Six Perfections

Homage Verse and Verse 1 The Author, Atisha A Bodhisattva’s Garland of Gems (Skt. Bodhisattva-mani-avali) was written by the great Indian master Atisha (Atisha Dipamkarashrijnana, 982–1054). As a great Buddhist master at the Vikramashila Monastery, he was very concerned about...

Analysis of the Word Lojong The term “mind training” is the usual translation of the Tibetan term lojong. When we examine the meaning of lojong more carefully, we discover that the first syllable lo means “attitude.” This implies that what we are dealing with...

Conventional and Deepest Bodhichitta There are two facets of bodhichitta: conventional or relative bodhichitta and deepest bodhichitta. Both of them are aimed at our own individual future enlightenment which has not happened yet; but on the basis of our Buddha-natures and a...

The Two Truths and the Four Noble Truths  Indian religions vary among those that (1) do or do not rely on cause and effect over previous lives, (2) do or do not aim at liberation and (3) do or do not rely on internal or external means to achieve it. There is also a...

Beginningless Phenomena Our basis is reality. When we see what possibilities there are for transformation, then enacting them is the path. When we have transformed ourselves, that’s the result. The basis, then, is what exists and what doesn’t, and the difference between the...

Verses 8 through 37 Reaffirming Our Motivation and Review Look at all the people around you, whether they are close or distant, rich or poor, all of us are equal in wanting happiness and no suffering. The best way to accomplish this is the practice of Dharma. We have fully...

Review We have been speaking about the graded stages of the spiritual path, where we are trying to basically broaden and expand our motivation starting from a smaller scope until it becomes full. In this way, each stage builds upon the previous one. We...

Verses 10 through 17 Brief Review After beginning with the homage and the promise to compose, Togme Zangpo goes through the graded stages of motivation, the lam-rim, starting with the precious human life and the circumstances that are most conducive to taking advantage of...

Peace of Mind and Its Causes What is a happy mind? It is a satisfied, relaxed state of mind that has a long-term, broad perspective and so is not much disturbed by anything. This leads to a more efficient state of mind, with the ability to discriminate how to deal with...

How Is It Possible to Make a Decision? We’ve gotten to the point of: How do we make a decision? How does a decision arise? We have two wishes, two feelings that arise from all sorts of circumstances – to yell or not to yell. It’s not free will, because there’s...