CTR Quote of the Week

You may see many problems in yourself and in society, but please don’t reject yourself or your world. There is virtue in renunciation, but that

Fear is not necessarily problematic. It is like an attack of sneezing. It comes and goes. However, you have to study your fear. That is

We have created layer after layer of security mechanisms in our lives. We are taught to consult authorities or experts about almost everything. If you

The dragon enjoys resting in the sky among the clouds and the wind. According to tradition, the dragon abides in the sky in the summer,

Pure and Powerful as peonies I have no hesitation whatsoever As if swaying in the wind.   Lots of subjects Gathering together To make flower

SPRING Shifty fire Amber with coal I detect something in the jungle   SUMMER Tigers get good bath Fresh look of their coat Competes with

In meditation, the obstacle of self-hatred will fall away, by itself, when we have trust in ourselves. In that way, the experience of mindfulness can

In the practice of meditation, your journey begins with personal appreciation, with kindness, gentleness, and making friends with yourself. The more we trust ourselves, the

Here, we are not talking about meditative discipline as a revolutionary act, regarding our meditation group as a little fortress from which we can launch

Although we have established genuine friendship, camaraderie, and fellowship with our fellow meditators, we still might be looking for credentials and security. Belonging to certain

Working together with others, individuals begin to contribute their little portion of sanity to the bigger situation. Your contribution must be just a drop of

Basically, nobody can help the world without individual personal discipline. However, when hundreds of individuals personally commit themselves to developing themselves through the practice of

Awareness, or intelligence, is quite a different and separate category from the monkey mind. The intelligence or consciousness has less speed and does not carry

The monkey-mind, or sem, is the intelligent state that relates with objects. It is fickle in nature, constantly moving, and this movement leaves impressions behind.

In everyday life, we habitually try to conceal the gaps in our experience of mind and body. These gaps are a bit like an awkward

Receiving an empowerment, or abhisheka, is proclaiming that, in the future, you will be “So-and-so Tathagata,” or “Lord or Lady of the Universe So-and-so.” Those

An empowerment, or abhsheka, is further sunrise, further East, further dawn of Vajrasattva, further Tai Tung (Great East). Abhisheka enables you to be among the

A vajrayana empowerment is a kind of baptism or coronation. It is the coronation of the student as a would be king or queen. In

Basically, transmission is the meeting of two minds. Understanding this is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, there is no way out and no way in–there is no

It is good to make a big deal of vajrayana; it is actually worth it. When I studied with my teacher, I used to make

Laughing Man: In your book, Born in Tibet, you described how, when you made your cultural adaptation to the West, taking off the monastic robes

It seems important to know something about the medium of meditation and its application. According to the basic Buddhist teachings, in order to learn how