Buddhist Teachings in Maryborough, Queensland

26/08/2026

༄༅། ། Three Methods for Becoming Free from Confusion

Many people find Buddhist philosophy difficult to understand. At times, we may also become confused about the proper sequence, methods, and stages of Buddhist practice.

For example, the Buddha taught that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, while at the same time teaching us to cultivate loving-kindness and compassion.

He also taught that karma and its results are unfailing, and therefore instructed us to practice the ten virtues and abandon the ten non-virtues.

Some people may then wonder:

“If all phenomena are empty, toward whom do we cultivate loving-kindness and compassion? Who is the one who meditates? And if karma and its results are unfailing, how can this be consistent with the teaching that everything is empty?”

Such doubts can become very strong when we have not yet understood the different levels and contexts of the Buddhist teachings.

Within Buddhist philosophy, however, many of these apparent contradictions can be resolved when we properly understand the Two Truths and learn to distinguish their respective meanings, contexts, and levels.

🌿 Why Do We Become Confused?

One of the difficulties today is that many people study Buddhism without following a proper order of learning.

Before understanding the distinctions between the Sūtrayāna and Tantrayāna, and the various vehicles and teachings within them, we may hear and collect a great deal of information while truly understanding or realizing very little.

We may know many teachings intellectually, yet fail to understand even one profound aspect of the Dharma deeply.

When our studies become disordered and out of sequence, we can easily develop our own premature interpretations and assumptions. Sometimes, influenced by pride, we may believe that we understand something when, in reality, we have only grasped a small part of it.

🙏 The Three Remedies

1. Study the Dharma Systematically and Progressively

Learn the teachings gradually and in their proper sequence. Understand each subject carefully before moving on to deeper and more subtle teachings.

2. Rely Upon a Qualified Spiritual Teacher

A good spiritual teacher can guide us through the proper stages of study and practice, help us recognize misunderstandings, and show us how different teachings should be understood in their appropriate context.

3. Keep Pride and Arrogance in Check

We should not allow the thought “I already understand” to become an obstacle.

Approaching the Dharma with humility gives us the willingness to listen, investigate, reflect, correct our mistakes, and continue learning.

🌸 In Conclusion

Without proper study and guidance, we may gain a great deal of information about Buddhism without truly understanding how to put the teachings into practice and experience them directly.

But when we:

🌿 Study the Dharma systematically
🙏 Rely upon a qualified spiritual teacher
🪷 Keep our pride and arrogance under control

our confusion gradually becomes clearer, and our understanding becomes deeper and more stable.

Study carefully.
Understand deeply.
Practice sincerely.
Let wisdom replace confusion.

May we all develop the wisdom to understand the Dharma correctly, the humility to recognize what we do not yet understand, and the diligence to continue learning and practicing throughout our lives.

🙏 Written by KPG

24/08/2026

Purpose of Dharma Practices

Dharma practice can begin with ordinary aspirations. In this life, by practicing the ten virtues, abandoning the ten non-virtues, accumulating merit, and purifying obscurations, we may aspire for ourselves and our families to enjoy long lives, good health, meaningful work, a good home, and other favorable circumstances. According to the law of cause and effect, wholesome actions naturally bring wholesome results. This is known as the vehicle of worldly beings.

There is nothing wrong with practicing Dharma with such aspirations, even when one has not yet developed a genuine wish for liberation. But if we wish to practice the deeper essence of the Dharma, we must go beyond worldly aims.

First, we should sincerely take refuge in the Three Jewels and develop a firm determination to be free from samsara.

Then, if we aspire to follow the Mahayana, we cultivate bodhicitta—the heartfelt wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

With this motivation, whatever virtue we practice becomes a cause for ultimate liberation. At the same time, our wholesome aspirations in this life may also be fulfilled.

May our Dharma practice gradually move from seeking temporary happiness to seeking liberation, and ultimately to awakening for the benefit of all beings.

Written by KPG

01/08/2026

c. Using Suffering to Overcome Arrogance
As I explained before, [as long as we are in samsara] we are never independent or truly free or in control of our lives. On the contrary, we are always dependent on and at the mercy of suffering. So we must eliminate ‘the enemy that destroys anything that is wholesome and good’, which is arrogance and pride; and we must do away with the evil attitude of belittling others and considering them as inferior.

d. Using Suffering to Purify Harmful Actions
Remind yourself and realise: “All this suffering which I’m going through, and suffering which is greater still—all the boundless suffering that there is—come from nothing but harmful, negative actions.”Reflect, carefully and thoroughly, how:
1. karma is certain—cause and effect is infallible;
2. karma multiplies enormously;
3. you will never face the effects of something you have not done;
4. whatever you have done will never go to waste.

Then say to yourself: “So, if I really don’t want to suffer any more, then I must give up the cause of suffering, which is negativity.”4 With the help of ‘The Four Powers’, make an effort to acknowledge and purify all the negative actions you have accumulated in the past, and then firmly resolve to avoid doing them in the future.

e. Using Suffering to Find Joy in Positive Action
Say to yourself: “If I really want to find happiness, which is the opposite of suffering, then I have got to make an effort to practise its cause, which is positive action.” Think about this in detail, and from every angle, and dwell on the implications. Then in every way possible, do whatever you can to make your positive, beneficial actions increase.

From the book Turning Suffering & Happiness into Enlightenment by Dodrupchen Jigme Tenpe Nyima.

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01/08/2026

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01/08/2026

The Eleven Contemplations When Death Is Near and One Is Entering the Bardo

1 Contemplate non-attachment to the people and possessions of this world.

2 Contemplate loving-kindness toward all sentient beings.

3 Contemplate completely abandoning all resentment, grudges, and hostility.

4 Contemplate that all violations of ethical discipline have already been confessed and purified.

5 Contemplate that all ethical precepts have been properly received and upheld.

6 Contemplate that even great misdeeds are light (that is, do not become discouraged by past wrongdoing, trusting instead in the power of purification).

7 Contemplate that even the smallest roots of virtue are great (cherishing even the slightest wholesome deeds)

8 Contemplate fearlessness regarding the world beyond (the next life or the state after death).

9 Contemplate that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent.

10 Contemplate that all phenomena are empty and without an inherent self.

11 Clearly establish the contemplation: "Nirvāṇa is peace," and give rise to the certainty of renunciation (the firm resolve to be free from cyclic existence).

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24/07/2026

19/07/2026

Using Suffering to Overcome Arrogance

As long as we are in samsara we are never independent or truly free or in control of our lives. On the contrary, we are always dependent on and at the mercy of suffering. So we must eliminate ‘the enemy that destroys anything that is wholesome and good’, which is arrogance and pride; and we
must do away with the evil attitude of belittling others and considering them as inferior.

Excerpt from Turning Suffering & Happiness Into Enlightenment by
Dodrupchen Jigme Tenpe Nyima

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18/07/2026

Tibetan Buddhism is a tradition founded on reason and logic; it is not a path of blind faith.

Tibetan Buddhism is a method for realizing the true nature of reality through understanding; it is not a system based on mere assumption or speculation.

Tibetan Buddhism is a discipline for guarding the mind against negative thoughts and actions; it is not a display of outward religiosity or hypocrisy.

Tibetan Buddhism is a path that benefits oneself; it is not a strategy for making oneself a servant or slave to others.

Tibetan Buddhism is a mirror for examining one's own faults; it is not a tool for searching out the faults of others.

— Written by KPG

23/06/2026

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Developed within the Tibetan Buddhist Lojong tradition, Tonglen is a powerful method for cultivating Bodhicitta-the wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.