Category Archives: Emptiness

How Things Appear to Exist from their Own Side

Emptiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

The way the ‘I’ and phenomena appear to us, to our hallucinated mind, is they are not merely labeled by mind. As long as these things appear to you that way – not merely labeled by mind – they don’t exist. They’re totally empty there.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

This month on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive podcast, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how things appear to exist from their own side. These teachings were given at the Thirty-third Kopan Meditation Course, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 2000. You can listen also along to the transcript on our website.

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Everything Comes From The Mind

Emptiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Through this way of meditating, you begin to realize it’s not the object that is disturbing. It’s your mind; it’s your concept. Your mind is making you unhappy; your mind is disturbing you.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how everything we experience comes from the mind. These teachings were given during the Thirty-third Kopan meditation course held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 2000. Read along with the transcript on the LYWA website.

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Listening Like the Limitless Sky

Emptiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Oral Transmission, Sutras, Mantras and Root Texts

Even if you find it very hard to understand the teachings on emptiness, you will leave positive imprints on the mind and remove the imprints of delusion. The benefits you receive just by listening is like the limitless sky.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche elaborates on the emptiness of the I, then  gives oral transmission of the Heart Sutra and partial transmission of the Diamond Cutter Sutra. These teachings were given by Rinpoche on Lhabab Duchen during the Thirty-third Kopan Meditation Course, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 2000. You can follow along with the transcript on our website.

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Using Everything to Practice Mindfulness

Dharma in Daily Life, Emptiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Because you look at everything as empty, the strong selfish mind, the ego, doesn’t arise. When you think like this, it makes your life stable, filled with peace, happiness, contentment; it brings so much benefit.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how to practice mindfulness as we go through our day, and offers advice on daily practice. These teachings were given by Rinpoche at the Thirty-third Kopan Meditation Course, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 2000. Listen along with the transcript on our website.

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How We Name the World

Emptiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Every single phenomena is like that. There’s merely gathered, the base to be labeled, then due to that, then mere imputation, then only after that, then you have that appearance.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

In these teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche given during a lamrim retreat held at Vajrapani Institute in Boulder Creek, California, from August 20-23, 2006, Rinpoche explains how everything we experience is merely imputed by our minds by using the example of a child who is too young to speak. If a child doesn’t know the name of something, does it exist? You can follow along with the transcript here.

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How to Find Our Real Potential

Dharma in Daily Life, Emptiness, Tenzin Ösel Hita

Tenzin Ösel Hita gives a talk on “How to overcome limitations to find our real potential” at the Center for Wisdom and Compassion in Copenhagen, Denmark on February 11, 2017.

Read the talk at http://www.lamayeshe.com/article/how-find-our-real-potential

Learn more about Ösel at http://www.lamayeshe.com/teacher/tenzin-osel-hita

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Meditation on Emptiness at Vulture’s Peak

Emptiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

On March 12, 2014, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche ascended Vulture’s Peak, Rajgir, India, to give a transmission of the Vajra Cutter Sutra to a group of students. Rinpoche began by reading out a Dedication Prayer by Mipham Dawa Rinpoche, then, after the sutra transmission, Rinpoche led students in a meditation on emptiness. Read along with the transcript at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/meditation-emptiness-vultures-peak-audio-and-transcript

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Chöd: Slaying the Ego

Emptiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Practice Commentary

Practicing Dharma is just a question of changing, you know, your own mind, changing, from self-cherishing thought into cherishing others, from anger, those violent, harmful mind, into loving-kindness, compassion to others, so, basically like that.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Enjoy this profound excerpt from a series of teachings given prior to a chöd initiation by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Maitripa College, Portland, Oregon, in June 2009. Read along with the transcript at bit.ly/CHOD-SLAYING-THE-EGO

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Making Your Mind Vajrayana

Emptiness, Guru Devotion, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Nature of the Mind, Practice Commentary, Sutras, Mantras and Root Texts

So whatever happens, whatever is happening around, around you, your heart has peace.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

In this month’s podcast, Lama Zopa Rinpoche leads us in the vajra practice of Chenrezig. Rinpoche begins by chanting Om Mani Padme Hum slowly and powerfully. Within that resonance Rinpoche teaches on how to maintain the vajra visualization of Chenrezig where method and wisdom are unified in one mind. Rinpoche also touches upon the vajra method of hearing all sounds as mantra and then leads the group again in chanting Om Mani Padme Hum, this time using the kind of chanting Rinpoche says he would hear his mother use at Lawudo. While chanting Rinpoche repeatedly pauses to refresh the visualization of Chenrezig on the crown of all sentient beings to whom the practice is dedicated. After ending this session of chanting while visualizing mindfully, Rinpoche returns to analyzing the emptiness of Chenrezig and helps us see how true existence looks when it is projected on that visualization.

Listening to this experiential teaching will both increase your knowledge of the ultimate view and deepen your practice of Chenrezig for the benefit of all. Rinpoche gave this talk in Madrid, Spain on June 10, 2009. You can follow along with the transcript at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/chenrezig-visualization.

 

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The King of the Superstitious Mind

Dharma in Daily Life, Emptiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Nature of the Mind

The basic Buddhist philosophy is that everything comes from karma which comes from your mind, from your intention.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how imprints condition our mind to project karmic appearances upon everything we see, hear, smell, touch and taste. By changing our mind, we can change our experience. This short teaching by Rinpoche is excerpted from Lecture 10 of the 41st Kopan Course held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in December 2008. You can read along with the transcript on the LYWA website at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/basic-philosophy-buddhism-audio-and-unedited-transcripts

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