Thekchen Choling

  So what is the purpose of practicing Dharma?  When I posed this question to my students in the past, two of them answered me. The first student’s answer was "To change my mind and make it more peaceful." The second student said, "To save all sentient beings and liberate them."   The first answer is the Hinayana level of answer: it stems from the wish for my mind to be at peace, this is not wrong, the second answer is the Mahayana level: to want liberation for all sentient beings. This is better but still it is not good enough, the best answer is that the reason for practicing Dharma is to become enlightened ourselves and become Buddha, for only when you are a Buddha can you help sentient beings in many, many ways.   If you do not want to become Buddha, why practice Dharma? Can you help all sentient beings at this point in time? No, not possible! However, while you may not be able to help all, you could help some; and if you cannot help some, you could sti...

  It is important for every one of us to remember the qualities that are possible for us to actualize. It is your choice to become Avalokitesvara or Guanyin. So why do I say that this is important? It is because Chinese and Tibetan people like Guanyin.  The Indian principal Deity, in the past, is also Guanyin or Avalokitesvara.    It is important to know what this day is about. Otherwise, it becomes meaningless, where everybody becomes vegetarian 3 days a year.    What is important is to ask ourselves why we feel safe with Guanyin. Everybody goes to Guanyin temple to pray and feel safe.  Why do you feel safe?  Yes, Guanyin is very compassionate and have loving kindness. You feel safe because you are relieved from suffering and can throw our emotions at her as she doesn’t judge.   The most important thing is for everyone to learn the meanings from Avalokiteshvara’s name. What is important is the awareness of the five aggregates. With this awareness of aggregates, the ...

  Many of us have an inner voice that pushes us to work harder and improve. But sometimes, that voice isn’t encouraging—it’s harsh, unforgiving, and full of criticism. “I should have done better.”  “I’m such a clutz, always messing things up.”  “I’m just not good enough.”  Sounds familiar? We’ve all heard that inner voice before, and while we may think this form of self-criticism may seem helpful, it often does more harm than good. It can make us feel unworthy, drain our motivation, and lead to stress and anxiety. On the other hand, there is self-compassion. Instead of beating ourselves up over mistakes, we treat our struggles with kindness and understanding, just as we would a good friend.   So, what exactly is self-compassion? How is it different from self-criticism? How can we practice self-compassion to foster personal growth?  To answer these questions, let’s first take a step back to understand self-criticism and self-compassion.  What is Se...