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- March 3, 2026
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To not become happy because of praise, To not become unhappy because of blame, To support one's own good virtues, This is the character of the supreme being.
If the intention is good, the levels and paths are good. If the intention is bad, the levels and paths are bad, Since everything depends on intentions it is important that we make them positive.
Do not do anything harmful to one another, do only what is good. Discipline your own mind to subdue negative emotions.
Do no evil whatsoever, practice virtue perfectly, tame your mind completely. This is the teaching of the Buddhist doctrine.
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Author Archives: Ven. Lopon Osel
Special days of the Tibetan Buddhist Calendar
The Tibetan Buddhist calendar has special days throughout the year. This text is a commentary on the special times relating to Shakyamuni Buddha’s life, the ten Guru Rinpoche days, and the 25 dakini days, written by Tselea Natsog Rang Drol.
Guru, Buddha, and Bodhisattvas, those having mastery of compassion, to them I pay homage and go for refuge.
With the intention to benefit those having faith, a correct attitude, and a mind of virtue, here I will explain the classification, enumeration and benefits of these special days. there are three topics: the general, the particular and their distinctions. Continue reading
How to Respect the Three Jewels and How to Keep the Refuge Vow
Part 1: An important message from Buddhist teachings
Buddhist Dharma student you will eventually accomplish Buddhahood even though you may initially misinterpret the teachings.
You may think that Dharma books and other kinds of books are the same, but they are not. Their meaning is different because they were not written by a Buddha or Bodhisattva. Also, other kinds of books offer only temporary support. They should not be respected in the same way, but merely studied. Whoever wrote them may be very intelligent, but that is not necessarily a Buddha or Bodhisattva.
Like our heart, the most vital organ in our bodies, the Dharma is the most vital part of our soul. It illuminates our darkness and purifies our ignorance. The meaning of Dharma is the wisdom of Buddha. Any other kind of book does not have the power to lead you to Enlightenment. Rather they will lead you to activities of samsara.
One sutra says, “‘in degenerated times I will manifest in a form of a Letter. Whoever respects faithfully will be liberated from samsara. If there is no understanding about this, then the Buddhist Dharma texts will be not respected and cannot bring blessings, and then even those who have already received the refuge vow will be breaking vows. But people do not know this, so this message is very important. I’m sending this message because people everywhere consider Dharma books as equal to regular books. Continue reading
The Benefits of Observing the Great Festival of the Tenth Day
by His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche Clique aqui para Portugese OM SVASTI May we obtain refuge in all our future rebirths in the Udiyanna Vajradhara who removes all difficulties,
the mere recollection of him brings about the bestowing of many desires, siddhis, and blessings just as does a wish-granting gem, a wish-granting tree, and a precious wish granting vessel. For anyone who beholds his deeds, the understanding of a disciple will grow within her or himself.
As for several occasions he displayed on the Tenth Day of the waxing moon during the twelve months of the year. Continue reading
The Refuge vow
Refuge and Bodhichitta, So, to begin with , what is it that brings us into the Buddha’s teaching? What is the door through which we must enter, the “ mental soil,” so to speak, in which we can plant the seed of Dharma?
It is taking refuge. This marks the difference between a Buddhist and a non-Buddhist, between one who is inside the teachings and one who is outside.
To take refuge is to recognize the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sanghaas one’s unchanging protectors, and to turn to them sincerely and with full confidence. This opens the door of the Dharma at the very outset.
When we have taken refuge in the Three Jewels, what should our fundamental attitude be? We should understand that the whole of space is pervaded by living beings; there is not one of them that has not been, at one time or another, our father or our mother.
We should recognize that they have been our parents and feel gratitude toward them for the love and kindness they have shown us. We should also realize that all these beings, once our mothers, are sinking in the ocean of the sufferings of samsara.
We should cultivate the attitude of bodhichitta, taking the decision to practice the supreme Dharma for their sake. Bodhichitta is thus the fundamental preparation and the basis of our practice of the path. Continue reading
Advice for Nyingma Practitioners
Clique aqui para Portugese
Since I am the eldest of the Nyingma lamas, I have been asked to share some humble thoughts and opinions with all those who have gathered here this year in the sacred place of Bodhgaya, India on the occasion of the Eleventh Annual Great Prayer Festival of the Early Translation School. I will therefore speak a few words of advice to express my point of view, so I hope you all listen well. Continue reading
Develop and Maintain a Relationship Between Teacher and Disciple
Clique aqui para Portugese
Nagarjuna, a great Bodhisattva, said:
“Just as the wise ones will respect a statue of the Sugata
Even though it may be made of wood [and] however [unadorned] it may be,
So in the same manner, although this composition of mine may be pitiful,
May you not criticize it, for it is based on the Sublime Teaching.”
I am not saying this as my idea. This is from the Sutra and Tantra teachings of
Shakyamuni Buddha. Most people haven’t read it, and that’s why I made this
collection of teachings.
Generally speaking we must not misinterpret the teachings.
Because we have had bad habits for many lives, the truth is hard for us to
believe. That’s why it’s necessary to maintain a good relationship with our
teacher. Continue reading
Words for the West
Clique aqui para Portugese
For Westerners, compassion is not authentic because it is connected to pride. It is from up to down, because it comes from those who are in some way considered better or higher, and goes toward those who are in some ways considered lower.
Almost all western teachers of Buddhism are either nihilists or eternalists, and not actual Buddhist lineage holders. Some times American Buddhism look like communism, some times like democracy, sometimes like socialism, and sometimes like nothing, only circling between worldly systems, never cutting from them but only circling between negative phenomena. Continue reading
Shechen Rabjam Rinopche Teaching
The Point of All This
Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche is the grandson of His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. This is an excerpt from his book THE GREAT MEDICINE THAT CONQUERS CLINGING TO THE NOTION OF REALITY
If you’ve been practicing for years, you should be seeing some results, If you’re not, you may be missing the point.
The result of spiritual practice should be our inner transformation into better human beings. After practicing for months or years, we should be less prone to anger, pride, and jealousy. Our practice should lead us to a vaster, calmer mind. Continue reading
Thomas Merton in the Himalayas, vesite and Interview with Chatral Rinpoche Buddhist Review,
Thomas Merton in the Himalayas, An Interview with Harold Talbott
Excerpt from Tricycle: the Buddhist Review, Summer, 1992
In his best selling biography, the Seven Storey Mountain (published in 1948), Thomas Merton tells of his conversion to Catholicism and subsequent entry into Our Lady of Gehtsemani, A Cistercian abbey in Kentucky. to a world savaged by war, Merton’s embrace of a Christian life was made all the more authentic by his Cambridge-educated intellect, stunning candor, and the New York street humor he acquired while attending Columbia University.
Single handedly, he restored credibility to the very possibility of contemplative virtue which had long been denigrated by liberal intellectuals and traditional Christians alike. His was a voice of sanity, filled with sacred wonder, and replete with inquiry and contradiction.
Merton appreciated perspectives refined by their distance from the society and considered them essential to maintaining the health of the community. In fact, he spoke of the marginal view as an obligation for monastic’s and artists. From his cloistered outpost, Father Louis (as he was designated by the Church) kept a vigilant eye on the Civil Rights movement and anti-nuclear efforts, and in the last years of his life, he watched with undisguised frustration as the United States lost its footing altogether in Vietnam.
Political concern was one of Father Louis’ many departures from monastic tradition. A voracious reader and legendary correspondent, Merton’s interests extended beyond Church conventions and, under the influence of Zen scholar D.T. Suzuki, came to include Buddhism.
In 1968, after a quarter of a century if life in the monastery, and after repeated requests for permission to travel, the Order finally granted it’s most renowned and respected monk to leave for an Asian journey for the purpose of delivering a paper (on Marxism and Monasticism) to Asian monastic leaders in Bangkok. But before and after the conference, he would have ample opportunity to meet Buddhist masters.
Merton’s letters, made public in recent years, confirm that while he submitted to the rigors of monastic life, he was also a man of wild and sometimes whimsical enthusiasms:
Words of Advice from Kyabjé Chadral Rinpoche
Precious master of unrepayable kindness, Pema Ledrel Tsal,
Remain as the crown ornament on the top of my head, I pray!
Grant your blessings so that we may find freedom here and now
From all the sufferings of samsara and its lower realms!
Listen well, my dear disciples who are gathered here,
And whose hearts have not been spoiled, consider this. Continue reading
