The Knowledge Base

The Devil Debates an Angel, Part 5: A Simple Path to Happiness (2012, Phoenix)

Life is like this. You are driving you car down the street at dusk. Suddenly you see a kitten scurrying across the road. You slam on the brakes—it almost sends everybody through the windshield. You look out to see if you hit the kitten or not, and suddenly you realize that it wasn’t a kitten at all, just a tree leaf being blown across the street.

The Devil Debates an Angel, Part 4: Getting Your Life To Work In A World That Isn’t What It Seems (2012, Phoenix)

The ancient wisdom of Asia says that the world is an illusion—which isn’t hard to believe sometimes, when our life gets turned upside down. But maybe there’s a way to see through this illusion and make our life go the way we always wanted it to: a perfect relationship, financial security, strong health, and a world without hunger or war. One of the greatest teachers of Tibet was the First Panchen Lama, who lived over 400 years ago. He said that if we really understand the illusion we can make it work for us, to create a life full of happiness and success.

The Devil Debates an Angel, Part 3: A Weekend Party to Stop War (2011, Phoenix)

Four centuries ago there was a Tibetan master named the First Panchen Lama. He was one of the greatest meditators who ever lived. He learned the traps that can ruin our meditation, and he learned how to beat these traps. He described all this in a book called The Devil Debates an Angel, a very funny and profound argument between the Devil and an Angel, inside of one’s person’s head.

The Devil Debates an Angel, Part 2: How to Meditate and How Not to Meditate (2011, Phoenix)

The Devil Debates an Angel, Part 1 (2011, Phoenix)

What’s amazing is that—as we listen to the Devil and the Angel debating—we unexpectedly begin to get some new ideas about how the world around us works: why things happen to us the way they do, why we meet the people we do. By the end of the fight (we won’t tell you how it ends!), we have a lot of what we need to know to change our own life—to be happier, and make those around us happy.

Undercover Angels (2014, Guadalajara)

Here's a teaching that Geshe Michael gave in Guadalajara, Mexico on how to create the karma to encounter "Angels" and receive divine assistance in our life.

Voices from Three-Year Retreat: Meditation, Three Years Later (2013, Arizona)

After almost three years in meditation, the retreatants at Diamond Mountain University are possibly as deep as any large group of meditators in the history of the United States. In their final public teaching before the celebration of their coming out of retreat they shared their experiences, and the meditation techniques that have worked best for them.

Voices from Three-Year Retreat (2013, Various, Arizona)

A unique opportunity to listen to the thoughts of the retreatants themselves after more than two years in deep retreat. In these talks, participants share their beautiful experiences and wisdom of either serving the retreat in a support role or actually being in a deep meditation retreat.

Secrets From The Wheel of Life (2013, New York)

Sometimes your life is just on a roll. The way you always wanted it. Your job is going well, your relationship is great, you have good energy and you feel happy. But how to keep it going? Can we get our life on an upward spiral and just keep it there? Forever? There is a way. It goes all the way back to the Buddha, more than 2,000 years ago. The Buddha didn’t just get enlightened—he also found a way that all of us can use, to get our career and our relationship in an upward spiral and keep it there.

A Gift of Liberation 10: New Year Retreat (2013, Guadalajara)

During the this week-long teaching retreat Geshe Michael Roach will lead us through the section called “Learning to be Quiet,” from one of the greatest books ever written in Tibet: the Gift of Liberation by Pabongka Rinpoche. This intensive series of teachings is meant to give us all the ancient secrets for making a meditation session really successful and this intensive meditation retreat is a chance to actually put into practice these meditation secrets.

What is Emptiness and How Can I Use It? (2013, Oslo)

Below a video and an excerpt from Geshe Michael’s new book The Karma of Love which discusses the idea of emptiness and how we can use it in your life.

A Gift of Liberation 09: The Seven Doors to Meditation (2012, Phoenix)

For centuries, Tibetan monks have used 7 powerful steps to put themselves into a state of deep meditation. During this course we will be learning a beautiful seven-step mental exercise which is followed by Tibetan monks in order to put themselves into a state of deep meditation. You can learn to do the same, for peace of mind, and for incredible focus to make your work and relationships successful.

The Four Steps to Make a Karmic Seed More Powerful (2012, Moscow)

In this video clip, Geshe Michael Roach is explaining a four-step method for making assuring that a karmic seed will ripen faster and more powerfully.

A Gift of Liberation 08: Learning to be Quiet (2012, Prescott)

During this week-long teaching retreat, Geshe Michael Roach will lead us through the section called “Learning to be Quiet,” from one of the greatest books ever written in Tibet: the Gift of Liberation by Pabongka Rinpoche. This intensive series of teachings is meant to give us all the ancient secrets for making a meditation session really successful and this intensive meditation retreat is a chance to actually put into practice these meditation secrets.

Eight Verses for Developing the Good Heart (2012, Bowie)

Dorje Senge (Diamond Lion) lived from (1054-1123) and is the author of one of the most famous buddhist texts for developing a good heart (lojong) called the Eight Verses. It’s full of very practical advice for being a kinder and more compassionate person. Diamond Lion was one of the Kadampas, who were the first generation Buddhists in Tibet. Lojong texts for developing a good heart were very popular amongst the Kadampas.

A Gift of Liberation 07: Learning to be Quiet (2012, Phoenix)

Turn off your laptop. Put down your iPhone. Learn to be quiet. For 10 days we’ll be learning all the tricks that it takes to have a peaceful and powerful meditation session, based on the Tibetan classic, Liberation in Your Hands. Learn to balance your inner life and your life on Facebook. Ten days of incredible teachings on how to meditate, directly from one of the greatest books ever written in Tibet. Plus awesome practice classes, beginner to advanced, to help you get started.

Essays to Answer Questions from My Friends

Friends of mine have asked me to write some details about my life, partly to clarify information which appears online or in the press about me as my teachings become more prominent around the world, and partly because one of my Tibetan lamas has asked some of my students to write a biography about myself. These friends have been pestering me for some years—but I felt hesitant to respond, since it seemed a pretty self-centered thing to do. But as it may be helpful to my students and friends, I have decided to relent.

Nirvana Immersion (2012, New York and Bahamas)

Nirvana is a kind of peace free of this cycle of misunderstanding, and is a stepping stone to full enlightenment. This immersion is designed to help all of us on a spiritual path, in an immediate practical way, get to the root of our own worst qualities, and see directly how a pattern of ignorance within our mind is perpetuating our experience of pain, and how to end that experience for good.

Me as Buddha: What Will I Be Like? (2012, New York)

During this special teaching by Geshe Michael Roach, we’ll find out exactly what we’ll be like when we get to this highest goal. We’ll be hearing about the Four Forms and the Five Wisdoms of a Buddha—the body and mind that we will have when we Get There—and just how, in practical terms, this will change our life on this planet.

Great Retreat Teachings, Part 2: The Power of Samaya: Reaching Stillness on the Wings of Sacred Pledge (2012, Bowie)

Stillness is a sublime, exalted state of mediation, a single-pointed, undistracted concentration. You must reach Stillness in order to attain any of the highest spiritual realizations — Perception of Emptiness, Great Compassion, Clear Light. What is the true cause for reaching Stillness? It is keeping your sacred pledges. They become the wings that lift you into highest realms.