Satisfied Buddhist - Domo Geshe Rinpoche

Because you love someone special, their unhappiness would be intolerable to you. Sadly, it’s likely that you’re not yet capable of lifting them into a state of permanent happiness.  This is why it we pray the four great wishes for all livi ng beings. If done correctly, the wish for all sentient beings to be happy naturally will first affect the person wishing it. Only then will you become capable of doing a strong wish, and are the first recipient of the wish… but only if you are not trying to wish it for yourself or force happiness on another. It only works by genuinely wishing all others to be happy, regardless of their relationship to you. Oddly, it’s exactly the opposite way that samsaric beings act. PS, loved ones become inadvertent beneficiaries! ~ Domo Geshe Rinpoche ~~~ “Weil der Mensch, den du liebst, etwas Besonderes ist, wäre es unerträglich für dich, wenn er unglücklich wäre. Leider ist es wahrscheinlich, dass du noch nicht fähig dazu bist, ihn in einen andauernden G...

I used to live in California, the land of spas and honey. In the next valley over from where I lived was Calistoga, where lots of folks pay to sit in mud. Lying naked in a mineral mud bathtub while a spa attendant plops mud on top, it’s hard to believe that while up to your neck in mud having a perfect stranger shovel mud on top of you is pleasant, but the longer you lie there, the happier you fe el. I went into a Calistoga spa one day for no particular reason, and wandered through various rooms (I didn’t find anyone in disarray). In the waiting room was a very tense-looking couple, dressed in pristine, fluffy white spa bathrobes. T Because they looked like errr, I asked, “Are you taking the baths or the minerals?” “ Both, we really need it, and can hardly wait to begin relaxing.” They had traveled far to do something that would help them calm down and relax their minds enough to feel comfortable and happy again. Now, let discuss the first of the four immeasurables from your medit...

Free Podcast! (The search for Truth- What is possible?) Domo Geshe Rinpoche leads a discussion on the criteria we use to determine truth vs non-truth. Each individual has explicit or implicit criteria. If you do not understand the criteria you use, your search for truth will be hampered. This discussion is preliminary to discussing, "What is enlightenment?" http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/domo-geshe-rinpoche-teachings/id387058479 The four great wishes of all Tibetan Buddhist practices are really a holding space type of promise and an emerging holy bond with all living beings. These wishes are profound promises because they are made with a special state of mind called bodhicitta motivation. When I first came to America back in the early 70’s, (when I was still Tibetan), my American students would ask me dharma questions but I often felt their motivation in the discussions begin to focus more on “me and mine, or this is so bad”. While they were getting d...

The four great wishes is recited in all Tibetan Buddhist daily meditations. The first of the wishes is for happiness. We repeat again and again, “May all sentient beings have happiness and the cause of happiness.” This is used as our own remedy to discover a lasting happiness that is free from confusion, and to evolve by becoming a m odel for this happiness that we wish for others to experience. We do this because we have connected with higher values to benefit all living beings. This wish is ultimate foolishness to the self-absorbed person, but with effort to overcome the self-serving attitude, will make ultimate great sense. ~Domo Geshe Rinpoche ~~~ ""Die vier unermesslichen Gedanken werden in jeder täglichen Meditation des tibetischen Buddhismus gesprochen. Der erste Gedanke ist der Wunsch nach Glück. Wir wiederholen immer wieder: 'Glücklich seien alle Wesen und im Besitz der Ursachen des Glücks.' Wir wenden dies als ein Heilmittel für uns selbst an...

"A heartfelt, expansive energy is expressed in the traditional Tibetan New Years greeting, “Losar Tashi Delek! Happy New Year!”. It is very different from an everyday greeting when passing someone in the street, “tashi delek” (sounds more like tadelay),“Oh, good morning, good to see you” . Instead, there is a cultivated and excited strength of purpose behind Losar hellos that transmit good wishes, seal them for the entire coming year and almost pour a cup of mental pucha ( Tibetan butter tea) for everyone you meet. On the other hand, a being of great spiritual purpose and power could authentically say, “Tashi delek” and the actual accomplishment of a great wish blessing is effortless because of deep development. The immeasurable happiness, freedom from suffering, bliss, and equanimity that we wish for others, we must generate first in our own mind to make that good impression for others. Buddhists in the Tibetan tradition practice this energetic and incrementally increased spiritu...

Part 2. Love of our Buddhist practice changes our mental outlook on what is important and what is not important. We might even find special secret delight to see our meditation cushion, our altar objects, or even our mala prayer beads. You should treat this delight respectfully and not have false sophistication or be cynical saying to yourself, " Oh, how silly of me, I am acting like a kid. " Maintain a very careful love relationship with your meditation practice. I do not know, maybe sometimes you could hug your mala. Personally, it delights me inside to express joy of practice in this very clean and innocent manner. A meditator might sometime experience anxiety about their practice objects such as who do I allow to touch them, are they good enough quality or imbuing them with too much solidification. In order to overcome these and other issues regarding our own Buddhist objects, we are trained to understand that even these things we love as part of our practice arise...

It is not so easy to understand about gods. Some gods call themselves gods but they are not really gods, they are really bodhisattvas. Some are not really gods, they are Buddhas. However, ordinary gods or beings of other realms including the human realm might call them gods. That is why, in the higher reaches of Tibetan Buddhism, we do not offend them, because their intentions in general are far more benevolent than any ordinary Buddhist practitioner. In a previous discussion about the four great wishes, it does not matter if you are a fairy princess with your very first wand or a highly advanced practitioner with a sophisticated knowledge base to practice wishing benefit for others. You must train your entire being to wish for the release of sentient beings from suffering for your own energetic transformation. The purpose of practice is to create lasting change in the mind. You will need to experience the arisal of potential yourself. You are the practitioner and the one who needs t...

We just celebrated Losar here in Kalimpong, and could hear the Tibetans in the street even at 3AM calling to each other or from their open windows, “Losar Tashi Delek! Losar Tashi Delek! Losar Tashi Delek! Happy New Year!" If “Losar Tashi Delek” has the best effect, everyone greeted would be blessed with the four great wishes. (1) There is a special heartfelt quality when someone calls out to their friends and family, “Losar Tashi Delek! Happy New Year!” as opposed to “Oh, good morning, good to see you,” or “tashi delek, tashi delek” (sounds like tadelay) passing someone in the street. There is a cultivated strength of purpose behind Losar hellos. For sincere meditators there should be increased spiritual activation inside us greeting others with the correct use of the power of the four great wishes. Someone with greater spiritual purpose and power could simply say, “Tashi delek” and the accomplishment of the great wish blessing is manifested! If we train sincerely, we can bec...