Ethics

[Clarification of His Holiness' answers by Dr. Berzin are included within square brackets.] The Vow Not to Lose Seminal Energy-Drops Dr. Berzin: Many Westerners are married, what about the Kalachakra close bond of not losing (mi-nyams) seminal energy-drops (khu-ba)? What lay...

(1) With the wish to safeguard my training, I need to work hard and safeguard my mind; if I'm unable to safeguard my mind, I'll also be unable to safeguard my training. (2) Left to run loose, the elephant of my mind can ravage me with (a joyless realm of) unrelenting pain....

Engaging in Enlightening Conduct  Once we take the bodhisattva vows, which are the essence of developing this engaged level of bodhichitta, we need to actually practice what’s called “enlightening conduct,” bodhisattva conduct. This is actually what bodhisattva vows shape;...

Brief Review of the Initial Level of Motivation The teachings for someone of an initial level motivation have five main points to meditate upon: awareness of the preciousness of the fully endowed human body and the difficulty of obtaining it, death, impermanence and the...

The Need for Ethics Responding to others or to ourselves with balanced sensitivity entails refraining from destructive, harmful behavior and engaging in constructive, helpful acts. Restraint from destructive behavior sets the foundation. For example, if we have not...

Verses 26 through 31 Now, we are going to continue talking about the six perfections, or the six far-reaching attitudes. You might have notice that they go in the order of generosity, ethical self-discipline, and then patience. This is because the focus of our practice should...

Verses 32 through 37 Not Speaking of the Faults of Others We’ve been going through Gyalse Togme Zangpo’s 37 Bodhisattva Practices, and we got up to verse 31. Now, we’ll go through the rest of the text. (32) A bodhisattva’s practice is not to speak about the faults of a person...

A short overview of Emory University’s program for training in universal values.

The general principle regarding sexual ethics is to try to minimize any problematic and compulsive aspects of our sexual behavior, motivated by disturbing emotions.

A look at the ten destructive ways of behaving – actions that create our unhappiness – and how to avoid them.