The Seven Limbs: Teaching Series

Parts of this text are translated from the Chinese transcript.

Seven Limbs, Session 1

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2025.09.27

The Seven Limbs: Seeing the Awakened Nature in the Mirror of Refuge

Before We Begin: Settling Body, Mind and Breath

Let yourself relax. Feel your body, and sit upright. Now prepare your mind for full focus on the prayers, and let's slowly and gently begin.

(Recitation of the prayers of bodhicitta and refuge)

Welcome, everyone. We're going to try to slow it down today, sharing very carefully and slowly, making sure you are clear about what we are sharing. We're going to have two sessions: one session today and one session next Saturday. Today we are going to discuss and do some sharing about the Seven Limbs.

The Seven Limbs: The Core of the Three Vehicles

When we look at the Seven Limbs, they are very important. In the Theravada tradition, the Seven Limbs are hidden: they are entirely there, but implicit within the practice. But in Mahayana and Vajrayana, you cannot escape them. You cannot do any Mahayana or Vajrayana practice without the Seven Limbs. So they are the core of practice.

And when we check what exactly the Seven Limbs are, it is simply the four lines we just read on page three: "Prostration, offering and confession, rejoicing, requesting the turning of the wheel of Dharma; whatever roots of virtue are gathered by this, I dedicate to great and complete enlightenment." The names are all contained in these verses. The first lines are very clear: prostration, offering, confession, rejoicing. The third line is connected with the fourth, and it is about dedication: whatever small virtue I have done, I dedicate it to become a seed of enlightenment.

Gathering Information vs. Transforming Your Life

Now, I believe if we are learners, especially if we are only following information but don't want to achieve any change within ourselves, then we just end up with countless interesting books, many different stories, information, sharing and advice. But if it doesn't bring any transformation within us, then it's just information.

The learning objectives, the books, topics and subjects, are honestly countless. We could pass our entire lifetime, maybe ten or a hundred lifetimes, and the things to learn would never be complete. We have a very natural connection to wanting to learn something, to know something, for survival, for a better life, for safety. Therefore, we fall in love with information and the intellectual: this question, that question, this point, that point.

But once we truly observe why we need this information, right now we are actually out of control. Wherever there is information, we're just trying to go and collect it. There is so much information that doesn't truly connect with who you are, with what you are. And somehow information consumes our entire energy and our entire time.

Inner Security: Where the Spiritual Journey Begins

So sometimes we are out of touch with our own reality, out of touch with our own life, because information is very attractive. This news comes and we get attracted. This advertisement comes, and nowadays advertisements have become very smart. Before, an advertisement after a TV program directly said "this product is very good for you." Nowadays they find influential people.

But when we truly try to observe why we need all this information, when we truly look at it, information brings a sense of security, a deep inside security. And that security makes you feel less tense, more free. There are many internal benefits. So we are looking for something outside, but the root of all of it is directly connected with who you are and what you are experiencing.

Once we know that root, we will never get lost in information. We are always close to ourselves. And being closer to ourselves, taking proper care of ourselves, that is actually where the spiritual journey starts. Your well-being and your spiritual growth already start there.

Connection: Ending Practice Without Feeling

So with that fundamental finding, that everything is connected with you, we begin what we're going to learn. Otherwise, just as we lose ourselves in information, we lose ourselves in this and that practice. We lose our root. We read the Seven-Limb Prayer, "prostration, offering, confession," and we don't have that feeling at all, because we haven't found the root.

Someone says, "Oh, this is very beneficial, this is very precious." Okay, you just believe it and then you read it. But that connection is missing. So no matter how many times you read it, a hundred times, there is no real "aha" moment. You feel more and more bored. "I keep looking at the time. When is this going to finish?"

Refuge: The Blueprint of the House of Practice

So when we discuss the Seven Limbs, I want you to have a very clear mind. Within the three vehicles, especially Mahayana and Vajrayana, the core essence of practice is exactly the Seven Limbs. Gelug, Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, whatever it is, everyone practices them.

Of course, if you ask the same question to everyone, everyone is going to give you a slightly different answer. Even ten people from the same place will tell you things with slightly different vocabulary. But the system, the structure and the core point are exactly the same. When you look at the Vajrayana tradition, it has only two ways of practice: deity yoga and guru yoga. No matter which one you follow, the Seven Limbs are still there. They are shining there.

So knowing that actually saves your entire life. Otherwise, we start to waste our time. "Okay, this deity looks interesting. Oh, that one is also interesting." By the time your energy changes, your mood changes. "I'm starting to have a dream about something." When you have this kind of unclear foundation, you jump from one to another. A clear understanding of the instruction is just like a pure mirror. The cleaner the mirror is, the cleaner the reflection. Now you are able to see yourself: "Okay, my hair is like that. Oh, I need to shave." Through that, real practice begins.

Prostration: Admiration with Body, Speech and Mind

The first limb is prostration. Normally, we describe three prostrations: body, speech and mind. The body prostration is the physical form of showing respect: folding the hands, a standing prostration, a half prostration and a full prostration. The speech prostration is praise, reciting and chanting the qualities of the object of refuge. And the greatest among the three is the mind prostration: truly admiring, with genuine respect, love and inspiration. You are not just reciting with hands and mouth. You truly have a sense of blessing, and you are opening up your heart.

Within the Vajrayana, after generating or visualizing the deity, there is the Seven-Limb offering. Within the Hinayana and Mahayana, it begins after taking refuge. Prostration without refuge is essentially hollow; it misses the point. Refuge is the key essence of the entire practice. Ask yourself honestly: without a proper understanding of refuge, what kind of deity yoga are you practicing? What kind of guru yoga? Not to mention bodhicitta, what exactly are you cultivating without it?

When your knowing of refuge is clear, it stands there like a mirror, and you are able to see yourself in it. Right now we prostrate to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, yet we often get lost in it, because we haven't understood the joy of refuge. We just recite it and jump into the practice. This leads to confusion. People attend fifteen empowerments and get nothing out of them except back pain from getting older.

The Story of the Buddha: Siddhartha's Limits and His Liberation

The ultimate refuge is the Buddha. We can see it as a story: we are on the ocean, the boat is the Dharma, and the captain is the Sangha. The final destination, the land of safety where you no longer drift, is the Buddha. Once you cross the ocean, you leave both the boat and the captain behind. Don't keep holding on to them.

So what exactly is the Buddha? Who is the Buddha? Shakyamuni Buddha's original name was Siddhartha. No one called him Buddha. If we go through his entire life story, it can give us great clarity, a map of life, and much encouragement. He came exactly as we do. He had physical parents. He went through the entire process from infancy until eighty years old. He ate food and drank water. He had exactly the same organs and senses that we have. He also had emotions.

Of course, he didn't have the problem of "I cannot afford to buy this or that," because he was rich. But even though he had everything, nothing lasts forever. In the entire kingdom, generation after generation, people worked very hard, building houses, believing, "I will be satisfied. There will be some guarantee." Of course there is a certain amount of security, but the larger part of it is imagination. He already had a palace, beautiful surroundings and good food, but still he felt stuck somewhere. He felt quite limited.

Attitude Decides Value: A Story About a Car

So nothing objective, nothing outside can truly guarantee happiness to you. If you have something and you don't appreciate it, you have nothing. It is all up to your own attitude.

There's a funny personal story I want to share. I was born into a very poor family, and the entire nation was very poor. During our childhood there was no television. Slowly television came, from black and white to color. Then the VCR, which changed into DVD. Then there were many Bollywood movies, and Hollywood movies too. The actors were always showing off their cars and their houses, and they looked very happy. In many movies, the actors would start from a poor family, work very hard and then become very rich, with a big house, a big family, a big car. All these imprints went inside my brain: "I must have it."

Then I started to go overseas, to Singapore and Malaysia, and I saw that some students were quite rich, and I got a chance to travel in a nice car. In India, I could only take the public bus, and the buses were terrible. My mind was full of admiration for these things. So one time I asked myself: "In case you get a nice car, are you going to be happy?" I said, "Of course!" But then I asked myself again: "Are you sure?"

Imagine I receive a super expensive car right now, and my bank balance is zero. I cannot drive it in ordinary clothing. I need a big house. I need a big bank balance for maintenance. If there's a scratch, if there's an accident, if it drains a lot of fuel and I don't have the money, it's really torture. So after that sincere questioning, I realized I don't want to create more worries. So I let it go, and I relaxed. Once you have this kind of clarity, the mind starts to settle. Wherever you are, you start to enjoy. You become less dramatic, less driven by desire.

Highly Sensitive and True: The Qualities of the Buddha

The Buddha was actually a highly sensitive person. We see sensitivity as a weakness, because we don't take time to respond wisely. We just react very much in a rush. But every single thing that happens within us, if we truly look at it, brings you to your inner discovery.

He was truly sincere with himself. His father, the king, did everything to keep him from leaving, because it was predicted that if he did not renounce, he would become a universal monarch. So he was given the finest enjoyments of the five senses: fragrant gardens, fine drink, beautiful music, clean and beautiful surroundings. Everything was in abundance, but he didn't feel complete. This is one illusion of the human mind, and he started to question it. He was searching to free himself.

The great quality of the Buddha was that he was very true to himself. People said, "Oh, you are like a god," but he truly knew what he felt. He wanted to witness himself completely free, so that whatever situation he passed through, he could meet it with inner freedom. You don't need to cut ties with anything outside. You fix it within and then you relax. Even after the Buddha reached enlightenment, he didn't stay in the mountains forever. He came back to the villages, communicated with people, and ate the food offered to him. Praise came, criticism came; clean places, dirty places; he was unmoved, because he truly had access to himself.

The Guarantee of Buddha Nature

The Buddha tried many practices, and finally he settled in the ultimate ground, unmoving. That released every obstacle in his mind, and he reached clarity and ease. The majesty and charisma he showed came from his discovery of the sacred within.

So when you say "Namo Buddhaya," never take it as a person. Take it as a certain quality, a certain standard. The Buddha is the ocean itself, and the ocean never shakes. But we are shaky all the time. It's just like a musical instrument: play one tone, and you react. Say something good to you, and you feel good. Say something bad, and you immediately change.

Buddha nature gives us encouragement and hope. If it were not the case that buddha nature exists, the Buddha would be telling us to do this and that based on false premises. There would be no seed. Everyone has that seed. And with that seed, every step we take, every time we invest, there is the possibility of growth. The result is guaranteed.

Going Further in Daily Life: Three Levels of Recollection

When you call "Namo Buddhaya," call to mind the three levels of the Buddha:

1. Outer: the historical Buddha who taught and guided us to liberation.
2. Inner: boundless love, great compassion and great inner stability.
3. Secret: buddha nature itself.

This helps us reflect back on our own life. His hard work and determination to find the way tells us, "Okay, I need to be a little bit dedicated too." He had boundless love and compassion, and I also want to purify my emotions. And this is not only for myself. Someone who is a genuinely happy person moving around, people feel good around them. When you work on yourself, you are actually offering something to wherever you are.

With this kind of healthy attitude, it actually gives you a very deep cleansing. When you start to adapt to boundless love and kindness, your skin tone changes, your heart tension releases, and your ego level reduces. You can act angry when it's necessary, for example with your children, but you don't need to be angry. When you actually become angry, it affects your nerves, your blood and your cells. If you remain angry for a long time, your lips get dry and even your skin changes.

Closing: Drawing Your Own Map

So I want you to work by yourself. Write it down: the Buddha as outer, inner and secret quality. Spend time studying and reflecting on your own inner sensations, the inner level, so that you are clear about yourself. Once that is stable, slowly start to connect with the external world.

When you look at a deity, there is refuge. When you do meditation, there is refuge. When you do guru yoga, there is refuge. It sharpens your intellect, purifies your emotions, and finally lands you in your own true nature. Otherwise we get disturbed all the time, triggered here and there.

Our time is up, very fast. We will do the dedication now, and then we can ask questions. Please turn to page 24.

Seven Limbs, Session 1: Questions and Answers

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2025.09.27

The Heart of Refuge: From the View to the "Aha!" of Your Own Nature

The Essence of Refuge and the Qualities of the Buddha

Today we talked about the essence of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. With that understanding, you feel inspiration, and deep inside you have that clear understanding. Now you are automatically close to the refuge. For some people, refuge becomes more reasonable, more meaningful, more promising.

When I say "I take refuge in the Buddha," there are three areas of the Buddha you are able to see. He is not just the historical Buddha. There are his teachings, his inner qualities, and especially his inner freedom.

These qualities, and this profound exposure to the entire universe, connect your own existence with the entire world. Once you see refuge this way, it becomes a pure path. From a traditional perspective, we cut the hair and go through a ritual, but many people stop there. They idolize the Buddha as a symbol, and the self-reflection is not there.

The Buddha Is a Guide, Not an Idol

So we should study again the outer, inner and secret points of the Buddha. He never meant to spread that message to gain fame. He shared a realization in his own state of being, as a map for you to look and figure it out yourself, with the structure of the Four Noble Truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the path and cessation.

He is saying, "I also used to have the struggle you have now. I went searching for the solution and I found it." We are very lucky that he achieved it. He is not asking you to idolize him. You can show respect, but the message is very clear: "Look within yourself. You need to climb your own ladder. I am going to give you step-by-step guidance."

Finding Your Way Through the Sangha and Practice

Right now in practice, we jump directly into it without identifying what is truly going on within ourselves, our triggers, our hunger. We are very fortunate that he was this kind of sincere person, and he never took it as a profession. The original, authentic practitioners never took it as a job. But nowadays we get distracted by what goes on in the Dharma community. We criticize this monastery, that monk.

If we never forget the direct source, we will never get lost. I myself was born and raised in a monastery. It's not what people fantasize or imagine. Everyone has their own struggles. If a monk or a nun behaves badly, it's their own struggle. Being in a university doesn't mean you automatically gain all that knowledge, and a monastery is exactly the same. Once we clearly know the origin and authenticity, we will never get distracted. Even when some people are doing bad, we don't need to make them enemies. We can spread love and prayer to them.

The "Aha!" of the Qualities

I truly suggest that you spend time with the three values of refuge: outer, inner and secret. It truly reflects back to you. Things become much purer, authentic and simple. Once you see this kind of connection, practice becomes like this: you feel hungry, you find the food and you eat it. It gives real satisfaction.

In the Sutra of Recollecting the Three Jewels, it is said that the Dharma is virtuous in the beginning, virtuous in the middle and virtuous at the end. That virtue means the qualities, the "aha" moment. Like drinking water when you are thirsty, practice must truly give us stability, clarity and freedom.

Homework: Making a Mind Map

Throughout the week, I truly suggest that you make a map of the things we shared. Everybody should do their own map, their own version. Putting it all together helps you organize what is in your mind and turn it into clear, practical understanding.

Seven Limbs, Session 2

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2025.10.04

Prostration, Offering and Awareness: Rooting Practice in Body and Mind

Awakening Awareness: Relaxation Is Where Practice Begins

Feel your body. Calm your mind. Any urgency, any tension, any blockage you may feel in your body, let it relax. Now we shall begin with the opening prayer. When we recite the refuge and bodhicitta prayer in Tibetan or in Chinese, please do not just read through it, because every line of the teaching carries deep meaning.

For example, the line we often recite, "Prostration, offering and confession," already contains three of the Seven Limbs. The Seven Limbs are literally the heart essence, the essential practice of the entire Dharma. So if you want a proper, effective practice, you really need to know its heart, not just recite the words. If we recite the words without breaking through to their meaning, the words cannot free us.

The Practitioner's Priority: You Are the Core

Before jumping into so-called practice, we really need to identify who the practitioner is. The practitioner is the key. We are following the Buddha, we are following the Dharma, we are taking a medicine. So who is the first priority? That priority is actually yourself. We really need to know that.

Whether someone reminds us to practice or we decide to practice ourselves, we should not lose ourselves in it. If you cannot see yourself clearly, you just follow this chanting, that chanting, this practice, that practice. But the effect of that practice must happen to you; that is what we forget. So root yourself, find yourself; everything is here for you. That knowing is very important, one of the core essentials.

The Inner Battlefield: Body and Mind Are Your Greatest Assets

My whole way of learning is to understand any practice as an instruction, and the instruction as a map. And you are the one who is always dealing with your own body. Your body you cannot avoid. Everywhere you go, your body follows, and your problem is within your body. Everywhere you go, even if you go to Lapchi, you have your own emotions, your own thoughts and thinking. We call it your body and your mind. It is with you; you cannot separate it. Within that framework you are struggling. Your limit is there.

When we look at the buddhas and bodhisattvas, especially Shakyamuni Buddha, he was supposed to expand his kingdom, fight many armies and face his opponents. But he found he had a bigger fight than that: he tried to deal with his inner world. Literally, he was working with his own body. Once that body fixation was resolved, he knew that the very root of the body's function is connected with the mind. So he started to observe and gained clearer access to what is called the mind. With that clarity he gained control, and he worked on that mind. So he literally became free in both body and mind. Body and mind became his number one asset, the greatest tool of his life, and that tool spread to all of humanity. More than 2,000 years have passed, and still it shines. So that is a very important point: never forget about yourself. Everything that you are doing, every empowerment you receive, every instruction you receive, you are supposed to familiarize yourself with those two things, your own body and mind. And after that familiarization, you are supposed to purify them.

The Ocean of Samsara and the Boat of Dharma

We try to make a visual map of what we learn. The ocean is samsara. The boat is the Dharma; the Dharma helps us to cross the ocean. And the captain, the rower, is the Sangha. Once we cross the ocean of samsara, we have landed ourselves in a pure land. Visually mapping what we learn truly helps us; it turns an hour of talk into a few pages of essential points.

Mirror-Like Wisdom: A Total and Pure Openness

The Buddha, the ultimate refuge, was not born a buddha. When he was born, he was called Siddhartha Gautama. After his childhood, education and training, he entered the realm of spirituality, and it was not easy: he struggled for six years. But he never stopped. He kept trying and kept searching. Finally he found the so-called land of the enlightened. When he witnessed himself there, his entire shadow was removed, his entire burden was removed. Totally free. That state we call enlightened, awakened.

So what does it feel like? It is a total openness to everything that exists. Our minds are limited. Once we open our eyes, we have a problem with this tree, a problem with that bird. Opening the eyes is no problem, but the mind starts to make judgments, and those judgments reflect our own limitations, not what is really out there.

The Buddha's mind is completely open to all existence, like an ocean, like space. Wherever he looks, he sees himself. Among the five Buddha wisdoms, we call this mirror-like wisdom, which means there is a mirror everywhere. It is so beautiful. When you enter this kind of awareness, you start to see your own mind everywhere, full of mirrors. The Buddha never went out to fix anything; he stays right here, unmoved, unshakable, and sees the drama of the mind. From the very beginning, he said: just be sincere and honest, be truthful to yourself. When you ask with an open heart what is going on, everything reveals itself to you. And with that, we develop a calm and collected personality.

The Secret Refuge: The Seed of Awakening

The ultimate refuge is the secret refuge. The secret Buddha is the buddha nature itself; we call it awakened for a reason. It is there, but in a sleeping state. Because there is buddha nature, everything is possible. Otherwise, if we did not know the true nature of every one of us, every effort we make would not guarantee any result. The Buddha's inner quality is boundless openness and complete purity. It is like a light, and light and darkness never coexist.

Right now, when we do something good outside, the light is already clearing things within us, but we forget this and think we are still in a dark zone. When we praise the Buddha, it helps us to reflect on our own state. The historical Buddha's presence is so majestic, charismatic, full of lightness, standing in ultimate confidence. And when we look at ourselves, we are a being with a body full of burden, stress, stiffness and pain. Remember the example of the fish and the water. Just as we sometimes wish to escape society, imagine a fish wanting to escape the water: if it escapes the water, it is going to die. And if the fish stays in the water but pollutes and poisons it, it is going to get sick. Just like that, we are fish in the water, and the water is your mind. The body listens to what the mind says, so the body is tense. Now it is time for us to purify the water of the mind, so that the body can truly relax.

The Art of Offering: From the Six Senses to All of Existence

There are three levels of offering: outer, inner and secret.

• Outer offering: the traditional eight offerings. The first two are drinking water and water for washing the feet, from the ancient Indian tradition of receiving a guest. The remaining six (flowers, incense, light, perfume, food and music) are directly connected with our six senses. The offerings do not need to be expensive, but what matters most is that they are beautiful to your heart, so that when you offer them you feel happy and clean.
• Inner offering (multiplying into the limitless): This is a next-level practice. One flower is no longer just one flower; through your mind wave, it represents all the flowers existing in the entire universe. Our practice is not a closed-door practice; like a fish in the water, the mind is exposed to our whole ecosystem and our world. With a heart full of joy and gratefulness, we offer all these beautiful things to the great beings.
• Secret offering (ultimate reality): This is the most essential part. We offer the ultimate nature of that flower, its essential innermost beauty, its buddha nature.

Living Like an Artist

The bodhisattvas are like real artists. In modern society, artists turn ordinary things into masterpieces; they have a way of finding the beauty in things. In the same way, bodhisattvas find beauty and meaning in ordinary life. We have a choice to think like that: we can live in a common, boring experience, or, like an artist, make a pure connection with everything in the world. When you enter practice with the presence of the dharmakaya, every limitation becomes boundless, grand, vast, infinite.

Conclusion: Return to Body and Mind, and Walk the Path of Liberation

The core essential is: never forget yourself. Your body is going to show you what the real problem is. Stay close to yourself. When you check on your body, you may find your heart is tense, you are unable to breathe well. A very active or very extreme mind makes you feel that.

The Buddha himself had no interest in worship or in controlling his students. Does he need your prostration? Is he hungry, so that you need to offer him something? He has everything. He is here to deliver the message: "I have shown you the path that can lead you to liberation. Now it is up to you to climb your own ladder." Whatever he offers is not just for Buddhist society but for all humanity; all of humanity is struggling. Please put what you learn into a visual map, and truly practice it in your life.

Seven Limbs, Session 3

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2025.10.25

Confession and Refuge: The Path of Purity Back to Our True Nature

Breathing Practice: Calming the Waves of the Mind

Good morning. Wonderful to have everyone here. First, let's try to relax for two minutes. We will equalize the breath: just match the length of the breath. Inhale one, two; exhale one, two. Inhale one, two; exhale one, two. If you are relaxed enough, then you can count with one, two, three: one, two, three; one, two, three. This technique is very powerful. It automatically and immediately helps you to calm your mind.

Now let's begin. Breathe in: one, two, three. Breathe out: one, two, three. Now let's try to do pumping. We will do about 60 or 70. Slowly and gently, let's begin. Relax a bit.

(After the opening prayers)

Refuge: The Complete Framework of Practice

Today we are discussing confession, right? This program is about the Seven Limbs, and we have already shared refuge and offering. I got some of your mind maps, and I am very happy about it. There is some good effort you have put in there. But still, it feels like we need a little bit more discussion about our mind maps.

(An exchange during a network delay: "Is it my network or yours?" "No, it's the delay; we couldn't hear you just now." "Okay. Teaching online is really not easy.")

So let me remind you again and again: no matter what deity, no matter what kind of meditation or practice you do, everything needs to be directly connected with refuge itself. The problem is that when we do an offering without refuge, when we do confession without refuge, when we do rejoicing without refuge, then our work and our practice become like single, random pieces. They are not able to contribute to the entire framework of building up the house. Whenever you are making an offering, or whenever you are doing something good, if we lack that pure structure of refuge, then in that moment it feels a little bit good, but deep inside it is difficult for us to achieve the so-called transformation of the mind. Therefore, a proper understanding of refuge is very, very important. That is where the full benefit of the practice comes to us directly. The benefit, the power, the effect of refuge: its impact becomes very much clearer to us.

The Threefold Qualities of the Buddha: A Mirror That Reflects Ourselves

Among the three refuges, the Buddha himself is the supreme refuge. Once we focus on refuge, we start to see the Buddha's outer quality, inner quality, and secret quality.

• Outer quality: all the qualities and all the greatness that this outer person possesses.
• Inner quality: his boundless, unshakable confidence, like an ocean, and his limitless kindness and compassion.
• Secret quality: his true nature, the buddha nature itself.

Through the outer, inner, and secret qualities of the Buddha, we are somehow able to reflect our own state of being. It is just like a pure mirror that helps you to see yourself clearly. When we truly do proper refuge practice, we are immediately able to see all these things. It is not just making offerings to the Buddha or doing confession to the Buddha. The very essence and purpose of the practice is directly connected with the purification of your own body and your own mind. We have our own emotions, our own thoughts and thinking, our own deep identity. Without that purification, no matter how many millions of mantras we repeat, if we refuse to change, if we refuse to end that lack of clarity and stability, the practice will hardly take effect.

The Four Powers of Confession: From Support to Remedy

Now let's focus directly on confession. Confession has four powers:

1. The power of support: this is actually the ultimate refuge itself.
2. The power of regret: knowing and regretting.
3. The power of resolution: making a firm decision.
4. The power of remedial action: taking action to set things right.

The power of support is actually refuge. The refuge we see in the Buddha helps us to see refuge within our own true nature, our own inner quality, and our own thoughts and thinking. When we look at the Buddha's outer, inner, and secret qualities, they clearly reflect our own emotions and our true nature. In ordinary life, when you realize you have done something wrong and you say to a close friend, someone you admire, respect and love, "I am not going to do that anymore," it has tremendous power.

In a normal situation, this kind of support helps us to fulfill our commitments, the habits we want to change. But with the support of refuge, it truly gives us access to the ultimate source, the treasure of our own true nature. For me, every single practice we do is guaranteed by being directly connected with refuge itself. All practices are connected with refuge. If we look with the eyes of that connection, every practice is connected with the others, and there is a profound benefit.

The Power of Regret: The Wisdom That Recognizes Poison

The second is the power of regret. Regret for what? What kind of regret? It is just like something you didn't know about, and you ate or drank it, and then your friend said, "This is something very dirty," or "This has something poisonous in it." And you finally know it. Once you know that, you feel terrible: "Oh no, now I am going to die. This is horrible."

So that knowing is the key. Ultimately, regret and guilt mean you know you are doing something wrong. But if that knowing is only ordinary (in society we also say that regret is good, guilt is good), that really doesn't free us at all. You may not do the same thing you did today, but something new will appear tomorrow. If the very foundation of our guilt and regret is unclear and unstable, the problem cannot be uprooted.

When we go directly back to the power of support, back to the three qualities of the Buddha, those three things come back to you. Your outer body doesn't yet possess those pure qualities, your emotion doesn't yet have that boundless quality, and you are not yet fully ripened into your buddha nature. But it reminds you: no matter how distracted I am right now, I can still achieve it, because I have that buddha nature within myself. It gives you great confidence.

Resolution and Remedy: The Courage to Keep Practicing

Until we attain enlightenment, mistakes and distractions are bound to happen in every practice and in every part of life. There is always a limitation. So we may feel, "I haven't done enough. This is not enough." But we don't have to be overly sensitive about these mistakes.

That is the third point, the power of resolution: no matter what kind of problem is happening to us, we keep reminding ourselves and come back. Let's come back to your buddha nature. Let's come back to your own boundless emotional qualities. Let's come back to this precious human life. And the fourth, the power of remedial action, the antidote, means that we don't need to focus on "I have made a great mistake." You can simply resume the practice you are doing.

These four points of confession remind you that refuge is always there.

The "Gap" Between Thoughts and Identities

What I am trying to remind you is: don't separate the practice of offering, or confession, or any other practice, from refuge. Apart from refuge, it is not actual practice. Ultimately, we truly want to attain that ultimate gift: ultimate access to ourselves, our true nature.

The more you do the refuge practice, the clearer the outer, inner, and secret parts of the Buddha become to you, and you are able to see the same buddha nature within yourself. The Buddha has such unshakable confidence and pure witness. For us, there is an enemy connection, a friend connection, a relative connection, many different connections. For him, every connection becomes one simple, pure connection, just like air, which is the very source of life itself.

Thinking comes and goes. Emotion comes and goes. Even identity comes and goes. Between the first thought and the second thought there is a gap. When that gap becomes bigger, it is the background. That very background is directly connected with our own true nature.

Deity Yoga and Expanding the Emotions

When we do deity yoga, we need to know that the secret refuge is buddha nature, and that secret refuge is deity yoga itself. If we do deity yoga with a very ordinary attitude, we lose the whole picture.

• Deity yoga: connected with identity, purifying self-grasping.
• The inner level: connected with bodhicitta, purifying the emotions.
• The outer level: connected with pure vision, purifying our thoughts and thinking.

If we are unable to connect, we may call it deity yoga practice, but it does not actually work. Every practice is about gaining liberation from suffering, and suffering is based within your own body, your own thoughts and thinking, and your emotions. Within that framework, the ordinary identity slowly dissolves and fades away. In our true nature, we try to rest and relax. In those inner boundless qualities, we try to expand our emotion, just like the bodhicitta practice: expand it as much as possible, make it as big as possible.

Conclusion: Discussing and Growing in Daily Life

(News: Next week I am going to Lapchi in Nepal. After that I will go to see my father; he is more than 90 years old and nowadays he is not healthy. During Lapchi we don't have internet, so after that we can arrange a discussion. Very soon I will be coming back to Taiwan.)

Now let's do the dedication.

(After the dedication prayers)

We still have 15 minutes. My sharing is just like opening up some ideas, some techniques, some information. There are still many things you need to digest and see structurally clearly. Now the really important part begins: this is not only a discussion, and it is not something to hear once and leave behind. I don't want you to just listen and go. Otherwise it is just like attending a movie hall: you watch the cinema and then go away. Then it is really a waste of our precious time and our precious connection.

So I suggest everyone discuss and share with each other and help each other. You can also suggest to me, "Rinpoche, next time how about we do questions and answers, or a discussion?" It will be a purer and smoother connection based on what we need. Have a wonderful, blessed day.

Seven Limbs, Concluding Session | Practice

GarTul Chimi Dorjee Rinpoche | Oseling Meditation Center Taiwan | 2026.01.10

Practicing the Seven Limbs: A Path of Awakening That Begins with Inner Dialogue

Why Practice the Seven Limbs?

This time I prepared this text especially, because we have previously covered the offerings quite clearly and in enough detail. According to these short verses we have, in order to practice the Seven Limbs, at least we need to know very clearly the names of these seven. The verse only states the names, but traditionally, the Seven-Limb offering begins with prostration. Then comes the offering, very carefully arranged (usually we try to have a set of eight different offerings).

Then the third is confession, and confession is traditionally done with a reading of the Confession to the Thirty-Five Buddhas (the Sutra of the Three Heaps), or it can be your own usual way of confessing. Then come rejoicing, requesting the turning of the wheel of Dharma, requesting the buddhas to remain, and finally dedication. There are many details, and sometimes we get lost in those details. A common problem is that we just read it out and that's it, or we recite the verse while quickly doing a prostration, without much connection in our heart. This is what normally happens in pujas and practice. But if you look at the details, prostration is very much connected with refuge; the offering is connected with the eight auspicious offerings; confession is connected with the Thirty-Five Buddhas and the four powers. If we cannot handle these details well, we are unable to put the practice together.

Three Steps of Practice: Study, Digest, Extract

Some special instructions state that knowing the details is very important, but at the very end we really need an overall picture, the essence of all these details, so that during practice it becomes truly effective. I always suggest bringing the Seven-Limb practice into daily life, and I will make it into three stages:

1. Study: it is just like reading the map in order to go somewhere. Spend a little bit of quality time to figure it out, but don't always just study; you need time to digest.
2. Digest: once you have studied the details, digest them and make them as simple as possible.
3. Extract: whether you have one minute, five minutes, or ten minutes, you are able to grab the essence immediately. Not the very abstract, detailed version of what you learned, but the juice of it. If you decide to practice for only three minutes, you can immediately feel that taste. Today, first we will try to have a clear picture of each of the Seven Limbs. Later we will talk about why it is so important, and then how we connect it with our own life.

The Great Secret of Inner Dialogue

Seven-Limb Prayer to Tara

This text is very beautiful, very nice. It is written by Bhikshuni Lakshmi (Gelongma Palmo). Before, I was reading this a lot, and personally, for the practice of the Seven Limbs, I truly prefer this text. Sometimes when I travel by bus and the moon arises, and the moon's reflection appears on the river, I just recite this. The Seven Limbs follow in exact order, first, second, third, all seven, so there is no confusion. It is very clear, it feels very easy, and the essential points are all there.

One main secret is this: when you are reading, it is just like self-talk. Normally when we read it out, we never take it as self-talk, "This is what I am going to do; I can do it." We don't believe in ourselves, so the words just slip away. Beyond the meaning of the words, your ears are listening and your body also starts to feel. Actually, everyone is talking to themselves all the time. Sometimes too much self-talk is regarded as a mental disease. But actually there is nothing in life without self-talk. Even if you want to eat something, you make a self-talk first, and then your body says, "Okay, let's do that." What we need is balance: a very healthy self-talk. That self-talk can truly uplift you, support you, and heal you. That is a very crucial point.

Refuge: The Soul of the Seven Limbs

I want you to pinpoint this very clearly: everything that happens, both good and bad, is very much connected with how you talk to yourself. We should not just let ourselves chatter randomly, without any organization. If it happens randomly, then you never have any control over your energy and the emotions you experience. With that healthy self-talk, if we follow the seven steps one by one, the practice becomes meaningful for you, instead of the dry execution of a program.

There is no practice that does not include the Seven Limbs. The first one is called prostration, but what is its essence? It is actually the practice of refuge itself. Among all the Seven Limbs, refuge is the key; refuge is the heart. Whatever is on the altar, whatever deities, whatever offering objects you have, the object of refuge must possess enlightened qualities. Sometimes there is a limited understanding of refuge, as if it were only about our own commitment, but we need to look deeper. The real Buddha is not that person. The real Buddha is what he finally achieved, or unveiled. In exactly the same way, the great bodhisattvas are all connected with that inner awakening. Whatever form a deity takes, we are essentially connected with their profound inner qualities. We really need eyes intelligent and sharp enough to see these inner qualities. That is the key of refuge.

Buddha Nature: The Guarantee of Practice

The point of the practice is the true nature of every sentient being, our so-called buddha nature. We do have buddha nature. The Buddha himself also had buddha nature. Therefore every effort of purification he made led to a guaranteed revelation. Because we have buddha nature, every effort is guaranteed. Once we have a clear understanding of the outer, inner, and secret aspects of refuge, it completely changes our attitude to practice.

Without that vision, you only focus on temporary benefits. Think of a clean cloth with a stain: you know the cloth was originally clean, so you put effort into washing it. Once it is clean, the washing can be put down. Refuge is the same. The Buddha is the ultimate refuge, and the Dharma is like the boat for crossing the river. Practice is important, but once you reach the other shore, you leave the boat. Refuge gives us the sense of direction: when to remove the stains and when to stop.

We have the same buddha nature as the buddhas of the past, present, and future. Actually, we are the future buddhas. That buddha nature is within us, but we have a chattering mind that really needs training. Very often our own talk is hurting us: your friend says, "Oh, you are great," but you tell yourself, "I am not good enough." Knowing "I also have buddha nature" is the actual real vision. With that vision, every offering and every effort brings you closer to the destination.

Liberation in Daily Life

The Buddha never wanted you to follow him as an idol. As a human being, he also went through emotions and the same human problems, and finally he found freedom. Even with friends and family, we never completely rest; there is always tension building up. But he came to the point where nothing bothered him anymore. His message was: "I have found this way. You better follow it and experience it yourself." You need to allow yourself to sink completely into your own being, keep observing yourself, and you will land on that ground of your true nature.

We try to replace the ordinary way of thinking with skillful observation. If you have a positive way of looking at things, your heart starts to relax, and blockages and pain in the body can also be overcome. At the same time, be aware of posture, exercise, and food, because they all affect the body. Every morning nature offers you a platform of freedom; your thoughts come from your own choices. Practice is learning to live with yourself, to see whether you are friendly enough to yourself. Mind and body should not be like two enemies forced to share one room, tormenting each other.

When you make an offering, be aware that the one who receives it has buddha nature. This inspires you: "I also want those qualities." That is the inner refuge. In confession, don't get stuck in guilt. You recognize the mistake (the power of regret), decide never to repeat it (the power of resolution), find the object of refuge (the power of support), and replace it with a positive action (the power of remedial action). Remember: those mistakes, those stains, can never replace your true nature. They can only cloud it.

Conclusion: The Artistic Offering of the Six Senses

Of the eight offerings, the first two are water, which represent welcoming a guest. The remaining ones, flowers, incense, light, and so on, are connected with our six senses. When you offer one flower, let it represent all the flowers existing in this world. This purifies your perception. Whatever you see, hear, and smell becomes an artistic offering to the Buddha and to your own buddha nature.

You need to read the situation first. When a bad thought pops up, have the courage to make a clear-cut decision. Don't be forever learning; put it into practice. Finally, I want to make an important point about rejoicing. Jealousy is worse than anger. We should rejoice in other people's good actions: they may be doing wrong 99% of the time, but for that 1% of good, we must have the attitude to rejoice. With the attitude of rejoicing alone, you walk through the street and find everything to admire. Observe yourself well, make a good plan, and put yourself fully into the practice. Thank you, everyone. Let's do the dedication together.