Six Perfections

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 no...

The Far-Reaching Patience of Readily Accepting Suffering Meditation is a method to overcome the mind being under the control of compelling karmic impulses and disturbing emotions, thereby creating suffering for ourselves. The fact that meditation functions like this shows that...

Detail about the Perfection of Patience The next far-reaching attitude is that of patience or tolerance. This again is an attitude, a state of mind, with which we don’t get angry but we’re able to endure various difficulties and suffering. We don’t become disturbed or upset by...

The Mechanism of Karmic Causes Giving Rise to Karmic Results If we properly understand that there is no such thing as self-established existence (rang-bzhin-gyis grub-pa, inherent existence), we understand conventional existence established in terms of dependent arising. But...

Verses 25 through 37 and Concluding Verses Togme Zangpo then discusses the six far-reaching attitudes or the so-called “perfections” or “paramitas,” which are a very important basis for our bodhisattva behavior. The bodhisattva vows, particularly the secondary vows, are a way...

Review: Precious Human Life and Working toward Getting Rid of Suffering In the progression of the lam-rim, the graded stages, we have gone through the initial and intermediate scopes. Based on our discussions so far, we’ve seen that before we start to deconstruct the false...

(1) Whatever generosity, offerings to the Blissfully Gone (Buddhas) and the like, and positive deeds I've amassed over a thousand eons – one (moment of) hatred will destroy them all. (2) As no negative force resembles anger, and no trial resembles patience, I shall therefore...

The Impropriety of Giving Initiations to Those Having No Understanding of Voidness  It is wrong for lamas to give initiations to those who don’t even know about bodhichitta and voidness. Perhaps they are only giving them for fame. The Nalanda masters did not give initiations...

Viewing Others as Respected Teachers Verse six of our eight-verse text expresses a similar sentiment to what Togme Zangpo communicates in the verse we previously cited in our discussion of verse five, in which he refers to someone we’ve raised and cherished like our own child...

(1) Patient like that, I need to embrace joyful perseverance, since (based) on perseverance, enlightenment takes place. After all, without joyful perseverance, there's no arising of positive force, just as, without wind, there's no motion. (2) What's joyful perseverance?...