July, 2017 | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

Astrology for 7/26/2017

July 26, 2017 by Norma

7/26/2017 Wednesday by Norma

Work is highlighted today so get cracking! Blow through the details of life and tidy up what needs to be tidied. Out of toilet paper, nothing in the fridge, need to schedule an appointment or book travel? Make the calls. Physical energy is high; go for a walk, run or hike when the work is done. A feeling of relief and happiness after a disappointment is palpable. Turn your attention toward the people who hold you in high regard and peace is on the table. Ignore noise. P.J. O’Rourke said, “In the Third World, honk your horn under the following circumstances: 1. When anything blocks the road. 2. When anything doesn’t. 3. When anything might. 4. At red lights. 5. At green lights. 5. At all other times.” Have a laugh at life today.

Astrology for 7/25/2017

July 25, 2017 by Norma

7/25/2017 Tuesday by Norma

The Sun and Mars travel in tandem today and people are a force to be reckoned with. It’s time to stand on your dignity, to know what you will and will not tolerate and to set the appropriate boundaries. Don’t nitpick during this critical moment. “You owe me $14 from last September,” is not the thing to say as the lines are drawn that end a partnership. Be as generous as possible in all your dealings. William Hazlin said, “To great evils we submit; we resent little provocations.” What’s good today? A new future that generates enthusiasm, an open door, cheerful conversation, exuberance replacing lassitude, and the energy to move forward!

Essential Motivation

July 25, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Love Now, Dzogchen Later”

Ngondro purifies the five senses to such a degree that many of the gross defilements. The ones that you meet up in your life where you are happily going along the road of life and you get punched in the face by karma. Those obstacles. You know. They purify some of that and they keep that sort of thing from happening or they make it happen more benignly pacified is the idea. And then accumulation of the Three Roots stabilizes the mind. Begins to ripen the mind. At that time we are trying to accomplish the Vajra confidence of the deities, their very pure qualities. Their ability to establish virtue. Their ability to accomplish view. All of these things are accomplished through this recitation. But nowadays, we don’t even have to do that. We go to Tsa Lung. And we don’t even have to finish Tsa Lung. Then we can go to Trekchod, and then we can go to Togyal. I think that is right. We don’t really have to graduate. And you have to ask yourself at this point. What has changed? Did His Holiness change?

I think of His Holiness like the Copper Mountain. Our perception of the Copper Colored Mountain may change. It may be connected to our own capability but does the Copper Colored Mountain ever change? No. It is absolutely empty of self-nature and yet spontaneously accomplished. Figure that one out. So, there is no fault here. The fault is not with His Holiness. His Holiness made a decision based on the times and I understand his decision. It is not for me to agree or disagree, but I absolutely understand what his method is. But the thing that I want to express to you is that it puts the responsibility on us. To accomplish when we are not with His Holiness what we have to accomplish in order to make what he is teaching us next worthwhile.

One of the worst things that I have seen happen, that is a terrible result, and indeed it is not unusual in the sense that it is different from the way the world is acting now. But still I have to say that it is not a good result and that is that most people on the path blow right by giving rise to the Bodhicitta. Giving rise to the great compassion, to the way that actually is the very essence of awakening. The Bodhicitta. Now, His Holiness always teaches about Bodhicitta. He never denies an opportunity. Never abandons an opportunity. He teaches about the Bodhicitta every time. Like for instance when he starts to give a teaching or he starts to do a practice, often he will remind us to establish our motivation and the Khenpos will always say that we must establish our motivation or that we must understand that we are hearing this teaching not just to hang out here or that we are doing some practice not just because we are bored or for some other self-oriented reason. But the only valid, righteous and appropriate motivation to accomplish Dharma is for the liberation and salvation of all sentient beings. So, we can repeat that back. We’ve heard this so many times. And we can say if I say to you, “Why are you doing this practice?” You’ll say, “Oh, liberation and salvation of all sentient beings.” We’ve heard this so many times that we can parrot it back. Sort of like a Malaccan Cockatoo or an African Gray. But have we really given rise to the Bodhicitta? Have we really accomplished it? Have we worked really clean? Thank you! Somebody said no. I appreciate that. You know? Have we worked cleanly and purely with our motivation? Do we tutor ourselves on our motivation everyday, every moment? And when we have choices to make, do we reestablish the motivation so that we can make the correct choices by saying, “Thus for the sake of sentient beings, I will open this altar, close this altar, pray, circumambulate, do my practice, study some Dharma. Benefit sentient beings in some way. Feed the hungry. Heal the sick. Walk a dog.“ Anything! Anything. Do we remind ourselves that that is our reason for taking our next breath? That other than giving rise to compassion, giving rise to the mind of Bodhicitta which by the way, is the pure awakened state, our primordial wisdom nature, that that is the reason for anything that we do. And should remain so. And if we do not have the proper karma to be born in a monastery amongst many learned monks and nuns and many learned Khenpos, and lamas and Rinpoches, then we must accept that as our karma. And shouldn’t leave ourselves to say, “Oh those poor guys. They have to work for years trying to accomplish some Dharma and all they get is a couple of maroon colored sheets and a rug. And you know, they just stay there in the Monastery. And gee, I get to hang out here in America with cars, and TVs, and you know, stuff. I have a great house. And I can buy another car if I want. And you know there are so many things that I can do do do. And have have have have. And yet I get some Dzogchen. Whoopee! I must be the most fabulous person in the world. “

Unfortunately, our response to being given this great blessing is a little more like the whoopee part than it is the honest internal watchfulness that makes us ask ourselves, “Have I given rise to the Bodhicitta? Have I accomplished good qualities?” I mean when you practice the root deities, the Three Roots you accumulate so many repetitions of the mantra and you put so much energy into visualizing their different hand held implements and even their posture, which means something. The handheld implement and the posture are the very display of the deities’ excellent qualities and activities. So, we practice many repetitions of the mantra of the root deity. And we think now we have accomplished the qualities of the root deity. What are the qualities of the root qualities of the root deity? We study the hand implements. We study the posture, and we begin to inhabit those qualities. We begin to display those qualities. We accept those qualities. We habituate towards those qualities and even one of the qualities that we habituate toward is Vajra pride.

Vajra pride which is different from American pride. American pride is the bullshit that knocks you off the path. Vajra pride is the confidence in the method. Confidence in the method through meditating on Shunyata and giving rise to the deity. And so there is the confidence. Not having practiced mantra like that. Not having gone through those different accomplishments, we instead have given rise to ordinary pride. And ordinary pride is stupid pride. It tells us to argue with the elder sangha members, lamas, and Khenpos, thinking that we know better, or to make up our own religion. Or to just do it the way we want to, or to just self cherish. To meditate on self-cherishing, ego cherishing, which is giving rise to the ordinary pride and back to that ordinary cycle. But when we accomplish the deity, something different rises up. And then when we move on to the other levels, we move on with Vajra confidence and unshakeable Bodhicitta – compassion.

Now, when that foundation is properly laid, and we have properly practiced Bodhicitta, and we have properly accumulated mantra and we have purified our senses through the Ngondro, then when we are introduced to Dzogchen. The mind is matured. The blessing of the lama, particularly if we have accomplished purely the accumulation of Vajra Guru mantra within the context of Guru Yoga in Ngondro. And what is it, 1.5 million of those? Or 1.2, I forget. Huh? 1.2? Thank you. She knows but did you do it? Oh see! Yeah. So, after you accomplish that many Vajra Guru mantras in the context of Guru Yoga, you have changed. Your capability is different.

We Were Born to Do This

July 24, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is a message recorded on June 1, 2013 as a message from Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo to her students (audio file below):

This really has been the hardest time of our lives as a sangha, because we don’t know what the future is going to be. We don’t know whether we will stay together.

A sangha is a precious thing. It has to stay together. It’s like a family. When it is broken something precious is lost. It is tragic.

I just want to speak to my sangha, because right now we don’t have a building that we can use the way we normally would, but I want to remind you that we still have the land. So, don’t abandon it. We are coming back online pretty darn soon. Not soon tomorrow, not even soon next year, but soon. And it will be progressively better and better and better. So don’t give up. I haven’t. I would live in a tent if I had to, as long as I had a fence for my dogs.

I just want to say that we have to make this the best effort of our lives. We cannot say, “Oh I pay this much every month, and so I shouldn’t have to pay any more.” Or I pay this much every year, or whatever. You can’t say that and think that’s enough. It’s not. Not right now. That was enough before, and we counted on you. If you didn’t help us in the way that we’d agreed on way back in the past, then we wouldn’t have anything.

This was a group of people that stuck together for a long time; learned to love each other. Then of course because they are sentient beings, they learned to argue with each other. And as usual, we don’t even realize that we are doing it.

I hope to get your attention. I have had a hard time getting your attention lately. It is like trying to herd cats. And of course we all know that is impossible, because cats are cats. Could you not be a cat for a while, and learn how to work for the larger group, for the group of sentient beings that we are and the group of sentient beings that we serve? To work for all sentient beings ultimately. If we could just get back there, everything would come back. It is cause and effect.

We have been too selfish. I have broken it up the best I could by just giving everything away. Have you noticed? Many of you don’t even know. I hope you will pay attention. I hope you will wake up.

I am glad that people are having weddings and family things. I’m glad for all of you. I don’t have any of those things in my life at this point, but I am glad for all of you.

At this part of my life I feel like I have got to keep moving forward or it’s all on me. The truth of the matter is that no one person can do it, and it’s not all on me. So you have to help me figure this out. I am actually working hard every day. Not just sitting here trying to think it out. But talking to people who might be able to help us. So help me. I have helped you over the years. Why can’t you help me? Amen.

I hope you hear me. We were made to do this. I hope you hear me. We were born to do this, and it is hard, but I hope you hear me.

You can hear the message here: Messsage From Jetsunna

Astrology for 7/24/2017

July 24, 2017 by Norma

7/24/2017 Monday by Norma

It’s a happy, sunny time and a great day to push forward with your most ambitious project. Four planets in Leo practically guarantee success, provided you do not look outside yourself for counsel. It’s time for the leader to make decisions, not time for a community vote. Why? The best ideas reside in a single person and that one alone is qualified to direct others right now. Accordingly, send your most senior person to any meeting, not a junior associate. Napoleon Bonaparte said, “A leader is a dealer in hope.” An unsuccessful partnership is coming apart and it’s best to let it go, unless both sides are willing to change and compromise. Exciting opportunities present themselves suddenly, take them and don’t look back. If you feel that life is getting better, you are right.

Astrology for 7/23/2017

July 23, 2017 by Norma

7/23/2017 Sunday by Norma

The new moon in Leo marks a brand new time with brand new opportunities. Make a fresh start with whatever you’re doing and think big! The Sun, Moon and Mars in magnificent Leo urge you to put your best foot forward, wear your sharpest outfit and wow everyone! Wherever you go, go in style. This is a great day to shine, fly flags from the front door, watch parades, go to plays or musical performances. Danny Kaye said, “Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.” Keep your eyes on your own activities and leave others to theirs. The only way to spoil this nice day is to compare yourself with others and hurt your own feelings.

Kaliyuga – Pay Attention

July 23, 2017July 22, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Love Now, Dzogchen Later”

Remember I used to give this old teaching years ago about how being enlightened doesn’t mean you are suddenly too stupid to catch a cab?. Remember I used to? You know that suddenly you don’t become blissed out somehow. His Holiness personified that.

When I went to India, I stayed there for a while. His Holiness used to have this white car that looked like a beetle, a Volkswagen, on steroids, you know, kind of kind of roundish and puffed out like it had muscles. And that was his car, and he would drive it. And he was very spontaneous, very different from the way he is here in America, like terribly spontaneous. Like one morning he came to my house, looked in the window(there is only a cloth covering the window), and it was like 5:30 a.m. “Ahkon Lhamo! Wake up! We’re going to town!” “Okay, alright. We’re going to town.” So, we went to town. We bought stuff, went shopping. And he said, “You Americans, you like shopping, uh? I just want to go back to bed. I didn’t say that to him, but you know. So he was like that. And we would drive. He would do a lot of driving. His favorite thing was to drive his car. And when he would drive, he would talk excitedly. And his hands would be all over the place. If you’ve ever been in a car in India, the traffic is so terrifying. But you know, hey you can steer my ship anytime you want to. So, he’s driving the car. He’s talking. And His Holiness when he talks, he has like a funny accent lisp thing where he spits if he’s talking really excitedly. So I’m in the back and I’m getting showers of blessing. And I’m thinking what is this fabulous karma I have that I’m in the back seat with His Holiness getting this shower of blessings; and I was just holy spit all over me. So I was really happy. I didn’t have my coffee that morning, but that worked. So I knew him well enough to know that he didn’t change his ways very easily, even though he is spontaneous. He is flexible. He is awake.

It was hard for me to understand how he could go from being very protective of Dzogchen to suddenly handing it out year after year. And it made me think a lot. And I thought, ‘That is His Holiness telling us these truly are degenerate times. And that in these times, there is so much spiritual sickness that only the most powerful medicine can work. The most powerful Dharma medicine can work.’ And of course there are the teachings that Guru Rinpoche himself has given that said that in the future in times of great darkness Dzogchen would be the method that would cut through darkness. And so I thought to myself, ‘You know, most people may not be thinking that, may not realize that. But that’s what his giving this out means. That this is something important, something to pay attention to.’

And then I began to,… Well, I talked about it with my teachers. I talked about it with other lamas that I had been connected to at that time, and studied on it myself a great deal and realized that at the monastery there is shedra and there is a different subject in every year of shedra. It’s kind of like in a college where you have a semester; then you wait a year and then you have a semester. And it’s kind of like that. So when you’re ready, between the times that you are entered into a specific solid learning semester, they have the elder monks and other Khenpos and other lamas that are constantly there at the monastery keep the monks in line and keep them progressing. They don’t let them get out of control. They don’t let them get sloppy. They don’t let them get, you know, non-virtuous. They don’t let them lose their way. They watch them. It’s a communal family that works well together so that students can progress from year to year. And even that is different from the old days, and I mean the old days when in order to progress to the next step, you had to accomplish the step before. In other words, if you were given Ngӧndro to do, you had to complete your Ngӧndro.

Nowadays you get promoted whether you complete it or not. And it is a dangerous position in one way. Well, it’s not dangerous because you have His Holiness’ blessing; but it is a dangerous position in one way because you don’t have time to do the five accumulations, and they are so important. They are so important. That many Vajra Guru mantras, that many prostrations, that many vows of Bodhicitta, that many Vajrasattva, that many of all the countables, the mandala offering. They are so needed to stabilize the path. So needed to stabilize one’s mind. And to go on to the next phase before finishing the baby steps is a difficult thing to do. And the reason why it is happening now is because these are difficult times. It’s a rather explosive combination, don’t you see? Difficult times and not having the underpinning that you need.

And then after Ngӧndro, students would usually practice the Three Roots and that would mean you would have the Lama deity, the Yidam deity, the Dakini deity and protectors. And for the Three Roots, Lama, Yidam and Dakini, you would have to do 100,000 accumulations of each. Bare minimum. Usually it was a million of each mantra. And that’s what they call accomplishing mantra, when you do like a gazillion of them. Nowadays we think it means accomplishing mantra when we say I’ve done this mantra. I do it everyday. Therefore I have accomplished it. How many have you actually done? 25,000. I’m sorry. I don’t think so. Back in the old days, it was more like 100,000 or a million, depending on how the lama taught you to practice.

Astrology for 7/22/2017

July 22, 2017 by Norma

7/22/2017 Saturday by Norma

Discuss your deepest feelings with others and you will be shot down. It’s best to remain in quiet, neutral territory. “Nice day, isn’t it?” Is a good response to, “How is your problem going?” A parade or display of importance should not be dismissed, congratulate a winner and compliment good behavior. Be as sensitive to others’ pride as you are to your own today. Frank A. Clark said, “Gossip needn’t be false to be evil-there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around.” This is an excellent day to go for a drive, a picnic or a family reunion. If you’ve been under the weather or feeling weak, your strength returns. Time spent outdoors is excellent and conversation, letters, emails, texts and phone calls bring happiness. Reach out to those who matter to you!

The Tether of Bodhicitta

July 21, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Love Now, Dzogchen Later”

I have the great pleasure of watching the aviary building being built from my deck. How carefully these skilled workers laid the foundation. How carefully they smoothed the ground. How carefully they measured, so exacting, so perfectly, looking through instruments and laying strings and then putting in wood to mark the way, and then, you know, stage by stage, one bit of strength after the other. How skillfully, and now the walls are coming up. And these are very heavy walls made of concrete, but they are all built up to the top, and I think to myself, ‘If that firm foundation had not been built, since that land slopes right there and it is screaming wet all the time, guess what? That little building would just slide right off the edge; but not the way it’s built.’

And we find ourselves in the same position. I regret to tell you that I have seen time and time again students who have taken the Dzogchen teaching but have not accomplished Vajra qualities. They have not given rise to the bodhicitta. They may have put on the garb of renunciates, but they are not renunciates. They have not renounced the grasping of samsara. They have not stabilized their mind. So it’s like they are traveling the great ship of Dharma and even though the ship itself is fairly stable, it is on an ocean and it is going to rock and roll a little bit, you know? And it is like you’re the practitioner on roller skates who’s not holding on on top of a sheet of ice on the boat. It’s not going to work. You’re going to go overboard. And they do. They get thrown off. Whereas if we had taken time to practice properly with depth, not so superficially, taking responsibility for the accomplishment that you know in your heart has always been required of a proper disciple… And it’s not like it’s news to you. I’ve been yapping about this for years. So, in that case, maybe you would be more seaworthy. You’d have your sea legs. I’m pretty sure of it. You would be hanging onto a rail. You’d be properly equipped to travel this ship of Dharma to the other shore. And that would be like the seed of Dzogchen being planted in a field that is rich and fertile and moist.

So having given rise to the Bodhicitta, we would be different than we are. How would we be different? Would we look funny? I don’t know. We look funny now sometimes. I look funny. You should see me in the morning. That’s all silly stuff. How would you be different? I think better. To accomplish excellent qualities, to establish virtue in the mind stream, to give rise to the Bodhicitta? A lot better.

So the point is that you find yourself in a particular situation where you can go to New York every summer, and you can study, and you can sit down and practice for the rest of the year. But we do not find ourselves in the perfect situation where we are in a monastic environment constantly where the reality of Dharma is constantly reflected to us, where the method of Dharma is constantly reminded to us. where the way is constantly pointed out, and where our limited capabilities, you know, are constantly guided. It would be like a child growing up without the advice of a parent. It is not very effective. And the reason why I’m telling you this is not so you can go, ‘Oh bummer! Here I’ve had Dzogchen and now I find out it’s not happening,’ or something. That’s not what I’m saying. I hope you understand that. Dzogchen is the very nectar of Dharma. It is the distilled substance that is empty of substance-ness. It is awakening. It is the way to move towards realization. It is the way to give rise to one’s best capabilities. It is the way to accomplish the Buddha nature. But like any other method, if you do not accomplish the steps that lead to strengthen that method, you’ve missed out.

Lineage in the West

July 22, 2017July 21, 2017 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Love Now, Dzogchen Later”

Well, today I’d actually like to tell you a story. And I think it is seasonal in one way in that this time of year we generally think about what we want or what we want to give or how, or maybe family relationships and what needs to improve in our lives. And a lot of times at the end of the year during this holiday season and at the beginning of the next upcoming year, we kind of reassess ourselves;. reassess our lives, and kind of take stock. And I would like to tell you this story to help you take stock a little bit, and to give you some motivation, you know, some perspective. Because I think that if you come to this temple and you practice, you may not necessarily understand or know what’s going on in the greater Dharma community. Some people travel around but some people don’t. Some people stay here down on the farm with me. And so you might need to be exposed to some context in the Dharma community.

When I first met His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, that was quite a while ago, almost twenty years. I met him the first time that he came to the United States. And one of the reasons actually that he came to the United States, besides being invited, was that he heard that there was this American woman over there and he heard stories about me. And he knew in his mind that this was someone that he had been looking for for a long time. I came to find out later on that when he was a very young monk the first time he held the kapala, or the skull cup, of the first Ahkön Lhamo, it was before the Chinese invasion, and so it was whole, in one piece. First time he held that cup, he said, “Oh.” He made prayers: “If there is any way I can find this dakini in this lifetime, I would like to do that.” He set his goal that way. And so of course with a mind such as his, when the goal is set, the deed is done. When he heard my name, and heard something about me, he knew immediately. But of course he didn’t tell me immediately. All I knew was that this lama was coming to my house. He’d never been to America before, and I really did not know what a lama actually was. I thought, “Guy sitting on rug. Guy wearing sheet.” I really didn’t know. I mean I had a great deal of respect for Buddhist thought and it was coming to my mind naturally. In fact, I was teaching meditation that I later found out to be based on Mahayana Buddhism. So, it was pretty interesting that this all came about so naturally. But then when he came to the house, we didn’t know protocol. We didn’t know respect. We didn’t know nothing. I knew how to barbeque, that’s what I knew. And so we had a barbecue and we moved my two sons to another room, and put Penor Rinpoche and Lobsang in the same room; and Lobsang’s like, “Oh God! Save me! Don’t you have another room?” “Well, why? Is it crowded in there?” “But you don’t understand.”

But you know, they were very nice. And then they asked for some tea. So, I thought, “These are Buddhists. They want to be calm.” What did I know? So, I made chamomile tea, and I gave the teapot to Lobsang to give to His Holiness on a tray nicely set up. and His Holiness sent back a message, “What is that? Bugs floating on top?” You know how the little flowers float? “No.” “Don’t you have some other kind of tea?” “We have regular tea.” “Oh yeah, we want regular tea.” I thought, you know, Buddhists like to be peaceful. I thought.

And then the worst, the worst. He was so gracious and so kind. He never put himself up in any way or, you know, was anything less than the most humble of monks. I mean he never indicated that he was such a spectacular lama. And besides I didn’t even understand what the term meant—high lama, you know, lineage holder. I mean, I could understand the English words, but I didn’t have any way to put them all together. So, we had this barbeque and I served him a plate of hotdogs. And you know just the old America food, which he was pretty interested in actually. He sort of liked it. You know, he ate it. But then I remember plopping down right next to him and saying, “So, what’s Tibet really like?” or something like that, you know. You know him now. He’s such a righteous, orthodox, holy kind a guy. Can you imagine? Can you imagine this Injee twit comes and plops down next to him and says, “So, how’s it going?”

I was used to Southern hospitality. So, I made another big meal (and I was a pretty good cook back then) and had some friends bring some stuff too. We sat him at the head of the table and said to His Holiness, “Please, help yourself to everything we have.” He gets served. I didn’t know that. And so Lobsang’s going,… Lobsang was a lot younger then. “No, I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” Well, that was back in the day and the reason why I’m telling you this funny story is because things have changed so much since then.