Dear M.c.,
When they are rude, they give you a chance to develop tolerance. See it as that and don’t react back. It’s hard but try your best.
TR

You might also want to google as there are other commentaries for this mind training teaching such as
http://www.amazon.com/The-Essence-Mahayana-Lojong-Practice/dp/0918753155/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1369245559&sr=8-5&keywords=eight+verses+for+training+the+mind

To create the causes to meet Lama Tsongkapa again in your next life, you should make the aspiration for this to happen ,daily. Daily recite the Guru Yoga of Je Tsongkhapa, complete with Dissolution. After reciting the Migstema, you can recite the following verse too –
“Tse-Rab Kun-Tun Gyal-Wa Tsongkhapa
Tek-Chog Shen-Nyi Ngun-Su Zey-Pey-Tu
Gya-Wey Nga-Pey Lam-Sang Thin-Nyi-Ley
Ke-Chig Tsam-Ya Dog-Pa Ma-Gyur-Chig”

Translation:
“Through being cared for throughout all my live
By Conqueror Tsongkhapa as my Mahayana Guru,
May I never turn even for an instant
From this excellent path praised by the conquerors”

To create the cause to meet the Dharma in the next life, hold your Refuge and other vows strongly. Practice Dharma consistently, showing results in mind transformation, and in renunciation of 8 worldly concerns.

Do your own sadhanas and what the Guru has given you to practice, daily and consistently. Hold your Guru Devotion well and follow all his instructions closely.

Dear Tammy,
Are you a practising Christian? If so, it would be better to consult a Christian priest/pastor who may be able to help you from the Christian point of view.

Dear Mavis,

Our mind is tasteless, formless, colorless and without size. It exists on the basis we can indirectly perceive imputations of our aggregates. Since our aggregates can perceive objects, our mind can register and impute. In this way the mind and body has a temporary relationship. Like when you are in a telephone booth and make a call, your voice is not in the phone or connected as a part of it, but the phone carries your voice to the receiver. So it would seem that your voice is coming out of the phone or even a part of it when it is not. The phone transmitting your voice is borrowed just like your aggregates/body is borrowed for the mind.

The physical constituents arise, gather, form and function due to our karma as the force behind it. The force behind our karma is our flawed perception of the reality around us. This flawed perception around us ‘makes’ us act in ways that increase the deceptions of both self and phenomena. The deceptions are the basis of karma which follows the doer (mind) till the karma is used, exhausted or purified.

The mind does not need a physical constituent to exist or function but it can have a physical body in order to experience the karmas previously accumulated.

I hope this helps you very much.
Tsem Rinpoche

Besides reading, contemplation is very important to change the way our mind is so habituated to think. What is important also is to engage in dharma work and activities. If we don’t change what we do each day, then we will experience each day pretty much the same. Engaging in virtuous works will help purify and generate merits for our transformation. It is also a great way to distract the mind from non virtuos thoughts. Make new friendships, people who can encourage you in a positive way in thoughts and action.

Dear Jeffrey,
In your aunt’s case, I think it is better to get proper medical help. Do what you can for her, physically. Discuss her condition with the doctor and seek advice on how to alleviate her suffering. I’m glad you have the Dharma knowledge and practice to support you in this difficult time. Now is the time to remember her kindness to you. Be kind and patient with her as she is suffering from an illness that makes her lose her memory. It is not her fault. Read up and find out how to deal with patients who have this disease. Your Dharma background will help you tide over this difficult period of your life.

Dear M.C,
Happy to hear you are doing prostrations. A few points to remember:

1. Prostration retreats are very powerful for purifying karma that we have collected and constantly collect. As long as our minds operate out of delusionary projections we will continue to collect karma by body, speech and mind of course. So collecting stained karma is a constant act even while we are ‘doing nothing’. As long as we are alive we collect karmas. How our mind thinks and the space it operates from determines the types of karmas arising. So during prostration retreats it is a very good sign when we have disturbing dreams/experiences. It means the karma is coming out and purifying. The karma has to come out somehow and if it’s in dreams it causes us the anxiety without experiencing the actual event. This is good.

2. If your dreams continue after retreat, it will be good to engage in Black Manjushri practice. He will alleviate disturbing dreams that arise from wrong sources. It would be good to have a photo/statue of this powerful deity near us and do His mantra daily up till you reach 100k. His main mantra is the one to focus on. You may consult the Pastors for more information.

I thank you for your kind dedication.
Please continue your practice and the good news is Adeline Woon, Niral and others are starting a prostration retreat in Kechara very soon also.
Tsem Rinpoche

Hi JG

Before you start on your retreat or any retreats, set a strong motivation for the reasons you wish to engage in the retreat. It is good to receive blessings from your Guru too.

Hope this helps.

This topic is about the aspects of the Buddha Form as follows :

Dharmakaya ” Body of the Dharma”
Signifies the truth body, all encompassing nature of enlightenment

Sambhogakaya “body of bliss”
Enjoyment body

Nirmanakaya “body of form”
A form that can be seen by ordinary beings, physical body of the Buddha that appears in the human realm in order to benefit sentient beings

We are taught that we have the buddha nature, but are we Buddhas now and can manifest the qualities of the enlightened beings or their forms? No we can’t.

Therefore, focusing on how we can get there would be good use of our time and life.

Dear Leong,
For your pressing/voices problems you may please do the following:

Obtain an image of Dukkar (White Umbrella Female Buddha)to set up on Shrine.
Make 21 bowls of offerings to Her per day with faith and confidence.
Google and read up on Her effects/benefits to learn.
Offer one light to Her daily (electric is fine)
Recite Her short praise 3x a day and recite Her short mantra no less than 300,000 in total asap.
You can do the mantra daily until you gather this amount.
Keep her chakra near the area where you sleep (bedside table is fine).
Take vegetarian vows long term/release animals from slaughter regularly(Consult Pastor Susan or Pastor Chia of Kechara)
Also recite 35 Confessional Buddhas daily once.
Do the above practice asap and without missing any days.

Further inquiries, please contact our wonderful Pastors of Kechara House who are well trained to dispense and clarify my advice to you.

I wish you good luck and all your pains to be eliminated.
Tsem Rinpoche

You can do Guru Yoga or also called Gaden Lhagyama prayers without having a Guru. You have come to this blog and H.E Tsem Rinpoche is our Guru and he is also the Guru for many of his students all over the world. Some flew to Malaysia to take refuge and stay for a while to volunteer in the organization which is wonderful. While many have received teachings from this blog and have taken Rinpoche as their gurus in their hearts. It is up to your wish what you would like for your spiritual journey and to work towards it.

Dear Wai Leong,

As long as you are in samsara, due the power of our karma we will do harm one way or another always. The point is to do less and also do not have the motivation to harm is essential.

There are many factors to karma so do not worry too much at this point. Please carry on with your lab experiments because from this a greater good will arise.

I thank you for visiting and I wish you tremendous luck.

Do Medicine Buddha puja (short one) daily and it will help in beings you harm unintentionally also help you in your work in the future. Be very devoted to Medicine Buddha for purification, blessings, wisdom and healing. Much prayers, Tsem Rinpoche

Dear Mavis,

This is a very sensitive question and many dimensions that all cannot be covered here.

In general, if you do not know them very well, you have to help them get their focus off of themselves and onto something else. When they consider suicide, they feel their problem is beyond solving so they turn inwards (cannot blame them), but you have to help them to look outwards. The focus must change. Focus outwards like working for a charity for example: disadvantaged children, cancer/Aids patients, battered women, refugees, etc. The point is there are people much worst off but continue courageously. This might help some. It varies very much and there are no hard and fast rules. It’s very individual.

Also it’s good to lend them a ear to divulge all their problems. If they are genuine and not attention seeker, then this would help short term.

Most important is professional (if that is what you are doing-great!) counseling by trained individuals.

If they were religious, the approach would be different again drastically.

I have come across several cases of people who confessed to me their intention to commit suicide in the past 20 years. The strong factor is they don’t reveal this to most people. That is when you know they are serious. I have spoken to them and it has (thank goodness) helped.

It is a vast subject and much has to be said about this.

I wish you well. And thank you for caring and working with others who suffer. If I may say so, the more dharma you study, especially the mind training texts, the more it will help you in your work. Buddhist mind training can be used out of the context of religion as it can help the human dilemma. It can help many without a salvation type of message, but logic, introspection, and contemplation on our true causes of sufferings.

Much good wishes,
Tsem Rinpoche

Dear Jonathan,
In Buddhist terms,it is ‘consciousness’ that determines whether it is killing of a kind that involves heavy negative karma. If a being has a consciousness, that consciousness has a mental continuum that continues into rebirth after rebirth. A parasite or bacteria does not have this mental continuum or consciousness. Nonetheless, it’s still a life. There will be some negativity involved in the act of killing.But this is samsara and often, we cannot avoid killing. In this case, the motivation is important. If killing the parasites is going to lead to saving lives,etc, then killing them in a lab may not create significant negative karma.

Still, in general, it will be good to recite ‘Om mani padme hum’ daily and dedicate to the good rebirth of all beings that you may have killed accidentally or for research purposes, etc. It will also be good to practice good virtuous acts, like going vegetarian or save or rescue animals,etc.This will collect merits for you and create causes for good health,happiness and good future lives.
Thank you.

We do have some info on Horoscopes if you are curious about it http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/horoscopes/the-chinese-zodiac.html

No we cannot see 5 years from now what you would be. Though we have information on Horoscopes on this blog, what is important which we are providing here is the Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha. What you will be is how you wish to develop yourself and how you wish to apply the teachings. Same goes for all of us..