Vows

We can have some questions about the points we’ve just covered and then we can go on. Let’s keep our questions specific to this topic. In the afternoon, we can open it up to more general questions about tantra. Questions and Answers Strengthening Belief in Rebirth You made the...

Review We started our discussion of how to make our tantra practice more effective. We saw that the most fundamental thing to start with is to understand what tantra is and what the essential points of tantra practice are – how does it work. Also, we saw that the word “tantra”...

Day One: Opening Addresses Welcoming Speeches by the Host Institution Prof. Dr. Ing. Habil. Monika Auweter-Kurtz, President of the University of Hamburg Prof. Dr. Ludwig Paul, Dean of the Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg Rinchen Khandro Chogyal,...

We were discussing bodhichitta and what it means to be a bodhisattva, and we saw what role taking the bodhisattva vows has in the general progression of developing bodhichitta, and in the stages of developing bodhichitta. What’s really important is to understand the role of...

Session Four, Day Two: History of the Vinaya Lineages Bhikkhu Sujato, Abbot of the Santi Forest Monastery, Sydney, Australia “The Origin of the Three Existing Vinaya Lineages: Theravada, Dharmaguptaka, and Mulasarvastivada” Indian ordination lineages did not develop...

Review Having an Accurate Idea of Bodhichitta and Enlightenment We have seen that there is a relative and deepest bodhichitta, and it is aimed at enlightenment, and specifically our own individual enlightenment that has not yet happened, but which can be imputed on our mental...

Brief Review We have been discussing the fundamental elements that we need before taking the bodhisattva vows. We spoke about the foundations in the lam-rim, the graded stages of the path, and we spoke about the process and meditation for building up a bodhichitta motivation....

Review of Some Essential Points First, I shall speak a little about what is going to take place today. We have reached the point in the empowerment at which we have entered the mandala. First, we did so with blindfolds on and now our blindfolds have been removed. We have...

Review We need to set the proper motivation; namely, that we wish to benefit all beings and to achieve a state of enlightenment in order to be able to do so. With this motivation, listen to these teachings on The Foundation for Good Qualities with the sincere wish to put them...

The Ceremony for Wishing Bodhichitta, Together with Advice  When we talk about developing bodhichitta, of course, this is a process that we need to work up to and that requires a great deal of work and effort to sincerely feel. There are stages of meditation for developing...