Practices for Life

Practices for Life

Life Practices for Retiree
Date of Advice:
January 2022
Date Posted:
March 2025

Rinpoche advised lamrim study and practice, along with several preliminaries, including tsa tsas, for a student who had retired.

My most dear, most precious, most kind, wish-fulfilling one,
According to my observation the lamrim text for you to study is the Lamrim Chenmo.

Buddha taught 84,000 teachings and these come into three: the Lesser Vehicle path, the Greater Vehicle path of sutra, and the Greater Vehicle path of tantra. All these are embodied into the lamrim, the graduated path to enlightenment, and that comes in three levels: the graduated path of the lower capable being in general, the graduated path of the middle capable being in general and the graduated path of the higher capable being. These are embodied in the three principal aspects of the path to enlightenment.

Lama Tsongkhapa gave teachings on that, so it’s extremely important to learn and to understand the commentary very clearly. There are also many other great enlightened beings who explained the lamrim, the graduated path to enlightenment, according to their experience.

Lama Tsongkhapa wrote the Lamrim Chenmo, not so much about the preliminary practices, but more [to explain] what the mistakes were of the practitioners of different traditions or sects. He elaborated on the mistakes they made and he gave a very clear explanation of shi nä, calm abiding, and emptiness, and all the conduct. In the Lamrim Chenmo he negated all the wrong views and he explained the philosophy of the Middle Way school. He gave a very clear explanation of the Prasangika Madhyamaka, the second division of the Middle Way school.

There’s also the Middle-Length Lamrim by Lama Tsongkhapa. It doesn’t have all the debate about emptiness, but the very essence is there. Then there’s a very short lamrim, the Hymn of Experience of the Path to Enlightenment. There’s also a commentary written by the Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso, called Essence of Refined Gold.

Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand has clear elaborations on the preliminaries; that text is small and simplified in terms of the lamrim. You can find it useful, because many subjects are there, especially the preliminaries.

You should carry your main text with you wherever you go, just as the ascetic lamas and monks did. Those ascetic ones carried their texts everywhere. So like that, study and practice.

So you must have Geshe Sopa’s five volumes of lamrim commentary, the Lamrim Chenmo. It’s unbelievably clear and many Chinese cry when reading this commentary. I would like to give you this set. Ven. Roger will check if you want a physical set or a digital version; please let him know, so it can be organized. 

Read it three times or at least twice, from beginning to end, but best is three times from beginning to end. Any new words you can write in a new book, copy into that, then you can ask a Western student who has studied well, who knows Dharma well, otherwise you’ll get the wrong understanding. Or, you can ask a geshe who has a very good translator, otherwise again, you can get wrong ideas if you don’t have a good translator. Maybe it’s good to ask Geshe Namdak; you can ask him questions.

In terms of effortful meditation, you can do the following:

  • Three months on guru devotion, covering the outline. When you have finished, go over it again and again, in order to get the realization that the guru is a buddha. Use all of the outline to have several realizations of that. It’s important to know how to follow the guru’s wishes and advice.
  • Three months on the graduated path of the lower capable being in general.
  • Three months on the graduated path of the middle capable being in general.
  • Nine months on bodhicitta. There are two techniques. You can spend three weeks on all sentient beings having been our mother, the seven points of cause and effect instruction. Then for the next three weeks, meditate on the extensive kindness of mother sentient beings, and exchanging oneself for others by realizing the shortcomings of cherishing I and the benefits of cherishing others—the limitless shortcomings of the self-cherishing thought and the limitless benefits of cherishing others.

You can do the above for that many months, and then spend two months on emptiness.

Do this three times, going around the outline, then do the effortless meditation. 

Lama Tsongkhapa asked Manjushri, “What is the quick way to achieve the graduated path to enlightenment?” Manjushri answered, “The quick way is to purify the negative karma and obscurations, and collect the necessary conditions for realization.”

[To purify] the obstacles to achieving realization, he mentioned purification practices such as Vajrasattva and so forth. And to collect merit, the necessary conditions, by offering mandalas and so forth. Then, with one-pointed mind, requesting the guru.

To elaborate on that, it’s done with great guru devotion mind, with all the effort, no matter how many weeks, months, years or lifetimes it takes. With all the effort, as much as possible from your side, try to see the guru as a buddha, then as a result, you will see the Buddha, so with that mind make a one-pointed request.

Then the next one is the actual meditation, training the mind in the path to enlightenment. So we need to purify and collect merits, and then we make a one-pointed request to the guru. These things are what is needed. The meditation on the path to enlightenment—that’s the actual body, and we must have that in mind all the time. That’s Manjushri’s answer.

The preliminary practices, what I am going to give you here, are to purify the defilements, negative karma and obstacles; to collect extensive merits, the necessary conditions; to develop guru devotion; and to increase the merits.

So these are the preliminaries for you:

  • Vajrasattva: 300,000. You can do some mantras in retreat with more sessions, and you can do some more loosely—either two sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening, or one session if you are working, that’s the light way. Then in this way you can finish them easily. [You can find The Preliminary Practice of Vajrasattva in the FPMT Catalogue.]  
  • Dorje Khadro: 110,000. You can get a statue of Dorje Khadro in Nepal. The fire goes below and then you offer black sesame seeds into the [visualized] holy mouth. You can get the lung and commentary for this. It’s a very powerful purification practice and is one of Lama Tsongkhapa’s golden teachings.
  • Tsa tsas: 10,000, shared between the stupa and Maitreya Buddha, a fifty-story Maitreya Buddha tsa tsa.

There’s a very, very nice small tsa tsa from America. I don’t know the name of the company, but we have it in Aptos, so Holly can send it to you. The Tibetan way is to take very fine earth from the mountain and use it to make blessed pills and tsa tsas. In the West, you can buy well-made earth mixed with water, making a kind of dough, then the block goes on top of that, and you print in that way. But in the West many tsa tsas are made from plaster. There are different qualities—cheap, middle and best.

If you’re making a lot of tsa tsas, you will need many molds, maybe ten, fifteen, twenty or twenty-five. You can fill them up all at once with plaster, then they dry after a few minutes and in that way you can finish them very quickly.

In Australia, I made tsa tsas during my retreat. The way I did it was by mixing the best quality with the cheapest one, and then it was better. Otherwise, using only the cheap quality, they break so easily.

As I’m sure you do, besides the meditation, when eating food, when going to the toilet, or when walking, sitting, talking, sleeping, whatever it is, do everything with bodhicitta as much as possible.

Also there’s emptiness—not only studying and learning and leaving it in the book, not only that, but you have to realize that you are empty and all the rest of the things [are empty], so you have to live like that.

You are most welcome, my dear, to enlightenment, as quickly as possible, to become free from samsara. You can say goodbye to all the oceans of samsaric suffering by practicing lamrim. Just like an apple a day, then “goodbye doctor.” That’s it.

For your deity, there’s Vajrayogini and also Secret Hayagriva, not Most Secret Hayagriva. These came out as your deity. I haven’t done Secret Hayagriva retreat, so maybe I can [give] Vajrayogini initiation if you haven’t received it. That is easier. Secret Hayagriva I haven’t done, but of course, if you wish, you can take the initiation from other lamas, or maybe from the Nepalese cooks in the main kitchen at Kopan, you can take it from them.

Thank you very much. I don’t know if you have received Vajrayogini already or not; maybe not. Thank you, numberless thanks for your wellbeing, just [for] yourself, how you are. I rejoice like the sky. Thank you very much.

With much love and prayers ...

Essential Life Practices and Ordination Advice
Date of Advice:
July 2021
Date Posted:
January 2025

Rinpoche gave this advice to a student who had requested life practices. The student was studying Lamrim Chenmo and was planning to take ordination.

My most dear, most precious, most kind, wish-fulfilling one, 
Thank you very, very much, a million, zillion times, for studying Lamrim Chenmo. It’s the most worthwhile Dharma subject that you’re studying, for you and for all sentient beings—for every ant, every mosquito, every snake, every elephant, every snail, every turtle, every sloth animal, every alligator, every crocodile, every scorpion, every pigeon, and all those people you don’t like, and those animals, those pitiful suffering sentient beings who have incredible suffering. So it’s for everyone, not only for you, but for everyone who is important, like you. It will bring happiness for them and free them from suffering, just like yourself. 

So now, according to my observation, the Middle-Length Lamrim is your main meditation text. Of course, you can read Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand and other lamrim texts, and then something that is beneficial for your mind which is not particularly expressed in the Middle-Length Lamrim, you can bring it there; you can integrate it there. 

The whole idea of meditating, reading, studying Dharma, all the essence is to actualize the lamrim path, the path to enlightenment, so that you can achieve enlightenment quicker, and then you can free the sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering quicker, and bring them to enlightenment quicker. That should be your main goal or aim, your purpose in life. Thank you very much. 

You have already read the commentary before, so you know how to expand it and how to meditate. Study the text three times from beginning to end, reading it mindfully, so that it becomes a meditation. 

Read my advice on how to do effortful lamrim meditation. After going through the lamrim outline one time, then do effortless meditation. 

In terms of your deity, there’s Yamantaka, Heruka, Secret Hayagriva, Vajrakilaya and Secret Vajrapani. I think from those, maybe practice Heruka. If you want to, on the basis of that, you can take initiations for those other deities that I’ve mentioned. But mainly just do Heruka or Secret Vajrapani, whichever deity you feel closer to and stronger [connection with]. You can decide that. 

For the preliminaries, according to my observation:

Refuge practice: 101,000.

Tonglen, for developing bodhicitta: 130,000. When you do tonglen one time—one time giving and one time taking, separating the sentient beings from suffering—each time, you collect the highest, most extensive merit, and you do the biggest purification. So, it makes your life the best, best Dharma practice. 

Even if you die with that, it’s so worthwhile, it’s the best way to die. As His Holiness often says, the best way to die is to die with bodhicitta.

Not only that—the best way to die is to die with bodhicitta—not only that, but everything that you do, do it with bodhicitta as much as possible, so then everything becomes a cause of enlightenment, and you cause everyone to achieve enlightenment. That’s the best way to benefit your parents, who have been most kind among those ordinary sentient beings.

Do at least five nyung näs every year, and if you can, do more. Every year do as many as you can. That is the one best thing for you; it came out according to my observation. By doing one nyung nä well, you purify negative karma and you get reborn in the pure land when you die. Then you stop rebirth in the lower realms and so forth. So this is a quick way to be free from samsara. 

Of course, to be a monk is the best life, yes, and a monk with lamrim practice, that’s one of the tops. It’s like the ice cream and then you get a cherry on top, like that. So it’s very, very good. 

So go in that way, direct your life in that way, it’s very good, then you can take ordination. Thank you very, very much. Thank you so much.

It’s mentioned in the meditation instructions to live your life as much as possible with bodhicitta for sentient beings: eat for sentient beings, drink for sentient beings, sleep for sentient beings, meditate for sentient beings, study for sentient beings, go to the toilet for sentient beings, anything. 

Thank you very, very, very much.

With much love and prayers ...

Effortful Lamrim Meditation and Preliminary Practices
Date of Advice:
September 2021
Date Posted:
December 2024

Rinpoche gave this life practice advice to a student. 

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling daughter,
In essence, these are your life practices. Your main deity is Heruka body mandala deity practice.

The main lamrim text for your study and practice is Lama Tsongkhapa’s Middle-Length Lamrim. Read this mindfully so that it becomes a meditation. Read it five or six times.

Then you need to practice effortful meditation by following the lamrim outline. Meditate for eleven months on correctly following the virtuous friend; five months on the graduated path of the lower capable being and three months on the graduated path of the middle capable being.

Spend three months on bodhicitta, dividing this into three sections, week-by-week, if that is suitable. Meditate on the extensive kindness exchanging self and others, and then the seven point cause-and-effect instruction. The third division is receiving the protection and happiness of having a house, clothing and food, and that we have freedom because of that. Remember the numberless sentient beings who died, were killed or created negative karma, and the evolution of each aspect, for example, for one plate of vegetables, one grain of rice, one piece of clothing, and even the foundation for the house. Think how beings are involved, how they suffer and create negative karma for our protection, happiness and freedom. Then do effortful meditation for one month on emptiness.

Repeat this cycle three times. [Read more here about effortful lamrim meditation.] For these lamrim meditations you can use the outlines from the Middle-Length Lamrim or The Essential Nectar. After having studied, you can read different commentaries, and from that, integrate that knowledge into your practice. So you cycle through the effortful practice three times.

Regarding the preliminaries:

What makes your life most meaningful is meditation on the lamrim, and to live your life with bodhicitta motivation. This is the best.

With much love and prayers ...

Lifetime Practices: Lamrim, Medicine Buddha and Chenrezig Mantra
Date of Advice:
September 2021
Date Posted:
May 2024

A student requested lifetime practices and asked Rinpoche to be their teacher, to help and guide them. The student wrote that after befriending a Buddhist nun, they had rediscovered their interest in Tibetan Buddhism and had connected with books by Lama Yeshe and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They enjoyed caring for wounded and abandoned animals and described how the Medicine Buddha mantra had helped their sick dog recover miraculously. Their aspiration was to purify their negative karma and become a buddha to benefit all sentient beings.

My most dear, most kind, most precious, wish-fulfilling one,
Just as you helped the dog by reciting the Medicine Buddha mantra, you should continue this healing for people and animals. With full faith, you can totally leave it in the hands of Medicine Buddha. 

I remember at Root Institute in India, when I was there to give teachings, on the road outside the building there were some people from Singapore, and one person had some danger that they would go to prison or some other threat. When they asked me to help, I left it in the hands of Medicine Buddha, then in the next day or so that person was freed.

Anyway, you should continue with Medicine Buddha practice every day, reciting the names seven times. The short version of this is the Medicine Buddha Sadhana and there’s another practice, the middle-length Medicine Buddha puja, called The Wish-fulfilling Jewel. At the centers they do this. We also have the most extensive one, which is most inspiring. The dedication is done for every sentient being; it’s so good. [You can find links to these practices in the FPMT Catalogue.]

There’s also a new Medicine Buddha practice that I wrote, for daily practice. You could also do that. It has so much power to help others and to purify us, to purify our negative karma and obscurations collected from beginningless time, but most importantly, it brings the success of all our wishes. Don’t think it’s only for healing—no, it’s for success and it’s very powerful.

Medicine Buddha is from sutra. The more time passes and becomes more degenerate, then Medicine Buddha is more powerful for bringing success. And from the tantra side, Heruka is more powerful for bringing success, according to Pabongkha Dechen Nyingpo, who is Heruka.

I’m not a qualified guru, but I can try to do what I can to be your teacher. It’s very good that you met the nun, as she’s helping many people in Sri Lanka with the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, and also maybe with Medicine Buddha practice.

Below are your lifetime practices. A main lamrim text for you to study, according to my observation, is Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. Buddha taught the 84,000 teachings, which are condensed into three: the Lesser Vehicle path, the Greater Vehicle path of sutra and the Greater Vehicle path of tantra. These are all embodied in the lamrim.

In Tibet, when Buddhism was so degenerated, there were many misconceptions about tantra, and at that time Lama Atisha was invited to revive Buddhism. After Lama Atisha heard about all the problems there he wrote the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. So the lamrim, the graduated path to enlightenment, started from that time. It canceled all the wrong concepts about the practice of holy Dharma, all the misconceptions about tantra, about both the Lesser Vehicle and Greater Vehicle sutra and tantra. All these are for our graduated practice to achieve enlightenment, our enlightenment.

There are many commentaries on Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand and on the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment. For example, Lama Tsongkhapa wrote The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Lamrim Chenmo), the Middle-Length Lamrim, and the very short Hymn of Experience. Then there’s the shortest one, Three Principal Aspects of the Path. I’m just talking here about Lama Tsongkhapa.

The main thing is that the essence of all Dharma is contained inside [these lamrim texts.] For you, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand becomes your main text, and you should study this four times from beginning to end, reading it mindfully so that it becomes a meditation.

The whole aim is to actualize the lamrim path that will lead you to enlightenment in order to free the numberless sentient beings from samsara, for you to actualize the path and bring them to enlightenment.

Your main deity practice according to my observation is Kalachakra, Secret Vajrapani and Most Secret Hayagriva. For you, Most Secret Hayagriva comes out as the main deity, but you can take those other initiations when the time and opportunity comes, and then do retreat and become closer to enlightenment.

Please read my advice on why we should practice Highest Yoga Tantra, remembering that the whole point is to lead sentient beings to enlightenment as quickly as possible. To free them from samsara and lead them to enlightenment as quickly as possible is the main point, the ultimate point, the ultimate aim.

In terms of effortful practice, please follow the lamrim outline. Read my advice on how to meditate on correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, then meditate on the graduated path of the lower capable being and middle capable being. Spend two months on bodhicitta, breaking it up into weeks. In the first week, meditate on the extensive, most precious kindness of sentient beings, equalizing and exchanging oneself and others. In the second week, meditate on the seven points of Mahayana cause and effect.

All our happiness, the protection of our body, our comfort, having a house, all comes from the kindness of sentient beings, who have suffered or died, and created negative karma for us. All the happiness of eating food, having this comfort, and even surviving each hour, minute and second is due to the kindness of those numberless sentient beings who suffered, who created negative karma for us. Humans created negative karma; they harmed or killed others, all that.

For our clothes, our dresses, besides the skins and animal products, numberless sentient beings died, were killed, and people created negative karma. All our happiness is received by the sentient beings’ kindness. So that’s the third week. 

After that, spend three months on emptiness to complete the cycle one time. Then do effortless meditation.

In terms of preliminaries:

  • Four immeasurable thoughts: 80,000.
  • Most Secret Hayagriva tsa tsas: 30,000. The tsa tsa is what you print, the deity or buddha figure, that’s what a tsa tsa is. At Nalanda Monastery they might have one small, very nice one made by Peter.
  • Prostrations by reciting the names of the Thirty-five Buddhas: 600,000. This is an extremely powerful purification of Lama Tsongkhapa, who did so many hundreds of thousands of prostrations while reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas. So many rainfalls of realizations came after reciting that.

Prostrations while reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas is Lama Tsongkhapa’s lineage, and the lineage lamas regarded it as great protection, and because of that, they did so many each day, hundreds. Many practitioners do five hundred, a thousand or any number, and not just as a preliminary practice, but for purification. In everyday life when you have time it’s extremely good to do this, so aim to do like this, then your life becomes so beneficial for sentient beings, not only for yourself. Of course, it should be done with bodhicitta to benefit every sentient being, to free them from samsara and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. To free sentient beings from samsara means to free them from samsaric sufferings.

  • Mandala offerings: 110,000. This is a way of collecting extensive merits with each mandala. The offering of each mandala helps you to have quick realizations, for quick enlightenment in order to help the sentient beings.
  • Recite OM MANI PADME HUM. This should be one of your main practices. You can recite the mantra even when you’re walking or jogging, doing it as the Tibetans do. In Solu Khumbu, where I was born, they recite the mantra while turning a prayer wheel in one hand as they go to different places.

Reciting OM MANI PADME HUM is so good for us. Then all the heavy negative karmas collected from beginningless lifetimes are purified and we collect extensive merit. Even without bodhicitta, even if we recite the mantra one time, it purifies the heavy negative karmas of killing a human being, lying, telling lies about realizations that we don’t have, stealing things from others, and sexual misconduct. So those things are purified. Even by reciting the mantra one time our negative karma is purified.

  • Reciting OM MANI PADME HUM one time purifies the four defeats of a fully ordained monk and the five heavy negative karmas without break.
  • Reciting OM MANI PADME HUM seven times purifies 100 eons of negative karma.
  • Reciting OM MANI PADME HUM twenty-one times purifies 1,000 eons of negative karma.
  • Reciting OM MANI PADME HUM 108 times (one mala) purifies 40,000 eons of negative karma.

Reciting the mantra in an animal’s ears causes them to not be reborn in the lower realms. Also, reciting the mantra helps us to develop compassion, particularly for the sentient beings. Regarding the merit, even without bodhicitta, we collect merit more than the atoms, the sand grains in the Pacific Ocean, more than the grass on the mountains, more than the drops of water in the ocean. It’s unbelievable. The merit is like the sky.

Of course, with bodhicitta we collect unbelievable, unbelievable merit. Specifically, we generate compassion for all the sentient beings, so the stronger the compassion that is generated, the quicker we achieve enlightenment. Relying on compassion is so important in order for the sentient beings to achieve enlightenment.

Each year do nyung nä, whatever you can. By joining a group, you can learn how to do the practice, then you can do it by yourself, and with that knowledge you can also lead others, guide others.

Thank you very much for your great energy. I’m so happy. You are most welcome to enlightenment and goodbye to samsara. If there are some other important things you want to ask me, I will try to answer.

As a reminder, it’s very important to also do the morning motivation, How to Make My Lives Wish-Fulfilling: The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness.

With much love and prayers ...

Lamrim, Preliminaries and Other Life Practices
Date of Advice:
July 2021
Date Posted:
January 2024

This advice was given to a student who had requested life practices and asked about their main deity for Highest Yoga Tantra.

My most dear, most precious, most kind, wish-fulfilling one,
According to my observation, your main deity or deities are Guhyasamaja, Vajrayogini and Tara Cittamani. You can choose according to whichever deity you have the strongest feeling for or feel closest to.

In order to actualize realizations of the path to enlightenment, the lamrim text for you is Jampel zhal lung, The Sacred Words of Manjushri. I’m not sure whether the translation is complete or not.

Meanwhile you can study Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. According to my guru, who has total experience of these meditations, it has the clearest explanation, the perfect meditation on shamatha and bodhicitta. Study this text mindfully from beginning to end four times, so that it becomes a meditation.

Regarding effortful practice, meditate on the lamrim outline for the number of months indicated. Do this from beginning to end three times, then do effortless practice.

Preliminaries
  • 60,000 refuge and bodhicitta. Do this with the feeling of bodhicitta.
  • 70,000 water bowl offerings.
  • 80,000 Vajrasattva. Generally, you can do this as a retreat with sessions, however many you can do, or if you are working, you can do one or two sessions each day, whatever you can. This advice relates not just to Vajrasattva, but to the other practices as well.
  • 60,000 Guru Yoga. Recite the migtsema prayer according to the instructions. You can use Lama Chöpa in the morning and Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga in the other sessions.

It’s very good for you to do nyung näs, and you can try to accomplish one hundred. Here at Kopan there is one nun who did two thousand nyung näs already. She did the nyung näs in a place called Tsum, which is quite far from here. Also, Geshe Lama Konchog did two thousand nyung näs.

For you, nyung näs are best. It doesn’t mean you have to finish them in a short time, like in one year, although if you do them continuously you could finish them in eight months or so. You don’t need a time limit, but it’s very good for you to do nyung näs.

The main thing is reciting OM MANI PADME HUM. Even when you’re walking, always think to purify the six-realm sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and for them to achieve enlightenment. When the mouth is free, like the Tibetans, you can recite OM MANI PADME HUM. You can also recite the mantra while you are walking and even when you are dying.

If you recite the mantra, then it can become just habit. Otherwise, when we have some very heavy disease coming, or pain or something, or when we die, we can’t practice at all, we can’t think of Dharma at all. This happens to many people when they die, then they’re born in the lower realms because they can’t transform their experience into virtue.

Each week recite the Vajra Cutter Sutra. This is very good, fantastic. It’s a quick way to become free from samsara without even thinking about sentient beings—just thinking of yourself becoming free from the oceans of samsaric suffering, and quickly, quickly realizing emptiness.

On top of that, think it’s for the numberless sentient beings. Wow! It’s so important to free them from the oceans of samsaric suffering. Just as it is important for us to be free of suffering, like that, numberless sentient beings are important. Like us, they are so precious and want to have happiness.

Welcome to enlightenment and goodbye samsara, the oceans of samsaric suffering which we have been experiencing from beginningless rebirths. Goodbye.

Thank you very much.

With much love and prayers ...

Life Practices to Purify Obstacles and Collect Merit
Date of Advice:
January 2010
Date Posted:
May 2022

Rinpoche gave this essential life practice advice to a student. Rinpoche advised daily prayers and practices, as well as lamrim meditation, preliminaries, and deity yoga.

Dear one,
I didn’t get to reply to you earlier. It is very good that you have quite a lot of prayers to do. Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga is recommended and is very good as a daily practice. Within that, there is The Foundation of All Good Qualities, which contains the whole path and gives the imprints for the path to enlightenment. If you recite this every day, sooner or later you are bound to have realizations, to achieve enlightenment, and to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of suffering and bring them to enlightenment. You also mentioned that you recite the Three Principal Aspects of the Path. It is very important to do the Vajrasattva practice with the four opponent powers so that it becomes a perfect confession.

One very important practice that is missing is prostrations to the Thirty-five Buddhas in the morning. You can do this in the morning, however, it’s good if you can do more than [one session each day]. If possible, do the prostrations to the Thirty-five Buddhas before reciting the Vajrasattva mantra; before doing your Vajrasattva practice. In the morning you can start with reciting the names of the buddhas. Repeat each name three times. That is very good. At least do that with prostrations. Meanwhile, in the evening time, just repeat the names once. If you can do this practice in the evening, just repeat the names one time. But when you finish, do the last part, otherwise it doesn’t become a complete confession practice.

You can also do the practice The Nine Attitudes of Guru Devotion and integrate this prayer into your practice of Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga. How do you do this? When you recite The Foundation of All Good Qualities, recite the first stanza, then do the Nine Attitudes. Integrate the practice like that. If you are reciting the long version of the Six-Session Guru Yoga, integrate the Nine Attitudes into this practice where it talks about the guru:

All supreme and common attainments without exception
Depend upon correct reliance on you, my protector.
Seeing this, I completely give up my body and even my life;
Please bless me to practice only that which pleases you.

You can do the Nine Attitudes after reciting this verse.

Your main deity is Vajrayogini. What you need to understand is that to become enlightened and to lead all sentient beings to full enlightenment, you should learn the complete path of Vajrayogini. When you do the Vajrayogini sadhana, do the longer one, and for your other sadhanas you can do the short ones. This way you can spend more meditating on Vajrayogini. Chant the Vajrayogini mantra not only while you are doing the sadhana, but also when you are walking around. When you die, you will be able to easily remember the mantra of Vajrayogini, and Vajrayogini will bring you to the pure land.

Now, the most important practice is to develop your mind on the path to enlightenment. Why? Because the main purpose in your life is to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to full enlightenment. For that, you need to achieve enlightenment first, therefore you need to actualize the graduated path, therefore you need to meditate and train the mind in the path.

One meditation you should do every day is guru devotion, but how long you do it for depends on how much time you have in daily life. Sometimes you may spend a longer time doing it and at other times you may do it for a shorter time. It depends on your time in daily life. You should do the daily guru devotion meditation until you have generated stable realization of that.

Train the mind in the graduated path of the lower capable being, which means from the perfect human rebirth up to karma. Do this for five months. For example, spend one week on each meditation topic up to karma, then come back and repeat again. Then spend two months on the graduated path of the middle capable being. You can follow the lamrim outline for your meditation, using Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand or Geshe Sopa’s text of Lama Tsongkhapa’s lamrim teachings [Steps on the Path to Enlightenment]. Then spend three months on the graduated path of the higher capable being, with three months on bodhicitta and three months on great insight, emptiness.

This is the main focus of your meditation during those times. After that, you can start again from the perfect human rebirth, and go through the topics, one by one. You spend weeks, months and even years meditating on the lamrim topics until you achieve realizations. So this is the main practice, how to develop the mind in the path to enlightenment. In other words, how to make it possible to attain enlightenment.

Each year you can do retreat with whatever time you can find—days or months. Do a particular preliminary retreat combined with lamrim or do a lamrim retreat combined with the preliminary practices. Also, from time to time, you can do a deity retreat, a tantric retreat.

Preliminary Practices:

  • Refuge: 200,000
  • Four immeasurable thoughts: 300,000. These are not just words for reciting, but to think about the meaning.
  • Vajrasattva mantra: 10,000
  • Dorje Khadro fire puja: 50,000
  • Mandala offerings: 50,000
  • Guru yoga: 300,000, on the basis of doing Lama Chöpa / Guru Puja, but mainly do Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga and count 300,000 migtsemas. If you are in retreat, do Lama Chöpa in the morning, then count the migtsemas. This guru yoga practice is very important.

Write the Diamond Cutter Sutra from time to time, but you don’t have to rush. You don’t have to finish it quickly unless you have time. Write some each day. This also leaves positive imprints to realize emptiness.

Doing these practices is how to make it possible to achieve lamrim realizations, by:

  • Doing preliminary practices to purify obstacles
  • Creating extensive merits
  • Training the mind in guru devotion, seeing the guru as a buddha with full effort, by applying the Buddha’s quotations and reasonings
  • The fourth one, the actual body of practice, is meditating on the path, which I have already explained to you.

With much love and prayers ...

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