Tibetan Buddhist Altar

Astrology

January 21, 2013 by Norma

Happy day! It’s a feel good time, and planets have moved away from the hard-working signs into the mental signs. You’ll do some great thinking and learning today. Take a course; listen to a lecture, read a book. You can learn something new now. The drive to work hard has been replaced by the need to interact with groups, to speak to friends and like-minded folks. Who are your friends? Been working so hard you forgot? Reconnect and reaffirm the contacts that are meaningful to you! It’s a great time to call old friends, go out to lunch, and draw closer to your group. You’ll come away inspired and better at your job! Barbara Bush said, “You just don’t luck into things as much as you’d like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it’s friendships or opportunities.” It’s time to build friendships

The daily astrology post affects everyone. Because individual charts vary, the circumstances outlined in the post will affect people differently. Some will feel this energy in the personal arena, some in finances, some with children or family, some in work and so forth. There are many departments of life. Look to see where the dynamic affects you!

Astrology

January 20, 2013 by Norma

Friends come your way and you’re ready to see them! A tug of war is going on between who does what, and everyone is trying to get others to do things. Confusing? Sure, just like life! People are trying to coax you to join their group, to support their cause! Use discrimination because all the causes have costs. Choose what is most important to you and politely refuse the rest. Know who you are and you’ll know what to support: the Achilles heel is pride; watch out for people who tell you how wonderful you are….you’ll sign up for something you don’t want! You can’t do everything! Thomas Carlyle said, “Have a purpose in life and having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as you are able.” A great accomplishment is on the horizon!

Astrology

January 19, 2013 by Norma

Harmony! Today is your day. Goals are easily set and achieved. Go shopping or stay indoors, engage in the pleasant activities of your daily routine. You’ll enjoy what you do. Expressions of affection are great as is all artistic activity. Machines are intriguing and you can learn a new way of doing things you never imagined possible. It’s a good day for inventions, friends and groups. Do not, however, attempt to borrow money or look for a sponsor. You will be refused. You will know how generous you’ve been toward others by their willingness to help you. Saturn is in the sign of debt, that which is owed. Pay up and don’t expect further credit until you do. If you’ve been generous, people line up to help you. Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Riches do not consist of treasures, but in the use made of them.”

Astrology

January 18, 2013 by Norma

The desire to escape a confining situation is strong. You are slowly, steadily building a solid structure and at the same time the constant effort required is both fun and tiring. If you feel a malaise and aren’t sure what is wrong, it’s the relentless forward push you are engaged in now. Women encourage off-program activity that will get you into trouble. Henry Adams said, “Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.” Don’t follow people who challenge you to cut loose, but do pay attention to the need to rest and give yourself a break. Tantrum-y people are tired, treat them gently. This could mean you. A friend pops up who inspires you, and conversation is fun!

Homage to Śrī Samantabhadra: Longchenpa

January 18, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is respectfully quoted from “Kindly Bent to Ease Us” by Longchenpa:

Homage to the beginningless primordial Lord,
an ocean great and full of capabilities,
Whose range of intuition and depth of
tenderness cannot be fathomed,
Who is the birthplace of the Wish-fulfilling Gem, the
Buddhas and their spiritual sons, and
From whom cloud banks of prosperity and bliss arise.

Sheer lucency, founding stratum of meaning,
immaculate, man’s Buddha-nature,
Through ego-centered apprehensions following the loss
of pure awareness, strays into fictitious being.
Wearied and weakened in the deserts of
Karmic actions and turbulent emotions may Mind
today find comfort and ease.

Friends, a precious human body, being a unique
occasion and the right juncture,
Is very hard to find within the six-life forms.
As delighted as a blind man who has stumbled on a
precious hoard,
Use this body for prosperity and bliss.

What is meant by a unique occasion and the right
juncture?
I am a person beyond the eight unfavorable
conditions:
My mind has not been born in the realms of hells,
of hungry spirits,
And of animals, I am not dumb, and I am not one of the
long-living gods, nor one of the savages, and
I do not harbor wrong views, and do not live in a period
in which there are no Buddhas;
And I represent the right juncture; five events affecting
me directly by being complete in me–
I have become a human being, I live in the central
country, and I possess all senses,
I do not revert to inexpiable evil deeds, and I have
confidence in the foundation of spiritual life; and
Five events affecting me directly;
The coming of a Buddha, his having taught the
doctrine, the presence of his teaching now,
The following so that it continues, and the loving
guidance by others.
These are the eighteen facets of a unique occasion and
the right juncture.
While they are thus complete,
Thoroughly exert yourself and realize deliverance.

If in this lifetime you do not make good use (of your
existence)
You will in the hereafter not even hear the word ‘happy life-form’
But for a long time will roam about in evil forms of life.
Not knowing what is to be rejected and what to be
accepted, so going the wrong way,
You cannot but drift about in Samsāra that has
no beginning nor end.

Therefore, while you still have the power now,
Apply yourself to the accumulation of inexhaustible
positive qualities,
In view of the fact that you are the juncture for the path
to happiness,
And pass beyond the stronghold of fictitious being.

But if I dare not cross the endless ocean of Samsāra,
Although I have a precious boat,
What shall I do when forever
Emotional reactions and frustrations are raging in
tumultuous waves?

Then quickly don the armor of perseverance
And, in order to let the turbid state of mind and mental
events be cleared,
Set out on the path of sheer lucency, of immaculate
pristine cognitions,
And let no obstacles impede the road to limpid
clearness and consummate perspicacity.

He who has become the foundation for bliss and
happiness
And has found a precious and clean vessel,
But does not gather the refreshing rain of the
nectar-like doctrine,
Will let himself be crushed by the swelter of Samsāra.

The downpour of (the Buddha’s) truth, the refreshing
water of pristine cognitions
With clouds of glorious bliss and happiness and
prosperity,
Will fall on the pure mind of living beings, the fertile
soil of a unique occasion at the right juncture.
Therefore, with joy and from your heart engage in the
quest for the real meaning of life.

A Unique Occasion at the Right Juncture: Longchenpa

January 17, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is respectfully quoted from “Kindly Bent to Ease Us” by Longchenpa:

A Unique Occasion at the Right Juncture

Traditional philosophy has been dominated by the contrasting ideas of essence and existence. Essence is said to be that factor in finite entities which determines them and marks them off from others, while existence is the act that makes them actual and separates from nothing. As the determinate whatness of finite entities, essence was further conceived to be something universal, timeless, and inactive, and the various essences of the multiplicity of finite entities were held together by necessary logical relationships. All this led to the construction of conceptual systems, and to the assumption that essence preceded existence in the case of man determining his nature, which remained fixed for all times. Similarly existence was tied up with particular entities. When in more recent times it was claimed that existence preceded essence and that in the act of existence man determined his own essence, this existential reversal of the essentialist trend did not change the basic conceptualism.

Whether we give precedence to essence or existence, we deal with an abstraction, and this means that we have taken something smaller from something greater. It is a fact that the greater can never be caught by or reduced to the smaller. It cannot even be pointed out. Attempts to do so are more often than not attempts to dwell on elements which are merely ingredients, aspects of rationalization upon which the construction of a conceptual system rests, but which in a work of art is known as beauty and in a life situation as Being.

While we cannot point out beauty or Being, we can point to it and this pointing may help people to experience for themselves this something greater. Such pointing is indicated by the use of word ‘Being’ which is the most universal of concepts, for it covers anything and everything — even ‘nothing’ which, in the sense that it is spoken or thought, is something. Beyond the domain of this concept there is, in the strictest sense of the word, nothing more on which ‘Being’ could rest and on the basis of which it could be more specifically determined. This is tantamount to saying that the more comprehensive a concept is the more indeterminate and ’empty’ is its content. There is ‘nothing’ of either essence or existence in it, and yet there is the awareness and feeling of ‘Being’ in the sense that ‘Being’ is awareness and awareness if feeling.

Of course, terms like ‘awareness’ and ‘feeling’ are quite inadequate. We have the tendency to say that we are aware of something and we tacitly assume that this something is always something finite, as is the awareness itself. The same applies to feeling, as when I say that I feel happy or comfortable, unhappy or uncomfortable. What we have done in all these cases is that we have made up a concept and, in our efforts to bring the something greater under the concept, we have attempted to make it something smaller and have quite literally strayed away from it into fictions of our own making–whether we call it ‘essences’, ‘existences’, or ‘minds’. It is as if, and it seems almost inevitable to do so, we were desperate to fill nothingness, the ’emptiness’ of Being, with ‘essences’, fundamental characteristics, and to replace pure awareness by distinct acts of cognitions. However, rather than to see we ‘fill’ nothingness it seems more correct to say that we tend to ‘falsify’ ‘Being’ into some sort of ‘existent’ which we then further split up into essence and existence, and to ‘falsify’ Mind (as a pointer to awareness that is Being) into ‘some’ mind which also is split up into a mind and mental events. Thus the openness of Being is lost, its sheer lucency becomes dimmer and dimmer until it is as dull as the ‘existents’, the objects it deals with as a mind.

This falsification, however, makes us uneasy. This uneasiness not only signals the fact that something, somewhere, sometime has gone wrong, and that something has to be done about it, it also makes clear that what is at stake is man’s humanity which cannot be defined in terms of ‘essences’ but is inseparable from, if not identical with, Being, to which, in the context of man’s being human, the name ‘Buddha nature’ is given.

Insofar as Being operates through a human existence which illustrates this working of Being as the rediscovery of Being by itself, a human existence is a ‘unique occasion’ and ‘right juncture’. To the extent that Being is allowed to penetrate man’s ‘existence’ and return it to ‘Being’ , to heal the wounds of fragmentation and to restore the wholeness of Being, a human existence is precious. This means neither more nor less than that the presence of something already there, and the direction and scope of the question (and the quest) of being human, are determined by the question and the quest of Being, which aims at making the meaning of Being explicit through its immediate experience.

Astrology

January 17, 2013 by Norma

An agreement or pact is negotiated, and love is serious. Something is solidified that has been in the planning stage for a long time. Sign on the dotted line today and be happy! Your book gets published, your contract is accepted and the new job is yours! A buoyant, assertive energy is best expressed in groups and with friends. Daredevils are jumping their motorcycles over cars. Stay out of the way, if possible. The wildness is directly related to the recent long, hard slog of work. People are blowing off steam. Let yourself go in a safe, appropriate place. A conversation with an important person is excellent. Women and kids are energized and men are plugging away. Recognize the difference and treat them accordingly. Hsu-Tzu said, “If there is no dull and determined effort, there will be no brilliant achievement.”

Astrology

January 16, 2013 by Norma

A laid back mood in the morning is replaced by a hard-charging energy after noon. Move fast or get out of the way! Assertive behavior is startling and under no circumstances should you challenge someone who tells you to “snap it up!” It’s as if everyone had ten cups of coffee before leaving home and they are in no mood to slow down. Avoid confrontations and back down in the face of rude behavior. Irritating behavior is everywhere and if this applies to you, restrain yourself! Viktor Frankl said, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Elsewhere true, deep love is present and happiness is yours if you ask for it.

Astrology

January 15, 2013 by Norma

It’s a good day to buy real estate or make home improvements. Domestic issues of all sorts go well. Medical issues are solved, and higher-ups listen attentively to your concerns. If you wish to be taken seriously, today’s the day to speak up! Rehearse what you have to say, speak in a dignified manner and watch doors open. Go directly to the top for solutions; don’t expect decisions from those powerless to make them. (Don’t expect the gas station attendant to solve oil exploration problems!). Absolutely trust your intuition and avoid things that don’t feel right. Anne Schaef said, “Trusting our intuition often saves us from disaster.”

Revealing the Hidden Faults: Longchen Rabjam

January 14, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is respectfully quoted from “Drops of Nectar” by Ngagyur Nyingma Institute:

Revealing Hidden Faults (Longchen Rabjam)

The great ship of primordial wisdom of vast compassion Liberates all beings without exception from the ocean of cyclic existence.

I bow to the feet of the glorious protector, the sacred guru who has gone to the precious continent, peaceful and immaculate.

The ocean of samsara is extremely difficult to cross;
With its raging waves of birth, old age, sickness and death,
It is hard to escape from and boundlessly deep.
To you confused ones who are floundering here I offer these
suggestions from my heart!

Without applying these suggestions to dig out hidden faults,
There will be no time to cast off all your unwholesome behavior.
Without looking back into your mind,
There will be no time to see your negative faults.
Therefore, today I offer these suggestions from my heart!
Keep this in mind. It is beneficial spiritual advice.

Even if you live in solitude, you can become accustomed to depending on others;
If you are not free from the eight worldly concerns and the distractions of this life,
You can become someone who appears to benefit others while pervertedly benefiting himself!
Consider whether you can get by with such conduct!

By abiding in solitude, the Victorious Ones of the past attained enlightenment
And even former practitioners of the dharma achieved accomplishment,
But you are completely distracted.
Consider whether you can get by with such conduct!

Not recognizing all material wealth, fame, glory and valuable possessions as magical illusions.
And deceptive obstacles to accomplishment,
It’s like you are receiving something from one person and giving it to another.
Consider whether you can get by with such conduct!

Not recognizing as manifold demons of distraction and illusion
All kinds of business with many different people,
You think that babbling platitudes about the dharma will benefit others.
Consider whether you can get by with such conduct!

Being uncertain about exactly where you are heading,
You gather material wealth, build castles on dung heaps and so on.
Reckoning that you will live there forever, you take illusory appearance to be real.
Do you think such conduct will suffice?

Failing to tame and stabilize your own mind,
But hoping to tame and stabilize the minds of others,
You will experience incessant suffering and torment.
Do you think such conduct is good enough?

Never applying yourself to actual essence,
While day and night making great efforts for this life is a great mistake.
Such childish and imprudent ones are objects of the noble beings’ smiles and laughter.
Consider whether you can get by with such conduct!

When a group of many aimless ones have gathered,
Distracted teachers and students fetter one another.
This is like making an aimless search for a guesthouse.
Clinging to never-ending appearances of magical illusion
As happiness and bliss, you lose the enlightened path to liberation
And feel no weariness toward cyclic existence.
Do you think such conduct is good enough?

This year is the dwelling ground of Female Fire-Hog,
And twelve years from now will be the ground of the Male Iron-Dog, when
Foreign invasion is prophesied. Yet you make no effort to escape.
Do you think such conduct will suffice?

From all directions, war and strife will increase,
People will become intolerant and there will be many types of destruction,
But you are not trying to find the precious hidden land.
Consider whether you can get by with such conduct!

Even if you always perform good deeds without deceit,
Since there won’t be time to complete this, both inside and out,
The foundation of purposeless suffering will be uninterrupted.
Do you think such conduct is good enough?

Remaining in solitude in the mountains, but acting like you were on the edge of a city,
Accustomed to countless meetings and gatherings,
You become completely careless and your occupations never end.
Consider whether you can get by with such conduct!

Although you mentally renounce this life, you cannot let it go;
Although you dismantle deluded ego clinging, it doesn’t fall apart;
Even remaining alone in the mountains, you’ll find no occasion for solitude.
Do you think you can get by with that kind of conduct!

Although with words you talk about needing nothing, you pursue food and clothing;
Although you speak of impermanence of life, you’re still not mindful of death;
Even remaining in solitude to practice, you’re still distracted by entertainment.
Consider whether you can get by with such conduct!

Despite talking about the delusion of ordinary life, you chase the eight worldly concerns;
Despite talking about the pointlessness of illusory appearances,
you still find a lot to do;
Although you say all things are equal, you maintain your partiality.
Do you think that kind of conduct will suffice?

Even if you sit down to accomplish the natural state, present worldly concerns deceive you;
Even practicing the Dharma of your own free will, external influences mislead you;
Whatever you do, day and night you are beguiled by illusion.
Consider whether you can get by with such conduct!

Although you ponder everything, this is not the essence.
Whatever you do lacks meaning and is a cause for suffering.
Abandon everything in an empty place without people.
If you could go today itself, this would be best!

Since there is nothing nearer than oneself,
I give this useful advice out of pity,
Listen, you virtuous-minded one who desires liberation!
If you heed these suggestions it will always be virtuous!
At the outset, the virtue is to abandon your present worldly activities.
In the middle, the virtue is to discard entertainment in solitary retreat.
In the end, virtue is to achieve exhaustion in the natural state.
Ease in the present life and happiness in the future is the intention of the advice!

I composed this advice by myself and for myself
To encourage others as well I offer this instruction.
It will be excellent if both others and I listen carefully!
Please pursue this excellent permanent aim from today!

From the Vajra Song of Instructions for Rousing Myself, this completes the first chapter of exposing one’s hidden faults.