January, 2017 | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

astrology for 1/21/2017

January 21, 2017 by Norma

1/21/2017 Saturday by Norma

Harmony, this is your day! Happy aspects between major planets turn your attention to private matters, things you can easily accomplish and feel good about, as opposed to large issues where your input may not count. Be out and about early today and finish your errands before noon. Physical strength and coordination are pronounced; if you’ve been recuperating, you are back in the game! Three planets in Pisces tell you to spend time on healing and intuitive projects. Act promptly on your perceptions and then stop. George Santayana said, “Intelligence is quickness in seeing things as they are.” Art, medicine and resurrection are themes of the day. Something you thought was gone is back!

Heart Samaya

January 20, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Keeping Heart Samaya”

We’ve talked about the commitment made by the teacher when accepting a new student. What about the commitment by the student to the teacher, the samaya between the student and the teacher? What is that all about? There must be some kind of reciprocal relationship. Obviously the teacher cannot insist on the student’s progress without the student’s willingness. The student has to be willing to follow Lord Buddha’s teachings, has to be willing to accept the objects of refuge as their true refuge from the sufferings of samsara. So there is a reciprocal commitment that is required.

It is extremely important that the teacher maintain their ethical and moral responsibility to the student. That is to say, the teacher honors the student and thinks of the student with such high regard and such respect that actually it is said that a pure teacher will consider the student to be worth more than their own safety or comfort. In a sense, they hold the student up in the same way that a parent holds up their child, not necessarily as superior, but as vitally important and cared for. Any of you who have been parents know that in a dangerous situation, before you think of your own safety, if you have that bonding and love with your child, you’ll think about the safety of the child first. That is always the case. And when the mother hears the cry of her baby child for food, she doesn’t say, “I am not ready to feed you now. It’s not convenient for me to feed you now. I have no wish to feed you now.” Instead, the mother wants to answer the child’s call as though the mother were filled with milk and the child were very hungry. It is very instinctive and very natural.

So the relationship occurs in that way on the teacher’s side of the fence. Now what about the student, what is the student’s part in the equation?

Well, there are certain teachings and certain rules that one must follow, but I don’t like to think of them as merely following dogmatic rules. I like to think of this samaya, or this commitment, as a samaya of the heart. Something that is deep and profound, instead of like a cheap and gaudy display. It doesn’t burn hot like paper, quick and then gone. It burns deep and slow like good strong hardwood or even better, good strong coal-something that burns hot for a long time, steadily without interruption. This is how the relationship between the Guru and disciple should be.

When the student learns about the samaya they are keeping with the teacher, they should hold that samaya not so much as a duty and responsibility but more as a jewel, just as the teacher holds the student as a jewel. So that relationship then is considered precious, valuable, from the heart. Not a methodical thing, not a thing done by rote, not a thing done blindly without any understanding, but a deep and pervasive samaya or commitment that is a heart connection that ultimately enhances the practice and the level of accomplishment that comes from practicing Guru Yoga.

Astrology for 1/20/2017

January 20, 2017 by Norma

1/20/2017 Friday by Norma

A private conversation clears up a tricky matter, and it must be kept private. Listen for the subtext- the thing that isn’t articulated- in all interactions and you’ll understand what is driving the current situation. Group activity is favorable and all sub-rosa matters are successful. Bruce Barton said, “The most important thing about getting somewhere is starting right where we are.” It’s quite important to understand who you are, what you value and where you stand. Think and talk things over with others today, it’s an intellectual time. Scientific matters are successful, technology flourishes, and machines play an important role, but compassion, sympathy and healing are the real winners today.

When the Teacher Meets the Student

January 19, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Keeping Heart Samaya”

Guru Yoga is a very important, very fundamental aspect of the practice of Vajrayana. When a student and a teacher come together, following in the footsteps of Guru Rinpoche as he taught, the relationship between the student and the teacher is upheld by the teacher in a very profound way. Once the teacher accepts the student as their very own and takes them into their heart and actually into their body, speech and mind, it is the teacher’s commitment to bring blessings and benefit to that student, not only in this lifetime but in every future lifetime.

The student then becomes extremely important to the teacher, in that the teacher, upon accepting the student fully once that relationship has been established, promises to return lifetime after lifetime in whatever form is necessary in order to be of benefit to that student. So there is a heart commitment or heart “samaya.” When the teacher looks into the face of the student, the teacher says to the student or thinks to the student in their heart and in their mind, “I will not abandon you. I will not abandon you to remain alone in cyclic existence.”

So, the commitment is that the teacher promises to see the student through until supreme realization. This then becomes a “samaya,” or commitment, that lasts life after life, from life to death, from life to death, from life to death. Again and again and again this relationship returns. There are many stories about how lamas, recognizing their students or seeing their students from the time before, whatever that time might be, feel great joy at seeing the face of the student again, tremendous joy, as though seeing and having the opportunity to nurture their beloved child once more. And this is a very beautiful and happy thing.

Astrology for 1/19/2017

January 19, 2017 by Norma

1/19/2017 Thursday by Norma

Someone makes a final show of authority today, generating disfavor in others. This is a poor day to demand respect but a great day to make friends. A rigid attitude morphs into a friendly, “hail fellow well met” mode as the day progresses. Shakespeare said, “The old order changes, yielding place to new, and God fulfills himself in many ways.” Do your best to fit into the new facts of life and avoid lamenting what’s gone. Love is here; someone who seemed gone for good is back, and a new source of inspiration is in the air. Apologize to anyone you have mistreated recently and make no effort to defend yourself. Be willing to accept apologies and put the past behind you. Happiness and the willingness to extend an olive branch, to make peace, is the gift of the day.

The Nature of Kaliyuga

January 18, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Vajrayana and Kaliyuga”

It used to be that one could learn something of the Buddha’s teaching – for instance, a beginning philosophy, such as the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, and some of the Buddha’s basic teachings – but one could not receive teachings on the meaning of Vajrayana, and certainly one would not come across teachings on the nature of mind. This is a very recent occurrence. They are still thought of as secret, even though now, because this is the time of Kaliyuga, the time of great degeneration, these teachings are in fact widespread.

There is a tremendous blessing in their being widespread. If they were not widespread, we, who are born in America, would have no access to them. So we are truly blessed by having them. But there is also a tremendous difficulty with their being widespread, and that is that there are many practitioners that I have seen who have heard rich and profound teachings and have not utilized them whatsoever. It is like seeds tossed into a field: Sometimes they fall on rocks, and sometimes they fall on fertile ground. Different students have different capacities, and the teachings are often not measured out according to what capacity each student has. Then, of course, there are those students who come into a teaching situation and have no idea what that situation is and innocently are not aware of the gift that they’ve been given or how to use it or how to keep samaya.

So, there are obstacles and there are drawbacks. The teaching itself becomes diluted to some degree if it is given out and it is not utilized. When I say diluted, I don’t mean that the teachings change, I don’t mean that the tantra that we’re being taught from the books, when the lamas come, is somehow different from what was taught before. It isn’t different at all. It’s still the same exact teaching; but the quality of empowerment, the quality of impact, the quality of our deepening, is changed in this time. Again, that has a good side and a bad side. Since the teaching is passed out in this more casual way, it has attached to it the karma of practitioners who sincerely practice in order to attain enlightenment, and it also has the karma attached to it of students who do not utilize the teaching. In this way there is negativity there.

On the other hand, there would be no other way for sentient beings to hear the teachings. Furthermore, this is the time of Kaliyuga. And while Kaliyuga works against us, it also works for us, particularly when it comes to Vajrayana, in that of all the teachings that the Buddha has ever taught, of all the spiritual teachings that are available of any kind, Vajrayana teachings are the most perfectly suited for this time of Kaliyuga. This time of Kaliyuga is extremely contracted. Karma is thick. It isn’t spread out and dispersed over a great, long field. Rather, it is drawn in. It is a time of contraction, and karma ripens much more quickly than it used to ripen. This is not because you’re in Vajrayana but because this is the time for that. Experience is much more condensed; phenomena are much more condensed;time is much morecondensed. You can look at your life; you can walk outside and see that this is not the same world from just a hundred years ago. It was much broader and spread apart. This is a result of the condensed quality of Kaliyuga, which will continue, and experience will become more compacted and more condensed, not less.

Under these conditions, Vajrayana can actually do the most good in two ways, which is an amazing thought. One way is that we can see cause and effect relationships more readily. We are suffering and we are suffering just enough to help us be convinced that suffering is a reality, therefore we are willing to practice. We realize the benefit of practice because we truly do wish to attain enlightenment. In a better time, in a smoother time, in a time when there are rolling green hills around us and not much to do except to get old, when things are just more spread out and life is perhaps longer and more relaxed, under these conditions it’s hard for us to imagine why we should get up the gumption to practice. We just think we should sort of go with the flow.

So, in this regard, Kaliyuga is very compatible with Vajrayana.

Astrology for 1/18/2017

January 18, 2017 by Norma

1/18/2017 Wednesday by Norma

If you’re uncertain about something today, please refrain from doing it! Indecision is an inner warning system that you should heed. Floods, gas leaks, spoiled food, fog and covert activity play a significant role in the events of the day. Notice unusual odors, shifty people or anything that causes apprehension, and report your suspicions to those in charge. Leonardo da Vinci said, ” Just as courage imperils life, fear protects it.” Now that you’re being careful, this is a nice day for ice skating, artistic pursuits, visualization, meditation and sensitive interactions with others. Love is in bloom and compassionate people are at hand to help with every problem.

Propagating the Dharma

January 17, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Vajrayana and Kaliyuga”

Besides making it possible for the teachings to be readily available to all who wish them, Kaliyuga is valuable in another way: Namely, one can practice in a way that is extremely condensed.One can learn the philosophy of the nature of mind, as the Buddha taught in his first teachings, and the philosophy of samsara and really understand how all of this is. And one can also generate oneself as the deity, which is a very condensed way to generate merit. It isn’t the same as merely learning and then doing no more harm. It doesn’t have the same passive quality. One generates oneself as the deity, one utilizes the mantra, and one visualizes the seed syllable. These are all extremely condensed manifestations of primordial wisdom and of certain aspects and qualities of that wisdom in display form.

These two different kinds of condensed activity coming together produce an enormous amount of merit. Karma ripens more quickly; it ripens in a condensed way, more deeply and more richly. What can happen because of that is that we can create, through our practice, windows of spaciousness, windows of opportunity to perceive the primordial wisdom state much more easily than we ever could in a different time or by utilizing a different practice. It is a most perfect opportunity and a most perfect time; and it is also a very difficult time.

If we are irresponsible about the teachings, that is to say, if we hear teachings about the nature of mind and do not utilize them, that also ripens in a very condensed way, and it ripens very quickly. If we hear teachings about the nature of mind and do not respond to them but allow them to lie fallow, the karma of those teachings lying fallow only increases, and increases rapidly. So basically, we are in a position of tremendous responsibility. The responsibility is for us to utilize these teachings, to utilize them effectively, so that we can attain supreme realization in order to be of benefit to beings. We also have a tremendous responsibility to uphold the teachings. We should consider ourselves, then, upholders of the teaching, propagators of the Dharma.

How does one propagate the Dharma? One doesn’t have to be a teacher to propagate the Dharma, or somebody that distributes books. One propagates the Dharma when one practices the Dharma because one holds it and utilizes it and does not allow it to remain fallow.

Astrology for 1/17/2017

January 17, 2017 by Norma

1/17/2017 Tuesday by Norma

Partnership does not serve you well today, in fact it can get you into trouble. You and your companion agree on your position, but others don’t. This is a poor time to go against those in power, whose strategies you don’t understand. Open defiance doesn’t work, but compassionate conversations are extremely successful. Sensitivity prevails today; try to understand both sides of each equation and show the same respect for others’ point of view as you do for your own. Respect is defined as “To feel or show honor or esteem for; to show consideration for.” Mars is unfriendly toward Saturn, suggesting that assertive behavior meets stiff resistance. This is a good time to engage in healing of all sorts, to express sympathy and compassion, and to bring happiness to others. Empathy can solve every problem today.

Astrology for 1/16/2017

January 16, 2017 by Norma

1/16/ Monday by Norma

An outstanding opportunity to improve your professional standing comes, and you have the right qualifications for the job! An obscure door opens, one you didn’t know existed, and you may enter. Go in directly, if you wait or think about past failures you’ll miss the chance. Ortega y Gasset said, “We cannot put off living until we are ready: It is always urgent, ‘here and now,’ without any possible postponement. Life is fired at us point blank.” When the moment passes, slow down and relax. Avoid the temptation to rant against a system you can’t affect, either take direct action or do something else. What’s good today? Professional advancement, excellent partners, romantic love and careful action.