Advice for a Sincere New Student

Your everyday practice should be lamrim meditation with the Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga prayer. In the morning, do prostrations with the Thirty-five Buddhas prayers. If you can do this practice three times, it will make more than one hundred which is very good. If you have no time, once is OK. In the evening recite the long Vajrasattva mantra with prostrations. If possible recite one mala (108 mantras); if not, recite the mantra at least 21 times.

Generally, do meditation on guru devotion for five months, renunciation for five months, bodhicitta for five months and emptiness for five months.

Eventually, after some time take a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation, with tantric vows, and meditate on single-pointed concentration; on tum-mo, inner heat. Your main deity is Cittamani Tara, although Chakrasamvara also looks good for you.

For retreat, whenever you can do it, meditate on the lamrim:

• Guru devotion for five months
• Bodhicitta meditation for five months
• Emptiness meditation for five months.

Preliminary practices for you to do are:

• Tsa-tsas: 200,000
• Dorje Khadro fire puja: 700,000