A sacred space for everyone
9/7/2019 Saturday by Jampal & Wangmo
Theme: Accepting limitations
Today there are unavoidable restraints and outcomes. It maybe that you have to choose a different way of doing things. But the bigger picture is that through discipline and hard work, there will be good results. There continues to be a lot of energy for spiritual advancement and growth. I came into the world under the sign of Saturn – the star of the slowest revolution, the planet of detours and delays.~Walter Benjamin
9/6/2019 Friday by Wangmo & Jampal
Theme: Confusion or Transcendence
There is opportunity and liability with Neptune, the planet of dissolving ego structures, opposing many personal planets for the next few days. Confusion will occur if you cling tightly to your needs and desires, rather than values which connect you to others. With the Moon in Sagittarius, it’s a good time to expand your horizons. Adventure is worthwhile in itself.~Amelia Earhart
9/5/2019 Thursday by Jampal & Wangmo
Theme: Grandiosity and Generosity
There is a powerful connection between Jupiter, the planet of expansive optimism, and several other planets. The problem is that you will commit to more than you can handle. At the same time there is an opportunity for generosity, as long as it doesn’t come from a place of grandiosity. This tendency is offset by Saturn, the planet of restraint and discipline. To give up yourself without regret is the greatest generosity.~Bodhidharma
9/4/2019 Wednesday by Wangmo & Jampal
Theme: Going with the flow
With so many planets in mutable signs, there is more flexibility and flow in how you express yourself today. Situations are also more fluid. Communication is more subjective and relationships are amorphous and mysterious. Avoid getting distracted by activities with addictive components. If you have nothing to say, say nothing.~Mark Twain
9/3/2019 Tuesday by Jampal & Wangmo
Theme: You Might not be Right
With the extremely tight union of the Sun, Mercury and Mars, strong will and subjectivity are prevalent. This brings a desire and assumption that you are right. If others have a different point of view be sure to consider it carefully. Your emotions are generally in harmony with what you are trying to accomplish. The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell. ~ Confucius
9/2/2019 Monday by Wangmo & Jampal
Theme: Strength and focused communications
You will have more energy today. Physical activity improves your sense of focus. Communications are to-the-point. However, being reactive to communications is a risk. Relationships can be spiritually uplifting. Be discriminating with whom you seek out for counsel. Decision making is more difficult today. Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed. ~Paulo Coelho
9/1/2019 Sunday by Jampal & Wangmo
Theme: Strong-Willed
The Sun, our sense of purpose and will, is tightly united with Mars, the warrior. Take advantage of the high energy, and also be patient. We are still Virgo oriented towards discipline, analysis, and organization. Mentally we are particularly alive today. New insights will come. When we give, whatever loving concern we give, we should not expect any return, … ~ Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo
8/31/2019 Saturday by Jampal & Wangmo
Theme: Enjoy and Indulge
For the next week, enjoyment and indulgence are on the table. Fortunately, the strong Virgo energy balances this tendency with discipline. Social activities and harmonious relationships are enhanced. During this week subjectivity is strong, and we can miss the big picture. If you spend your life over analysing every encounter you will always see the tree, but never the forest. ~ Shannon L. Alder
Today the Moon is Void of Course from 4:47 am EDST USA until 7:09 pm. If you’re in another country check what that means for you time-wise. It’s best to avoid making major decisions or signing contracts during this time.
8/30/2019 Friday by Jampal & Wangmo
Adjusting and Changing
The cluster of celestial energies in Virgo is especially potent today. With the new moon in that sign it is a time for new beginnings, with a focus on practicality, details, and analysis. The cluster of energies harmonizes with Uranus, the planet of quick and unpredictable change. Innovation, and the seeking of freedom and excitement are themes for a couple more days. Change is hardest at the beginning, messiest in the middle and best at the end. ~ Robin S. Sharma
An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Stabilizing the Mind”
In order to practice the Buddha’s teaching with any meaning, you first have to understand that all sentient beings are suffering. Now I have to ask you: Have you really seen that with your own heart, with your own eyes, with your own mind? Have you seen that all sentient beings are suffering?
If you have seen that you are suffering, then let me describe a funny little thing that you still do that cannot coexist with that knowledge. You have circumstances throughout the day (and throughout the month, the year, your life) that either please you or displease you, that either make you happy or make you unhappy.
You may think, “Oh, I’m really down today.” Then you talk to someone, and someone has an upbeat thing to say to you. It’s meaningful, it’s good, and it pleases you. So what happens to you? You go up, right? There’s a nice sense of warm fuzzies, and you go up.
Or let’s say you are a renunciate, a monk or nun, and when you wake up in the morning, it’s a ho-hum day. You’re in a flat-line zone, a kind of grey zone. And let’s say you manage to get in all of the practices that you want to do in the morning, and you manage to have a pretty good experience with them. You feel buoyant in your practice. You feel stable in your practice. You’re able to hold your visualization. Somehow that magical thing that happens every now and then happens. You had a good practice. Then you have your breakfast, eating your cereal by the window like a guy in a commercial, and you say, “Morning is my time!” But later on the dog urinates on your one robe, you are too busy to eat any lunch or any dinner, and you have a bad practice. That’s the worst thing – you have a bad practice – and things are no longer going so well.
These things happen to all of you, and yet, although you say you know that there is suffering from the depth of your heart, you have looked to satisfy the end of suffering in a way that is different from what the Buddha taught. We let our minds float on an ocean of waves like a buoy, up and down. What is “up”? What is “down”? And who is feeling it? Who says morning is your time? Who says evening is not? Who says life is good when you go out to a restaurant and have a glass of wine? These are concepts that are part of your mind, and your consciousness floats on them. For some of you, there is not a moment of spaciousness in your mind where your consciousness is not floating on some circumstance you contrived all by yourself. Why does that happen?
You say that all sentient beings are suffering and that the end to suffering is enlightenment, yet you allow your mind to be satisfied going up and down according to circumstances. All of the beings that you say are suffering are doing the same thing. Has anyone achieved happiness by allowing the mind to float on that ocean of concept that we call samsara, affected by circumstances, lifted up by what we call high circumstances, put down by what we call low circumstances?
No one. Never. The Buddha tells us that samsara is not happiness, that the contrivances of the mind are not happiness, that sentient beings are suffering, and that the only end to suffering is enlightenment. Yet we allow ourselves to slide up and down every day. We get excited about some project, we get enthusiastic, but it always comes to a dead stop. It always ends. It has never, never, never, never, never continued until it gave you supreme happiness.
So here’s the point I am trying to make. First brick: All sentient beings are suffering. Now, we’ll put the next one on top of it: There is an end to suffering, and it is enlightenment. Just two bricks, and already we find that we are not secure behind those two bricks, that we don’t believe. Yes, you say that you believe that all sentient beings are suffering. Yes, you say that you believe enlightenment is the end of suffering. Can you tell me how that can coexist with the tendency to let your mind drift, relying on circumstances to make it happy, being the victim of circumstances that make it unhappy? How do we allow that?
We forget. We’re caught in a dream, and we lose faith. So how are you going to practice this Vajrayana, the Diamond Vehicle, the Tantric teachings of Buddhism, passed from teacher to disciple, that can lead to the attainment of enlightenment in one lifetime, a path with sincerity and stability for the rest of your life until some potential comes for you to achieve supreme enlightenment? Do you believe that that can happen?
Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo. All rights reserved