[Bruce Cowen]

Dear JimP,

I’m 77 years old now.  I started the Dharma in 1968.  Compassion is a natural part of the mind.  Just keep doing the practice.  It will come.

Bruce

[Bruce Cowen]

I found that completing Ngondro turns the mind to Dharma, too.

[Bruce Cowen]

I’ve found that by being in a state of love and compassion and seeing all negatives as empty, you’ll find that confidence and certainty are naturally there.  The key for me has been guru yoga.

[Bruce Cowen]

What has to happen between realization of the wish fulfilling gem and the first arising of self awareness wisdom?

[Bruce Cowen]

Generally, there are lots of things that happen in the mind when watching or relating to anything. There are always lots to see, understand and/or comprehend. This is especially true when you are relating to or watching other people. There are always lots of things to notice. I have found that as long as the mind is loving, kindly or compassionate, the mind doesn’t drift to being judgmental or judging at all.

[Bruce Cowen]

Dear Matt,

I’d love to hear his teaching on the twelve links of causation.

Thanks,

Bruce

[Bruce Cowen]

Thanks so much!  Love,  Bruce

[Bruce Cowen]

My name is Bruce Cowen. I’m from Toronto, Canada. I met my root guru Namgyal Rinpoche in 1968. I was director, treasurer and bookkeeper of his organization for over twenty-five years. I was also the same for the Riwoche Society for many years. I drafted the legal documents for it. As my root guru, Namgyal Rinpoche showed me love that includes absolute trust. Under his guidance, I did ngondro and millions of mantras. Although he died in 2003, he is still with me. I met Kyabgon Phakchok Rinpoche that same year in Toronto. Now I have two great gurus in my mind.

[Bruce Cowen]

Just to add to what I just wrote, the real key is Guru Yoga.  The love connection with the Guru includes where devotion is absolute and absolute trust is reality.  Unfolding of lovingkindness happens naturally from there.

[Bruce Cowen]

Actually, what helped the most was focusing on lovingkindness.  That turned into the discipline of love.  That is a moment to moment discipline of turning the mind to do the most loving thing.  That opened up a whole realm of love itself.  Understanding the nature of mind came easy after that.

[Bruce Cowen]

What changed everything for me was realizing that these arisings were formations of the mind, i.e., sankhara formations.  From then on they were not real.  After that, it was easy to walk away from them.  Eventually, they stopped all together.

[Bruce Cowen]

Guru yoga is the fourth part of Ngondro.

[Bruce Cowen]

Thanks, Paulinho!  What did the five fingers stand for.

Thanks,

Bruce