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Day 13: Observing the Law of Cause and Effect (Karma):
"There are four outlines of karma: karma is expandable, karma will definitely bring its result if it is not destroyed, we cannot experience the result of karma that we have not created, and the karma that we have created never gets lost.
If a seed planted in the ground is left without water it becomes completely dry or if it is burnt by fire it is completely destroyed, but as long as the seed doesn’t meet these hindrances, or as long as it is not rotten, then it is definitely going to bring its own result; it never gets lost.
When we practice thought training, experiencing problems becomes a cause for finishing the results of negative karma. When we remember that karma is expandable, there is more feeling and more happiness. The result is that more happiness comes in the mind. Even with external things, for example, planting one rice seed, so many grains of rice come as a result. So many fruits can come from such a small seed. One small seed can grow into an incredibly huge tree with many branches and so many fruits that come later. But our inner karma is so much more expandable" - From a teaching on Karma by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
About the text:
Pabongka Rinpoche's Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand is the seminal lam-rim text of the 20th century. It is a transcription of a 24 day lamrim teaching given in 1921. Offered as a "practical teaching," it is less scholarly than Je Tsongkhapa's Jang chub lam rim chen mo or The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment and as such it is the text from which most modern lamas teach lamrim.
Geshe Ngawang Tenley was born in 1969 and in 1989 began preparation to become a monk under the guidance of his uncle, Geshe Tsulga. He was ordained by the late Gyume Khensur Geshe Urgyen Tseten Rinpoche in 1990 and began the program of studies to become a geshe at Sera Je Monastery. During the course of his studies, he has received many teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama as well as other highly qualified masters. In 1998, he received his full ordination (gelong) vows from His Holiness, and in November 2008, after eighteen years of rigorous studies, he completed his final exams to be conferred the geshe degree at Sera Je Monastery. He began teaching at Kurukulla Center in 2009, and was appointed the resident teacher by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 2010 following the passing away of Geshe Tsulga. His cheerfulness and humility endear him to everyone he meets.
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