Tibetan Buddhist Altar

The Rocketship

September 27, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “The Guru Is Your Diamond”

Many people, when they come to the Path, they do feel the connection with some particular deity. I know of one person who felt a very strong connection to Manjushri, with his great sword cutting through ignorance. And yet that person did not practice proper Guru Yoga and understand that the nature that is Manjushri with the sword is the very nature that is our root guru; and that sword could be a word, a look, a piece of advice, some heart teaching, anything that cuts through the darkness of ignorance. Some of us can understand that and then others of us want to have our particular deity. You hear the pride in that, don’t you? ‘I’m into Manjushri! He’s the guy with the big sword. What a guy.’ And yet, every Buddha that we can visualize, all of the peaceful and wrathful deities that naturally appear in the bardo and are part of our own nature and can be recognized, each one of them has the complete and perfect qualities of all the Buddhas.

So, while it’s an amazing thing if you are attracted to some particular Buddha, like maybe Amitabha or Chenrezig or Tara, you might say, ‘Oh, I really love that deity.’ That’s good. Cultivate that. But do not miss the step that Guru Rinpoche gave to us when he said, “This nature, the nature of one’s teacher is unsurpassed by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions.” Why did he say that? To create confusion so that everyone in all our different places could look at our own particular root guru and say that’s the best one? No, that’s crazy. That’s just more ordinary thinking. But instead, by implication, we understand that what we must do is to recognize the intrinsic nature that appears as our root guru, the promise of Guru Rinpoche fulfilled. And if Guru Rinpoche said this was going to work, well it’s going to work.

So, Guru Yoga is like a rocketship. We depend on the accomplishment, the qualities and the nature that appears as our own root guru. Early on in the relationship with our root teacher, we should practice thoughtful discrimination. That is to say, we should ask ourselves: Has this teacher really given rise to the great Bodhichitta? Do we see that Bodhichitta is present here? Ok. Check that box. Got that one. Ok. Do we see that this teacher has the capacity to ripen my mind? Do I hear Dharma from this teacher? Check that one. Is this teacher considered qualified by peers of her lineage/his lineage/their lineage, whichever? Is this teacher properly recognized and considered properly an authority and a throne holder? Does this teacher have good qualities? Does this teacher have the ability to communicate? Let’s see. What else? Does this teacher have an unbroken chain that connects us to the source of the blessing, which is Guru Rinpoche? You betcha!

We think through these things. And at that time if you decide this teacher is not for me, then there is no harm in saying, ‘I’ll keep looking.’ Maybe the connection is not quite right. So that’s when you do your discriminating and your thinking. But once you’ve decided—check boxes are all full, looks good to me and I have that feeling, I feel that connection, something is wiggling in my little heart chakra… So when we come to that place, after that point, you must put yourself on a diet, because after that point, there’s no more judgment.

Once we make the judgment and discrimination necessary and have that undeniable sense that one has entered the Path and met one’s root guru, after that point, judgment should be put aside. Then the ball is in your court. Not that the teacher doesn’t have a responsibility. I promise you, the teacher knows their responsibility, if they are worth their weight in salt. And that teacher not only knows their responsibility but also knows their students. A good teacher will be willing to say to a student keep looking. Go see this lama here or that lama there. See what you think. Once the teacher has accepted the student, and the student has accepted the teacher, then that bond becomes more intimate than any marriage, any mother and child relationship, any friendship. It’s hard to understand that because we think, ‘Oh, teacher. I only see you every so often, but I see my spouse and my children every day. Therefore, it must be more intimate.’

However, I will tell you that in order for you to be here, to be accepted as my student and to accept me as well, for that karma to mesh in that particular way, we must have known each other many times, many times. The relationship between student and teacher is not a relationship that ends in one lifetime. If we take vows together, I am responsible for you always. And so long as you remain in the world and have not yet accomplished liberation, I must appear again in samsara in order to liberate you. I must. Even if there’s only one, just you, your teacher will return for you. Under any conditions.

Astrology fro 9/27/2017

September 27, 2017 by Norma

9/27/2017 Wednesday by Norma

A brilliant thinker mediates between two forces that have been unable to come to a resolution; everyone recognizes the wisdom of the idea and heaves a sigh of relief. All that remains is to put the plan into action, easier than thinking of it. It’s time to work, not play, and the harder you work the happier you will be. Love and accomplishment come from sticking with the job. Plutarch said, “Many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little.”

Partnership is excellent but distracting, tending to pull you off your plan of action. Spend time with a partner then time alone, back and forth, for best results. Health matters improve, dietary issues are resolved and anyone engaged in detailed work- accountants, dentists, bookkeepers, car mechanics, etc,-do outstanding work. This is a great day to teach, learn and expand your “how-to” knowledge.

Astrology for 9/26/2016

September 26, 2017 by Norma

9/26/2017 Tuesday by Norma

You’re still in the mood to chant slogans but to your chagrin you won’t convert others to your cause today. In fact, it is time to change your strategy. A new outlook, a slight tweak in the agenda, makes things right. The first step is the hardest; admit things aren’t working. This opens the door to success and unleashes energy previously trapped in resisting a problem. Happiness and enthusiasm appear as a result of changing your thinking. Winston Churchill said, “We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow worm.” Be especially cooperative with a person who is working hard, affirm allegiance to those who are important to you, and expand your thinking to encompass other peoples’ reality. You’ll treat others better and improve your own chances of success.

The Most Important Practice

September 25, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “The Guru Is Your Diamond”

The original teachings of Lord Buddha taught us to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, distinguishing between the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha and ordinary phenomena, samsaric phenomena. We use that idea of taking refuge in what is wholesome and what arises straight from the Buddha nature. We take refuge in this Buddha nature as represented by the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha and that starts us on a path of discrimination, where we can see what to accept and what to reject; what is wholesome; what arises from the mind of enlightenment as Dharma does, and therefore results in the fruit of enlightenment. In other words, the seed arises from enlightenment and the fruit is also then enlightenment.

So we are learning to discriminate by taking refuge. We see that we can take refuge in the Buddha and the Buddha’s Method, the Dharma, and the Buddha’s body, which is the Sangha, instead of what we used to take refuge in which was, who knows, sports or ice skating or, you know, watching TV or having three cars or twelve houses, or whatever people find their particular desire is in samsara. Now we’re beginning to understand that where we took refuge in things of desire, now we are taking refuge in something that doesn’t give immediate gratification in the way that getting a new car, say, would. Get a new car, you feel good for about six months. So good. If you get Dharma, maybe you would feel good for about six months, but then you start to feel better. And you begin to realize that you are creating the causes for continued happiness. And we begin that discrimination. Oh, the car wasn’t a cause for happiness. In fact, nothing I’ve ever bought or had has ever been a real cause for happiness. But the condition of my mind? Now that can be a cause for happiness, if I learn to accept some things and to reject others; and to live a more wholesome life; and to get a flavor of what it is to live in purity with uncompromised intentions.

Slowly, we begin to notice, ‘You know, I’m feeling better.’ Then we also begin to notice that it’s not all about me, that kind of self-absorption. Rather we are really taking refuge in the Buddha’s wisdom, the Buddha’s enlightenment, the Buddha’s compassionate and amazing intention. And it’s not all about me and what I want. And our mantra has changed from ‘Give me, give me, give me’ to maybe Om Mani Padme Hung or the Vajra Guru mantra, or even just the pure intention to practice Dharma. So little by little, we begin to move on the path.

Now in this time and in this age, we have something quite special. This is the time of the ripening of the blessing of Guru Rinpoche. In fact, most of Guru Rinpoche’s teachings that were hidden as terma, or treasures, during the time of his life, have been revealed to come due or to be potent now. They are meant for this time that is very condensed and very degenerate, where people are really lost and our cultures even are lost, and our governments and power holders are lost. During this time when it’s hard to find even a rice-grained-size of truth, of clarity, and of compassion most of all, during this time, here it is that Guru Rinpoche’s precious teachings come ripe in the form of terma revealed.

In every cycle of terma revelation, bar none, Guru Rinpoche made it clear that most important was to practice Guru Yoga. Guru Yoga becomes to us the very sustenance on the Path.

Astrology for 9/25/2017

September 25, 2017September 25, 2017 by Norma

9/25/2017 Monday by Norma

Feelings-those pesky little critters-combined with a self righteous attitude land you in trouble so avoid acting on them today. Make sweeping generalizations that fly in the face of reality and you will be shot down. “Every child deserves his own room,” you say to a family of six living in a two bedroom apartment. Consider the reality others face before making judgments. Arnold Glascow said, “The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion.”

Today one person goes around tidying things and another goes around messing things up. Ask yourself which role you’re playing and you’ll understand your contribution to the mess. This is an excellent day for partnership- once you’re working in the same direction- for healing measures, for detailed work and for satisfaction on the job. A forgiving attitude makes everything work.

Astrology for 9/24/2017

September 24, 2017 by Norma

9/24/2017 Sunday by Norma

A covert activity is discovered, causing trouble. Think again if you imagined you could get away with something that goes against the norms of public interest. Feeling disgraced? Apologize, take your medicine and it’ll go away. Defend yourself and it will get worse.

A plethora of details can’t solve a murky issue today, but medicine can heal a health problem. Try not to annoy someone who is recuperating, avoid dancing attendance on someone who wants to be alone, don’t chase someone who is trying to get away. Just step back and wait. Doug Larson said, “The real secret of patience is to find something to do in the meantime.” Partnership is wonderful, work is fun, you’re smarter than you used to be and not afraid to show what you know.

Astrology for 9/23/2017

September 23, 2017 by Norma

9/23/2017 Saturday by Norma

Sit down, take a break and relax. You’ve earned it and you deserve it. Harder than it sounds, since you still want to maintain the breakneck pace you’ve grown accustomed to. The problem is your work has become your fun.

Investors, sponsors and donors appear where none were before. Got a cause? This is your time. Cheerfully accept every gift whether or not you want it, need it, or like it. Abandon pride and be grateful. Hidden influences are at work changing things and moving them in a more positive direction. Unless you know what these forces are, don’t question what’s happening.

A seed planted long ago is beginning to bear fruit. Water it, fertilize it, gaze at it, but don’t pull it up to find out what it is. “Everything gains by non-interference” according to Lao Tsu.

Where Spiritual Life Begins

September 22, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Conceptual Proliferation”

We who are sentient beings are wandering in samsara, and according to the Buddha’s teaching, if we have the assumption of self-nature as being inherently real, we are all basically in the same condition of wandering. It is only the gurus and the teachers who, in their past, may have accomplished sufficient Dharma which is the teaching of the enlightened mind. Having accomplished Dharma, they actually have clarified their mind to the point that they can see through the mist in a way that we cannot. You should trust in those teachers who have themselves accomplished their practice.

Some guidelines that you might use are these. I’ve taught this before and I’d like to reiterate this, because it is important at this time. You can have two kinds of expectation about a proper teacher for yourself or about yourself, if you think you are a proper teacher. One of them is that you should have in this lifetime totally accomplished and be, yourself, teaching pure Dharma. That is Dharma that is brought by the enlightened mind, the Buddha, one who has attained Buddhahood. This is not the kind where you make it up yourself according to the messages that you’re getting from the Pleiades. This is real Dharma, no kidding. Buddha taught it. If you are accomplishing Dharma or have accomplished it in this lifetime, and you are teaching Dharma, then you are a qualified teacher, or someone you are looking for is a qualified teacher. The only other circumstance is if there is someone who is recognized to be a reincarnate or a tulku or a great bodhisattva, who has in the past accomplished Dharma sufficiently to where, in this lifetime, their minds are the very display of Dharma and all of their activity is engaged in Dharma, and results in Dharma. And that can only be determined by being recognized by others who are themselves recognized and realized in that way. Those are the only two kinds of teachers that you should accept. And if you yourself are neither one, then you are not a good teacher. The rest are wandering in samsara and there is confusion and suffering.

That being the case, you have a choice to make now. And the choice is based on either continuing your dream-like false assumptions and dream-like confusion, and continuing the narcotic experience of just living in super-structured conceptual proliferation—death and rebirth, death and rebirth, death and rebirth—or you can get off of that and trust in the teaching of one who has accomplished Dharma. Trust in what ends up being like a lighthouse beacon in a very dark land, and go in the direction that you are guided to go in by your teacher. You must have a proper teacher. Go in that direction, and follow those instructions implicitly. To assume that you know nothing, to think that you know nothing because of your confusion, doesn’t make you bad, doesn’t make you less than anyone else. It simply states the facts. You’re still worthy. You still, in your nature, are the Buddha. You still are equally worthy of love with all sentient beings. But you accept the condition that you actually are in and it provides a tool for you, a power, a potency that you didn’t have before. Before it was like you were wandering around in a dark room trying to find the door and it’s pitch black and there’s all kinds of furniture and things hanging, you know, and drapes and dividers and things like that, and all you could do was stumble. You should think of the teacher as being like a lighthouse that shows you the door and, in fact, also is the door; because it shines to you from outside the door. And you should go in that direction. When you start going in that direction and assuming the validity of the teacher’s mind, and assuming that that is refuge, once you actually assume that, the moment that you assume that, you have begun to accomplish view. The moment you take that directive, other than your own confusion, as the direction in which you should go, you have started to heal. You have started to make real spiritual progress. You are on the path of Dharma. That is when your spiritual life begins.

Astrology for 9/22/2017

September 22, 2017 by Norma

9/22/2017 Friday by Norma

A last minute push wraps up a work project. You’ll know when it’s done by the change in atmosphere: from hard charging to sitting around looking at pretty things, enjoying pleasant company and engaging in beautification projects. Feel like spiffing up your car, home, or appearance? Interested finding someone to bond with? Libra has arrived!

Keep an eye out for hard-charging folks and avoid being run over as you stop mid-path to gaze at the scenery. Many oppositions reflect differences of opinion and your job is to learn about each position while gracefully sticking with yours. Samuel Johnson said, “Curiosity is one of the most certain and permanent characteristics of a vigorous intellect.”

This is a good day to complete a major piece of work, to tend to important details, and to move steadily in a direction that fulfill your heart’s desire.

An Ocean of Blessings

September 21, 2017 by Holly

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The Stanzas of Offering Water from the Pure Vision, An Ocean of Blessings

By His Holiness Dudjom Lingpa

HUNG YAN LAG GYED DAN DUD TSI DZING BU DI

HUNG Offering a lake of nectar possessing the eight qualities of pure water

CHOM DAN KHOR DANG CHE LA BUL WAR GYI

To all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

ZHE NE DAG DAG SEM CHAN THAM CHAD KYI

By acceptance of this offering, may I and all sentient beings

TSOG DZOG DRIB TAG KHOR WA TONG TRUK SHOG

Accumulate merit and wisdom, purify all obscurations and liberate all beings.

Mantra:

OM SARVA TATHAGATA SAPARIWARA ARGHAM PRATI TSA PUJA MEGHA SAMUDRA SAPA RANA SAMAYA AH HUNG

One night in a dream a white Dakini appeared to Dudjom Lingpa. She said that she was Sukha Siddhi and proceeded to recite the above offering stanzas for the sake of all sentient beings. She said that this wishing prayer included everything. This vision arose in the dream of Dudjom Lingpa after a prayer for water offering was requested of him by Lama Tsultim Dorje. It was recorded by Dudjom Lingpa’s secretary, Phuntsog Tashi.