We're excited to reach the part of Liberation Thrust into the Palm of Your Hand that talks about the six main practices of a bodhisattva, and Geshe Michael will explore with us what it is to be a bodhisattva in the modern world. Too often in our daily lives, the focus is on me and mine--how can I get ahead? how can I get the advantage? how can I get more money, more fame, a better partner? A modern bodhisattva turns this upside down. A modern bodhisattva finds success by putting others first. They give what they want first to others, and the seeds this plants ensure they will get what they want--in ways that are double or triple what they gave.
Compassion stands unrivaled as the most potent force for good. How can we integrate compassion as a foundational element of our daily lives? And how can we channel the immense force of compassion, building upon our knowledge of the practice of "exchanging self & others" and tonglen? During this course we will learn to deepen and strengthen our practice of compassion. We'll embark on a transformative journey, redirecting our lifelong habit of self-cherishing towards a greater appreciation and cherishing of others. Even though our lives until now have been spent cherishing ourselves at the expense of others, we can change. Using some meditations that will be new to many of us, and using the breath, we will boost the power of our exchanging self & others practice and our tonglen practice. Combining and adding to these practices will move our personal transformations forward. It will soften and open our hearts. It will allow us to begin to live in a heart-centered way, led by our new and improved hearts rather than the whims of our selfishness and egos.
Compassion stands unrivaled as the most potent force for good. How can we integrate compassion as a foundational element of our daily lives? And how can we channel the immense force of compassion, building upon our knowledge of the practice of "exchanging self & others" and tonglen? During this course we will learn to deepen and strengthen our practice of compassion. We'll embark on a transformative journey, redirecting our lifelong habit of self-cherishing towards a greater appreciation and cherishing of others. Even though our lives until now have been spent cherishing ourselves at the expense of others, we can change. Using some meditations that will be new to many of us, and using the breath, we will boost the power of our exchanging self & others practice and our tonglen practice. Combining and adding to these practices will move our personal transformations forward. It will soften and open our hearts. It will allow us to begin to live in a heart-centered way, led by our new and improved hearts rather than the whims of our selfishness and egos.
This presentation provides a good overview of how karma and emptiness (ultimate reality) interact to form you, your world, and all of its experiences. Ultimate reality is described along with the principles of karma, and how those two come together to form all things and experiences. The union of karma and emptiness is the basis of all reality, and this practice explores what you can do to affect and change your reality. It is a wonderful practice to transform the world around you by understanding the laws of karma, and the idea of ultimate reality, in your everyday life.
By meditating on death in the proper way, we can make every moment of life precious and meaningful. A good death meditation results in a happy, clear mind, free of anxiety and fear. One learns to live each day of life as if it were the last, thereby avoiding meaningless activity and spending each moment in the most fulfilling way possible.
Here’s a really nice teaching from our archives of Geshe Michael teaching in Mongolia in 1999. This was part of...
During the last two years, in silent retreats at Diamond Mountain Retreat Center, we’ve learned and meditated upon the great ideas of the Diamond Cutter Sutra. We’ve used the ancient Indian commentary of Master Kamalashila, with secrets that haven’t been explored for over a thousand years. In the final teaching of this series, the Buddha answers five mysterious questions from his student, Subhuti. Somewhere in the answers to all these questions is the key to getting everything we want in our life. We’ll explore the inside of our minds during the all-day retreat, following a daily, dawn session, exploring these questions. You’ll also learn new parts of the Lion’s Dance that we’ve never covered before to go deeper.
Returning to New York City, Geshe Michael Roach presents Kamalashila’s surprise ending to the Diamond Cutter and teach us how to develop five different sets of eyes, so that we can see far beyond what we see ordinarily see. Amazingly, Kamalashila also predicts the arising of the worldview of science: a belief held and ingrained so deeply by many across the globe that we aren’t even aware we have it. In a few brilliant pages, he shatters this worldview, and replaces it with a way of looking at the world which will lead to a planet of peace and enlightenment.
In this final course of Master Kamalashila: Meditations on the Diamond Cutter Sutra, Geshe Michael Roach teaches the deepest meanings of ultimate reality and how to reach those states using a series of meditations from Master Kamalashila's commentary. Each meditation is designed to increase and stabilize our understanding, step-by-step.
Based on the great Tibetan Classic, A Gift of Liberation: Thrust into the Palm of Our Hand written by Pabonka Rinpoche, this retreat focused on using death meditation to reinvigorate your life and your practice and included the popular 3 day “Retreat within a Retreat”. This 10-day installment finished the portion of the text describing the animal and hell realms, included a beautiful death meditation and began the section of the Lam Rim which discusses the beautiful practice of going for refuge.
This very special meditation practice is called The Dance of the Lion. It was taught by the future Buddha, Maitreya to Arya Asanga 1,700 years ago. Bodhisattva’s use it after they see emptiness directly to understand more about emptiness and The Wheel of Life.
Based on the great Tibetan Classic, A Gift of Liberation: Thrust into the Palm of Our Hand written by Pabonka Rinpoche, this retreat focused on using death meditation to reinvigorate your life and your practice and included the popular 3 day “Retreat within a Retreat”. This 10-day installment finished the portion of the text describing the animal and hell realms, included a beautiful death meditation and began the section of the Lam Rim which discusses the beautiful practice of going for refuge.
This is the third in a four-part series based on Master Kamalashila’s commentary on the Diamond Cutter Sutra led by Geshe Michael Roach. This retreat provided a unique opportunity to delve deeply into rarely taught meditations on emptiness. The retreat consisted of morning sessions led by Geshe Michael Roach followed by individual practice in the student's private retreat cabin.
Based on the great Tibetan Classic, A Gift of Liberation: Thrust into the Palm of Our Hand written by Pabonka Rinpoche, this retreat focused on using death meditation to reinvigorate your life and your practice and included the popular 3 day “Retreat within a Retreat”. This 10-day installment finished the portion of the text describing the animal and hell realms, included a beautiful death meditation and began the section of the Lam Rim which discusses the beautiful practice of going for refuge.
In this series of classes, Geshe Michael dives deeper into the subject of protection using a famous book called The Necklace of Understanding (Abhisamayalankara), which was revealed by Maitreya to Arya Asanga, in which he teaches about what it means to take refuge by covering the following three topics: 1. What it means to go for refuge, 2. Where you go for refuge (The Three Jewels), and 3. The Four Bodies of a Buddha.
At a recent retreat, one of the meditation practices that Geshe Michael has been teaching students is to imagine going through the stages of death and learning how to meditate on emptiness at a very crucial moment during that process as a method of seeing emptiness directly and reaching the essence body of a Buddha.