Meditations for the Rest of Your Life — Teachings by Geshe Michael Roach

In a rare and powerful lecture at the Lincoln Center in New York City, Geshe Michael Roach shared deep meditative practices rooted in Master Kamalashila’s commentary on the Diamond Cutter Sutra. The event allowed both newcomers and long-time students to experience advanced teachings traditionally offered only in retreats or online sessions.

Who Is Geshe Michael Roach?

Geshe Michael Roach is a Princeton graduate and one of the first Westerners to earn the geshe degree — equivalent to a Ph.D. in Tibetan Buddhism. He co-founded Andin International Diamond Corporation in New York, later sold to Warren Buffett, and created the Diamond Cutter Institute (DCI) to share ancient Buddhist wisdom globally in business, relationships and addiction recovery.

The Foundation — Master Kamalashila & the Diamond Cutter Sutra

The talk was built on Kamalashila’s rare commentary on the Diamond Cutter Sutra — a lost Sanskrit text preserved only in Tibetan. From the first quarter of that commentary Geshe Michael extracted 25 meditations to guide practitioners toward a deeper grasp of emptiness and spiritual evolution.

The Five Stages of Spiritual Life

• Stage 1 — Disaster Personal crisis or suffering sparks spiritual search.
• Stage 2 — Realization Understanding that external reality (including others’ actions) arises from one’s own mental seeds.
• Stage 3 — Direct Perception Seeing emptiness directly in deep meditation, triggering irreversible transformation.
• Stage 4 — Application Living daily with joyful compassion, using emptiness to help others.
• Stage 5 — Enlightenment Attaining Buddhahood and benefiting countless beings.

Emptiness Explained — the “Pen” Analogy

When a human and a dog look at a pen, the human sees a writing tool, the dog sees a chew toy. When no one observes it, it is neither. Objects do not exist inherently; they arise from the observer’s seeds. Events and people reflect our past actions — the essence of emptiness.

How to Plant Seeds for a Better Life

• Step 1 – Define your goal: Be specific (e.g., financial independence).
• Step 2 – Find someone with the same goal: A person you can genuinely support.
• Step 3 – Help them regularly: Dedicate at least one hour per week to assisting them.
• Step 4 – Rejoice: Each night review your good deed with joy to accelerate the seed’s ripening.

FAQ

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Further materials — including all 25 meditations — are available free on the ACI Knowledge Base as well as on diamondcutterclassics.com.