The various Tibetan Buddhist traditions differ as to the voidness non-conceptually cognized by each of the three types of practitioners – shravaka, pratyekabuddha and bodhisattva – when becoming an arya.

This evening, we shall be beginning a seminar on what does karma actually mean in terms of Vasubandhu and Nagarjuna’s presentations. This is an extremely important topic, since karma is one of the things that we need to overcome. We need to rid ourselves completely of it so...

Let us first examine the main assertions concerning karmic impulses and revealing and nonrevealing forms in the Mahayana Sutra Basket and then, in the next part of this series, in the Sarvastivada Abhidharma Basket. These are the forerunners of some of the main features of the...

The Relation between Reinforced and Enacted Karmic Impulses and Inciting and Incited Karmic Impulses  One of the main sources about karma from the Abhidharma Basket is Revealing Karma (Las gdags-pa, Skt. Karmaprajñapti) by Buddha’s disciple Maudgalyayana. In it,...

Even though attachment is a disturbing emotion, developing attachment to our teachers does have a certain benefit, since it leads to trust. What we need to watch out for is exaggerating their good qualities.

Attachment to someone is based on unrealistic projections; but with a more objective view, we can learn to relate to the person in a more loving and considerate way.

For those who have the opportunity to receive the Kalachakra Initiation, it is important to take advantage of the opportunity to gain as much as possible from the experience by having knowledge of the Kalachakra practice and the background of the empowerment.

Review Understanding Voidness We have been speaking about voidness, or emptiness, in general. We’ve seen that it refers to an absence of impossible ways of existing. There are impossible ways of existing that refer only to persons or individuals, and then there are impossible...

In addition to taking bodhisattva and tantric vows, we also pledge at an anuttarayoga empowerment to maintain nine auxiliary bonding practices that bond us closely to tantra.

Background to the Text This weekend I’m going to be speaking about The Heart Sutra. Actually, with a longer title, it’s The Essence of Far-Reaching Discriminating Awareness, the Vanquishing Lady Surpassing All. When we talk about far-reaching discriminating awareness – and...