Still all the tulkus being born are men.

All of the external circumstances and the rude and difficult people we meet, instead of getting angry, upset, or frustrated, we see that we can take them all and use them on the path in a way that actually invigorates and strengthens us, rather than defeats us. It's all very practical advice, and that's why I talk a lot about how to make our daily life into Dharma practice, otherwise it's easy to feel hopeless and helpless.

Meditation is a way to take us to a deeper level of awareness.

Obviously the dharma is every breath we take, every thought we think, every word we speak, if we do it with awareness and an open, caring heart.

One thing in the Buddhadharma is that we are not our body, we are not our gender.

We have to know what is Buddhadharma and what is not Buddhadharma. It needn't go on forever. You don't have to spend 18 years at it. But still, a basic and uncompromised understanding of Buddhist principles is important. Very basic: the three signs of being, the four noble rruths, karma, and so on.

When I was in retreat I just did my meditation sessions and, in-between, reading and things I had to do.