Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

21 Homages to Tara: The Benefits of Reciting the Praise Khenpo Tenzin Norgay

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Thupten Shedrub Gyatso, who was a Tulku in one of the Palyul Monasteries, wrote this commentary. His present incarnation, Rago Chogtrul currently lives in Tibet.

Translation by Khenpo Tenzin Norgey ~ Spring, 2004,
Palyul Retreat Center, Mc Donough, NY USA ~Wood Monkey Year 2131

The Benefits of Reciting the Praise

The wise one endowed with pure respect for the goddess,
Who recites these praises with perfect devotion
Remembering her in the evening and upon waking at dawn,
Will be endowed with complete freedom from fear.

 

A practitioner who recites the praise in the evening and at dawn, recallingTara’s qualities with pure devotion, and has the wisdom to discriminate between good and bad will be protected from the sixteen fears.  Others will be endowed with complete freedom from all fears.  It is also said that we must meditate on her wrathful form in the evening to pacify the harms of this life, and visualize her peaceful form at dawn and recite the praises to save ourselves from rebirth in the lower realms.

 

All their sins will be pacified,
Causing destruction to all lower realms.
And the seven million Victorious Ones
Will quickly grant them empowerment.
Thus, they will attain greatness, and progress
To the stage of Buddhahood.

 

The daily practice of the Twenty-One Praises toTarawill cause all of the practitioner’s sins to be pacified and purified.  Those who recite the praise will not experience the sufferings of the lower realms.  The seven million Victorious Ones who abide with the Noble Lady will swiftly bless and empower the practitioners.  In this life, the practitioners of this praise will achieve the great bliss of place, body, retinue, and the qualities of the dharma of transmitted precepts and realization.  They will swiftly attain the paths and bhumis, and reach the ultimate state of enlightenment.

 

By remembering Her, the most violent poisons
Abiding in the earth or in beings
Whether eaten or drunk
Will be completely removed.
 

At the conventional level, practitioners will be protected from terrible diseases, and the pain caused by aconite and other inanimate poisons.  They will be protected from the poisonous fangs, horns, stings and bites of animals.  The practice will also provide protection from the poisonous effect of the evil intentions of malignant spirits, protection from their touch, and the evil eye.  By remembering the goddess and her mantra, the harmful effect of poisons whether they have been eaten or drunk will be nullified.

 

This can eliminate various sufferings
Inflicted by the spirits, epidemics, and poisons
Even if done for the sake of other beings.

 

         The practice can easily eliminate the suffering inflicted by outer and inner poisons, by dangerous epidemics and possession by evil spirits.  The same benefit can be achieved if the praise is recited for the sake other beings.

 

On sincerely reciting twice, three times, and seven times
The wish to have child will be fulfilled
And the desire for wealth can be achieved.
All the wishes will be fulfilled
Every hindrance destroyed in its turn
 

We must recite the praise twice, three and seven times in one session.  We can do the practice either two sessions a day: once during the day, and once during the night, or three sessions during the day and three sessions at night.  The Vajra holders of Indiaand Tibetteach that if one practices the sadhana of “The Four Mandala Offerings[i]” in this way, the desire to have children to continue one’s family line, or to provide students to uphold the dharma lineage will be fulfilled.  In the same way, if one wishes to have wealth for the happiness of this life and the next, excellent prosperity can easily be achieved.  Likewise, any other activities: siddhis[ii], temporal desires and ultimate wishes will be fulfilled.  By the compassion of the Venerable Mother, unfavorable obstacles in the future will not manifest, and harm will not arise from obstacles that have already occurred.  Since all purposes can be fully achieved, the wise must practice this sadhana with enthusiasm.

 

By explaining the Twenty-One Praises with devotion,
May all access the ocean of siddhis, clear all obstacles
And have the auspiciousness of complete enlightenment,
By swiftly having a vision of Her face, embraced
By the unchanging bliss, endowed with all supreme attributes.

 

To summarize the text, the meaning of the root mantra is shown in the form of praise.  The twenty-one verses of homage show the twenty-one manifestations of the goddess.

 

Thupten Shedrub Gyatso, who was a Tulku[iii]in one of the Palyul Monasteries, wrote this commentary.  His present incarnation, Rago Chogtrul currently lives inTibet.

 

[i] mandala skt offering ~ A Tantric practice in which all precious things are offered to the deities, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in order to develop generosity, the first of the six perfections.

[ii] siddhi skt  ~ Spiritual accomplishments which may be mundane or supramundane. Buddhahood is the ultimate siddhi, mundane siddhis include clairvoyance, clairaudience, flying, etc.

[iii] tulku Tib ~ A reincarnate lama. The Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit “nirmanakaya”, used as an honorific term for recognized incarnations of lamas, who are found, usually in childhood, and are brought up to inherit the lineage and often the monastic foundations of their predecessors.

 

Blessed are Those With Heart

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

I needed a day off twitter today, please forgive me. My friend’s dog is dying and she cannot accept. One of my monks needs attention, always.

I walked two days in a row while healing, so it was a pain killer and flat out day. I had nothing left. Meanwhile the utterly cruel “people” that hate and beat me up every day have taken this time to show what high-minded people they are. Wow. Some days it makes no sense to try.

I won’t be stopped. If I can benefit sentient beings I will have to be satisfied. People can be so selfish and cruel. They need help. I wish there was magic. But there is only miracle (earned through merit) merit itself, (like gold to trade) and Mentor (guide: Buddha, Lama et al.)

So I rest today, but it is painful to see what we have come to. All you workers of the way, the light, I salute and love you. Wrap you in my arms. Occupy Prayer, Peace and Occupation I adore you for your strength and gift. May I take the pain for you. You are the crown of creation, lovers and peacemakers, shelters from the storm. The gold of humanity. You who love – I love you as my children. Blessed are those with heart! May there be kindness and goodness for you. OM TARE TUTARE TURE PUNYE PUSHTIM AH YOU PUSHTIM KURU YE SOHA! Long life and peace to you!

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo.  All rights reserved

21 Homages to Tara: Verse 21 Commentary Khenpo Tenzin Norgay

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Thupten Shedrub Gyatso, who was a Tulku in one of the Palyul Monasteries, wrote this commentary. His present incarnation, Rago Chogtrul currently lives in Tibet.

Translation by Khenpo Tenzin Norgey ~ Spring, 2004,
Palyul Retreat Center, Mc Donough, NY USA ~Wood Monkey Year 2131

Homage to you, who is adorned by three Suchnesses.
Perfectly endowed with the power of serenity.
Destroyer of demons, zombies and yakshas.
O TURE! Sublime excellent lady.

The twenty-first praise is the homage to Lhamo Odser Chenma,Tib the “Goddess with Brilliance”, who can restore the life force.  She is white, her left hand is in the boon-giving mudra, and her right hand is in the refuge-giving mudra, holding a blue lotus on which sit the auspicious golden fishes.  At her three places: crown, throat, and heart, are OM, AH, and HUNG, respectively, which form the sublime protection against all obstacles.  The light rays from these letters protect the three doors of beings from the harm of all outer obstacles caused by evil forces, both form and formless.  They also protect beings from the inner obstacles of ill health, and the secret obstacles of dualistic affliction.  The rays have the power to pacify them without a trace.  Particularly, the rays from the three letters can restore the life force stolen by spirits, zombies, and yakshas, and eliminate their harmful intentions and actions.  The homage is to TURE, the great compassionate lady who acts swiftly for the benefit of sentient beings.  The true meaning is that Tara has the power to guide the minds of beings to be tamed in the “three approaches to liberation”.  These are: emptiness, attributelessness and aspirationlessness, or, the suchness of an entity, its nature and compassion, and the clearing of all its obscurations.  Ultimately the vajra body, speech and mind are the primordially pure nature of all phenomena.  By meditating on the sphere of the indivisibility of the three vajras, the demons, sufferings, zombies, and yakshas are transformed by the great bliss of primordial wisdom.

This is the praise to Her root mantra,
And the Twenty-One Homages.

21 Homages to Tara: Verse 20 Commentary Khenpo Tenzin Norgay

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Thupten Shedrub Gyatso, who was a Tulku in one of the Palyul Monasteries, wrote this commentary. His present incarnation, Rago Chogtrul currently lives in Tibet.

Translation by Khenpo Tenzin Norgey ~ Spring, 2004,
Palyul Retreat Center, Mc Donough, NY USA ~Wood Monkey Year 2131

Homage to you, whose two eyes, the sun and the moon
Radiate sublime luminous light.
Uttering HARA twice and TUTTARA
You dispel all horrifying epidemics.

The twentieth homage is to Lhamo Rithrodma,Tib  the “Mendicant Tara”, who averts all diseases.  She is orange and her hand holds a vase of nectar on a blue lotus.  Her left eye is like the full moon and her right eye is like the sun.  Her right eye emits blazing rays that burn all the lords of diseases, (those who command the evil spirits that bring disease) like haystacks.  Clear nectar flows from the moon, (her left eye) curing the causes and effects of diseases and epidemics.  Her mantra, OM TARE TUTTARE TURE NAMA TARE NAMO HARA HUNG HARA SVA HA has two HARA sounds and a TUTTARA.  The mantra can cure even the most dangerous incurable epidemics.  The ultimate meaning is that if the mother-sphere of transcendent wisdom is realized, the most dangerous epidemics of afflictions, their causes and fruitions, can be cured.

Crow: Compassion in Action

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The following is a true story as told by Rigdzin Zeoli, caretaker of the Garuda Aviary and son of Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

25 years ago in San Diego, a man, we’ll call him Ryan, because his name is Ryan, happened across a baby crow. This baby crow had been dropped out of it’s nest before it was old enough to fledge. Looking up he could see it’s parents in a tree, so he didn’t interfere thinking that if he did, the parents would abandon the chick. The next day he stopped by to find the baby crow still on the ground. Ryan brought the crow to the vet. Frost damaged the tiny bird’s right wing and tail and had to be removed. Ryan kindly took the crow home to care for her for the next thirteen years. In that time while living in a wire cage, Crow managed to mangle both of her feet. They were worthless clubs for the rest of her life.

As an inhabitant of Sedona, Arizona, Ryan came to know a man who took care of birds. Ryan asked that man to care for the crow. I know this because I am that man. I took the bird who we’ll call Crow, because she’s a crow, and cared for her the best I could.

Because Crow had clubbed feet she couldn’t perch or walk. She would hobble about on her “elbows” which developed edema. Wrapping her lower legs in small strips of bandage provided her with “shoes” to keep the edema under control. I gave her the best, most nutritious diet I could manage. I knew she liked my cooking because she would gobble it down with enthusiasm. I must have made the right nutritional choices because she lived to the ripe old age of 25. Crows usually only live to 15 years at best.

A crow that can’t walk or perch can certainly make a mess of itself with it’s own waste, so I lined the bottom of her cage with pine shavings. As she got older, the dust from the shavings would get in her weak eye and cause inflammation. I corrected that with antiseptic eye medicine. And I would put the fresh pine shavings in a screen mesh and sift, sift, sift to get all of the dust out. Keeping that weak eye healthy was an uphill battle. She eventually lost sight in that eye within a year of her passing. About two months before she passed, she got pretty weak. I would crouch down next to her and tell her if she wants to stay, she can stay as long as she likes and I will always take care of her and love her. But if she wanted to go, that was ok too because I would tell Jetsunma and she would make sure Crow had a auspicious bardo and rebirth.

I came in one Tuesday morning to find Crow had passed. I determined she had passed within the hour because her good eye was still in perfect shape. After death, eyes begin to change pretty quickly. I called Jetsunma right away to tell her that Crow had passed. She said she would take care of it. That evening I walked around the Stupa saying prayers with Crows body in a little box and then buried her.
I saw Jetsunma later that evening and she had a wonderful story to tell me.

Shortly after I called her, she went into her prayer room to do Crow’s powa. When a being goes through the bardo, they are often confused and frightened, so Jetsunma appears to them as something or somebody they will recognize. In this case it was my voice and my boots. While she was alive, I cleaned Crow’s cage every few days. I’d have to put her on the floor next to me. Down there she would get a good look at my boots. In the bardo, Crow was comforted by this presence she thought was me. Jetsunma embraced her and began to lift her up out of the bardo. At that moment, a very loud murder of crows (flock of crows) circled over Jetsunma’s house. They landed in a part of the yard we call “the grove” and then flew off. Jetsunma could see this for what it really was. It was a group of dakini’s that had taken physical form to collect Crow’s soul, essence, consciousness, whatever you want to call it. Crow appeared with them while in flight before landing and then flew off, escorted by these dakini’s. As they flew off they dissolved into emptiness. What a wonderful thing! Crow had never experienced flight. On this occasion, she flew in a perfect body with other crows. It must have felt joyous and amazing.

Now here’s the kicker! I always figured Crow was burning off some bad body karma, judging from her pathetic broken little body. Jetsunma told me she could see that this rebirth was a kind of personal hell realm. Apparently, these hell realms can intermingle with our own physical existence. She told me Crow would have suffered terribly had it not been for me. she said I was the hero in this story because I made Crow’s plight bearable.
I can’t express how happy that made me. To know that I had managed to save Crow from some of the pain and suffering. And that Crow had burned off that negative karma, then achieved liberation.
When I said prayers at the Stupa with Crow’s body, I had not yet heard the details of this story. I only knew that Jetsunma had found her and liberated her. When we usually say prayers, go to a Stupa, do practice at an alter, we generally ask for things. We pray to the 3 precious jewels to fix this, or change that. This time however, I had nothing but gratitude. No requests, only thank you, thank you, thank you. Jetsunma… Thank you for liberating this dear being.  Crow… Thank you for the honer of serving you.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo.  All rights reserved

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