Karma: Neither Deterministic nor Predetermined We’ve been discussing karma, and we saw that there are various systems with which karma is explained. However, what we are speaking about when we talk about karma is our compulsive behavior, what brings on our compulsive behavior,...

The Diversity of Textual Versions and Editions The translation of Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior (sPyod-‘jug, Skt. Bodhisattvacarya-avatara) by Shantideva presents many textual problems. Written in Sanskrit during the first half of the eighth century C. E., several...

We have been talking about the self or “me,” which is imputed onto the stream of continuity of our aggregate factors that make up each moment of our experience. That conventional “me” is what the word or concept of “me” refers to on the basis of these ever-changing aggregates...

Introduction Mind training or attitude training, lojong in Tibetan, is a very broad topic that deals with how we experience our life and how we can change our attitudes about what we experience. We all know life is full of ups and downs and...

Two Weak Points in the Twelve Links We’ve seen how the mechanism of the twelve links perpetuates our uncontrollably recurring rebirth, our samsara. In order to stop that recurring process of rebirth propelled by ignorance, disturbing emotions, and compulsive impulses of karma,...

The Tubten Dorje Drag Ewam Chogar Monastery, founded in the early 16th century in Central Tibet, is the major monastery transmitting the Nyingma Northern Treasure Text Tradition.

Prophesied by Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava and founded in 1159 by Kadampa Desheg, Katog Dorjedan Monastery in Kham is one of the six main Nyingma monasteries. It has 112 branch monasteries, not only in Tibet, but also in Mongolia, Inner China, Yunnan, and Sikkim.

Established in 1676, Ogyen Mindrolling Monastery is the main monastery of the Nyingma Southern Treasure Text Tradition. It was founded by Terdag Lingpa Gyurme Dorje, who was both a teacher and a disciple of the Fifth Dalai Lama.

Conceptual Cognition Conceptual cognition mentally labels (’dogs-pa) a metaphysical entity, such as a conceptual category or concept, onto a generic conceptual representation of a member of the category – either a nonstatic objective entity or another static metaphysical...

Mental Holograms in Non-Conceptual Cognition In sensory non-conceptual cognition, an external object (phyi-don) casts (gtod) a mental aspect (rnam-pa) – or mental impression, mental image – of itself on the sensory consciousness that cognizes it. Mental aspects or images are...