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The Wholeness of Wealth – Guru Rinpoche day message by HE. Phakchok Rinpoche

6th April 2017 – The Wholeness of Wealth

Dear Friends Near and Far,

Hello! Happy Guru Rinpoche Day again.

Today, we are continuing our series on the Tukdrub Barché Künsel Twelve Manifestations. To start, I want to review what I taught in past messages. First, I talked about the practices of Long Life Amitayus including releasing life and being happy. Second, I talked about Avalokiteshvara. I spoke about how to be compassionate, release life, and remind you to be eco-friendly, animal-friendly, and to have good motivation. Then I talked about Guru Padmasambhava and the practices of having certainty, having trust, and especially making supplications.

Then we began with the Twelve Manifestations of Guru Rinpoche. The first manifestation is magnetizing: Gyalwey Dungdzin. I reminded you that developing self-confidence is very important. Then after that, I talked about the wisdom or intelligence of Mawey Senge. Important practices include offering candles, being focused, and not forgetting things. Try to notice things clearly and practice the breathing exercise I shared.

So today in order to magnetize things as Guru Rinpoche taught, you need wholeness of wealth. You may have intelligence, but if your wholeness of wealth is not there, then you cannot achieve things. Wholeness of wealth includes life, family, income, success, and whatever you wish to achieve. Here, Guru Padmasambhava manifests as Lama Norlha, who is Dzambala (the deity of wealth) and Guru Rinpoche inseparable.

Guru Rinpoche taught that to increase wealth, it’s very important to know how to make offerings and practice generosity. Start with small things so you learn how to give. If you are a Buddhist, then knowing how to do altar offerings as well as how to offer to others and give support is very important.

The second part that I want to mention to you is that contentment is very important in life. Without contentment, you are always poor. So it is very important to have contentment. But only having contentment is not enough. You need to do what you need to do, while always being aware of the right time. Taking the right opportunity is very important. Many of us forget to take the right opportunities. So listen to your gut and most importantly, when an opportunity comes, think decisively and take the opportunities. OK?

Click here to view the video message

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyaSG0NXfLw

I am happy to announce that there are now subtitles in Polish and Romanian! This month’s video message also has subtitles in English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Indonesian, Thai (coming soon), Vietnamese, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Ukranian. Please click the settings wheel in the bottom right corner of the video to access these options.

Thank you very much for listening. I send many love and prayers to you all and I hope it helps you. Thank you. Bye bye.

Sarva Mangalam,

Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche

Introduction to Meditation Dharma talk by Lama Rinchen in Bangkok Jan 29th 2016

Lama Rinchen Phuntsok

Introduction to Meditation Dharma talk by Lama Rinchen Phuntsok

ขอเชิญร่วมฟังธรรม โดยพระลามะรินเชน ในการให้คำแนะนำในการปฏิบัติสมาธิในวันศุกร์ที่ 29 มกราคม 2559 การบรรยายนี้เหมาะสำหรับผู้ปฏิบัติทุกระดับ

You are invited to the “Introduction to Meditation” Dharma talk by Lama Rinchen in Bangkok on Friday 29th January 2016. This talk will cover basic principle and essence of meditation which will be useful for all levels of practitioners from beginner to advanced.

Date/Time: Friday 29th January 2016 6pm-8pm
ศุกร์ที่ 29 มกราคม 2559 18.00น. ถึง 20.00น.Venue: Windsor Tower Apartments, unit 20B
อาคารวินเซอร์ทาวเวอร์ อพาร์ทเม้น ห้อง 20B สุขุมวิทย์ซอย 20 ใกล้ BTS/MRT อโศก

Directions: Windsor Tower Apartment is located right opposite Windsor Hotel in Sukhumvit soi 20 which is near BTS-Asoke/MRT-Sukhumvit lines. The entrance to the building is next to “THEE” hotel. Please tell the guard that you come to see Ram in unit 20B which is on 20th floor.
ทางเข้าอาคารอยู่ติดกับโรงแรม “THEE”

Biography of Ven. Lama Rinchen ประวัติพระลามะรินเชน:
The Venerable Lama Rinchen Phuntsok is a skillfull teacher with a light and joyful manner. He is a scholar and meditation master of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition.
http://dongakcholing.org/LamaRinchen.html

Cost: Free ไม่มีค่าใช้จ่าย
RSVP: Not required ไม่ต้องจองล่วงหน้า

Web: www.mongkol.org
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1Kq5LxH (You can get Dharma news and announcements here as well)

Contact us:  here ติดต่อเรากดที่นี่ “contact us
Please do not to bring your car as parking spaces are very limited.
กรุณาอย่านำรถส่วนตัวมาเพราะที่จอดรถมีจำกัด แนะให้มาโดย BTS/MRT
Feel free to email or call me at ติดต่อ/สอบถามเพิ่มเติม 0819855564.

Chod Ngondro explanation by Lama Rinchen in Bangkok Jan-Feb 2016

Ven. Lama Rinchen in-depth Chöd Ngondro explanation

Chod Teachings

Ven. Lama Rinchen will offer a very detailed explanation of the Chöd Ngondro, which contains the View of the great Prajñāpāramitā, Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen, and which includes the foundational set of practices that come at the forefront of most Vajrayāna systems.

The teachings will be conducted over 3 weekends from 2pm-6pm on each day total of 7 sessions–

Date/Time (2016): 
Saturday Jan 23: 2pm-6pm
Sunday Jan 24: 2pm-6pm
Saturday Jan 30: 2pm-6pm
Sunday Jan 31: 2pm-6pm
Friday Feb 5: 2pm-6pm
Saturday Feb 6: 2pm-6pm
Sunday Feb 7: 2pm-6pm

Venue: Windsor Tower apartment unit 20B, opposite Windsor hotel on Sukhumvit soi 20. Easily reachable via BTS Asoke/MRT Sukhumvit station.

Cost: Baht800 per person to cover the cost of text which will be used and remaining will be made as a donation to the Lama.

Payment detail–
Bank:Kasikorn Bank
Branch: Silom Branch
Account type: Savings account
Account number: 001-2-79564-7
Account name: Ram Narula

(If you would like to make donation for Lama’s traveling expenses such as airfare and other related costs do let me know.)

Signup/Questions please feel free to contact us using the contact us button above or call at 081-9855564

Chod retreat with Lama Rinchen – Sep 17-20 2015

Lama Rinchen Phuntsok

Lama Rinchen Phuntsok Chod retreat in Thailand Sep 17-20 2015

Chöd retreat Sep 17-20 with Lama Rinchen

 

We would like to invite you to Chod retreat which will be held from September 17th to September 20th in Thailand
—–
Chöd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%B6d
—–
According to Mahayana Buddhists, emptiness is the ultimate wisdom of understanding that all things lack inherent existence. Chöd combines prajñāpāramitā philosophy with specific meditation methods and tantric ritual. The chod practitioner seeks to tap the power of fear through activities such as rituals set in graveyards, and visualisation of offering their bodies in a tantric feast in order to put their understanding of emptiness to the ultimate test.
—–
About Lama Rinchen http://dongakcholing.org/LamaRinchen.html
—–
The Venerable Lama Rinchen Phuntsok is a skillfull teacher with a light and joyful manner. He is a scholar and meditation master of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition. Born in Tibet, Lama Rinchen began receiving instruction in the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism at the age of six in Tsasum Chokhorling Monastery in Tibet. After he left Tibet in 1958, he studied at Young Lama’s Home School in Dalhousie, The Buddhist Monastic School in Rewalsar, Nyingmapa Lama’s College in Dehra-Dun, and Zongdog Palri Monastery in Kalimpong. Lama Rinchen graduated from Sanskrit University in Varanasi India where he completed advanced studies in Sutrayana Buddhist philosophy and scriptures, commentaries, logic, literature, history, and the major sciences of the Tibetan curriculum.

To complete his training in Vajrayana Nyingma School studies, he served as private secretary to the late His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, supreme Head of the Nyingma order of Tibetan Buddhism for over fifteen years. During that time he received all the important empowerments, transmissions, essential instructions, the oral teaching of Nyingma Kama, and the Profound Rediscovered Teachings of Terma of the great Lotus Born Teacher, Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Vajravana Buddhism.

Venue: About 2-3 hours out of Bangkok, we will keep you informed.

Cost: 4000-4500Baht per person, all meals and text included (transport cost not included)

Limited places available, kindly signup at your earliest convenience.

This retreat is suitable for all levels of practitioners.

Contact: (Eng) 0819855564, (Thai) 0894817754
Email: ram@pluslab.com

Ven. Lama Rinchen Dharma classes in Bangkok in June 2015

Meditation and Dharma classes by Ven. Lama Rinchen (Tibetan Buddhist Master)

 

Lama Rinchen Phuntsok

We would like to invite you to public Dharma talks be Ven. Lama Rinchen Phuntsok in Bangkok areas in June 2015.

Venerable Lama Rinchen Phuntsok is a skillfull teacher with a light and joyful manner. He is a scholar and meditation master of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition.
Biography can be found at http://dongakcholing.org/LamaRinchen.html

Topic: “Attachment, Detachment, Aversion and Antidote”
Date: Sunday 21st June 2pm-5pm
Venue: The Continent Hotel (near Asoke intersection next to Interchange tower, on Sukhumvit road, hotel web site: www.thecontinenthotel.com/location/) 33rd floor GMT room
Note: Limited seats, please RSVP by email ram@pluslab.com

Topic: “Virtuous and Unvirtuous mind and their action”
Date: Monday 22nd June 6:30pm-8:30pm
Venue: ‘APARTMENTS’ building, Ekkamai road near Ekkamai BTS station, more information on www.littlebang.org Location: www.littlebang.org/step-inside/apartments-meditation-studio-2/

Topic: “The Textual Tradition of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism”
Date: Wednesday 24nd June 1:30pm-3:30pm
Venue: Mahidol University, Kanpai Room, Ground floor, Department of Humanities, Salaya
For more information please email: prasajya@gmail.com
For more information please feel free to contact us at:
Tel: (Eng) 0819855564,0989195519 – (Thai) 0894817754
Email: ram@pluslab.com
Web: www.mongkol.org
You can signup to our mailing list at: www.mongkol.org/contact/

These events are free of charge and suitable for everyone.

Lama Rinchen Phuntsok

Lama Rinchen Phuntsok Bangkok Dharma classes in June 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Dear Friends – Phakchok Rinpoche message in July 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช สิงหาคม 2557

Guru Rinpoche Day, 6th August 2014

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Dear Friends Near and Far,

Firstly on this Guru Rinpoche day, I would like to share a short video in which I talk about the five dear friends that everybody should have. Watch the video here, or click the image above.

Next, I would like to talk about motivation. These days when we talk about enlightenment, many people, including sometimes myself, don’t have a full understanding of what enlightenment really is. As a result, they end up thinking that it’s not of much benefit or relevance to them and then lose the wish to reach enlightenment. And this can happen to us whether we be practicing dharma or involved in the mundane world.

But if you can do what you do—whether it be the dharma or ordinary activities—with the ‘mind of enlightenment’, meaning the motivation to help free all sentient beings from suffering and the cause of suffering and establish them at the precious state of enlightenment, it has a really positive effect. From one’s own side, when you have this motivation you become free from personal, selfish desires and free of anger and aversion towards others. And when you are free of both selfish desires and aversion then you don’t make many mistakes; you are free of ignorance. On the other hand, when you have selfish desires and this kind of self-importance you might regard yourself as having many good qualities and others as being lower than you, and then you easily criticize others and can end up making many problems. So this motivation, the mind of enlightenment (bodhicitta) is so important and beneficial.

For example, in the morning when I recite prayers and make the sang (smoke) offering and so on then I do it focusing on all of our monks and nuns, the Rinpoches, our students, sponsors, the people working in our Foundation, and all the people I know with the wish to benefit them through these prayers. But at the same time we also need the mind of enlightenment that focuses on all sentient beings. And sometimes I forget that. My motivation is indeed very positive—to benefit everyone I know, meaning the lamas and monastics, and all our students and friends—but we need to have the motivation of the mind of enlightenment that keeps in mind all sentient beings and sometimes we can forget that. So in this case the motivation I have is not perfect. There is attachment to others and aversion or indifference towards others. Even if you don’t have any evident aversion to others, if you fail to include all sentient beings in your motivation and think, “Well, I don’t know those other sentient beings, they are strangers to me, I have no real reason to focus on them or think of them” this is actually an aspect of aversion and ignorance. We need to include all sentient beings with the wish that we can help all of them attain perfect enlightenment, understanding that we have been connected to them from beginningless time up until now through the relationships we’ve had with them throughout our past lifetimes—as mothers, fathers, friends, relatives.

If you can really think about this, engender this motivation, and take it to heart you will feel quite differently towards other sentient beings. How so? Immediately your anger and aversion will decrease. Likewise, your self-interest and selfishness will decrease. Your mind will become more open, relaxed, and joyful, and also kinder.

This being so, today I would like to remind you all about this precious motivation of bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment. Whether you are practicing the dharma or doing ordinary things, do it with this motivation seeing that all sentient beings without a single exception have been your parents and dear friends in the past and that you are connected with them in that way and wishing all of them to be free from their suffering and its causes and attain the precious state of enlightenment.
What is enlightenment? The state free of all negative emotions and suffering and endowed with primordial wisdom. This motivation is so important.

So today on this precious occasion of Guru Rinpoche Day, please make some prayers, practice generosity, perhaps give your parents a gift, be loving to your children and others, and speak kindly to people. If you are a practitioner, then do some practice. Do some meditation, some recitation, make prayers, and if you know how then make a gathering (feast) offering to Guru Rinpoche.  And throughout please keep all sentient beings in your heart and think of them. Work on developing this motivation that thinks of all sentient beings.

I am sending this short message from Heathrow airport in England where I am in transit on my way back to the United States. As always, with many prayers and aspirations for you all,

Sarva Mangalam,

Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche

   

www.phakchokrinpoche.org

6 Vajra Verses and 3 Points of Practice – Phakchok Rinpoche message in July 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช กรกฎาคม 2557

 

Guru Rinpoche Day, 7th July 2014

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Dear Friends Near and Far,

First of all, on this very auspicious Guru Rinpoche day, I would like to share with you this short video in which I give some advice on how to solve our problems in daily life. I also explain the meaning and significance of supplication to Padmasambhava by means of the six vajra verses .

The supplication I mention in the video is as follows:

དུས་གསུམ་སངས་རྒྱས་གུ་རུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ༔
dü sum sangye guru rinpoche
Guru Rinpoche, the Buddha of past, present and future,

དངོས་གྲུབ་ཀུན་བདག་བདེ་བ་ཆེན་པོའི་ཞབས༔
ngödrub kün dak dewa chenpö shyab
‘Dewa Chenpo’—Guru of Great Bliss—the source of all siddhis,

བར་ཆད་ཀུན་སེལ་བདུད་འདུལ་དྲག་པོ་རྩལ༔
barché kün sel düdul drakpo tsal
‘Düdul Drakpo Tsal’—Wrathful One that Subdues Negativity—who removes all obstacles,

གསོལ་བ་འདེབས་སོ་བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབ་ཏུ་གསོལ༔
solwa deb so jingyi lab tu sol
Grant your blessings, we pray!

ཕྱི་ནང་གསང་བའི་བར་ཆད་ཞི་བ་དང༌༔
chi nang sangwé barché shyiwa dang
Through them, may all obstacles—outer, inner and secret—

བསམ་པ་ལྷུན་གྱིས་འགྲུབ་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས༔
sampa lhün gyi drubpar jingyi lob
Be quelled, and may all our aspirations be fulfilled.

Secondly, I’d like to quickly remind you to reflect on three important aspects of your practice:

Motivation, which is the way of clearing and showing our path
Aspiration, which is the way to fulfill our path
Dedication, which is the complete accomplishment of motivation and aspiration

Lastly, I’d like to know what I can do to help you in your practice. Please complete this simple form to let me know what you need and what obstacles I can help you overcome. I’ll try to fulfill your wishes in the coming months.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1rcdzDJc8slIcdGb4QfQgF7ZUPsDeGZuPYoIKbFIWFh4/viewform

With constant aspirations for you all,

Sarva Mangalam

Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche

   

www.phakchokrinpoche.org

Supplicaton credit: http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/chokgyur-dechen-lingpa/removing-obstacles-and-fulfilling-wishes

Four Qualities – Phakchok Rinpoche message in June 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช มิถุนายน 2557

Video from Phakchok Rinpoche
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qhl8FGBAwQ

Watch the Video

 

Phakchok Rinpoche message on Guru Rinpocheday 8th June 2014
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Guru Rinpoche Day, 8th June 2014

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Four Qualities

Dear Friends Near and Far,

These days we often mistake what it’s meant to be a dharma practitioner. The heart of the buddhadharma is to tame one’s own mind, so a dharma practitioner is someone who is able to do this, who can see their own faults, address them, and tame and transform their minds. Someone who is unable to do this is not a dharma practitioner. Secondly, a dharma practitioner should be sincere and honest. So if you wish to practice the buddhadharma authentically this you need these qualities.

In terms of our motivation for practice, we need to have compassion and our compassion should have four qualities.

To generate compassion means to see sentient beings’ suffering and the causes of their suffering and to wish to free them from it. You also need to be able to see your own suffering and its causes, to see and experience this directly for yourself. If you can, it will not be difficult to generate compassion for others. Likewise, if you can understand that you have been connected to all sentient beings from beginningless time until now as parents and children that will make generating compassion easier, and will also help you to have more equanimity.

You need to contemplate compassion in this way and when you see someone else suffering put yourself in their shoes and try to imagine what it would be like to be going through what they are going through. If you can put yourself in their position and really understand their suffering, you’ll develop some compassion. Having developed this initial compassion then you need to improve it. Don’t leave compassion as a mere thought; apply it in your behaviour and actions. When you do this you will be able to see whether your compassion is genuine or not, whether it is pure, strong, and constant or not. This is the first quality our compassion should have: application.
Since compassion is the wish to free oneself and others from suffering and its causes the second quality our compassion needs to have is dignity. Dignity here means you see and acknowledge your suffering and the suffering of others, and you have the confidence that you can dispel it and its causes, that you have the means and methods to do that. Where does this dignity arise from? It arises from genuine practice of the dharma. It is through practice that you will develop this confidence that you can bring about change. And therefore, someone who has this dignity is a practitioner. Someone who lacks this dignity, who lacks the confidence that they can change, is not a practitioner.

The third quality is aspiration, the sincere and heart-felt aspiration to benefit other beings. We need to have this genuine aspiration and wish.

But it’s not enough to leave it there, as an aspiration. To make our compassion pure, we need wisdom, prajna.

So to reiterate, whatever we do we should do it with compassion – we need to apply compassion in all of our actions. Secondly, our compassion needs to be accompanied by dignity, a confidence that we can change. Thirdly we need aspiration and fourthly wisdom. If our compassion has these four qualities, it will be pure, genuine, and strong.

Since, as you all know, we need to develop this kind of genuine compassion then while thinking of you all on this Guru Rinpoche Day I am sharing these few points on compassion with you. But in addition to generating compassion ourselves we also need to teach our family and friends about compassion, to talk about it calmly and nicely with them while continuing to practice it ourselves.

With constant aspirations for you all,
Sarva mangalam,
Phakchok Rinpoche

 

www.phakchokrinpoche.org / www.cglf.org

How Dharma can help in daily life by Lama Rinchen Phuntsok Thursday 24th April 2014 ธรรมะในชีวิตประจำวัน วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 24 เมษายน 2557

“How Dharma can help in daily life”

Lama Rinchen Dharma talk on Thursday 24th April 2014

Lama Rinchen Phuntsok

Lama Rinchen will be giving Dharma teaching on “How Dharma can help in daily life”
Venue: DMG book company, 22nd floor Amarin plaza Bangkok, BTS station Chitlom
Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm

About Lama Rinchen: The Venerable Lama Rinchen Phuntsok is a skillful teacher with a light and joyful manner. He is a scholar and meditation master of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition. Born in Tibet, Lama Rinchen began receiving instruction in the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism at the age of six in Tsasum Chokhorling Monastery in Tibet. After he left Tibet in 1958, he studied at Young Lama’s Home School in Dalhousie, The Buddhist Monastic School in Rewalsar, Nyingmapa Lama’s College in Dehra-Dun, and Zongdog Palri Monastery in Kalimpong. Lama Rinchen graduated from Sanskrit University in Varanasi India where he completed advanced studies in Sutrayana Buddhist philosophy and scriptures, commentaries, logic, literature, history, and the major sciences of the Tibetan curriculum. For more information please check http://dongakcholing.org/LamaRinchen.html

Kindly help forward to message to those who might be interested as well.
The event is free of charge and suitable for everyone. : -)
Contact: 0818216196

ขอเชิญร่วมฟังธรรม จากพระลามะรินเชน
วันพฤหัสที่ 24 เมษายน 2557 ที่ DMG ชั้น 22 ตึกอมรินทร์พลาซ่า เวลา 18:30-20:30 น
หัวข้อบรรยาย “ธรรมะในชีวิตประจำวัน”

สอบถามข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมได้ที่ 0894817754

กรุณาช่วยส่งต่อให้ผู้อื่นที่สนใจด้วย
ขอบพระคุณ

Merit, Role-model, Intelligence, Dignity – Phakchok Rinpoche message in April 2014 สารจากท่าน พักชก ริมโปเช เมษายน 2557

Guru Rinpoche Day, 9th April 2014

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Four Points to Apply to Your Life

Dear Friends Near and Far,

I hope this finds you all well and happy. I recently finished two months of retreat and have been keeping you all in mind and heart.

At the moment at our monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche and Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche are presiding over the annual Ngakso (Ocean of Amrita) puja which runs twenty-four hours a day for nine days dedicated to the health and happiness of all beings and the fostering of world peace. Likewise, Gyari Rinpoche, my father-in-law, has been performing 100,000 recitations of Leu Dunma, The Supplication to Guru Rinpoche in Seven Chapters in Sikkim, India. They will complete the 100,000 recitations today.

What I’d like to mention in today’s message are a few points that apply both to the mundane world and the spiritual path.

  1. Whatever the circumstance may be there is such a difference between people who gather merit (or positivity) and those who do not. What’s meant by ‘accumulating merit’? Firstly, to be able to cultivate compassion. To have an altruistic motivation and to do things to benefit others. To help people in an appropriate way such as giving advice, and likewise to be generous, disciplined, to develop patience—to develop these kinds of qualities and do things with a pure, sincere wish to help.Moreover, someone who regards themselves as a Buddhist should ‘make offerings upwards and practice generosity downwards’ meaning that one should make offerings ‘upwardly’ to our objects of refuge, the buddhas, our spiritual teachers, and the sangha, the community of practitioners.  Similarly, you should give ‘downwardly’ to sentient beings. So make offerings and practice generosity like this on a regular basis.It is through these kinds of actions (done with a pure motivation) that one gathers merit, and the result of this is that you will encounter fewer obstacles and hindrances in this life (whether they be outer, inner, or secret), your aims will be fulfilled, and things will go smoothly for you.
  2. In addition to gathering merit, we also need good role models to follow. It has been more than 2500 years since Buddha Shakyamuni passed into parinirvana, yet the transmission of his teachings remains up till today embodied and upheld in the present genuine and qualified dharma teachers. These teachers are excellent role models for us. To follow their example and teachings is excellent. They really are one of the best examples we can find.In my case my role models are my meditation teachers, for example Kyabjé Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Kyabjé Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. Both of these teachers were extraordinarily kind-hearted, generous, caring, and patient, and outstanding meditators. They were amazing people. So you likewise need to find this kind of role model, someone with truly excellent qualities, to look up to and try to emulate. As Buddhists, our shared role model is of course Buddha Shakyamuni himself.By relying on such role models, we will be able to mould and transform our character and behaviour into something much more positive, and as a result we will encounter fewer difficulties.This is particularly important for dharma practitioners since as practitioners we need to unravel the true intent and meaning of Buddha’s teaching: the innate, natural state. We need to understand this and know how to train in it. And to take a genuine dharma teacher as your example and follow their teachings will booster and enhance your understanding and practice of the natural state.
  3. Whatever activity it is you are involved in, whether mundane or spiritual, you need to approach it withintelligence. You need to ask yourself, “Okay, what qualities are needed to fulfil this role? How should this job be done? What information is needed?” You need to acquire the necessary skills and qualities, to listen to and learn from others, and to change yourself. As for learning, you all know how to do this. It can sometimes be difficult to listen to and learn from others but we need to do it. And thirdly, change—we need to mould and transform ourselves: if you are lacking certain needed qualities, then learn to develop them. If you see you have some faults, then slowly work on transforming these faults; don’t just leave them as they are. Otherwise you will never improve.In terms of the dharma, we need the intelligence of knowing the natural state and never parting from the motivation of bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment. These days many practitioners are losing bodhicitta. Sometimes I also find myself thinking, “Can I really reach enlightenment? Is it really possible? And in any case, will it really be of benefit to others and to myself?” The state of enlightenment, buddhahood, is the ultimate benefit, the ultimate bliss, the ultimate peace, and the ultimate, unsurpassable method to benefit oneself and others. This being so, we need to develop the wish and determination to attain enlightenment. This is bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment. So as a practitioner, with intelligence we should receive genuine dharma teachings from a genuine teacher, reflect upon them genuinely, and put them into practice genuinely.
  4. Dignity. Sometimes we encounter problems and challenges in our mundane lives, or we experience failure. In these cases, we shouldn’t let the setback rob us of our dignity and confidence. We should approach the situation in a constructive way: think, “Okay, I didn’t succeed here. Why not? What was I missing? What did I do wrong?” And take it all as experience. Then set out to remove the faults and flaws that caused the problem so you’ll be able to succeed in the future. You should feel confident that, yes, I can attain enlightenment, I can benefit beings. Here in samsara I can help my family, I can support the sangha and benefit sentient beings. I can do it. I can achieve things, and I can live a joyful, meaningful life. In this way, we need to nurture inner dignity and confidence, even in the face of challenges.This kind of dignity is such an important quality, and for practitioners it is simply indispensable. Kyabjé Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche would say that without dignity you cannot succeed in dharma practice, and in particular in meditation. This dignity is a kind of courage, a decisive, unwavering confidence. It is not a shaky or hesitant state of mind, like thinking, “Oh, I am not sure if meditation will really be beneficial or not… I wonder if my meditation is okay or not…” Nothing like that.Some people know the dharma, they understand, but still ask questions. This is a clear sign of lack of confidence and doubt. Of course if you don’t understand something or don’t know something then you need to ask and should ask, but when you find yourself asking questions and feeling doubt about things you already know that is a sign of lack of dignity. So what is the remedy for this? How can practitioners develop this dignity? Supplicate the buddhas and Supreme Ones (buddha, dharma, and sangha). This is the general approach common for all Buddhists. If you are a Vajrayana practitioner, also supplicate your gurus and supreme yidam deity and train in developing divine dignity. Whichever approach you follow, make supplications that they bless you with inner dignity.

Since some of you reading this email are probably not practitioners and some of you are, I am sending you these four points since they are relevant to both. I am well and I hope you are all healthy and happy too.

With aspirations, 
Sarva Mangalam (May all be auspicious)

Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche

For more information and teachings, please visit:

 

www.phakchokrinpoche.org / www.cglf.org