Dear Tara Luka,

“Unborn” refers to the beginningless nature of the mind. The mind has no beginning, thus it is “unborn”.

Dear Pema Thinley,

Carry a portable altar with you and do your prayers where it is convenient. I have seen very beautiful small portable altars. They are boxes that contain the body, speech and mind of the Buddha as well as incense for offerings. Do check out the Dharma stores in your city.

Dear Jingyi,

I suggest you speak to a counsellor or a senior student in your centre. Tell them what happened and ask for advice. It is no use feeling sorry for yourself. If you are still keen to remain a Buddhist, you must overcome your problems by learning the Dharma and applying it to your life. Attend Dharma classes and do Dharma work to repay the kindness of your guru. This is the way to feel close to your guru – through your Dharma practice.

Dear Padma D,

If you are staying with your father, or other family members, you must be respectful of their feelings. Try to be more discrete when you watch Dharma talks or recite mantras so as not to disturb the people in the house. You can recite your mantras in your Dharma centre if you go to one or in a temple. As a Dharma practitioner, you have to be mindful of others’ feelings and not create disharmony. Be loving and kind to your father who has brought you up and looked after you. Act responsibly and repay your father’s kindness. Go and get a job and contribute towards the family’s expenses. When he sees the change in you, he will not mind you watching Dharma talks and reciting mantras.

Dear Eli Levine,

There is a “path” that one needs to follow to achieve one’s full potential. The “goal” may be different for everyone. Therefore one needs to set the goal and work towards it. If one is diligent and puts in the effort, there is no reason why one cannot realise it even within their lifetime. I feel you should go for it if that’s what you want and it’s beneficial for others but you should be able to apply it also to yourself. How does one conquer all and achieve one’s full potential? This is not easy but it is possible, judging from the life stories of those who have made it.

I’m not sure how one can combine Dharma with governance. Governance is a secular activity. If you intend to apply governance to Dharma practice which is a spiritual acitvity, it might not work due to the many variables involved. Every individual is different and practices according to his/her level of attainment. Only the very few can actually realise the goal in one lifetime. That’s probably because they have been practising in their previous lives and they are realising their full potential in the present lifetime. If you are following a lama, it would be better to consult your lama first and discuss the details with him/her.

Dear Nitya,

There are many independently verified stories about people, Buddhists and non-Buddhists, who remember their past lives and who have met their biological father or mother from their previous lives. These stories are real and reincarnation or rebirth is a fact. From your description, it is only a feeling that you have, and you have not provided proof that your father has been reborn in the USA. From the Buddhist point of view, every living being has taken rebirth countless times in samsara. Buddhists believe that all sentient beings have been our mothers, fathers, siblings, relatives, friends, enemies, etc. for many, many lifetimes. What you are experiencing may or may not be real and even if you find your biological father from a previous life, he is a completely different person now. People die and they never come back as we know them. Due to karma, your best friend in a past life may be reborn as your enemy in this life and vice versa. To have clarity and peace of mind, we must develop a balanced attitude referred to as “equanimity”. Equanimity is an unbiased attitude, free of feelings of hatred towards our enemies, attachment towards our friends and indifference towards total strangers. In Buddhism, all sentient beings have been our mothers before and they have been kind to us. Because of this, we must repay their kindness. These realisations enable us to develop great compassion towards all beings. Clarity and peace of mind come from the realisation that all beings are equal and deserving of love and kindness. To know more about the Buddhist view of equanimity and how Buddhists generate affectionate love for all living beings, please read the “Lamrim Chenmo”(The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment) by Lama Tsongkhapa or Pabongka Rinpoche’s “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand”.

Dear Sandra,

The best way to benefit one’s deceased parents is to do dana such as offering food and robes to the Sangha, especially on Ullambana Day. Besides making offerings, you can perform animal liberation, acts of charity, recite sutras, do pujas and dedicate the merits to them. If you are a practising Buddhist, you can also dedicate the merits from your practice, your daily prayers, meditations and mind transformation to them, for their good rebirth and enlightenment.

Dear Tan,

Since you went back the next day to pay for the candle, you did not commit any negative karma. This is not considered stealing as you did not have the motive to steal. So don’t worry about it.

Dear Cameron,

When “bad” things happen on the path, we must regard them as good signs because we are purifying our negative karma.

The practices that you are doing are all good and if you do them diligently with bodhicitta motivation, you will be able to expiate your karma with the spirits.

Besides the outer practices, your inner transformation is crucial. It is important to develop loving kindness and compassion towards others, including the spirits. As Buddhists, we should know that whatever we are experiencing now are the results of good and bad actions from the past. Just as we had the power to create our own problems, we also have the power to overcome them. The way to have peace and happiness is to cultivate virtues. As H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has advised, we must pursue our spirituality with wisdom, patience and knowledge. May all your wishes be fulfilled.

Dear Christy,

I’m very happy to know you have benefited from your spiritual practice. With your knowledge of the Dharma, why don’t you benefit others as well, especially those people around you? They also need the Dharma to become better people. Not having met the Dharma, and living in ignorance life after life, it is no wonder that they are “mean, selfish, greedy and bad” as you said. The way to practise is to be kind whether others are kind or not. Then there is a chance you will be able to influence them to be kind. Apply what you have learned in your daily life. You will encounter many difficult people throughout your life but if your attitude is positive, you will be able to deal with them with patience, knowledge and wisdom. As Mother Teresa said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” The fact that you are upset by those people’s behaviour shows that you need to develop patience and recognise qualities in others, not just their faults. In your small city, you can do a lot to bring the Dharma to people. Don’t expect others to respond with gratitude but do it for your own spiritual growth. This advice is from H.E. Tsem Rinpoche. Out of compassion, be an inspiration to others for them to change. People may or may not change but be good to them anyway. I hope this has helped you. Do keep in touch and let us know about your progress.

Dear Dharma lady,

Go to a temple or Dharma centre in your city and get advice from a lama or from senior students there. Read about basic practices in Vajrayana Buddhism and attend classes. If you are really keen to start your practice, do not let the obstacles stand in your way. Late classes, female, no transport – these are minor obstacles that can be removed if one is sincere and determined to practice, absorb the Dharma, surrender to it and devote the rest of one’s life to it. My best wishes to you and may all your wishes be fulfilled.

Dear Eli Levine,

Thank you for your questions. There are many ways to reach out to people. In this day and age, the most effective way is through the social media. The fastest way to spread Dharma and to reach as many people as possible is through the internet. A very good example is H.E. Tsem Rinpoche who has thousands of followers and his teachings are viewed by millions. But if one wishes to reach the “correct people”, that is, those who are already interested in learning Dharma and who would benefit from it, the best way is to offer Dharma courses not only in the Dharma centre but also through the E-learning approach on the internet.

Thank you for offering to help Kechara House. We are very happy to know you are from the US. Please contact the Tsem Rinpoche Foundation, Inc: foundation@tsemrinpoche.com. Contributions in the USA are tax deductible. You can find out more about the Foundation on this blog.

Dear Melba Cabbaab,

It would be better to confirm that it is really black magic before you decide what to do. The best is to consult a lama or your own lama if you have one. If it is confirmed to be black magic, there are certain pujas that can be done. For more information or to order a puja, you can contact: http://www.vajrasecrets.com.

Dear Ghampa Graham Clark,

The GMT for the chat sessions is Malaysian time Saturday 11.00 am – 12.00 noon (GMT+8).

Dear Ghampa Graham Clark,

I recommend the “Medicine Buddha Practice” which can be found on this blog in the section “Prayers and Sadhanas”: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/sadhana-prayers.html#18. It is a powerful method for healing, both for oneself and others. Recite the mantra as many times as possible and request Medicine Buddha to pacify the ebola disease that is causing much suffering now and to prevent all future outbreaks of the disease. The mantra: TAYATHA OM BEKANZEY BEKANZEY MAHA BEKANZEY BEKANZEY RANZA SAMUGATEY SOHA.

You can also recite the mantra “OM MANI PEME HUNG” hundreds of times and dedicate the merits to those who are suffering from ebola, for them to recover swiftly.

Dear Andrea,

To understand karma, one needs to study, contemplate and investigate. H.E. Tsem Rinpoche says that he finds the doctrine of karma logical because it answers so many questions and puts our mind at rest.

Karma is defined as “all intentional bodily, verbal, and mental actions that are the cause of rebirth in the higher or lower realms.” It is called the law of cause and effect. The Buddha has taught that “whatever karma is created will bring a corresponding result”. In other words, virtuous actions will bring about happiness and rebirth in higher realms; non-virtuous actions will result in suffering and rebirth in the lower realms. As H.E. Tsem Rinpoche says, “what body we are going to take birth in is 100% due to karmic imprints”. Buddhists believe that one does not meet with something if one has not created the karma for it to happen. So when you say, “Maybe it is all just coincidence”, you are speaking from lack of knowledge and understanding of the law of cause and effect.

Ordinary beings find it hard to fathom the complexity of the relationship between karmic cause and effect. Why, for instance, does a good person who helps others lives in poverty and an evil person who harms others is wealthy? Only enlightened beings know the relationship between actions and their fruition and through their teachings we are able to understand the subtleties of karma. To understand how karma works, we have to know that the result of an action need not ripen in the present life. It may manifest itself only after hundreds of eons. This is because the necessary conditions and the appropriate time must be right for a certain action to bear fruit.

To answer your question, “Why is a Buddhist monk so sure that he has lived previously?”, we just have to remember Buddha Shakyamuni who, when he became enlightened under the Bodhi tree, remembered his past lives in all their detail and he knew the karmic destinies (past, present and future)of all sentient beings as well. Karma and its effects for both oneself and others are known and understood by beings who are enlightened. I hope this explanation has been helpful.

Dear Shesan,

Praying to Saraswati and Manjushri has tremendous benefits. They are not different but complementary. While Manjushri is known as the Buddha of Wisdom, Saraswati is the Buddha of Speech. According to H.E. Tsem Rinpoche, the worship of Saraswati will confer powerful oratorical ability, intellectual perfection, increase of artistic and musical talents, and eventually we will gain great mastery over our own minds. Rinpoche said that keeping her image (statue or thangka) in an art studio, publications department, writing company, music department, or anything having to do with creativity would bless the environment and the people. It is also very useful to keep an image of Saraswati in a child’s bedroom and have the child see her holy image daily and even propitiate her. As the practices of Lord Manjushri and Saraswati are complementary, it is very important to recite Manjushri’s Gangloma and one round of his mantra before doing Saraswati’s prayer and mantra. Both prayers and mantras can be obtained from this blog under the section “Prayers and Sadhanas”.

Dear Eli Levine,

All the suffering we experience in this life is the result of our past negative karma. Doubt is one of the six root delusions. It is also one of the “fetters” that keep us in samsara. Doubt prevents one from engaging in virtuous actions. It is said that the antidote to doubt is wisdom. One has to study the scriptures to acquire knowledge and spiritual understanding. One also needs to meditate to attain calm abiding and special insight. When you achieve the stage of stream enterer, doubt is permanently eliminated.

Do not worry about your feelings as they are impermanent. As H.E. Tsem Rinpoche says, “When we travel down a road, doubt will always arise, just go all the way.”

Dear John,

It is good to respect all religions and we should. But at the end of the day, one still has to make a choice because, while there are some aspects of religious practice that are common in all religions, like love, compassion and tolerance, there are aspects that are fundamentally different. You will find these differences as you look deeper and study more. Thus, in order to advance in any practice, and realise its goal, one has to make a choice of which religion is the best for one, and then go all the way.

Dear Illam Tay,

A person who is unstable should not take refuge from a guru because with refuge, there are vows and commitments that one has to keep. So if one is not sure about keeping the refuge vows and commitments, it is better not to take refuge yet. One should study, gain more Dharma knowledge and after becoming stable and free of doubts, then one can take the refuge vows. What are the causes for breaking refuge vows? Usually it is because the person has not understood the meaning of taking refuge. It is as if the person has not taken refuge at all. In this case, the person can take the refuge vows again if he/she has fully understood the meaning of refuge and has the right attitude towards Dharma practice.