Lama Zopa Rinpoche goes through the names of the lineage lamas and discusses two important lamrim texts: The Happy Path (by Panchen Palden Yeshe) and The Red Commentary (by Panchen Losang Yeshe). He mentions that The Red Commentary is the basis of Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand by Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo.

Rinpoche revises the discussion from the previous evening about not seeing faults in the guru. He urges us to transform the poison into nectar by using the perceived mistake to strengthen our guru devotion. He says that it’s important to always have the idea that the guru is showing us an ordinary aspect. The reason is that without showing this ordinary aspect—which, by definition, has mistakes—we would be lost without a guide. It would be like a baby left in a hot desert.

Rinpoche also emphasizes the idea of the primordial unified savior or the all-pervasive Vajradhara. If we keep this idea of the real meaning of the guru, we can see all our past-life gurus as just one being, the primordial dharmakaya. From that, we can appreciate the guru’s kindness. We can see that the eight freedoms and ten richnesses are all due to the guru’s kindness. For example, having a human body came from pure morality in the past, which is the guru’s kindness of teaching us about karma.

Rinpoche says that the heart practice is to reflect only on the qualities (not the mistakes) of the valid guru, who is the originator of all the realizations you attain up to enlightenment. So, in any circumstances, keep this as the heart practice and maintain this commitment. Rinpoche reminds us that to receive the realizations depends on receiving the blessing of the guru, and the blessing of the guru comes from guru devotion.

Rinpoche concludes this session by discussing two mantras: the mantra of the bodhisattva Eliminating the Defilements, which purifies the karmic torture at the time of death, and the mantra to purify the pollution of consuming offerings. He then begins the oral transmission of The Confession of Downfalls to the Thirty-Five Buddhas by outlining the benefits of reciting each buddha’s name. He covers the names from Guru Shakyamuni to the Tathagata Infinite Splendor.

From April 10 to May 10, 2004, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave extensive teachings during the Mahamudra Retreat at Buddha House in Australia. While the retreat focused on Mahamudra, Rinpoche also taught on a wide range of Lamrim topics. This retreat marked the beginning of a series of month-long retreats in Australia. Subsequent retreats were held in 2011, 2014, and 2018, hosted by the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo.

Find out more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, his teachings and projects at https://fpmt.org/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche highlights the importance of reading the life stories of the Buddha and the lamrim lineage lamas. These stories show us how they practiced and how much hardship they endured, which inspires us to courageously bear hardships. When you’re able to bear hardships, then there’s no obstacle to continuously practicing Dharma.

Rinpoche says that all the purification practices are encompassed within guru devotion. For example, when Milarepa was building the tower and being scolded by Marpa, this contained many hundred thousand prostrations. Each time Marpa scolded him, it purified so much negative karma.

Rinpoche advises us to take a long-term view and plan to study the lamrim over many lifetimes. He cites His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who often tells Westerners not to expect realizations instantly.

Rinpoche shares some past stories about Zina and the establishment of the Kopan courses and FPMT centres. He explains how he first received Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen’s lamrim text, The Great Commentary on Thought Transformation, from a Sherpa man who’d met the Lawudo Lama. Rinpoche brought the text with him when he went to Solu Khumbu to build the monastery there, and he based his first Kopan course on it. Thus, he says that all the Kopan courses and starting the centers basically came from the lamrim teachings of Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen. Rinpoche adds that, of course, without Lama Yeshe nothing would have happened, even reading this teaching wouldn’t have happened.

Rinpoche explains how guru devotion and the good heart help each other. Guru devotion makes you practice the good heart, and the good heart then causes you to correctly devote to the virtuous friend to be able to benefit sentient beings.

Rinpoche illustrates how to train the mind in guru devotion. He says that one buddha is all the gurus, and one guru is all the buddhas. The key for guru devotion is to understand how objects appear according to our karma. If the mind is not purified, you can’t see the aspect of a buddha. Therefore, the only option is for buddhas to manifest in ordinary form.

Rinpoche says that guru devotion is the most important subject in mahamudra because without the strong purification that comes from deep devotion that can receive the blessing of the guru, you can’t realize emptiness. Rinpoche emphasizes that to realize emptiness, to realize mahamudra, you need so much merit.

From April 10 to May 10, 2004, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave extensive teachings during the Mahamudra Retreat at Buddha House in Australia. While the retreat focused on Mahamudra, Rinpoche also taught on a wide range of Lamrim topics. This retreat marked the beginning of a series of month-long retreats in Australia. Subsequent retreats were held in 2011, 2014, and 2018, hosted by the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo.

Find out more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, his teachings and projects at https://fpmt.org/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche begins this session with an analysis of how the mind labels phenomena using the example of the letter ‘M’. He shows how M came from our mind because it’s imputed by the mind. Rinpoche explains that there is no outside creator; the creator is your mind.

Rinpoche says that until your mind labels a problem, there is no appearance of a problem. The problem only comes into existence after your mind labels it. To illustrate, Rinpoche uses the example of patience. If we label someone who harms us as a teacher of patience, there’s no problem. We would only see them as beneficial and kind. However, if we lack patience and put a negative label on the person who is harming us, anger arises. We would see that person as totally bad, whereas with patience, we see them as the most precious one in our life.

Rinpoche invites a discussion on this topic by posing the question: “Is the M in the mind or outside?” This stimulates a discussion on whether the base and the label are inside or outside the mind. Rinpoche also asks: “When you go shopping, is the department store in your mind or not?”

Rinpoche ends by highlighting that just as the M is in the mind, then it’s the same thing when you go shopping. The shopkeepers, the department store, the whole building, all the billions of things would be in your mind. Everything comes from the mind.

From April 10 to May 10, 2004, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave extensive teachings during the Mahamudra Retreat at Buddha House in Australia. While the retreat focused on Mahamudra, Rinpoche also taught on a wide range of Lamrim topics. This retreat marked the beginning of a series of month-long retreats in Australia. Subsequent retreats were held in 2011, 2014, and 2018, hosted by the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo.

Find out more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, his teachings and projects at https://fpmt.org/