Geshe Thubten Palzang
All of you are old students. If you're thinking, "I've heard this teaching before and it's not necessary to listen to it again!"—that's not a correct attitude.
Learning Buddhism isn't like learning to drive or cook. Once you've learned driving or cooking, you simply put it into action with your hands or legs. But with Dharma, even if you have understood the concepts, the practice is about cultivating your mind. The mind has to habituate to a new way of thinking or perceiving. That's why you must repetitively familiarize the mind with new Dharmic habits.
Take cultivating compassion for instance. The power of compassion grows stronger through repeated contemplation on this topic. The more you think about it, the stronger your compassion becomes.
It is the same for anger. If someone keeps talking behind your back, repeating the same old criticisms of you over and over again, the more you get to hear about it, the more anger builds up.
By the same logic, even if you've heard the same Dharma teachings before, if you engage in contemplation while listening, the more times you listen, the stronger the power of virtue in your mind.
Doing analytical or investigative meditation will enhance the power of virtue in your mind. Besides that, regularly listening to Dharma, reading Dharma texts, or even expressing your understandings in writing are all usable methods to reinforce and increase the virtue in our mind.
In truth, Buddhist practices are mostly about training our minds. For me, one reason for teaching the Dharma is also to habituate my own mind to the Dharma. So, regardless of whether you've heard these teachings before, it's essential to listen repeatedly and contemplate the teachings again and again.
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Geshe la is recognized as an extraordinary teacher and meditator, having done numerous retreats over the last 20 years. This experience has resulted in Geshe-la being known for his profound comprehension of emptiness, and unique style of teaching which transforms some of the most difficult philosophical concepts to become easily understood and accessible.
