Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
 Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is unique in that he bridges two worlds—Asian
and Western—having been
brought up in both cultures. The Sakyong is the eldest son of Chögyam
Trungpa Rinpoche and is the recgnized incarnation of Mipham
the Great, a renowned Nyingma scholar and meditation master.
As part of the Mukpo clan of eastern Tibet, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
descends from the Tibetan
warrior-king Gesar of Ling.
In the West, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche serves as temporal
and spiritual director of Shambhala, a global network of meditation and
retreat centers. He also holds the Kagyü
and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is an avid poet, artist and athlete, and writer. He has written two books: the national
bestseller, Turning
the Mind into an Ally, and Ruling
Your World. The Shambhala Sun is honored to have had him as a regular contributor to its pages. Here you'll find a collection of his always-popular articles from the magazine.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in the Shambhala Sun
Intention is what sets our direction in life, and meditation is
the way to hone it. But as Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche says, we need to be
realistic about how high to set the bar for ourselves.
“Mindfulness practice is simple and
completely feasible. Just by sitting and doing nothing, we are doing a
tremendous amount.”
“When we take refuge in the Buddha, we mean
the qualities of the Buddha that are inherent within us. We are taking
refuge in our own intrinsic enlightenment.”
To bring peace to the world, each of us must take on the
responsibility of discovering inner peace, says Sakyong Mipham, and the
first step in the process is to develop a meditative discipline.
Uncovering our inherent peaceful nature and cultivating its
qualities in our daily lives, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, is essential
for the survival of humanity.
One of the crucial qualities of the bodhisattva warrior, says
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, is the steadiness of mind that fosters strength
and confidence. We harness the energy of mind through the practice of
meditation.
Even beyond diamonds and rubies, the most valuable gem is the
compassionate, loving nature of your own being. Sakyong Mipham on
uncovering this treasure.
Obstacles aren’t to be avoided. When we
apply the right antidotes, they are the path itself. Sakyong Mipham
Rinpoche diagnoses the different types of obstacles we face and
prescribes the proper remedies.
Generating compassion is the most effective
way to put our meditation into action, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, but
it isn’t an easy thing to do. By using contemplative meditation, we can
turn the thought of compassion into a reality.
If “What about me?” is the thought that
rules our day, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, then we are setting
ourselves up for a life of fearfulness and struggle. Real happiness
comes freom putting others first.
Bodhichitta, the seed of enlightenment,
grows where it’s cultivated. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche explains six
traditional contemplations for developing awakened heart.
The mind is where we live, says Sakyong
Mipham Rinpoche, it is how we experience things. Through the practice of
meditation, we see past the superficial waves of discursiveness and
discover the noble qualities that are the true nature of mind.
Underlying all our discursiveness and
dramas, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche,
are inherent qualities of peacefulness, compassion, and clarity that we
can access through meditation practice.
Virtue, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, is
like the legendary jewel that fulfills all our wishes. By meditating on
and practicing the virtues of wisdom and compassion, we make our lives
meaningful, happy, and successful.
The mind of the dragon is powerful, vast,
and skillful. That’s because it sees the emptiness of all things, both
self and other. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche on how to bring the wisdom of
the dragon’s mind into our lives.
A
peaceful, stable world is built on freedom of mind and openness of
heart, says Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. The place to begin is with our own
basic goodness.
More: • It's Not Us and Them
• How Will I Use This Day?
• Looking in All the Wrong Places
Links:
• Shambhala
Edited
by the Shambhala Sun's Barry Boyce and being released to coincide with
the Urban Retreat, this new book features the greatest contemporary
Buddhist teachers and writers—people
renowned for addressing precisely the problems we’re facing
today—including the Dalai Lama, Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, Chögyam
Trungpa, Sylvia Boorstein, Jack Kornfield, Norman Fischer, Jon
Kabat-Zinn, Sharon Salzberg, and many others.
Click to order In the Face of Fear
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