Mental Faculty of Non-Violence All non-virtues interconnected, like attachment, hatred, jealousy. Violence escalates quickly, causing damage in families, societies, countries and globally. It’s opposite is compassion, reacting with kindness. Buddha, Jesus, Gandhi, M.L.King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, very successful with non-violence. All genuine spiritual paths practice non-violent principles. Audio Only

The Mental Faculty of Non-Violence Wishing for enlightenment is great motivation, but shouldn’t stop at only wishing. violence is a great obstacle to bodhimind, coming in many forms, physical, verbal, mental, including sexism, racism, any form of abuse and manipulation. Non-violence is part of non-hatred and compassion and requires patience to sustain itself when challenged….
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Mental Faculty of Equanimity The mental faculty of equanimity is an equally balanced mind, enjoying the lack of influence of negative emotions. It leads to very strong concentration, one of the last of the nine stages of shamata. Equanimity is also a prerequisite to develop love, compassion and bodhimind. Audio Only

Mental Faculties of Pliancy and Conscientiousness Rimpoche first talks about physical and mental pliancy is a joy that removes all obstacles to meditation, making body and mind totally serviceable and powerful. It is a result of concentration and leads to even better concentration. Rimpoche then defines the mental faculty of conscientiousness as non-attachment, non-hatred and…
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Mental Faculty of Enthusiasm Enthusiasm is needed to accomplish anything, it brings joy, overcomes tiredness, brings meditative progress and virtue, if applied the right way. Even wisdom without enthusiasm is virtually useless. The opposing force to enthusiasm is laziness, particularly the laziness of addiction to unhelpful behavior. To overcome laziness you can either be gentle…
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Mental faculty of enthusiasm Motivation is important, best: two kinds of bodhimind, to avoid all negativity and create virtue through the 11 virtues. Enthusiasm is the basis of virtue, it helps to defeat negativity, it’s obstacle is laziness. Western laziness is keeping very busy to avoid having to do what is necessary. It is hard…
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The Importance of Learning Learning is critical for spiritual development. It involves three steps: getting the information, analyzing it and meditating on it. These steps lead to wisdom and understanding. Traditionally, learning is called the wealth that no one can steal from us. It is one of our most dependable friends. The best weapons to…
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Non-attachment, non-hatred, non-ignorance Non-attachment, non-hatred and non-ignorance are the essence of true spiritual practice. They are the roots of all virtue, the protection from wrongdoing. Spiritual development means making our lives free from those three poisons and their karmic imprints. Simply the act of not engaging in them becomes positive merit. That is how one…
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The Virtues of Faith, Shame and Embarrassment We are connected to a long line of great spiritual teachers who have faithfully put into practice Buddha’s teachings. This spiritual tradition has stood the test of time. Knowing this is important for the development of our own faith. Intelligent faith is the mother who nurtures us on…
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The Nature of Faith The nature of faith needs to be clearly understood. We do not mean unquestioning, passive acceptance — blind faith. That is of no use to us and can lead to serious problems. The faith we seek is intelligent faith, a faith based on solid reasoning. Such faith acts in partnership with…
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