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Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche

THE NATURE OF MIND & SELF-DECEPTION

When people visit me in my monastery in Nepal, they sometimes ask, “Please introduce me to the nature of my mind! My plane leaves tomorrow morning, so I’m in a bit of a hurry!” It almost sounds as if they think the nature of mind is a special thing, a bit like a tourist attraction, which they have to see before they’re off to the airport. On other occasions, people talk to me as if I were a gardener and the nature of mind were a rare flower that they want to see and smell.
–Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche

I MAKE OFFERINGS

The process that I went through to come to my current appreciation of making offerings is a worthwhile lesson in curiosity, diligent investigation, and the development of evidence-based faith. I need things to make sense. I need to know that what I am doing has a purpose and leads to a measurable outcome. I’m not fond of hypothetical constructs, blind faith, magical thinking, adherence to protocol, or unquestioning obedience to authority. If somebody tells me to do something “because it’s good,” but then offers no reasonable explanation as to why it is good, I tend to walk away.

EVERYTHING CONDITIONED IS IMPERMANENT

Most people never question their day-to-day experiences. They accept whatever is felt and perceived as real. Without examining anything we will never penetrate beyond this illusion to see the actual state of affairs. Instead, we will regard everything that is impermanent as being permanent, what is unreal as being real. What an unfortunate, superficial and mistaken way of perceiving things!

CALLING THE GURU FROM AFAR

There is one meditation song in particular that opens up your mind. Practitioners sing it to call upon inspiration in times of need, to understand the hindrances for love and kindness, which are selfishness and basic unknowing, and to see the difference between being open or distracted during meditation. In that opening, we can experience how the awakened state is in actuality. Here is a version with soundtrack and lyrics, so you can sing along.

INTRODUCTION TO GROUP STUDY OF SACRED BOOKS

Reading sections out loud invites us to delve deeper into the material. It is too easy to just skim over difficult material while reading by yourself but what you found difficult someone else probably did too. I’m always amazed in a class to learn what I read but didn’t really understand when someone inquires about it!

BUDDHIST MASTER ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

We need the leaders of all religions to be involved. It’s very important that religious leaders, politicians, business people, and industrialists have a genuine dialogue. I think everybody will care, if not for other reasons, then at least for his or her future descendants.

TARA’S TRIPLE EXCELLENCE

I have heard my teacher say that in the same way a summer rain will bring forth countless mushrooms in a meadow, the mind-training and meditation practices of Tibet brought forth an uncountable number of masters who awakened to their own potential. These masters attained a degree of fulfillment and insight in their lives that far surpasses anything we can imagine.

THE FINAL WORDS OF PADMASAMBHAVA

You may wonder, is mind nothing? It still shimmers and flashes forth, like haze in the heat of the sun. You may wonder, is it something? It has no color or shape to identify it but is utterly empty and completely awake. That is the nature of your mind.
– Padmasambhava.

RESTORING A SANCTUARY

A documentary on the impact of the recent earthquakes on Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling monastery and Nagi Gompa in Nepal. These monasteries have served thousands of local and international students of all types over many decades.

HOLY SMOKE

Incense is a way to open up the inner channels. Another way for healing, a more subtle path. The ingredients works in concert, like the many instruments in an orchestra, to form a homogeneous effect, that cures and heals like a beautiful melody.