37 Practices: Teaching Summaries

  • Every Ending Is a New Beginning on the Path: Q&A on the 37 Practices
    “We study to understand what was not yet understood, we contemplate to remove doubts, and then we meditate to gain experience, familiarize ourselves with the Dharma, and put it into action to liberate all sentient beings from suffering,” Acharya Lhakpa Tshering taught during this concluding session.
  • Moving in the Right Direction – 37 Practices – Session 22
    How do we know we are moving in the right direction on the path of a bodhisattva? In his reflections on the final verses, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering offered some guidance on how to put Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva into practice.
  • What is the State of My Mind? – 37 Practices – Session 21
    In his commentary to verses 34 through 37 of Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisatta, Acharya reminded us of the ultimate goal on the path of compassion and how to achieve it.
  • In Harmony With the Dharma – 37 Practices – Session 20
    Under the power of mental afflictions like attachment and anger, we usually cause only harm to ourselves and others. In his commentary to verses 31, 32, and 33, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering explained how Ngulchu Tokmé points out how to prevent harming others and practice for the benefit of everyone instead.
  • Finding Our Way Out – 37 Practices – Session 19
    Commenting on verse 29 and 30 of Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, our resident teacher, Acharya Lhakpa, explained how meditation can be considered the preliminary practice for wisdom to arise, and the main purpose of dharma practice to be realization of selflessness.

Freedom Through Meditation

“The main point of meditation is learning how to relax the mind within itself.” — The Karmapa in Freedom through Meditation, dharmaebooks.org

Our resident teacher, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering, offers guided meditation and short dharma teachings every Sunday at Karmapa Center 16 and online. As everyone is welcome, and no prior experience is needed, Acharya calls the Sunday sessions Meditation for All. 

Learn more and register here to join Acharya Lhakpa on Sundays

Teaching Summaries for
The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva

From November 17, 2024 till June 15, 2025, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering guided our Sunday Meditation for All and taught on The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva. Here we offer summaries of his explanations about this precious text, written by the great master Ngülchu Thogme Zangpo, that points out how to follow the heroic path of the bodhisattvas verse by verse.

  • Every Ending Is a New Beginning on the Path: Q&A on the 37 Practices
    “We study to understand what was not yet understood, we contemplate to remove doubts, and then we meditate to gain experience, familiarize ourselves with the Dharma, and put it into action to liberate all sentient beings from suffering,” Acharya Lhakpa Tshering taught during this concluding session.
  • Moving in the Right Direction – 37 Practices – Session 22
    How do we know we are moving in the right direction on the path of a bodhisattva? In his reflections on the final verses, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering offered some guidance on how to put Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva into practice.
  • What is the State of My Mind? – 37 Practices – Session 21
    In his commentary to verses 34 through 37 of Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisatta, Acharya reminded us of the ultimate goal on the path of compassion and how to achieve it.
  • In Harmony With the Dharma – 37 Practices – Session 20
    Under the power of mental afflictions like attachment and anger, we usually cause only harm to ourselves and others. In his commentary to verses 31, 32, and 33, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering explained how Ngulchu Tokmé points out how to prevent harming others and practice for the benefit of everyone instead.
  • Finding Our Way Out – 37 Practices – Session 19
    Commenting on verse 29 and 30 of Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, our resident teacher, Acharya Lhakpa, explained how meditation can be considered the preliminary practice for wisdom to arise, and the main purpose of dharma practice to be realization of selflessness.
  • If We Practice Continuously – 37 Practices – Session 18
    Given that a single moment of anger can destroy all the virtues that we have gathered for a very long time, and given that laziness only prolongs our time in the world of suffering (saṃsāra), we need to counter those with the practice of patience and diligence, respectively.
  • Without Hope and Craving – 37 Practices – Session 17
    Commenting on verse 25 and 26 of Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva during our Sunday Meditation for All, Acharya explained how the practice of the Mahāyāna path is fully encompassed by the six pāramitās or perfections. Starting with the practice of generosity and discipline, he taught how these can be understood as a way to work with our mental afflictions in an increasingly subtle manner.
  • Mind and Its Confusion – 37 Practices – Session 16
    If we would realize, Acharya Lhakpa explained, that objects seemingly “out there” or things appearing inside our mind are like rainbows and dreams, then attachment and aversion would no longer get hold of us, and we would neither cling to our happiness nor feel lost when we are facing pain and hardship.
  • Bringing Aggression and Attachment onto the Path – 37 Practices – Session 15
    We need to learn to take aggression and attachment onto the path and turn seemingly unfavorable circumstances into something beneficial, for the benefit of all beings, Acharya Lhakpa explained.
  • It is All in Our Hands – 37 Practices – Session 14
    Commenting on the eighteenth and nineteenth verses of Ngulchu Tokmé’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, Karmapa Center 16’s resident teacher pointed to the importance of our intention, and the qualities of mindfulness and introspection.
  • Responding with Love and Appreciation – 37 Practice – Session 13
    Commenting on the sixteenth and seventeenth verses of Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering pointed to a key practice found in all verses: to work with our own mind-stream and take any circumstances onto the heroic path of compassion. In this case: ingratitude and contempt, respectively.
  • Taking a Step Back – 37 Practices – Session 12
    How can we take denigration or criticism to the path? Especially in this twenty-first century, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering explained that we need to learn to take a step back and slow down before we react. 
  • How to Alleviate Suffering? – 37 Practices – Reflection and Tonglen
    Following Acharya Lhakpa’s commentary on how to take everything onto the path, we contemplated the difficulty of the training of a bodhisattva and engaged in the practice of tonglen (“giving and taking”).
  • All is the Path in Pursuit of the Dream – 37 Practices – Session 11
    What to do when someone harms or says unpleasant things about you? Follow our usual practice, Acharya Lhakpa Tshering offered commentary on the thirteenth and fourteenth verse of Ngulchu Tokmé’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva.
  • Please Don’t Wait to Practice – 37 Practices – Session 10
    The main thought and practice pointed out by Ngulchu Tokmé in verse twelve, Acharya Lhakpa taught, is that we need to let go of our attachment and whatever we hold onto, include all virtue of the thee times. And he emphasized how we should not wait but start this practice today.
  • The Heart of Sharing – 37 Practices – Session 9
    Under the guidance of Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, we contemplated the causes of happiness and suffering. What we need to change, he commented, is our way of thinking. We need to expand our mind and start thinking, “I want you to be happy.”
  • Intermezzo: Cultivating an Altruistic Aspiration and Bodhicitta
    How to cultivate an altruistic aspiration and bodhicitta? Drawing from the sevenfold cause-and-effect instruction in the Kadampa tradition, this adapted contemplation focuses on making a heartfelt connection with others.
  • Intermezzo: Contemplating Karma and Saṃsāra
    Do we see karma, cause and effect, at play in our actions of body, speech, and mind? Is there really no lasting happiness in saṃsāra, the world and experience of suffering? If so, what does this mean for our practice and how to progress along the heroic path of a bodhisattva?
  • Cultivating an Expansive Mind and Boundless Heart on the Spiritual Path – 37 Practices – Session 8
    Yesterday was our past life, today is the present, and tomorrow will be a new one. Contemplating our existence in this way allows us to realize how our well-being depends on countless others. Without them, we wouldn’t even be able to survive.
  • Key Advice if You Are Looking for a Comfortable Human Life – 37 Practices – Session 7
    Some of us may have the thought of attaining buddhahood. Others are okay with simply having a human life, thinking: “I don’t want to achieve buddhahood. I don’t want to go that far. I just want to be a human being.” Thinking thus, what does that mean for a bodhisattva’s practice?
  • Intermezzo: Embracing Genuine Dharma Practice: Observing and Directing the Mind
    “After I finish this session, through the rest of the day, I will try to retain the flavor of this experience and state of mind,” His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Oygen Trinley Dorje, writes in his commentary. How do we genuinely practice the dharma throughout the day?
  • Intermezzo: Following in The Footsteps of the First Karmapa
    Our first session of the international New Year, 2025 was dedicated to commemorating the parinirvāṇa anniversary of the First Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa. His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, shared a beautiful verse on Facebook, on January 3rd. While it is difficult, if not impossible, to capture the profoundness and beauty of His Holiness’s writing in Tibetan, we wrote an English translation for our session, which we read together: “Water cascading from the ocean of all that can be known in the three timesFlowing into a single vessel of omniscience –The great sage who takes in the wholeContinue reading “Intermezzo: Following in The Footsteps of the First Karmapa”
  • Mirroring Ourselves: Finding Outer and Inner Refuge – 37 Practices – Session 6
    What is our destination? How to progress along the path? And who are our companions? In his commentary to the seventh verse of Ngulchu Tokmé’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, Acharya Lhakpa explained these to be the three jewels: the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. We go for refuge to them in an outer sense as a way to find their qualities within.
  • A Poisonous Tree and a Waxing Moon – 37 Practices – Session 5
    As beginning practitioners, once we distance ourselves from negative friends, what do we need in order to develop our positive qualities like hearing, reflecting, and meditating, as well as loving-kindness and compassion?
  • Embracing Impermanence – 37 Practices – Session 4
    The verse itself, Acharya Lhakpa noted, is very clear and not difficult to understand. The most challenging part is how to bring it into practice. What is the true meaning of “letting go of this life,” and how can we internalize this verse?
  • Leaving our homeland and samsaric distractions behind – 37 Practices – Session 3
    Bodhisattvas strive to liberate themselves and others from samsara. To do this, they keep to solitary places. What does it truly mean to “keep to solitary places”?
  • Seizing the opportunity: Embrace life’s meaning: 37 Practices – session 2
    Understanding our precious human life as an opportunity to free ourselves and many others from suffering means that we must seize it. How do we seize this opportunity?
  • The Heroic Path of Compassion: Meditation for All – 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva – session 1
    Following our practice of śamatha meditation together, Acharya began his teaching on The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva by introducing the author of the root text, a great scholar and practitioner, Ngulchu Tokmé (ca. 1295 – ca. 1369).

Tsha Tsha Offering

Merging with the Enlightened Mind of the 16th Karmapa

His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ranjung Rigpe Dorje, passed into parinirvāṇa on November 5th, near Chicago, in Zion, Illinois, USA. When Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche, who was His Holiness’ attendant for many years, returned to this holy place some years later, he made a vow to build a Parinirvāṇa Stūpa and create a place for pilgrimage, meditation, and to learn and study the Buddhist tradition in general, and the Karma Kagyü lineage in particular. After years of accumulating merit and the generous support of many kind donors, the commencement of the infrastructure is expected to begin in 2025.

Based on the design of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the appearance of the main hall is modeled after the place where Buddha Shakyamuni passed into parinirvāṇa, the Stūpa in Kushinagar, India.

In addition to a Parinirvāṇa Stūpa, a Thousand Buddha Wall, a library for studying the teachings of the buddhadharma, in particular the Karma Kagyü, a retreat center, and more, there will also be a space dedicated to Tsha Tsha offerings. Crafted from clay, mixed with the relics of a deceased, Tsha Tsha are like small stūpa and offered as a way of honoring and remembrance of a friend or relative.

Tsa Tsa (crafted from clay, mixed with the relics of a deceased, Tsa Tsa are like small stūpa and offered as a way of honoring and remembrance of a friend or relative)
crafted from clay, mixed with the relics of a deceased, Tsha Tsha are like small stūpa and offered as a way of honoring and remembrance of a friend or relative

Extraordinary Blessings of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa

The space for the Tsha Tsha will be located at the lower level of the Stūpa Temple, immediately beneath the Stūpa of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa. Placing a Tsha Tsha in this space supports those who have passed on to the next life by receiving the blessings of the lineage of the Karmapas, which is a very rare opportunity.

’Those represented by the Tsha Tsha as well as those who have a direct or indirect connection to the Karmapa lineage will continue to receive blessings throughout the year due to the twice daily pujas performed with the heart of devotion by the KC16 sangha (monastic community) under the guidance of Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche. Rinpoche will also be presiding over the practices and offerings to the community during the Qingming Festival, KC16’s Annual Parinirvana Anniversary of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa on November 5, along with other special Buddhist occasions such as Saga Dawa and Lhabab Düchen, all sources of great blessings.

How to make an offering?

By offering $2062 USD, one can reserve a space in the future columbarium for a Tsha Tsha.

  1. Tsha Tsha with Commemorative Items

    Relatives and friends can provide the deceased’s most commemorative items, such as clothes, jewelry, photos, prayer beads, etc, to be enshrined in our center. The lamas of the Sangha will create a Tsha Tsha stupa and put it in place, together with the memorials of the deceased as a way of respect, commemoration, and source of blessings for the deceased.
  2. Tsha Tsha with Relics

    No matter how long ago the deceased passed away, you can provide some relics of deceased relatives and friends, and deliver or ship them to Karmapa Center 16. The Tsha Tsha will be made by our lamas and permanently enshrined in the center.
  3. Tsha Tsha RSVP — Connect now for later

    You may also reserve a place for a future Tsha Tsha, be it for a loved one or for yourself.

Details/Remarks

  1. All donations will be used for the construction of the relic hall.
  2. It is possible to pay in installments (multiple payments over a period of time).
  3. Donations to Karmapa Center 16 are tax-deductible in the USA (US tax ID #47-2608572).
  4. The list of names will be permanently stored in the relic hall and receive ongoing blessings.

Gawu Offering

We would like to share a wonderful opportunity to be a part of Karmapa Center 16’s auspicious Gawu Offering project. In the Vajrayana, there is an old tradition of putting various precious objects and blessings into a “Gawu” (a small protective locket). This auspicious locket offers protective power that comes from the Mahamudra and Dzogchen lineages.

Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche has collected nearly 100 sacred objects, over a number of years, from many great Mahamudra and Dzogchen masters and has made them into these limited-edition, protective Gawu. Wearing your Gawu day and night bestows the blessing from the centuries-old lineage, helping your body and mind to become peaceful, and helping you to overcome all suffering.

Gawu Offering (a small protective locket)
Gawu Offering

Full description of the sacred objects used in the Gawu (嘎屋聖物清單 in Chinese)

We hope you will be part of this project by purchasing an auspicious Gawu. Each Gawu is available for $185 USD. All proceeds benefit Karmapa Center 16’s Stupa Project.

About Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche

Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche was recognized and guided by the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ranjung Rigpe Dorje, and served as the General Secretary of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. Rinpoche has a low profile and humble character, adheres to the centuries-old Kagyü lineage, and shows the style of a practicing master in every aspect. He is one of the founding members of the Karmapa Center 16 in Zion, Illinois, United States, near the place where the 16th Karmapa passed into parinirvāṇa.

Bhadrakalpa Buddha Statue Offering

As long as the prayers of the Thousand Buddhas of this Bhadrakalpa (auspicious aeon) remain unfulfilled, the teachings of the Karmapas will remain uninterrupted.
— Prayer by His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa

Bhadrakalpa Buddha Statue

As part of rebuilding Rumtek Monastery, also known as Dharma Chakra Centre, His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ranjung Rigpe Dorje, enshrined a thousand Bhadrakalpa Buddha statues. To follow this lineage tradition, a thousand Bhadrakalpa Buddhas will be placed around the 16th Karmapa’s Parinirvāṇa Stupa at Karmapa Center 16. You can join in this precious opportunity and be part of establishing the presence of these statues in the hall of the Stupa Temple.

How to participate?

With a donation of $1,550 USD, you can sponsor one Bhadrakalpa Buddha Statue. Your donation not only helps in the construction of the main hall, it also contributes to the continuation and flourishing of the Karmapa’s spiritual legacy. The sponsored Bhadrakalpa Buddha statues will be permanently enshrined in the main hall with the Parinirvāṇa Stupa.

Details

It is possible to pay in installments. Donations to Karmapa Center 16 are tax-deductible in the USA (US tax ID #47-2608572).