The Real Enemy Is Our Self-Cherishing Thought

All of our failures, problems, illnesses, and suffering from beginningless rebirths come from cherishing ourselves, Rinpoche warns. If we want happiness, we must start cherishing others. If someone harms us, instead of blaming them, direct the anger toward the real enemy—self-cherishing. This way, there is no anger toward others, no external enemy for us to harm and kill, and we can put the blame where it belongs, our own mind. This is like shooting a long-range missile exactly on target, causing the enemy (the self-cherishing thought) to burst into a thousand pieces. Less anger means more happiness, more peace. Cherishing others is the root cause of happiness for ourselves and others, all the way up to enlightenment. The teaching for this episode was recorded on December 10, 2017, at Kopan Monastery, Nepal.