangtong Gyalpo: “Liberating Sakya from Disease” (starting at 37:45 in the video), “Words of Truth Pacifying the Danger of Weapons” (39:45), and “A Request to Pacify the Fear of Famine” (42:57). Rinpoche also offers the oral transmission of King of Prayers (1:01:21), Homage to Tathagata Amitabha and Buddha Amitayus, A Brief Prayer to Be Reborn in Sukhavati (1:11:04), and The Array of Sukhavati Pure Land (1:13:15).

--

Find links to the transcript, texts for the oral transmissions, translations, and more:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/a-zillion-thanks-to-the-sangha-for-reciting-manis-during-the-pandemic/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche begins this teaching, recorded on July 30, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, explaining that while he’s offering this teaching specifically to the Sangha at this time—to encourage them to keep their vows as those intent on the virtue that is nirvana—anyone is welcome to listen and benefit from the advice.

The total cessation of obscurations, is nirvana, ultimate happiness. It is forever, not like you are going on vacation, which is only temporary and is actually suffering, and not pleasure as your hallucinated mind believes. Because nirvana is everlasting happiness, it is worthwhile to bear hardships in order to practice Dharma. As an example, Rinpoche shares that Milarepa bore hardships such as living on nettles for many years and building a nine-story building three times alone, and then achieved enlightenment in a brief lifetime of degenerate times. This was due to all the hardships Milarepa experienced, not in spite of them. As another example, Rinpoche explains that the bodhisattva Always Crying One sacrificed himself to follow his guru and collected two great eons of merit in seven years’ time.

Right now you see samsara as a beautiful park in the same way that dogs see kaka as nectar. If you analyze it, you can see clearly that there is no pleasure existing from its own side. You label pleasure, but the mind is merely imputing this. The label came from the negative imprint left on the continuation of your consciousness since beginningless rebirths. Your entire life needs to be analyzed, then you recognize the truth. You discriminate “good” and “bad,” then attachment and anger arise. From there you create all the negative karma. This is why it is so important to learn Dharma! Everything is embodied in the lamrim, the three principal aspects of the path.

Samsaric pleasures cheat us, like honey on a knife. It is not only a hallucination, but it is what creates negative karma—not only suffering in this life but causes the lower realms. Being pierced by three hundred spears is nothing compared to a small suffering in hell. If you understood the suffering of hell, you would faint.

Grasping at samsaric pleasures is like a fish seeing a worm and getting caught on the hook. The fish sees the worm and thinks, “Oh! There’s something to eat!” They see pleasure and immediately jump toward it but then become hooked there and death follows. There are many examples like this—there is so much clinging to pleasure only to be cheated and destroyed by it.

Even beauty can’t be found when you analyze it. Someone you think of as so beautiful, visualize them without their skin. Then see them as a pile of skin, flesh, and bones—where is the beauty? Then using the example of blood: when the body is cut, one bleeds. This is frightening to see. Even the skin itself, if you looked at it with a magnifying glass, you can see all of the bumps. There’s no beauty to be attached to if you examine the body; it exists because you labeled it as beautiful, but this came from your mind. Your negative imprints project good and bad, you differentiate between beautiful and ugly, causing attachment and anger to arise. Without analyzing it looks like beauty comes from the outside, but that’s a total hallucination. This is why practicing mindfulness every day is necessary. It solves the wrong concept.

You can counteract attachment to someone’s body by thinking about what’s inside it—muscles, nerves, blood, flesh, skeleton. You can also counteract attachment to someone’s body by thinking it has a dirty smell when it isn’t washed and perfumed, or when it is dead.

Even insects project beauty onto other insects of the opposite sex and wish to have sex with them. The same is true for human beings; negative imprints cause us to see particular body parts as beautiful. From the side of the body, there is no beauty at all. It is difficult to take the lay vow to abstain from sexual misconduct because attachment overcomes the mind and defeats you. Then, celibacy for a monk or nun is very difficult. In reality, there is not one sentient being with whom you haven’t had a relationship. When you have so much attachment toward someone arise, you think this is the first time you are seeing them. But this person has been your wife and husband countless times; you have been their wife and husband countless times. There is not even one ant or insect you haven’t had a relationship with.

Until you have a stable mind, you should stay in a monastery, nunnery, cave, or hermitage. If your mind is weak, you should stay away from objects of desire. In this way, you are able to practice morality and keep your ordination.

--

For links to the transcript, translations, practice materials, and more:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche begins this teaching, recorded on July 25, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, by reminding us that the perfect human rebirth doesn’t last long. This body is like a machine—breathing in and out—and can stop at any time. Why does the body keep working? Karma. How long the breath lasts is also due to karma. It can stop at any time, we have to remember this. Some students have even died while using the bathroom. It can happen at any time, and when you don’t expect it, so while you are still breathing, make your life most beneficial for others by doing everything with bodhichitta.

The two basic practices in your life should be the two bodhichittas: absolute bodhichitta and conventional bodhichitta. Bodhichitta is the two wishes; one is the wish to benefit sentient beings, and one is the wish to achieve enlightenment. The real purpose of life is to benefit numberless sentient beings, to free them from suffering and bring them to enlightenment by yourself. Therefore, you need to achieve enlightenment. This is the motivation for listening to the teachings.

It is so important to know that samsaric pleasures are actually the suffering of change. Most students meditate on the suffering of pain, but they don’t meditate on how samsaric pleasures are in the nature of suffering, or on pervasive compounding suffering. This third type of suffering, the pervasive compounding suffering, is the most important to meditate on; it is the suffering of samsara. When you are free of this type of suffering, you become free from the other two sufferings, the suffering of pain and the suffering of change.

As Rinpoche mentioned yesterday, quoting from Lama Chopa verses 87cd-88ab, you have to renounce the thought of seeing samsara as a beautiful park:

"Please bless me to generate a strong wish to be liberated

From the endless and terrifying great ocean of samsara."

"Having renounced the thought seeing samsara,

Which is difficult to bear like being in prison, as a beautiful park,"

You have to abandon this thought of the hallucinated mind.

If there were no negative imprints left on the mental continuum by ignorance, there would be no projection of a real I. Rinpoche explains how the thought focuses on the aggregates—form, feeling, cognition, compositional factors, and consciousness—and that is the phenomenon or base that is merely labeled "I." When that happens, it is extremely fine, so subtle, Rinpoche emphasizes. It is not that the I doesn’t exist. The I exists, but it is like it doesn’t exist. The negative imprints left by ignorance on the continuation of our consciousness decorate the I that just now was merely imputed, projecting true existence, existing from its own side. So we think, “This is real. This is true!” Believing, holding onto that—that is ignorance. As you are creating ignorance, you are creating the root of samsara, the root of all suffering. This is from ignorance holding the I as truly existent.

Your hallucinated mind also makes up pleasure. If you check up on samsaric pleasure, you can see it is the basis of all suffering. Your mind labels it as pleasure. In reality, it is a hallucination, made up by the mind according to the different things an individual wants. Traveling, drugs, sex, going into the mountains—these various things are labeled pleasure according to the individual, but in reality there is nothing there at all. You have to recognize the hallucination as a hallucination. If you don’t look at the dream as a dream, you believe it is real. Then all of the problems of anger, ignorance, and attachment, all the delusions, arise.

--

For links to this teaching's transcript, translations, and practice resources:

https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/renounce-the-thought-seeing-samsara-as-a-beautiful-park/