View and Search Online Advice Book
Below is a listing of advices in the Online Advice Book. They are sorted and grouped by the date posted on our website, with the most recent additions showing first. You can enter a keyword to search for advices containing that term.
Advices posted during the month of September 2020
Death and Transitions > Preparing Oneself for Death > Preparing for Death
Rinpoche sent this message to a student with atrial fibrillation who was being taken to hospital. The student thought they may not live as their heartbeat was extremely fast. Note: the student did survive.
Compassion and Bodhicitta > Bodhicitta > Advice on Developing Bodhicitta
Rinpoche sent a Tara prayer to a student and added this motivation.
Working for the Dharma > Serving as Center Director > Advice to Center Directors
A center director wrote he had dreamt of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In the dream Rinpoche was advising that students could find eight days for taking the eight Mahayana precepts and on those days they could recite the Sutra of Golden Light and...
Meditation and Retreat Advice > Retreats > Retreat Advice
A student wrote to Rinpoche about the practices they were doing in retreat. Rinpoche gave this advice.
Sickness and Health > Transforming Pain and Illness > Transforming Pain
Rinpoche sent this letter to an old student who had a debilitating illness and was in incredible pain.
Path to Enlightenment (lam-rim) > Karma > Purifying Negative Karma
A student wrote that he suffered from delusions which were now controlled by medication and meditation. The student’s relationship with his parents had previously broken down and due to his mental illness he had become violent and harmed his...
Holy Objects > Monasteries and Stupas > Stupas
Rinpoche sent this message regarding a tree which was to be planted near a Lama Yeshe stupa at the Dharma center.
Path to Enlightenment (lam-rim) > Guru Devotion > Offering Service to the Guru
A student wrote that he hadn’t started a Vajrasattva retreat because he had been serving the center and didn’t yet have the time. Rinpoche had advised him to do the retreat some time ago.
Advices posted during the month of August 2020
Sickness and Health > Operations > Deciding Whether to Have Surgery
A student asked Rinpoche whether it was beneficial to have a hip operation.
Path to Enlightenment (lam-rim) > Karma > Understanding Karma
A student wrote to Rinpoche about his relationship problems. He had been in a number of relationships that had all ended badly and he had become depressed. He was still looking for true love but didn’t want to get hurt again. Rinpoche responded...
Negative Emotions > Delusions > Anger
A student wrote that her husband was angry, abusive and sometimes violent. Rinpoche gave this advice.
Benefiting Animals > Practices to Benefit Animals > Animal Liberation
Some students who worked in Bodhgaya were trying to stop people from buying caged birds for release as they would be recaptured and traded again. The students wrote to Rinpoche after seeing him bless some caged birds that he had bought there.
Buddhist Practices > Tantra and Deity Practice > Tsog Offering
A student had received teachings and a Vajrasattva initiation from Rinpoche but had subsequently stopped practicing Vajrayana and guru yoga. Later, while in retreat, the student said they felt a direct connection to Padmasambhava and received a...
Buddhist Practices > Practicing in Prison > Meditation and Practice in Prison
Rinpoche sent this letter to a prisoner who asked for advice on how to think while incarcerated.
Sickness and Health > Cancer > Various Cancers
Rinpoche recommended Tibetan medicine for a student with lung cancer.
Meditation and Retreat Advice > Retreats > Long Retreat
This letter was sent to a student who had been in retreat for several years and had written to Rinpoche about the practices he had done in retreat. The student, when asked, had told Rinpoche he would choose to be born in a suffering realm instead...
Contemporary Issues > Politics and Conflict > Advice and Practices for Various Countries
Rinpoche gave this advice regarding practices to be done by FPMT centers to help the situation in Tibet and to fulfill the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The advice was given on Saka Dawa, a holy day which commemorates the Buddha’s birth...
Negative Emotions > Depression > Advice on Depression
A student wrote that following the death of a close relative they had become very depressed and unwell. Symptoms included weight loss, lethargy and low functioning. Rinpoche offered this advice about experiencing sickness for sentient beings.
Advices posted during the month of July 2020
Sutras, Mantras and Root Texts > Sutras and Sutra Commentaries > Diamond Cutter Sutra
Rinpoche gave this advice to a student who asked what could be done to remove obstacles for their family.
Sickness and Health > Cardiovascular and Respiratory > Cardiovascular Disease
Rinpoche gave this advice on the benefits of tonglen practice to a student who was very sick with heart disease. [Please note: Do not disregard medical advice from your health care professional or delay seeking it because of...
Buddhist Practices > Vows and Commitments > Taking Vows
Rinpoche gave this advice to a center that was asking students to take the eight Mahayana precepts on the merit multiplying days (the Fifteen Days of Miracles, Saka Dawa, Lhabab Duchen and Chokhor Duchen) specifically to prevent earthquakes.
Sickness and Health > Cancer > Practice Advice for Cancer
This advice about tonglen practice was given to a student with prostate cancer.
Negative Emotions > Delusions > Desire and Attachment
Rinpoche sent this message about the shortcomings of attachment to one student. Rinpoche wrote this himself.
Buddhist Practices > Tantra and Deity Practice > Deity Practices for Health and Healing
Rinpoche gave this advice about White Tara practice to a student who asked if life obstacles had been removed after following previous advice.
Buddhist Practices > Tantra and Deity Practice > Deity Practices for Health and Healing
A student asked Rinpoche what they could do to help a friend and her new baby, who were both sick.
