Puja Teachings in March 2025 | Our pure Dharma practice is of utmost importance to all living beings and us and more…

Our pure Dharma practice is of utmost importance to all living beings and us

3 March 2025

Photo courtesy of the official Facebook page of Rumtek Monastery

Good evening, everyone!

Okay, it is very good that all of you can come [here] to practice Dharma.

Dharma practice is very, very important and so many obstacles may come up when doing this important job. You need to pay attention to [your] Dharma practice.

Our ego and selfishness are the biggest problems.

Why? It is because Dharma practice is actually for removing the five poisons [/ the five kleshas] and developing our wisdom and compassion. But our ego and selfishness are very powerful, and we are always under their control.

For example, we go to practice in a Dharma center and try to continue our Dharma practice. But sometimes, people there say there will be a dinner in the evening, a birthday party, or something else and people think that they just want to go to the center to practice Dharma because there will be a dinner, some parties, or something like that.

Sometimes, no one has time to cook, and there will be no birthday party in the center, so people will not want to go to the center to practice Dharma.

So, you have to check if your Dharma [practice] is important to you. If, for you, big dinner or birthday parties are more important than Dharma, your understanding of the meaning of Dharma is not as important for you as dinner and birthday parties. If you think like that, it is so pitiful because Dharma practice is for all living beings. But dinner is just some food for your stomach. There is a big difference between the two.

Sometimes, everyone in the center talks very kindly, saying ‘Welcome’ and other nice things [to you] and people say they want to go to the center because everyone there respects them; everyone there is nice to them. They think this way.

Sometimes, other people do not respect them or talk nicely to them, and they say, ‘I feel bored going there.’ ‘I do not want to practice Dharma.’ So, is just having respect from other people or other people talking nicely to you more important than Dharma practice?

If you are thinking like that, it is totally wrong because Dharma practice can sever our five poisons and bad karma. It benefits all living beings. So, just having people respect you or talk nicely to you is not that important.

Why do people think like that?

It is because we always follow our ego and selfishness, which is to always think about ‘me,’ ‘me,’ ‘me.’ ‘I need respect.’ ’I need people to talk nicely to me.’ ‘I need a good dinner.’ ‘I need birthday parties.’ You need these small things only for yourself. This way, obstacles appear.

So, if a small part of our ego and selfishness can be removed, and we generate loving kindness and compassion for all living beings, then everything will be totally different.

So, when we have generated this loving kindness, compassion, and wisdom, we will think all living beings are suffering now and I am suffering in samsara as well. This is a very terrible situation. So, how can this problem be changed? Only pure Dharma practice can [help].

Then you will think, ‘Oh, I can do something important for all living beings in a day. For me, this is Dharma practice.’

It does not matter whether the center has dinner or not; it does not matter whether there is a birthday party or not. Practicing Dharma is an important job that I can do for all living beings. I must go to practice Dharma. I must continue my Dharma practice. Then, if you have generated wisdom, loving kindness and compassion for all living beings, then you will not face obstacles easily.

[Think that] Dharma practice is very important for all living beings and me. So, it does not matter whether people respect me or not; it does not matter whether people’s faces or actions are good or bad. Most important of all is practicing Dharma for all living beings and myself. I must continue to practice Dharma. I must focus on practicing Dharma.

If you think in this way, your Dharma practice will not be affected by some small problems or obstacles. Nothing can stop you from practicing Dharma.

It does not matter whether there are sometimes fewer people and sometimes many.

The most important thing is to focus on your pure Dharma practice for all living beings and yourself.

Okay, thank you so much.

 

This teaching was given by Venerable Khen Rinpoche Kalsang Nyima on Zoom after the Mahakala and fire pujas that were held in the Wisdom Light Office of Hong Kong on 3 March 2025.

 

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Importance for us to practice Dharma while we are very lucky

8 March 2025

Hello! Good evening, everyone!

Today is Saturday. All of you come to join the long practice of Tara. It is very, very wonderful.

Because we live in samsara, we always think about how we can help our family, how to make money, and how we can do our job. We are always busy with samsaric activities. When we have a bit of free time, everyone gets busy with their mobile phones. As a result, the mind always jumps with hope, fear and worries. Then, slowly, the mind jumps here and then. After that, one may start to think about making money and how to cheat others out of their money.

For example, when doing business, one eventually thinks of becoming famous. When some others become a bit famous, the crazy mind jumps with jealousy.

As human beings, we have lots of problems and have made many mistakes. When someone points their finger at us, talking about our mistakes, we suddenly become very, very angry.

So, the crazy mind jumps with the five poisons [/ the five kleshas] all the time. Then we slowly lose our relaxation, peace and happiness and get more worries, suffering and fear. But the crazy mind never, never stops jumping. Afterwards, we slowly lose our energy, health, and happiness, and we get so many problems.

But luckily, all of you can sometimes come [here] to join pujas and get so many blessings and energy. It is very, very amazing and lucky.

So, try your best to practice your Dharma because we need relaxation, peace, and happiness.

Check your crazy mind from time to time to see where it is jumping to, what it is thinking about, and what it is doing. You must and have to check your mind.

If you can recognize the crazy mind that jumps with the five kleshas, then [you know] that it is making some bad karma. Try to turn the crazy mind to the Dharma. This is very, very important for us.

Therefore, it is very, very lucky to be able to practice Dharma. We do not just practice during pujas. Try to relax your mind with Dharma when you work, eat, walk, and all the time. If you can sometimes think about Buddhadharma at work, it is very amazing.

It is because we now have a good opportunity to practice Dharma. You must and have to practice Dharma while having this good opportunity. It can be very, very dangerous if you do not practice Dharma in times of having such a good opportunity.

Why? It is because if you forget to practice Dharma, the crazy mind will jump with the five poisons very easily, making so much bad karma. Maybe sometimes you will not even be able to recognize this.

After you die, you will not be able to get a precious human body again. If you were reborn as a human being but become like a Muslim, then you will never, never have a good opportunity to practice Dharma. You will always pray to Allah with your two palms placed together.

If you are born into a rich family but are a dog in your next life, you can get a lot of good things there. But you will not be able to understand even a word of Dharma. Then how can you practice Dharma?

Right now, when you [still] have a very good opportunity to [practice Dharma], you do not care. Then, certainly, you will not have the opportunity to practice Dharma in the future.

There is no need to teach anyone to do bad karma and so you can do bad karma automatically. Then you will slowly go down [into a lower birth] because you have created the causes and conditions [for this] due to your bad karma. After that, you will have a lot of suffering and problems.

Therefore, you need to open your wisdom and awaken from ignorance and stupidity now.

That is why my WeChat and WhatsApp groups are called ‘Wake Up with Dharma’. This is a very, very important name.

I am very happy that all of you can practice Dharma. You are all very, very lucky. So, think that you are very, very lucky because you can practice Dharma. We will laugh together while thinking about being lucky.

Think more about being lucky and try to laugh more strongly together.

Thanks so much to all of you.

 

This teaching was given by Venerable Khen Rinpoche Kalsang Nyima on Zoom after the long Tara practice, Mahakala and fire pujas that were held in the Wisdom Light Office of Hong Kong on 8 March 2025. 

              

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Importance of practicing Dharma continuously

10 March 2025

Photo courtesy of the official Facebook page of Rumtek Monastery

Hello! Good evening, everyone!

You come here to practice Dharma and it is very lucky for you to be able to practice Dharma. So, continue to practice Dharma.

For example, we learn about something through education. You cannot get any good results of your education [just] by learning a subject for one day, a month, or a year.

[But] if you continue to go to school from the lower class, middle class, high school, college, and university, your education becomes very good.

When you have finished studying at a university, you look for a job. After getting a job, you will need to learn many things about the job.

Although you have already learnt in school, you still do not understand many things because you do not have any experience with this job or its problems. Then you will need to learn from your work and discuss with those who have a lot of experience in your job. If you continue to do these, you will become very professional in this job.

This is an example.

Dharma practice is the same as [building up] this [job] experience.

At the beginning, you need to learn about Buddhadharma from your master. Maybe you learnt something today. But you forget about it tomorrow or a week after. Then you will need to listen to those teachings again and again. Slowly, you will understand more and more [about the teachings]. Sometimes you will need to read [books] about Buddhadharma.

Then you can understand Buddhadharma very well. You have read many books about Buddhadharma [too]. But when you have problems, your suffering and emotions are the same as before.

It is because you have learnt so much about Buddhadharma, having read so many Dharma books. But you do not have the experience [of practicing the teachings]. So, when problems appear, you only follow your emotions and forget the meaning of Dharma practice completely.

But if you can continue to practice Dharma again and again, your practice will slowly improve. The practice will slowly become much easier for you.

Some people do not understand Buddhadharma very well and only chant mantras. Then, when they get a problem, they do not know how to counter their emotions. They do not know how to practice and chant the mantras when problems come up.

Maybe they think of asking for blessings from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas when chanting the mantras. ‘Please bless me.’ Maybe they think like that.

But that is not [good] enough because they need to know where emotions come from and how to cleanse the bad emotions. If they know about these, then they will know how to use emotions for Dharma practice when problems appear.

So, if you can continue to practice Dharma, your bad karma will become weaker and your good karma will get stronger. Then your wisdom will automatically become better than before. If your wisdom can slowly get better and even start to manifest, then it can automatically help you find so many good solutions when you face problems.

After that, you will think, ‘Wow! Buddhadharma is very, very powerful! It is because I have been suffering and feeling so scared of some small problems for so many years. But now, I understand that they [the emotions] can be cleansed very easily.’

At that time, your mind will become so interested in practicing Buddhadharma because your mind has experienced very good results of Dharma practice.

But if people can only practice Dharma for a short time or some time and cannot continue to practice, then they cannot get any results from Dharma practice.

So, it is very, very important that you try to continue to practice Dharma.

All of you are very lucky to be able to practice Dharma continuously. Do not become lazy [or distracted by] small things. Do not become busy with meaningless things. Practice Dharma for all living beings. This is very, very useful and very, very meaningful in your life.

So, all of us are very lucky to have met Buddhadharma.

 

This teaching was given by Venerable Khen Rinpoche Kalsang Nyima on Zoom after the Mahakala and fire pujas that were held in the Wisdom Light Office of Hong Kong on 10 March 2025.

            

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About the eight stupas in Martam

11 March 2025

 

Good evening!

So, I want to explain an important thing about the eight stupas that are to be built in Martam.

These eight special stupas represent different Buddha’s special activities, including one for his birth, one for his enlightenment, and one for his turning of the wheel of Dharma.

The size of these stupas will be the same as the ones outside of the Kagyu Monlam Pavilion in Bodhgaya. It will be [the same people] from Varanasi, who made these eight stupas outside the Kagyu Monlam Pavilion, making these stupas. The stupas will be made of stone, and the quality will also be the same as the stupas outside of the Kagyu Monlam Pavilion in Bodhgaya.

A stupa will cost 300.000 Indian Rupees (INR). But we will also need to transport the stupas from Varanasi to Sikkim and pay for [renting] many trucks [for doing the work] because the stupas will be very heavy.

A stupa will not just be made of stone. It will need to be filled with many mantras and Dharma pills and its bottom needs to be filled with many other [holy objects/precious things] things, [too].

It is more than that. After filling the stupas with mantras, we will need to perform lots of pujas for them.

Maybe some Dharma friends in Hong Kong are very interested in making donations for the stupas. Some may want to offer a stupa; some may want to offer something else; others’ donations may be small.

So, all these [details] will be announced by the Wisdom Light Office soon.

Why did I have to talk about this tonight?

It is because some Dharma friends say, ‘Oh! We did not know about this project. I could have asked my friend [to donate]. But I did not know about it.’ ‘I could have asked my Dharma friends [to support]. But I did not know about it.’ Maybe someone feels this way.

Buddha Shakyamuni gave teachings about the merit of making donations and making stupas for the sponsors and living beings. Maybe we will translate the teachings and send them to you soon. It is because we all follow Buddha and trust and believe in Buddha’s explanations.

So, I just had to explain this [project] tonight.

So, thank you so much for practicing Dharma in the Wisdom Light Office.

 

This teaching was given by Venerable Khen Rinpoche Kalsang Nyima on Zoom after the start of the Mahakala and fire pujas that were held in the Wisdom Light Office of Hong Kong on 11 March 2025.         

 

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Key points about support for the Martam project

12 March 2025

Photo courtesy of the official Facebook page of Rumtek Monastery

Hello! Good evening!

Last night, I announced [the building of] the stupas. So, some Dharma friends made some donations (for the stupas). We will announce the details about making offering [for the stupas] tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

So, all of you focus on practicing Dharma and praying for all living beings, in particular for the start [of the construction] of the eight stupas [that this work] will become successful for all living beings.

Most important is a pure motivation for building a monastery and stupas. Buddha  Shakyamuni said that building monasteries and stupas is very beneficial for all living beings. Someone will translate this Buddha’s teaching from Tibetan, and I will send that to the groups soon. Your Dharma practice is the most important of all.

My plan for the Martam project has become very big now. This big job cannot be done by a few people. We need many, many people to help us. So, we need to be nice when we are in touch with other Dharma friends. It is very important that we take care of those who come to the Wisdom Light Office nicely.

Of course, everyone has some problems and some people do not like other people’s actions. This is normal and these actions are normal for human beings. But everyone has good energy and good karma, different ideas, and some family and friends. If everyone can try to be nice [to others], then many people can help this big project and get the good opportunity to build the monastery and stupas.

So, different people are in different situations. Some people can donate more money. Some can only donate a little bit. Some can only rejoice and pray. All this is good.

If I did not have a plan to build a monastery and stupas, then you would not get this opportunity to make donations for the monastery and stupas. If all of you do not support me, I cannot do anything. So, I have this plan and work hard here. All of you support me and so we can all work hard together to build the stupas and a monastery.

Photo courtesy of the official Facebook page of Rumtek Monastery

Maybe this monastery and these stupas will be in the world for more than a hundred or a thousand years. We [never] know. They will benefit all living beings. In particular, [they will benefit] this institute, which is for many small monks to become the sangha and to learn Buddhist philosophy. Maybe, some monks will become great masters in the future and can give teachings to many students. This is so beneficial to Buddhadharma and many living beings in the world.

So, we need to respect those who just have some very good ideas. Some families support the donation and we need to rejoice and respect them. Some can only support the project with little money and we need to respect and rejoice in them, too.

Some come to join the pujas and pray for the success of this project for all living beings during the pujas. Just praying is also important. We need to respect and rejoice in what they are doing.

So, all of you have already taken the Bodhisattva vow. That means your Dharma practice is for all living beings.

But after some time, [one may think], “This is my friend and I need to respect him or her”. “This is not my friend and I do not want to respect him or her”. This [attitude] has become the opposite of bodhichitta.

So, thank you so much for paying attention to your Dharma practice for all living beings.

I also thank those who work hard for the donation and support this project.

I thank those who come here every day, practice Dharma and pray for all living beings and in particular for this project, as well.

Most importantly, you all need to have a very good relationship. If you all have a good relationship, that can become very, very powerful.

So do not think this is a small part, like [thinking] “It is only my idea.” “This is my friend.” [and so forth], and then forget to open your heart to all living beings, in particular to all Dharma brothers and sisters.

Thank you so much.

 

This teaching was given by Venerable Khen Rinpoche Kalsang Nyima on Zoom before the start of the Mahakala and fire pujas that were held in the Wisdom Light Office of Hong Kong on 12 March 2025.

          

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How to use problems to practice Dharma

21 March 2025

It is very wonderful that all of you can come [here to] practice Dharma.

Yesterday was the end of the Karma Shri Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies’ annual holidays. This morning, we had the exam. After the exam, I came to Martam to work.

Yesterday, all the small monks from the Darjeeling retreat center arrived at Rumtek Monastery. But the problem is that Rumtek Monastery does not have enough rooms. So, the small monks needed to stay in two shrine rooms. Because of that, I ordered bunk beds from Siliguri.

The younger monks will attend the Karmae Dharma Chakra School at Rumtek Monastery, and the older ones will attend the Karma Shri Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies.

I went to the Darjeeling Retreat Center a few days ago. When I was on my way, a lama, who takes care and is in charge of the work in Martam, called me on my mobile phone.

I sent you the video of the land for the eight stupas. The land owners are discussing selling it to us and the work there has started as well.

But that day, a father and son of the land were arguing. The son got crazy and came to the land and said, ‘You cannot work here because my father has not asked me when he sold this land.’ He said if the workers continued to work, he might want to kill them. So, the work had to stop.

He went to the workers again in the middle of the night, saying he would never give us his land. But he started to change and calmed down a little bit in the morning. He said he was actually very, very angry at his father because his father had spent a lot of money while he has not gotten any money. He did argue, but he did not want to stop the work of the monastery. So, the work can now continue.

When such problems happen, they usually will appear again and again. I just gave a small example to explain how difficult it is to work and buy land here. This is normal. Samsara has lots of problems.

Have you ever had someone try to kill you with a knife in your life?

Anyway, it is very good that the work can continue. What we need is to practice patience and mind training. When other people talk [badly about us] or do bad things to us, we need to practice patience. Then all the problems become very beneficial and meaningful for [our] Dharma practice. When problems appear, we need to be very, very focused on practicing Dharma because it can help us develop our Dharma practice to a higher level.

[But] if you forget to practice Dharma or do not practice enough at that time, then the problems can become very, very big [or serious]. It is because our bad emotions, anger, jealousy and other mental poisons can easily appear in our mind suddenly and destroy our happiness, Dharma practice, peace, and relaxation whenever they have the opportunity. This can result in very, very big problems for us.

Today I am working downstairs [of the land] at the side of the bridge. Then the owner of the land on the other side, who is a father came to me, complaining about the flood in his land during summer and how it has destroyed his land.

I explained to him, ‘You know what I am doing very well.  First, have a look at what I am doing. After I finish my work, you can complain to me if there are any problems. If you do not know what I am doing, how can you complain about me? So, please stop talking and stay relaxed here. Look at what I am doing first. After that, you can talk. It is because I am working here for Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and all living beings. I do not want to disturb anyone.’

Then my JCB backhoe loader first put soil onto his land and brought some big stones, putting all together to stop water from coming in [thus, creating floods] during the summer. He was worried that water would go into his land [and flood it again] during the summer.

When I had finished my work, this father said, ‘Thank you so much, Khenpo-la.’

So, people do not know what other people are doing. They just think they are doing something. Maybe they are doing bad things to me. Then they just complain. So, all these are problems of human beings.

So why did I just talk about this matter? It is not only me. All of you have lots of problems with your families, at your job, and sometimes with Dharma brothers and sisters. Please focus on your Dharma practice at that time. If you can focus on your practice, then problems can become very useful for mind training and Dharma practice.

But some people support bad emotions and the five poisons all the time. When some problems happen, they always point their fingers at others. ‘He is not good.’ ‘She is not good.’ This is very, very dangerous.

This is very, very contradictory to Dharma practice. It brings you so much suffering. It makes so much bad karma and you lose your happiness, peace and relaxation at that time. But some stupid people still support their five kleshas and bad emotions. They always say, ‘He is not good.’ ‘She is not good.’ They think all the problems come from others. This is totally wrong.

So, if you can focus on practicing Dharma, all the problems in your life become very easy. All the problems can benefit your Dharma practice. Therefore, please do not forget pure Dharma practice.

Please do not support your five poisons and bad emotions because that is very, very dangerous.

Why? We have been suffering for countless lifetimes in samsara because of the five kleshas and bad emotions. If we continue to follow the five poisons and bad emotions, we will certainly fall further in samsara and get so much more suffering.

When there is a problem, we need to point our fingers at our five poisons and bad emotions. When you can do this, your Dharma practice will have gotten to a very high level.

Okay, thank you so much.

 

This teaching was given by Venerable Khen Rinpoche Kalsang Nyima on Zoom after the Mahakala and fire pujas that were held in the Wisdom Light Office of Hong Kong on 21 March 2025.             

 

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Focusing on pure Dharma practice is our best path

24 March 2025

The eight stupas that were built and are set up in Martam now

Photo courtesy of the official Facebook page of Rumtek Monastery

Today is a special day for Dakinis. It is very wonderful that all of you are coming [here] for the Chod puja.

I just sent messages to some Dharma friends because a Dharma sister has passed away. She made donations for the small monks. I prayed for her and so all of you please pray for her [as well].

Life is very, very impermanent. When we die, we have to leave everything. At that time, only Dharma practice can help us. As such, we will focus on doing pure Dharma practice.

Do not focus on something small because Dharma practice is very, very important.

Dharma practice comes from our mind and so our mind needs to be focused on practicing Dharma.

There is no need to focus on what other people are doing. There is no need to focus on what other people are talking about because we cannot control other people’s minds and actions.

If we can really focus on our mind, then we can control our mind. If we can really focus on our mind, then we can do pure Dharma practice. This is the best path for us.

It is because if we can really focus on practicing Dharma, we can cleanse and remove so much bad karma at that time. If we can really focus on practicing Dharma, we can make so much good karma at that time. It slowly helps our Dharma practice become better and better.

If we focus on what other people are doing and talking, it can cause so many problems. Maybe there are a few people who love and like you and talk nicely to you. But most people do not like you. Why? It is because most people are full of jealousy, full of selfishness, full of ignorance, and full of anger. So, they do not like other people.

If there are some people saying, ‘Hi! How are you?’ in front of you, but in actuality, do not like you, you will always feel unhappy if you care about others’ actions. So, there is no need to care about what others do and say.

Take care of your health. Take care of your Dharma practice. Generate loving kindness and compassion for all living beings. This makes you accumulate so much good karma and can really benefit you.

So [please] do not be stupid. Do not care about what others do and say. This is stupid.

If you forget to take care of your mind and do not focus on practicing Dharma, you are stupid. So please do not be stupid. Open your wisdom, loving kindness and compassion.

Okay. Thank you.

 

This teaching was given by Venerable Khen Rinpoche Kalsang Nyima on Zoom after the Chod, Mahakala and fire pujas that were held in the Wisdom Light Office of Hong Kong on 24 March 2025.

              

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Key points of doing an authentic Tara practice

29 March 2025

Hello! Good evening.

This early morning, we started to travel to Siliguri at 5 p.m., and perhaps we reached Siliguri at 7:30 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. We then had breakfast and took a little rest. We went to the train station at 10:30 a.m. The trains arrive regularly and one of them departed [the train station] at around 12:15 p.m.

We may arrive in Lucknow at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. When we arrive at the train station, we will take a car, which may take us nearly 4 hours. This place is near Shravasti, a holy place, where Buddha Shakyamuni did summer retreats for about 25 years.

The place we are going to is not exactly in Shravasti. It is near Shravasti and some people there have made a Buddha statue. There will be a consecration ceremony for this statue. The program will be for two days – from 30 to 31 March. After this event, I will go back to Rumtek Monastery.

Anyway, it is very wonderful that you have come to join the Tara puja because in our life, there are so many obstacles, in particular when doing Dharma practice. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the 10 directions have very powerful blessings. But Mother Tara’s blessing is the swiftest and most powerful of all. So, it is very, very important that we always pray to Mother Tara. So, it is very, very amazing and lucky that all of you can join the Tara puja.

During the puja, your monkey mind should not jump to other things but try to focus on pure motivation and bodhichitta.

You know how to visualize and meditate when practicing Tara and so continue to focus on the visualization when practicing Mother Tara.

When the practice has finished, remember to do a pure dedication for living beings to attain Buddhahood.

Do not think about your business; do not think about your job; you do not need to check what other Dharma brothers and sisters are doing because that is not your job. If your mind jumps to something else when you are practicing, it will disturb your Dharma practice. If your Dharma practice has become disturbed, then all the time and energy you used for coming from your home that is far away from the center will become useless.

It is not important whether other people talk nicely or badly to you or not. It is because they do not know what your mind is thinking, where your mind has jumped to, and where your mind is focusing.

Who knows about your mind? Your mind knows itself very well.

So, during the puja, if your mind jumps to other things or thinks about something else, you will forget the real Tara practice. Then you will lose a good opportunity to do the real Dharma practice.

Therefore, pay 100% attention to your mind and focus on pure Dharma practice because life is very short and time flies. It is not easy to get an opportunity to practice Dharma.

Most importantly, please focus on doing pure Dharma practice.

Okay.

 

This teaching was given by Venerable Khen Rinpoche Kalsang Nyima on Zoom before the long Tara practice, Mahakala and fire pujas that were held in the Wisdom Light Office of Hong Kong on 29 March 2025.             

 

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