The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (LYWA) is the collected works of Lama Thubten Yeshe and Kyabje Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. The Archive was founded in 1996 by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, its spiritual director, to make available in various ways the teachings it contains. This book contains the teachings and meditations Lama gave at a five-day retreat he led near Melbourne, Australia, which he introduced by saying:"Whether or not this five-day meditation course becomes beneficial is up to you; it depends on your own mind. It's not a lama thing; I'm not going to bring you to enlightenment in this short time. Instead of having too many expectations of the lama, it's better that you generate a pure motivation for being here. Expectations cause mental problems; instead of being positive, they become negative..."If over the next five days you can begin to recognize the reality of your own nature, this meditation course will have been worthwhile. Therefore, dedicate your actions during this time to discovering inner freedom through recognizing the negative characteristics of your own uncontrolled mind."In line with Lama's intentions, this book is dedicated to the awakening of inner freedom within the minds of its readers and all other sentient beings.
By pulling together some of Lama Yeshe's introductory teachings on Buddhism, meditation, compassion and emptiness, and combining them with the definitive explanation of tantra, this one valuable volume will inspire students to go more deeply into the Yoga Method of Buddha Maitreyaa tantric practice.
Liberation is your birthright and anything that feels like a prison, like a confinement, needs your attention. Spiritualism is not very difficult to explain or understand. It is simply, freeing your spirit of all imprisonments. It is becoming aware of these sophisticated bars and then working your way out of them. It is being able to see the chains that are tied around the feet of your being and are making it tough for you to walk around. We have been living in these invisible jails for so long that they have become our homes. The world beyond our assumed limitations is unknown to us. Every now and then someone manages to jump across the high walls of the conditioning of the mind and enter the realm of enlightenment. But, the rest of us live and die within the four walls of mass consciousness.To a bird in a cage the greatest gift you can give, as an expression of love and compassion, is to open the gates and let it fly back to the open and vast sky. That is exactly what I have tried to do. I have tried to assist the bird of your spirit to fly out of the cage of spiritual enslavement. Watching that bird happily disappear into the vastness would be my joy. I love liberating and I love liberators. I write to liberate others and I liberate myself to be able to write about it. The freedom we have earned as nations is no doubt a great blessing. But it is only an environment. Authentic freedom has to come from within and only after having earned it can you call yourself a free man in a free country. I have witnessed my near and dear ones go through great pain and suffering because of the control exercised by invisible forces like lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego over their spirit. I have myself gone through an unbearable amount of it and would wish to eliminate as much of it as I can. It is quite tough to watch someone close to you consulting half a dozen doctors, spending thousands on clinical examinations and experimenting with 50 different medicines, never knowing that the real sickness is his or her ego. It is as if you were cursed to watch the whole drama helplessly. It is as if you know what someone is suffering from, have got the cure for it but can't give it because the one who is supposed to take it is not yet prepared to take it. It is a perfect situation for compassion to be born, a strange blending of helplessness, acceptance and understanding. The more I watch all this, the more I ponder into the potential of the various methods that can liberate a soul from its traps.
What is Zen Buddhism? What is its value for Christians? How does it relate to Christian beliefs? How does Zen relate to the world--and to changing it? Total Liberation explores these and other questions about Zen and Christianity. Habito has two basic aims. First, he demonstrates the relevance of Zen to a contemporary Christian spirituality, comparing Zen insights to the often overly-cerebral qualities of Western Christianity. Second, he shows how a blending of Zen and Christian spirituality complement and sustain a social active role in the world. While an important dimension of Zen involves contemplation and personal growth, Habito points out that this basic ideal ultimately expands to embrace all of creation and not just the individual self. Similarly, the Christian spiritual relationship with God finds its expression not only in the personal and contemplative, but in action. Total Liberation defines true spirituality as engagement with, rather than disassociation from, the social dimension. It shows that Zen, no less than Christian, spirituality must lead to active involvement and struggle against social violence and oppression.
An eBook version of this title can be found on Google Play. In Lama Yeshe’s and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s first trip to Europe in 1975 they offered a weekend seminar based on their famous month-long Kopan meditation courses. Preceded by Lama Yeshe’s lecture on meditation at Kensington Town Hall, these teachings at Royal Holloway College, Surrey, encompass the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. This short course was also videotaped and is available on a historic DVD also entitled Freedom Through Understanding. This book is made possible by kind supporters of the Archive who, like you, appreciate how we make these teachings freely available in so many ways, including in our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. Please help us increase our efforts to spread the Dharma for the happiness and benefit of all beings. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting our website. Thank you so much, and please enjoy this book.
What I’m saying is that you should have perfect determination, knowing that understanding knowledge-wisdom is the only solution to problems, the only source of happiness and joy. That is what we call Dharma. —Lama Yeshe This first volume of collected teachings is drawn from teachings given by Lama Yeshe in the 1970s and 1980s, when he and Lama Zopa Rinpoche traveled the world, teaching extensively. Lama Yeshe consistently encouraged students to recognize and develop their limitless potential, and his dynamic teaching style means that these teachings are as relevant and accessible today as when first taught. In Part 1 of this book, Lama Yeshe advises how we can transform our lives by developing warm-heartedness and “knowledge-wisdom,” while maintaining a relaxed attitude to our practice. The teachings in Part 1 are edited by Nicholas Ribush and include new material published for the first time. Part 2 is edited by Uldis Balodis and features three discourses given by Lama Yeshe at the sixteenth Kopan meditation course, Nepal, in 1983. In these final teachings at Kopan, Lama offers essential advice on how to practice Dharma in the West. Excerpts from these discourses have been previously published in the ebook series, The Enlightened Experience: Volumes 1–3, online at Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive and in other publications including Mandala magazine. We acknowledge the kindness of Ven. Tenzin Drachom and students in sponsoring the production of this book.
Through meditation we begin to get glimpses of the stillness. With practice, the stillness enters us, and we begin to enjoy the spontaneous inner sense of serenity. Over time the stillness becomes the foundation of our perception and we look out on the world from our peaceful presence. Once we know this as our Self we can be free of the anxiety, doubt, disappointment, and fear, just being the watcher. This is Deep Peace. It might come as a surprise that consciousness, the Self, is the watcher of the mind. In this we can become the impartial witness of mental dramas, creating separation between the watcher and the chaos of ego. Fortunately, the mind begins to like the stillness, and the suffering evaporates due to lack of interest. In this we become truly happy and content.
In this book, Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches on one of his favorite topics—compassion. He tells us that compassion for others is the best way to overcome any obstacles we encounter, in our Dharma practice, or occupation and life itself, and the best medicine for treating any illness we experience. However, these teachings are not limited to compassion. Rinpoche also explains emptiness, karma and many other essential Buddhist subjects. As ever, his teachings are clear, relevant, humorous and direct—a perfect guide to making our lives meaningful. This book is made possible by kind supporters of the Archive who, like you, appreciate how we make these teachings freely available in so many ways, including in our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. Please help us increase our efforts to spread the Dharma for the happiness and benefit of all beings. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting our website. Thank you so much, and please enjoy this ebook.
From a review in BuddhaDharma magazine: The Heart of the Path is a lengthy teaching on guru yoga by a contemporary exemplar of the practice, Lama Thubten Zopa. A close disciple of Lama Thubten Yeshe for more than three decades, Lama Zopa has taught by word and example the importance and power of properly following a guru. The book is based on several decades of dharma talks organized by editor Ailsa Cameron into twenty-four chapters, beginning with the question of why one needs a teacher to progress along the path. The remaining chapters discuss in considerable detail how to cultivate and practice devotion, and generate the view of one’s own teacher as the Buddha. It concludes with several short guru yoga visualization practices. Throughout the book Lama Zopa offers personal reflections and stories to illustrate his message that guru yoga truly is the heart of the path to liberation. From a review in Tricycle magazine: For those interested in stepping beyond the realm of ideas into the world of practice, the latest book from Tibetan master Lama Zopa Rinpoche is a helpful guide to one important aspect of the spiritual path. The Heart of the Path explains the importance of guru devotion and Zopa's view of the proper way to develop a student-teacher bond. Lama Zopa has had many teachers, but his unwavering devotion to Lama Thubten Yeshe shines through on every page. Drawing on this experience and the Buddha's teachings, Zopa effectively conveys the value of relationships based on Buddhist ideals. From a review in Mandala magazine: Although guru devotion is a foundational concept within Tibetan Buddhist thought, for many it remains a bewildering and impenetrable topic. Fortunately for contemporary practitioners, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has spoken extensively on guru devotion, giving teachings and advice about what it really means to have devotion to one’s spiritual friend. Drawing from nearly fifty teachings, this treasure is the result of seven years of painstaking editing by Ven. Ailsa Cameron. Not only does it include teachings on the traditional sub-topics that fall under guru devotion found in Tsongkhapa’s lam-rim, but also a useful outline to guide your reading, several supplementary prayers and teachings from other renowned Tibetan masters, and inspiring images of Lama Zopa, Lama Yeshe and other amazing teachers peppered throughout. A perusal of this masterful work by Lama Zopa Rinpoche will assuage any doubts about the utility or possibility of “seeing the guru as Buddha.” This book is made possible by kind supporters of the Archive who, like you, appreciate how we make these teachings available in so many ways, including in our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. Please help us increase our efforts to spread the Dharma for the happiness and benefit of all beings. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting our website. Thank you so much, and please enjoy this e-book.
