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 May 2023
Compassion and Bodhicitta > Mind Training (lo-jong) > Transforming Problems
Rinpoche advised that the benefits of bodhicitta are limitless like the sky, in this letter sent to a student who was sick, hearing strange noises and experiencing pain and suffering.
Death and Transitions > Preparing Oneself for Death > Preparing for Death
This advice was given to a student who was in the hospital and was very sick with cancer. Rinpoche advised how to think at the time of death and how to experience sickness and death by taking the obstacles and suffering of others and giving away...
Sickness and Health > Addictions and Mental Illness > Anxiety and Panic Disorder
Rinpoche gave this advice to a student who was trying to control their anxiety, which seemed to be getting worse as they approached old age. The student, who was quite new to the Dharma, had also requested advice about life practices and their...
Buddhist Practices > Preliminary Practices > Completing the Preliminaries
A student wrote that they had finished all the preliminaries received from Rinpoche and asked if they needed to do more.
Sickness and Health > Digestive System > Stomach, Liver and Digestive Problems
Rinpoche advised the Thirty-five Buddhas and other practices for a student with Crohn’s Disease. The symptoms included inflammation of the small intestine, chronic pain, low-grade fevers, skin rashes, fatigue, etc. The student also felt stressed...
Sickness and Health > Brain and Nervous System > Insomnia / Sleep Disorders
For the past twenty years a student had been unable to sleep and had many obstacles to their breathing, as well as other health issues, tumors in neck, breasts, etc. Doctors couldn’t find a reason for the insomnia and breathing difficulties.
Holy Objects > Monasteries and Stupas > Stupas
Rinpoche advised that the curved banners adorning the top of a stupa are important and should not be omitted when the stupa is being constructed. Scribe: Ven. Holly, from an old enews.
Working for the Dharma > Advice to Dharma Centers > New Centers and Projects
Rinpoche advised these practices for an FPMT center that was struggling to find new premises. The students were no longer allowed to hold classes in their current place.
Advices posted during the month of April 2023
Negative Emotions > Delusions > Desire and Attachment
Rinpoche sent this long letter to a student who was overwhelmed by attachment. Rinpoche advised emptiness meditation and explained that long-lasting relationships are based on unconditional love and compassion, not samsaric desire.
Sickness and Health > Healing and Pacifying Illness > Practices for Protection and Healing
This advice was sent to a student who was experiencing a lot of health and financial problems.
Family and Relationships > Relationship Problems > Disharmony in the Family
Rinpoche gave this advice to a student was experiencing a lot of obstacles and disharmony within their family. Rinpoche emphasized the importance of generating bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment.
Working for the Dharma > Service and Support of the Dharma > Offering Service
This message was sent to a monk who had been offering service at the Dharma center for many years.
Path to Enlightenment (lamrim) > Guru Devotion > Confession to the Guru
A student confessed to criticizing Rinpoche and not following Rinpoche’s advice regarding bhikshuni ordination. She had tried to purify the negative karma by doing the Thirty-five Buddhas practice, and also by handwriting sutras and auspicious...
Path to Enlightenment (lamrim) > Guru Devotion > Advice on Guru Devotion
This message of thanks was given to all the people who prayed for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibet, as requested by Rinpoche in June 2018. Transcribed from video by Ven. Joan Nicell. Lightly edited by Sandra Smith.
Contemporary Issues > Financial Difficulties > Practices for Financial Problems
Rinpoche gave this advice to a student who wrote that after buying a new property, they had some obstacles with money and with the building department.
Sickness and Health > Musculoskeletal Disorders > Back, Leg and Joint Conditions
Rinpoche advised these practices for a student who had major health concerns and was dependent on heavy medication. The student was in severe and constant pain, with limited ability to move or walk.
Buddhist Practices > Purification Practices > Practices to Purify Negative Karma
A student wrote that they had chronic obstacles in their life. Rinpoche advised these practices to purify the karma.
Sickness and Health > Cancer > Various Cancers
A student had skin cancer on their face that had spread under the skin and asked Rinpoche for any specific practices that could help prevent further spread. Rinpoche checked and advised the following.
Advices posted during the month of March 2023
Sickness and Health > Addictions and Mental Illness > Anxiety and Panic Disorder
Rinpoche gave this advice to a student who had developed severe anxiety, with a high heart rate and panic, nerve pain, insomnia and shortness of breath. The student had been unwell for three years and wrote that the symptoms arose after smoking...
Holy Objects > Advice on Holy Objects > Tsa-tsas
Rinpoche dictated this advice on making tsa tsas and requested that it be made available to all who do this practice.
Emptiness > Advice on Emptiness Practice > Emptiness Meditation
A student asked Rinpoche what practice they should do and for how long, in order to purify negativities on their mind stream. Rinpoche advised the importance of bodhicitta and said emptiness meditation is unbelievable purification.
Family and Relationships > Parenting > Parenting Problems
A student wrote that they often felt extreme levels of rage and anger and their children were now copying that behavior. The student confessed they hadn’t kept their commitments or maintained daily practice, but they...
Sutras, Mantras and Root Texts > Mantras > Mantra Recitations
Rinpoche advised that if we recite one thousand or more Chenrezig mantras (Manis) every day, anything that touches our body, like wind or water, can purify the past negative karma of numberless sentient beings. Rinpoche also said that after...
Sickness and Health > Brain and Nervous System > Neurological Disorders
This advice was given to a student who had severe health problems, with pain in the spine and nerves.
Sickness and Health > General Illnesses > Various Illnesses
Rinpoche gave this advice to a student who wrote about a lack of energy and weakened immune system.
