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

In practicing bodhicitta in a mindful and discriminating way, one has to understand first of all the faults of samsaric existence.  One has to understand the basic logic if it. If we are giving rise to the aspiration to be of benefit to beings, it only makes sense if we understand why and what the connecting factors are.  Otherwise it is just acting.

One of the greatest obstacles I’ve seen, is the current pop religion culture that says, “Everything is perfect; the world is perfect.” So many people are into the idea of seeking happiness that on some level they must realize that there is suffering, because they’re trying to cover up that suffering.  They’re trying to affirm it away by saying that suffering doesn’t exist.  They tell themselves everything is light and love and suffering doesn’t exist and that’s wonderful, and so the world is a great place.  We don’t have to practice compassion, because everything is already blessed and very holy.  The world is perfect. Can you hear the superficiality in that?  What you need to hear next is what’s really going on in the world because if you’re in that mind state, you haven’t been watching, you haven’t seen.

There is such an extraordinary amount of suffering in all the realms of cyclic existence.  In this world alone, just look at the human condition: the extraordinary, unconscionable suffering.  How can you look at these people marching out of Kosovo and think that’s perfect?  How can you watch children and innocent civilians being torn up, with no understanding as to how this could have happened to them?  They are modern people like us.  How can you look at that and say everything is love and light; that everything is perfect?

If you’ve had the good fortune of knowing one person throughout the course of your life, think of all the different ages and stages they’ve gone through.  Watch what it’s like to be a child and to go through all the struggles that children go through?  It’s tough being a child.  They don’t really understand what’s happening to them.  They don’t really understand why it is when certain things happen, other things happen.  It’s tough being a child.  That little brain is forming.  It doesn’t work in its entirety yet.  And then watch that person grow up to be a teenager.  It’s tough being a teenager.  It’s awful being a teenager.  I remember being a teenager.  I don’t think there are words for that!  You have all these feelings and your body is all grown up and your head is still childish and nothing works.  And then you grow up, and suddenly you’re supposed to be an adult.  You don’t feel any different, though, than you did when you were a teenager or a child.  You still feel like you don’t understand diddly-squat, and yet suddenly, because you have a child maybe, you’re supposed to be an adult.  You think, “Wow, I’ve waited all my life to be an adult.  This is great.  Now I can vote. I can drink.”  Yeah, you can also get up early every morning and go to work.  You can also work every single day.  You can also have very little fun.

Do you remember what it was like when you were just trying to build your life?  There’s an obsession with that.  You think, “Ooh, I’ve just got to do this.  If I don’t do this, I’ll never be happy.”  All that reactive delusion kind of beats you up.  Then, when you get to the point of maturity and you realize that not all the things you thought really mattered actually matter, there’s a little spaciousness.  Maybe you have a pause that lets you know that maybe now it’s time to relax a little bit about getting all these material things lined up; maybe now it’s time to stop and smell the roses and then even beyond that, plan for your maturity.  Maybe you think, “I should think about my death. I should think about how to take care of my children.”  So you get this glorious moment of thinking, “Yeah, okay. I’m pretty stable now.  I’ve got a car, got a house, got some kids, so things are okay.”  You have about five minutes of that before everything you have goes south, and I mean the body.  This thing that we put so much energy into shining up and growing up and waiting until it is matured, and then everything you have from the waist up is now from the waist down.

As Buddhists we are required to study these images of a young woman or a young man, middle-aged or mature and then older, and then see that this is the same person.  Understanding what that’s all about is the key.  For us to not wander through life with everything happening to us unexpectedly.  That’s the most amazing thing about us. Everyone around us gets old; everyone we see gets old; we’ve got old people everywhere, but it’s always a surprise when it happens to us. How can we possibly go through life in any meaningful way when it constantly surprises us?  Instead, what we need to do is to really study the conditions that we are involved with and do so truthfully and honestly.

In the practice of bodhicitta, the first things that we can understand are the faults of cyclic existence.  Cyclic existence is impossible. It’s ridiculous.  It’s not only flawed and faulted, it’s a real pain in the neck.  The amazing thing about cyclic existence is that no matter what you do in the material realm, in the realm of experiences, if it arises from samsara and is within the realm of samsara, it’s all going to come to nothing because anything that you accumulate, build, or create, you lose when you die.  You won’t be able to take that with you.

The saddest thing and the thing that we have compassion about and try to become mindful about, is watching someone who is no different from us, wanting to be happy just like we do; spend all of their time pulling stuff together, accumulating or not accumulating, setting up their little gigs, their little power things, all their little personality dramas.  We watch people that are so entrenched and lost in that, and generally, before we’ve had any training, we’d think that was normal.  But having had training, we think, “Oh, maybe that’s not so good.  Maybe that’s not the way to go.”  We might judge that person as being superficial.   We might have a lot of judgment about that person.  But in order to be truly discriminating and mindful and to actually benefit our practice, we should be saying, “Yes, that’s what it’s like here.  That is the fault of cyclic existence,” and feel compassion for them.

Creating mindfulness in the arena of practicing bodhicitta is like that.  We have to constantly caution ourselves not to simply go down the road in the way that we ordinarily do, but instead, to be in a state of recognition and awareness.  When we see ourselves act in a superficial manner, just going through the motions of life thinking, “Oh, I’ve got to have this money or this power or this fame or this fortune or this car or this family or this whatever” — instead of judging these terrible faults in ourselves or in each other, simply say, “This is the fault of cyclic existence.”  Rather than saying that person is superficial or that person is lost or that person is damned, we ought to say, “What a fabulous opportunity to study the faults of cyclic existence.”  You should look at that person, and say, “Oh, I’m so sorry, because that’s how it is here.  What can I do to help?  How can I benefit sentient beings so that it is no longer the case?”  It increases your bodhicitta practice rather than taking it down by judging others.   To say, “They’re so material; they’re just about money” or, “I’m just about money, I’m just about material things.” is not beneficial because you are not contributing to mindfulness; you are contributing to judgment.  Can you see the difference?  You are not contributing to a state of recognition.  You’re only recognizing appearances.  Big deal!  Dogs can do that!  Do something dogs can’t do.

© Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo

White Tara
From The Spiritual Path:  A Collection of Teachings by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo
There are no sugar daddies in this world. You cannot be the conquering hero, the savior, because you cannot conquer someone else’s mind. Each of us must purify and conquer the hatred, greed, and ignorance we hold in our own minds. No one can do it for anyone else. You can however, liberate your own mind from all egocentricity. You can follow the Buddha’s teaching and take a vow as a Bodhisattva to eliminate all poisons from your mind until the very idea of self-nature is abandoned. You can decide to liberate yourself from all desire. And you can promise to return again and again in any form necessary to help sentient beings pull themselves out of endless suffering. As part of every practice you will say: “May I attain liberation in order to benefit beings.” The compassionate motivation to be of true benefit provides us with the strength to persevere until we ourselves are awake, until we have completely transformed or purged even the tiniest seeds of poison from our minds. The motivation to be a savior has no lasting value. It requires feedback, or “warm fuzzies.” You must get beyond that need. Your love should not depend on feedback.

How can you develop love which sustains itself? How can you cultivate a fire that burns self-sustaining wood? That fire is based on the courage to understand. If your mind has deepened to the extent that you can no longer bear to be idle, knowing the profound despair of all those beings who revolve in endless cycles of suffering—you can become truly committed. Then you can begin to renounce your own causes of suffering.

Until you reach supreme Buddhahood, you must continue courageously to develop the mind of compassion at every moment. You must aspire to be of true and lasting benefit. You must offer yourself again and again. The prayer of St. Francis, “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace,” is a good example of the aspiration of a Western Bodhisattva. Eventually, your commitment may take the form of saying: “Let me be reborn in whatever form necessary, under whatever conditions, so that beings might not suffer. If there is a need for food, let me return as food. If there is a need for shade, let me return as a tree. If there is a need for a path, let me return as a teacher. If there is a need for love, let me return as arms.”

Your job then is to purify your mind through strenuous activity. The path of Dharma is difficult. Any path that leads to enlightenment will be strenuous because enlightenment is a long way from here. You are not after a psychological “Aha!” You are aspiring to the state of Buddhahood. Your first thought should be that suffering must end. Your only concern should be that sentient beings achieve liberation.

There is a profound and simple practice that anyone can do to develop this great compassion. It turns ordinary activity into vehicles for extraordinary love. When you awake in the morning, think: “May all beings rise from the state of ignorance and be liberated until there is no more suffering.” As you brush your teeth and bathe, think: “May the suffering and seeds of suffering be washed from the minds of all beings.” Or: “May all beings be showered with the blessings of a virtuous path.” As you enter a door: “May all beings enter the door to a supreme vehicle and finally walk through the door of liberation.” Everything you do should have meaning in this way. Your entire life should be understood as a vehicle for practice.

You should dedicate all your virtuous activity, no matter how small, to the liberation of all beings. Learn to dedicate everything you do, everything. Train yourself to the point that this aspiration is constant. Once your motivation is firm, you can begin training in actual practices, in practical compassion. If you have decided to accept and follow the Buddha’s teachings, you will begin the actual practice of Dharma. If you choose not to be a Buddhist, you must still find a way to purify hatred, greed, and ignorance from your mind and the minds of others. Free of these poisons, you can become awakened; in other words, you can position yourself to be of true benefit to others.

A word of caution: some practitioners take solemn vows and make vast aspirational prayers, but then they turn around and act unkindly to others. As His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche has suggested, practicing Dharma without kindness is like trying to get light from the painting of a lamp.

Beware also of what I call “idiot compassion.” Do you know a needy or troubled person, someone who is psychologically or emotionally disrupted? We often try to give such people what they say they need. This only increases their dependency. It gives them an opportunity to increase the garbage in their minds and lives. Sometimes compassion must be harsh. In Vajrayana, there are at least as many wrathful forms of the Buddhas as peaceful ones. Sometimes compassion must take a wrathful form. If you are pure in your motivation, you will know what to do. You will not get hooked on idiot compassion. It feels good to make others feel good. But feeling good does not always help.

If you can do anything to ease or end the suffering of beings, do it. But understand that these remedies are only temporary. Consider that your power is limited by the condition of your mind. Even though you have the karma to practice—which is very fortunate—you are still an ordinary sentient being. The Buddha, however, embodies the fully awakened mind. He does not experience the confusion or delusion arising from the belief in self. His enlightened intention is powerful in a way that yours cannot be. Despite your good intentions and efforts, if you constantly experience confusion and desire within your mindstream, you can be of little help. The best way to end the suffering of sentient beings is to liberate your mind from the causes of suffering. For if you become a realized Buddha and are then incarnated or experience rebirth in an emanation form, you can offer the means to accomplish Dharma by offering the blessing of a complete path leading to liberation. To follow the Buddha’s path requires a vast amount of merit and virtue, as well as a great deal of compassion, discipline, courage, and unselfishness. The path is arduous. To achieve the great result of Buddhahood requires great effort. But truly, there is no end to suffering except the cessation of desire. The only ultimately useful way to spend this precious human life is to attain enlightenment. You must consider from the depth of your heart that the aim of attaining enlightenment is not only to accomplish one’s own purpose, but also the purpose of others. When you have seen that all sentient beings endure needless suffering, when you cannot bear even the thought of their condition and are determined to bring about its end, you are ready for Dharma.

© Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Khenpo Tenzin Norgay at Kunzang Palyul Choling in Maryland:

10/25/2017 for Wednesday by Jampal & Wangmo

Theme: Productive argumentation!

Your may not see eye to eye today with your fellow travelers. Perhaps arm wrestling would help you work your differences out. It is okay to put your point of view as long as you can really hear the other person’s point of view. On the flip side of the coin there is potential for growth and learning today. There is always a way out of a difficult situation. As Spock said in Star Trek There are always alternatives.

10/21/2017 Saturday by Jampal & Wangmo

Theme: Intensity and transforming passion.

A new intensity and energy is around today enabling  access to a deeper perspective of the world. Sometimes diving deep is needed for the changes you wish to make. You never know if you don’t go there. It’s not a half-way day to day. Passion can be gainfully employed in deeper conversations about the meaning of life and what matters. As Maya  Angelou said: My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, come compassion, some humor, and some style. 

Jetsunma greets the KPC Sangha as many students return from Palyul Retreat in New York:

Click the link below for more photos!

https://1drv.ms/a/s!AmNjqUOddS57unk4pc0lhTj_Q0oO

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “AA & Buddhism”

Now why am I worrying about this? Am I thinking that maybe most of you in this room are alcoholics? Yes! Yes, I am. But maybe you don’t drink. Let’s see how that works.

In samsara, we have the same condition. According to the Buddha’s teaching, we are actually taking rebirth again and again and again, unfortunately, not with the prevailing idea that one finds in new age metaphysical thought these days. Most new age metaphysical thought says that we choose our parents and we choose our circumstances and we’re all in a learning situation, and that sort of thing. The Buddha teaches us that, in fact, we experience rebirth due to ego clinging, due to desire. It isn’t like a conscious choice where somewhere up in heaven, wherever that might be, or wherever these little unborn creatures are, we look down, parting the clouds of course, and pick a couple of parents out of the 4.8 billion thinking: ‘Those would be nice,’ or, ‘I think I’d like to beat them up today,’ or whatever our particular situation, ‘I’d like to go hungry so I’ll choose those.’

The Buddha doesn’t indicate to us that that is the way it actually is. The Buddha indicates to us that we experience desire, and that desire is the cause of all suffering; and the suffering takes the form of experiencing rebirth under certain conditions. In effect, it is our addiction to samsara that causes us to be reborn under certain conditions. It is true that we tend to come to parents with whom we have a very strong karma, or previous cause and effect relationship. Vibrationally, the parents will be somewhat like us. Now before you all attack me with clubs and sticks, it’s true. I know that you have spent years and years blaming your parents for everything, and I hate to tell you it’s true. We are like our parents in some way.

Now, it’s true our parents might have beaten us to a bloody pulp, and maybe we don’t do that to our children. And our parents might have been judgers and blamers and things like that or cold people, and perhaps we work very hard not to be like that with our children. But if we are really honest and really look at ourselves, we will find ourselves somewhat, in some way, vibrationally like our parents. You cannot be born of a mother with whom you do not have a common vibration. It simply wouldn’t work. Metaphysically, you would dissolve in the womb. It would never happen in the first place. So there is a likeness there. And there is no point in blaming your parents for what happened to you. The best thing to do is to look at the condition and content of your own mind, and learn something that way.

Now, what has led us to be reborn as we are is a series of cause and effect relationships based on the assumption of self nature as being inherently real. With that assumption, automatically and at the same instance that assumption takes place, we distinguish self from other. In distinguishing self from other, we automatically react toward self, toward other, with attraction, repulsion, or neutrality. Now, neutrality sounds like the best way to go, of course. But in samsara, neutrality comes about after this goes on; which means to say you weigh out attraction, you weigh out repulsion, and somewhere in the middle of it, you’re just like eh, who cares. But it’s still part of the same coin. In a sense, attraction is one side of the coin. Repulsion is the opposite side of the coin. And neutrality may be the coin on its side, if you’ll think of that. But they are part of the same thing. They are reactive.

Since time out of mind, we have always been reacting with attraction, repulsion or neutrality due to attraction and repulsion. And it all has, as its root, one of the three poisons. And that poison is grasping or desire or greediness. Desire. We take rebirth due to ego-clinging. We experience continuum; and you can only experience continuum as a self because self is that which seems to move through linear time, and that is the experience of continuum. That’s what we have. We have that condition and it underlies everything, every internal subtle and gross process, every single one. It is that grasping that causes rebirth. Simply that.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

The planet Mercury appears to go retrograde, to turn around and travel backwards, for three weeks approximately four times a year. “Don’t sign, don’t buy,” is the usual warning for the retrograde Mercury period.

“Don’t sign” refers to contracts of all kinds: a home purchase, rental agreement, lease, marriage document, etc, anything that you hope will work out. Contracts or agreements “Come to nothing,” under retrograde mercury.

“Don’t buy” refers specifically to any kind of machine you expect to be operational- a car, computer, television, you name it.  Machines won’t work, they are lemons.  The tricky troublemaker will get you if you ignore this warning.  “It doesn’t matter,” a woman said as she bought a blender that ended up not working!  If you must buy, save the receipt!

What can you do if you want to sign a contract or make a purchase during retrograde Mercury? There are two options:  first, you may sign or buy if you negotiated the deal previously, if you considered the matter seriously in the past.  Next, you can stall until Mercury goes direct.

Relationships that begin during retrograde Mercury “Come to nothing.” You meet your dream person, everything is perfect, then learn he/she is married, newly escaped from prison, moving to Saudi Arabia or something else that’s a deal breaker.

What’s good about Mercury retrograde?  You’re cautioned to avoid brand new undertakings, but you have a second chance to handle something that didn’t work the first time around.  You get a “do-over” where you need one: you can go back and clean up a mess, fix something from the past. It isn’t often we get a second chance in life, but retrograde Mercury presents that opportunity on a platter! It’s a great time to fix things, repair problems, relationships, to make amends for the past.

Watch for the retrograde Mercury dates, avoid new beginnings and clean up past mistakes and you will be happy with the results.

Mercury will be retrograde two more times in 2017. Mark your calendar!

August 13 to September 5, 2017

December 3 to December 23, 2017