Category Archives: Practice Commentary

The Qualities of the Dharma and Its Teachers

Guru Devotion, Introductory, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Perfect Human Rebirth, Practice Commentary

The particular nature of the Dharma is that the more you study the teachings, the more the Dharma becomes deep and clear. And the holy beings, those who work for sentient beings, those who have accomplished the path, these holy beings are who bring the Dharma teachings to us.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche describes the qualities of the Holy Dharma and of those that teach us the Dharma. This teaching was given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the Fourteenth Kopan Meditation Course, Nepal, 1981. Read along with the transcript on our website at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/lecture-1-qualities-dharma-and-teachers

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The Long-Life Mantra of White Tara

Compassion and Bodhicitta, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Oral Transmission, Practice Commentary, Sutras, Mantras and Root Texts

Those sentient beings who accumulate merit, especially the sentient beings who know how to accumulate merit, if they have long life you see, then the longer they live then they are able to make their life more meaningful. They are able to create more cause of happiness, so there is sense in living long.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

This month on the LYWA podcast, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives the oral transmission of the mantra of White Tara and then leads us an extended recitation of this precious mantra. Rinpoche dedicates the recitation by refreshing the visualization and by pointing out that the purpose of living a long life is even more important for those who are accumulating merit in this life for the sake of others. May all beings receive the undying realization!

These teachings given by Rinpoche at the Fourteenth Kopan Meditation Course in 1981. You can read the transcript on the LYWA website at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/lecture-1-white-tara

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Karma and Purification

Karma, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Practice Commentary, 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 

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The Yoga of Offering Food

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

With that continual thought of benefiting other sentient beings, then with every single morsel of food or drop of drink, you collect limitless skies of merit.

-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 teaches how and why to make all our meals the practice of Dharma and the cause of enlightenment. Rinpoche explains in detail the three motivations for making food offerings and then joins the students in a food  offering practice. Read along with the transcript of these teachings at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/lecture-7-yoga-offering-food

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The Eight Benefits of Practicing Refuge

Introductory, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Practice Commentary, Refuge

So this time I must receive full enlightenment, that which is free forever from samsara, for the sake of the sentient beings.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

From teachings given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche prior to a refuge ceremony at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, November 6, 1992. In this session, Rinpoche explains the eight benefits of practicing refuge and leads the students in prostrations. Follow along with the transcript here https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/refuge-practice-precepts

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The Benefits of Thought Transformation

Dharma in Daily Life, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Practice Commentary

All the hindrances of life, all the hindrances of meditation, of practicing Dharma, by practicing Mahayana thought training, all those hindrances of meditation, of Dharma practice, all those become helpers, beneficial conditions to practice Dharma.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

When we face so many obstacles and challenges to our practice, it can be helpful to listen to this excerpt from teachings on Geshe Langri Tangpa’s Eight Verses of Thought Transformation, given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Manjushri Institute, Cumbria, England, August 16-24, 1979. These teachings were given by Rinpoche while Lama Yeshe was still alive. You can follow along with the transcript at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/benefits-thought-transformation.

You can also read the history surrounding these teachings in Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe in Volume 2, Chapter 17: Even Your Enemy Who Tries to Kill You is Your Best Friend. Big Love is available at https://www.LamaYeshe.com/BigLove

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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 Benefits of Purification

Karma, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Practice Commentary

There’s no other way to do this perfect work for others, so therefore one must actualize the steps of the path to enlightenment; to do that one must purify the obstacles, the negative karmas, obscurations, so therefore then one must do Vajrasattva practice which is the most powerful one by which any negative karma can be purified.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave these profound teachings before a Vajrasattva initiation at Jinsiu Farlin Center in Taiwan in 1994. In these teachings Rinpoche explains the suffering realms of samsara and the benefits of immediately ending all our non-virtuous activities and working quickly to purify all past negative karma so that we may avoid the suffering realms while we practice the path and attain enlightenment for the sake of all. You can also read along with the transcript on our website-https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/benefits-purification-practice-audio-and-unedited-transcript

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The Purpose of Meditation

Dharma in Daily Life, Introductory, Lama Yeshe, Practice Commentary

Because uncontrolled, undisciplined mind is opposite of knowledge-wisdom and happy, that nature is dissatisfaction. So your mind put such way, control, with your own wisdom, there is space, you can discover peace and joyful. So your life is becomes joyful, peaceful, no matter the outside world is up and down, up and down.

-Lama Yeshe

In Los Angeles, California in 1975, Lama Yeshe gave this introductory talk on the purpose of meditation followed by an informal question and answer session. Please read along with the transcript on our website here: https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/purpose-meditation-part

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The Source of All Happiness

Compassion and Bodhicitta, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Practice Commentary

May the good heart, altruism, source of all the happiness, may it be generated within my mind, in the mind of the family, all sentient beings; those who have this altruism, bodhicitta, thought of full enlightenment to benefit others, to be developed due to all these merits, positive actions that one did in the past, in the present, future.
– Lama Zopa Rinpoche

In this month’s podcast, Lama Zopa Rinpoche describes how the altruistic mind of enlightenment works and explains the great benefits from cultivating such a powerfully clear and pervasive mind. Rinpoche then explains in great detail how thought transformation practices are the very best way to deal with the inevitable stresses of modern life and the associated obstacles that repeatedly arise like waves as we move towards the mind of enlightenment for the sake of all beings. These teachings were given by Rinpoche in Bendigo, Australia, August, 1991. You can read the transcript of the teachings on our website at https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/developing-altruism

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