March, 2018 | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

Astrology for 03/17/2018

March 17, 2018 by AniWangmo

03/17/2018 Saturday by Jampal & Wangmo

Theme: New beginnings

With the New Moon today you can start the week afresh and initiate new projects. It’s time to leave the past behind including past grievances. Sometimes the past is past! With Mars close to the western horizon, relationships with loved ones can be challenging at this time. With Mars also squaring the Sun and the Moon the battle of the wills can surface in all kinds of relationships and highlights emotional reactivity. Learnings come through understanding your own drives and feelings and your level of confidence. ‘New beginnings and new shoots Spring again from hidden roots.’ Robert Graves.

Today the Moon is Void of Course from 9.13 am EST USA until 2.58 pm. If you’re in another country check what that means for you time-wise. It’s best to avoid making major decisions or signing contracts during this time.

Religion of Cause and Effect

March 17, 2018March 16, 2018 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called Turning Adversity Into Felicity

We try very hard as practitioners to practice Guru Yoga clearly and purely, the practice of fervent regard toward the Guru, utilizing the Guru as a tool of benefit in one’s life. One thing that we should be perfectly clear about when we are trying to practice in this way, is which religion we’re actually practicing. Our tendency as Westerners is to repeat the patterns and ideas that we have seen before in the religions that have been in our culture far longer than Buddhism has been. In the religions that our parents practiced and their parents before them, that are native to our Western culture, the idea of looking at the object of refuge, might be, perhaps, if one is a Christian, Jesus, or if one were a Muslim, Mohammed. I don’t know enough about the other religions to really say clearly. If I’m making a mistake, please pardon me. But I will say that generally the pattern that we have been taught is that you have faith, and the declaration of faith is simply enough, that you embrace this idea of faith, and the faith itself– there’s an element of magic to it, in a sense. It seems as though the faith itself will simply carry us through.

In Buddhism we don’t feel like that, although faith is certainly an element, and it certainly has the capacity to carry us. Buddhism is, uniquely, a religion of cause and effect relationships. When we go into life situations, we do so with our brains intact and our eyes open. We clearly are aware that without creating the causes for happiness there will not be the condition of happiness, that you cannot create an apple tree through a grape seed. It simply doesn’t happen. Cause and result seemingly arise one after the other, but in fact we are taught in Buddhist teaching that they arise at the same time, interdependently. And we are a religion of realizing that we must create the auspicious causes in order to receive the appropriate results. So while we want to adopt the idea of faith, we wouldn’t do a practice or hold an inner mind posture that would be what I call “idiot faith.” We would not engage in a practice that, well, quite frankly, makes us look a bit like a bliss-ninny. We would not engage in a practice that was mindless and not thought through.

Faith is definitely a component, but the way that it is used when we are using the practice of Guru Yoga, is like this. All conditions have within them a mixture. Even the best conditions, the most wonderful conditions, have within them, because they arise in samsara, the seed or inherent causes by which equal amounts of unhappiness as well as happiness will arise. And so, when unhappiness comes to us, we absolutely should engage in curative measures.

Primarily we would engage in curative measures through establishing faith and confidence in the Guru, but it doesn’t stop there. It isn’t simply holding the idea of faith and confidence in the Guru. At that point, with faith and confidence in the Guru, we actually have to rely on the teachings that the Guru has given us. That’s how you have faith and confidence in the teacher. You don’t just say it and proclaim it and go back into some deluded “oh-don’t-worry-everything’s-going-to-be-fine” kind of idea. You would, with faith and confidence in the Guru, begin to use what the Guru has taught.

The Guru teaches us first of all, of course, that in order to create the result of happiness and freedom, we must create the causes of happiness and freedom. The causes of happiness and freedom are given to us in our Dharma practice. They’re not a secret. You can come here; you can learn; you can begin today, this very moment, to engage in creating the causes that will create your future happiness.

In a Nutshell

March 16, 2018 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of tweets from @ahkonlhamo

If one cannot practice even ordinary human kindness, how can one EVER hope to give rise to Bodhicitta?

If one has no strength to keep even one moral precept, how will that one EVER awaken to Buddhahood?

If one cares not one bit for the welfare of sentient beings, how will that one EVER attain Buddhahood?

If one knows no discrimination, knows not what to accept and what to reject, that being will revolve in cyclic existence endlessly.

Whoever seduces someone away from their sacred vows, that one is reborn in Vajra Hell, as well as the vow breaker.

If one does not offer food to the hungry, that one will be endlessly hungry. Their food will do no good. Or cause homelessness, no shelter

These are quotes from me, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, based on years of study, practice, and inborn wisdom. My life bears witness, and I offer this to you.

Astrology for 03/16/2018

March 16, 2018 by AniWangmo

03/16/2018 Friday by Jampal & Wangmo

Theme: Communicating with love

It’s still a dreamy kind of day which can be harnessed for spiritual practice. For the next week or so communication with compassion is highlighted, albeit with some fiery directness. It’s a time for artistic breakthrough and expression. This can include interior design. Give your home a makeover with help from friends. It’s an opportunity to cross borders and connect with people you wouldn’t normally communicate with. It’s the last phase of the waning moon and a time to complete tasks and wind-up projects. ‘Take care of your inner, spiritual beauty. That will reflect in your face’. Dolores del Rio

With Fervent Regard

March 15, 2018 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo from the Vow of Love Series

One of the problems that we Westerners have is that we’ve grown up with religions that say God is external. That is not what the Buddha teaches. The Buddha teaches us not that our supreme object of refuge is an external God, but that ultimately, in the deepest sense, our supreme refuge is enlightenment, the uncontrived natural state free of desire. According to the Buddha’s teaching, it is possible to achieve realization; that desire-free state, that natural uncontrived wisdom state is attainable. According to which path you take, it is attainable in many lifetimes, it is attainable in some lifetimes, it is attainable in a few lifetimes, or according to the Vajrayana, with sincere practice it is attainable in one lifetime.

You have to decide for yourself what you’re going to do. It’s a difficult job, because we are so filled with ideas from our upbringing. People say, “I’m moved by what you say, but I just don’t know if I can renounce everything. I just don’t know if I can give everything up.” That’s not what’s being talked about here. What’s being talked about is that you have to determine your objects of refuge. You have to determine what your refuge is, and from that you should make your own decisions. There are many different levels at which you can practice. You can become a full renunciate, taking vows, taking robes. You can also practice in a more casual way, laying the pathway for eventual deeper practice. Nobody’s making a rule for you. The point is that you should think for yourself and you should think past the ways in which you were brought up. You should look courageously at suffering, at the causes for suffering, and at the end of suffering.

According to the Buddha’s teaching, there is nothing on this Earth that can end suffering for all sentient beings. If we found the cure for cancer, AIDS, for everything, something else would happen, because the karma of sickness is there. If we found the cure for poverty, something else would happen. If we found the cure for war…. and all these ifs are mighty big. The karma of suffering is desire. It is the root cause for all suffering. Having determined that, we have to think that to get rid of it from our mindstreams will take something more profound than manipulating our external environment. The problem cannot be solved in that way.

I think it behooves us as Westerners to think deeply about these things. From my point of view, I have seen Westerners adapt the Buddhist religion, and I am not satisfied in the way that they are doing it. They’re practicing Buddhists, they know the mudras, they know the mantras, and they know how to ring the bells. They know how to do all the ceremonial things that come with the Buddhadharma; and I am not happy with their minds. Because maybe they didn’t take long enough to decide for themselves what the object of refuge is and what the cause of suffering is.

You can collect Dharma in a materialistic way just as well as you can collect cars and TVs. You can collect Lamas and the blessings of Lamas in a materialistic way just as easily as you can do anything else. You can collect new thoughts and new ideas and spiritual truths and books and all kinds of things, and never change. Or you can come from a really pure place and examine these things with courage and with pure intention. You can be determined to awaken the seed and the fire of compassion in your mind by examining the suffering of all sentient beings. You can encourage that flame, that fire, fanning it into life so that it burns away all obstacles to your practice. And you’ll find for yourself your object of refuge, and you’ll go…just go. You can do that. It takes courage and it takes pure intention and it takes determination to really think about these things, in a logical and real way. That’s what I hope you will do.

I am a Buddhist, and I always will be. But I’m not trying to sell Buddhism. What I would like to see is a world without suffering. That is the point, hopefully, of all religions; certainly of mine. I wish to talk about the same thing Lord Buddha himself talked about: the causes of suffering and the end of suffering. If we start there, thinking of these things and thinking of them with what Buddhists call fervent regard, we can make a lot of progress.

Contemplating these things creates a great deal of virtue and merit. After you think about these things, please dedicate the time that you spent and the effort that you took, to benefit all sentient beings. In other words, offer the virtue or the merit that you have accomplished by even just wanting to love. There’s a tremendous amount of virtue in that. Offer that as food and drink to all sentient beings so that the karma of that can be shared with a world that is suffering.

Astrology for 03/15/2018

March 15, 2018 by AniWangmo

03/15/2018 Thursday by Jampal & Wangmo

Theme: Hot Tub Day

There is elementally a lot of fire and water for the next several days. There is so much going on in Pisces, a water sign, including the Moon in Pisces making it a feeling, intuitive kind of day. Elementally water is good to soak or surf in. It can also feel like a lack of boundaries and borders so if you’re feeling overwhelmed sit in a quiet space. People are fired up for change today but it’s a challenge with so much energy focused on feelings rather than actions. Be respectful of others people space. ‘You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream the further you get.’ Michael Phelps

Today the Moon is Void of Course from 3.34 am EST USA until 6.13 am. If you’re in another country check what that means for you time-wise. It’s best to avoid making major decisions or signing contracts during this time.

Determine How You Will Spend Your Life

March 14, 2018 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo from the Vow of Love Series

I wish from my heart that it would be okay to be a renunciate. Because to be a renunciate is to renounce the things that one has desire for, the objects that one grasps, and instead seek only a true source of refuge. To renounce the sources of suffering. There ought to be a place for that in our society. It ought to be okay for anyone to do what they want. It ought to be okay if they want to remain as they are and continue to function in the ordinary ways that we are used to in our society. But it ought to be okay if a person sincerely becomes discontented and wants to seek a supreme refuge that is the end of suffering, which is enlightenment.

You don’t necessarily have to be a Buddhist to adopt these kinds of ideas, although I found for myself that the Buddha’s teaching was the best way to do it. But not only Buddhists can do this kind of thing. In order to do this successfully you have to determine what your supreme refuge is. You have to really review that. This is why I like what the Buddha said, because in the foundational teachings you are never asked to buy something with blind faith. You’re asked to think things out logically.

This is what I suggest you should do. Think to yourself, “Really, how do people suffer? How do sentient beings suffer?” Sentient beings of all kinds, not only people. If you can learn anything about non-physical sentient beings, do that. The Buddha has many teachings on non-physical realms. But, even about just the ones that you know, human beings and animals. Check books out from the library on different life forms and different conditions around the world. Check out books about India. Check out books about Ethiopia. Check out books about different cultures and different ways in which people live. Check out books about different animals and different life forms. How they grow, how they evolve, from insects to lions. Study them all carefully.

You will see that animals are consumed: that they are eaten, and that they eat. That human beings grow sick, grow old, and that they die. That so far, no one has definitely proven they can keep from doing that. Even within that, there are sub-sufferings and different kinds of sufferings. While you are studying all of those things, develop a deep sense of compassion for the endlessness of it. Compassion for the lack of resolution and that everything around you will have its moment of intense suffering; everything and everyone. Develop a deep sense of compassion, that their suffering is endless. That it is unbearable at times. And that there is yet no solution. Think for yourself, what could be the possible solution; try to think one up. Really work that through, down to the place where you’re into the planning stages. You will find it will never work, because we are all filled with the karma of desire. Every one of us.

Having decided for yourself that all sentient beings are suffering so greatly that you can no longer bear it, and having understood that there is nothing else but to end this suffering, then maybe you might also think there’s no other way to spend your life other than to accomplish that for yourself and other sentient beings. Because the only way you can truly benefit beings is if you yourself have achieved some realization and understanding of the causes of their suffering.

Having understood all these things, then you must determine for yourself how you will spend the rest of your life. You must determine this, and it will take every day of your life, because we’ve been trained to do the opposite. You must think for yourself again and again and again, of what use is this life? If I am constantly filled with more suffering, if I am constantly participating in a scenario that always ends up with suffering, how will this life be of any value? And if you come to the solution that this life has value if it is a vehicle for enlightenment, then you should think for yourself, how should I do this? You should examine what you do now; how you spend your day. Then you should think, how have I spent my years? Then you should think, what should I do?

Astrology for 03/14/2018

March 14, 2018 by AniWangmo

03/14/2018 Wednesday by Jampal & Wangmo

Theme: Completing tasks

With the Moon in it’s last waning phase it’s a good time to complete tasks and finish projects. Emotional flexibility may be hard-won but is needed today. Benevolence is highlighted. Giving is good karma! But check your motivation before giving. Be mindful of your physical hand-eye co-ordination today and try not to do anything in haste. ‘It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.’~Confucius

Red-blooded Buddhist

March 13, 2018 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo from the Vow of Love Series

Now, I’m a red-blooded American. You can’t get any more American than born in Brooklyn to an Italian father and a Jewish mother. That’s as American as they come in this world. So I understand our culture. I don’t claim to have any special powers or abilities; in fact I could study Lord Buddha’s teachings for the next twenty thousand lives. It’s the same for everyone: until you reach supreme enlightenment, you don’t understand the Buddha’s teaching, because to do that you must understand the Buddha’s mind. I feel that I am a beginner. But one thing I do understand is that as Westerners we have not yet come to understand what our objects of refuge are. One of our main sufferings, and the cause of more suffering, is that we take refuge in the wrong things.

As a culture we have not come to understand the value of using this life as a vehicle to achieve supreme realization. Even for those of us practicing Dharma, it takes a long time to understand that the only value of this precious human rebirth is to achieve enlightenment. Here in America we have the most precious jewel of all: the leisure to practice. If we don’t have the time, we can make the time. You can. Try it. You can. We have the leisure to practice. We have the ability to study. We have within our grasp a true path that has proven again and again and again it can produce enlightenment. We have these precious things, and yet we don’t understand that the only point of this life is to end suffering, not only for ourselves but for all sentient beings. Because once we ourselves achieve realization, we can contribute to the end of suffering in a real way for all sentient beings. For all others.

We tend to think of our lives in a very different way, because we don’t understand what our objects of refuge are. We try to live our lives with immediate gratification. We think, “Well, I have to be busy because I have to have this and this and this and this and this and this. I have to buy this, and I have to have this and I have to attain this.” We don’t accept that maybe it is possible to live a completely successful life under a completely different set of rules.

Astrology for 03/13/2018

March 13, 2018 by AniWangmo

03/13/2018 Tuesday by Jampal & Wangmo

Theme: Innovation

With the Moon in Aquarius its time to celebrate the strength of community, friendship and collective endeavors for positive change. Friends and connections from the past may appear today. For the next week it’s an opportunity to address inner woundedness and how you can heal yourself. Learning activities are highlighted today. It’s a time of dealing with both challenges and opportunities in new ways.‘For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interactions, conflict, argument, debate.’~Margaret Heffernan