The four rivers are ignorance, attachment, craving, and wrong views.

Good luck to you.

Dear Melvin,
You do not need to do negative karma to take rebirth in a human realm. When you collect positive dharma karma, you will automatically take rebirth in a realm where dharma is available and you can practice. Do not be limited to just our human realm on earth. There are billions of other human realms that exist also.

Dharma karma will automatically propel you to take birth in a auspicious place of dharma. Thank you. And good question.

Read up on Lam Rim. Follow what is on the Lam Rim. Read up on the The Wheel of Sharp Weapons and follow that. These are good guides to help us stay on track.

Dharma is joyful, because although suffering, it is for a good purpose. While without dharma, all sufferings leads to more sufferings. With or without dharma you will experience the fruit of your actions. So with dharma you experience it with understanding and patience.

For example, a knife cutting you in the arm by a thief in the alley. Or a knife cutting you to remove cancerous tumors by a surgeon. Both are knives, both cut, both would be painful. But one leads to more pain and the other to healing.

Dear Adrian,

Dharma Protectors and Yidams have completely different functions and they are usually the same beings.

Yidams are for you to identify with and become attained through their practice.

Dharma protectors serve to protect you while you are practicing the yidam. When you start the practice of the yidam, you certainly cannot gain the benefits in one day or one week or one year. It is a gradual process. During the process, many negative karmas manifest to attract situations that might throw you off the path, the dharma protectors help you stay on the path.

Do not be confused. Take one yidam and one protector and you will be fine.

Dear Zla’od,

I have never seen this nor heard of it..sounds unique.

Yes, I enjoy films.

Thank you for your new year wishes..same to you also.

Dear Irene,

Study up on Shantideva’s treatise Bodhisattva-chai-avatara. It is a masterpiece to discover the bodhicitta within us. Combine it with the practice of Avalokitesvara in any form would be powerful.

Even if acts of generosity are done for self gratifying feeling at first,it is ok. It is better to do good acts with not so perfect motivation then to never do them.
As you perform acts that benefit others combined with study of dharma, your motivation will change naturally. Your focus from self gratification will switch to truly benefitting others. Start somewhere for now.

Dear Ng,

When you invite any Buddha they DEFINITELY COME. Even if we cannot perceive them at this time. Their power to appear is fully ripe and they have great compassion for all those that call upon them even if we are normal people. Their compassion has no barriers.

To believe they are here with you is not pretending but creating the causes to see them in actuality in the future.

Continue your practice and devotion to Tsongkapa for the rest of your days. It is excellent for you and those around you. I am very happy for you.

Good luck to you.

Dear Andrey,

1. Keep your attraction towards VY. Keep an image of Her and make offerings, prostrations, flowers, incense, water, mandala offerings, etc. In this way you make a strong connection with Her. Pray to Her you will be able to do this practice in the future.

2. Something will not happen because you recited Her mantra prematurely.
3. The Heruka Root tantra book, wrap in cloth and keep on your altar. You should not read prior to empowerment. But by keeping on you altar, you will make a connection to it. On our shrines, we should have a representation of Buddha, dharma (book), and mind of Buddha (stupa) anyway. So that is auspicious you have received this book. I rejoice for you.
4. I would recommend you go on the youtube and see the teachings I gave on Tsongakapa Guru Yoga. Learn up well and enter into a 100,000 migtzeyma retreat for now. This is a good way for you to start.

If you have questions please contact Wai Meng in the E-division of Kechara House.

I wish you luck.

Who I am and how I think is very different than both sets of parents I have. My personality is so radically different than their’s …and that is why I left home at 15….But the method I carry out some things sometimes resemble my step mom Dana.

I like my birth Dad Lobsang Gyatso because he is very devoted to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He has offered many precious items from Tibet to His Holiness. And has ‘worked’ for His Holiness in Taiwan for over twenty years.

I like my step mom Dana because she was a very kind hearted, giving and very capable lady. I watched her be generaous with so many people with zero agenda. She was giving naturally and very helpful to people she don’t know.

If you feel Tsongkapa is wrong, then it is ok for you to do other practice. No problem.

That is up to you. No fixed time amount is necessary.

No issues or problems there for any time you set.

That is a real good question. I like your question.
I guess I would be Hindu.

Thank you.

I do not communicate or write them directly. I have assistants that speak Mandarin with them and relay messages back and forth for me.

It’s not a silly question. I am ok with it. Thanks.

My best Christmas was when finally I was able to leave home and be on my on in Los Angeles. It was a very lonely Christmas, but it was a Christmas where I had freedom. So to answer you, it was my first Christmas in LA when I was 16 years old. Thanks.

Dear Jonis,

I opened this section hoping to benefit ppl with their questions. But of course ppl with various motivations will write appropriate and inappropriate questions.

1. You are right, according to the tantric codes, we never reveal the deities we are practicing. Ppl who asked who your deity is, clearly shows their ignorance or lack of respect.

2. I choose to answer what questions I like and I do not need to answer any questions I do not wish to. I answer the questions when and if I have time. I am not obligated by anyone to answer at any time. I will not engage in political questions or questions that disparage. I am not interested in those.

3. If ppl appreciate the tremendous amount of time, energy and effort I put into the blog, it reflects their mind clearly. If they don’t, I am sorry.

Thank you for you appreciation comments here. I am thankful.

What a powerful message. I thank you so much. I will not entertain any more political questions again.

I will be who I am …life is too short to pretend to be anything else.

Dear Martin,

Each practice has it’s own benefits. One does not cover the other.

The praise, serkym and mantra has their individual function and benefits.

Example:

Serkym is to offer a liquid/drink that has been purified/blessed into uncontaminated bliss/wisdom to the mind of Setrap to create tremendous merits to avert our negative karma. Offering these items to a mind of a Buddha creates the causes to achieve Bliss/wisdom which is the highest of tantric achievements. Or the goal of tantric achievements.

Mantra can create meditative stabilization in the mind. To calm the mind and channel or chi/winds correctly for many mental and physical benefits. It can help the mind to achieve calmness.

Praise is excellent as it recalls the enlightened qualities of this being and by remembering we gain merits and increase our faith. It creates the seeds to achieve these very qualities in our mind stream.

Conducive environment is helpful I agree. So you see how you like to do it. Anything towards Setrap has TREMENDOUS BENEFITS.

I wish you luck and very happy to hear you have devoted yourself to this supreme Dharmaphala.

Dear Winnie,

I have never wanted to teach. When I was sent from 1992 till now, I have not been happy at teaching at all. So this ‘unhappiness’ is not recent. It’s just I have been more open and vocal about it as I have places to write about it. I would like people to know how much pressures, scrutiny, expectations, projections, prejudices people have about a dharma teacher. How much disappointments dharma teachers receive and have to swallow. Asians or Tibetans are not in the habit of talking about personal issues. It doesn’t seem ‘proper’ that a dharma teacher would express this.

Raising funds is another aspect of my work I dread. If I don’t do it, very little will be done about it most of the time. People like to get benefits from your fundraising but do very little to support or give most of the time… There are a few exceptions in the past and present, but the majority makes me not like to fundraise. The criticisms involved when you raise funds is incredible. Everyone knows that all religious institutions rely on donations and it is necessary. So I am not doing something that has not been done before. Then some people will donate, become unhappy and want their items back later or accuse you of taking their items under duress…like what?? Huh? Shocking. I would never do that..NEVER..even scary to think about..but the delusions/fantasies/anger/stories ppl have can be beyond imagination sometimes… I have offered so much to my gurus, the sangha and monasteries in my life.. I have asked for nothing back…I would never ask for anything back. Imagine if all the people who donated to any religious institution wanted everything back. What havoc.What a negative trend. How can someone give and then say they want it back??? It really blows my mind the fantasies/anger people create and wish to take it out on others to the detriment of themselves/others short and long term. Karma exists. Money is always very sensitive, but how to build and grow without donations or viable financial help? So raising funds is very tedious and I truly dread this part of my work.

I have seen my teachers sometimes deeply disappointed or sad, it’s just they don’t talk about it or very little. It is not in Tibetan culture to talk openly…well I am Tibetan and decided why not express the truth and what I feel. Their sadness does not affect their kindness, wisdom, knowledge and their continuous hardwork toward others I have seen with my own eyes many times over. For this I fold my hands to them and bow my head to their feets. May I be like them. Bodhisattvas do feel pain, they just don’t act out of it…they don’t increase it, although they feel pain, they still find ways to help….

I will not stop teaching, and I am not happy about it. It is not easy to always tell people what they need to change or know what is going to happen to them or the effects of their karma…it is very easy to create ‘enemies’ when you don’t tell them what they like to hear. The main issue I don’t like about teaching is people produce very tiny results even if you put 100% into them, explain, help or talk…so I prefer action dharma or quiet dharma. Their habitual comfort zones blind them to the impending results..very sad to see. Teaching many of them makes very little dents in this zone… It is very disappointing to see ppl around me who have been around for 5-10 years or more and they change very little if any change at all. That is the biggest disappointment for any teacher even an unqualified one like silly me.. It must be largely my fault and as I am unqualified to teach and have very little impact on these ppl so they don’t change…. Whatever it is, it is very disappointing to see. I am never out to get students. Look for students or want students to leave their teacher to join me. I always discourage ppl to come to me….

As one of my teachers said, in this day in age, to do dharma is like being a white crow among the black. I don’t do great dharma, but I have given thirty years of my life and youth to it so far completely.

As long as I have to teach, I will never be at peace or be happy. But if it is the order of my guru, then I will do it and do it till the end. I have more faith in my teachers than in my unhappiness to teach. I trust them more than my reluctance to teach. So I just do it and do it the best I can and continue. I will do the best I can in teaching although I abhor it.

I thank you for your concern and your active wish to help by petition, but it will not be necessary..it is deeply appreciated. You didn’t just write empty words,but wish to help by action. That is very special…very appreciated…. I have requested to retire earlier this year and it was not accepted. So I will continue and will write about my dissatisfaction in teaching sometimes as it is how I feel, but it will not affect my energy and motivation when I teach. I can seperate the two. When I teach, I mean every word, because I TRULY BELIEVE IN THE DHARMA AND SEEN IT’S EFFECTS.

In life we have to do things we don’t like, but we still have to do our best as it will somehow benefit people eventually. What keeps me going is that it MIGHT EVENTUALLY BENEFIT OTHERS….

Tsem Rinpoche

Dear Anon,

Our desire and attachments manifest in hundreds of ways mostly uncontrolled. Do not fret or worry too much about your accidental visualization.

There are worse karmas we should purify. Focussing on ourselves and not helping others, eating animal flesh, working in life just for ourselves and not caring to do much work for others, not spending more time to gain realization and focussed on the trivials of this life, basically wasting our time in greed, food, fun, experiences to soothe and ‘satisfy’ our attachments which further feed the self grasping mind are much more serious.

I wish you well.