My Daily Practices

by Thrangu Rinpoche

In order to pray for peace in the world and happiness for sentient 

beings, I recite some aspirations including the Aspiration for the 

Well-Being of Tibet, The Aspiration of the Mahamudra 

of Definitive Meaning, and Aspiration for Birth in the Pure 

Realm of Sukhavati.

In the Kagyu lineage, there is the practice of the three roots: the lama, the yidam, and the dharma protector. Therefore, my practice and daily schedule are based on the practice of the three roots.

When I awake in the morning, I pray to the lama by supplicat­ing the lineage of Karmapas through reciting The Four-Session Guru Yoga. Oftentimes, we unknowingly commit non-virtues, so I recite The Sutra in Three Sections (Confession to the  Thirty-five Buddhas). Next, I do the yidam practice, which is the practice of the White Tara Sadhana, instructed by the Sixteenth Karmapa. After the practice, I have my breakfast.

After breakfast, I meet with people who have requested an audience. Some of them come to meet me looking for blessings, others request the refuge vows, and so forth. After the audiences are over, sometimes I teach, give empowerment, or work on my writings, depending on the schedule for the day.

I take a short nap in the afternoon. In the evening, I do the dharma protector practice. After that, I pray for peace in the world and happiness for sentient beings. I recite some aspirations including the Aspiration for the Well-Being of Tibet, The Aspiration of the Maha­mudra of Definitive Meaning, and Aspiration for Birth in the Pure Realm of Sukhavati. Sometimes, I also recite other prayers for specific purposes, for example, to liberate the deceased and for the well-be­ing of the sick.

Recently, I underwent knee surgery in Canada. Afterwards, the doctor told me that his responsibility was to carry out the surgery, which went successfully. However, the rehabilitation to follow the surgery would be in my own hands.

Now that the duty of rehabilitation has fallen upon me, I need to carry out the physical therapist’s instructions on a daily basis. The doctor told me that my knees will not heal if I don’t rehabilitate properly, so I do various things like taking strolls, massages, and acupuncture treatments daily.

I am a person who really likes to read books, so I spend all my free time reading. Just like the English expression “to have your nose in a book,” I bury my nose inside books all day long. I have a strong fondness and appreciation for books of all types and genres.

I remember how challenging the conditions were at Buxa when we had just arrived in India from Tibet. It was difficult to find the texts we needed to conduct rituals and hold classes. There were around a hundred monks at that time, but we only had one set of texts. We took turns reading. Each person was only able to read one page a day.

It was extremely difficult to find Buddhist texts at that time. Eventually, books printed from carved wood blocks gradually appeared. Nowadays, we have beautifully printed books along with electronic books. These published eBooks are well-crafted and easy to read. Aren’t we fortunate just to be able to read them?