Teachings

Lama Zopa Rinpoche doing puja during the Fourth Meditation Course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1973. Photo: Christine Lopez.
Giving Up the Eight Worldly Concerns
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how freedom from the eight worldly concerns creates real peace, in this teaching excerpt from the Fourth Kopan Meditation Course.
Topics: Path to Enlightenment (lam-rim) > Eight Worldly Dharmas
Tags: eight worldly dharmas, renunciation, karma, attachment, negative emotions, samsara (cyclic existence)
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, USA, 1975. Photo: Carol Royce-Wilder
E-letter No. 181: July 2018
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Problems Come from Following the Eight Worldly Dharmas
Topics: Monthly E-letter
Tags: lam-rim (path to enlightenment), eight worldly dharmas
Lama Yeshe teaching in Yucca Valley, California, 1977. Photo: Carol Royce-Wilder.
Is Attachment Completely Negative?
By Lama Thubten Yeshe in Kopan Monastery, Nepal

How to deal with attachment, so we remain calm and clear when experiencing pleasure.
Topics: Negative Emotions > Delusions
Tags: attachment, pleasure, happiness, eight worldly dharmas, lam-rim (path to enlightenment)
How to Practice Dharma
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Excerpts from a book of teachings on the eight worldly dharmas, edited by Gordon McDougall.

Now available as an audiobook
Topics: Path to Enlightenment (lam-rim) > Eight Worldly Dharmas
Tags: eight worldly dharmas
Chapters:
How to Practice Dharma •
Publisher's Acknowledgements and Reader Feedback •
How to Practice Dharma: Editor's Preface •
The Dissatisfied Mind of Desire •
The Nature of Samsara •
Samsaric Methods Can Never Satisfy •
Happiness Starts When We Renounce This Life •
How Worldly Dharma and Holy Dharma Differ •
Turning Away from Worldly Concern •
Translations •

+ View all
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in meditation on Saka Dawa at Chenrezig Institute, Australia, May 25, 1975. Photo: Wendy Finster.
Nature of the Mind
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Adelaide, Australia

A Dharma talk explaining the mind, or cognition
Topics: Emptiness > Nature of Mind
Tags: mind, desire, eight worldly dharmas, dissatisfaction, motivation, buddha nature, happiness, emptiness (shunyata)
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, Lake Arrowhead, 1975. Photo: Carol Royce-Wilder.
E-letter No. 109: June 2012
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche: The Importance of Knowing What Dharma Is
Topics: Monthly E-letter
Tags: dharma practice, atisha, eight worldly dharmas
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, Lake Arrowhead, 1975. Photo: Carol Royce-Wilder.
E-letter No. 105: February 2012
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Meditation on the Sound of Praise and Criticism
Topics: Monthly E-letter
Tags: eight worldly dharmas, happiness, criticism
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, Lake Arrowhead, 1975. Photo: Carol Royce-Wilder.
E-letter No. 100: September 2011
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Our 100th E-letter!
Topics: Monthly E-letter
Tags: attachment, suffering, samsara (cyclic existence), eight worldly dharmas
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in LYWA's back yard, Lincoln, Massachusetts, 2010.
E-letter No. 88: September 2010
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Raleigh, NC September 2009

Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Equalizing the Eight Worldly Dharmas
Topics: Monthly E-letter
Tags: eight worldly dharmas
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at the 12th Meditation Course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1979. Photo: Ina Van Delden.
Practicing Patience with the Enemy
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1981

How to practice patience and avoid the eight worldly dharmas.
Topics: Path to Enlightenment (lam-rim) > Eight Worldly Dharmas
Tags: patience, anger, enemy, eight worldly dharmas
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at the 7th Kopan Lamrim Course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1974. Photo: Wendy Finster.
Renouncing the Eight Worldly Dharmas
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Kopan Monastery, Nepal 1978

Renouncing the eight worldly dharmas brings real happiness and peace of mind
Topics: Path to Enlightenment (lam-rim) > Renunciation
Tags: renunciation, eight worldly dharmas, happiness
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, Lake Arrowhead, 1975. Photo: Carol Royce-Wilder.
E-letter No. 80: January 2010
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Discovering the Meaning of Dharma
Topics: Monthly E-letter
Tags: eight worldly dharmas
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Nalanda Institute, France, 2010. Photo: Thubten Kunsang (Henri Lopez).
Mind Retreat
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India 1982

An address to students doing a Vajrasattva group retreat
Topics: Buddhist Practices > Tantra and Deity Practice
Tags: vajrasattva, emptiness (shunyata), single-pointed concentration (samadhi), spiritual teacher (guru / lama), compassion, purification, visualization, initiation, perfect human rebirth, eight freedoms, ten richnesses, eight worldly dharmas, heruka, impermanence, bliss
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, Lake Arrowhead, 1975. Photo: Carol Royce-Wilder.
E-letter No. 12: February-March 2004
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Kopan Monastery, Nepal 1973

Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Giving Up the Eight Worldly Dharmas
Topics: Monthly E-letter
Tags: eight worldly dharmas, happiness, dharma, suffering
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, Lake Arrowhead, 1975. Photo: Carol Royce-Wilder.
E-letter No. 28: July 2005
By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India 1982

Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Mind Retreat
Topics: Monthly E-letter
Tags: retreat, eight worldly dharmas