Teaching Excerpts

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 […]

Teaching Excerpts

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 […]

Teaching Excerpts

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 […]

Teaching Excerpts

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 […]

Teaching Excerpts

Serving the Buddha’s Teachings

By this twenty-first century, regardless of what part of this planet we live in, whether we live in the East or the West, we have opportunity to encounter the Buddha’s teachings. In fact, at this […]

Teaching Excerpts

See the Nature of Thoughts

While a thought is present, look directly at it. See its nature. It is “thoughts” that have cast us into, and keep us in, samsara. But it is through the recognition of the nature of […]

Teaching Excerpts

Discover Your True Nature Through Faith

Another thing about the activity or manifestation of buddhas is that because it is nonconceptual and spontaneous, not only does it never fail, not only is it without delay, but it is never inappropriate. It […]

Teaching Excerpts

We Take Responsibility On Ourselves

The most common analogy for buddha nature is that it is like the innate potential a seed has to grow into or produce its particular fruit. In the same way as a particular seed has […]