Even Small Kindnesses Matter

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo given at Palyul Ling Retreat 2012:

One way that I teach people is online.  I have a Twitter account and many times we just tweet.  Do you know what Twitter is?  Some of you do?  Maybe?  Ok.  So what we do is we teach them Om Mani Pedme Hung, and then show them how the letters look in Tibetan and have them see blessing mantras so that they will, you know, experience liberation through seeing.  They will receive the blessing of that because these people will never ever practice Dharma.  So should we throw them out?  No, of course not.  People like urban people.  People in countries that probably have never even heard of Dharma.  Inner city people.  Outer city people.  People down the bible belt in the middle of the country.  All of them.  All of them hear a little bit of the Dharma and the kindness that it shows and they want to learn.  They want to learn.  So I do the best that I can to teach them online. We make films, and sort of document some small teachings.  Nothing very deep because that would require another kind of opportunity, but we are able to teach them just so that there is a blessing in being human.  So that as human beings there will be some use, that they have the capacity to think and to understand.

Of course I love animals.  We all know that, but animals cannot learn the Dharma.  As much as I would love to see my animals achieve liberation, that will never happen through practicing Dharma.  If I practice and I dedicate, maybe that’s something.  If you practice and you dedicate, maybe that’s something.  But still they cannot practice.  They don’t have that part of the brain that can make them practice, but they can hear mantra and receive the blessing.  We even tell people, “Say this blessing to your animals as they die.  Om Ami Dewa Hri.”  Of course you all know that , but that’s a revelation to someone who has never heard Dharma before, or to someone who didn’t know there was some way that they could help their little dogs and their cats as they die.  And their little birds and so forth.  They didn’t know that there was any real way to do that.  So we’ve told them that if they are coming close to death, if death is coming, at this time you should say in their ears, “Om Ami Dewa Hri.”  And we even put up recordings of how it sounds so that they can recite it correctly.   They will get the closest thing possible to a lung.  It’s not the same, but it’s the best we can do.

I’m not proud.  If anything I’m shy and I’m not proud.  One thing that I feel is if what you can do is a small thing, you should do it.  If all you can do is give a little bit, you should give it.  If all you can do is say, “Well, my dog can’t have any blessing,” and you give nothing, that’s not so good.  But instead, why not do for them what you can do for them?  They can hear the sound of mantra.  They can see the letters.  They don’t cognize them.  They can’t understand what it means, but they can see it.  They can see images.

I have made an Amitabha recording of singing the mantra so that it can be played for people who are dying or who have just died.,so the Amitabha mantra will be in their ears as they are dying.  These are all the things that I know how to do.  They are very simple, but these are not people who will ever come here.  And their pets—they will never come here.  How can they receive a blessing if we don’t reach out and make it possible?

I’m very interested in R&B music and hip hop.  Sorry.  If that disappoints you, I’m really sorry.  But I’m interested in that kind of music.  I’ll be honest with you and say that.  And what I’ve noticed is that when I reach out—I have 65,000 followers, no 68,000 followers—and when they contact me and ask me, “What is the answer to this question?”  You know.  “You said this. Does that mean that or does that mean this?”  And these are people that have never heard of Dharma before, just know nothing about it.  And then they want to know.  And I recommend books for themand that sort of thing.  We send out pictures of stupas, all the stupas that I’ve built so that they’ll have that contact of being able to see. So I’m proud of that.  I’m happy about that.  And I think that even as we get to the higher levels of teachings, we should never ever think that it’s inappropriate to lower oneself to do simple goodness for all beings.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

The Problem With Desire

rascar_normal-365xXx80

The following is from an exchange of tweets between Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo and one of her followers:

Follower: “How can one beat desire?”

Jetsunma: “Study cause and result, and especially compassion for all. The desire is for everything and it keeps us suffering like a revolving door. No control over any result, bad.”

Follower: “So with desire there can’t be fulfillment?”

Jetsunma: “Exactly. An itch that cannot be scratched. Always returns. And by nature cannot be satisfied. Everything begins and ends.”

You can follow Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo on twitter here: https://twitter.com/JALpalyul

 

Jewel of the Dharma in the West

Prayer Room In Progress

The following is from a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

I am racking my brain to think of more ways to fund raise. It feels like crying in the darkness. His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche tells me KPC is absolutely necessary, as did His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. Palyul needs us to be strong for the sake of all beings and for western Dharma.

We are not on time, we are lagging. Please wake up and march forward with me and make the world a better, kinder place.

Support the Renovation

 

Why Criticize Others?

The following is from a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

If one disagrees with another tweeter, why be ugly and bitter? Just stop reading their stream. Problem solved.

To obsess about people you don’t know and couldn’t care less about your stuff shows mental illness. Such bitterness shows jealousy and a dark heart.

Better to become a more advanced being. Warm- hearted. Generous.

© copyright Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo All rights reserved

 

Jetsunma’s Collection of Tweachings for 2010

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo frequently uses Twitter to teach Dharma.  We call these “tweachings.”  The following is a collection of Jetsunma’s tweachings for 2010.  Click on the title to access each post.

Happy New Year!

We Can Do It!

The Swiftest Path

We Are the Ones

Cultivating Awareness

Can You Change?

How Will You Live Your Life?

Why Do People Lie?

How Does One Learn to Forgive?

Roar of the Dakini

Unwind Obsessive Behavior

You Can Start a War… Can You Stop It?

Accomplishment on the Path

Empowering the Feminine

Longing for His Holiness Penor Rinpoche

Lineage and Transmission

Warrior of Compassion

Turning Away from Samsara

The Four Thoughts

Sincerity on the Path

Thanksgiving Message

Feeling Down?  Advice for the Path

Don’t Remain Trapped by Habitual Tendency

Letting Go of Ego

Guru – Condensed Essence of the Path

Advice from the Heart

Pearls of Wisdom

The Key to Happiness is Merit!

Navigating Kaliyuga

Dharma in the West

Cultivating Virtue, Pacifying Poisons

Lead Your Mind to a Pristine Point

Preparing for Death

Loving Kindness and Adversity

What Seeds Are You Planting?

Step by Step in Vajrayana

How Far Will You Go?

The Nonvirtue of Lying

Understanding Our Root Guru

Advice for the Courageous Practitioner

Peace for the Holidays?

Black Hole or Bardo?

The Freedom to Practice Dharma

Can a Woman Give Empowerment?

Unending Vow

What Are We?

Buddha in the Palm of Your Hand

What is Real?

Awake to Truth

Faults of Cyclic Existence

Love Like the Sun

Understanding AH

An Introduction to Mantra Recitation

Aspirational Bodhicitta

Courageous Compassion

Ethical Responsibility of a Teacher

Mother Earth

Keeping Love Alive

Liars and Beartraps

Twitter’s Full Potential

In a Nutshell

Three Root Poisons

How to Handle a Crisis

Speaking of Love

Our Nature is Love

Calling to His Holiness Penor Rinpoche

Letting Go of Hate

Worthy of Respect

The Power of Choice

Rebirth of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche

Remembering His Holiness Kyabje Penor Rinpoche

Homage to His Holiness Penor Rinpoche

Give Rise to the Bodhicitta

Walking the Talk

Method

Advice for the Path

Using Twitter to Bring Love and Stop Hate

Feeding Wildlife in the Winter

Using Twitter as a Bonfire of Loving Kindness

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

Awake to Truth

A series of tweets from Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo on September 26, 2010

The leaves are turning, rains are coming, and we are all getting old. Impermanence is the most dependable of all things. Everything changes.

The Teachings all say that life is like a swift waterfall. It looks permanent, but if you follow one cup of water down, it disappears quickly.

We are always taught one’s time on Earth should be used to benefit others, and to progress on one’s path. This assures good rebirth until Enlightenment (not intellectual), which is the precious awakening to Primordial Wisdom, the very Ground of Being without contrivance!

Lord Buddha himself never made any other claim than that – To be AWAKE to the emptiness of all phenomena, and of self-nature, and the display of cause and result interdependently arising. That is, as cause arises, so does result, though they may be separated by the dance of time!

This is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings. And it was said ALL taught by HIM heard the teachings in their own language. Thus the BIG debate- did the Buddha know everything all at once? Speak all languages? Asked ANY spiritual question, He was able to reply correctly and completely. He knew the path of all who came to him. A true display of his omniscience!

I feel Buddha knew what he knew when He needed to know it. I’m in that camp. Because he was in a body but no longer ordinary His vision and wisdom would arise naturally according to the karma of those around, and the situation at hand.

© Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

Using Twitter as a Bonfire of Loving Kindness

1000 Armed Chenrezig
1000 Armed Chenrezig

The following is from a series of Tweets posted on Twitter:

Today, having made a shout out for prayer for my son, I was blessed to have so many pray and offer kind words.

It has really gotten me thinking what a glorious tool for good Twitter can be. For myself, I’ve had my eyes opened by this.

I have seen people use it for negativity and nastiness. Such a waste when the world community is so ready to love + support!

Or even just mindlessly for selfish purpose alone. But SO many are ready to jump right in and love. I reached out, U were there!

Just to see that made my heart soar! When I told my son Twitterverse was praying for him- he broke down and cried.

I wonder if we all realize how much prayer and kindness mean at times of need or suffering. So much. Even a RT for prayer IS prayer!

What a wonderful age this is and what an amazing gathering of good tweeple! I read so many who’s message is like nectar!

So sweet and nourishing! And I think how amazing, this bonding of little lights to make a bonfire of loving kindness.

Please join with me in this great flame, and let’s use this tool to benefit others and make this world a gentler place!

I don’t think we should accept meanness, hatred or hurtfulness here. I personally feel this tool is too good to waste.

Instead it can be used to facilitate the spiritual and emotional growth for this magnificent human Family and this jewel of a Planet!

I pledge to do my part, and I know so many of you will! And I say. “AMEN” to that! EMAHO!

OM MANI PEDME HUNG

Follow ahkonlhamo on Twitter

Cultivating Virtue

intergenerational_garden

The following teaching is from a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Happiness is a habit to be cultivated from within. Our minds are habitual but like a rider on a horse you must direct it.

Like a gardener we must cultivate good qualities. Why follow anyone with poor habits and bad qualities?

Good qualities and habits: attitude of gratitude, generosity, compassion, selflessness, right thinking, understanding of cause and result…

Don’t get caught in the trap of judgment – criticism, whining, neediness, selfishness, sloth, greed, and mindless unhelpful chatter.

What is your work? Is it in line with your morality, beliefs, conscience, does it help others? Is it honest work? These things really matter

The mind really is like a muscle to be used and developed. But so is the heart. Ethics are extremely important!

We make peace within ourselves, it does not visit, we cannot catch it. When our elements are in balance we are peaceful.

Anger, violence, grasping, fearfulness, ignorance, hatred, constant desire- these are some habits that keep us unbalanced.

If we have poor habits and qualities we also have no self esteem. And we go further into the chaos of falsity and lies. Crazy!

In short; be a proper gardener! Pull the weeds of bad habit and quality and plant the seeds of loving kindness! You will BLOOM!

Follow Jetsunma on Twitter to see teachings as they happen:

Follow ahkonlhamo on Twitter

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com