Teaching Excerpts – Page 3 – Kunzang Palchen Ling

Preliminaries More Profound Than the Main Practice

The preliminary or ngondro practices are so important that it has been said, “The preliminaries are more profound than the main practice.” Well, why is this? It’s because if you do the main practice without […]

Remain Present Even As Thoughts Arise

What is the practice of mahamudra? In practical terms it is a gradual process, and it must begin with the cultivation of tranquility. As long as we do not have the ability to remain free […]

Chenrezig is Compassionate Emptiness

Chenrezig is compassionate emptiness. Chenrezig is not a flesh and blood person who has to sit there for eternity and who has to hold his two arms up. He is the affect of the realization […]

Our Potential for Awakening

Our basic nature—our basic being—is absolutely perfect. It is identical to the basic being or basic nature of buddhas. No distinction whatsoever can be made between the buddha nature of a sentient being and the […]

Because You Care So Much

There is only one reason to receive authentic vajrayana empowerment, and that is that you care so much about other beings that you are in a hurry to achieve buddhahood for their benefit. Sometimes people […]

How Can I Recognize the Nature of Mind When I’ve Never Seen It?

Question: Concerning the recognition of the nature of mind, how can you find something when you don’t know what you’re looking for? If I’m looking for a pencil I know what it looks like, so […]

Pure Realms Complete Within Your Own Mind

…sometimes we talk about a pure realm, for example the celestial realm of Vajrayogini, as though it were an external place—somewhere else; but then in this context we talk about it as something that is […]

Cultivate Without Fixation

How do you rest the mind in this immediate or present awareness? By not being distracted from the continuity of mere presence. Distraction from the continuity of mere presence occurs when we think about what […]

Have the Real Intention to Help Others

It’s not helpful to scold ourselves or blame ourselves for what we perceive as lack of success in actually benefiting others because giving into disappointment about that can cause us to lose our resolve to […]

Both Good and Bad Meditation Experiences are Irrelevant

What we are cultivating in meditation is familiarity with the ordinary mind, the mind that is simply experiencing the present moment directly. That’s all we’re looking for. So extraordinary experiences, feelings of joy, or tremendous […]