In this talk Venerable Thubten Tarpa shares her personal experiences with opinions and mental obstacles within Dharma practice.
She emphasizes the importance of reflecting on opinions over extended periods to gain deeper insights and understanding.
By staying with a topic for a long time, one can uncover useful opinions that are free from afflictions or attachments.
Thubten Tarpa highlights the disadvantages of being overly opinionated, such as the inability to listen to others and the tendency towards judgmental thinking.
She advocates for practicing equanimity when handling opinions, which can lead to a more balanced and open mindset.
Thubten Tarpa also addresses the mental hurdles faced by Western practitioners of Dharma, specifically focusing on the role of doubt.
She describes doubt as a mental state that hinders realization and personal growth.
Through her personal journey, she found that taking a wider perspective and examining topics from various angles can help overcome these obstacles.
Using the analogy of the mind being an ocean, she conveys the importance of maintaining spaciousness and grace in one’s thoughts.
Thubten Tarpa encourages practitioners to choose a topic, such as opinions, and explore it thoroughly over time to cultivate deeper understanding and learning.
