Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Virtue and Reality: Method and Wisdom in the Practice of Dharma
    Virtue and Reality: Method and Wisdom in the Practice of Dharma
    Virtue and Reality: Method and Wisdom in the Practice of Dharma
    Ebook129 pages2 hours

    Virtue and Reality: Method and Wisdom in the Practice of Dharma

    By Lama Zopa Rinpoche

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This book contains methods for transforming everyday actions into the cause of enlightenment, anger into patience, and the ordinary view of phenomena as inherently existent into the wisdom realizing emptiness. It also includes several meditations led by Rinpoche, although everything in the book is a topic for meditation.

    It would be hard to find a simpler, clearer, more practical explanation of the two fundamental paths of compassion and wisdom than the one Lama Zopa offers us here.

    This book is made possible by kind supporters of the Archive who, like you, appreciate how we make these teachings freely available in so many ways, including in our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books.

    Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there.

    Please help us increase our efforts to spread the Dharma for the happiness and benefit of all beings. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting our website.

    Thank you so much, and please enjoy this ebook.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLama Yeshe Wisdom Archive
    Release dateJul 19, 2010
    ISBN9781891868023
    Virtue and Reality: Method and Wisdom in the Practice of Dharma
    Author

    Lama Zopa Rinpoche

    Lama Zopa Rinpoche was one of the most internationally renowned masters of Tibetan Buddhism, working and teaching ceaselessly on almost every continent. He was the spiritual director and cofounder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an international network of Buddhist projects, including monasteries in six countries and meditation centers in over thirty; health and nutrition clinics, and clinics specializing in the treatment of leprosy and polio; as well as hospices, schools, publishing activities, and prison outreach projects worldwide. He passed away in 2023.

    Read more from Lama Zopa Rinpoche

    Related authors

    Related to Virtue and Reality

    Related ebooks

    Buddhism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Beginner’s Mind

      Mar 19, 2019

      WITH SO MANY lineages, practices, and unique terms, the world of Tibetan Buddhism can be confusing. Here is a short primer on the four main schools and some of their key practices. Gelugpa: Established in the fifteenth century, the Gelugpas are the n

      4 min read

    • Article

      Beginner’s Mind

      Jan 22, 2019

      THE BRAHMAVIHARAS are four prized emotions or mindstates that give us a framework to cultivate positive behaviors and minimize harmful ones. They are called the “divine abodes” because they are the mindstates in which all the enlightened ones reside.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Why Meditation Isn’t Enough

      May 21, 2019

      IN THE TIBETAN tradition, the study of Buddhist philosophy is known as “learning and reflecting on the view.” Through a process of sustained inquiry, we can become free from all doubts about the true nature of reality as described by the Buddhist tea

      4 min read

    • Article

      Advice to a Young Woman Teacher

      Jul 23, 2019

      Myokei Caine-Barrett (Bishop of the Nicheren Shu Order of North America): I would say to follow your heart, because we are all uniquely equipped. Rather than looking elsewhere, you’ll need to go deep into yourself, find your own strengths, and learn

      3 min read

    • Article

      Book Briefs

      May 8, 2018

      Without tsewa, is there any other source of happiness?” This is the question posed by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche in TRAINING IN TENDERNESS (Shambhala 2018). Always circling back to this Tibetan word meaning love, tenderness, or warmth, Kongtrul pushes

      4 min read

    • Article

      Along Came a Tigress

      Aug 13, 2019

      Along Came a Tigress
      7 min read

    • Article

      Ask The Teachers

      May 8, 2018

      CHAGDUD KHADRO: According to the teachings I have heard and the realized masters I have observed, emotions such as grief and sorrow—as well as disappointment, frustration, and fear—do arise. But such masters liberate emotions by recognizing their eph

      4 min read

    • Article

      Welcome To The Charnel Ground

      Nov 3, 2020

      Welcome To The Charnel Ground
      6 min read

    • Article

      Going Around In Samsara

      Jan 19, 2021

      Going Around In Samsara
      4 min read

    • Article

      Compassion Without Calculation

      Mar 8, 2022

      Compassion Without Calculation
      10 min read

    • Article

      Ayu Khandro

      Jan 21, 2020

      Ayu Khandro
      2 min read

    • Article

      Don’t Let Hatred Destroy Your Practice

      Feb 5, 2019

      Don’t Let Hatred Destroy Your Practice
      12 min read

    • Article

      Women Who Show Us The Way

      Mar 23, 2021

      Women Who Show Us The Way
      6 min read

    • Article

      21st Century Samsara

      Jan 19, 2021

      21st Century Samsara
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Sakyadhita Movement

      Aug 13, 2019

      The Sakyadhita Movement
      9 min read

    • Article

      Dr. Anouk Aimée Shambrook

      Sep 19, 2023

      I’M A BLACK BUDDHIST teacher in a troubled America. I was raised in a conservative white town in Southern California. My Haitian mother and Irish father raised my siblings and me Catholic. They also introduced us to Buddhist philosophy. Maman would l

      2 min read

    • Article

      Teacher of Teachers

      Nov 6, 2018

      Teacher of Teachers
      5 min read

    • Article

      Magical Emanations

      Jan 19, 2021

      Magical Emanations
      13 min read

    • Article

      Joseph Goldstein: It’s Not Either-Or

      Sep 20, 2023

      Joseph Goldstein: It’s Not Either-Or
      8 min read

    • Article

      Comparing Mahamudra and Dzogchen

      Aug 4, 2020

      Comparing Mahamudra and Dzogchen
      8 min read

    • Article

      Ask The Teachers

      Mar 2, 2021

      ROXANNE DAULT: The body is at the heart of the Buddhist path. It is our guide within the experience of the present moment and an important vehicle for our awakening. One might think at times that the body is an obstacle, that we need to push it away,

      5 min read

    • Article

      “I Take Refuge In Amida Buddha”

      Mar 22, 2022

      Pure Land Buddhism teaches that there was a monk named Dharmakara who lived in the distant past. Horrified by the defiled nature of the world, he engaged in ascetic practices for many years until he realized enlightenment, becoming Amida, the Buddha

      1 min read

    • Article

      Was There a Fifth Noble Truth?

      Jan 22, 2019

      MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS have passed since twenty-eight fragile birch bark scrolls, now known to be the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts in the world, came to light. Dating back to as early as the first century BCE, the scrolls—originating in the

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Virtue and Reality

    3.5/5

    3 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Virtue and Reality - Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      VIRTUE AND REALITY

      Method and Wisdom in the Practice of Dharma

      Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      Edited by

      Nicholas Ribush

      May whoever sees, touches, reads, remembers, or talks or thinks about these books never be reborn in unfortunate circumstances, receive only rebirths in situations conducive to the perfect practice of Dharma, meet only perfectly qualified spiritual guides, quickly develop bodhicitta and immediately attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings.

      Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive • Boston

      www.LamaYeshe.com

      A non-profit charitable organization for the benefit of all sentient beings and an affiliate of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition

      www.fpmt.org

      Copyright Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche 2012

      Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

      PO Box 636, Lincoln, MA 01773, USA

      Please do not reproduce any part of this book by any means whatsoever without our permission.

      Cover photograph Roger Kunsang

      Cover line art by Robert Beer

      Interior photos of Rinpoche at Yucca Valley, CA, 1977, by Carol Royce-Wilder

      Cover designed by Gopa&Ted2 Inc.

      Ebook ISBN 978-1-891868-40-5

      Smashwords Edition

      The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

      Bringing you the teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      This book is made possible by kind supporters of the Archive who, like you, appreciate how we make these teachings freely available in so many ways, including in our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books.

      Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there.

      Please help us increase our efforts to spread the Dharma for the happiness and benefit of all beings. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting our website at http://www.LamaYeshe.com.

      Thank you so much, and please enjoy this e-book.

      Previously published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

      Becoming Your Own Therapist, by Lama Yeshe

      Advice for Monks and Nuns, by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      Make Your Mind an Ocean, by Lama Yeshe

      Teachings from the Vajrasattva Retreat, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      Daily Purification: A Short Vajrasattva Practice, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      The Essence of Tibetan Buddhism, by Lama Yeshe

      Making Life Meaningful, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      Teachings from the Mani Retreat, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      The Direct and Unmistaken Method, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      The Yoga of Offering Food, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind, by Lama Yeshe

      Teachings from Tibet, by various great lamas

      The Joy of Compassion, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      The Kindness of Others, by Geshe Jampa Tegchok

      Ego, Attachment and Liberation, by Lama Yeshe

      How Things Exist, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      Universal Love, by Lama Yeshe

      The Heart of the Path, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      Teachings from the Medicine Buddha Retreat, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      Freedom Through Understanding, by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      Kadampa Teachings, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      Life, Death and After Death, by Lama Yeshe

      Bodhisattva Attitude, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      How to Practice Dharma, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      For initiates only:

      A Teaching on Heruka, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      A Teaching on Yamantaka, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      In association with TDL Publications, Los Angeles:

      Mirror of Wisdom, by Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen

      Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

      Lama Yeshe DVDs

      The Three Principal Aspects of the Path • Introduction to Tantra • Offering Tsok to Heruka Vajrasattva • Anxiety in the Nuclear Age • Bringing Dharma to the West • Lama Yeshe at Disneyland • Freedom Through Understanding • Life, Death and After Death • Christmas 1982 (online only)

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      About Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

      Previously Published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

      Publisher's Acknowledgement

      Editor’s Introduction

      1. Fulfilling Life’s Purpose

      Oral transmission

      Universal responsibility

      2. Living with Bodhicitta

      The Three Principle Aspects of the Path

      The importance of compassion

      Bodhicitta transforms your life

      The five paths

      Merely labeled

      More about the five paths

      Incomparable bodhicitta

      Awareness and the self

      3. Patience and the Compassionate Heart

      Don't be yourself

      Eliminating enemies

      The benefits of patience

      How to practice patience

      The power of positive thinking

      What creates the labels?

      4. Meditation on Emptiness

      How things exist

      A valid base

      The worst ignorance

      Hallucination

      What is the mind?

      Schools of Buddhist philosophy and the object of refutation

      How to meditate on emptiness

      5. Practicing the Good Heart

      When do we need compassion?

      How to enlighten all sentient beings

      Developing compassion

      The importance of the meditation center

      6. Dedication

      About LYWA

      About FPMT

      About FPMT Online Learning Center

      Other Teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      What to do with Dharma Teachings

      Dedication

      About Lama Zopa Rinpoche

      About Dr. Nicholas Ribush

      Publisher’s Acknowledgments

      We are extremely grateful to our friends and supporters who have made it possible for the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive to both exist and function: Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, whose kindness is impossible to repay; Peter and Nicole Kedge and Venerable Ailsa Cameron for their initial work on the Archive; Venerable Roger Kunsang, Rinpoche’s tireless assistant, for his kindness and consideration; and our sustaining supporters—Barry and Connie Hershey, Joan Thompson, Tony Steel, Vajrayana Institute, Claire Atkins, Thubten Yeshe, Roger and Claire Ash-Wheeler, Hawk Furman, Richard Gere, Doss McDavid, Therese Miller, Janet Hintermann, Nick and Gisela Dawson, Tom and Suzanne Castles, Lily Chang Wu, Doren and Mary Harper and other anonymous benefactors.

      We are also deeply grateful to all those who have become members of the Archive over the past few years. Details of our membership program may be found at the back of this book and if you are not a member, please do consider joining up. Due to the kindness of those who have, we now have five editors working on our vast collection of teachings for the benefit of all. We have also posted our list of individual and corporate members on our website, www.LamaYeshe.com.

      In particular, we thank our anonymous benefactor, whose dedication reads: Many people are involved with this book: the teacher, those who worked to get the book published, those who see, read and study it and many more. May the merit created by all these people become the cause for ending all sentient beings’ suffering and bringing all beings to enlightenment.

      Furthermore, we would like to express our appreciation for the kindness and compassion of all those other generous benefactors who have contributed funds to our work since we began publishing free books. Thankfully, you are too numerous to mention individually in this book, but we value highly each and every donation made to spreading the Dharma for the sake of the kind mother sentient beings and now pay tribute to you all on our website. Thank you so much.

      Finally, I would like to thank the many other kind people who have asked that their donations be kept anonymous; my wife, Wendy Cook, for her support and editing skills; our dedicated office staff, Jennifer Barlow and Ven. Ani Tenzin Desal; our editors Ven. Ailsa Cameron, Ven. Connie Miller, Gordon McDougall and Sandy Smith; Ven. Kunsang for recording Lama Zopa Rinpoche; our transcribers Ven. Thubten Munsel, Ven. Thubten Labdron and Dr. Su Hung; Ven. Bob Alcorn for his work on our Lama Yeshe DVDs; David Zinn for his digital imaging expertise; our audio editors Jonathan Steyn and Mike Shaw; our e-publishing team Megan Evart and Sonal Shastri; Mandala Books and Wisdom Books for their help with our distribution in Australia and Europe and Amitabha Buddhist Centre and Losang Dragpa Centre for their help with our distribution in Singapore and Malaysia respectively; and everybody else who helps us in so many ways. Thank you all.

      If you, dear reader, would like to join this noble group of open hearted altruists by contributing to the production of more books by Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche or to any other aspect of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive’s work, please contact us to find out how.

      —Dr. Nicholas Ribush

      Through the merit

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1