My very dear Jim,Thank you very much for your kind letter. Sorry for the long delay in replying.It is best if you can meditate daily practicing Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, as well as reciting one lamrim prayer each day.

You should always remember retreat means making war on delusions. You have to always remember this – this is inner war, but this is a one-time war.

1. Do some nyung näs while you are there. You can finish the twenty that are left, out of the 100 you are doing.2. Recite each of the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names 100 times daily.

My very dear one,Thank you very much for your kind letter. This is my advice for you as to what practices to do:100,000 mandala offerings100,000 prostrations to the Thirty-five BuddhasCombine this with lamrim meditation.

Dear most precious one, you who are not a seeker of liberation for yourself but a seeker of enlightenment for all sentient beings.I am extremely happy with what you are doing because you are practicing the heart of the eighty four thousand teachings

My very dear Carolyn,I hope you are well. It is a great opportunity to be able to do retreat, please do it with bodhicitta. However, the best one is to do it with the thought of impermanence and death.

Rinpoche received an email from a group of practitioners who had completed a Vajrasattva retreat. They wrote offering Rinpoche all the merits from their retreat and dedicating the merits so that all his wishes are fulfilled. Rinpoche sent the following response.

Just being in a cave… What is retreat for? It is to realize the three principles, and to create merit and purify. This is what is required for realization.

The secret Mahayana Vajrayana teachings include the “offering burning” practice (Tibetan: jin.sek). Every item offered in burning pujas is good for some purpose. There are various substances that are offered to the deity during the fire puja.

A student working at a Dharma center wished to do retreat for about two weeks. He wrote: “With folded hands I respectfully ask that Rinpoche kindly advises me on the subject for this retreat. Kind Lama, please suggest to me what would be most beneficial for those who I work with and all of the kind mother sentient beings who have been so kind to me.”