Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

Welcoming His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche to KPC

September 12, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

I am happy that Palyul Throneholder His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche is here and settled in. He seems comfortable and happy. And His Eminence Muksang Tulku will be arriving tomorrow. How fortunate we are! We are blessed to gather again we have been close many lifetimes. And the Sangha is blessed to have the merit to be with this young Throne Holder, a living Buddha!

Palyul is rich in wisdom, having indeed been the astounding effort and lifelong work of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, without whom nothing of this would have happened. We are very fortunate beings!

We will be busy for a few days, but I’ll tweet when I can. Thank you for your friendship! May all be rich with blessings and love!

Why Lineage is Important

September 9, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

Written by Gelong Palzang

One of the questions that often comes up for Western practitioners is why is lineage important? As long as you find a teacher you like, what difference does it make if he or she has a lineage or not?

Here is what His Holiness, the 12^th Gyalwa Drukpa, head of the Drukpa Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism, has to say about that:

Many years ago in India, Tibet, Japan, Korea, and Thailand many people got enlightened, with the support and encouragement of wise and experienced teachers. Not many people are experiencing this kind of spiritual enlightenment in the West, in modern life and times. Why not? Because they are depending too much on the intellect; they’re not depending on the lineage blessings and experience. You can learn, you can know, but not necessarily be accomplished. You can be very big in your head, but that doesn’t mean anything, except your head will be very heavy. And the teachings won’t go to the heart because there’s no lineage, no transmission of the authentic mind-to-mind non-conceptual blessings, from wisdom heart to your heart.

Q. What is it about authentic lineage that is passed on or transmitted?

A blessing. The blessing is something very mysterious, actually. It is not only mysterious, it has a lot of substance. There are also years and decades, centuries of experience here, amidst the blessings and teaching. There’s an unbelievable sense of transformation of your mental state, liberating your mind and opening your heart. How can I express it, because it’s like tasting honey? It’s sweet. But sweet means what? It’s inexpressible. I feel very happy, delighted, delicious, but I can’t express it—until you taste it, and then we can share something of the experience together. This is one aspect of the blessing, of course, which a book cannot give you.

But this is not the only important aspect. What I care about is that the blessing is truly transforming. Your life transforms into the divine state of mind. Even though you live the same way, everything is different—concepts, precepts, everything is different. Yesterday maybe you were unhappy; perhaps you were stealing, cheating, drinking, or simply dissatisfied or depressed. But last night perhaps by good karma you have seen the appropriate guru and have been inspired to change and today you have changed.

This is not necessarily overnight, it may take years or decades but time doesn’t matter. It changes everything, the whole world, your whole attitude. Your whole life can be transformed. From my point of view, if there is no guru, there is no way to get enlightenment. I’m one hundred percent sure. You have to have a personal transmission from a qualified genuine guru, one who has the lineage and is qualified to give this. If you don’t have the lineage, your practice and path is uncooked, unfinished. If you don’t have a human master who gave you the lineage, it cannot be received from a book. (From an interview, “Blessings Like Honey”, with His Holiness by Lama Surya Das)

So His Holiness is saying that without a lineage, there is no blessing to be passed on to the student. Without a lineage of masters behind the teacher, the teacher really is not qualified to teach.

Karma Chagme (Raga Asya) was a well-known Drikung Kagyu lama who also served as Tertön Migyur Dorje’s attendant for years. Tertön (Treasure Revealer) Migyur Dorje was the founder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma School. He revealed many teachings that he received directly from the deities themselves. He started receiving them when he was just a young boy. Karma Chagme literally followed the young tertön around to write down everything that was revealed to him as the revelations could happen at any time. Here is what Karma Chagme had to say about lineage:

The crucial, primary qualification of a spiritual mentor is stated by Naropa, “The qualification of a spiritual mentor is that he possesses the lineage.” The Single Meaning of the Vajra Speech states, “There is great profundity in the connection within the lineage of the holy Dharma.” The real lineage of the realization of this Dharma, which transfers blessings, is the unbroken rosary of Buddhas. (From A Spacious Path to Freedom, by Karma Chagme , commentary by Ven. Gyaltrul Rinpoche, translated by Alan B. Wallace, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, New York, 1998, p.22)

The Palyul Lineage became known in Tibet for the purity of its teachers and the level of accomplishment they had.

Each of the great throne and lineage holders of the Palyul tradition became well known as great scholars of sutra, tantra and the outer and inner sciences. The successive throne holders and monks of the mother and branch Palyul monasteries practice the vinaya code of ethics as the foundational discipline. Upon this foundation, the second root practice, the mind training of the great vehicle of Mahayana called bodhicitta is placed. The aspirant trains to develop both aspirational and practical bodhicitta for the purpose of benefiting all sentient beings.

The tradition of practice that these highly disciplined monks strictly enforced has caused The Palyul Lineage to become known as the tradition of accomplishment. (From www.palyul.org)

Therefore when one is examining a teacher, it is crucial to also examine his or her lineage. If there is no lineage, there can be no accomplishment by the student. Jetsunma says that lineage gives the student security, the trust that the teachings are authentic and have been proven over time again and again. Without that, as sentient beings we do not have the ability to discriminate between true teachers and false teachers.

Tsawai Lama

August 26, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

KPC HH VISIT

The colors of Autumn in full measure
Bring to mind the ultimate pleasure
A great Mandala, an offering treasure
I offer to the Guru, gone beyond.

If my eyes know beauty, it is His.
If the scent is sweet it is His.
If the sound is lovely, it is His.
If the breeze is silk, it is His.

He who brought to me in this life
The ancient wisdom again, that Light.
The root of accomplishment, that One.
Only He warms my heart like the sun.

He will come again in glory
To sing His precious, ancient story.
Never mind the time of tears.
I cannot doubt that He is here

Young Throne Holder

August 25, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

KPC HH VISIT

Prince of power this is the hour
This is the time when you must shine
I see it on your face, in your mind
You awaken right on time
To honor our Guru, our Lord Sublime.

You alone are well prepared
This time would come, you were aware
He gave you his essence with such care
I would have known Him anywhere.
You mixed your minds like water and wine

I hear His song in your mind.

I Will Follow

August 18, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

How comes this one?
He speaks no truth to me.
Nor to the visions I do see, he has nothing.
And if only he could see it so-
Maybe time will let him go.

I do grieve, not for hurtful misdeeds,
But, for flowers and hours of beauty, relentless bliss at the fiery tent.
I can’t resent
I’ll always follow…

OM AH HUNG BENZAR GURU PEDMA SIDDHI HUNG

The Mountain of Burnt Offerings

August 16, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is from the Nam Cho Daily Practice Book from Palyul Ling

Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Rinpoche

HUNG In the northwest country of Uddiyana,

Born in the pollen heart of a lotus,

Endowed with the most marvelous spiritual attainments,

You are renowned as the “Lotus Born.”

Surrounded by a retinue of many Dakinis

Following in your footsteps,

I pray to you, please come forth and grand your blessings!

GURU PEDMA SIDDHI HUNG

The Mountain of Burnt Offerings is Herein Contained

OM SWATI

“The Mountain of Burnt Offerings” is an instruction taken from Lhatsun’s “Vidyadhara-Achievers of Life Force.” To do this practice, prepare some auspicious things such as good quality wood, incense, medicine, and three white and three sweet substances, flour etc. Place them inside a clean container or hearth; light a fire and sprinkle them with clean water.

First Refuge

OM AH HUNG

Of all the refuges in samsara and nirvana present throughout space, the quintessence

Is the power and wrathful vidyadhara, Pema To Treng Tsal.

The phenomenal world is totally perfected within his body as a Buddha mandala.

We take refuge so all beings may cross over unenlightened existence.

(Repeat three times)

Bodhicitta

We generate Bodhicitta on the ground (alaya) of the sphere (bindhu),

The supremely secret, clear light and ultimate wisdom.

So all beings may purify the three obscurations,

And attain the spontaneously self-perfected bindu of body, speech and mind, and through the four spontaneous visions, attain liberation in the youthful vase body.

(Repeat three times)

Seven Part Suppliation

I pay homage to the continuously present and unmodified nature of pure presence (rigpa.)

I offer the clear light, freedom from depths and limits.

I confess within the vast expanse, the equality of samsara and nirvana.

I rejoice in the great wearing out of reality, freedom from conception.

I ask you to always turn the wheel of dharma, the great perfection,

And to churn up the depths of samsara.

Free from the limiting three conceptions, I dedicate this to reaching the far limit.

Self-Visualization

From the dimension of primordial ultimate reality and the unceasing potency,

In Pema To Treng: white-reddish body, youthful and handsome.

The brightness of his noble symbols and marks are blazing, holding vajra and kapala,

Perfectly adorned with majestic ornaments and garments.

Imagined form and wisdom are not separate; the form embodies all enlightened beings,

The great splendor of everything within samsara and nirvana.

OM AH HUNG BENZAR GURU PEDMA SIDDHI HUNG

(Recite mantra many times)

RAM YAM KAM

Based on emptiness, the burnt substances are transformed into inexhaustible amrita

That emanates throughout space massive clouds of vast desirable qualities.

(Bless with the three syllables, the repeat the treasury mantra three times:)

NAMA SARWA TATHAGATE BHAYO BISHO MU KHE BHE SARWA THA KHAM UTGA TE SAPHA RANA E MAM GA GA NA KHAM SOHA

Inside a vast container made from the essence of vajra jewels,

Objects pleasing to the senses of mundane existence, the samaya substances,

Blessed by the three syllables become wisdom amrita.

Offering clouds pleasing to the senses swirl throughout the phenomenal world.

These are offered to the lamas, yidams, dakinis and Dharma protectors;

To however many Buddha mandalas there are in the ten directions;

To our other guests, the Dzambuling lords of the land, the six kinds of beings and those to whom we owe karmic debts;

Particularly to those who steal life and life force,

Those who send illness, elemental spirits who stir up obstacles,

Those who send bad signs and indications in our dreams and send all kinds of bad omens,

The eight types of demons who are masters of malevolent magical projections,

Those to whom we owe karmic debts of food, housing and wealth,

Demons who are masters of obscurations, demons who cause insanity, male and female ghosts,

Demons who cause fatal accidents, demons who take the essence of health and wealth, other demons who live in cities, all male and female demons.

As the red flames burn, karmic debts are paid back.

Whatever is desired arises as desirable qualities.

As long as there is a sky,

We form the intention that these desirable qualities be inexhaustible!

The negativities and obscuration we have accumulated in the three times

And our incorrect use of offerings to the three jewels or for the benefit of the dead,

Are purified by the flames offered in this burnt generosity.

Each flame is an atom containing the entire phenomenal world.

Inexhaustible masses of Kuntuzangpo offering clouds.

Thoroughly permeate the pure realms of all Buddhas.

Flames radiate offering clouds of five-colored wisdom lights,

Pervading the six realms of existence, even the worst hell realm (Avici,)

The three planes of samsara are liberated in the luminous form of the rainbow body.

May all beings awaken to the very heart of enlightenment.

OM AH HUNG

(Recite the three syllables 100 or 1000 times etc, and then:)

In an immeasurable container, the three dimensions of existence (kayas,)

The ultimate, blissful and manifest form aggregates of the phenomenal world

Melts into amrita, filling space with rainbow lights.

This inexhaustible, quintessential amrita of samsara and nirvana,

Since forever and until now,

Is totally dedicated to our guests in the phenomenal world.

Having perfected the levels, paths and fruition qualities,

And having completely dispelled the obstacles to view, meditation and action,

Within the dynamic space-like dimension of Kuntuzangpo’s realization,

May we attain the immortality of the youthful vase body.

When the great ocean of samsara is empty,

May we awaken in Akanishta, land of the lotus nets.

Aggregates and elements are burnt substances blazing radiantly and brilliantly.

White and red bodhicitta are burnt substances blazing blissfully yet non-substantially.

Emptiness and compassion are burnt substances pervading the dimension of real existence (dharmadhatu.)

Within the phenomenal world, in the ground of the five vajra lights of samsara and nirvana,

We offer the burnt substances of spontaneously self perfected and complete enlightenment.

May all previous karmic debts be purified.

May they not remain in our present stream of being; we openly admit our errors.

In the future, may we not experience cyclic obscurations.

As to the vows and trainings of the pratimoksha, bodhisattva and vidyadhara paths,

And the many kinds of secret mantra commitments (samayas,)

We openly admit all breeches committed consciously or unconsciously.

May all illness, demons, obscurations and impurities be purified.

May the times of plague, famines, and weapons be pacified.

May the times of foreigners invading the central land be averted.

May the obstacle of the guru being invited to manifest Dharma elsewhere be averted.

May inauspicious bad omens for the country of Tibet be averted.

May the planetary forces, nagas and king-like spirits who take away our life force be repelled.

May the eight great fears and sixteen lesser ones be averted.

Where ever we live, may all inauspiciousness be averted.

May the power, strength and energy of demonic forces be repelled.

OM AH HUNG

When accumulating, start again from “Drung”

At the End:

May all the Buddhas be pleased with these offerings.

May the minds of the oath-bound ones be satisfied.

May the desires of the six kinds of beings be satisfied.

May our karmic debts and debts of the flesh be purified.

May the two accumulations be completed.

May the karmic traces of the two obscurations be purified.

May the two sacred dimensions be attained.

Through the power of this vast and great generosity,

May we become self arisen Buddhas for the benefit of beings.

May all beings who were not liberated by previous Buddhas,

Be liberated through this generosity.

May the elemental spirits who are living here or visiting,

Living on earth, under it, in the sky or wherever,

Always be loving towards beings,

And practice Dharma day and night.

Through this virtue may all beings

Perfectly accumulate merit and wisdom,

And from this merit and wisdom,

May they attain two sacred dimensions.

Not clothed with exertion and effort,

May it happen auspiciously that the wish fulfilling tree,

Fulfill the hopes of beings,

and accomplish their intention.

(Thus recite the words of auspiciousness and dedication.)

This practice is known as the diamond practice. It can prolong life and remove obstacles, particularly those with unpaid karmic debts. This was revealed in Sikkim, the secret hidden land, to Namkha Jigmed by the dakinis who revealed it to him as the practice which opens the gate to the secret land.

Blessings of the Tsawei Lama

August 16, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

An incense offering to be made first thing every morning with the purest intention and incense.

“This pure supreme incense, which bears the scent of pure moral self-discipline, by the blessings of mantra, mudra and samadhi.
Is offered to the realms of the buddhas. May this fragrant incense completely please and satisfy the ocean-like assembly of buddhas!

NAMA SARWA TATHAGATA BENZA DUPE PRATITSA PUDZA MEGHA SAMUDRA SA PHA RA NA SAMAYE AH HUNG”

This is a sacred way to begin the practice or start one’s day. One can also offer morning tea or coffee with ring finger on right hand, flicking the substance with finger in all directions with mindfulness.

Sadly it is often the case that practitioners perform a session every day, then forget to carry it forward, to bear it always. One way to antidote that is making morning offerings, and placing the Tsawei Lama above the crown of one’s head. Carrying that samaya is beautiful. Every moment think the Lama lights your way, protective and enlightening all.

To ready for sleep , the Lama descends through the central channel into the heart chakra where the Lama is enthroned on the lotus throne in the heart. From there, Tsawei Lama radiates compassion and wisdom all through the night. Upon awakening move Lama up to above the head, and there Tsawei Lama remains and blesses us all.

One may recite mantra before placing Tsawei Lama above head and on heart. And signs may occur. Like: auspicious dreams or other miraculous visions!

The Need to Tame the Mind: from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche

August 13, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche on “Meditation”

The mind – does it need to be something which we can see? If we think that what has pain, suffering, problems and so forth, that this is what is called the mind, in this way we have to perceive the mind as something like a round ball. When we investigate into the mind itself there is not anyone who can really perceive a mind.

At the same time, this mind does not really die. From beginningless lifetimes until now, the mind of Samsara has just been getting rebirth over and over. The mind which has been conceptualized by having that thought of subject and object is that which binds oneself here. It is that which projects the external world and then one’s body and so forth. But no matter how much we investigate, there is no way anyone can perceive this mind.

All the past Buddhas have explained that there is no way one can perceive the mind in the past, present and future. If it is self-existing, then we could see it, like a round pill or something! So why do we think that it has to be perceived as some “thing?” All these “things” are created by the mind. All the experiences of happiness and suffering of Samsara and nirvana – everything is just created by the mind itself.

So we will find if we think over the absolute nature of the mind, it is definitely emptiness. Some people might say, “Oh, my mind is very active and multicolored! Maybe it is possible somebody might have it!” Or maybe somebody might say, “My mind is something like a white light!” But it does not really exist in that way.

When we don’t control the mind and just let it be free, then it starts to create all these negative actions and thoughts. That is why in these practices which we call meditation, although there are many levels of meditations, whatever the Dharma teachings that have been taught by all the Enlightened Buddhas, it is mainly to subdue this mind and to tame this mind. It is to recognize the fault of the mind is conceptual thought, which is a very dualistic thing where there is always subject and object, and this binds us into Samsara or cyclic existence. At the same time we try to realize its absolute nature, to realize or recognize this, and that is the most important part of our practice.

When lama gives all these teachings, the practitioner receives them and tries to put them into practice and then they say, “Oh! I recognize the nature of the mind!” But by just recognizing the conceptual mind, it is very difficult that one could attain Enlightenment. That which creates all these emotions and conceptual thoughts – that is called the mind. But the actual practice is of something which is beyond that kind of conceptual mind, which is known as wisdom. It is that which we need to realize. So we cannot achieve the ultimate happiness just by recognizing the conceptual mind.

There are many kinds of practices which aim to pacify all these kinds of negative thoughts and to control the afflicted mind, to purify and abandon them. When we do these practices and achieve some tranquility through which we can concentrate our mind and make it very stable, then we can perhaps concentrate our minds on the emptiness through which we may achieve some realization. So when we practice meditation and manage to get kind of settled and stable, even having just a little bit of experience of emptiness is really beneficial and can accumulate lots of merit.

Chickens and Worms

August 13, 2011August 12, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

Of course, all sentient beings are equal in nature. I pick my battles by what I can do! Those that argue this usually do nothing at all!

I wish I could save every sentient being instantly. I do my part, do for pets and parrots, give to National Wildlife Society regularly, and work hard to re-build my clear-cut land to wholesome habitat. What can you do? Yes, chickens, parrots, and gossips full of hate are the same, and I love and pray for all. Worms too.

Do what you can! Benefit through compassion, stop cruelty, give to charity and get a job so you can.

www.garudaaviary.org

Impermanence and Death: a Teaching by Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso

August 21, 2011August 11, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching given by Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso at Kunzang Palyul Choling on Ngondro:

Precious human birth does not mean everyone who is born as a human being. It doesn’t mean that. There is precious human birth and ordinary human birth. Those who don’t do any kind of practice, those who don’t even try to go to church on weekends, those involved in New Age groups or modern ways of belief, or those who enter into some kind of entertainment and waste their lives in that manner—that is just an ordinary human birth. You really must have accumulated some merit in your previous lifetime. You must have done some kind of purification in your previous lifetime. You must have made some kind of connection with the Dharma and your lamas. That is why you are here. Otherwise there is no possibility. That would never, ever happen. So since you have a precious human rebirth, you must immediately think, “I should not waste it. I have to get some advantage from this opportunity.”

Then how can one do it? You must then think that all phenomena which are composed of cause and condition are impermanent. Impermanence does not just mean that everything comes to an end. Impermanence means that each and every moment is impermanent. Each and every moment of our lives we are becoming older and older; we are getting nearer and nearer to death. If you waste even one hour, you are one hour closer to death. If you spend your weekend enjoying yourself, still you are getting nearer to death. Whenever you sit idle, still you are getting nearer to death. Even if you do practice, still you are getting nearer to death. Even if you don’t do anything, still you are getting nearer to death. You are always getting nearer and nearer and nearer. Every sentient being who is born is subject to death.

At the same time, death is uncertain. You can see many examples. Someone will say, “Just yesterday he was talking with me, and then last night he had an accident.” Or somebody shot him or killed him or whatever. There are so many conditions that may bring death. If I cannot do actual practice and if I do not have something I can carry with me, then tonight if something happens, what can I do? What are you really going to carry with you? You cannot pack up like when you get divorced or when you get mad at your friends and you say you’re going to leave and you take your suitcase and pack all your clothes and everything and whatever money and credit cards you have and you leave and go some other place. When death comes, you cannot do that. There is no way that one could do that. Up until now in this world, even the great popes, even Milarepa, even Shakyamuni Buddha, even His Holiness Karmapa and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, they left all their belongings behind. Even His Holiness Karmapa left his black hat behind, even his body. Never mind about an ordinary sentient being who cannot carry all those things. Even the great Christian popes who passed away, could not carry anything. All the great ones and not so great ones—when death came, nobody could pack anything, nobody could carry anything along. You could not even make a phone call. “I’m coming very soon, so could you please reserve a place for me?” There is no way that one can do that. You say, “Oh please, you save a better place for me since I am coming very soon.” Or you want to make a phone call to heaven. “Oh God, please save a place for me.” So you have to realize that life is like that.

In one sense, life is very long. You can experience lots of things. In another sense, life is gone like that. When death comes, what one can carry is just whatever accumulation of merit or whatever negativity one has done. That is the only thing that comes with you. Even if you don’t want it, it is stuck there and will be coming with you. So you have to realize that life is uncertain and death is uncertain. At any moment it can come. When you really consider that, you really get scared, goose bumpy. Then you really get motivated to do practice. Then your sleepy way of thinking and laziness and everything is gone just like that. You cannot feel so tired if death is coming like that. Then you can make yourself so alert. You can generate so much courage in yourself. “Why can’t I do 100,000 prostrations in a month? Why can’t I do that?” Then you can have that kind of courage within yourself. Otherwise you say, “Other people are out enjoying the weekend and going here and there and I am stuck here doing prostrations. I get pain in my legs and my knees and pain there. When can all this be finished?” Then it feels really difficult. When you really see that death is coming, then you can bear it. If you think about that, then that will really help you to apply yourself into practice with full energy and with full courage.