Dear Aditya,

A Pure Land is neither a mythical place nor a concept but a dimension of existence. It is defined as a realm of the Buddhas where those who are reborn there can continue to cultivate their practice and achieve enlightenment. A Pure Land or Buddha Land is a pure environment in which there is no true sufferings. Emptiness refers to the ultimate nature of all phenomena, that nothing is inherently existent. It is necessary to develop wisdom realising emptiness in order to transcend suffering which is the nature of samsara. In a Pure Land there is no true suffering, so there is no necessity for such a realisation.

Dear Daisy,

When we pray, the Buddhas definitely hear us. When we do our daily sadhana or prayers, we can visualise the Buddhas in front of us and they are pleased with us. According to H.H. Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche in “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand”, when we visualise the Buddhas, we do not visualise them as two-dimensional like a painting nor like figures solid like clay statues. They are rainbow bodies, whose nature is clear, bright light. They are there in person, and radiate brilliant light. When you are doing something meritorious, think that the Buddhas are extremely pleased with you.

Dear Kathy,

The fear you described sounds more like timidity or shyness. This is probably due to self-consciousness and lack of confidence. There are many people like that. Self-consciousness arises from one’s ego, from fear of what others might think of one. Therefore, learn to be less self-conscious, and more assertive and confident. One way is to focus more on others instead of on yourself. In other words, abandon self-cherishing and concentrate more on the happiness of others. Learn and practise the Dharma well and you will see the change in yourself. Here is a quote from H.E. Tsem Rinpoche which might be of help: “We all have fears that make us avoid, hide or sometimes just not do anything. Responsibilities are difficult. But doing nothing and achieving nothing out of fear is a much heavier burden. Failure is frightening. But we are already in the state of fright now by not doing anything, so what is there to lose? Much heavier to be irresponsible than responsible. Much better try and fail because in trying we already won. One is a open ‘killer’ and one is a silent ‘killer’ of our peace of mind. But everyone is different. Trying brings long term peace. Responsibilities means we can achieve something for others and that is worth it”. ~ Tsem Rinpoche

Dear Lobsang,

What you have described is the nature of samsara which is suffering. As a result of positive or negative karma created in their past lives, people are experiencing the results of their karma. “Good” people suffer because of negative karma committed in their previous lives. Similarly, “wicked” people are successful due to their past lives’ good karma ripening in this life.

To counter the cruelties in this world we need to develop compassion for others. The Buddha taught us to avoid evil, do good and not to harm others. As H.E. Tsem Rinpoche says, “Be kind when you can & when you can’t, don’t harm”. We must always remember to be good and kind in the face of unkindness. The practice of kindness and compassion will eventually bring us lasting happiness.

Dear c,

The guru is regarded as the embodiment of all buddhas including enlightened protectors who are emanations of buddhas. Therefore, while reciting prayers to one’s protector, one visualises the guru and the protector as one. You can visualise the protector but think or feel he is your guru by nature.

Dear cg,

Identical twins are born from a single egg which is why they are of the same sex and are similar in appearance. But they have separate consciousness or minds which are inherited from past lives. As a result, in spite of their similarities, their individual karma is not the same.

Dear Sandra,

Negative karma and obscurations can be purified through various methods, for example, the Vajrasattva purification practice, 35 confessional Buddhas together with prostrations, developing compassion or bodhicitta, and meditating on emptiness. The Vajrasattva purification practice with the four opponent powers is relatively easy to do and is highly recommended for beginners. You can recite the prayer followed by recitation of the 100-syllable mantra (at least 21 times) daily. You can find the prayer and mantra in this blog under “Sadhana & Prayers”: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/sadhana-prayers.html.

Dear Rita,

The purpose of spiritual life or practice is to achieve enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. According to H.E. Tsem Rinpoche, this can be achieved by applying spiritual principles to our lives. When we do this, “we will find peace within ourselves. We will find healing, purpose and calm”. To succeed in our spiritual practice, we must avoid the ten non-virtues: 3 of the body (killing, stealing & sexual misconduct); 4 of the speech (divisive speech, harsh words, idle chatter & lying) and 3 of the mind (covetousness, malice and wrong views). These are the ten actions of body, speech and mind that we must avoid as they are the causes of negative karma. By refraining from non-virtuous actions, and replacing them with the antidotes, i.e. the ten virtuous actions, we will be able to destroy all our suffering. As H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has said, the Buddha has given us this simple and wonderful method to put a stop to our sufferings. “By avoiding those ten non-virtues, the mind becomes calmer, negativities do not accrue anymore, and what has been accrued becomes purified.” You can read more about this in Rinpoche’s book, “The Living Buddha Within” published by Kechara Media and Publications.

Dear Sadi,

For new practitioners, it is better to have an image of the deity. It can be a statue or a picture. Recite the prayer and mantra with full attention, and concentrate on the image without being distracted. This is a training in concentration which will be helpful later. If you do not have an image, then you can visualise the following: at the level of your forehead about two metres in front of you, visualise Lord Manjushri, orange in colour seated on a moon disc on top of a white lotus. He has one face and two arms, the right holding a sword and the left holding an utpala flower with thumb and fourth finger, on top of which is the prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) text. He has the major and minor marks of a Buddha, having the youthful appearance of a 16-year-old, his hair falling to the left, and a peaceful, smiling and elegant expression, clad in silken clothes and adorned with jewelled ornaments, with a moon cushion behind him. As you recite the mantra, visualise rays of light being emitted from his body in the ten directions.

As for Saraswati, visualise the goddess of wisdom seated on a lotus throne, her legs loosely locked in sattvasana posture. She is white in colour with one face and two arms, playing a vina. She is youthful like a 16-year-old. She wears a five leafed crown, earrings, tight necklace, armlets, wristlets, bracelets, anglets, a wrap for the upper body and one for the lower, a girdle and a sash. As you recite her mantra, visualise rays of light emanating from her body in the ten directions.

Dear H,

Enlightenment is the exalted wisdom of a Buddha comprising both eliminations and realizations. This means there is total elimination or purification (jang) of all delusions and realization (chub) of all qualities. Enlightenment is the state of having eradicated all obscurations (hindrances) to liberation and omniscience and it is the state in which ultimate happiness is achieved and all suffering has been removed.

There is no such thing as lineage of enlightenment. All beings have the Buddha nature which means that every being has the potential to realize Buddhahood. The Buddhas became enlightened by realising the Three Principal Aspects of the Path (renunciation, bodhicitta and sunyata). Ordinary beings can also become enlightened by following the same path as shown by the Buddhas.

Dear K,

The damaru is a small hand drum used in tantric rituals. Like the bell, it represents the offering of sound. At a more profound level, it symbolises the offering of emptiness.

Dear Palden,

1. Karma has its white side and its black side. Without dharma, without ethics and virtue, the world is like “a struggle for existence” and life in the business world is seen in terms of the “survival of the fittest”. In such environments, one is in danger of creating non-virtuous karma which leads to more suffering unless one modifies one’s behaviour by practising the Dharma and purifying one’s negative karma.
2. The proverb “God helps those who help themselves” means if you want God’s help, you yourself must work hard. This is because lazy people will not succeed in life. Similarly, if we apply this to our spiritual practice, it means we must not be lazy if we wish to have results. This is similar to applying effort and modifying our behaviour in order to purify our negative karma and to gain merits.

Modifying one’s behaviour means to abandon the ten non-virtues and replacing them with the ten virtues (the antidotes). This is called the paths of karma. It is said in the Lamrim that the paths of karma are tenfold. You can read about karma and the black and white karmic processes in Pabongka Rinpoche’s “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand”, Day 13, in the section on “Observing the Law of Cause and Effect”. You can also read about the ten non-virtues in H.E. Tsem Rinpoche’s book entitled “The Living Buddha Within”.

Dear Dorji,

Thank you for your feedback. We are glad to be of help.

Dear Sangpo,

1 & 2: Often, when a significant event occurs in a country, people try to explain it in terms of the collective karma of the people. On the whole, we can say that the events you mentioned were the results of both individual and collective karma.
3: Yes. Whether good or bad, karma once created will not disappear on its own accord. Karma will ripen when the conditions and time are right, even after many lifetimes.
4. Is being born under a particular animal sign attributed to karma? I think it is not important whether our animal sign is due to karma or not. What is important is how we are able to face life as it is and take responsibility for our own suffering and our own happiness.

Dear Dorji,

Consciousness exists as a continuum over time. Death is just the transfer of this consciousness from one form to the next. Following the end of a person’s previous lifetime, this consciousness in the form of its bardo body travels in the intermediate state (bardo). The lifespan of bardo beings is usually said to be seven days. After these seven days, bardo beings undergo a small death, and they can have up to seven such small deaths before they find a birth site.

In the case of being born from a womb, conception takes place within the sperm and blood of the parents. A bardo being has all its faculties. The being who is about to be reborn as a human has the colour of fine gold. The bardo being sees the father and mother sleeping together. If the being is to be reborn as a male, it feels anger towards the father and attachment towards the mother. It then merges with the father and is thus conceived into its next incarnation. In this case, it is anger as well as desire that propel the bardo being into its next rebirth. You can read about the way one is conceived and reborn in Pabongka Rinpoche’s “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand”, Day 15 in the section “Understanding the Causes of Samsara”.

Dear Matjaz,

Your last post has been removed.

Dear Pippa,

Trakze is an emanation of Manjushri, so practising Trakze will definitely remove ignorance. But I’d like to suggest a practice that is easy and very effective. You can recite Ganglongma (Praise to Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom) combined with his mantra OM AH RA PA TSA NA DHI. Recite Ganglongma and one mala of the mantra daily. Manjushri is the embodiment of the wisdom of all the Buddhas. Worshipping Manjushri will confer mastery of the Dharma, wisdom, intelligence, retentive memory, and eloquence. You can find the prayer in this blog under the section “Prayers and Sadhanas”: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/category/prayers-and-sadhanas. Manjushuri’s mantra will help you make wise and good decisions. Recite this mantra daily when you are at a crossroad and to exercise good judgement. It is excellent to recite Manjushuri’s powerful mantra faithfully to purify ignorance, low mentality, forgetfulness, poor memory and to actualize the seven wisdoms.

Dear Sandra,

Both the fifth and the thirteenth Dalai Lamas were dynamic political leaders. The fifth Dalai Lama was able to combine religious and secular activities to become one of Tibet’s distinguished statesmen. He became the supreme head of state, both secular and spiritual, a position the Dalai Lamas held until 1959. He was also mainly responsible for the identification of the Dalai Lamas with the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The thirteenth Dalai Lama was also a great political leader who guided Tibet through a period of relative independence during a time of difficult relationships with Britain, China and Russia. He also predicted the fall of Tibet to Communist China. Thus, it can be seen that it was due to their astute and forward-looking political leadership that earned them their title.

Dear ckg,

The purpose of Yidam practice is to help the student to overcome inner obstacles in order to transform his faults into qualities (wisdom, compassion) which will lead to enlightenment. The purpose of protector practice is to help the student to avert obstacles and provide conducive conditions for his spiritual practice. The Yidam practice is the main practice while the protector practice is an ancillary practice which supports the main practice. Yidam practices can be arduous and sometimes there may be obstacles. This is why we need the help of a Dharma protector. It is said that Dharma protectors are quick to come to our assistance because they manifest in a particular form with this particular function which is to help us overcome our obstacles.

For those who do not have a Yidam practice yet, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche advises them to practise Lama Tsongkhapa as their Yidam: “I would advise modern spiritual seekers to practise Lama Tsongkhapa’s Guru Yoga combined with recitation of his mantra Migtsema. Keep the Buddha Tsongkhapa as your main yidam, or meditational deity, to give you wisdom, compassion, protection and growth. It will be very good for you.” In this blog, you can find articles and videos on the practice of Je Tsongkhapa under the section “Tsongkhapa”: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/category/tsongkhapa. You can also refer to the book by H.E. Tsem Rinpoche entitled “Tsongkhapa. A Simple Guide To a Powerful Practice” published by Kechara Media and Publications.

Dear sangpo,

The Buddha taught us to abandon non-virtues and replace them with virtues in order to avoid being reborn in a lower realm in the next life or future lives. For ordinary practitioners, renunciation doesn’t mean we have to give up our business or a secular education. It means that in life, in whatever we do, we must not be attached to the ordinary preoccupations: gain and loss, pleasure and pain, praise and criticism, fame and infamy. These concerns keep us preoccupied with the well-being of this life and prevent us from focusing on well-being in future lives.