Tibetan Buddhist Society Melbourne

“Anger is the ultimate destroyer of your own peace of mind.” His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama of Tibet For many people anger or any of its siblings - frustration, impatience, annoyance and irritation, exasperation or touchiness - represent giant hurdles to sustaining...

Love is such an evocative word. Throughout the ages countless poems and songs have been written about it. In many cultures, it’s seen as essential for spiritual growth, and deep down most of us want to know love. However, often the ‘love’ referred to in literature...

When asked to write this, I pondered: what value are words about compassion? Especially as everywhere you look in life, actual kindness shows its wonderful face. Like the sun breaking through a cloudy sky, its presence is pervasive and irrepressible. You see it in a...

In September 2023 the Tibetan Buddhist Society is hosting a Medicine Buddha empowerment bestowed by a qualified tantric master, in this case Venerable Geshe Doga of Tara Institute. In this article we address some of the questions commonly asked about taking initiation...

Many long-term meditators have had the experience. We put time and effort into meditation sometimes over many years – and the question comes up: Is it really making a difference?  We often find our way into Dharma practice because there are things we’d...

In Buddhism, impermanence refers to the idea that everything, from the smallest subatomic particle to the largest galaxy, is in a continuous state of flux, constantly arising and passing away. Things we see in our day-to-day life may appear solid and unchanging but...

What is this extraordinary concept of bodhichitta? It is variously translated as the mind of enlightenment, the spirit of enlightenment and the awakening mind. Maitreya explained bodhichitta in his Ornament for Clear Realisation “bodhichitta means: for the sake of...

It is common these days for people to refer to karma. People say that something is ‘good karma’ or ‘bad karma’ or ‘it’s your karma!’. In general, the idea that your actions have good and bad results beyond the immediate moment is correct, but there are probably a...

Yes – there is a textbook answer, which we’ll come to. But it’s more interesting to first think about what the idea of “Buddha” means for human beings in practical terms.Through self-reflection, most of us feel that we have some positive qualities and habits, and some...

Meditation these days is widely promoted as a way for achieving improved health and happiness. People are writing articles with advice on how to develop a meditation practice and there is a proliferation of apps to help you get started. Some say that practising 10...