From time to time, says Anyen Rinpoche, it’s important to take an honest look at yourself and ask, how am I doing on the Buddhist path? For longtime practitioners, the question is even more pressing. It has been almost fifty years since many lamas of my parents’ and grandparents’ generation crossed the borders of Tibet and changed the spiritual face of the West forever. [...]
About Anyen Rinpoche
The 4 Noble Truths of Emotional Suffering
The Buddha laid out a four-step path to freedom from difficult emotions. The secret, says Anyen Rinpoche, is understanding why our emotions cause us so much suffering. Once we know that, the path to freedom becomes clear. Most of us start to practice Buddhism because we feel dissatisfied and disillusioned with life, in a general way or for some specific reason. Indeed, it is [...]
The Practical Practitioner
If you want to get anywhere with your practice, says Anyen Rinpoche, it must be built on intellectual and experiential certainty. As practitioners of the buddhadharma—whether we are new or experienced—we practice because we’re unhappy with the miserable state of samsara. In the Vajrayana tradition, we vow to bring temporary comfort and ultimate liberation to each and every [...]
Developing Pure Perception Through Visualization
We visualize deities to connect with their enlightened energy, purity, and sacredness, which is our own nature as well. Anyen Rinpoche and Allison Choying Zangmo teach us how to visualize Avalokiteshvara, the embodiment of perfect compassion. We are constantly thwarted by our own expectations. For most of us, fantasizing about how things “should be” is a constant source of [...]