WORDS OF WISDOM AUTHOR: KHENPO TSULTRIM LODRO

The Buddha said, "Impermanence is suffering."  Everything around us is constantly changing; nothing stays reliable for long. The most favorite may leave us forever at any time. The most detested may suddenly come upon us. No one knows what the future has in store for each one of us, hence feeling anxious and distressed without end. 

      ~Depicted from the Seasonal Quotations of Khenpo

The Zen tradition often talks about letting go, but how to let go? If one tries letting go by living a boring and pessimistic life, and escaping into the mountains to practice, this is not letting go and is just a temporary escape.  The real letting go is knowing from the very foundation that everything is a dream, an illusion, and for this reason there is no attachment and obsession.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 4

The practice of the Four Noble Truths begins with the cultivation of renunciation and bodhicitta. Renunciation enables us to transcend samsara while bodhicitta inspires us to remain in samsara without being bound by it.

～ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1

Using motivation as a criterion, to liberate animals for one’s own freedom from samsara is viewed as a supramundane Hinayana practice. To do it out of bodhicitta, the wish to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings, is a supramundane Mahayana practice. To couple the Mahayana practice with some Vajrayana views essentially makes animal liberation a Vajrayana practice.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1  

In Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend, it said that, according to the Buddha’s advice, being content with fewer desires is the greatest asset that one can have. Those who are able to maintain such disposition are truly rich people even if they do not own a single asset, because only they can attain the ultimate, perfect happiness.

～ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 6

The most important and the key difference between Buddhism and non-Buddhism lies in taking refuge in the Three Jewels. Accordingly, taking refuge is deemed a prerequisite for anyone who wants to learn Buddhism. However, it has never been forced upon anyone. Only those who want to learn the Buddha’s teachings or take up Buddhist practice must comply. Not taking refuge is to remain an outsider, is off the path to liberation and cannot be deemed a Buddhist.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1

As in any practice, we must first know its underlying concept. It is only after full apprehension of the concept that practice can proceed. Without right understanding, our practice is blind. Without practice, right understanding is also useless. Hence, one complements the other; each is indispensable. We can eradicate our afflictions and attain liberation only with the perfect union of the two. Accordingly, before we discuss the actual practice of the Three Dharma Seals, we must also know its concept.

How did the concept of the Three Dharma Seals originate? According to the sutras, when Sakyamuni Buddha was about to enter parinirvana, a disciple asked the Buddha, “If a non- Buddhist or some other person comes along after you are gone to give teachings and proclaims that to be the Dharma, how should we discern if it is the true Dharma?” The Buddha replied, “After I am gone, any belief or teaching which incorporates the Three Dharma Seals is the true Dharma; any belief or teaching which not only excludes but also refutes the Three Dharma Seals is not the true Dharma.”

The Tibetan calendar, according to the Kalachakra Tantra, is the induction from the astrology laws and astronomical calendar algorithm. It has been proven over thousands of years that its determination of solar and lunar eclipses and the full moon and obscurity each month are more accurate than the results produced by other calendar algorithms.

Therefore, it is a better choice to do various good deeds on the auspicious days according to the Tibetan calendar.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 3

Sit by the sea, feeling the wind and greeting the waves. Each wave is inseparable from the sea. The waves are the sea; the sea comes to be the waves. Each thought is inseparable from inner radiance. Thoughts are inner radiance; inner radiance comes to be thoughts.

~ Depicted from "The Four Seasonal Quotes from Khenpo"