The Reason We Practice Meditation

By V.V. Thrangu Rinpoche (Chants.)

The essence of the buddha-dharma, the teachings of
In the spread of Buddhism in America, the Kagyu the Buddha, is practice. And when we say practice, we
lineage was in the forefront of the sending of lamas to mean the practice of meditation, which can consist of
America. Of these lamas, the three great progenitors of either the meditation known as tranquility or that known
the dharma in America were His Holiness the Gyalwa as insight. But in either case, it must be implemented in
Karmapa, His Eminence Kalu Rinpoche, and the actual practice. The reason we practice meditation is to
Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. attain happiness. And this means states of happiness in
It was very unfortunate that in the 1980s we lost all both the short term and the long term. With regard to
of these great beings, but in the aftermath, there were a short-term happiness, when we speak of happiness, we
number of remarkable lamas in the lineage who stepped usually mean either or both of two things, one of which
forward to fill their places and to bring great benefit to is physical pleasure and the other of which is mental
sentient beings. Amongst these, in the forefront of them, pleasure. But if you look at either of these pleasant
was The Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, experiences, the root of either one has to be a mind that
abbot by appointment of His Holiness Karmapa of is at peace, a mind that is free of suffering. Because as
Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. He is also abbot of his long as your mind is unhappy and without any kind of
own monasteries in Nepal and Tibet, of Tara Abbey — a tranquility or peace, then no matter how much physical
women’s monastery in Nepal, and by appointment of pleasure you experience, it will not take the form of
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, of Gampo Abbey in Nova happiness per se. On the other hand, even if you lack
Scotia. the utmost ideal physical circumstances of wealth and
In addition he has been very generous and kind to so on, if your mind is at peace, you will be happy
Western students, teaching the dharma extensively in anyway.
retreats and seminars throughout the world. We practice meditation, therefore, in part in order to
Rinpoche taught in Seattle for the first time in May obtain the short-term benefit of a state of mental happi-
1996. This transcript is from his teachings the evening ness and peace. Now, the reason why meditation helps
of May 24.

’d like to begin by welcoming

I all of you here tonight. I

recognize that you’ve come here
out of your sincere interest in, and
wish to practice, genuine dharma,
and out of your respect for my
teaching. And this is all delightful
to me, and I thank you for it. I
consider myself fortunate to have
such an opportunity to form such a
connection with you. To begin, I
would like to recite a traditional
supplication to the teachers of my
lineage, and while doing so, I
invite you to join me in an attitude
of confidence and devotion.
The Very Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche

SHENPEN ÖSEL 5
with this is that, normally, we have a great deal of of illness is mental agitation, which produces a corre-
thought, or many different kinds of thoughts running sponding agitation or disturbance of the channels and
through our minds. And some of these thoughts are energies within your body. These generate new sick-
pleasant, even delightful. Some of them, however, are nesses, ones you have not yet experienced, and also
unpleasant, agitating, and worrisome. Now, if you prevent the healing of old sicknesses. This agitation of
examine the thoughts that are present in your mind the channels and winds or energies also obstructs the
from time to time, you will see that the pleasant benefit which could be derived from medical treatment.
thoughts are comparatively few, and the unpleasant If you practice meditation, then as your mind settles
thoughts are many — which means that as long as your down, the channels and the energies moving through
mind is ruled or controlled by the thoughts that pass the channels return to their rightful functioning, as a
through it, you will be quite unhappy. In order to gain result of which you tend not to become ill and you are
control over this process, therefore, we begin with the able to heal any illnesses you already have. And we can
meditation practice of tranquility, see an illustration of this also in the
which produces a basic state of con- life of Jetsun Milarepa, who engaged
tentment and peace within the mind of
the practitioner.
We begin with in the utmost austerities with regard to
where he lived, the clothes he wore,
the meditation the food he ate, and so on, throughout
practice of
A n example of this is the great
Tibetan yogi Jetsun Milarepa,
who lived in conditions of the utmost tranquility,
the early part of his life. And yet this
did not harm his health, because he
managed to have a very long life, was
austerity. He lived in utter solitude, in which produces extremely vigorous and youthful to
caves and isolated mountains. His the end of his life, which indicates the
clothes were very poor; he had no a basic state of fact that through the proper practice of
nice clothes. His food was neither contentment meditation, the mental peace and content-
rich nor tasty. In fact, [for a number
of years] he lived on nettle soup
and peace ment that is generated calms down or
corrects the functioning of the channels
alone, as a result of which he became and energies, allowing for the healing of
physically very thin, almost emaciated. Now, if you sickness and the prevention of sickness.
consider his external circumstances alone, the isolation The ultimate or long-term benefit of the practice of
and poverty in which he lived, you would think he must meditation is becoming free of all suffering, which
have been miserable. And yet, as we can tell from the means no longer having to experience the sufferings of
many songs he composed, because his mind was birth, aging, sickness, and death. Now, this attainment
fundamentally at peace, his experience was one of of freedom is called, in the common language of all
constant unfolding delight. His songs are songs that Buddhist traditions, buddhahood, and in the particular
express the utmost state of delight or rapture. He saw terminology of the vajrayana, the supreme attainment,
every place he went to, no matter how isolated and or supreme siddhi. In any case, the root or basic cause
austere an environment it was, as beautiful, and he of this attainment is the practice of meditation. The
experienced his life of utmost austerity as extremely reason for this is, again, that generally we have a lot of
pleasant. thoughts running through our minds, some of which are
In fact, the short-term benefits of meditation are beneficial — thoughts of love, compassion, rejoicing in
more than merely peace of mind, because our physical the happiness of others, and so on — and many of
health as well depends, to a great extent, upon our state which are negative — thoughts of attachment, aversion,
of mind. And therefore, if you cultivate this state of jealousy, competitiveness, and so on. Now, there are
mental contentment and peace, then you will tend not to comparatively few of the former type of thought and
become ill, and you will as well tend to heal easily if comparatively many of the latter type of thought,
and when you do become ill. The reason for this is that because we have such strong habits that have been
one of the primary conditions which brings about states accumulating within us over a period of time without
6 SHENPEN ÖSEL
beginning. And it’s only by removing these habits of make up our experience of samsara. And in order to
negativity that we can free ourselves from suffering. transcend this process, we need to transcend these
You cannot simply remove these mental afflictions, impure projections, together with the suffering that they
or kleshas, by saying to yourself, “I will not generate bring about. A very effective way to do this is to replace
any more mental affliction,” because you do not have these gradually, replace these projections of impurity,
the necessary freedom of mind or control over the with pure projections, based on the iconography of the
kleshas to do so. In order to relinquish these, you need yidam, the dharmapala, and so on. By starting to
to actually attain this freedom, which begins, according experience the world as the mandala of the deity and all
to the common path, with the cultivation of tranquility. beings as the presence of that deity, then you gradually
Now, when you begin to meditate, [when] you begin to train yourself to let go of mental afflictions, let go of
practice the basic meditation of tranquility meditation, impure projections, and you create the environment for
you may find that your mind won’t stay still for a the natural manifestation of your own innate wisdom.
moment. But this is not permanent. Now, all of this occurs gradually
This will change as you practice, and through this practice of the generation

The ultimate
you will eventually be able to place stage. The actual deities who are used
your mind at rest at will, at which can vary in appearance. Some of them
point you have successfully alleviated or long-term are peaceful and some of them are
the manifest disturbance of these
mental afflictions or kleshas. On the
benefit of the wrathful. In general, the iconography
of the wrathful deities points out the
basis of that, then you can apply the practice of innate power of wisdom, and that of the
second technique, which is called
meditation is peaceful deities the qualities of loving-
insight, which consists of learning to kindness and compassion. Also, there
recognize and directly experience the becoming free are male deities and female deities. The
nature of your own mind. This nature of all suffering male deities embody the method or
is referred to as emptiness. When you compassion, and the female deities
recognize this nature and rest in it, embody intelligence or wisdom.
then all of the kleshas, all of the mental afflictions that For these reasons, it’s appropriate to perform these
arise, dissolve into this emptiness and are no longer practices of meditation upon deities. And because these
afflictions. Therefore, the freedom, or result, which is practices are so prevalent in our tradition, if you go into
called buddhahood, depends upon the eradication of a vajrayana practice place or temple, you will probably
these mental afflictions, and that depends upon the see lots of images of deities — peaceful deities, wrath-
practice of meditation. ful deities, and extraordinarily wrathful deities. And
you’ll see lots of shrines with some very eccentric
he practice of tranquility and insight is the general offerings on them. Initially, if you’re not used to all this,
T
path which is common to both the paths of sutra and you might think, “What is all this?” And you might feel,
tantra. In the specific context which is particular to the “Well, the basic practices of tranquility and insight
vajrayana, the main techniques are called the generation make a lot of sense, and are very interesting; and all
stage and the completion stage. These two techniques these deities, all these rituals, and all these eccentric
are extremely powerful and effective. Generation stage musical instruments are really not very interesting at
refers to the visualization of, for example, the form of a all.” However, each and every aspect of the iconogra-
lineage guru, the form of a deity or yidam, or the form phy, and each and every implement you find in a shrine
of a dharma protector. Now, initially, when first encoun- room, is there for a very specific reason. The reason in
tering this technique, it’s not uncommon for beginners general is that we need to train ourselves to replace our
to think, what is the point of this? Well, the point of this projection of impurity or negativity with a projection or
is that we support and confirm our ignorance and experience of purity. And you can’t simply fake this,
suffering and our kleshas through the constant genera- you can’t simply talk yourself into this, because you’re
tion of impure projections or impure appearances which trying to replace something that is deeper than a con-
SHENPEN ÖSEL 7
cept. It’s more like a feeling. So, therefore, in the It is not non-existent, it is the basis of all Samsara and Nirvana.
technique by which you replace it, a great deal of This is not contradictory, but is the great Middle Way.
feeling or experience of the energy of purity has to be May I come to see the nature which is beyond elaboration.
actually generated, and in order to generate that, we use
physical representations of offerings, we use musical And that is from the mahamudra tradition. Then, in
instruments in order to inspire the feeling of purity, and The Aspiration for the Realization of the Nature of the
so on. In short, all of these implements are useful in Great Perfection by the omniscient Jigme Lingpa, an
actually generating the experience of purity. aspiration liturgy from the dzogchen tradition, we find the
following stanza:

T hat is the first of the two techniques of vajrayana

practice, the generation stage. The second tech-
nique is called the completion stage, and it consists of a
It does not exist, it has not been seen, even by the Victors.
It is not non-existent, it is the basis of all Samsara and Nirvana.
variety of related techniques, of which perhaps the most It is not contradictory, it is the great Middle Way.
important and the best known are May I come to recognize dzogpa chenpo, the
mahamudra and dzogchen or “the nature of the ground.
great perfection.” Now, sometimes, it
seems to be presented that dzogchen is
Meditation, In other words, these two tradi-
more important, and at other times it however, depends tions are concerned entirely with the
seems to be presented that mahamudra in part upon the recognition of the same nature.
is more important, and as a result So both short-term and ultimate
people become a little bit confused generation of happiness depend on the cultivation
about this and are unsure which loving-kindness of meditation, which from the com-
tradition or which practice they should mon point of view of the sutras [the
pursue. Ultimately, the practices in and compassion point of view held in common by all
essence and in their result are the traditions of Buddhism] is tranquility
same. In fact, each of them has a variety of techniques and insight, and from the uncommon point of view of
within it. For example, within mahamudra practice the vajrayana is the generation and completion stages.
alone, there are many methods which can be used, such Meditation, however, depends in part upon the
as a candali* and so forth, and within the practice of generation of loving-kindness and compassion. And
dzogchen alone there are as well many methods, such this is true of any meditation, but it is especially most
as the cultivation of primordial purity, spontaneous true of vajrayana meditation. The reason is that the
presence, and so on. But, ultimately, mahamudra specific vajrayana practices — the visualization of
practice is always presented as guidance on, or an deities or meditation upon mahamudra and so on —
introduction to, your mind, and dzogchen practice is depend upon the presence of a pure motivation on the
always presented as a guidance on or introduction to part of the practitioner from the very start. If this pure
your mind. Which means that the root of these is no motivation or genuine motivation is not present — and,
different, and the practice of either mahamudra or since we’re ordinary people, it’s quite possible that it
dzogchen will generate a great benefit. Further, we find might not be present — not much benefit will really
in The Aspiration of Mahamudra by the third Gyalwa occur. For that reason, vajrayana practitioners always
Karmapa, Lord Rangjung Dorje, the following stanza: try to train their motivation, and try to develop the
motivation that’s known as the awakened mind, or
It does not exist, and has not been seen, even by the Victors. bodhichitta.
Now, as an indication of this, if you look at the
*gtum-mo in Tibetan, meaning fierce or wrathful and referring to a liturgies used in vajrayana practice, you’ll see that the
kind of psychic heat generated and experienced through certain long and extensive forms of vajrayana liturgies always
meditative practices of the vajrayana. This heat serves to burn up all
types of obstacles and confusion. Included in the Six Doctrines of begin with a clarification of, or meditation upon,
Naropa, the Six Doctrines of Niguma, and the Six Doctrines of Sukhasiddhi. bodhichitta, and that even the short and shortest liturgies
8 SHENPEN ÖSEL
always begin with a meditation upon bodhichitta, loving- these by Buddhism. In general, when we think of compas-
kindness and compassion, the point of this being that this type sion, we think of a natural or spontaneous sympathy or
of motivation is necessary for all meditation, but especially for empathy which we experience when we perceive the suffering
vajrayana practice. of someone else. And we generally think of compassion as
The only real meaning that we can give to our being born being a state of pain, of sadness, because you see the suffer-
on this planet — and in particular being born as human ing of someone else and you see what’s causing that suffering
beings on this planet — and the only really meaningful result and you know you can’t do anything to remove the cause of
that we can show for our lives is to have helped the world: to that suffering and therefore the suffering itself. So, whereas
have helped our friends, to have helped all the beings on this before you generated compassion, one person was miserable,
planet as much as we can. And if we devote our lives or any after you generate compassion, two people are miserable. And
significant part of our lives to destroying others and harming this actually happens.
others, then to the extent that we actually do so, our lives However, the approach [that the Buddhist tradition takes]
have been meaningless. So if you understand that the only to compassion is a little bit different, because it’s founded on
real point of a human life is to help others, the recognition that, whether or not you
to benefit others, to improve the world, can benefit that being or that person in
then you must understand that the basis of their immediate situation and circum-
not harming others but benefiting others is stances, you can generate the basis for their
having the intention not to harm others ultimate benefit. And the confidence in that
and the intention to benefit others. removes the frustration or the misery
Now, the main cause of having such a which otherwise somehow afflicts ordinary
stable intention or stable motivation is the compassion. So, when compassion is
actual cultivation of love and compassion cultivated in that way, it is experienced as
for others. Which means, when you find delightful rather than miserable.
yourself full of spite and viciousness — The way that we cultivate compassion
and it is not abnormal to be so — then you is called immeasurable compassion. And, in
have to recognize it, and be aware of it as fact, to be precise, there are four aspects of
what it is, and let go of it. And then, even what we would, in general, call compas-
though you may be free of spite or The only really sion, that are called, therefore, the four
viciousness, and you may have the wish to immeasurables. Now, normally, when we
improve things, you may be thinking only meaningful think of something that’s called immeasur-
of yourself; you may be thinking only of result that we able, we mean immeasurably vast. Here,
helping or benefiting yourself. When that’s the primary connotation of the term is not
the case, then you have to recollect that the can show for our vastness but impartiality. And the point of
root of that type of mentality, which is lives is to have saying immeasurable compassion is com-
quite petty and limited and tight, is
desiring victory for yourself even at the
helped the world passion that is not going to help one person
at the expense of hurting another. It is a
expense of the suffering and loss experi- compassion that is felt equally for all
enced by others. And, in that case, you have to gradually beings. The basis of the generation of such an impartial
expand your sympathy for others, and therefore this cultiva- compassion is the recognition of the fact that all beings
tion of bodhichitta or altruism in general as a motivation is an without exception really want and don’t want the same
essential way of making your life meaningful. things. All beings, without exception, want to be happy and
The importance of love and compassion is not an idea want to avoid suffering. There is no being anywhere who
that is particular to Buddhism. Everyone throughout the really wants to suffer. And if you understand that, and to the
world talks about the importance of love and compassion. extent that you understand that, you will have the intense
There’s no one who says love and compassion are bad and we wish that all beings be free from suffering. And there is no
should try and get rid of them. However, there is an uncom- being anywhere who does not want to be happy; and if you
mon element in the method or approach which is taken to understand that, and to the extent that you understand that,
SHENPEN ÖSEL 9
you will have the intense wish that all beings actually achieve you can greatly increase or enhance your loving-kindness and
the happiness that they wish to achieve. Now, because the compassion.
experience of happiness and freedom from suffering depend This has been a brief introduction to the practice of
upon the generation of the causes of these, then the actual meditation, and how to train in and generate compassion. If
form your aspiration takes is that all beings possess not only you have any questions, please ask them.
happiness but the causes of happiness, that they not only be
free of suffering but of the causes of suffering. Question: Hello. Rinpoche, can you speak a little bit about
the difference between pure projection and impure projection,
he causes of suffering are fundamentally the presence in and in particular, where do pure projections actually come
T
our minds of mental afflictions — ignorance, attachment, from?
aversion, jealousy, arrogance, and so on — and it is through
the existence of these that we come to Rinpoche: First of all, impure projections
suffer. Now, through recognizing that are how we experience because of the
there is a way to transcend these causes of
Boundless love presence in our minds of kleshas or mental
suffering — fundamentally, through the afflictions. Because we have kleshas, then
eradication of these causes through and boundless we experience friend and enemy — that to
practicing meditation, which may or may compassion which we are attached and that towards
not happen immediately but is a definite which we have aversion — we experience
and workable process — through this generate a delight and disgust and so on. And all of these
confidence, then this love — wishing boundless joy ways we experience the world — all these ways
beings to be happy — and the compassion
of wishing beings to be free from suffer-
that is based on we experience are fundamentally tinged with, at
least tinged with unpleasantness.
ing, is not hopeless or frustrated at all. the confidence Now, what is called pure appearance or
And, therefore, the boundless love and
boundless compassion generate a bound-
that you can pure projection is based on the experience
of the true nature or essential purity of
less joy that is based on the confidence actually help what, in confusion, we experience to be
that you can actually help beings free beings free five types of mental affliction, or the five
themselves. kleshas. The true nature of these five
So boundless love is the aspiration themselves kleshas is what are called five wisdoms. For
that beings possess happiness and the example, when you let go of fixation or
causes of happiness. Boundless compas- obsession on a self, or with yourself, then
sion or immeasurable compassion is the aspiration that beings the fundamental nature of the way you experience is a
be free of suffering and the causes of suffering. And the sameness, a lack of preference or partiality, which is called
actual confidence and the delight you take in the confidence the wisdom of sameness. And, when you recognize the nature
that you can actually bring these about is boundless joy. Now, of all things, then that recognition which pervades or fills all
because all of these are boundless or immeasurable or impar- of your experience is called the wisdom of the dharmadhatu.
tial, then they all have a quality, which is equanimity. Which And so on.
is to say that if these are cultivated properly, you don’t have Now, when you experience the five wisdoms rather than
love for one being and not for another, or less for another; the five kleshas or five mental afflictions, then instead of
you don’t have compassion for one being but none for projecting all of the impurity which you project on the basis
another, and so on. Now, normally, when we experience these of experiencing the kleshas, you project purity, or you
qualities, of course, they are partial; they are anything but experience purity, which is the actual manifestation of these
impartial. In order to eradicate the fixation that causes us to five wisdoms as realms, as forms of buddhas, and these are
experience compassion only for some and not for others, then what are called the pure appearances which are experienced
you can actually train yourself in cultivating equanimity for by bodhisattvas and so forth. Now, in order to approach this,
beings through recognizing that they all wish for the same in order to cultivate the experience of these wisdoms and the
thing and wish to avoid the same thing, and through doing so external experiences which go along with the experience of
10 SHENPEN ÖSEL
these wisdoms, we meditate upon the bodies of these of others.
buddhas, the realms, palaces, and so on. By generating clarity
of these visualized appearances and stabilizing that, then Question: Rinpoche, you said that we may not be able to —
gradually we transform how we experience the world. one person may not be able to directly affect or remove
short-term unhappiness or suffering of another person, but
Question: Hello, Rinpoche. In practicing compassion, there’s that we can learn to generate the basis of another’s happiness,
the practice of tonglen, which is the sending and receiving, ultimate happiness. So could you say some more, please,
taking the suffering from all sentient beings and giving them about how one person can generate the basis of ultimate
the happiness and merit that we have. And, in this practice, happiness for another person?
I’ve practiced it before, and it seems to go well for a while,
but then there’s a subtle sense of “I” that creeps in that says, Rinpoche: Well, the direct basis of establishing another being
“I don’t really want to take the suffering,” in a state of freedom or happiness, long-
or it’s, “I can’t deal with too many people term or ultimate happiness, is being able to
having cancer, I just can’t take it all on To even attempt show them how to get rid of their mental
myself,” and so one kind of loses a little afflictions and to teach them how to
courage in the practice. So, could you to fake altruism recognize and therefore abandon causes of
illuminate us on this practice, and how to is a tremendous suffering. And, through doing so in that
overcome these obstacles and really way, then you can establish them gradually
develop the heroic mind? improvement in ultimate happiness. But even in cases
where you can’t, for whatever reason, do
Rinpoche: What you say is very true, that, by having the intention to benefit that
especially in the beginning of undertaking this practice. And, being, then when you yourself become fully free, then you
in fact, it’s okay that it be experienced that way. Even though will be able to actually help them and gradually free and
there is a quality of faking it about the degree to which you protect them as well.
actually really are ready to take on the suffering of others in
the beginning, there’s still benefit in doing the practice, Question: Rinpoche, can you say a little more about the
because up until you begin this practice, you’ve probably practice of letting go when the mind is agitated, as you
been entirely selfish. And, to even attempt to fake altruism is described, as used in mahamudra and dzogchen? I experience
a tremendous improvement. But it doesn’t remain insincere my mind when I sit as being agitated. And there’s the practice
like that, because eventually the habit starts to deepen and of letting go. And I’m wondering if you can just say more
starts to counteract the habit of selfishness. about that in a practical way?
Now, if, when you began practicing tonglen, you already
had one hundred percent concern with the welfare of others Rinpoche: In general, the main approach that is taken in the
and no concern for your own welfare, then you wouldn’t mahamudra and dzogchen traditions is applied when you are
need to practice tonglen in the first place. So, it is designed to looking at the nature of your mind. Now, kleshas or mental
work for a practitioner who’s starting from a place of selfish- afflictions are thoughts, and thoughts are the natural display
ness and to lead them into this place of concern for others. of the mind. Thoughts may be pleasant, neutral, or unpleas-
And, gradually, by using the practice, you will actually ant, they may be positive or negative, but in any case,
cultivate the sincere desire to take suffering away from others whatever type of thought arises, you deal with it in exactly
and experience it yourself; you will cultivate real love and the same way. You simply look directly at it.
compassion for others. But on the other hand, you don’t Now, looking at the thought, or looking into the thought,
really do the practice in order to be able to, at that moment, or looking at the nature of the thought, is quite different
take on the suffering of others and experience it yourself; from analyzing it. You don’t attempt to analyze the contents
you’re really doing it in order to train your mind. And by of the thought, nor do you attempt to think about the thought.
training your mind and developing the motivation and the You just simply look directly at it. And when you look
actual wish to free others from suffering, then the long-term directly at a thought, you don’t find anything. Now, you may
result is that you have the ability to directly dispel the suffering think that you don’t find anything because you don’t know
SHENPEN ÖSEL 11
how to look or you don’t know where to look, but, in fact,
that’s not the reason. The reason, according to the Buddha, is Thrangu Rinpoche’s 1997 Schedule
that thoughts are empty. And this is the basic meaning of all
the various teachings on emptiness he gave, such as the Vancouver, BC May 24-June 14
sixteen emptinesses and so on. Karme Thekchen Chöling, Tel & Fax: (604) 264-1383
Now, to use anger as an example of this, if you become Europe June 15 - July 31
angry, and then you look directly at the anger — which Tel for info:(206) 632-1439
doesn’t mean analyze the contents of the thoughts of anger, Far East Aug 3-Sept 11
but you look directly at that specific thought of anger — then Tel for info: (206) 632-1439
you won’t find anything. And, in that moment of not finding Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia Sept 25-Oct 5
anything, the poisonous quality of the anger will somehow Gampo Abbey, Tel: (902) 224-2752
vanish or dissolve. Your mind will relax, and you will, at Fax: (902) 224-1521
least to some extent, be free of the anger. Lune Lake, BC Oct 8-17
Now, you may or may not, at this point, understand this, Mahamudra Retreat
but in any case, you’ll have opportunity to work with this c/o Karme Thekchen Chöling
approach tomorrow and the next day, and over the next couple 560 East 26th Ave.
of days you may come to have some experience of this. Vancouver, BC V5V 2H7
So, we’re going to conclude now with a brief dedication. But I Tel & Fax: (604) 264-1383
would also like to thank you for demonstrating your great interest in Portland, ME Oct 17-23
dharma, and listening and asking your questions. Contact Nancy Phillips, Tel: (207) 773-4154
Fax: (207) 773-6892
Austin, TX Oct 24-27
Austin Dharmadhatu, Tel: (512) 836-2808
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e-mail: [email protected]
Ojai, CA Nov 5-13
Ojai Valley Dharma Center, Tel:(805) 640-8100
Fax: (805) 640-8268
Berkeley, CA Nov 14-16
Berkeley Dharmadhatu, Tel & Fax: (510) 843-8491
Idyllwild, CA Nov 17-20
Karma Mahasiddha Ling, Tel: (909) 659-3401
Fax: (909) 659-2071
Big Bear, CA Nov 21-30
Namo Buddha Fall Seminar
Mahamudra Retreat
c/o Karma Mahasiddha Ling
P.O. Box 655
Idyllwild, California 92349
Tel: (909) 659-3401 Fax: (909) 659-2071

12 SHENPEN ÖSEL