Tsem Rinpoche during a rare moment of rest. Or so it seems. Because while Rinpoche was sat next to a waterfall and enjoying the greens and sound of running water, the only reason Rinpoche was there was to scout ideas for construction techniques, building designs and landscaping ideas to make Kechara Forest Retreat a truly […]
Tsem Rinpoche blessing a statue for a visitor whose father had passed. Rinpoche had heard that a student’s father had passed and through his passing, she had become connected with Dorje Shugden. Touched by her story, and by her love for her father, Rinpoche immediately selected a statue to be gifted to her along with some advice […]
Tsem Rinpoche inspecting a thangka. Rinpoche has always loved Buddhist art, not just for aesthetic reasons but for its symbology and meaning, and the fact it depicts an enlightened being and a path that, if we wholeheartedly rely on, can bring us to that same state ourselves. So for Rinpoche, it is very important that […]
Tsem Rinpoche writing heartfelt words of advice to a student. For Rinpoche, every waking moment is spent in service of others. How to take away their pain, how to alleviate their suffering, how to stop them from hurting so much. To this end, Rinpoche spends countless hours every month giving teachings, both private and public, to his students. These teachings […]
Tsem Rinpoche offering prayers before publishing a blogpost, for it to be of benefit to others. For Rinpoche, an activity is only worth doing if it results in the benefit of someone else. So before every major blog post, Rinpoche will offer incense and prayers to Dorje Shugden, asking for his blessings and assistance that the information […]
Tsem Rinpoche paying homage to White Tara, the saviouress. A student and devotee of White Tara had commissioned a 5-foot statue for his home. Having requested Rinpoche to bless and consecrate the statue, White Tara was escorted to the Ladrang where, upon sight, Rinpoche immediately paid homage to her and gave a short teaching on […]
Tsem Rinpoche blessing gifts for our visiting monks. For the past two months, we have had monks from Phelgyeling Monastery in Nepal visiting and staying with us. On the day they performed a Vajra Yogini ruchok and daju (self-generation), Rinpoche offered them a Vajra Yogini statue each. Auspiciously, these statues had just arrived in the Ladrang […]
I reproduce this here with Rinpoche’s permission, with the hope that more will learn about this rare, extremely powerful form of Vajrayogini. When you know her iconography, about the lineage masters who relied upon her and propagated her practice, and the calibre of the practitioners that were her predecessors…you come to realise that there is […]
For the last week or so, I’ve been proofreading the transcript of a teaching Rinpoche gave on Dorje Shugden. I’ve just gotten to the part where Rinpoche explains the distress he felt when he first found out about the ban in 1986. In short, Rinpoche said that news of the ban hit him very deeply because […]
When you say ‘tantra’, what most people these days will probably immediately think of is not what tantra actually is. Tantra, in Buddhism at least, does not have anything to do with sex. The actual practice of tantra is about trying to control the strongest energy we have (desire) and channeling it into something that brings higher levels of awareness. It […]
