Series: Buddha and the Great Masters

Phakchok Rinpoche reminds us of the three main trainings the Buddha taught, which are a condensation of the entire Buddhadharma: the trainings of discipline, meditation, and wisdom.

Phakchok Rinpoche shares a song of realization the master Tsangnyön Heruka sang to his disciple Bönpo Dorjé Nyingpo as he was giving him mind instructions.

In this teaching, Phakchok Rinpoche shares some key words of advice from the Zheldam Lamrim Yeshé Nyingpo.

Phakchok Rinpoche reminds us a few verses of advice from the great nineteenth century non-sectarian Dzokchen master, Dza Patrul Rinpoche.

On this special day of the monkey month, we celebrate the birth of our Precious Maha Guru within a lotus blossom on Lake Dhanakosha. Phakchok Rinpoche shares with us a verse from the Heart Essence of Padmasambhava.

Phakchok Rinpoche shares with us The Fivefold Ultimate, Essential Instructions and Eightfold Samayas of Mahamudra, given by the first throne-holder of the Drikung Kagyu tradition.

Today’s Guru Rinpoche day is very special, because it falls within the month of Saga Dawa. In the Tibetan tradition, Saga Dawa is the month during which the Buddha was born, attained enlightenment, and passed into nirvana. For this special message, then, I would like to draw from the Sutra of Liberation (Tar Do), which is a well-known sutra in the Tibetan tradition.

Hilary Herdman discusses the reading of the life-stories of great masters (Tib. Namtar) as spiritual practice.

I am at the moment in Gomde New York. Hope you all are keeping well and that you are keeping up with your practice. I came across a short audio teaching on the bardos by Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche earlier today and it sent a strong reminder for practicing.

I would like to share this message with you all for today’s Guru Rinpoche Day: My son, you need to understand the dharma that I taught you. That is the easy part. The difficult part is the practice. And the more difficult part is to maintain the practice. Maintain means to carry on the practice whether you are in the mountain or in the city.