Student: About 15 years ago, I did the lamrim course at Kopan Monastery and took some lay vows from you. A couple of years after that, I decided that these lay vows were not the right thing for me and I asked you to take them back.

My dear James,

A student wrote to Rinpoche saying she had given up her practice commitments because she did not feel she had been doing them authentically, and she felt guilty and bad about that.

Dear Karen,I am surprised you want to give back your Yamantaka commitments. You should know that many Westerners do manage to practice. Your view is just the way you think.

Dear Lama Zopa Rinpoche,

My very dear one,I am sorry I only just now read your letter that you gave during the retreat, I am very sorry for the many eons of delay.

A student found that she was becoming negative in relation to her guru and she saw faults in the guru's actions, even though she had previously felt much respect and faith. Rinpoche gave this advice.

My very dear, most dear Chris, I have received your kind letter. I am very surprised somebody like you stayed on the path, or stayed with me. If I had given up on you, I wouldn’t write to you or advise you. It doesn’t make sense.

A student wrote to Rinpoche for advice because she found that being close to the gurus and holy beings brought up anxiety and harmful thoughts. Rinpoche had previously advised that she should do 10,000 Dorje Khadro mantras and 300,000 prostrations to the Thirty-five Buddhas. She had completed the Dorje Khadro mantras and had started doing the Thirty-five Buddhas practice, reciting 105 each day with a few prostrations. She was elderly and in poor health.

You have to understand that what causes all the realizations of the path and all the limitless qualities of the Buddha, whether you get enlightened or not, is guru devotion.