The Workshop is in the Mind

What are referred to in the Mahayana Buddhist literature as the “eight mundane concerns” or the “eight worldly dharmas” are, in fact, simply primordial levels of attachment that exist virtually as assumptions in our minds. This assumption is that I must get what I want every second, thus causing us to constantly crave happy feelings, getting nice things, hearing pleasant words with our name in them, and having people approve of us. Attachment can’t stand it when we get the opposite!

Lhagsam Tibetan Meditation

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Start the day with your mind pointed in a positive direction. No bells or whistles, just bliss.

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Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

What are referred to in the Mahayana Buddhist literature as the “eight mundane concerns” or the “eight worldly dharmas” are, in fact, simply primordial levels of attachment that exist virtually as assumptions in our minds. This assumption is that I must get what I want every second, thus causing us to constantly crave happy feelings, getting nice things, hearing pleasant words with our name in them, and having people approve of us. Attachment can’t stand it when we get the opposite!

Lhagsam Tibetan Meditation

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Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

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Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

Happiness is the mind that is free from junk: clear, blissful, happy and stable. The Buddhist expertise is the mind, and its phenomenal potential.

Teaching for Langri Tangpa Centre, Brisbane, Australia

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Start the day with your mind pointed in a positive direction. No bells or whistles, just bliss.

Led by Ven. Robina Courtin

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The wisdom wing is all the nuts and bolts of Buddha's teachings, the four noble truths (what is suffering, it's causes, that you can get rid of it, and how to do the job). Buddha is the same as a scientist, in that belief is the starting point but you've got to prove it, make it your own experience. Karma and ethics, we create ourselves moment by moment, you are the main cause of you. The vast majority of all humans on this planet have absolutely no idea that what goes on in their mind plays any role at all in their lives. Every thought produces the person I become. The first level of practice is to control the servants of the mind - the body and the speech, because every negative action (an action that harms another) - it will harm you! Ignorance, attachment and anger, the three poisons. If you want to help others, practice compassion; if you want to help yourself, practice compassion. When you're with others, watch your body and speech; when you're on your own, watch your mind.

Questions include - the Dalai Lama's album - Inner World, working with death row prisoners, understanding karma, activism and Buddhism, Nelson Mandela, psychedelic therapy, people who don't want to help themselves, books on Buddhism, practising to improve samsaric existence, do wisdom and compassion grow together, eating meat, karma and ignorance, and daily practice. The Buddhist Society London, 17th June 2020.

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Express mediations at Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, California.

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Express mediations at Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, California.

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Our True Nature Teachings for Compassion Wisdom Flower FPMT Study Group (Bucharest, Romania) and Centrul Budist "White Mahakala" FPMT Study Group (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Recorded July 7, 14 and 21, 2021

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Flower FPMT Study Group (Bucharest, Romania) and Centrul Budist "White Mahakala" FPMT Study Group (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Recorded July 7, 14 and 21, 2021

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Teachings for Compassion Wisdom Flower FPMT Study Group (Bucharest, Romania) and Centrul Budist "White Mahakala" FPMT Study Group (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Recorded July 7, 14 and 21, 2021

YouTube

Teaching on Samsara and Nirvana with Venerable Robina Courtin, including ethics, listening to our anger and analysing it, the three toxic emotions (ego grasping, attachment, and aversion). Karma; our life is our garden, whatever is in it, we put it there; karma explains why things happen and your mind explains how you respond to them. Questions about fear, karma, free will, and parenting.

Teachings for Tse Chen Ling Centre, San Francisco, May 2021.

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Something To Think About Series #99

Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

The second part of the teaching for the Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand on the bodhisattva path. Features a Q&A with thoughts on guilt; dealing with problems; attachment and aversion; more on the Eight Verses; tonglen; self-cherishing; exchanging self for others; a story about Harry Sutton; the purpose of meditation; single-pointed concentration; emptiness and dependent arising.

6 & 7 November 2020

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Teaching for the Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand about the fearless path of the bodhisattvas. Thoughts include: the need to work on our own mind; taking inspiration from great beings like Geshe Lama Konchog and His Holiness the Dalai Lama; our attachment and aversion; exchanging self for others; Langri Tangpa’s Eight Verses

6 & 7 November 2020

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Teachings for White Mahakala Study Group, Cluj, Romania.

20 January 2021.

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Teachings for Center of White Mahakala Study Group, Cluj, Romania.

20 January 2021.

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Teaching at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center, Santa Fe, NM, USA Sept 3, 2021

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF EGO-GRASPING BY UNDERSTANDING DEPENDENT ARISING, THE “KING OF LOGICS” FOR REALIZING EMPTINESS

Lama Tsongkhapa writes lyrically about Lord Buddha’s teachings on dependent arising – the “king of logics” to prove emptiness, as Lama Yeshe puts it. With this perfect view, Je Rinpoche says, we can never “fall into the abyss of the great mistake” of nihilism, one of the commonest misconceptions about emptiness.

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Teaching at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center, Santa Fe, NM, USA Sept 3, 2021

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF EGO-GRASPING BY UNDERSTANDING DEPENDENT ARISING, THE “KING OF LOGICS” FOR REALIZING EMPTINESS

Lama Tsongkhapa writes lyrically about Lord Buddha’s teachings on dependent arising – the “king of logics” to prove emptiness, as Lama Yeshe puts it. With this perfect view, Je Rinpoche says, we can never “fall into the abyss of the great mistake” of nihilism, one of the commonest misconceptions about emptiness.

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All Things Life Series (Part 2 of 2)

Teachings for Choe Khor Sum Ling Centre, Bangalore, India

Recorded August 22, 2021

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All Things Life Series (Part 1 of 2)

Teachings for Choe Khor Sum Ling Centre, Bangalore, India

August 15, 2021

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Be Your Own Therapist Series

Be Your Own Therapist Series

Teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center, January 11, 2020

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Learn techniques to reframe situations and attitudes in order to increase physical and mental well being. Accessible, entry level class.

01:27:56 | 20 October 2021

Teachings for Tse Chen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Centre, San Francisco, USA.

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01:23:06 | 21 October 2021

Teachings for Tse Chen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Centre, San Francisco, USA.

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Be Your Own Therapist Series

00:54:08 | Oct 18, 2020

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Learn techniques to reframe situations and attitudes in order to increase physical and mental well being. Accessible, entry level class.

Teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center

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Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

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Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

Be Your Own Therapist Series

00:57:07 | Oct 11, 2020

YouTube

Learn techniques to reframe situations and attitudes in order to increase physical and mental well being. Accessible, entry level class.

Teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center

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Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

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Learn techniques to reframe situations and attitudes, in order to increase physical and mental well being. An accessible, entry-level, discussion-based class. Questions are most welcome.

54:23 | Teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. 

YouTube

Express Meditation series. Start the day with your mind pointed in positive direction. YouTube

30:49 | Teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. 

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Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

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Venerable uses a variety of metaphors to clarify one of the most perplexing phrases in all of Buddhism.

11:14 | Extracted from "Karma and Emptiness" teaching hosted by Maitripa College (Portland, Oregon, USA) Full teaching: YouTube

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Start the day with your mind pointed in positive direction.

30:35 | Teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. 

Start the day with your mind pointed in positive direction.

31:53 | Teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. 

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Start the day with your mind pointed in positive direction.

27:24 | Teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. 

Learn techniques to reframe situations and attitudes, in order to increase physical and mental well being.

57:54 | Teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. 

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Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

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At first, we don’t recognize any problem with negative habits, like harmful speech. We need to develop an awareness of how our actions can affect others. Then we can see how those actions create our own experience. 

9:14 | Extracted from "The Power of Speech" teachings on July 27, 2020 at Land of Medicine Buddha Soquel, CA. Full teaching: Audio Video

The Mahayana path targets our basic selfishness, or self-cherishing. Gradually, by understanding our interdependence, we can learn to put others first. 

13:57 | Extracted from "Courageous Compassion" teachings on Dec 9, 2020 at Gonpo Ludup Laguna Beach, CA. Full teaching: Audio Video

Calm Abiding, or concentration, is essential for understanding emptiness. For concentration, we need several special qualities operating together.

14:31 | Extracted from "The Six Perfections" teachings on Jan 31, 2021 at Thubten Kunga Ling. Full teaching: Audio Video

We need to counteract negative states of mind with effective purification practice. Purification starts with the four R’s: Regret, Reliance, Remedy and Resolve.

07:42 | Extracted from "Living With Uncertainty" teachings on Aug 15, 2020 at Langri Tangpa Buddhist Centre Brisbane. Full teaching: Video

We might have a belief about how happiness and suffering emanate from “out there.” We don’t recognize our own minds’ role in our own happiness and suffering. That’s being a “Samsara-ist.” 

11:57 | Extracted from "Samsara and Nirvana" teachings on Jan 12-17, 2021 at Shantideva Center - Brooklyn, New York. Full teaching: Video

To practice compassion we need to subdue habitual selfishness. First, we need to understand some Buddhist psychology about the sources of suffering. Then, with wisdom, we become a suitable vessel for various Bodhisattva practices.

18:22 | Extracted from "Cultivating Happiness" teachings on Sep 11, 2020 at Vajrayana Institute Sydney. Full teaching: Video

Misconceptions cause incredible suffering. We can correct these misconceptions through a path of inquiry to get to the root of the problem. This inquiry leads us to the topic of emptiness.

19:17 | Extracted from "Living With Uncertainty" teachings on Aug 15, 2020 at Langri Tangpa Buddhist Centre Brisbane. Full teaching: Video

Sometimes we stick our noses in when it is not appropriate. We think that’s compassion, but it’s just coming from your own attachment. Wisdom sometimes means you leave people alone, especially when they aren’t open to your help.

7:41 | Extracted from "Living With Uncertainty" teachings on Aug 8, 2020 at Langri Tangpa Buddhist Centre Brisbane. Full teaching: Audio

Here is a quick overview and some definitions that help us understand the different ways things exist.

9:35 | Extracted from "How to Discover Our True Nature" teaching hosted by Zopa Noble Park Buddhists (Melbourne, Australia) Full teaching: Audio.

Body and mind make up essential parts of being and they are interdependent. Disturbances of mental energy can affect the health of the body.

3:46 | Extracted from "How to Discover Our True Nature" teaching hosted by Zopa Noble Park Buddhists (Melbourne, Australia) Full teaching: Audio.

At first, we practice and study to address our own suffering. We accomplish that by analyzing our actions, words and thoughts. Look to see how attachment, anger and various mistaken views mess us up.   

13:37 | Extracted from "Be Your Own Therapist (Oct 18, 2020)" teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. Full teaching: Audio  Video.

Can Buddhist training help develop self-esteem, confidence and personal power?

4:16 | Extracted from "Be Your Own Therapist (Oct 11, 2020)" teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. Full teaching: Audio Video.

Is this what is sometimes called “Calm Abiding” meditation?

3:48 | Extracted from "Be Your Own Therapist (Oct 11, 2020)" teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. Full teaching: Audio Video.

A style of practice called Mahamudra meditation looks at the mind without getting caught up in thoughts. Ven. Robina describes the technique in introductory detail, dispelling misconceptions and elucidating its purpose.

40:21 | Extracted from "Be Your Own Therapist (10-11-2020)" teachings at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. Full teaching: Audio Video.

The Lam Rim, or "Gradual Path” teachings provide a reliable sequence of contemplations that help us clarify our intentions.

17:05 | Extracted from "Finding Freedom and Ultimate Happiness" teachings given Aug 3, 2019 at Ocean of Compassion (Gyalwa Gyatso) Buddhist Center. Full teaching here.

17:26 | Extracted from "Karma, Morality & Happiness" on Lawudo Trek 2019. Full teaching here.

The practice begins with a visualization, described in vivid detail. Next we add the sound of the mantra. Reflect that all beings want happiness equally. Additional stages of this visualization makes this practice a profound tool for transformation.

8:05 | Extracted from "Fireside Chat with Ven. Robina" at Jamyang Buddhist Centre London. Full teaching here.

Sensory consciousness and mental consciousnesses do different things. Unraveling them we see that the senses are rather limited. It is the mental consciousness that creates mental judgments and opinions.

6:58 | Extracted from "Buddhist Psychology Part 1 with Ven. Robina" on Lawudo Trek 2019. Full teaching here.

How can we learn to work with impermanence, or rapid change, which seems so difficult? Buddha taught that rapid change is normal. It is our clinging fear of change that actually causes our suffering.

12:55 | Extracted from "Fireside Chat with Ven. Robina" at Jamyang Buddhist Centre London. Full teaching here.

Our strong grasping that we exist independently, intrinsically from our own side, is actually completely mistaken. Ven. Robina breaks it down with precise definitions and relevant context.

10:23 | Extracted from "Subatomic (Dependent Arising is in the Details)" teachings given at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. Full teaching here.

Dependent Arising? Emptiness? Details? How do we utilize these concepts in our every day life?

11:43 | Extracted from "Subatomic (Dependent Arising is in the Details)" teachings given at Thubten Norbu Ling Buddhist Center. Full teaching here.

Buddhism looks at anger with real precision. Consider how the angry mind seethes. It drives you crazy with depression and frustration. It distorts the way everything appears.

09:08 | Extracted from "Taste of Buddhism - Be Your Own Therapist with Ven. Robina Courtin" teachings given at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies. Full teaching here.

All suffering comes from our non-virtues. So, the first level of practice is to work on my own actions, my body, speech and mind.

04:00 | Extracted from "Enlightenment and Peace Are They Possible" teaching given at Maitripa College April 18, 2020.  Full teaching here.

When it comes to activism, people think you need anger because it feels so noble. But anger exaggerates everything. It distorts complex situations. Anger makes you feel strong love this and strong hate for that. As an activist you would burn out very quickly. 

17:57| Extracted from "Activism and Empathy" teaching given at Maitripa College April 17, 2020. Full teaching here.

In the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha explained the inner workings of our own fear, anxiety and jealousy.

12:15 | Extracted from "Managing Your Mind in Difficult Times" teachings given at Maitripa College. Full teaching here.

When we develop this skill, we see what’s happening in the mind. A focused awareness, along with mindfulness and alertness, create a strong and stable mind.

16:20| Extracted from "Managing Your Mind in Difficult Times" teachings given at Maitripa College. Full teaching here.

We can counteract our negative attitudes. Rejoice in your good conditions and recognize the virtue in any situation. This drowns out the heavy delusions and their suffering.

6:05 | Extracted from "How To Approach Our Fear of Missing Out" teachings given at Buddhist Society of Western Australia. Full teaching here.

Let’s look at the mechanics behind the natural law of cause and effect: karma. Everything we think, do, or say, is the process of programming ourselves, sowing seeds that will produce our future experiences.

12:57 | Extracted from teachings given at Buddhist Society of Victoria on Aug 18, 2018. Full teaching here.

14:38 | Extracted from teachings given at Ocean of Compassion (Gyalwa Gyatso) Buddhist Center August 18, 2017. Full teaching here.

The Buddha taught in ancient India when many great masters developed various disciplines of mental awareness. As we practice awareness in meditation, we observe how the sensory consciousness and cognitive process unfolds to the inner experiencer. This opens up a deeper familiarity with the mind, thus allowing us to step out of our self-imposed mundane storyline and imagine different ways of being.

16:36 | Extracted from "Taste of Buddhism - Be Your Own Therapist with Ven. Robina Courtin" teachings given at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies. Full teaching here.

Everything that appears “out there” can be considered our own projection, or karmic appearance. That is, how we view the Covid-19 will largely depend on our attachments, our mental habits and expectations.

One practice that His Holiness the Dalai Lama recommends during this time of pandemic, is the Green Tara practice and mantra recitation.

12:22 | Extracted from “Buddhist perspective on how to think about the outbreak” teachings given at Jamyang Buddhist Centre London. Full teaching here.

One practice that His Holiness the Dalai Lama recommends during this time of pandemic, is the Green Tara practice and mantra recitation.

6:39 | Extracted from “Buddhist perspective on how to think about the outbreak” teachings given at Jamyang Buddhist Centre London. Full teaching here.

On the deepest level, attachment and ego-grasping make us miserable. They leave us wanting and craving approval from the outside world. We believe we are nothing unless someone notices us, talks to us, praises us, etc.

Look beneath one’s sadness and you might see some internalized anger projecting a broad feeling of hollow neediness. Look carefully at those dynamics and challenge these default thought patterns. Instead, consider your own, sublime potential. Identify with those amazing qualities and you are on the path!

9:24 | Extracted from "How To Approach Our Fear of Missing Out" teachings given at Buddhist Society of Western Australia. Full teaching here.

Mindfulness is merely the skill to place one’s attention without wavering. It is only one part of the whole package of skills we develop along the path. Buddhist psychology requires curiosity into thoughts, consciousness and the whole system of suffering and happiness. For that, we need to get the teachings on the mind. Then we can use mindfulness to verify those findings.

19:36 | Extracted from "How to love your problems January 2017" teachings given at Yeshe Norbu Mind Training Center. Full teaching here.

Following these instructions will purify how you relate to the world through your ability to speak. This brief ceremony protects us from creating an awful mess by saying fooling and harmful things. Practicing this profound aspect of Buddha’s perfect conduct imbues us with new abilities to always speak truthfully, skillfully and carefully.

12:16 | Extracted from "Deconstructing Emotions Retreat" teachings given at Thubten Norbu Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center January 29-31. Full teaching here.

Buddha taught this topic in a way that breaks through our usual attitudes about death. We have so much fear, regret and terror about death. We can overcome these by contemplating the certainty of death, that the time of death is uncertain and that at the time of death, nothing can be of benefit except for the imprints for ethical living.

11:28 | Extracted from "Deconstructing Emotions Retreat" teachings given at Thubten Norbu Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center January 29-31. Full teaching here.

When we are talking, joking and caring for each other, that’s love. We are interdependent beings and when we act within that worldview, our natural default is peace, love and compassion.  When we get irritated, however, a separate sense of an “I” stands out, and the “we” is split in half. This worldview contradicts the reality of interdependence and  results in conflict and despair.

3:53 | Extracted from "Deconstruction Emotions Retreat" teachings given at Thubten Norbu Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center January 29-31. Full teaching here.

By understanding emptiness - that there's nothing intrinsic in anything - we can slowly loosen the grip of ego-grasping and begin to develop our marvellous potential for clarity, contentment, love and the other qualities that Lord Buddha says are innate within us.

17:40 | Extracted from teachings given at Jamyang Buddhist Group

March 2017. Full teaching here.

To understand the whole purpose of Buddha’s teachings, we can learn and internalize the Four Noble Truths.  The Buddha challenges us to consider that suffering can indeed end.  The implications are huge.

17:32 | Extracted from teachings given at Chenrezig Institute, April 4, 2013. Full teaching here.

The Buddhist approach to anger is to understand these feelings in their widest context. We get angry when we don’t get what we want. So, first, we use patience, not in a passive-aggressive way, but to create some space and avoid acting out. We use that time to break down the causes for our own particular anger. New understanding can drain the power out of those toxic emotions.

24:43 | Full teaching here

There are special skills we develop on the path. Rather than focusing on the external world, we learn to pay attention to the internal landscapes of our mind. At first, it might seem these crazy thoughts are unworkable. But slowly, with skill and work, we learn how to see, and eventually change our minds.

23:01 | Full teaching here

There are subtle levels of cognition that help us understand who we are in vivid detail.  But we have to get familiar with what we mean by “mind,” or “mind stream.” Buddha says “mind” is an experienced result from previous moments going back in time. And he challenges us to explore the mind, to ascertain how our senses and thoughts create positive, negative, and neutral experiences, habits and propensities. This is a radical discovery. 

25:58 | Extracted from teachings given by Ven. Robina on the 2017 Lawudo Trek - Stillness Beyond Samsara, April 04, 2017. 

Full teaching here

The Buddhist path is primarily concerned with working with one’s own mind. Why? Because that’s the source of all our suffering.

2:44 | Extracted from "When the Chocolate Runs Out" teachings given at Ocean of Compassion (Gyalwa Gyatso) Buddhist Center, August 18, 2017. Full teaching here

On a deep level, we all have an intuitive craving or attachment. This frantic junkie mind gets reinforced with fear and hunger and drives us to suffering. We can learn to identify it and work with it over time to reduce it. This is the job of the Buddhist.

11:19 | Extracted from teachings given at Vajrayana Institute, September 22, 2017. Full teaching here.

“Know your own mind,” sums up the Buddhist view. Consider the Buddha’s view that the mind is the root cause for both pleasant and unpleasant emotions. We might not be able to change difficult external things, but we can change how we internally process things in the present. Rather than blame the outside world for our troubles, look at what we can change. That’s the Buddha’s cognitive therapy.

20:52| Extracted from teachings given at Vajrayana Institute, September 22, 2017. Full teaching here.

At the base of many disturbing emotions lies fear.  Just look at an angry person’s face.

We must learn the mechanics of these emotions – their causes and effects.

3:41| Extracted from teachings given at Vajrayana Institute, September 22, 2017. Full teaching here.

These steps lead through a counter-intuitive, courageous and altruistic state of mind. By contemplating these eight stanzas, we expand our capacity to understand a new perspective on suffering. We replace narrow selfishness with love for countless others.

20:16 | This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 7)

If you look honestly at your mind, you will see anger, irritation, or craving. These negative mental states are called disturbing emotions because they do just that, disturb our well-being and get in the way of real practice. How does Buddha address this?  He laid out four simple steps to purify negative karma. The four stages are Regret, Refuge, Remediation and Resolve. Take care of your own karma first, then you can open your potential for a much larger sense of compassion. 

23:39 | This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 6)

Attending to the little things throughout the day, we can be aware of our subtle mental disturbances. That way we can deal with things as they come up. We identify what they are, and we talk ourselves through it. We get used to working with adversity.  So when the big things come, we will suffer, but we won’t lose our direction.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 5)

Be careful about what you expect from meditation. It’s not a magic pill that will suddenly make you happy. We learn meditation to familiarize ourselves with our own minds. To clear out the trash. It takes exertion and diligence to learn proper stability meditation technique. 

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 4)

The Buddha asks us to take responsibility for our own situation. That’s tough when it comes to suffering. It’s easy to slip into a victim mentality, blaming everyone but ourselves. Rather, muster the courage to make our own decisions based on a solid understanding of reality, so you can increase your virtuous qualities. That’s what we learn in Junior School.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 4)

We feel a sense of entitlement about “deserving” happiness. But it’s more practical to look at our own craving and learn from it. Self-pity can impair our ability to access that information and use it to grow the true causes of happiness. 

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here (Session 3)

When we cultivate habits of awareness, we discover the causes of our deepest hurt.  The regular, worldly awareness mostly ruminates about the past and frets about the future. Check your own mind. These are the habits of ego-clinging, seeing yourself as distinctly separate from all others. However, awareness of the present reveals this impoverished and lonely “I” as a mere conceptualization, part of an interdependent and dynamic process, mostly created by habit.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Full teaching here.

Our deeply-ingrained mental habits help feed a profound sense of dissatisfaction. That’s what Buddha calls suffering, or samsara. This emotional hunger, or craving, we call attachment. When attachment doesn’t get what it wants, then we experience anger. If we break down the karmic steps in the situation, we can see how our mental precursors can be reversed.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Buddha observes a simple moral framework of non-harming. The way we relate to others really creates the kind of person we become. It shapes how we experience the future in very particular ways. If the mind is habituated or oriented toward morality, then disturbing emotions won’t arise. If it is habituated in non-virtue, then we suffer a great deal. Everything we experience is stored, ripens, and helps shape how we experience the present. Therefore, logically, I should sow the seeds of happiness, (benefit others), and avoid sowing the seeds of suffering, (harming others).

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Everything we experience and everything we become, stems from our previous actions. It’s not just random. There is some structure and consistency to the law of cause and effect. Check with your own experience. That’s karma.

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Let’s take a closer look at this mind that we can see directly with our own consciousness. In Buddhism, we work to understand what’s happening inside us. So, we calm down and learn what our senses do, how they interact with emotions and thoughts. We can see things playing out in the mind. We have loads of thoughts. They seem hidden because we are too distracted by the dramatic events in the outside world. Unraveling this tangle of what’s happening in the mind is called the beginning of “wisdom.” It’s when we free ourselves of all those exaggerated opinions.

This is the second part of a serious of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

The key reason we suffer are these neurotic emotions, which are based on a world view that is out-of-touch with reality. These misconceptions, according to Buddhist psychology, happen due to habitual projections. How does that happen? Consider that each moment of consciousness is made up from the moment before. Through the Buddhist teachings, we can develop some doubt about our projections. We can notice and examine our thoughts and emotions through stability meditation. All the Buddhist concepts come to the same thing – the mind is central. It is the beginning of suffering, and the beginning of happiness. So we need to work skillfully with the mind. 

This is part of a series of talks given at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Center in Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 5-7, 2019.

Exploring the nature of ‘self’ in India 2500 years ago led to techniques that access the more subtle levels of consciousness. These techniques were mapped out so we can develop our incredible potential.

12:48 | Extracted from teachings given at Jamyang Buddhist Group, March 2017.  Full teaching here.

We can develop a healthy sense of empowerment by considering karma in a personal way. Think about how everything in this moment actually depends on the moment before. All our experiences of the present are merely an accumulation of previous actions. Karma means action; and by that, we mean actions from body, speech and mind. Each individual literally creates their own experiences out of both habit and our intentions.

22:34 | Extracted from teachings given at Ocean of Compassion (Gyalwa Gyatso) Buddhist Center, Aug 19, 2017. Full teaching here.

A presentation from the Buddha for progressively more advanced topics. We must first practice addressing the obvious disturbances in the mind and learn about their causes and effects. As we gain understanding, we can do more advanced practices that uproot subtle obstacles.

7:02 | Extracted from teachings given at Jamyang Buddhist Group

March 2017. Full teaching here.

Trying to understand our own attachments can be brutal. We try to unpack the process of how attachments cause us suffering. We can learn the mind's subtle workings. For instance, attachment feeds off of low self-esteem like a vampire. This work isn’t about putting yourself down. It’s a matter of self-respect. Why should we trust in a junkie mind?

28:07 | Extracted from teachings given by Ven. Robina on the 2017 Lawudo Trek - Stillness Beyond Samsara, April 04, 2017. 

Full teaching here

Buddha presents a very direct, counter-intuitive way of addressing our own suffering. He asks us to look at how we cling to the ego when under pressure, thinking “It’s not my fault.” That closed-off attitude is what propels us into a spiral of blame, dissatisfaction and aching attachment. The irony is that if you let go of ego and the attachments and cravings cease. They are not an intrinsic part of your being and can be removed.

4:25 | Extracted from teachings given at Jamyang Buddhist Group, March 2017.  Full teachings here.

Buddha presents a practical, valid, intellectually consistent world view of emotions, thoughts and how we view the outside world. The teachings encourage a skeptical, courageous process of testing our presumptions. We came into this world with tendencies, conceptual imprints, habits and assumptions. This informs the way things appear to us. It is as H.H. Dalai Lama says, you are your own creator.  

Visualizing and meditating on Buddha Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion, as well as reciting his mantra, OM MANI PEME HUM, helps us reveal our own marvelous potential for empathy and love and thus our capacity to be of benefit to others.  

For more information about this practice, read Lama Yeshe’s "Becoming the Compassion Buddha", Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s "Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method of Chenrezig", or Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings from the "Mani Retreat."

13:37 | Extracted from "When the Chocolate Runs Out" teachings given at Ocean of Compassion (Gyalwa Gyatso) Buddhist Center, August 18, 2017. Full teaching here

When Attachment Does not Get What It Wants

5:14 | Extracted from teachings given by Ven. Robina on the 2017 Lawudo Trek - Stillness Beyond Samsara, April 04, 2017. 

Full teaching here

14:12 | Extracted from teachings given at Ocean of Compassion (Gyalwa Gyatso) Buddhist Center, Aug 19, 17. Full teaching here.

2:31| Extracted from teachings given at Jamyang Buddhist Group, Sept, 2017. Full teaching here.

15:21 | Extracted from teachings given at Ocean of Compassion (Gyalwa Gyatso) Buddhist Center, Aug 19, 2017. Full teaching here.

Robina lifts the lid on the stew that makes us who we are, our karma. She explains how karma works, and the implications of this are empowering.