Category Archives: Dharma in Daily Life

Loving-kindness and Realizing the Yidam

Compassion and Bodhicitta, Dharma in Daily Life, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Practice Commentary

Lama Zopa Rinpoche answers questions from students on how to generate loving-kindness without generating attachment and does it mean to realize the yidam. Rinpoche also describes the many joys and benefits from living a meaningful life guided by the Dharma. These teachings given at Tse Chen Ling Center, in San Francisco, California USA, in November 2003. You can follow along with the transcript at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/day-two-questions-and-answers

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It’s all in your mind

Dharma in Daily Life, Introductory, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lamrim (Path to Enlightenment), Perfect Human Rebirth, Renunciation

You have no enemy when you don’t have anger. Only when you have anger you have enemy in your life. So it’s all to do with your concept. It’s all in your mind.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

These teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the power of our perfect human rebirth are from a commentary Rinpoche gave on the Eight Verses of Thought Transformation, an essential mind training text composed by Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa. These teachings were hosted by Tse Chen Ling Center, in San Francisco, California, in November 2003. You can also listen along with the transcript on our website.

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Seeing Oneself as Lower Than Others

Compassion and Bodhicitta, Dharma in Daily Life, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Practice Commentary

So main thing is by practicing oneself as lower, then pride does not rise.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Listen to Day Two from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s 2003 commentary on Eight Verses of Thought Transformation, an essential mind training text composed by Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa. This teaching was given at Tse Chen Ling Center, in San Francisco, California USA. Rinpoche explains why we must purify the mind of pride, how to prepare our mind to be able to see ourselves as lower than all others and describes the great joy we will feel upon accomplishing this powerfully medicinal state of mind. You can read along with the transcript at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/day-two-seeing-oneself-lower-others

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The Kindness of the Enemy

Dharma in Daily Life, Introductory, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Purification

The minute our anger arises, we find an enemy in our life. We see a person that we hate or we want to hurt, or a person harms us and we see them as an enemy. But the minute our anger is gone, we don’t see them as an enemy.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

These teachings were given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the 36th Kopan Meditation Course, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 2003. In this session, Rinpoche discusses how we can only practice patience with those who appear to be our enemy. By resisting our urge to respond to the enemy in anger, we protect our mind and advance our realizations. Because these benefits are dependent upon the practice of patience, Rinpoche urges us to recognize the special kindness of the enemy and to feel a very deep sense of gratitude towards them.

You can also read along with the transcript of this podcast at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/lecture-3-kindness-enemy.

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The Path of Universal Responsibility

Compassion and Bodhicitta, Dharma in Daily Life, Introductory, Karma, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Just by lecturing that we need compassion, that alone cannot generate compassion in the hearts of the people in this world. We need to learn how to develop compassion. Compassion, like rain falling, doesn’t just happen.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

These teachings were given by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche at the 36th Kopan Meditation Course, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 2003. In this first lecture, Rinpoche begins by describing universal responsibility and illustrates this practice by telling the story of the four harmonious brothers. Rinpoche explains how living in harmony is the cause of inner and outer peace and powerful beauty. Rinpoche also gives commentary on the eight Mahayana precepts and ends with a guided meditation on universal responsibility. You can read along with a lightly edited transcript on our website at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/lecture-1-universal-responsibility

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Everything Depends on Your Mind

Dharma in Daily Life, Emptiness, Karma, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

As Buddha said, you are your own enemy or you are your own liberator. You can create a hell realm or you can create enlightenment. Everything depends on what you do with your mind.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

In these 2000 teachings given during the 33rd Kopan Course, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how everything is merely imputed by the mind and then shows how this wisdom can enable us to transform all karmic appearances into happiness. You can read along with the full transcript at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/day-2-emptiness-everything-comes-mind

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The Essence of the Dharma

Dharma in Daily Life, Emptiness, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Sutras, Mantras and Root Texts

The essence of the Dharma is to subdue one’s mind by taming the disturbing, obscuring, emotional thoughts that bring so much suffering to yourself and to others, from life to life.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

In this teaching from the 33rd Kopan Course in 2000, Lama Zopa Rinpoche discusses the classic Buddhist instruction “Engage in the perfect wholesome action. Subdue one’s own mind. This is the teaching of the Buddha.” Rinpoche then leads us in the ultimate exercise to subdue the mind: a contemplation of emptiness. Read along with a transcript of these teachings on our website here.

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Make Your Life Worthwhile

Dharma in Daily Life, Introductory, Karma, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Don’t cheat yourself. Don’t deceive yourself. Don’t be distracted by sense pleasures. Exist where you are right now. Make your life worthwhile.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

This month’s LYWA podcast is a short spontaneous Dharma talk by Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the importance of making this life worthwhile, given on April 20, 2000 while Rinpoche was traveling in a car through San Francisco on the way to FPMT’s Tse Chen Ling Center.

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The Enemy is the Kindest Person

Compassion and Bodhicitta, Dharma in Daily Life, Karma, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lamrim (Path to Enlightenment)

By developing the mind in patience, whatever happens to you, whatever harm others give you, you will never get angry.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains the power of the mind of patience to bring happiness to all beings we encounter on the path to enlightenment. The most powerful way for us to develop stable patience is to practice when confronted by the anger of others. Thus the angry person is the most kind to us, kinder than the friends that love us and the strangers we ignore.

Rinpoche gave these teachings at the Thirty-third Kopan Meditation Course held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 2000. Read along with the transcript at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/day-4-practicing-patience-enemy-kindest-person

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The Importance of Compassion in Daily Life

Compassion and Bodhicitta, Dharma in Daily Life, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

If you have compassion for others, then that gives meaning to everything, all the expenses that we do, all the hard works that we do, including studying, doing job, many hours of job—it gives meaning to everything.

Listen to a talk given by Kyabje Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche on the beneficial results of practicing compassion for others during all our actions. This talk was given during a three-day series of teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New York, in August 1999. Follow along with the transcript at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/talk-guru-devotion-audio-and-unedited-transcripts

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