Spring lodge

Undoubtedly, one of the greatest Buddhist masters in the world was His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Jungé. His name has been uttered by millions of Buddhists in Asia with much reverence. I met His Holiness personally and was able to receive the Manjushri empowerment. Although I only met him once, my encounter was the most meaningful event of my entire spiritual journey. It is hard for me to describe the nature of it; in his presence, I felt that he showered me with a rain of love and compassion. While saying farewell to him, I felt that everything was going to be fine in my life, whatever that means. Remembering that meeting often brings tears to my eyes. I am unable to fathom the depth of my feeling behind those tears. It is more than devotion. It is more than grief. It is more than joy. There is just so much within that feeling. As a Buddhist, I used to have the desire, the wish that I had been alive during the Buddha’s time, or the time of Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal, and received te...

  There is a state which is beyond any concepts or thoughts, and which is inconceivable. Its nature is void and its expression is compassion, and when that great compassion manifests in response to the needs of beings there is—at the relative level—change and impermanence. But there is a state beyond the very idea of change or permanence. If we could reach that level, in that state we would find the “self” quite different from the idea we have now of, say, atman. The absolute truth is totally beyond any kind of concept and elaboration, such as existing and non existing, permanent and impermanence, and so on. So, in a way, we could speak of a “Great Permanence” as a metaphor to indicate the immutability of the absolute truth but in no way should this be understood as a permanent entity which could be labeled as “self” or atman, as this would again be falling into limiting conditions. It is unnecessary to postulate the existence of a self as the absolute nature is beyond all concepts...

  Sooner or later, we will have to take up the practice, because fear is always in us, insecurity is always in us, and that makes us suffer. To practice looking deeply, in order to touch Nirvana, is a very important practice. If you go to a Buddhist center to practice, that means that you want to get relief. You can suffer less, you can get relief, but the greatest relief of all you can only get when you are capable of touching Nirvana. Touching Nirvana is to get the greatest relief from fear of non-being, since things continue to be, things continue to manifest themselves in one form or other. Beneath these differences, the ground remains the same thing. Nirvana is the ground of our being, it is the nature of no-birth and no-death, and it is the extinction of all these notions like birth and death, being and non-being, permanence and annihilation, and also the extinction of all the sufferings that have been created by these notions. Our fear, our despair, our suffering…most of the...

  Relationship Between Physical Body and Mind  In the Tibetan sciences and the spiritual path, when we speak about a human being we speak about three gates. A gate means something for entering into knowledge, or a way to come out of a problem. For example, if we want to visit a museum, we have to go through a gate or door. When we enter then we can discover what is inside. In the same way if we are inside a prison, in order to free ourselves, we need to go through the door. For that reason our physical body, our energy, and our mind are called our three gates. It is important to understand that we all have this base. If we study Tibetan medicine, it is explained and people learn it that way. That is the base of the relationship between the physical body and the mind. This is connected to our different kinds of energy. Basically our physical body and everything is related to the five elements, and the function of all our vital energy and movements is part of energy. For example...

  When we’ve lived our life well, we should be able to think: “I am content with everything that’s in my life, just as it is. My deepest wish is to continue gaining wisdom and acquiring tools to work skillfully with my mind. Although it’s true that I may have to work at my livelihood, or with my family circumstances, my health, or with certain areas of my life, these are simply the “field trips” for developing my wisdom and skill. At my job, getting promoted shouldn’t be the incentive for me to work harder. There may be some short-term benefits and gratification in a promotion, but it’s much more gratifying to use this job as a field trip for working with my mind, to increase my wisdom and skill. From that perspective, the benefits of going to work will be much greater. Without being subject to the conventional mindset of success and failure, I won’t feel so deeply attached and vulnerable, as if all I live for is that kind of conventional success.” If we can nurture this same attit...

  I suffered terrible anxiety in my childhood. I desperately wanted to run away from it or fight it off. I don’t know exactly what the true cause of my panic was, but it manifested in many ways. I was terrified of snowstorms. In my hometown in the Himalayas, winter brings many snowstorms. I remember one in particular. The wind was so intense it shook the house, and my mother found me holding fast to the house’s central beam. “What are you doing?” she asked. I said, “I have to save us from this wind!” Mom found this very funny. I found no relief in the summer, either, with its rainstorms full of thunder and lightning. Sometimes, too, we would go down to Kathmandu Valley, and I was really scared of the public transportation there. We would ride the bus, and with each bump, my heart would be bumping too. The sound of fireworks going off was a nightmare for me. I tried so many ways to deal with my anxiety: running, playing, and escaping into the nearby caves to hide. But nothing worked...

 Don't Be Proud When pride arises, do not be controlled by it; return to the recognition of the fundamental awareness. Pride can be very gross, as one can see in arrogant people, or it can take a subtle form that is felt inwardly but does not have a strong outward manifestation. It is important to recognise pride at the moment of its arising. When one has recognised it, one should neither follow nor control it, but return to the condition of awareness. Pride will suddenly disappear together with its object — some knowledge or skill with which one identifies — and what will be left will be the wisdom of equanimity. -