Kalu Rinpoche - Teachings Bundle

Kalu Rinpoche, the lineage holder of the Shangpa Kagyu tradition, gave a series of special online teachings for Sukhasiddhi Foundation.

As a Millennial, Kalu Rinpoche understands the pressures and experiences of modern life. He’s down to earth and able to relate to practitioners from around the world. These sessions are an opportunity to receive a deep teaching from this highly realized teacher.

This bundle packages the following four teachings. You may also purchase them separately.

The Foundations of Dharma Practice

A teaching on honesty and integrity in dharma practice.

As we sit down to practice it is inevitable that our habitual patters of attachment and aversion, shame and pride, competitiveness and jealousy, are brought right into our dharma practice. And because they are so much a part of our normal state of being, we can be blind to the ways they prevent the clear seeing of what is truly present - well-being, equanimity, joy and loving kindness. Based on his own experience and struggles as a dharma practitioner and his visits to many dharma centers, Kalu Rinpoche offers his heartfelt advice on what is important in practice, how to look at our thoughts and bring genuine honesty and integrity into our practice. A brief history of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage is also offered.

Shamatha and the Nature of Mind

A teaching on Shamatha (calm abiding), the practice of bringing the mind to stillness by resting in non-distraction.

Habitually, we follow our thoughts and stories as they continuously arise and this prevents us from directly experiencing ourselves, our loved ones, and all of our human experience. On a deeper level, we are unable to access subtle levels of awareness. When we are not distracted by the movement of mind and rest the mind naturally, the cause of suffering can become clear; wisdom, compassion and all the qualities of a bodhisattva can spring forth; and we can access the wisdom that recognizes the nature of mind. Using a text from Taranata, usually only taught in three-year retreat, Kalu Rinpoche teaches on the important aspects of shamatha meditation and leads a shamatha and vipassana practice.

Melody of Wisdom: Supplication to Wisdom Dakini Niguma

In this session, Kalu Rinpoche offers a teaching on the important aspects of doing deity practice, which combines visualization, mantra, and prayer to create an enlightened presence. He alsoleads the The Melody of Wisdom: A Supplication to the Wisdom Dakini Niguma, which is included in a collection of supplications to the Shangpa masters by Jamgon Kongtrul. Niguma’s teachings embody fierce feminine wisdom. They are pith and go straight to the heart of the matter.

Niguma is the primary source of the teachings and practices of the Shangpa Kagyu Lineage. After engaging in spiritual practice for three incalculable eons, she attained rainbow body and received teachings directly from Vajradhara, the primordial buddha. She transmitted her teachings to Khyungpo Naljor who later founded the Shangpa Kagyu Lineage. Niguma continues to manifest in various forms in order to benefit and guide beings. In particular, she compassionately watches over those who wholeheartedly engage in her practices; she blesses them and ensures the success of their enlightened activity.

Experiences of a Dharma Practitioner

Speaking from his own experience as a dharma practitioner who has encountered many obstacles and difficulties in his life, Kalu Rinpoche gives a personal and intensely compassionate talk on the path of dharma and its challenges.

• the importance and difficulties of dissolving pride
• the true meaning of renunciation
• recognizing projections of emotion
• compassion and the true nature of mind and enlightenment
• the importance of practice and the strength and stability it brings
• his evolving relationships with his gurus, and the love they have inspired.
• overcoming the experiences of trauma and abuse in his own heart