Topics include: How to develop a good heart, how to practice throughout the day, how to develop the wish for enlightenment, the eight verses of mind training, 18 pledges for developing a good heart, the six keys to successful practice, the five powers, the five mental poisons, seven steps to developing a good heart, the three virtues, how to respond to the eight worldly thoughts, the real meaning of freedom from attachment, how to behave in difficult situations, the difference between how things happen and why things happen, how to send your mind into death (powa), and seeing angels.
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.
Here is a collection of Idea Images (Idims) which represent all the important ideas of this course. It's a great tool to connect the image mentally with the important idea. There's a tradition in this lineage that when you learn a topic you review it at least two times after the class. Preferably once on the day of the class and preferably once the next day or two days later.
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.
Around 1000 AD, 1500 years after the time of the Buddha, the Tibetans undertook a monumental task: to translate thousands of pages of Buddhist literature from Sanskrit into Tibetan. It took them 700 years to complete translations of the kangyur (the word of the Buddha) and the tengyur (the Indian commentaries). Now, as Buddhism has been making a big push westward, Geshe Michael’s aim is to complete an even larger task: to translate hundreds of thousands of pages of Buddhist literature into modern languages.
Geshe Michael Roach gave three days of special teachings on meditation and the nature of the mind in Sedona. These teachings are taken directly from The Angel Debates The Devil, a dialogue between the good and evil that happens in our mind, by Lobsang Chukyi Gyeltsen. The text is at the same time extremely funny and extremely deep, as it reveals the tricky ways that our mind deceives us into believing we are thinking and acting in a way that actually helps us. This teaching will help us to unravel these seductive arguments of the Devil in our own mind to order to be successful in this life, and to learn how to develop the skills necessary to confront any obstacle.
Around 1000 AD, 1500 years after the time of the Buddha, the Tibetans undertook a monumental task: to translate thousands of pages of Buddhist literature from Sanskrit into Tibetan. It took them 700 years to complete translations of the kangyur (the word of the Buddha) and the tengyur (the Indian commentaries). Now, as Buddhism has been making a big push westward, Geshe Michael’s aim is to complete an even larger task: to translate hundreds of thousands of pages of Buddhist literature into modern languages. Since the blossoming of Buddhism in Tibet, no less than 200,000 pages of brilliant commentary have been composed by masters and scholars in the Tibetan language. In this ongoing series of courses, Geshe Michael’s goal is to create and guide a team of young translators to translate these great classics.
These teachings are taken directly from The Angel Debates The Devil, an ancient Tibetan teaching on emptiness by His Holiness the First Panchen Lama, who lived 1565-1662. The text is at the same time, extremely funny and extremely deep. It will help us be successful in this life, and in the next as well. This is the 11th ACI program dedicated to this ancient classic. We’ll be focusing on how “me” relates to body & mind, and how to change body & mind into an enlightened being with a rainbow body and a clear-light mind. As the Lama says, we’ll be trying to hit emptiness with the arrow of our mind, even as we wear a blindfold.
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.