Feelings, Wishes, and Necessity Even when we are attentive to a situation and we feel some level of happiness, interest, and compassion about it, and some level of willingness to become involved, we need to respond sensitively and appropriately. Frequently, we need to decide...

Statement of the Problem Because of the deeply rooted habit of confusion about reality, our mental activity instinctively and constantly produces not only dualistic appearances, but also "triplistic" ones. According to madhyamaka (middle way) theory, it fabricates a deceptive...

Point 6 The sixth point consists of 18 practices that will bond us closely to this attitude training. The seventh point contains twenty-two points for cleansing and training our attitudes. These are long lists, but they’re also wonderful guidelines for how to be less selfish...

Dispelling Insecurity through Deconstruction To dispel the problems of insecurity that our confusion and its instincts create regarding mind's natural functions, we need to identify the triplistic appearances that fuel these problems. Recognizing the absurdity of our...

Eight Transitory Things in Life The lam-rim (graded stages) literature speaks of eight transitory things in life. These "eight worldly concerns" or "eight worldly dharmas" are praise or criticism, good or bad news, gains or losses, and things going well or poorly. We may be...

Creating a Quiet, Caring Space Traditional sadhana practice for deconstructing one's negative self-image and creating a more positive one begins with quieting the mind of preconceptions and establishing a "circle of protection." The latter practice may consist of an...

Both grasping at mental activity's natural facets for security and fearing them as a threat arise from projecting and believing in dualistic and triplistic appearances. Deconstructing these confusing appearances leaves us with merely the experience of these natural functions....

Point 7 Point seven, the last point, consists of 22 points to train in for cleansing our attitudes: 1. Do all yogas with one Whatever we do, we should do it in order to be able to help others. An example often used in India, where people frequently have worms, is the...

Developing balanced sensitivity requires a clear idea of the goal we wish to achieve so that we can focus our efforts in that direction. A Buddha is a paramount example of someone fully sensitive in the positive sense and totally free of all negative aspects. The...

In this short poem Togme Zangpo outlines 37 practices on the bodhisattva path for the attainment of enlightenment in order to be of best help to everyone.