There are several significant practice days in Tibetan Buddhism. At Jewel Heart we celebrate days such as Buddha’s Birthday, Je Tsongkhapa Day, the Dalai Lama’s Birthday, and Gelek Rimpoche’s Birthday, as well as twice monthly Tsoh days. Tsoh literally means ‘collection’ or ‘gathering’. In many Jewel Heart chapters, we meet every 10th and 25th day…
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Distinguishing Mahayana from Theravada; plus: a visit from the Loseling monks Samsara as the continuation of contaminated identity. The sufferings of birth sickness old age and death. The physical aspects of the Buddha. Brief comments from Gyalrong Khentrul Rinpoche on the monks of Drepung Loseling and their tour of the United States. Audio Only

How Asanga brought Mahayana teachings to Tibet How the two great early Indian masters, Asanga and Nagarjuna, learned directly from Maitreya, the Buddha of Compassion and Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom. This Sunday webcast, April 6, 2014, was sponsored by Stefan Gaspar. Audio Only

What is Mahayana Buddhism? How the path of wisdom and compassion can bring us closer to our true selves, and ultimately result in the mind and body of an enlightened being. This Sunday webcast, March 30, 2014, was sponsored by Christine Winter and Julio Perez. Audio Only

What is Buddhism? Understanding how to apply the base, path and result to our spiritual path. And a brief explanation of how learning, analyzing, and then meditating can help lead individuals from the suffering of samsara to the peace of nirvana. This Sunday webcast, March 23, 2014, was sponsored by Stefan Gaspar. Audio Only

A Brief History of the Tibetan Monlam Festival Since 1409, Tibetans have celebrated Monlam, the “magical month,” which is the first month in the Tibetan Calendar. Audio Only

Reflections on Becoming a Tibetan Refugee On the anniversary of the 1959 Communist takeover of Tibet, recalling how non-violence, compassion, and other Tibetan Buddhist principles helped Tibet’s first generation of refugees to adapt to loss and change in the face of a historic tragedy. Audio Only

Mental Faculties of Concentration and Wisdom In this last talk of the year Rimpoche directs awareness to the main essence of spiritual practice: avoiding negativity, building positivity and taming the mind by becoming compassionate and caring. He then concludes with a short description of the mental faculty of concentration, which is built on the previous…
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Mental Faculties of Conviction and Remembrance Conviction is holding onto the subject you have understood, sticking to one’s principles. In spiritual terms, resisting negativity. Thus it is the root of all virtue. Conviction comes from recognizing the consequences of actions. Remembrance is holding a recognition continuously without forgetting. It functions to improve memory and concentration….
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Mental Faculty of Aspiration Aspiration is a form of desire that creates enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is needed to maintain a good daily meditation practice until joy is generated. In the beginning, as antidote to laziness, aspiration is the main motivator. It can be increased by thinking about the benefits of meditation. Aspiration, with enthusiasm and discipline,…
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Mental Faculty of Aspiration Motivation directs our mind to whatever we want to, so it is good to choose positive purposes. Aspiration, first of the five object-ascertaining mental faculties (along with belief, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom), is the drive for positive action. For meditation, aspiration is needed to even get started, before good results draw…
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Mental Faculties of Contact and Attention Bodhimind relies on compassion, which includes self compassion. While looking after others, we cannot exclude ourselves. Setting the motivation of compassion reduces selfish intentions and encourages compassionate action. Rimpoche briefly reviews mental faculty of contact and then discusses the mental faculty of attention, which after having made contact with…
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Mental Faculty of Contact After reviewing the recent Jewel Heart pilgrimage to Ladakh, Rimpoche talks about the difference of practicing Buddhism as lay people and monks and nuns. As monks and nuns we should withdraw from ordinary life. As lay people we can combine spiritual practice and daily life. Finally Rimpoche touches on the mental…
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The Mental Faculty of intention The mental faculty of intention draws the mind like a magnet. it is the activity of the mind itself, the karma of the mind, which then propels verbal and physical karma of virtuous, non-virtuous and neutral nature. It is very similar to motivation and guides our mind to what to…
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The Mental Faculty of Discrimination The mental faculty of discrimination has the function to collect the information or getting the message, then recognizing and then labeling it. There is correct and incorrect discrimination. Knowing mind and mental faculties helps to understand how one’s own mind functions Audio Only