Category Archives: Purification

Our Practice Is Like A Seed



The meditation practice is like the seed. The actual body of meditation, the practice, that is like the seed and purifying the hindrances and the accumulation of merit are like the soil and water.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains why we must prepare the ground of our mind with merit accumulation and karmic purification so that the seeds of our practice of listening, contemplation, and meditation can grow into realizations on the path to attain enlightenment for the sake of all mother sentient beings. These teachings were given by Rinpoche at Manjushri Institute, Cumbria, England, August 16-24, 1979.


The Meaning of Guru Devotion



Devotion is like the mother. From the mother comes many children, then grandchildren, then all the generations. Like that, from devotion all the qualities come, the realizations and all the qualities. From devotion comes the understanding of Dharma words and then the realization of their meaning. From devotion so many qualities come, and also with devotion you are able to protect those qualities.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

These teachings were given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India, between December 26-31, 2006. Rinpoche describes the mystery of the guru deity and discusses the importance of guru devotion in developing all the qualities on the path to the enlightenment. Those who live their lives infused with devotion can progress much more quickly than by intellect alone. Rinpoche then illustrates this phenomena with engaging stories from his youth. You can read along with the transcript by visiting https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/day-four-meaning-guru-devotion


Karma and Purification



By being aware, by knowing about negative karma and all the suffering results, we are persuaded to practice purification.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

These teachings were given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the 36th Kopan Meditation Course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal in 2003. In this session, Rinpoche reminds us of the many kinds of negative karma we constantly accumulate and why it is so vitally important to practice purification every single day.  Read along with the transcript of these teachings at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/lecture-18-how-vajrasattva-practice-purifies-negative-karma 


The Kindness of the Enemy



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.