The Gradual Path Blog
Live Classes Resume September 15 essential nectar of holy doctrine foundation of all good qualities lam rim meditation phil jacobs sound meditation tsongkhapa yeshe tsondru Sep 09, 2021

Life is exceedingly precious and fleeting, we must use every moment meaningfully to awaken for the benefit of others. In the second semester of our year-long course with Dr. Miles Neale and special guests, we will continue to extract the essence of the gradual path (lam rim) of Tibetan...

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Year's End Reflection 2020 astrology atisha contemplative studies program dalai lama dorje zong nunnery geshe tenzin zopa karma lineage merit pandemic service project shadow tsongkhapa Dec 31, 2020

My dear friends,

As the new year dawns I offer my reflections on this year we will never forget. 

Despite challenges unseen in a hundred years we remained steadfast together on the gradual path and never faltered a single step. We made no excuses. Wasted no time. We forged ahead in the face...

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Juice Press Meditation heal juice press lam rim meditation rick hanson tsongkhapa Oct 11, 2020

I'm calling this 'Juice Press'. You haven't heard me say this yet but this is where it fits...

Take an orange in the juice press. You lay it up in the capsule. You lay a theme up on the 'squeezer'. Your theme will be the preciousness of human life.

How many of you are musically inclined? You have...

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View & Virtue enlightenment ethics gelugpa meditation mindfulness right view tsongkhapa virtue Oct 06, 2020

One of Tsongkhapa's big critiques is that you cannot arrive at enlightenment without a good start. Don't throw out your conceptual knowledge. Don't throw out your ability to reason your way to enlightenment.

Go back for a second to the image of meditation in our culture. What does it look like?...

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What Does it Mean to Take Refuge? brain buddha dharma emptiness kobe bryant openess plastic refuge sangha tsongkhapa Feb 15, 2020

Excerpt from Class 3 of Find True Refuge

I actually want to put this under the point of what does it mean to take refuge. Now that you have the causes, what are the two causes? Fear and confidence.

Then what are the three objects? The reliances. You rely on the Buddha as the epitome, as the...

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