Pure vision and the process for bringing about a change in our habitual way of seeing things were at the heart of Lama Jigme Rinpoche’s teaching during the Chenrezig study and meditation course held at Dhagpo Kagyu Ling from October 15 to 19, 2025.
Because our vision is colored by afflictive obscurations, by our samsaric tendencies, our mind is directed in a way that prevents us from remaining in contact with our true nature—our potential for wisdom, our Buddha nature. Learning the Dharma provides references that enable us to understand this functioning, and it is then up to each of us to “do the work” of identifying the mental events that arise.
Jigme Rinpoche, who has been guiding this course at a rate of three retreats per year since October 2018, reminded practitioners of the goal of Chenrezig practice: to free ourselves from suffering and ignorance and to be of benefit to others. While Chenrezig practice allows us to reveal the qualities of bodhisattvas, we still need to know how to remain in our Buddha nature. To do this, we need to clearly understand basis-for-all consciousness—the deployment of ordinary consciousness of the confused mind and of primordial consciousness in its aspect of wisdom, of the awakened mind. The whole point of meditation, Rinpoche explains, is to realize the nature of our mind. Without a solid meditation practice, we cannot accomplish the practice of Chenrezig correctly.
We must therefore prepare the ground for a change to take place in our mind’s orientation in order to progress towards Buddhahood. How? By improving our bodhichitta, which turns the mind towards others; by accomplishing the preliminary practices and understanding the meaning of the words. Jigme Rinpoche used the seven-branch prayer included in the Chenrezig practice as an example:
reflecting on the meaning of each word trains the mind to take a direction that, with practice and discernment, will naturally become a pure and equanimous vision. Every situation in daily life is an opportunity to train, just as bodhisattvas use every situation as a path to enlightenment. Through the union of study, meditation, and the practice of Chenrezig, our mind will gradually and naturally embrace a different way of seeing and considering our environment, others, and ourselves. Pure vision is by no means a concept to be elaborated or created artificially, but goes hand in hand with remaining in one’s Buddha nature. The path is gradual and based on the teachings of the Buddha.
Every afternoon, the Institute’s students continued their review of Chapter 2 of the Abhidharmakosha on the faculties. From morning to evening, the day was also punctuated by various meditative practices.
As part of the 50th anniversary of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling, practitioners from the curriculum and the surrounding area were also able to enjoy a special evening with Trinlay Rinpoche, during which he spoke about his journey in the Dharma since childhood, his memories of the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, and the meaning of the many Dharma transmissions received by Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, to which he himself was witness. These transmissions have been uninterrupted since the time of the Buddha, and convey both knowledge and realization.