Buddhism In the Nyingma Tradition
To answer Voice of Discernment, Buddha said that the three expedient methods can turn into 25 applications. The scripture says, “[T]he Perfect Enlightenment of all tathāgatas is originally pure, it has neither practice nor practitioner. When they practice, all bodhisattvas and sentient beings of the degenerate age depend upon the power of unenlightened illusion.…
Beginning Oct. 2023, we will be offering free guided meditation every first Saturday of every month 10-11am at our Scarborough location. One meditation is called non-duality of mind-and-wind. In the past, we have offered guided meditation for people diagnosed with cancer and multiple sclerosis.…
Translator’s Note: This article was posted on Master Tam’s personal website on June 12, 2023.
This post will be demoralizing to read. Over a decade ago, back when I was planning to teach the practice of Vajra Drolod, I had wanted to write what I’m about to write.…
Translator’s note: Master Tam wrote series of books called Beyond Words (離言叢書) between 2011 and 2021. During this time he published thirteen books of commentary to Buddhist sūtras and treatises using the teaching of Buddha-Within. These books include Saṃdhi-nirmocana-sūtra, The Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā, as well as Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment that we are currently serializing on this website.…
By readers’ request, Master Tam decided to present his commentary to the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment as an overview to the Buddhist foundation, practice, and fruition. He posted a weekly column on the VBA website (Chinese) in 2016. In 2020, the column was extended and published as The Secret Meaning of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, which became the 12th book in the Beyond Words series, aiming to offer a lay and non-sectarian view on scriptures in the Buddhist Canon.…
Translator’s note: In the previous column, Buddha illustrated the three practices of śamatha, samāpatti and dhyāna. While different, like sunlight, whether it is a ray through a slit into a dark room, or sunlight in the wide open, they are like the many roads leading to Rome.…
Translator’s note: In the previous column, Majestic Virtue Unhindered’s question finally led to the key of the sutra, where all Buddhist practices are expedient devices leading to the oneness of perfect enlightenment. In this column, Buddha will begin to illustrate the three practices of śamatha, samāpatti and dhyāna.…
Translator’s note:
In the previous columns (18, 19, 20), bodhisattva Pure Wisdom asked if there were any differences in the realization by sentient beings, bodhisattvas, and buddhas. While the realization is oneness, Buddha illustrated the stages of practice in spite of Pure Wisdom’s casting it in terms of “differences in realization.”…
Translator’s note: In this section, Buddha highlights the different positions “according with the nature of enlightenment” as a way to illustrate the practice in stages, where Buddha mentions the famous analogy of “finger pointing to the moon.” We take this opportunity to repost to Master Tam’s original introduction to the “Beyond Word” series, where the discussion makes a journey from dependent arising due to interdependence and relativity, to dependent arising due to mutual obstruction, and beyond.…
In the previous column, bodhisattva Pure Wisdom asked if there were any differences in the realization by sentient beings, bodhisattvas, and buddhas. Below is the first part of the answer.
Click here for the table of contents to revisit the dialogue between Buddha and previous bodhisattvas.…
In the previous column, bodhisattva Maitreya asked Buddha the way to sever the root of samsara (cyclical existence). Here, bodhisattva Pure Wisdom will continue the line of inquiry, inquiring into the different levels of realization, and the stages of practice.…
In the previous column, bodhisattva Maitreya asks Buddha the way to sever the root of samsara (cyclical existence). Previously, bodhisattva Vajragarbha’s questions led to the conclusion that it is the cyclical perspective that obscures awareness (and thus, wisdom), thereby leading to suffering.…
The fifth bodhisattva asking question is Maitreya, but in terms of the practice, the fourth one.
The previous answer brought out an important issue in practice. For all sentient beings, if detaching from the root of saṃsāra is the attainment of perfect awareness, then how does one do so?…
Vajrayana Buddhism Association (VBA) was founded by Nyingma master Tam Shek-Wing (Dorje Jigdral, b. 1935), with branches in Toronto, Vancouver, Hong Kong and Hawaii. Tam became a disciple of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche in 1972 and was ordained Vajra Archarya by His Holiness in 1984, shouldering the responsibility to present Buddhism to the Western audience.
In this website, you will learn about the Buddhist practice and the Nyingma tradition. Dharma classes and group meditations at our local branches are held in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
