October, 2016 | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

Astrology for 10/6/2016

October 6, 2016 by Norma

10/06/2016 Thursday by Norma

Quickly relay vital information to those who need it and avert trouble! Today you get advance warning that something’s coming and the sooner you respond the better; do not assume others know. Watch the news and stay informed. Move on when the moment passes and apply your energy in the direction of creativity, water management and medical interventions, all of which go well. This is an odd day with many different components that require quick evaluation and changing strategies. No problem, you’re up to it. Wendell Berry said, “Never forget: We are alive within mysteries.” What’s good today? Support from others, closed doors that are now opening, foreign things and people on your side and cheerfulness in a direction where disappointment previously lingered.

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

There is No Refuge in Samsara

October 5, 2016 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

Lord Buddha teaches us about the impermanence of all things so that we can appreciate that fact and so that we are not duped. And folks, we are so duped. Everything in our lives is geared to dupe us by false stability. Watch the commercials. Commercials are fascinating. Someday, for Dharma practitioners, they ought to have the commercials going and knock out the shows because commercials will teach you everything. They will teach you that when you have a new car, you will be safe. They will teach you that if you have air bags, you will be safe. They will teach you that if you have Gap clothes, you will be cool, because groups of people will form around you and start dancing. And that feels really cool. And they’ve told you that if you have, let’s see, if you invest online then you are like the coolest dude in the world and it’s just so cool. You’ll find great stability there. So from commercials, from information, you’re always getting this “There, there little kid. It’s all going to be fine.” And you are left impotent, unable to understand. So Lord Buddha teaches us, don’t find your security in that. All that stuff is impermanent. All of that stuff is as good as truthless; it’s so impermanent, without validity, without stability. Money does not provide stability. Relationships do not provide stability. Things that we do both occupationally and recreationally do not provide stability. Comfort food does not provide stability. None of the things we use provide stability. And this is what the Buddha is trying to say. He’s not trying to break your heart.

When you first wake up to this, it’s kind of sad. It does break your heart a little bit and you find yourself in the position of needing maybe to grieve just a little. It’s like waking up from a dream where everything is promised to you. You wake up and it’s all gone. Nothing was delivered and you have a sense of grief. Have you ever had a dream like that? When something really precious and important came to you and when you woke up it was gone? Maybe a person returned to you or some money came to you or whatever. So that’s how it is.

Lord Buddha is not in the business of breaking our hearts. We have to think of Lord Buddha in this case like a dedicated physician, or like the supreme mother or parent who guides us like a good parent would, through our confusion into clarity and healing. That is what the Buddha is doing when the Buddha speaks about impermanence. The Buddha goes through all kinds of teachings about impermanence. It’s really important to get this, whether you are a beginning student, or whether you have practiced for years. You will go dry in your practice if you do not constantly review these teachings that everything is impermanent, because we are so habituated to find security right here, right now, where this is absolutely none. We even see our bodies as stable. I feel very safe right now because I can look in the mirror and see that I am healthy. What kind of delusion is that? How much have I changed in the last 20 years? Have I gotten healthier? I don’t think so. Nothing about the body is stable, nothing. Nothing about anything that we have built up around ourselves is stable, and yet we find stability thinking that it’s always going to be this way. Even having seen the change from babyhood to childhood to young adulthood to maturity, even having seen that, we still don’t believe. We still try to find safety in false things, temporary things. So Lord Buddha really spends a lot of time on that in order to condition us so that we will have the opportunity to focus and be mindful, and begin to wake up from that narcotic sleep, The Buddha wants us to see the truth, wants us to understand that this is not refuge. Here in samsara there is no refuge.

Astrology for 10/5/2016

October 5, 2016 by Norma

10/5/2016 Wednesday by Norma

An early conversation or bit of news is excellent and generates a jubilant response. Surprise, a solution for …..has been discovered! It’s a relief to learn that life goes on, that progress is being made, that people are working for beneficial causes quietly and outside of the spotlight. Something reinforces your belief in the goodness of humanity today. Have fun! Albert Einstein said, “Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.” Do behave with decorum where necessary. If this is your day in court, be quiet and respectful, no joking with the policeman who pulled you over for speeding or with anyone in authority. What’s good today? Partnership, love, news from afar and legal matters.

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

Why Is This Rebirth Precious?

October 4, 2016 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

When we practice the Buddhadharma, one of the first things that we have to do is to examine the faults of cyclic existence. Nobody likes to do that. That is not fun. But what is interesting is you can really tell the more experienced, more sophisticated person. Nobody wants to hear that cyclic existence is faulted and flawed and that it is impermanent and that it is pervaded with suffering. Nobody wants to hear that. But when you talk to somebody who is experienced and sophisticated enough in their own lives to see that: “Sometimes I’ve tried my best and life still goes off the tracks. You know, sometimes I try my best and some dreadful disease will pop up. Sometimes I try my best and somebody else I love will just leave or be sick or die,” There is no way to prevent these things from happening. And if we are old enough and mature enough, we’ve had enough experience to know there is clearly something else in the driver’s seat here besides what “I want.” We’re getting it.

Then, of course, sometimes when students first approach the path, they don’t have that sophistication yet. Maybe they are young or young at heart or young in head. Who knows? But they haven’t had the kind of experience that is actually ultimately a blessing, that will bring them to a kind of sobriety, sort of like recovering alcoholics. They get to a place where it becomes unbearable. You have to stop. You’ve got to grow up. People who have had the experiences that come with ordinary samsaric existence and have seen them, and are not putting on blindfolds, are for the most part ready to hear this information. And if you still have any doubt, pick up a newspaper. Watch TV. It’s all there.

So once we do hear that there are faults in cyclic existence, then it’s our job to begin to examine them. Again, here, also it’s not so comfortable, because we don’t like to think about it. Especially when you have to go every six weeks and have your hair dyed. I mean, you look in the mirror and everything is turning gray and it’s all heading south, and you realize that something is happening that is not changeable. It’s just going to happen. It’s going happen right underneath your head.,and there’s not a thing you can do about it. You can work at it, but it’s going to work on you. Eventually gravity wins. Once you start to realize that, you realize that it doesn’t pay to put everything we have into this basket that is going to abandon us.

So now we come to examine the faults of cyclic existence. Lord Buddha said that one of the things that we should understand about cyclic existence is that what we are in right now is called the “precious human rebirth.” The reason why it is so precious is because it is so rare. We’re sort of locked into a closed circuit TV system, if you can imagine such a thing. We’re only mindful of our own kind of creatures. We can see people. We can see animals. That’s pretty much it— the occasional ghost for those of us who are a little strange—but for the most part that’s it. It’s people and it’s animals. Those are the ones that we can see. Those are vibrationally on our channel, so we can see them. But Lord Buddha teaches us that there are other realms of cyclic existence: There are hell realms, all kinds of hell realms; there are hungry ghost realms; there are animal realms; there are human realms; there are jealous god realms; there are long life god realms. So there are all these different kinds of realms and they are invisible. Even within each realm, while some are totally invisible to us, they are still within the form and formless realms.

The teachings of Lord Buddha about this precious human rebirth are that human beings are the only beings that have the kind of consciousness that can hear this teaching and then go practice and contemplate,. The amount of human beings that are birthed now in samsara are like the amount of grains of sand that would fit on one’s fingernail, while the amount of sentient beings that are wandering in other places in samsara are like the grains of sand on all the earth, all the beaches, every square inch of it. The traditional teaching tells us by using the image that being reborn as a human being is as rare as a turtle surfacing in the ocean and putting its head through a circle, like a floating circle. The chances of that happening are pretty slim, and so that is the way we are made to understand that this is a precious human rebirth. Now why are we supposed to hear that? Well, we’re supposed to hear that so that we don’t waste our time.

Another traditional teaching that we hear is that being reborn as a human who has the capacity and the karma to hear the Dharma is like going to a continent filled with precious jewels. You only have to bend over and pick something up. That’s how easy it is compared to other sentient beings who have not created the connections, not created the causes as yet. And while they have the same capability and same desire to be happy, they will not get to that continent. They will not pick up that jewel. Conversely, the Buddha also teaches that to meet with the Dharma as a human being and to meet with one’s teacher and to meet with the path and not to practice is like the fool who goes to this precious continent, looks at all the beautiful colors and enjoys it and then goes away with nothing, going back into poverty with nothing, nothing precious.

Astrology for 10/4/2016

October 4, 2016 by Norma

10/4/2016 Tuesday by Norma

A friendly person solves a problem, points out a solution that has been invisible to you; believe it and act on it. Act quickly however, because by October 8 the solution will no longer work. A relationship is stabilized today, opening the door to a longterm goal. Long distance travel, spiritual endeavors and legal matters are successful, so press your case but expect
to wait; the longer something takes, the better the outcome. Bring a book, a newspaper or your mobile device to enhance the wait. St. Francis de Sales said, “Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself.” Be alert to things that dart in front as you drive and be ready to apply the brakes. This is a great day to improve your standing with the boss, the world and your loved ones. You’re doing better than you think!

The astrology post applies to each person differently, depending on on individual horoscopes. Look to see how this message reflects your life today!

I Choose Enlightenment

October 3, 2016 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

People ask: “In your tradition, is Buddha like God?” No, Buddha is not like God. “Is Guru Rinpoche God?” No, Guru Rinpoche is not God. “Well, what do you call God in your tradition?” We don’t call anything God. There are gods, but they are not the goal. Westerners try to find a way around that, saying something like, “All right, then what is the goal?” I tell them, “Enlightenment.” They reply, “Okay, then Enlightenment is God.” No, it’s not. The goal is not anything as personalized and externalized as that. There is no “other.” The moment we are caught up in “self and other,” we have lost the essential Nature. We are fixated, stuck in duality.

This is about Awakening, which is the pacification of such fixation. You must understand the fundamental distinction between Buddhism and Western thinking––whether you are considering beginning the Path or are already a practioner. You must understand this difference, so that you will know what your true objects of refuge are.

The statement “I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, and I take refuge in the Sangha” is an essential element throughout your practice of the Buddha’s teaching. What does this statement mean? It means you have looked at the faults of cyclic existence, and you have seen that it produces no real happiness. You have learned that the Buddha said there is a cessation of suffering, this cessation is Enlightenment, and it is also the cessation of desire. So you have decided to go for Enlightenment. That means you have to really understand the faults of cyclic existence––even if these ideas are difficult to swallow. It’s like taking a medicine that tastes bad until you get used to it. It is like that in the beginning.

Having decided to take this medicine, you look at those who deliver it. We look to the Buddha, and this includes all those who have attained Buddhahood, not just the historical Shakyamuni Buddha. We look to the Dharma, which is the revelation or teaching brought forth from the mind of Enlightenment. And we look to the Sangha, the spiritual community to which we belong. It is the Sangha who are responsible for treasuring and propagating the teachings.

In the Vajrayana tradition, we also say, “I take refuge in the Lama,” who is considered representative of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Without the Lamas, you would not hear the Buddha’s teachings. And without the Lamas, there would be no Sangha.

When you say you take refuge in all of these, what you are saying is: “I choose Enlightenment. I choose the cessation of suffering.” You move away from the faults of cyclic existence, and you remain focused on the ultimate goal.

In a deeper sense, however, you must understand that you are ultimately taking refuge in Enlightenment itself. You must understand it as both the Path and the intrinsic Nature. So you are taking refuge in the Nature of your own mind. If you understand this thoroughly, you can never be duped. But you do have to work very diligently and with discipline towards the goal.

The method is very technical, very involved. It isn’t easy because it must cut through aeons of compulsive absorption in self-nature. It must cut like a knife! It must be powerful––and it is powerful. You have to think of Dharma that way. The technology has to be strong––and real. You can’t just talk about it. There is work to be done!

Although it is strong, the technology is very flexible. You need not be afraid. You will not be forced to go any deeper than you want to go. You have the right to practice gently. You will still be accumulating causes for a future incarnation as a human with these auspicious conditions, and then you will be able to practice well and dilligently.

There are people who only do very small, very gentle practice. And that’s fine. There is a large tradition of that in the Buddha Dharma. There are also people who are more deeply involved, though in a mediocre way. They practice an hour or so a day. They do a good job, and they’re faithful, and that’s it. Then there are people who practice many hours each day. They continually try to propagate the Teaching, and they work very hard. So you have a choice. You can determine the level of your involvement.

To download the complete teaching, click here and scroll down to How Buddhists Think

Astrology for 10/3/2016

October 3, 2016 by Norma

10/3/2016 Monday by Norma

Forgot about a “brilliant” new idea today, it’s a mistake. In fact, detail-oriented thinking is not highlighted at all; you’ll come up with one brilliant idea after another and not one is workable.
Solution? Stop trying to figure things out! Instead put intuition, hunches and inner awareness in charge and they will take you where you want to go. George Bernard Shaw said, “Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius.” Mars and Jupiter still compete for attention meaning the faster you run, the farther away from the goal you are. What’s good today? Excellent investments, behind the scenes friends who help at every turn, endowments, gifts and creativity. Everything that flies under the radar is a winner! Turn your attention toward art, the underprivileged and all medical treatments today for maximum benefit.

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

Enlightenment is Awakening

October 2, 2016 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

In their Nature, all sentient beings are essentially the Buddha––all humans, all animals, even all the microscopic little beings running around on the tips or our noses. We should regard that Nature as the basis or seed of the Path. The Buddha’s revelation of the Path came directly from his awareness of this Nature. Even though we ourselves are this Nature, we have a fixation on self-nature as inherently real. Any idea we have now, any conceptualization, anything that comes from us, arises from thinking of ourselves as a self.

The Buddha gave the Path after he attained Enlightenment, and it arose from his Enlightened intention, from Enlightenment itself. The Path is considered to be “the method.” All the Dharma teachings you receive, even the commentary teachings I may give, all derive from the Buddha’s teachings, or have as their basis the Buddha’s teachings. They are considered precious because they are the “method” that arises from the mind of Enlightenment.

You can only achieve the result of Enlightenment if the method you use arose from the mind of Enlightenment. And you can be certain that this is the case only if you know that the result has been proven again and again. This is because we ourselves cannot recognize the Buddha Nature––not in ourselves, not in any other being. Not yet. All we have to go on is a proven, result-bringing method.

The basis, or cause, brings forth the method, or Path, which is not separate from the goal, the fruit––which is the Awakening into our inherent primordial wisdom state. These three (the basis, the method, and the goal) are inseperable, indistinguishable one from the other. Therefore, we Buddhists never consider that we are moving towards an external goal. We never make the mistake of those involved in a more Western idea of linear development––thinking that they are building a higher self, or even making a connection to a higher self. And we never make the mistake of thinking that we are becoming great beings, or Masters, as those who are involved with linear thinking may do. From our point of view, we haven’t moved at all. Attaining Enlightenment is not gathering together a bunch of facts, as you might do in college. Nor is it the gathering of a bunch of experiences. We are indeed the total of our experiences, but only in a karmic sense.

Enlightenment is actually the “Awakening” to the naked state––the state that is free of all experience, the state that is pure luminosity. We don’t go anywhere. There is no building, no tearing down. There is nothing of the accumulation we value in our life. We have only pacified our chronic, compulsive fixation on self-nature, the fixation we have had since time out of mind. This constitutes a profound difference between Buddhist philosophy and Western metaphysical or religious thinking.

To download the complete teaching, click hereand scroll down to How Buddhists Think

Astrology for 10/2/2016

October 2, 2016 by Norma

10/02/2016 Sunday by Norma

Emotional stability combined with happiness is the gift of this day. A medical treatment or imaginative encounter is successful beyond your wildest dreams. Creativity is enhanced and detective work uncovers happy mysteries. Who knew? Mars and Jupiter still don’t like each other so continue to avoid disputes, but happiness is more alluring than trouble today. Swami Sivananda said, “Put your heart, mind and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.” It’s an excellent day to join an investment group, to give and receive on all fronts and to resolve an old problem that you’d given up on. Something returns for resolution, satisfyingly.

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

It’s About Awakening

October 1, 2016 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

Sometimes I am afraid for others, because they are following a spiritual path that is very new — perhaps 10, 20 or maybe even 100 years old — a spiritual path that was simply developed by a great thinker, great philosopher or great psychologist. Although these paths mean well, and they do produce some good — in that people who are tied up in knots get untied a little bit — I’m not sure they actually produce enlightenment, because the source is not enlightened. Even if the founders of these paths were to describe themselves as being enlightened, I would want to see if the paths actually produced enlightenment in someone following them, because there are many people who are practicing paths that have not yet produced enlightenment in one single person.

So I adopt a wait-and-see attitude. I’m really hard-nosed about that. I want something that will awaken me to my nature. I want something that will produce enlightenment. I won’t give you a dime for back rubs and affirmations and good feelings because those things have not proved to me that they will produce enlightenment. I want what works.

I’m not saying there’s only one path, and that’s the Buddha’s path. I’m not saying that another path could not be revealed. I’m not saying that no one else has the answer. I am saying that if I’m going to travel across the ocean of suffering, I’m going to do it in a boat with no holes. I know that I want to practice a path that has as its source the mind of enlightenment, and I also want to practice a path that has produced enlightenment in many other sentient beings. That, to me, is a boat with no holes. You’re not going to catch me — I’m a very, very practical person — leaving shore in a boat with holes. That’s not going to happen; I’m too much of a coward.

And in my having the special joy that I feel, the most happy part is that somehow I seem to have the karma of being in the position to help propagate this path. Now believe me, I have no idea how that happened. I’m just happy that it is so. If I have the opportunity to do anyone some good, if I have the opportunity to afford someone a place to be comfortable and to be trained and to feel at home so that they can practice such a path, then I’m really happy about my life.

So, when someone says to me, “I don’t know how to deal with your change to Buddhism,” I can only say, “Don’t even bother, because you have enough to deal with already. You have to deal with cyclic existence. You’re a busy person. What you need to think about is not what I’m doing. You need to think about how you are going to achieve enlightenment. How are you going to liberate your mind from the very conceptualizations that you are expressing to me right now? How are you going to free yourself from the rigidity and the restriction, the confines of your own feelings, that run you around the block the way they do and never produce enlightenment? That’s your problem, and it’s not my job to worry about it.”

My job is to do what I am doing now. I hope to do it better and better. But this path isn’t all about me; it’s about awakening. And so I really don’t waste a lot of time thinking about how I feel or how you feel or what feelings are all about. I mostly try to rest my mind in something that is like calm abiding, because the Buddha didn’t teach me to worry. He didn’t teach me to have preconceived ideas, he didn’t teach me to be rigid, and he didn’t teach me to have lots of ideas about things. He taught me to realize the nature. And at the core of every experience, including my feelings or yours, is that nature. And it is my intention to spend the rest of my life accomplishing the full awakening to that nature and dispelling attachment to everything else.

So, you see, I am not a convert to the Buddha’s teaching. I am simply one who wishes to cross the ocean of suffering and to take everyone with me. I simply want to experience the end of suffering, and I want everyone else to have that experience too. If that makes me a Buddhist, then I am a Buddhist.