Ringu Tulku Rinpoche
Teachings on Bodhicharyavatara
Chapter 8: Meditation
Session 13
Stanzas 34-37
In verses 34 to 37 Shantideva speaks about the benefits of retreating for a period of time into a place of solitude to practice meditation. As a prince he recognised that his power to help people could not be utilised while he was trying to govern a country, so Shantideva became a monk who advocated meditation in retreat as a support to his personal transformation. He withdrew into the forest to bring himself closer to the natural cycle of the seasons, plants and wildlife, his attachment to people and objects diminished. He says here that the grief of others that might otherwise accompany our death will be diminished by distancing ourselves in retreat and the emotional ties that bind and distract us will no longer hinder our practice.
The benefits to others that can be gained through quietly and un-distractedly contemplating the Buddha’s teachings during prolonged retreat should not be underestimated.
Archive members can also view the teaching on the Chapter 8 page along with the other teachings on this chapter. All previous sessions on Chapters 1–8 are available in the Courses section of the Teachings Archive.
New sessions will be posted twice a week, usually on Tuesday and Friday. Every Friday we will send a mailout with links to all new teachings posted during the week.
Rinpoche has kindly agreed to answer questions regarding these teachings once in every two weeks in a live webinar on Zoom, which will be simultaneously streamed on this website. Next webinar will be on 10th January. You are encouraged to ask your question live in the webinar, but if you are more comfortable with submitting it in writing, you can do so by using the comment area below. Please reflect on your question carefully before you send it, and be concise and only use one short paragraph and less than 80 words. Vous pouvez également envoyer des questions en français. También puede enviar preguntas en español. Sie können Fragen auch auf Deutsch senden. Puoi anche inviare domande in italiano. Presubmitted questions in other languages are also welcome and they will be translated to English.
In any other questions and for technical help, please contact us at Teachings Archive.
These teachings are dedicated for all who are sick and dying of corona virus, and for all who are tirelessly working in order to help them.
Your questions are most welcome. Archive members can log in and leave their questions for Rinpoche as a comment below, so that others can see them too. Please be concise and only use one short paragraph and less than 80 words. Questions longer than that may have to be edited. Questions will be collected from here in the evening day before each Live Q&A.
Non-members can either sign up to become a member to leave a comment below or simply use the form here to ask Rinpoche a short question. In any other issues and for technical help, please contact us at Teachings Archive.
If you would like to make a personal offering to Rinpoche along with a message, please use the button below:
You can find out more about how to support the archive, while gaining access to Rinpoche's online teachings, using the button below.
Thank you Rinpoche, this sounds so wonderful, that one should find wisdom and compassion while being in a forest in solitude. This is of course also the story of Milarepa. Now the Lockdown periods most of us are ‘forced’ in, offer also a splendid opportunity to practice and transform. Luckily we have the (Dharma)teacher(s) and teachings to motivate us well and guide us better, and so we can be peaceful and study and practice in our homes. Thank you all and may we be able to be of great benefit. sunny greetings, marlou