Lama Zopa Rinpoche reads the Mahamudra lineage prayer and explains the fundamental meaning of mahamudra. He says it is the unification of emptiness and dependent arising. No phenomena exist without being empty. All phenomena are sealed by emptiness; they exist by dependent arising, being merely imputed by the mind, related to the base. Rinpoche also outlines the supreme mahamudra, which is the path of unification.

Rinpoche continues reading the Mahamudra lineage prayer and explains how to meditate on the points. He says that by knowing the life stories of the lineage lamas, so much faith is generated. For example, by knowing Lama Tsongkhapa’s life story, it’s easier to develop devotion. Rinpoche also explains how to see each lineage lama and your own guru as one. He says that when we say ‘Lama Tsongkhapa’, it’s not that. ‘Lama’ means your own root guru, so you are looking at it as one. In this way, the Mahamudra lineage prayer is combined with guru yoga.

Rinpoche cites a lama who said, ‘I have no other meditation except the guru’. By this, he meant there’s no deity you visualize that is not the guru.

From April 10 to May 10, 2004, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave extensive teachings during the Mahamudra Retreat at Buddha House in Australia. While the retreat focused on Mahamudra, Rinpoche also taught on a wide range of Lamrim topics. This retreat marked the beginning of a series of month-long retreats in Australia. Subsequent retreats were held in 2011, 2014, and 2018, hosted by the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo.

Find out more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, his teachings and projects at https://fpmt.org/