Astrology for 3/29/2016

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3/29/2016 Tuesday by Norma

A discussion with a wise person provides a stabilizing influence and guidelines are set that people are willing to follow. Adhere to specific instructions, not hypothetical considerations. Be as down to earth as possible in this exciting time, and that’s what it is! Overdoing, running around yelling “Ole!” and the like is fun, but don’t forget to pay attention to your surroundings. Avoid disagreeing with a public person, the blowback will be worse than you ever dreamed. Mark Twain said, “Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.” What’s good today? Encounters with magnetic people who generate enthusiasm, excellent information that’s useful, strong leaders who set things right, and love.

The astrology post affects everyone differently, depending on individual horoscopes. Look to see how this message affects your life today!

Prayer to Remove Obstacles

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Download PDF of Prayer

Prayer to Guru Rinpoche to Remove Obstacles

DÜ SUM SANGYE GURU RINPOCHE

Precious Teacher, the embodiment of all Buddhas of the Three Times:

NGÖ DRUB KÜN DAG DE WA CHEN PO’I ZHAB

To your lotus feet of Great Bliss, possessor of all spiritual attainments,

BAR CHED KÜN SEL DÜD DÜL DRAG PO TSAL

Clarifier of all obstacles, Düd¬dül Dragpo Tsal,

SÖL WA DEB SO JIN GYI LAB TU SÖL

I pray that you will grant me your blessings.

CHI NANG SANG WA’I BAR CHED ZHI WA DANG

Pacify all outer, inner and secret obstacles, and

SAM PA LHUN GYI DRUB PAR JIN GYI LOB

Grant blessings that all my wishes may be spontaneously accomplished.

OM AH HUNG BENZAR GURU PEDMA SIDDHI HUNG

Astrology for 3/28/2016

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3/28/2016 Monday by Norma

Energy: you’ve got it and so does everyone else! Chasing bad guys? You’ll catch ’em! Outwitting problems? You’ll do it! Pushing back against trouble establishes boundaries appropriate for a stable environment. Mars energy is strong, so do your job and avoid the temptation to let power go to your head and intrude where you’re not needed. Anne McCormick said, “The real test of power is not capacity to make war but capacity to prevent it.” What’s good? Continuing improvement in health, deeper love, greater happiness. Try not to work too hard: you’ll ignore this, of course.

The astrology post affects everyone differently, depending on individual horoscopes. Look to see how this message affects your life!

Descend With the View While Ascending With the Conduct: from Dakini Teachings

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The following is an excerpt from Dakini Teachings: A Collection of Padmasambava’s Advice to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal 

Master Padma said: Some people call themselves tantric practitioners and engage in crude behavior, but that is not the actions of a tantrika.
Mahayana means to cherish all sentient beings with impartial compassion.
It will not suffice to claim oneself a trantric practitioner and then refrain from adopting what is virtuous and not avoiding or shunning evil deeds. It is essential for all tantric practitioners to cultivate great compassion in their being.
Without giving rise to compassion in your being you will turn into a non-Buddhist with wrong views, even though you may claim to be a practitioner of Secret Mantra.
Master Padma said: Secret Mantra is Mahayana.  Mahayana means to benefit others.
In order to benefit others you must attain the three kayas of fruition. In order to attain the three kayas you must gather the two accumulations. In order to gather the two accumulations you must train in bodhicitta. You must practice the paths of development and completion as a unity.
In any case, a trantrika who lacks bodhicitta is totally unsuited and does not practice Mahayana.
Master Padma said: Secret Mantra and the philosophical vehicle (Mantrayana) are spoken of as two, but ultimately are one. If you lack the view or the conduct you will stray into be a shravaka. So descend with the view while ascending with the conduct. It is most essential to practice these two as a unity. This is my oral instruction.
SAMAYA

Astrology for 3/27/2016

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3/27/2016 Sunday by Norma

Get up early today for best results. A loud or demanding person should be ignored, politely, or encouraged to do something elsewhere, allowing you to enjoy the happiness of a peaceful time. Listen to women and children, they have important information for you. A distressing event or piece of news is a sign of something you should not ignore. Are you responsible for a problem? If so, fess up! Don’t let others make decisions for you. De La Rochefoucauld said, “Everyone complains of his memory, and nobody complains of his judgment.” But don’t feel guilty if it’s not your fault. What’s good today? Happiness that is unstoppable, energy that is unconquerable, and private moments with those who matter most.

The daily astrology post affects everyone differently, depending on individual horoscopes. Look to see how this message affects your life!

Excerpts from A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life

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Chenrezig

A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life

by Shantideva

Chapter One:  Benefits of the Awakening Mind

#5

Just as a flash of lightning on a dark cloudy night

For an instant brightly illuminates all,

Likewise in this world, through the might of Buddha,

A wholesome thought rarely and briefly appears.

#25

This intention to benefit all beings,

Which does not arise in others even for their own sake,

Is an extraordinary jewel of the mind,

And its birth is an unprecedented wonder.

Astrology for 3/26/2016

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3/26/2016 Saturday by Norma

Follow your hunches in terms of what must be done today. Two factors make this an excellent time: first, strength and enthusiasm; second, intuitive awareness that is critical to your success. Use them both but avoid taking on so many work projects that you have no time to think. Generalized busyness should be avoided. (Organizing the files, as you balance your checkbook, as you talk on the phone, as you make your shopping list, as you text your friend.) Doing one thing at a time effectively channels your energy. Omar Bradley said, “We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.” What’s good today? Energy, excitement, love, new options, and a magnetic person whose actions point the way.

The astrology post affects everyone differently, depending on individual horoscopes. Look to see how this message affects your life today!

Stupas and the Enlightened Mind

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Stupas

An excerpt from a teaching by H.E. Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche at Kunzang Palyul Choling in Sedona, Arizona on May 14, 2003.  Tulku Sang-ngag is a renowned Stupa Builder and Vajrayana master.   In addition to the many stupas he has helped to build and consecrate in the US,  Kunzang Palyul Choling was very fortunate to have Tulku Sang Nang guide the construction of the Amitabha Stupa, to consecrate it, and to teach on the meaning of a stupa to the Sangha.

The enlightened mind of the Buddha

Before offering this Dharma teaching on the meaning of the stupa, I would like first to offer homage to the Three Jewels –  the Supreme and Unsurpassed Guide, the Buddha;  the teachings that the Buddha taught, the Holy Dharma; and  the followers of the teaching, the Sangha.  I offer homage to those three.  And then to the Unsurpassed Guide, my personal teacher, who is the embodiment of all of those three in one single form.  I am offering this teaching on the meaning of a stupa in accord with Jetsunma’s wishes.

That which is known as a stupa is called a “chorten” in Tibetan.  A chorten means a receptacle of offerings.  A stupa actually represents an outward expression of the Buddha’s enlightened body, speech and mind.  First of all, we have the Buddha’s mind.  The Buddha’s mind is such that it is non-composite phenomena.  It has neither shape nor color, but it is all knowing.  It is cognizant and lucid and yet you cannot identify it as being anything whatsoever.  The Buddha’s mind is unelaborated cognizance.

In order to address the predicament that all sentient beings find themselves in, to tame those beings and bring them on the path to enlightenment, the Buddha has manifested in two specific forms in an effortless manner.  In a non-artificial and natural manner, he manifests in two types of bodies.  That state of the pure potentiality of enlightenment, that is the state of being a Buddha, is something, which is beyond any kind of representation.  It is beyond having color or a shape or a size or any kind of form.  That authentic state of enlightenment, which is yet to manifest, is the genuine stupa.  It is the genuine stupa of basic space, “cho kyi ying,” which means the sphere of Dharma, the sphere of pure potential.  That is what is known as the authentic stupa before the onset of manifestation.  It is the potentiality.  It is the actual state of enlightenment that we are talking about before it is actually manifest.

The state of basic space, the Dharmadhatu, manifests a display of appearances, which are spontaneously present, complete, and perfect.  Because that basic space is an unhindered display of dynamic energy, a variety of stupas manifest in the four directions in order to benefit beings.

The state of the Buddha’s mind is such that it has the 32 qualities of enlightenment.  They are the ten powers and the ten states of fearlessness and so on.  Those 32 qualities of the enlightened mind of the Buddha manifest outwardly as the 32 characteristics of a physical stupa.  They are actually a physical representation of those internal qualities of the Buddha’s mind.

Astrology for 3/25/2016

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3/25/2016 Friday by Norma

Feeling indecisive? Not sure which way to go: stay home or go out, fish or cut bait? Relax. A turnaround is happening and it’s important to wait until the outcome is clear. Do nothing until you know exactly what your choices are. Talk things over, read, go for a walk or drive. An answer can be found in more information. The exuberant energy of the times is a slight problem, urging you to “GO” with no definite destination. Robb Sagendorph said, “Climb up on a hill sometime at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective once in a while, and you’ll find it there.” When the energy changes you’ll know exactly what to do. What’s good today? Energy, fast thinking and talking, inspiration that brings happiness.

The astrology post affects everyone differently, depending on individual horoscopes. Look to see how this message affects your life!

What is “Refuge?” from a commentary by Venerable Gyaltrul Rinpoche

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The following is an excerpt from Great Perfection Buddha in the Palm of the Hand a commentary by Gyaltrul Rinpoche:

The reason for taking refuge is based on the awareness of the precious human rebirth, on the awareness that, having attained the precious human rebirth, to waste it will be just like returning empty-handed from a land of precious jewels. Keeping that in mind, you must recognize that you need some kind of guide, some kind of help, someone or something that will teach you, show you, how to make use of your precious opportunity. This someone or something is the three jewels of refuge.

As I have mentioned, one should not take refuge in or rely upon the external form, the body of the lama or the actual presence of the Buddha. If that were important, then we would all be in trouble because the Buddha is long gone now and the lama will also pass. Even though the Buddha and all the great teachers of the past are no longer in this world, there are still buddhists. Buddhism lives on because refuge isn’t taken in the body, the form, of a teacher; it’s taken in the qualities that are actualized in that particular embodiment.

The enlightened body has specific attributes, indicated by specific physical characteristics. You must learn what those attributes are. There are many different teachings on the subject of the enlightened body.  For example, the fact that a buddha or a deity has one face symbolizes the dharmakaya, the great bindhu that is the one nature of reality, or truth. Two arms symbolize method and wisdom in non-dual union. When you take refuge in the sangha you take refuge in the qualities the sangha represents, not the bodies of the sangha members. When you take refuge in the dharma you aren’t taking refuge in the paper and ink, in the pages that the dharma is written on; you’re taking refuge in what the words express, in the quality and essence of the teaching. Whatever your dharma practice may  be, on whatever level, it is in the meaning of the dharma that you take refuge.

If you intend to study with a spiritual teacher, that teacher should be an embodiment of the qualities of the three jewels of refuge, and you should know what those qualities are. If you take refuge in an ordinary person who lacks a higher level of realization, who, in his ignorance, mixes traditions to create something new — maybe mixing hinduism and buddhism, throwing in a little christianity or taoism, making a little garbage container — then you will find yourself in trouble. It won’t be beneficial to you; it will harm you and everyone else involved. And you shouldn’t become such a teacher, because you won’t be a suitable object of refuge. If you are not a lama, a qualified spiritual teacher, then you are sangha. Since the sangha is one of the three jewels, it is important that you also be clean and pure.

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