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Come Together – The Great Mother Needs Us!

January 9, 2012May 20, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

Good evening all. Many feel this is our last day on earth. Anyone packed yet? Once in Sedona Arizona a large group packed essentials and stood waiting in a grocery store parking all night with their leader. Oopsey! No pick up. Now the end of the world is tomorrow. The rapture! At last some action! Were the teabaggers “in the know?” Hmmm. See this is what happens when you leave the heavy spiritual lifting to regular people, ordinary in their spiritual view? Always listen to the elders. They are the only ones capable of understanding and interpreting ancient mystical teachings from ancient times. If you follow the “pretenders” you will get the wrong info every time. Even Christian pastors follow the Bible like a recipe book because they have no ancient ways to guide them, to interpret. I as many feel the Bible (read it three times) is metaphor. We then miss out on the beauty and wisdom. In Buddhism we have one life practitioners who say outright they are enlightened. Just follow their (insane) ways and drop the care and kindness. Then we won’t care if we are dead or alive, so long as they have power over our minds.

Elders of any long rooted Lineage know what the bottom line is. They live it. In Buddhism we go to the “Elder” Tulkus who do know from lifetimes of practice and learning plus teaching. And the blessings of their “Elders” in an unbroken line. The Hopi elders know. The Mayans know. The northwestern Tribal elders know. Indigenous people know, as they watch and care for the earth. Who tells you truth? Those that have wisdom or those that read? Rapture will not come tomorrow. Unless you are high. No, the earth suffers and dies bit by bit.

Those who try to have power through opinion do not know. And they convey that nobody needs to do anything to help. Cop out! It isn’t over. It is time to get off our lazy deluded butts and help. Get political. Pick up the damn garbage. Quit dumping sewage into our water. Get into Japan’s face and make them trade their pride for earth’s safety. Stop whaling, feed your ego to the hungry (they need. You don’t.)

America is fat mostly because we are gluttons who do not help sentient beings. Selfish. Gotta have all the bacon. Too bad, you don’t need it and half the world is hungry.

So- how do we wake ourselves up? Prepare for difficult times. Learn how to grow food. Learn to pray. And how to make offerings. Learn how to learn. Learn how to shelter. And please, most of all come together, stay away from divisive people. All faiths must join together to save, not destroy Mother Earth. The Great Mother needs us to wake up!

The Honest Truth

January 9, 2012May 17, 2011 by Holly

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An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “How Buddhists Think”

The first step in achieving the cessation of suffering as prescribed by the Buddha is to understand samsara, or cyclic existence. This tends to be difficult for Westerners. They often come to the path assuming that it’s all about “love and light” or about being positive. This is not Buddhist thinking.

As Buddhists wishing to attain knowledge, we must examine the faults of cyclic existence fully and completely. We must understand why cyclic existence doesn’t work. We Westerners don’t want to spend any time on that: we tend to fool ourselves into thinking we’re happy until we get old and die. “There is just too much to do,” we say. “We can’t sit around being sad all the time. Shouldn’t we just think positive?”

That is really how Westerners think when they come to this path. “I’m okay,” they say, “but now I want to figure out how to be better. I want to be spiritual too.”

According to Buddhism, that is absolutely wrong thinking. In order to attain awareness in the Buddhist sense, one must understand the faults of cyclic existence.

The Buddha’s teaching is extremely logical, and very real. So we must enter this path not with blind faith but with our eyes wide open. If you think that to practice the Buddha’s teaching is about coming into an amazing place with exotic wall hangings and sitting around being bliss-ninnies, you’ve got it wrong. Here you’re going to get real, very real. You’re going to look at cyclic existence, and you’re going to face the fact that some day you’re going to die. And it’s up to you whether you waste your time, or whether you use this life in a way that you will see as beneficial. And you will have the capacity to make that distinction.

When you see beautiful, youthful bodies, you will understand that, yes, this is nice, but soon these bodies will sag and become wrinkled; soon they will get sick and die. You have to get real about that, because it’s the truth. No one has ever beaten that rap. When the Buddha teaches us to make use of this precious human rebirth, he doesn’t do it in an exotic, far-flung way. He teaches us to be very honest, very courageous, very real.

Stay Real

May 12, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Hello all- I’ve been sick all day yesterday and today, that’s why I haven’t been on. Been rough, but I hope there is some good purpose. I always pray and ask that this illness result in health for all and Mother Earth. That this imbalance will provide balance for all. I hope so. Time is short, and we just don’t know.

Just ate the first food today. Tasted good, hope it stays that way! Still little energy. OK, done whining for now. OM MANI PEDME HUNG! I also think some solitude, a trip, some change would help. Shake the sillies out. Work out the bugs outta the system…. Right now, however I am needed here, stuff to do, projects going on. Later, and sooner than later would be fine.

Seems like many Speakers, Lamas, Gurus, Earth protectors, Shaman, etc are having difficult times, because we work to protect Mother Earth. And here is a hard cycle. We, Bodhisattvas, all must do all we can, including supporting the strength of each other, and all beings.

What is sad, is that even in these times when we so need each other- false dark minded “teachers” do not help with compassion. Yet they speak of accomplishment while spewing hate, gossip, arrogance, toward all. That is accomplishment? Buddhists are Sangha family.

If anything causes suffering it is innocents watching “teachers” wallow in mud and shit. This is what causes the downfall of Buddhism, USA. For our own purity we must avoid such types. They only lead to more downfall. As we are all taught, stay clear of samaya breakers. Stay real. If we cannot keep our vows and guard our purity, everyone gets hurt. We all suffer as we see. Japan lies and the world is at risk. For all. We must be less selfish, more ethical. More loving, less hateful. More spiritual, less material.

Happy Mother’s Day: Offering Prayers of Love and Healing

May 8, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Happy Mother’s day to all motherly sentient beings! Here in Barnesville it is a beautiful day for Moms to enjoy, and I’m also praying for Mother Earth, in my mind I wrap silken brocade around Her and hold Her deeply in my heart in love and healing. I wish I could gift Her with a planetary awakening to Her nature and Her preciousness! Perhaps the time is coming. Keep praying!

So Happy Mother’s Day to all!

OM MANI PEDME HUNG!

Confronting Ignorance

January 9, 2012May 2, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Hello Twitterverse. I’m back, sadly unable to do much retreat, had a double root canal with a major abscess. Hurt bad, as did treatment. And I have two more, maybe three. Two more abscessed teeth. I hate pain pills with a purple passion but I had to get hammered with them. Now still sore, but only mind blowingly so when I hit it while talking. Nice. So I’ll type.

Problem is I let it go for way too long. Not good. If I could cut out the last three-ish years of my life I would. I couldn’t accomplish anything and it just wasn’t worth the pain to keep going. I so wish I could cut out the abscess in my emotions like we can with teeth.

Right now I see, for one thing, that our Mother planet is in deep trouble. Very few bother to learn what the issues are. And don’t care. It breaks my heart to see it. I search for caring people and can’t find them, even in my Sangha. Why do people find ignorance so appealing? Does it make you blond? (Woo-hoo) will we be moving to another planet? I hadn’t heard. Do we think angels will fix it? More likely than us, I guess.

You see, a culture of commerce needs you to be stupid so you will believe them. They depend on your self-absorption. And you kindly oblige. Nuclear Japan will not stop. You didn’t see Osama bin Laden got deep sixed. Did you see it? Did you hear? And tell me, how can big gigantic “Buddhists” go out to eat and “nosh” with starvation in their own communities? How have we become so selfish? Our rescues have little funding and no one will raise money for them. Our Stupas so precious to us all? Yeah, so we can’t manage to pay off the land they are on. I feel mangled. Did I do any good? Will any benefit last?

The crap we chase after is embarrassing. Chin tuck anyone? Could’ve fed a lot of hungry with that. I’m not a judge or jury. I’m just sad and so disappointed. I really tried. And we just don’t care. I am so sorry for us. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for and we just don’t care. I love this planet. And her people. But for the life of me I do not understand. Why do the rich do nothing? Why are the ignorant so willing to be that way? Why do we play “bliss ninny” thinking mellow is sweet like jello? And there is always room for that crap. Sweet and fake!

Will we save this planet? Naw. Will we go out for lunch, brunch, and dinner? Sure, why not, right? We are entitled to enjoy, right? Bullshit! At least “Micky D” is cheap. Leave some change for the homeless, will ya? Enjoy your dinner…

What Will You Do?

January 9, 2012April 25, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is from a twitter conversation between Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo and two other twitter users:

Questioner: My heart is with the future. These are not the end times but times of a new beginning.

Jetsunma: Good, but there is transformation going on. If you can’t see the shadow of that (Japan!) How will you help? Many suffer now! The Earth suffers. Will you make passionate statements from your chair? Or face it and help others? For us to survive, and Earth too, we must join hands and hearts. What will you do? Must be part of the solution, or if not, you are part of the problem. Dead in da head! Use the heart! Oops, looks like I just got unfollowed. Nobody wants to hear we must do something. No one wants to change.

Peeps: People should be inspired to help initiate change, but resentment is mostly the reaction I see…

Jetsunma: It’s true. And so sad! We need all of us!

Re-Connecting

April 24, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

A few days ago I mentioned a new wind I felt coming. Well, today, metaphorically, it kinda blew the house down! In a good way. Sometimes one needs that. I do. We get too burdened, tired, weak, and often because we are out of balance, stagnant. Stress can also do that.

So it is good to shake things up a bit and see things with new eyes and a refreshed heart. Not in the sense of a vacation, but a deepening. As in re-connecting with one’s higher power, Buddha nature, “all-that-is,” each of us have a guiding spirit nature. Also to re-connect with Earth while recognizing again the “Primordial Ground of Being” we all share.

The whole world is out of balance, mostly because we are that way. We have forgotten who and what we are and we have forgotten all living things, as well as our Mother Earth. So I have been calling out for all sentient beings to awaken. And I am calling to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for help and healing. Finally, I am getting some knowing help is on the way, and change on its heels.

Since Wednesday is Dakini day I will do some retreat although I have appointments I must keep, I will spend as much time in prayer and meditation and chant as much as I possibly can. Wednesday is the perfect day to start, Sunday stop. But after that I will be focused on Dharma more than usual. It is time to put one’s body, speech and mind in order and open one’s heart to “the Way,” and to all creation. Anyone wishing to retreat at that same time will be helped and helpful. There is power in the prayers of those with pure intention especially when we all join together. I’ve been so happy to see so many join with us in Prayer at 7:00pm. Now let’s ramp it up a notch and rock the world with respect and love! You are invited! Please join!

Live From the Heart

January 9, 2012April 23, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is extracted from a twitter conversation between Jetsunma and a young student:

Student: Precious Teacher, what do you think of micronationalism? http://tinyurl.com/3jhywnb

Jetsunma: To be completely honest, sounds like a bunch of white guys pushing things and their boundaries around again. And breaking stuff like reefs and shoals, wrong. We need more caretakers, not buyers of Earth.

Student: It’s a hobby of mine and one that I try to operate by using the dharma, and a political stand for the poor and environment.

Jetsunma: How so?

Student: I try to be compassionate to all there, and help all the people I know from it, especially those who have problems in their lives.

Jetsunma: You could do that anyway…do you have lots of resources? Do people already live there? If so and you would only “help” them if you are President or King it is an ego trip and you have no right to put others in your personal domain. That would be a baby dictator on a huge ego trip. Do your subjects pay taxes? Do you? This seems silly. Maybe build a virtual world you can control. Had to be honest.

Student: No, it’s nearly just me and another once in a while. No taxes, no money is spent and virtual worlds cost money to own – money I don’t have or can use.

Jetsunma: As long as you don’t inflate your ego or hurt anyone (you can’t buy a video game?) Then let your time be better spent. Plant a tree.

Student: I can’t buy the ones used to build virtual worlds, I’m 16. And, that sounds like a good project for us to do, yes. Thank you, Jetsunma, Precious Teacher.

Jetsunma: Didn’t realize you were a teen. OK I get it. You are feeling around for your world. OK. Better to cleanse and re-plant the world. Feed birds. Just help! You sound smart, look around and see what needs doing. Plant, pick up trash, pray for the earth. Help homeless animals, find no kill centers. Collect blankets and tarps for homeless. Cans of food for hungry. You have a good heart, you can do so much good if you don’t do “la-la land.” Get out of your head, live from the heart! Be a community angel. You know, a few nails and a hammer just might fix your neighbor’s fence. USA government does not take proper care of her people. You can help!

Student: Thank you, I will do exactly that! All that which you have said, I will work to do.

Jetsunma: Hugs and big smiles!

The Red Road: Living in Harmony With the Earth

January 9, 2012April 19, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Hello to all! Have any of you noticed I talk about the movie Avatar sometimes? I’ve watched it in director’s cut (wow!) Prolly 15 times. This movie, about the planet and people of a fictional (?) Planet named Pandora. The people are “indigenous humanoids” called the “Na’vi” and are truly breathtaking in their appearance and their ways. Their planet is lush and green. Their water is pristine. Their culture is noble.

Their goddess is Eywa, “Great Mother.” They make ceremony to become non-dual with her at maturity. They depend on Her for all and since the planet is virginal and healthy She delivers. Our Earth must have been that healthy before we began living out of harmony with her. Hurting torturing and raping Her. Our Earth is quite ill. We hurt our Mother and her children mindlessly. How do we expect the Earth to provide?

The Na’vi people have a beautiful prayer at the time of hunting, and a human death. I can’t say it perfectly but it is like this, for hunt – I cry every time I hear it. “I see you, my brother and I thank you for your life. Now your body will feed and become part of the Na’vi. Your spirit will return to and be one with Eywa. Ah HO. During the feast the animal is cherished, and known. How achingly beautiful, please try to see this movie and take it to heart. It shows us what we do as disconnected humans and where we went off.

Hopi teach there are two paths, basically. One is the “White Path,” where we left and do not know our Mother. We build machines to chew her up. We rip her flesh. Then there is the “Red Path” which never leaves the “way of connection.” The people live in harmony with Mother Earth’s way. We do not dominate her, we listen to her wisdom and live in harmony. It may be too late, as She has been poisoned. We would have to grow up and evolve out of the “I’m number one” idea into “we are life and this is our only planet” idea. We’d have to “see” each other truly. When the Na’vi meet each other they say with a gesture of touching head and heart and saying “I see you.” And it means really see – who and what you are.

I’d give my life if only we could be natural again. Respect and love again. Heal our Mother. I’d give it in a “New York” minute. I am currently trying to restore steep land, clear cut. It is already registered as sanctuary, and I want to give the wild beings their space back. Restore the natural land to food and shelter. This is my deep prayer:

Mother Goddess Earth, holy mother Tara, grant the blessing that I may have help and strength to provide for your babies, and grant blessings that I may give this little broken place back to you, whole and healed. KYE HO!

Hear this cry and accept these tears from a Dakini who is your daughter, your servant and your lover. May you recover, and may those who see “The Way” join hands as one people. Let us pay it forward. Eh Ma Ho!

OM MANI PEDME HUNG! OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA!

PS. Once I was led to Hopi land and found prophesy rock. Behind it climbing down, I saw a place of offerings. I made an offering, then found a perfect green valley, so lush in the desert. I saw light beings there. Working the Earth. Water. I never found it again, though I looked.

When I met with Hopi Elders, Grandfather David was still alive. I told the Grandfathers and Mothers what I’d found. Grandfather David said only people of pure intention could ever find these places. He then said “you are welcome to go to any place in Hopi land you wish.” Then a beautiful Grandmother jumped up and rattled as she spoke to me. “You must never abandon the Red Road!” With deep eyes and blazing heart. I see you, my Mother!

May I never disappoint you, and all beings!

Lions and Tigers and…

April 16, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

This weather is like a freight train today! Going on and on, gale wind gusts, thunder, lightening, and it is raining brass monkeys, from the sound. I think my dogs have gotten scared, we are so quiet. This is so the lightening can’t find us. And the pack needs me to walk the deck and check stuff. Then they know I’m in charge. And they will not go out to pee. That’s so they don’t get wet. Check. Get mops out, since we could get some bladder bursts. Closed dog door to deck, wind blows it open meaning all kinds of jungle animals will come in and kill us all!

Now we have Tesla “pitty,” Barrymore “Dufus Coon Hound,” and Ricco the big “Pansey Hound.” Thing is, the big guys are hiding. So it’s all up to me. Now if I call Tesla she’ll come, tail tucked, head low with shame- “Need me Mom? I’m here but I don’t want to fight Lions ‘n Tigers, K? So I’m going back to my hidey hole now, K?” BOOM! Big thunder! ZIP! Tesla the pit bull at her best. My Pekes are better gladiators! Oh, and the cockatoo, she has turned into garden statuary. She is so straight and still! Cockatoos don’t do still well. Or quiet either.

I sure hope it stops soon. I want a shower and the dogs won’t all fit in the tub. Sigh. Stay dry, folks!