Not all spiritual teachers are properly qualified. Firm action with a clear and compassionate mind is the key to dealing with situations of abuse.

Apply the four noble truths, to resolve your problems relating to someone.

Verses 12 through 16 Dealing with Harms We want to attain Buddhahood so that we can benefit all sentient beings. It’s quite a heavy thing to digest. We are reading through Gyalse Togme Zangpo’s text, called 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas. We’ve reached verse 12, and although we...

Verses 7 through 10 Verse 7: Ridding Ourselves of Distractions to Our Meditation Let me rid myself of all material burdens and adorn myself with an arya’s gems. So, let me rid myself of all bustling activities and live in seclusion. Living in Seclusion to Avoid Becoming...

Letting Down the Walls toward Learning As we discussed yesterday, what we try to do is to feel open to being of help to others – relating to others directly with the walls down. The walls need to be down not only toward people, but also toward learning things. It’s a similar...

Applying Sutra-Level Guru-Meditation to a Faulty or Abusive Teacher His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama had two regents during his minority. They taught him extensively and conferred upon him numerous tantric empowerments. They also engaged in a power struggle and had...

General Introduction and Review The various Tibetan traditions coming from the Buddha – Kadam, Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma – all follow a presentation of ways to train our attitudes that comes from a common source: Shantideva’s Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior. Shantideva’s...

Review We’ve been speaking about appearances and how the mind is involved with that. We’ve seen that when we speak about appearances, we’re speaking about something that appears to the mind and has a deep relationship with mind. And when we speak about mind, we’re speaking...

Deceptive Cognition or Seemingly Bare Cognition There are some further ways of knowing besides the standard list of seven. The one delineated in most detail is deceptive cognition (’khrul-shes). Deceptive cognition is also called “seemingly bare cognition” (mngon-sum...

Review The five aggregates are groupings with which we can classify the various aspects of our experience to help us better understand what is happening in each moment. After all, the focus of Buddhist study and practice is our own experience and how we experience life. The...