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 October 2023
Working for the Dharma > Service and Support of the Dharma > Generosity and Charitable Projects
A tribute to E. Gene Smith, a respected scholar who worked tirelessly throughout his life to preserve and disseminate the Tibetan Buddhist canon. He was responsible for saving thousands of rare and important texts and making them accessible...
Holy Objects > Monasteries and Stupas > Stupas
In this letter to a group of Russian students, Rinpoche advises how to circumambulate holy objects with body, speech and mind.
Buddhist Practices > Purification Practices > Practices to Purify Negative Karma
This advice was sent to a student who wrote to confess some negative actions at their local center.
Contemporary Issues > Practices for Success > Prayers and Mantras for Success
This letter was sent to a student experiencing many obstacles. Rinpoche had previously suggested becoming ordained.
Sickness and Health > Musculoskeletal Disorders > Back, Leg and Joint Conditions
A student requested a prayer or practice to help relieve their spinal pain. They had spinal stenosis as a result of vertebral disc degeneration.
Contemporary Issues > Natural Disasters > Fires
A fortune teller had predicted many imminent disasters related to fire in that year (2016). Rinpoche checked and advised these practices.
Working for the Dharma > Service and Support of the Dharma > Rinpoche's Thank-you Cards, Letters and Gifts
Rinpoche sent this card to a center director, thanking them for benefiting the center and sentient beings.
Sickness and Health > Addictions and Mental Illness > Bipolar Disorder
A student with bipolar disorder asked Rinpoche for advice on practices that could help.
Buddhist Practices > General Practice Advice > General Practice Advice from Rinpoche
Rinpoche gave this advice about practicing at the correct time during lunar and solar eclipses.
Advices posted during the month of September 2023
Sickness and Health > Brain and Nervous System > Paralysis and Stroke
A student who had translated Rinpoche’s teachings and books was having health problems, including issues with their eyesight and possible paralysis on one side of the body. In this long letter, Rinpoche explains how to transform problems by...
Path to Enlightenment (lamrim) > Lamrim Study and Practice > The Path to Enlightenment
A student wrote that their goal was to attain lamrim realizations and to focus on calm abiding and mahamudra. The student asked Rinpoche if it would be best to retire soon so they would have more time for retreat and practice.
Sickness and Health > Cancer > Various Cancers
A student had been diagnosed with cancer at the base of their tongue and was undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment. The student asked if Rinpoche could recommend prayers and mantras which would be beneficial at that time.
Contemporary Issues > Dharma in Daily Life > Understanding the Suffering of Samsara
Rinpoche wrote this message in a visitor’s book after seeing a human body exhibition in New York in 2009.
Buddhist Practices > Tantra and Deity Practice > Tsog Offering
A student asked Rinpoche about doing a six-month calm abiding (Tib: zhinä; Skt: shamatha) retreat. Rinpoche suggested 100,000 Lama Chöpa tsog offerings, to purify and collect merit.
Meditation and Retreat Advice > Retreats > Retreat Advice
Rinpoche sent this letter to a student who asked for advice on what retreat they should do.
Buddhist Practices > General Practice Advice > General Practice Advice from Rinpoche
Rinpoche sent this card to a student who wrote that they were enjoying their Dharma practice.
Family and Relationships > Having a Baby > Abortion
This advice was given to a student who had an abortion and asked what she needed to do to purify the karma.
Holy Objects > Making Offerings > Offering Practices
In this advice, given to a student who had a stupa at their home, Rinpoche advised how to circumambulate holy objects and how to offer music. Rinpoche explained the motivation, the benefits, the actual practice and how to dedicate the merits.
Sickness and Health > General Illnesses > Eye Conditions
A student wrote that they were slowly losing their eyesight and may eventually become blind. Rinpoche told this story about visiting Cherok Lama's previous incarnation for lunch. Rinpoche also advised the student to recite the middle-length...
Sickness and Health > Musculoskeletal Disorders > Back, Leg and Joint Conditions
A student had cervical herniated discs in the C5–C6 and C6–C7 vertebrae in their neck, which compressed the nerves and spinal cord and caused numbness in their fingers. They also had cervical stenosis due to disc and bone degeneration.
Advices posted during the month of August 2023
Sickness and Health > Infectious Diseases > Various Infections
A student had several types of fungal and bacterial infections, as well as cognitive problems including short-term memory loss, foggy-mindedness, fatigue and depression. The student asked for advice about treatment and how to move forward and be...
Sickness and Health > General Illnesses > Skin Disorders
Rinpoche advised these pujas and practices for a student who had severe eczema that would not heal or respond to traditional treatment, despite doctors trying to manage the condition for the past ten years. The student was bedridden for weeks at...
Buddhist Practices > Advice for New Students > Advice for New Students
One night at Boudhanath Stupa, Rinpoche met two young men who were studying at a gompa in Nepal. They asked Rinpoche which of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism is best to follow. The four main schools are Nyingma, Kagyü, Sakya and Gelug.
Contemporary Issues > Dharma in Daily Life > A Meaningful Life
A student had done a meditation course and retreats at Kopan and felt very connected to Dharma at first, but later moved with his partner and young child back to the city, where there were many distractions. He felt confused, irritated, sad and...
Sickness and Health > General Illnesses > Various Illnesses
A thirteen-year-old student wrote that she would like to become a nun when she turned eighteen. She had cystic fibrosis and prayed every day. She asked Rinpoche what else she could do.
