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The Fifth Root Downfall of the Bodhisattva Vow

The Fifth Root Downfall of the Bodhisattva Vow

The following is respectfully quoted from a commentary on the Bodhisattva Vows by Geshi Tashi: http://www.bodhicitta.net/BODHISATTVAVOWS.htm

5.    Taking Offerings Intended for the Three Jewels

Taking offerings intended for the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is considered a root downfall. Here the Buddha means any buddha image as well as the actual Buddha himself. At Jamyang [...]

Astrology

A last minute work effort takes up much of the early part of the day, and then social and diplomatic relationships become important.  Form alliances!  Partner up with people!  Others help in unimaginable ways.  A lifting off of the current stress comes as a result of friendly interactions.  Conversation, the news, the mail and messages [...]

Short Confession from Nam Cho Ngondro Vajrasattva

Short Confession from Nam Cho Ngondro Vajrasattva

The following prayer is a short confession from the Nam Cho Dzogchen Ngondro Vajrasattva practice:

In the View, I confess all commitments broken through mental activity. Knowing the View is the all-pervasive foundational Bodhicitta; realizing that the View exists in non-existence, and practicing meditation that is non-existent, realizing that activity is neither existent nor [...]

Astrology

Hard work, attention to detail and a solid grasp of the facts propel business matters forward today.  A favorable deal is made, and a job offer can come.  Take it.  A powerful energy has people zipping around cleaning, organizing and working like mad.  It feels good and it is.  Keep it up.  A chatty energy [...]

I Am Awake

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “The Foundation of Bodhicitta”

The Buddha simply displayed enlightened activity and he gave teachings on enlightened activity. It has not been the custom of those who have truly obtained realization or those who have obtained a high level of realization (perhaps [...]

The Way Out

An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called Turning Adversity Into Felicity

When we practice Guru Yoga, we actually begin to develop the view that the lama is the source of liberation.  We begin to understand using traditional, prescribed images.  For instance, we are taught that we should think of samsara as [...]

Bliss Happens

An excerpt from a teaching called Awakening from Non-Recognition by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

There are so many amazing ways that you can practice. I’ve seen it again and again in the greatest practitioners, but only in the greatest, so we aspire to this. I think about stories I’ve heard about the Tibetan Bodhisattvas. For [...]

Cry!

In our divided

clinging consciousness

In our ego-centered

dreaming

we are bound.

Flung

Unaided, unable

to distinguish

The nature that is peace.

Drunken

Imagining distinction

in the nature that

is form and formless

Grieving

for we have seen

the difference

Between the crystal and the nectar

that fills it

with its emptiness

Oh..

If [...]

The Ultimate Technology

An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called Compassion is the Only Lasting Antidote to Suffering

We were raised to believe that reality can be manipulated.  Our libraries are filled with books of great American success stories.  These tend to be about material successes.  But the spiritual aspirant must ask: Will this [...]

Enlightenment is Awakening

An excerpt from a teaching called How Buddhists Think by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

In their Nature, all sentient beings are essentially the Buddha––all humans, all animals, even all the microscopic little beings   running around on the tips or our noses.  We should regard that Nature as the basis or seed of the Path.  The [...]

Your Guru

Ven Gyaltrul Rinpoche

From The Spiritual Path:  A Compilation of Teachings by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Teacher is the cornerstone of all practice. The Teacher is everything—the underlying strength and the means by which transmission and understanding occur.

Let us compare the Teacher’s function with the function of various [...]

Compassion – The Foundation of the Path

An excerpt from the Vow of Love Series by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

In a superficial way the idea of compassion can seem very simple, and we might make the mistake of thinking that we understand it. But if we study compassion deeply, eventually we will come to understand that the ultimate view of compassion [...]

The Benefits of the Awakening Mind

Here is another excerpt from the first chapter of A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life called “The Benefits of the Awakening Mind.”  May these words written by Shantideva inspire all who encounter them.

#26

How can I fathom the depths

Of the goodness of this jewel of the mind,

The panacea that relieves the world of pain

And is [...]

The Beginning of Awakening

An excerpt from the Mindfulness workshop given by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo in 1999

One of the practices that we are taught as Buddhists is that always, always, Guru Rinpoche should be above the crown of our heads.  We should be mindful that Guru Rinpoche is always there, seated on his lotus throne.  Upon going to [...]

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