Where to Start

On the occassion of the birthday of our precious Mahaguru Padmasambhava, Phakchok Rinpoche shares with us Guru Rinpoche’s profound teaching from the “Sang-Ngak Lamrim,” as well as some important advice based on his own experience and what he has witnessed in others.

In this teaching, Phakchok Rinpoche discusses “mindfulness” in the Buddhist tradition, which includes evaluating our experience against the ethical structure of the Ten Nonvirtues

Phakchok Rinpoche explains how a belief in karma gives us an anchor when our own moral compass fails us.

Phakchok Rinpoche will teach on “Compassion and Meditation” to the Malaysian sangha.

On Guru Rinpoche Day, Phakchok Rinpoche shares Venerable Chökyi Drakpa Gyaltsen’s vision of Lord Manjushri with a condensation of the entire essence of the Causal Vehicle of Sutra.

Phakchok Rinpoche wishes everyone a happy 2022 and shares very useful advice from Dza Patrül Rinpoche for both mundane and spiritual activities.

Phakchok Rinpoche teaches how to create space to feel more calm and lose fear, as well as slow down the loop of negative thoughts.

When we hear the word “meditation” we may think that we can’t keep still for an hour and be calm.  But, as Tulku Migmar as explains here, the point of meditation is the process itself.   When we meditate we are cultivating new habits bit by bit in short periods. 

We’re busy people and have lots of responsibilities and activities, so often we may forget to engage in self-reflection.  But, we may want to look carefully at what we prioritize.  If we don’t make time for self-reflection, we don’t need to apologize–but we should remind ourselves how important this is.  And we should begin our meditation sessions with a few minutes of reflection–don’t leave it to the last thing we do. If we form the habit of checking ourselves, we are actually taking steps toward becoming a bodhisattva, a buddha.

How do we begin Buddhist practice? We can first listen to explanations from a qualified teacher, and take time to reflect on what we have heard–trying to understand a little more. Then, after a lot of studies we then gradually encourage ourselves to try some of the practices.  That summarizes one approach. Phakchok Rinpoche advises students with this inclination to enter the pathway of the Nine Yanas. Another method is to approach the practice with a degree of trust–we think this seems right–and we begin practicing what we hear right away.  As we do that, we take time to reflect on our own experiences. When we follow this method, we observe our own experience and notice any changes and improvements right away. Rinpoche calls this method the Path of Meditation.