Opportunities that counteract attachment
Dagmo Kusho Sakya 
Parting from the Four Clingings 
Jul 21, 2012 Part 1 of a two-part teaching by H. E. Dagmo Kusho Sakya on Parting from the Four Attachments, a four-line teaching spoken by Manjushri to Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, father and founder of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. Given at Sravasti Abbey in July 2012.
- Background on Sakya master Sachen Kunga Nyingpo and origin of the text
- Four-line teaching contains essential points of Mahayana Buddhism
- Attachment to self-interest impedes pure Dharma practice; our opportunity is to practice for the benefit of all sentient beings
- Nature of samsara is dissatisfaction; our opportunity is to remember impermanence and suffering
- Guidance on proper devotion to teacher, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha
Parting from the Four Attachments, as translated by Her Eminence during this teaching:
If you are attached to this life, you are not a person of Dharma.
If you are attached to cyclic existence, you will not have renunciation.
If you are attached to your own purpose, you will not have bodhicitta.
If grasping arises, you will not have the view.
For Part 2 of this two-part teaching, see Practical advice on attachment and pilgrimage
Dagmo Kusho Sakya
Dagmo Kusho Sakya—affectionately known as Dagmo-la by her students— has taught twice at Sravasti Abbey, conferring initiation and inspiring practitioners to bring Dharma in their daily lives. Dagmo-la was born in Kham, Eastern Tibet. As the niece of one of the most highly realized Sakya masters of the twentieth century, H.E. Deshung Rinpoche III, she had unusual access to Buddhist training and began studying at an early age. On a pilgrimage to Sakya, the headquarters of one of the four major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, she met her future husband, His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya Rinpoche, who was being prepared to become the Head Lama of the Sakya Order. Upon marriage, Dagmo Kusho Sakya accepted the heavy responsibilities of entering the ranks of Tibetan nobility and of representing the ancient tradition of this spiritual lineage. She tells the story of her youth, marriage, and harrowing escape from Tibet in the beautiful autobiography, Princess in the Land of Snows. With her husband, the late Dagchen Rinpoche, Dagmo Kusho founded what became the Sakya Monastery in 1974 in Seattle, where she still resides. Dagmo-la regularly bestows empowerments and teaches at Sakya Monastery. She founded the Tara Ling Center in Pasadena, California, and has established centers in Kona, Hawaii; Flagstaff, Arizona; and Mexico City.
