Becoming Your Own Therapist & Make Your Mind an Ocean

The six teachings contained in this title come from Lama Yeshe’s 1975 visit to Australia. Here are some exerpts:

Lama Yeshe on Buddhism:

"Buddhism is not just about one or two small things; it is not some tiny philosophy. Lord Buddha explained the nature of every single phenomenon in the universe."

On Mind:

"At certain times, a silent mind is very important, but 'silent' does not mean closed. The silent mind is an alert, awakened mind; a mind seeking the nature of reality."

On Meditation:

"Meditation is the right medicine for the uncontrolled, undisciplined mind. Meditation is the way to perfect satisfaction. The uncontrolled mind is by nature sick; dissatisfaction is a form of mental illness. What's the right antidote to that? It's knowledge-wisdom; understanding the nature of psychological phenomena; knowing how the internal world functions."

This title was published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website.

In this book, Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches on one of his favorite topics—compassion. He tells us that compassion for others is the best way to overcome any obstacles we encounter, in our Dharma practice, or occupation and life itself, and the best medicine for treating any illness we experience. However, these teachings are not limited to compassion. Rinpoche also explains emptiness, karma and many other essential Buddhist subjects. As ever, his teachings are clear, relevant, humorous and direct—a perfect guide to making our lives meaningful.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche says: "With a good heart, compassion for others, whenever a problem arises, you experience it for others, on behalf of other sentient beings. If you experience happiness, you experience it for others. If you enjoy a luxury life, comfort, you dedicate it to others. And if you experience a problem, you experience it for others—for others to be free of problems and to have all happiness up to enlightenment, complete perfect peace and bliss. Wishing others to have all happiness, you experience problems on their behalf."

This title was published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website.

In 1975, Lama Yeshe undertook his most extensive international teaching tour, being on the road for nearly nine months. During this time he gave many and varied teachings, a few of which have already been published in Becoming Your Own Therapist, Make Your Mind an Ocean and The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind.

This book contains the teachings and meditations Lama gave at a five-day retreat he led near Melbourne, Australia, which he introduced by saying:

"Whether or not this five-day meditation course becomes beneficial is up to you; it depends on your own mind. It’s not a lama thing; I’m not going to bring you to enlightenment in this short time. Instead of having too many expectations of the lama, it’s better that you generate a pure motivation for being here. Expectations cause mental problems; instead of being positive, they become negative...

"If over the next five days you can begin to recognize the reality of your own nature, this meditation course will have been worthwhile. Therefore, dedicate your actions during this time to discovering inner freedom through recognizing the negative characteristics of your own uncontrolled mind."

In line with Lama’s intentions, this book is dedicated to the awakening of inner freedom within the minds of its readers and all other sentient beings.

This title was published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website.

In Lama Yeshe’s and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s first trip to Europe in 1975 they offered a weekend seminar based on their famous month-long Kopan meditation courses. Preceded by Lama Yeshe’s lecture on meditation at Kensington Town Hall, these teachings at Royal Holloway College, Surrey, encompass the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. This short course was also videotaped and is available on a historic DVD also entitled Freedom Through Understanding.

Reviewed in Mandala magazine (January-March 2010):

In 1975 during their first trip to Europe, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave a weekend seminar in England, once again demonstrating their charisma and knowledge, and the profound effect of Buddha’s wisdom on Western people. Freedom Through Understanding covers the purpose of meditation, bodhicitta, the importance of motivation, tong-len and the shortcomings of attachment, among other topics. Produced by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, this is one of the few works that feature both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. With the book being offered free in print and online formats, there is no excuse for not treating yourself and a friend to a copy of these beautiful teachings!

Listed as New and Noteworthy in BuddhaDharma magazine (Spring 2010).

This title was published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website.

The first teaching, “The Three Principal Aspects of the Path,” was given in France in 1982.

The second teaching, an “Introduction to Tantra,” also in two parts, was given at Grizzly Lodge, California, in 1980. It comprises the first two lectures of a commentary on the Chenrezig yoga.

Lama Yeshe says:

"Meditation is not on the level of the object but on that of the subject - you are the business of your meditation.

"Bodhicitta is very practical, I tell you. It’s like medicine. The self-cherishing thought is like a nail or a sword in your heart; it always feels uncomfortable. With bodhicitta, from the moment you begin to open, you feel incredibly peaceful and you get tremendous pleasure and inexhaustible energy. Forget about enlightenment - as soon as you begin to open yourself to others, you gain tremendous pleasure and satisfaction. Working for others is very interesting; it’s an infinite activity. Your life becomes continuously rich and interesting.

"Historically, Shakyamuni Buddha taught the four noble truths. To whose culture do the four noble truths belong? The essence of religion has nothing to do with any one particular country's culture. Compassion, love, reality - to whose culture do they belong? The people of any country, any nation, can implement the three principal aspects of the path, the four noble truths or the eightfold path. There's no contradiction at all."

This title was published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website.

In Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand Pabonka Rinpoche explains how the great Atisha would purify any negativity, no matter how small, immediately. Even in public or when riding his horse, as soon as he noticed a breach of his ethics, he would stop what he was doing, drop to one knee and then and there, purify it with the four opponent powers - the powers of dependence, regret, remedy and restraint.

Atisha practiced purification in this way because of his deep realization of the psycho-mechanics of negative karma, especially its four fundamentals: negative karma is certain to bring suffering; it multiplies exponentially; if eradicated, it cannot bring its suffering result; and once created, it never simply disappears. Through the study and practice of Dharma, we should try to attain Atisha’s level of understanding. In the meantime, we should try to practice as he did.

Therefore, out of his great compassion, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has composed this short Vajrasattva practice and requested that it be published in a pocket-sized format that is easy for people to carry round and have available at all times. Thus, we can be like the great Atisha - whenever we notice we have broken a vow or created any other kind of negative karma, we can whip out our little Vajrasattva book and purify that negativity with the four opponent powers without a second’s delay.

This title was published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website.

This book begins with a general talk by Lama Zopa Rinpoche on universal responsibility and compassion that is followed by four chapters detailing the Prasangika Madhyamaka view of emptiness, or ultimate reality, as taught in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and how to meditate on it, according to the author’s personal experience.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche says:
"Sometimes you might think, 'What's the use of teachings on emptiness? How does this philosophy help me when I have problems in everyday life?' However, if you can think [about emptiness], it's the most powerful meditation to shatter the hallucinations. It's like an atomic bomb. Problems happen in your daily life because you believe the hallucinations to be real. The most powerful, immediate way to stop problems is to remember emptiness. You should especially remember emptiness when you are in situations where there's a danger of giving rise to strong anger or uncontrolled desire and creating heavy negative karma and causing great harm to others."

In this small book Lama Zopa Rinpoche covers an incredible amount of ground. He starts by emphasizing the importance of compassion and universal responsibility and how to make life meaningful, then gives a brief explanation of the nature of the enlightened mind and how we can attain it, and finally offers an amazing and extensive explanation of emptiness, the ultimate nature of reality, analyzing the way various phenomena exist and teaching how to meditate on emptiness. Within these teachings, Rinpoche also touches on several of the other main points of the path to enlightenment, such as bodhicitta, the three scopes and impermanence. But, in the end, this wonderfully practical book is a manifestation of Rinpoche's peerless wisdom realizing emptiness and a testament to the personal experience of this rare and precious teacher.

This title was published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website.

This book contains the last teachings Lama Yeshe gave in the West. Poignantly, the topic was death and rebirth; six months later, Lama Yeshe passed away. It also includes an introductory discourse by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and concludes with a teaching on transference of consciousness given by Lama Yeshe in London in 1982.

"Tibetan Buddhism teaches us to understand the death process and trains us to deal with it so that when the time of crisis arrives and the various illusory visions arise, instead of being confused, we’ll know what’s going on and will recognize illusions as illusions, projections as projections and fantasies as fantasies."

Drawn from Lama Yeshe's teachings in London, October 1982 and Geneva, September 1983.

"The Kadampa geshes said,

Look far ahead.

Generate a vast mind.

Don’t squeeze yourself.

"Since your objective is to achieve enlightenment, you have to look far ahead, just as when you’re traveling to somewhere very distant, you have to generate a strong determination to go there. You have to look far ahead and generate a vast mind. The third advice is don’t squeeze yourself. Don’t allow yourself to become stressed out, thinking, "Oh, I have to do all this!" With a vast, brave mind, think, “I’m going to do all this. Even if it takes many, many years, I’m going to do it.” When you do follow the advice “don’t squeeze yourself,” your mind naturally relaxes. Your mind is not stressed, not uptight, which causes lung, or wind disease.

"You should have a vast mind, planning to study and learn everything about the whole path to enlightenment, as well as to practice it and actualize all the realizations. While you have that plan, you also have a relaxed mind; you don’t stress yourself. You think, “No matter how long it takes, I’m going to do it. I’m not going to give up.” You have the plan inside your heart, but at the same time your mind is calm and relaxed.

"These are essential pieces of advice from the Kadampa geshes about how to go about achieving enlightenment. And if you follow these instructions you will definitely achieve enlightenment, even though you might think it’s impossible. With a long-term plan to learn and to practice Dharma, your mind can completely change, and you can achieve realizations."

—Lama Zopa Rinpoche

In this book Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how to practice Dharma the way the famous Kadampa geshes did. These lamas were exemplary practitioners of Buddhism in Tibet, renowned for their extreme asceticism and uncompromising practice of thought transformation in order to develop bodhicitta. Rinpoche, an exemplar of these practices himself, bases his teachings on Lama Atisha’s wonderful text, The Bodhisattva’s Jewel Garland. And, as ever, Rinpoche covers a vast amount of ground, teaching on many other topics as well.

This title was published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website.

In this book, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives us the answer to the perennial question of how to integrate Dharma with our daily lives. It contains a public talk explaining the purpose of life in general and the practice of guru devotion, a wide array of techniques for transforming ordinary actions into causes for enlightenment and advice on establishing a daily practice.