Astrology for 4/17/2016

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4/17/2016 Sunday by Norma

An old love is at your side, ready to help in whatever way is most needed. Accept offers of assistance and listen to advice from on high, it’s excellent. Five planets in fire signs signify an “I can do it all by myself” time, and you can, but there are certain details that you don’t know about. Step aside and let someone else do the job. Love is fun today and so is work, provided you don’t mix the two. Liane Cardes said, “Continuous effort-not strength or intelligence-is the key to unlocking our potential.”

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

Examining the Path: His Holiness Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok

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The following is an excerpt from a public talk by His Holiness Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok:

There are three major world religions and countless minor religions, spiritual pursuits that are available in this world which we should actually embrace in this lifetime. It doesn’t really matter which one one embraces in terms of the point that is being made here. The point is that everyone should enter a spiritual pursuit so that there is a purpose to this life.  Otherwise it is like the cows and the horses that are just grazing and eating the grass and just kind of surviving aimlessly. There is no point to spending your life just so that you can acquire the comforts of eating good food and drink and just getting by.  This is really, truly the greatest waste of a human existence.  Nor is it suitable to just enter any path without examining that path, without questioning others about that tradition.  One must carefully examine the spiritual path that one is going to enter because this is something that affects you for this and all future lifetimes.  You shouldn’t just do this mindlessly in a state of delusion.  For example, if one day you can choose whether you are going to eat delicious food or foul food and you check to see whether it is good or bad, then it is quite important that you would choose the best, and you would want it to be very delicious.  When it comes to the spiritual practice and Dharma, this is something that affects you for all of your lifetimes, so it is totally unsuitable not to examine the path that you are going to be involved in.  Another reason for examining is because it also very unsuitable to become partial about religious dogmas and to actually feel some hate for other religions.  People who feel this way are usually people who are not intelligent enough to examine.  If you examine each of the religions, at least you can gain some sense of appreciation.  At the same time you can understand very clearly which is a pure path, which is an impure path, which path is beneficial, which path is nonproductive.  If you are unable to discern that because you haven’t examined, then you are someone who is experiencing the conflicting emotion of delusion.

For example, in this world there may be spiritual traditions or religions which actually encourage adultery or encourage thievery or encourage the killing of other sentient beings or animals for ritual offerings or sacrifice or what have you.  Maybe these types of activities might even go against the rules of the country, might even break the law of the country and yet are still encouraged by the religion.  We have to examine to see if these are activities that are the play of desire and attachment, anger and delusion, or not.  If we clearly examine, then we can recognize for ourselves that this is non-beneficial and nonproductive, and it is something that we can avoid getting involved in.  But in order to avoid getting involved in it, in the beginning we must examine.

In some religions, some spiritual traditions, there is only a focus upon some personal gain or some personal pursuit for one’s own happiness.  It is very self-oriented.  This is also something that we should examine, because if that is the case, it is not pure and not ultimately beneficial.  If there is no focus upon how one can truly be of service and of benefit to others—because if the religion you are involved in is only going to bring you happiness in this life and doesn’t even focus upon how you can somehow bring happiness to others in this life—how could it possibly be truly pure?  In this way we must examine it. and we should get involved in a religion that focuses on the benefit of others as well.

The excellent spiritual traditions, the sublime traditions, are those which bring benefit to self and others alike. So first and foremost, please examine to see if the religion that you are engaged in or thinking to engage in has these qualifications.  Finding then a religion that brings benefit to both self and others is a prerequisite, but the methods in order to employ that must be available.  It must be a profound path that brings about the benefit of self and others.  For example, even if an old woman who has no arms has love and compassion for her son and wishes to uplift him and help, she cannot.  She has that wish but there’s nothing she can do because she’s crippled.  Therefore if we want to achieve ultimate, permanent results in this and future lifetimes, we have to be sure that our path has the power to bring about those results.  It can’t just be something that is filled with fancy rhetoric and good thoughts, but doesn’t have any methods which produce good results.

Speaking of those methods then, the spiritual path that can bring that about is one that includes the different sciences and also transmissions based on experience, and also has the valid source through which strong faith and conviction can be developed.  There must be a true and valid source of the lineage of a spiritual tradition. That must be established over a period of time by those who are intelligent scholars and true practitioners who have been able to uphold the line of the lineage of transmission.  One has to go back and see where the religion finds its origin.  The religion should be validated by the presence of the different categories or sciences of spiritual knowledge or development that validate the ability of that path to bring forth the results of what one wants to accomplish.  You can’t just expect to go to someone who promises you that if you do this according to what I am teaching then it is going to bring you happiness and peace, and if you avoid this you won’t suffer.  This kind of shallowness is something that must be avoided and can only be avoided by examining the tradition to see if it is validated by the different categories and presence of sciences and methods which have already been tested.  And thirdly, from the point of view of, experiential validity, one must be able to see that it has been proven by those who have practiced this path that both temporarily and ultimately the results have been and are and will be achieved.  One has to take a look and see if those results have borne out through the different efforts of the practice of those who are practitioners on the path—if they have been able to bring out the fruition, and if the results that they have achieved are permanent or not.

In this world, in terms of benefit both temporary and ultimate, Lord Buddha Shakyamuni has presented the methods which are according to his miraculous activities and deeds.  For the most part, those great leaders of other religions are also considered to be emanations of the compassion of Lord Buddha Shakyamuni.  For instance in Hinduism, the leader Jangjuk is said to be an incarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni, and also Wangchen, or King Brahman, is said to be an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara.  So even these religious leaders of those traditions that are said to bring only temporary benefit, that bliss comes about through the miraculous activity of Lord Buddha Shakyamuni.  Also in the Christian path, a religion that is founded upon the principles of love and compassion for sentient beings, these principles of love and compassion are also the essential points of the Buddhist doctrine, and the fact that that is so is due to the concerned miraculous activity of Lord Buddha Shakyamuni.  This also points out why it is very unsuitable for us to ever have partial attitudes towards other religions. Really, when we think in terms of what has just been presented to you, all the religions in this world have very much in common.  The most important points are the points which are similar, and we shouldn’t try to find the differences.

Astrology for 4/16/2016

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4/16/2016 Saturday by Norma

Get together with someone you love and head out together. A sense of personal integration is here, you are at peace with yourself and consequently with everyone else! Nevertheless, a feeling of doubt must be listened to; if a breakage occurs, an adjustment. will resolve the situation. Drive carefully today and be respectful of those who are moving slowly. The happiness of the times can make you impatient with those who aren’t as speedy as you. St. Francis said, “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.” A woman is inspiring and magnetic and a man is chivalrous and energetic. These two are a great pair!

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

Coming Home

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From The Spiritual Path:  A Compilation of Teachings by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

Many people don’t like to be challenged. We want our religion to fit nicely into our lives. No untrimmed edges, everything nice. Don’t rock the boat. We want our practice to be conventional—and convenient. But do not expect “nice” in your relationship with your Root Guru. Hope and pray that you get ripped open and rearranged. It should sometimes feel like a train is running over your head. The door opens from the inside. Open the door of your mind, the door of your heart, the door of your devotion. Deepen. To the extent you can allow that to happen, accomplishment occurs.

The Lama should change your life. If you do not wish to change, you are in the wrong religion. So far, what you have given rise to in this life is samsaric, and you must break its hold. You wish to attain realization.  Think of yourself as a Volkswagen entering a repair shop. Somehow, you’re supposed to emerge as something that can circle the earth flying. Isn’t that quite a change? But you have to be hungry for it. You have to let it happen. It’s called surrender. And it’s total or nothing.

The Lama should interfere with you. This is also unpleasant news for Westerners. We have convenient, reassuring rules about who can solve our problems, who has access to our lives: parents, psychologists, lawyers, accountants, lovers, family, and so on. But what I’m saying is that you should pray for the Lama to come and upset your life. Expect to have holes poked in it. Expect it to change.

Why should the Lama have the ability to enter your life? What we see, what looks like a person, is only a display. If you are letting a person into your life, you are not practicing Guru Yoga. You should not let an “ordinary” person into your life. But when you understand the nature of the Lama, you realize the Lama to be the condensed essence of all the objects of refuge. The very fabric, the nature of the Lama arises from the mind of Enlightenment. When you practice Guru Yoga, you must also understand that the Lama is none other than your own true face, the nectar of your realization. The Lama is the precious awakening. So you are inviting the precious reality of awakening, the Precious Buddha Nature, that Nature which is beyond acceptance and rejection. You are inviting that nectar to fill your cup.

How many minutes a day should you spend in devotional yoga to the Guru? Can there be too many? Might you go crazy? No. If you spend every waking and sleeping moment with the Lama enthroned upon the lotus of your heart or seated above the crown of your head with your heart and mind in the posture of adoration, love, longing, taking refuge, calm abiding—it is not too much. This is because you are relying on something that is not of the world. It is not samsaric.

You should try to develop a personal relationship with the Guru, but not with his or her personality. Whenever you see or experience something good or beautiful, offer it to the Lama for the sake of sentient beings. “May all sentient beings come to know the nourishment of finding and experiencing complete non-duality with the Guru.” Not only do you include the Lama in every aspect of your life; you dedicate that practice so others will find their teacher. In that way, your connection with your teacher becomes strengthened.

The Lama should be part of everything, everything. You should always follow your Teacher’s instruction, always rely on his/her guidance. When you receive a beautiful gift, mentally offer it to the Lama for the sake of sentient beings. “By the merit of this offering, may all sentient beings be drawn to the Lama’s presence and see the Lama as the ultimate refuge.” Offer the food that you eat: “May all sentient beings feast on the great compassionate intention of the Guru.” As you do this, your food becomes a ritual substance that awakens the Bodhicitta that brings you closer to enlightenment. It becomes holy stuff. It becomes part of your life in the most profound and amazing sense. Guru Yoga becomes the most precious jewel in your life. Everything becomes joyful. Everything becomes a big YES, a big outward-moving experience. There is a lack of contraction in your psychology. And on a deeper level, everything in samsara is transformed into the path. This practice, I can tell you from my heart, is a feedback loop. It is never an energy that merely goes out. It comes back a million fold. The more you become absorbed in your Guru Yoga practice, the happier, the more nourished you will be. The feeling is that of strength, of calm, of coming home.

From the depth of my heart I pray, gathering together whatever virtue I have accumulated, in the three times. This I offer to the Supreme Lord, Guru Padmasambava. May you all, every sentient being, attain the bliss of non-duality, and joyfully awaken to see the true face, the Great Lord of Light, the Root Guru. Lord Guru, rest upon the lotus of our hearts, that we may at last know happiness.

© Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo

Astrology for 4/15/2016

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4/15/2016 Friday by Norma

Follow your dream today; move ahead with your plan and keep going! A grand trine in fire signs guarantees success, provided you go outside. The Dalai Lama said, “Joy is power. Cultivate it!” Get your act together, take it out into the world and watch what happens to yourself and those around you! Stay in, do nothing and you’ll miss out. Express yourself today: engage in sports, create something, invent something, encourage someone. You can light a fire that inspires and energizes those around you. Smile, agree with and ignore those who point out faults.

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

The Purpose of This Life: His Holiness Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok

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The following is an excerpt from a public talk given by His Holiness Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok:

The Buddha taught that true happiness and peace can never be found through material gain, and the only way that one can truly be satisfied is to realize this point. Therefore it is very important for all of you to consider decreasing your attachment to the objects of this world, to all apparent phenomena, and to understand that more important than spending most of one’s time pursuing the material world and thinking that happiness can be found in this way, we should try to practice pure Dharma.  Not only that. To be too attached to friends, family members, even our children and our spouses, those whom we cherish, thinking that it is only through our relationships with them that we can have happiness, is only going to bring us more suffering.  This is also a source of suffering, since we will be distracted having to figure out how we can bring food to the table and get clothing for our offspring and all of the other necessities that one has to completely fill one’s mind with.  The details of survival for family and friends will completely distract one from the benefits of purely practicing Dharma.

Regarding the wish for fame and glory: Those who don’t have it suffer because they don’t. Those who are poor and those who have no position at all are always having some expectation that somehow and in some way they may be able to rise above this circumstance and achieve a position of fame and glory.  Those who are already in positions of fame, glory and leadership are always suffering from the fear that they are going to lose their positions.  So in both cases the suffering is more or less equal.  On this point I would like to say that probably here in this place there are those who are very, very poor and there are those who are very, very wealthy and in high positions, and there is quite a big space between them.  I was thinking that those who are in the high positions are probably suffering even more than those who are poor.  The reason for that is because those who are poor—except for the fact that they are always having some kind of an expectation that someday they may become wealthy or in a better position—probably have enough to survive, are getting along sort of all right. And the mental suffering that they endure is not too extreme, except for that expectation or wish. But those who are in high positions are probably suffering much more because they are always fearful that they are going to lose their positions, that they will fall down to a lower place. So their minds are filled with doubt and paranoia and anxiety.  In this way they suffer more than the poor people.

The nature of suffering is twofold: Suffering is caused by delusion and by karmic propensities.  When we speak of delusion, it refers to three root conflicting emotions: desire-attachment, anger or aggression, and delusion itself, stupidity.  Let’s look at desire-attachment first.  Now this conflicting emotion fixates itself upon objects, objective appearances, such as material things, fame, status or other human beings or individuals.  Wherever it fixates, then if one allows oneself to become controlled by that emotion, then the only result will be unceasing suffering or discontent.

Anger or aggression is a conflicting emotion which causes one to feel that one actually wishes that others will suffer.  That which brings up this conflicting emotion of aggression is due to the desire-attachment that we have for ourself and those that we are already attached to because if anyone else tries to harm them, then those other people who are trying to harm our loved ones or friends are termed enemies, and we feel aggression towards them and wish that harm would come to them.  As soon as we enter into this type of emotional battle, the only result is unceasing suffering.

That which is termed delusion or stupidity is the inability to understand or recognize what should be accepted, what should be rejected, what should be accomplished and what should be abandoned.  Inner divisions of delusion include misunderstanding and incorrect understanding.  The first of these inner divisions of delusion, misunderstanding, could also be interpreted as misunderstanding, or misusing, the ultimate purpose of this life. The way that that would qualify is that one would have to be born as a human being anywhere in this world who never really understands the difference between that which is wholesome and that which is unwholesome, never having any real kind of ability to discern what should be accepted in order to produce true, positive results and what should be rejected—basically just spending one’s life aimlessly living like a cow or a horse which can graze and eat grass and just kind of survive.  The difference between a cow or a horse and a person who is just kind of aimlessly surviving is maybe the person is able to put on clothes and other kinds of comfort. But really the point that is being made is that this person who misunderstands the purpose of life is wasting his or her opportunity because they dwell in this state of delusion, the delusion of misunderstanding what should be done with life.

 

Astrology for 4/14/2016

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4/14/2016 Thursday by Norma

The early part of the day is best spent arranging domestic matters, cooking or communicating with family. At a certain point the energy changes and you charge ahead, full of confidence and enthusiasm. Dress your best today, especially this evening. A favorable aspect puts you in the right place to take advantage of the right circumstance, and you must be looking good as it happens! Dress up! Stay out as late as you want, it only gets better. Neil Simon said, “Don’t listen to those who say you’re taking too big a chance. If he had, Michaelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor.” Today is a great day to shine, inspire yourself and others, and to express good will in all you do.

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

What the World Needs Now…

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

Many of us remember a song recorded by I think- Dionne Warwick called “What the World Needs Now” (is Love Sweet Love) many years ago. The song is now thought of as “pretty”, but too old to be current. And  Ms. Warwick’s voice – wow.

These days, everybody is “hip” and “cool” and too “chill” or “real” to be warm, and loving, to have a tender and generous heart. Instead we think we must be tough to get by. Why is that? When did kindness and compassion, respect for others go out of style? I feel it is good to examine ourselves with true honesty and pure intention. No one can afford to stop growing, and self-honesty is the way to go.

When people are hard and unable to open up it is mostly due to fear and ego protection. We are afraid of being hurt, rejected, and disrespected. So warmth is seen as weakness and vulnerability. It isn’t. Quite the opposite. Strong people can afford to serve others, to bow down and wash the feet of others. That takes a true “warrior for love,“ a true inspiration for humankind.

Most of us talk tough sometimes, and tough love is sometimes needed. Not that often, though, and not for long. If you want to do that, however, you are bound by ethics to take the time to truly study where this person is coming from. What they have been conditioned by. In other words you must learn about them, and reach a point of empathy. The old Native American adage- “Walk a mile in their shoes” before we give ourselves permission to be tough with them. You don’t know, we don’t know, what open wounds we are seeing. Also it is no good to advise others or have authority over them if you do not love them and tolerate their coping methods and their pain. Maybe we think the person deserves our rage. Let me let you in on a secret: we are all the same nature and none of us deserve hatred. None. Even to be born human we are worthy. As are all sentient beings who are unable to ask for kindness.

It is up to us to demonstrate and put into play our capabilities and our contribution. To gather a controllable circle of “yes Sirs” is not love, strength, power, goodness, or anything like that. It is false. It is not love and not power. It is blatant fear and the need to dominate others. We were not made to dominate. No sentient being is. We were meant to love and live together in harmony. Let’s do it together!

OM MANI PEDME HUNG

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA

©Jetsunma Ahkön Norbu Lhamo

Astrology for 4/13/2016

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4/13/2016 Wednesday by Norma

Politely ignore or redirect a person who’s behaving irrationally, in your opinion. Offer a snack and sympathy, but do not become engaged in a lengthy conversation; it’ll just get worse. Under no circumstances should you ask for a raise or complain to those in charge. Charles Baudelaire said, “Life is a hospital in which every patient wishes to change his bed. One prefers to be near the fire, another is certain he would get well if he were by the window.” What’s good today? Working with issues as they appear, happiness that isn’t dependent on an outcome, renewed energy and stable thinking. Love is nice, too!

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

The Law of Gravity and Karma: The Seed and the Fruit

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The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Bringing Virtue Into Life”

Denial, in my opinion, is much worse than how fast our lives go.  If we have even a meager life span of sixty years, if we really got it, if we really understood cause and effect, we would probably be motivated to start practicing early; and by the time that we were sixty and ready to die, we’d have something accomplished.  We would have prepared for our next rebirth.  But we don’t do that because we cannot connect the dots.  We wait.

I think about the young people that I know, and even the young people that are very close to me.  They have the idea that they have all the time in the world.  I know because I used to have that idea.  All the time in the world.  It’s like Friday night.  You’ve got the whole weekend so party hearty.  It’s really like that.  We really have this idea.  So when we’re young we do not begin our practice. And then when we’re not so young, when we move into real adulthood, we still are in denial.  I tell you when we’re finished being young, the next stage is to pretend that we’re young.  That’s the next thing that we do. And then after pretending that we’re young doesn’t work, we imagine that we’re young.  It’s sort of like that. We keep pushing off the inevitable, which is that moment when we get that life is really passing and something must be done.

This kind of narcotic quality that is part and parcel of samsaric existence is the real enemy here.  It is the real enemy. It causes us to think very strangely, in an odd way, a way that is not productive and is not protective and beneficial toward ourselves.  We are not being our own best friends in other words.  So what happens is we are deluded, we are stuck. We stay without any understanding.  We simply cannot commit to practice.  We have this Scarlet O’Hara kind of idea, that tomorrow is soon enough.  Tomorrow everything will be fine. So we find ourselves in something of a bind.

A person who has not been able to practice these thoughts that turn the mind toward Dharma is in the most trouble because they can’t move to the next step. That’s the next thought that turns the mind towards Dharma, and it’s a very simple one.  It’s actually very logical.  It’s about as logical as the law of gravity seems to be, and the law of gravity seems to be pretty logical.  Drop it and it goes down…every time that I’ve seen.  Show me something different, but every time I’ve seen it.  The law of gravity is kind of logical.  , I don’t know the physics of it, but, basically it means that this is heavier than the air that it displaces so it’s going down. And the earth will pull it down because of the magnetic quality that the motion of the earth produces.  So we understand that this is very logical.

But there is another logical truth that we are missing completely. It’s just as logical, equally as logical, but again we’re playing the game of forever young, never gonna die and always deluded.  That’s the game we’re playing. And here’s the truth that is logical, the truth that we’re missing that is so simple.  If you think about it, you know it’s true and it’s this:  Non-virtuous behavior, such as killing, stealing, adultery, judgment, lack of kindness, lack of generosity, harming others, lying, these kinds of activities bring about unhappiness, every time.  There is no case in which you can engage in nonvirtuous behavior in order to produce happy results.  It will never happen.  It will never happen. In the same way that apple seeds will not grow orange trees, it simply doesn’t happen.

Nonvirtuous behavior, negative behavior, will always, every time, bring unhappiness. The funny thing is we always engage in nonvirtuous activity in order to bring us happiness.  That’s what we think we’re doing.  We lie about somebody else so that, let’s see… Here’s a good example:  Let’s say that I have a boyfriend and my boyfriend loves two women.  I’m one of them.  So I might, in order to bring about my own happiness, lie about that other woman and say “Oh, she’s no good. You don’t want her.  She’s no good.”  I might lie about that other woman so I can have this boyfriend.  I’m thinking that this lie is going to bring me happiness.  It’s never going to happen.  It’s never going to happen, because eventually what’s going to happen is this: Someday you’re going to want something very much.  Someday you’re going to be completely and totally entitled to something, and that person will be able to keep it from you.  You see?  It may not happen in this lifetime.  It may not happen in the next lifetime.  It could happen 10,000 lifetimes from now, where you couldn’t possibly remember, but it will make you unhappy.  Eventually it will make you unhappy.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo.  All rights reserved

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