Episodes
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The Human Being
According to Gelek Rimpoche, all basic Buddhist teachings are edicated to transforming negativities. Through learning, analyzing and the practice of meditation, we can clear our negative thoughts, ideas and habits—the obstacles to our spiritual development. In this lesson, Rimpoche explores our...
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How Can We Improve Ourselves?
Can we improve ourselves? And if so, how do we do it? The Buddhist goal is to become a Buddha, but our goal right now should be to become a better person as we move closer to that ideal. In this lesson, Rimpoche teaches us how to recognize our delusions, which we all have but tend to deny. Our...
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What is Buddha Nature?
Buddha nature is the basis of our spiritual practice, and the basis on which we are trying to uplift and improve ourselves. Buddha nature is the pure part of ourselves that continues on after death. In this lesson, Rimpoche explores reincarnation and its relationship to Buddha nature. There are…
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Signs that Buddha Nature Is Activated and Growing
As we die our awareness shrinks and our consciousness becomes very subtle. At that point, we lose control, so either our negativities or our wisdom will take over. At death, our Buddha nature may or may not be activated. Moving from static Buddha nature to growing Buddha nature is the basic...
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Questions and Answers
Rimpoche answers questions from students such as: If mind cannot become form, how do manifestations occur? What is Buddha nature? Is it a quality of the mind or a potentiality of the mind? When someone dies, is there something the living can do for them or is the deceased only subject to their…
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Absolute and Relative Truth, and Dependent Origination
The Buddha taught that there are two truths: relative and absolute. They are sometimes called: “conventional and ultimate truth.” In this lesson, Rimpoche explains the necessity to embrace both truths, because it is through relative truth that absolute truth is revealed. Also, Rimpoche explains…
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Our Biggest Problem is Ignorance
To transform our negative emotions, first we must understand the base, which is ourselves in this life. Then, we have to understand dependent arising, or emptiness, which is revealed through existence. When you see the truth and understand the true nature of reality, result will be to no longer...
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The Importance of Mahayana Motivation
In this lesson Rimpoche discusses the importance of Mahayana motivation in everything we do. “It is not what you do but why you do it.” In Mahayana practice, we dedicate everything we do for the benefit of all beings. He also answers questions such as: What makes a thought negative or positive?...
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Attachment
Attachment is called the “glue of samsara” because it causes us to get stuck in never ending cycles of rebirth. Rimpoche urges us to overcome our denial and recognize our problems such as anger and attachment, so we can overcome them. Anger is the rough mind that wishes harm, and wants to get...
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Anger
In this lesson, Rimpoche talks about anger and its antidote, patience. Anger has the same negative effect on our minds whether directed at a living being or an inanimate object. Anger, which creates a rough mind, is very difficult to get rid of. Jealousy can be a form of anger: for example, we…
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Pride
Pride is one of the eight fears from which Tara gives protection. The eight fears are called the “nightmares” of the spiritual practitioner and pride is one of them. The lion symbolizes pride because when anyone crosses or challenges the lion, he roars and is ready to kill with his claws. As...
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Doubt
In this lesson Rimpoche discusses doubt, one of the root delusions that causes us trouble. Doubting the four Noble Truths, doubting Buddha, dharma and sangha, and doubting karma are what this root delusion is about. Doubt is a major obstacle for practitioners because it blocks our opportunity to...
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Cultivating Intelligent Faith
Intelligent faith is the balance between blind faith and doubt. Spiritual development is the struggle between negative habitual patterns and the positive patterns we would like to create. For this we need intelligent faith, which functions as our inspiration and encouragement. Rimpoche compares...
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Five deluded views that lead to Ignorance
Rimpoche reviews the five wrong views: 1. Jig Ta, or looking at our collection of impermanent skandhas (form, feeling, discrimination and volition within the individual, plus the senses: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch) and viewing that collection as a solid, fixed “me.” We see “me” or “I”…
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Transforming Ignorance is the most difficult task
Ignorance underlies and links all the other negative emotions. Clearing the ignorance within us is extremely difficult. It is the ignorant “I,” not our Buddha nature, which has negative emotions. Our ignorant mind is focused on the contaminated continuation of “me.” The minute we clear our...
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How negativities grow
Rimpoche continues the discussion of ignorance, the root of all delusions. The direct opponent to ignorance is wisdom. This wisdom is the wisdom of knowing the fundamental true nature of reality, which is “solving the mystery of life.” For achieving wisdom, Buddha presented the concept of...
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Factors that cause growth of negativity
The third factor that affects the growth of negativity is the influence of virtuous and non-virtuous friends. In order to be virtuous, you need support. The sangha is your support system. If you have non-virtuous friends, then the condition for growing negative forces within you is stronger. It…
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The effect of delusions on the individual
Delusions destroy your mind and morality. Morality means protecting yourself from negativities by keeping vows and commitments. When delusions come up within you, they go against your personal commitment to being good, your personal commitment to being a pure being, your personal commitment to...
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How negativities affect death and rebirth
Rimpoche teaches on why it is better to die with a positive mind than a negative one. He explains what to do to help someone who is dying, including making sure that the person dies peacefully, without any disturbance such as getting irritated, or angry, or attached. He then answers questions…
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The necessity of daily practice and meditation
Rimpoche explains why it is absolutely necessary to have a daily practice in order to put into effect the things he discussed during this series of talks. He recommends saying a series of short prayers and mantras and meditating as you say the words. The words you say must be strongly backed up…
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Why Spirituality
What is spirituality? There are so many different ideas, yet none of them are wrong. Is the purpose of spiritual practice to feel better, or is it to be better? In this talk, Gelek Rimpoche addresses the specific Buddhist goal of freeing ourselves from negative emotions and suffering and…
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A Meaningful Life
What is spirituality? There are so many different ideas, yet none of them are wrong. Is the purpose of spiritual practice to feel better, or is it to be better? In this talk, Gelek Rimpoche addresses the specific Buddhist goal of freeing ourselves from negative emotions and suffering and…
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My Life, My Emotions
An AA for negative emotions is what Gelek Rimpoche proposes in this teaching. We are addicted, he asserts, to anger, obsession, jealousy and hatred, instead of being soaked in love and compassion.
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Karma
Karma, the combination of intention and action is more difficult to understand than the Buddha's central insight of emptiness. Whether it is the individual karma arising out of our intentions and actions or the collective karma we create as a society, without our awareness it determines the…
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Buddha’s Advice
In embarking on the path to enlightenment, Buddha shared three tools for a happy life – be kind, do no harm and watch your mind. The mind determines whether our actions are positive or negative. Gelek Rimpoche explains why the intention, action and reactions following our deeds determine our...
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Freedom Through Responsibility
Every thought, deed, intention, state of mind and action creates and affects karma, we may feel like an insignificant individual, but in reality we each carry a huge responsibility not only for creating our own suffering and happiness through karma, but contributing to the karma of our families…
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Inspired Discipline
Solving the problems of our lives takes more than just patching our wounds. How do we really deal with our problems and develop a practice that will make a difference? Gelek Rimpoche gives the example of the historical Buddha as well as the inspiring dedication of the Tibetan people to preserve…
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Relinquishing Blame
When we hurt others or are hurt ourselves, blame--directed towards ourselves or others--wastes the biggest opportunity we have to correct, to compensate and to improve our minds. Gelek Rimpoche outlines the beginning of a method for short circuiting this damaging state of mind and transforming it...
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Compassion Begins With Me
The decision to be joyful and happy takes initiative. We don’t magically receive it; we are responsible for making changes ourselves. Nobody else can help us engage in compassionate acts for ourselves such as finding time to meditate in the morning, and engaging the mind in compassion and wisdom....
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The Kindness of Others
Our very survival depends on the kindness of others yet every day we see the destructiveness of arrogance on a local and global scale. Lack of respect for others brings war, respect brings peace. Developing respect helps bring compassion, and compassion brings joy.
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Engaging Wisdom and Compassion
It's hard not to be happy around the Dalai Lama even when times are difficult as they are now. Why? He is the embodiment of wisdom and compassion. So when we make a difference in our lives, we impact the people around us and ultimately the world. It may seem like an insurmountable task, but Gelek...
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The Illusion of Self
“Recognizing the illusion of seeing ourselves as solid, separate and permanent opens the opportunity for a more meaningful life,” says Gelek Rimpoche in this lesson. Nothing is solid or fixed, not our personality, not even negativities such as anger and obsession. Gelek Rimpoche shows how freedom...
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Ego and Self
Ego is a combination of ignorance, confusion and fear. It puts our true self to sleep and takes over our lives, distorting our perceptions and leading to negative emotions like anger, hatred and the wrong deeds that follow. When we recognize that the way we habitually perceive our self and others...
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Revolutionizing the Quest for Self Fulfillment
What is revolutionary about the spiritual path? It is the ability to challenge the habitual view of the importance of our own desires and develop a new way of being in the world—a way that foregrounds the happiness of others. In this lesson, Gelek Rimpoche explains how developing greater…
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Ethics in the Modern World
What is ethical behavior in the modern world? Are violence and racism ever justified? Is cloning ethical? In this lesson, Gelek Rimpoche explores the confusing territory of modern ethics and offers a simple rubric: Ethical behavior requires that we judge our own behavior rather than the behavior…
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Utilizing Your Present Situation for Practice
The spiritual path is not concerned with temporary material gain or emotional happiness. Our goal is lasting satisfaction, which everyone is capable of achieving by attending to the life they are living right now with loving attention and understanding the basics of karma. In this lesson, Gelek...
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How to Contemplate Spiritual Topics 1
Everything can be used for the spiritual path. It is our motivation that creates the energy to change our minds and activities into beneficial practices. Gelek Rimpoche discusses the first two of seven ways to help oneself on the path. 1). Identifying and aligning one’s self with spiritual…
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How to Contemplate Spiritual Topics 2
Gelek Rimpoche outlines the remaining basic daily practices for a spiritual practitioner, focusing most intently on the four steps to purifying negative karma. Guilt is not one of them! Sincere regret is. Rejoicing in the good fortune of others helps to eliminate jealousy and increase our own...
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Good Life Good Death
Death is definite. The way to have a peaceful and positive death rests in the way we live our lives. The time of death is uncertain. When it does come, we experience the dissolution of the four elements that make-up our physical body. While we are alive, we have many opportunities to contemplate...
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Managing Your Spiritual Life
Spiritual techniques are only helpful if you make use of them. The spiritual path is not instantaneous or simple. In this lesson, Gelek Rimpoche explains that we must be diligent in our practice and frequently reflect on its methods and the nature of our own minds if we hope to overcome the…
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Mind over Matter
We recite mantras and other prayers to protect the mind and to strengthen our connection to universal virtues like generosity, compassion and wisdom. In this lesson, Gelek Rimpoche introduces the basic mantras and prayers of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual practice and recounts how he learned about...
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Human Nature
Though human mind is sometimes clouded temporarily by negative emotions like hatred, fear, and obsession, it is by nature clean and pure. Moreover, our wonderful human nature makes us capable of the ultimate achievement—becoming fully enlightened. In this session, Gelek Rimpoche reminds us that...
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Anger and Patience
Anger is the real weapon of mass destruction and gives rise to terrorism, war and every other kind of destructive behavior. In everyday life, anger is an addiction—a fire that destroys our peace of mind, consumes our virtue and blinds us so that we cannot act rationally. In this lesson, Gelek...
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Reincarnation – Fact or Fiction
Have we lived before and will we have a new life after this one ends? As a kid in the monastery, Gelek Rimpoche had a hard time accepting reincarnation as fact, even though he had been identified as a “reincarnated lama” himself. In this lesson, he examines the anecdotal and spiritual evidence…
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Looking at Life Through Wide Angle Lens of Karma
Karma is a widely known term that is also widely misunderstood. In this lesson, Gelek Rimpoche discusses the four characteristics of Karma: it is definite; it multiplies easily; we do not meet with uncreated causes; and results will not occur without cause. However, we can also take charge of our...
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Fear and Fearlessness
Gelek Rimpoche discusses negative emotions such as pride, ignorance, anger, jealousy and greed which all arise from the same root: fear. He shows us how these fears effect us by destroying our peace of mind. He also explains how our peace of mind can be restored through the recognition of our...
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Dealing with Depression
Depression arises from a lack of self-appreciation and an inability to move on from painful ruminations. Gelek Rimpoche gives a variety of suggestions to help free us from the paralysis of depression. Concentrated and analytical meditation can help re-train the mind toward a more objective and...
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Impermanence: Denial of the Passing Moment
Our culture is rapt by entertainment that distracts us from many truths—denial of the fragility of life and the certainty of death among them. In this lesson, Gelek Rimpoche explains that while Impermanence as represented by illness, aging and death is a reality, one can also view impermanence as...
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Karma Lesson 1
Understanding the karmic system is an essential element of Buddhist study and practice. Karma is the root of all happiness and joy, and also the root of all difficulties. In this lesson, Gelek Rimpoche discusses karma as the effects that are created by our actions and our speech.
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Karma Lesson 2
The characteristics of karma are that it is definite, and that whatever karma we create, we will meet with its results. Our actions and our deeds are our own responsibility. In this lesson, Rimpoche also introduces the teaching that negative karma can be purified, and positive karma is subject to...
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Audio Teachings by Gelek Rimpoche
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