Further Study and Training with Serkong Rinpoche  Coming back to the account of my early years, after returning to Dharamsala from that initial time with Catherine in Bodh Gaya, I continued over the next few years to study intensively at the Library and to attend the...

Dzogchen explains the Buddhist path from the point of view of its final steps and resultant state. Learn the unique features of this system of meditation on the nature of the mind and how they contrast with those of mahamudra, Chan (Zen), anuttarayoga tantra and vipassana.

Dr. Berzin’s advice to Kalmyks on dealing with the massive changes in their lives resulting from the move from their traditional kibitkas (large ox carts with tents on them) to cities in standard flats.

When, through education, Buddhists and Muslims recognize and appreciate their common universal values of love, compassion, patience and forgiveness, then despite their philosophical differences, they have laid the foundation for religious harmony.

In order to develop an effective tantra practice, we need to understand what tantra is, how it works and how it’s more efficient than the sutra methods alone. Our practice is effective if it purifies away our emotional and cognitive obscurations and strengthens our...

In eight short verses, Langri Tangpa summarizes the essence of the mind training teachings (lojong) rooted in Shantideva’s “Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior” and Atisha’s “Garland of Bodhisattva Gems.”

With a correct understanding of voidness and dependent arising, we will avoid the two extremes of absolutism and nihilism, and then be best able to deal with the complexities of life.

Introduction to the Root Bodhisattva Vows When we take the bodhisattva vows, we are promising to refrain from two sets of acts. Although these are usually referred to as the root bodhisattva vows and the secondary bodhisattva vows in our Western languages, those are not the...

(11) Teaching Voidness to Those Whose Minds Are Untrained We’ve been going through the bodhisattva vows. We have covered ten of the 18 vows and we’re up to number 11. What we want to avoid with this vow is teaching voidness to those whose minds are untrained. This is talking...

Review We’ve been speaking about the bodhisattva vows, and we have taken a look at their role on the Buddhist path. We’ve seen that in order to take them, we need to have already developed ourselves along the Buddhist way through the various stages of the lam-rim, the graded...