Gen-la Jampa: Recent Episodes
Kadampa Buddhism
An excerpt from Week 2 of the Summer Festival 2026, Gen-la Jampa gives a teaching on stopping distractions.
If we have strong uncontrolled desire we will never find happiness because we can never satisfy our desires. If instead we practice contentment and control our desires we will always be happy.
One of the special qualities of Kadampa teachings is that they show us how to transform daily appearances into spiritual lessons, so that even a normal busy day can help us make progress on the spiritual path.
Only as human beings do we have the opportunity to free ourselves from the darkness of ignorance and attain enlightenment this is a wonderful opportunity.
In this clip Gen-la Jampa encourages us to always remember to dedicate, explaining how to dedicate and the great results this will bring.
Gen-la Jampa teaches how to improve our mindfulness based on the advice of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. This advice is transformative because it shows us how to make our mind happy whatever we are doing.
Here Gen-la Jampa explains that realising the things we normally see do not exist, they are mistaken appearances, is the basis for any tantric self generation practice.
Discover a profound shift in perspective: how every living being, through their very existence, offers us the indispensable opportunity to cultivate universal compassion – the direct path to enlightenment and supreme happiness.
The best solution to our daily problems is to learn to cherish others. There is no valid reason for thinking we are more important than others, in this podcast Gen-la looks at why we have resistance to letting go of this view.
Whether an object is virtuous or non-virtuous depends on our position. This means that whether someone makes us happy or not depends on the position we take with respect to that person.
Gen-la Jampa gives advice to help us remember emptiness during the day, this is very important if we want to improve our Tantric practice out of meditation.
Through understanding that things exist through being imputed by mind we can understand how it is possible to transform ourself from the state of an ordinary being to that of a pure enlightened being.
Through receiving the wisdom blessings of the Dharma Protector we can transform appearances of adversity into realizations of renunciation, compassion and wisdom.
In the prayers 'Melodious Drum', the mandala of Dorje Shugden is described in detail. In this podcast we contemplate some of those details and their meaning.
Gen-la explains that our normal way of solving problems does not work because our human problems are inner problems not outer problems. Therefore only Dharma is the actual method to solve human problems.
Blessings transform our mind from negative to positive. How to receive the most profound blessings from our Spiritual Guide.
The practices of Requesting the turning of the wheel of Dharma and Dedication. Recognizing our good fortune with a good heart.
Giving love simply means learning to cherishing others; believing that their happiness and freedom are important. If everyone learnt to cherish others, most of the problems in human society would be solved within a few years.
We can solve difficulties with patience and compassion, meaning with a peaceful mind and with a good intention. Transforming adverse conditions is vital in these degenerate times.
Compassion and love are similar. We also need to improve our wisdom. We develop these virtuous minds by following spiritual paths. Spiritual paths are “inner” paths.
Meditation functions to make our mind familiar with virtue. The more familiar we are with virtuous, the weaker our opposite uncontrolled negative states of mind become.
Through receiving and practicing the Bodhisattva and Tantric vows we can accomplish realizations of Highest Yoga Tantra.
"Meditation is an action of mind whose nature is single-pointed concentration, and whose function is to make the mind peaceful and clam"
How do I prevent having an anxious mind in the first place? Things are not easy because we lack familiarity. Gaining familiarity with the spiritual practice of transforming adversity into the path we will become fearless.
Gen-la Jampa discusses how meditation helps us control our minds, overcome worries, and find genuine happiness. Using everyday examples and teachings from Geshe-la, he explains why a peaceful mind is the key to happiness, regardless of external conditions. Tune in to learn how meditation can help us enjoy life more fully, transforming our inner peace into lasting joy and even bliss.
Gen-la Jampa explains how transforming adversity into the path can help reduce anxiety and lead to inner protection through spiritual experience. By gaining familiarity with this practice, we can eventually become fearless like bodhisattvas, whose main concern is for the welfare of others. One way to do this is by meditating on equalizing self and others, which means making our love for ourselves and our love for others equal in our minds. By cherishing the happiness, freedom, wishes, life, and experiences of others in the same way we cherish our own, we can become compassionate and fearless like bodhisattvas.
Gen-la Jampa discusses the importance of patience in dealing with life's challenges and uncertainties. He emphasizes the need for patient acceptance in transforming adversity into opportunities for spiritual growth and inner peace. By embracing life's challenges and maintaining a peaceful mind, we can learn valuable lessons and develop virtues such as compassion, ultimately turning adversities into powerful spiritual teachers.
A simple yet powerful breathing meditation from Venerable Geshe-la combined with visualization techniques, designed to help individuals transform their minds from negative to peaceful states. By exhaling negativities, worries, and anxiety in the form of dark smoke and inhaling pure positive energy as radiant white light, practitioners can gradually experience a more peaceful mind and a sensation of pure light within their body and mind, ultimately promoting inner peace and mental clarity.
We never learned how to fulfil our deepest wish for lasting happiness. Geshe-la says that he never denies modern life, but if we ignore ancient wisdom we are making a big mistake. We have a feeling that the method we are choosing to make us happy, like technology, is not working. Why? Because we are intelligent, through concentrating on external development and technological advancement in our search for happiness, we ignore internal development of virtue, such as compassion, wisdom. Then our technology becomes very powerful but our mind becomes very rough and uncontrolled.
We can see in our own experience that we can transform our mental states from busy, distracted states to calm, peaceful states even with breathing meditation.When our mind is peaceful we are free from worries and stress, mental discomforts. Therefore we experience true happiness. In the space of a peaceful mind there is a feeling of contentment and a sense of wellbeing. All problems of unhappiness are solved in the space of our peaceful mind.Everybody needs to have this experience because everyone wishes happiness in their life. Therefore it is very important to learn the method to make ourselves and others happy.
If we don't train in meditation we have a hard time controlling the mind, and we become vulnerable to changing external circumstances. We feel that our happiness is dependant on external situations. We need something reliable like meditation so we can control our mind regardless of changing external circumstances.More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Transform Your Life and Modern Buddhism.
When we see the real nature and source of our anxiety, we'll eventually gain freedom from it. We become anxious in the face of uncertainty and adversity, but it doesn't mean the uncertainty is the cause of our anxiety. The cause is inside our mind; our uncontrolled mind. Anxiety is the experience of an uncontrolled mind. To solve our anxiety problem we just need to learn to control the one thing we can - our own mind.
It's important to have confidence and also patience to reduce, and eventually abandon completely, all feelings of fear, anxiety and worry. This freedom from anxiety has many levels - we gradually improve as our wisdom and spiritual experience grows.
Meditation is an essential spiritual practice for controlling the mind. The purpose of meditation is to make the mind calm and peaceful, then we will be free from worry, which leads to happiness.
The true source of happiness can only be found inside the mind.More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Transform Your Life, and Modern Buddhism.
Looking at how we need to recognise and identify our delusions. Of the 3 stages of identifying, reducing and Abandoning delusions Gen la Jampa discusses the first- identifying.More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Transform Your Life and The Mirror of Dharma.
Gen-la Jampa explains the way to establish the cause of lasting happiness is through spiritual practice in general, meditation in particular.More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and How to Transform Your Life.
Only by learning to control and transform our mind through spiritual practice, we can be truly free.More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and How to Transform Your Life.
We tend to believe the problems we experience come from people and situations outside of ourself. But in truth, our real problem is unpleasant feelings that arises within our mind. If we wish to be free from problems we therefore need to transform our mind.More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and How to Transform Your Life.
The purpose of all our external development is to fulfil two fundamental wishes: the wish to experience happiness add the wish to be free from pain and suffering.More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and How to Transform Your Life.
If we train in transforming adversities into the spiritual path we will develop the ability to maintain a peaceful or happy mind and a good intention at all times, even in the midst of difficulties.
More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and How to Transform Your Life.
Gen-la Jampa explains the meaning of "the capacity of the mind", only human can improve themselves spiritually.More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and The New Eight Steps to Happiness.
What if we could build within ourselves inner protection of spiritual experience that has the power to directly protect us from painful feeling such as anxiety or worry? We all have the potential to develop this, all we need to do is gain familiarity with qualified spiritual practices.More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and How to Transform Your Life.
The union of great bliss and emptiness is like clear water mixing with clear water. Meaning clear light and Mahamudra are synonyms. We learn to transform precisely from our ordinary body into our Buddha body.
More information on this subject can be found in the books Clear Light of Bliss and Tantric Grounds and Paths.
Genla Jampa explains what our new basis for thinking "I" is at this stage.
More information on this subject can be found in the books Clear Light of Bliss and Tantric Grounds and Paths.
We can know an w by means of a generic image but we can't know it directly. 'Ultimate' in ultimate example clear light means fully qualified. The illusory body of the third stage becomes the new basis for thinking 'I '.
More information on this subject can be found in the books Clear Light of Bliss and Tantric Grounds and Paths.
The all encompassing compassion of a mind of the union of no more learning radiates this compassion and draws all beings to great bliss. We had a human life, and through the kindness of Ven. Geshe-la, we have heard clear and unmistaken teachings on Highest Yoga Tantra. This is so rare! Just hearing about this is a sign our Buddha nature is awakening. Be inspired!
More information on this subject can be found in the books Clear Light of Bliss and How to Transform Your Life.
We need to know how we feel when focusing on an object. If focused on a person as an object of aversion, then non virtuous minds arise, we have uneasiness, and can blame them instead of internal inappropriate feelings.
More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and How to Transform Your Life.
Within Buddha's teachings we learn to identify within ourself where all of our fears and problem comes from. If we can learn to let go of our habitual view regarding ourself as most important and instead learn to cherish others we will become a fearless person.
More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and How to Transform Your Life.
By training in Patience--acceptance we can learn to maintain a peaceful mind even in the midst of life's difficulties.
More information on this subject can be found in the books How to Solve Our Human Problems and How to Transform Your Life.
We can know an object by means of a generic image but we can't know it directly. 'Ultimate' in ultimate example clear light means fully qualified. The illusory body of the third stage becomes the new basis for thinking 'I '.
The very subtle mind is our real mind, and it never ceases. How do we identify ourself correctly? The union of the two truths is the union that needs learning.
From the Heart sutra Gen la explains the union of the two truths. Union of conventional truth (which in this context refers only to subtle conventional truth) to mere appearance ) and ultimate truth are one object not two. This is a non deceptive object. Conventional truths false objects, deceptive.
By training in meditation we can cultivate within ourself a stable happiness that does not depend upon good external conditions. Therefore, training in meditation is important for everyone
We often think that it is the particular unwanted circumstances that is the cause of our negative feelings but in truth it is our uncontrolled mind. Realizing this will give us great confidence that we can reduce and abandon it.
Gen-la Jampa reads and explains Geshe-la's commentary to the Heart Sutra. He explains the word "mere" and what "aspect" means.
What we need is to accomplish a fully qualified clear light. We can gain a vivid experience of clear light through improving our meditation.
Remember there are three levels of mind. We need to cause our gross and subtle minds to cease through meditation, clear light manifests and develop subtle mindfulness.
Enlightenment is the ultimate supreme goal and the real meaning of our human life. We want to become enlightened as quickly as possible.
We can free our mind from samsara with our wisdom. This explanation is a modern presentation of what samsara is.
Ultimate example clear light is a mind thar experiences great bliss that realizes emptiness through a generic image. When practioners accomplish this they are free from gross ordinary appearences and conceptions of mind.
The meaning of illusory body is that our very subtle wind appears in the aspect of a deity and now functions as the basis of imputation of our I. This is the third of the five stages of completion stage.
Because our mother cared for us when we were in her womb we now have all the opportunities of this life and can enjoy all the things we currently enjoy.
Mahamudra refers to the union of great bliss and emptiness. It is a fully qualified clear light that experiences great bliss and realizes emptiness directly. Once we gain this profound realization of completion stage, we will transcended suffering.
In so many ways our mother has protected us when we were young from dangers that threaten our life. We need to remember this and develop a warm and affectionate heart towards her.
Since it is very easy to forget the kindness of our mother or take it for granted we need to contemplate in detail the various ways she has shown us great kindness. This is very beneficial both for our daily happiness and our spiritual development.
All tantric practices are trainings or methods to abandon ordinary appearance and ordinary conception.