January, 2012 | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

Vajrayana’s Final Hour: Full Length Video Teaching

January 20, 2012 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is a full length video teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

We are living in the timo of degeneration – kaliyuga – this is the perfect time to practice Vajrayana – the diamond vehicle – before it’s too late.

Astrology

January 20, 2012 by Norma

Irritation kicks off the day, or else you “get up on the wrong side of the bed.” Men and those in positions of power feel blocked, out of tune with what’s going on. Depressed! Make no forward effort until the feeling of frustration passes, which it will during the course of the day. Suddenly, you feel great and friends are everywhere! Machines help you out, and you can advance your position with a good idea. Beware of over spending! Elsewhere, an absolutely magnetizing attraction awaits you, something quiet and luscious. For heaven’s sake, don’t overlook this happiness in the face of all the rest. Ann Richards said “The here and now is all we have, and if we play it right it’s all we’ll need.”

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!

Interdependence

January 19, 2012 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

Hello all. I have some doctor appointments today, so I thought I’d drop in on Twitter. Miss you all. I am doing well, though. IBS is slowing, headaches are less awful, (much) lower back somewhat improved, BP lower, PTSD treatment helpful.

Better to take responsibility yourself than to blame and point. Sadly, our karma is our own, and nobody else’s. When we point and blame we demonstrate how incompetent we are in understanding cause and effect.

At any rate we must eventually come to see the full equation. Cause and effect – result. Exacting result.

The relative universe is like a woven fabric. If one thread is pulled, it also pulls elsewhere in time and space. If pressure is applied somewhere it will produce a “pull” somewhere else. And no measure of denial or disrespect will change anything, although it will increase blind, babbling ignorance with no blessing to help anyone.

The Bodhisattva Ideal: Full Length Video Teaching

January 19, 2012 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is a full length video teaching offered by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo at Kunzang Palyul Choling:

Live for the benefit of others – let love guide everything in your life and you will be moving toward the Bodhisattva ideal.

Facing Facts

January 19, 2012 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Commitment to the Path”

Buddhism is not the kind of religion that necessarily comforts us, although once you get the big picture, it’s the only thing that comforts you, the only thing that makes sense. That’s my experience. Other religions will tell you, “Don’t worry. Have faith. Everything is going to be OK,” but Buddhism says,” Well, you know, maybe not.” The first thing we hear in Buddhism is, “We’re all going to die.” And so sometimes because of our cultural habits, we think, “That’s kind of a downer. I don’t want to hear that. Don’t give me any down stuff. Just give me the up stuff. I want the feel good religion. That’s what I want.” So you think, “Well, I don’t want to hear about how I’m going to die. I don’t want to hear about how everything is impermanent. I don’t want to hear about everybody suffering and I have to make it better. I want to hear some good news.”

But Dharma actually tells you the truth. Dharma is like that kind of perfect parent that doesn’t speak in a condescending way to their children, a parent that tells them the truth directly, maybe in child language, but tells them the truth, speaks clearly, respects their dignity enough to tell them what is up. And that is what Dharma does. Dharma says to us that everything is impermanent. We are all wandering in cyclic existence. We do not know how to get out of cyclic existence because we don’t know how to create the causes for liberation. We don’t know how to create the causes for happiness. So it’s a roll of the dice: Which of our karma is going to ripen? According to the Buddha’s teaching, it’s all there. We have been existing as sentient beings since time out of mind. We have had time to create the causes for everything from living in a god realm to living in a hell realm.

Once we see that our lives are kind of like a wild locomotive careening down a track, down a mountain with no brakes, and we just really can’t tell when it’s going to derail, we begin to ask ourselves, “How can I prepare? What can I do?” That’s when Dharma becomes to us a sensible religion, a make-sense kind of thing, because it shows us cause and effect relationships. It shows us what we’ve got to deal with and it gives us a way to recognize a path out, a path through, a path under and over, and there is always something that we can do to prepare our minds.

Astrology

January 19, 2012 by Norma

A zippy, run around energy is present today. You can make an overarching policy decision that puts you directly in tune with the times. Oddly, this decision involves the big picture or direction of your life and is virtually unrelated to anything else that’s going on. And yet it’s a good decision. Hold your new plan in abeyance and wait for the right moment to fit it into the circumstances of your life. An example would be deciding to study Chinese as you are paying the bills. You’ll need to wait til the current activity is done to initiate the new one. Elsewhere, work is really good. Keep your nose to the grind stone; you’re doing a good job. Edgar Watson said “No one can help you in holding a good job except Old Man You.”

Marrying Spiritual Life with Western Culture

January 18, 2012 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is a full length video teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

What are the obstacles we need to overcome as westrners to deepen in our Buddhist practice and make it our own? Jetsunma explores these ideas and offers solutions to make the path live within you.

Astrology

January 18, 2012 by Norma

Relax today and don’t push into new areas if possible. You can make a mistake, act on the basis of hope and abandon realistic thinking! Wishes are misleading. Enjoy fantasies and imaginative pursuits but make no effort to turn them into reality. Someone can weave a long fanciful tale that’s fun to listen to. Don’t mistake it for truth, just enjoy the moment. On a different front men and women are in complete agreement, and a possible new contract can be negotiated. A flirt is in the environment. Enjoy yourself but be aware that something is ending, drawing to a close. Wait it out and make no effort to stop a slow, inevitable conclusion. Omar Khayyam said “The wine of life keeps oozing drop by drop; the leaves of life keep falling one by one.”

Interesting Times: Keeping Dharma Pure

January 17, 2012 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

Interesting times still, my friends. But all is well, and I am getting stronger and healthy. The slow de-stress of being safe is true medicine. I never truly understood what a killer stress is – causes high blood pressure, spastic muscles, depression, IBS, palpitations, panic attacks, etc. I am moving through most of it. Takes time though. And practice. But I am pleased and hopeful for more recovery. I miss family and students.

Here I am feeding wild birds, they need the help. Here I see when I don’t talk much and have some freedom I can see new beginnings. 2012-13- what will they be? I see dimensional “thinning” which is hard to describe. I am in a truly sacred place now, and I hear Dakinis singing when I do. See doors where there are none. I am seeing a lot of quantum change, all natural. I see activity so subtle it blows my mind.

Are the truly great Lamas returning? Will they reflect the mirror – like truth of our nature? Or reflect these sorry times?

Nothing new is happening here, this disrespect for pure undefiled Dharma was all predicted as was misunderstanding the Lama’s words or disregarding them entirely, making it up as they go along. This time, when Dharma moved west was expected.

My commitment is to keep Vajrayana safe and secure by following the instruction of my perfect Teacher. I will keep the transmission of Lineage and Terma from Palyul undefiled. This is what I am expected to do. And when it is safe and I am healed, I will come roaring back triumphant and ready to rock!

Palyul needs me, sentient beings need me and women need me. I want to fulfill them all. I keep hearing encouragement from my own, and the cries of the lost and worldly, the poor and hungry. How can I fail? How can I give in, leaving beings in suffering? I can’t.

If anyone prefers another Lama or stage of Buddhism I’m all for it. If it is real. But change Vajrayana or defile Palyul and you will see the wrathful fangs of the Dakini for sure. Be warned.

And yes, this IS love. It is Bodhicitta in wrathful form. But pure, wholesome – and vital. Be sure; I love you, Palyul and all the great noble, stainless family we share.

Bodhicitta and the Faults of Cyclic Existence: Full Length Video Teaching

January 17, 2012 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is a full length video teaching offered by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo at Kunzang Palyul Choling:

Begin with love and you will produce love. Jetsunma goes into why reach for something “not of this world” like Enlightenement to solve your quest for happiness. Do it for yourself and for all beings.