A YouTube Video Teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:
Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo
The Meditation Upon The Four Immeasurables
The following is respectfully quoted from “Buddha in the Palm of the Hand” Nam Chö Terma Revelation by Terton Migyur Dorje:
MA NAM KHA DANG NYAM PAI SEM CHEN THAM CHED
May all motherly sentient beings equal to space
DEWA DANG DEWAI GYU DANG DEN PAR GYUR CHIG
Achieve happiness and the causes of happiness
DUG NGAL DANG DUG NGAL GYI GYU DANG DRAL WAR GYUR CHIG
May they be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
DUG NGAL MED PAI DEWA DAM PA DANG MI DRAL WAR GYUR CHIG
May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrowless
NYER RING CHAG DANG DANG TRAL WAI TANG NYOM CHEN POI NGANG LA
And free from the partiality of attachment and aversion. May they live believing in
NEI PAR GYUR CHIG
The equality of all that lives.
Sending and Receiving:
While exhaling from both nostrils, consider that all of one’s merit and the root of all virtue
Is sent forth to all parent sentient beings who equally receive it. Meditate that all sentient beings
Experience immeasurable happiness.
Essence of Buddhism: by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche
The following is a teaching by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche
We are born in this Zambu-dweep world and have acquired the precious human rebirth due to the gathering of the compositional factors of the eight leisures and ten blessings. This is a most perfect and auspicious opportunity. That we are fortunate enough to receive the teaching of perfect Buddha dharma and also be able to meet so many qualified teachers is the result of the ripening of our positive merits from countless past lives.
But due to our attachment from time beginningless towards the repeated pattern of samsara, we have developed strong emotions towards this samsara. Therefore, it is common for sentient beings to find themselves emotionally drawn towards the attainment of worldly concern regardless of difficulty and hardships, which in turn generates all types of karmas in the process.
If we truly want to learn the teaching of Dharma, we must first find a qualified teacher. Buddhism has Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, of which Vajrayana and especially the Great Perfection (Dzogpachenpo) is especially beneficent for the degenerated times like now. The actual practice to Dzogchen consists of preliminary and the main practices, that has visualizations, recital of mantras and the sadhanas.
In fact, we might all think we know about Dharma and might even want to practice these teachings, but because of our attachment to worldly distractions, we are not able to practice accordingly as instructed, as if we show no concern for the effect of karma, as though karma is not real and does not really exist, and thus as a result, succeed in continually creating more negative karma. Only at the end of our lives, when we come face to face with the imminent sufferings of death, do we start thinking that we should do something about it! But by that time, even if we come to realize that we have not studied the Dharma and neither have we applied ourselves properly according to the pith instructions of the teacher and hence the prospect of falling into the three lower realms is imminent; the time of seeking the Dharma and practicing has already passed, so now what do we do?
Commentary on the Bodhisattva Vow: HH Penor Rinpoche – Our Kind Parents
The following is adapted from an oral commentary given by His Holiness in conjunction with a ceremony wherein he bestowed the bodhisattva vow upon a gathering of disciples at Namdroling in Bozeman, Montana, November 1999:
[The second way to adjust one’s intention in order to be in harmony with the special feature of this instruction is through] developing attraction to enlightenment. According to this tradition, what leads one to develop an attraction to enlightenment is the cultivation of love for all beings, which begins by contemplating the suffering of cyclic existence and then cultivating repulsion and weariness [toward that existence].
Think about all living beings that at some time or another, throughout the course of innumerable past lifetimes, have been your own kind father or mother. Consider how a mother will anything for her child–even give her own life, without hesitation. Consider how all living beings have been that kind to you at some time in the past–not just once, but countless times, in countless different circumstances and situations over the course of countless lifetimes since beginningless time. Consider also that to not think carefully about repaying this kindness, and thereby to go through your life without the intention to truly benefit parent sentient beings, and so to actually ignore them, is truly shameless.
Many people in the West may think, “Wait a minute! My parents were not very kind to me. In fact, we are not even close, and I don’t even like them, so why should I feel that I need to repay their kindness now?” If that is what you think, then take a moment to think about how you acquired your body. Is it not due to the kindness of your parents that you have your precious human body? From the time your consciousness entered the union of your father’s seed and your mother’s egg, your mother carried you in her own body. Her body nurtured you as you grew within it. Then with pain and difficulty she gave birth to you. Her kindness did not just stop there: for many years she cared for you and lovingly fed, cleaned, clothed, and wiped you; she provided shelter and cared for you when you were sick, and thus she protected you and looked out for you constantly. If you think you don’t need to repay the kindness of your parents, just remind yourself of those events, which you were the recipient of time and time again.
If that still does not change your attitude, so that you still do not understand the kindness your parents showed you, then think about your body, the gift of your body, which is who you are; your parents gave you that. Because your parents showed you the great kindness of giving you your body, your precious life, here you are. Sure you had the causes for your precious human rebirth, but without parents you wouldn’t have your body. And if you didn’t have your body, you wouldn’t be able to receive these vows.
In our present state of ignorance, we have an inability to recognize that all beings have been our parents in the past, and we certainly don’t know what the particular situations and circumstances of those lifetimes were. Nonetheless, it is certain that we have had countless sentient beings as our parents over and over again in countless past lives. The truth is, at the present time we just do not recognize that.
Imagine you are on the bank of a river with your mother and suddenly she falls in and is being carried away by the rushing water. There you stand on the bank, watching that happen. What would you do? Would you do something to try to save her, such as throw out a rope? Or would your turn your back and walk away rather than risk your own life? Would you be concerned for her, or would your concern be only for yourself? The intention of hearers and solitary realizers can be likened to the later case, while the intention of Mahayana practitioners can be likened to the former. While it is important to develop attraction toward peace, you should never, for any reason, be attracted to the quiescence of the hearers and solitary realizers.
His Holiness Penor Rinpoche Heart Teaching from Palyul Ling
His Holiness Penor Rinpoche offered this teaching prior to doing a Ganachakra Puja for Jetsunma’s long life at New York Palyul Retreat Center in 2005.
Today is the 15th day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar. Jetsunma has some sickness or obstacle, so we are doing this Rigdzin Dupa Ganachakra Puja for her. Some of Jetsunma’s students here requested this puja.
I met Jetsunma a long time ago. I examined her for a while, and then recognized her as the incarnation of Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab’s sister known as Ahkön Lhamo. Ahkön Lhamo, the sister of Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab lived near the Palyul monastery in a nunnery, which is in front of the monastery, and then in a place called Trong Mar, which means Red Valley. It is called Red Valley because there were lots of nuns. Ahkön Lhamo used to give teachings there to the nuns who wore red robes, filling the small valley, so that is why the place is called Trong Mar, the Red Valley. Since then there has always been a nunnery there. Even these days there are still about 200 nuns there.
I recognized her and then at KPC a long time back we did an enthronement ceremony. Before I met her, she was giving the teaching on generating bodhicitta. Just among her disciples, there are 2-3 at all hours of the day and night trying to meditate on bodhicitta. And she carries on Dharma activity in accordance with the other activities.
Since I named her in that way, there are lots of people in America who are jealous and have all sorts of problems with it. That kind of jealousy doesn’t harm her; it harms the person who is jealous. Many people also try to complain and say things to me. Although people ask me many questions about that, I don’t have to humiliate myself, because I am a Palyul Throneholder, and I have my own rights regarding what I need to recognize. Of course I cannot tell lies, but what I need to do, I’ll do.
Most of the other Nyingma schools just believe whatever I say, and especially all the Palyul traditions or Palyul monasteries. Of course they believe me 100%. There isn’t just one Palyul Monastery. There are hundreds and thousands, and in all those monasteries there are a hundred monks or a thousand monks, and all of them respect whatever I command. There is nobody who says, “This is right or this is not.” But in America because of jealousy, some people say certain things, but there is no meaning. In general America is a strange country. Sometimes it is said that, “In your tradition there are mostly male teachers, and there aren’t any female teachers.” And then Jetsunma is appointed and then again they are jealous and say something else.
Since we are human beings of course it is possible to make mistakes. There is no one who just sits there like an enlightened Buddha. Just because one doesn’t understand or makes a little mistake or does something, then you start complaining.
Jetsunma is a good and perfect teacher. I don’t think she is deceiving anybody. And among Jetsunma’s students, there are a whole bunch of monks and nuns, and she disciplines them all. There is nobody else among women in America who could do that. She is good and special. It is good for everybody to know that she is also one of the Palyul tulkus. These days she is getting older and she has all sorts of sickness. So for her longevity of life, we are doing this Ganachakra Puja.
It’s not just Jetsunma. In America there are many other females and males who are incarnated ones. But the problem is that the nature of Americans is to have so much pride. With the recognition, the pride and ego develop so much that in the end it is difficult to benefit. As a practitioner and as a bodhisattva family, then naturally one should be humble and peaceful and loyal to the practice. Developing pride doesn’t really help anybody. When it is said that you are good or something special, then their pride or ego develops. If that happens, then it is more harmful than beneficial. For those who are noble beings, receiving all these teachings and doing the Dharma practice can benefit other beings. Otherwise thinking that, “Oh, I’m something very special,” is like having a horn on your head and walking around. It doesn’t help anything.
Anyhow, today we are doing this Ganachakra Puja for the longevity of her life. Thank you.
Bodhichitta: From “Enlightened Courage” Commentary by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
The following is respectfully quoted from “Enlightened Courage” a commentary by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche:
Bodhichitta is the unfailing method for attaining enlightenment. It has two aspects, relative and absolute. Relative bodhichitta is practiced using ordinary mental processes and is comparatively easy to develop. Nevertheless, the benefits that flow from it are immeasurable, for a mind in which the precious Bodhichitta has been born will never again fall into the lower realms of samsara. Finally, all the qualities of the Mahayana path, as teeming and vast as the ocean, are distilled and essentialized in Bodhichitta, the mind of enlightenment.
We must prepare ourselves for this practice by following the instructions in the sadhana of Chenrezig, “Take refuge in the Three Jewels and meditate on Bodhichitta. Consider that all your virtuous acts of body, speech, and mind are for the whole multitude of beings, numerous as the sky is vast.”
It is said in the teachings that “since beings are countless, the benefit of wishing them well is unlimited.” And how many beings there are! Just imagine, in one small garden there might be millions and millions of them! If we wish to establish them all in the enlightened state of Buddhahood, it is said that the benefit of such an aspiration is as vast as the number of begins is great. Therefore we should not restrict our Bodhichitta to a limited number of beings. Wherever there is space, beings exist, and all of them live in suffering. Why make distinctions between them, welcoming some as loving friends and excluding others as hostile enemies?
Throughout the stream of our lives, from time without beginning until the present, we have all been wandering in samsara, accumulating evil. When we die, where else is there for us to go but to the lower realms? But if the wish and thought occur to us that we must bring all beings to enlightened state of Buddhahood, we have generated what is known as Bodhichitta in intention. We should then pray to the teacher and the yidam deities that the practice of the precious Bodhichitta might take root in our hearts. We should recite the seven-branch prayer from the Prayer of Perfect Action, and, sitting upright, count our breaths twenty-one times without getting mixed up or missing any, and without being distracted by anything. If we are able to count our breaths concentratedly for a whole mall, discursive thoughts will diminish and the practice of relative Bodhichitta will be much easier. This is how to become a suitable vessel for meditation.
ABSOLUTE BODHICHITTA
Consider all phenomena as a dream.
If we have enemies, we tend to think of them as permanently hostile. Perhaps we have the feeling that they have been the enemies of our ancestors in the past, that they are against us now, and that they will hate our children in the future. Maybe this is what we think, but the reality is actually quite different. In fact, we do not know where or what we were in our previous existences, and so there is no certainty that the aggressive people we now have to contend with were not our parents in former lives! When we die, we have no idea where we will be reborn, and so there is no knowing that these enemies of ours might not become our mothers or fathers. At present, we might have every confidence in our parents, who are so dear to us, but when they go from this life , who is to say they will not be reborn among our enemies? Because our past and future lives are unknown to us, we have the impression that the enemies we have now are fixed in their hostility, or that our present friends will always be friendly. This only goes to show that we have never given any real thought to this question.
If we consider carefully, we might picture a situation where many people are at work on some elaborate project. At one moment, they are all friends together, feeling close, trusting and doing each other good turns. But then something happens and they become enemies, perhaps hurting or killing one other. Such things do happen, and changes like this can occur several times in the course of a single lifetime–for no other reason than that all composite things or situations are impermanent.
This precious human body, supreme instrument though it is for the attainment of enlightenment, is itself a transient phenomenon. No one knows when, or how, death will come. Bubbles form on the surface of the water, but the next instant they are gone; they do not stay. It is just the same with this precious human body we have managed to find. We take all the time in the world before engaging in practice, but who knows when this life of ours will simply cease to be? And once our precious human body is lost, our midstream, continuing its existence, will take birth perhaps among the animals, or in one of the hells or god realms where spiritual development is impossible. Even if life in a heavenly state, where all is ease and comfort, is a situation unsuitable for practice, on account of the constant dissipation and distraction that are a feature of the god’s existence.
At present, the outer universe–earth, stones, mountains, rocks, and cliffs–seem to be the perception of our senses to be permanent and stable, like the house build of reinforced concrete that we think will last for generations. In fact, there is nothing solid to it at all; it is nothing but a city of dreams.
In the past, when the Buddha was alive surrounded by multitudes of Arhats and when the teachings prospered, what buildings must their benefactors have built for them! It was all impermanent; there is nothing left to see now but an empty plain. In the same way, at the universities of Vikramashila and Nalanda, thousands of pandits spent there time instructing enormous monastic assemblies. All impermanent! Now, not even a single monk or volume of Buddha’s teachings are to be found there.
Take another example from the more recent past. Before the arrival of the Chinese Communists, how many monasteries were there in what use to be called Tibet, the Land of Snow? How many temples and monasteries were there, like those in Lhasa, at Samye and Trandruk? How many precious objects were there, representatives of the Buddha’s Body, Speech, and Mind? Now not even a statue remains. All that is left of Samye is something hardly bigger than a stupa. Everything was either looted, broken, or scattered, and all the great images were destroyed. These things have happened, and this demonstrates impermanence.
Think of all the lamas who came and lived in India, such as Gyalwa Karmapa, Lama Kalu Rinpoche, and Dudjom Rinpoche; think of all the teachings they gave and how they contributed to the preservation of the Buddha’s doctrine. All of them have passed away. We can no longer see them, and they remain only as objects of prayer and devotion. All this is because of impermanence. In the same way, we should try to think of our fathers, mothers, children and friends. When the Tibetans escaped to India, the physical conditions were too much for many of them and they died. Among my acquaintances alone, there were three or four deaths every day. That is impermanence. There is not one thing in existence that is stable and lasts.
If we have an understanding of impermanence, we will be able to practice the sacred teachings. But if we continue to think that everything will remain as it is, then we will be just like rich people still discussing their business projects on their deathbeds! Such people never talk about the next life, do they? It goes to show that an appreciation of the certainty of death has never touched their hearts. That is their mistake, their delusion.
Chöd: by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche
The following is an excerpt from a teaching by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche offered during retreat at Palyul Ling in New York:
His Holiness Penor Rinpoche
Heart Teaching HT22
About Guru Yoga
In the beginning of the practice, try to watch your mind and thoughts. If you have any afflictive emotions or negative thoughts, try to abandon them. Then try to give rise to virtuous thoughts, such as devotion, faith and inclination; and in that way try to have the right intention.
Guru Yoga practice is something that we need to carry through until we attain enlightenment. Some think that we just need to do the Guru Yoga practice during Ngӧndro and the Four Foundations practice, but other than that, we don’t need it. We should not think that way. To attain complete enlightenment, Buddhahood, we have to completely depend upon the Guru’s instructions, and rely on the Guru. As we apply that instruction and teaching into practice, then we could have that fruition. That is why the Guru Yoga practice is important. So, without fabrication in one’s mind, abide in the great unelaborated empty nature, and carry through with the supplication prayers.
About Chӧd – Cutting through thoughts and afflictive emotions
In Ngӧndro, there actually is a Chӧd practice. Before we didn’t have enough conditions to really do it. In general, you do the practice with damarus and bells. Evening is a good time to do some of the Chӧd practices. At that hour the chant master and other lamas do the Chӧd practices. As you do the Chӧd, follow along and chant the tunes together. And when you use your big damarus and bells, follow together as a group in sync, instead of some doing it this way and some doing it that way, which sounds very strange. Doing it haphazardly like that is a joke. So always try to do the practice together with everything working together.
The Chӧd practice in the Namchö is only one page, so it is easy and good in that way. The Tibetan word, “Chӧd,” means cutting through all the afflictive emotions and thoughts, and then establishing the nature of emptiness. In the Chӧd visualization, as one chants with faith, everything is cut through in the nature of emptiness.
When you say the second Phet, your consciousness shoots out onto the ground as Vajravarahi (Dorje Phagmo), the size of a pea. When you say Phet again, then Vajravarahi becomes about the size of a finger. After that when you say Phet, then you visualize Vajravarahi about the size of a cubit. After that when you say Phet, Vajravarahi becomes huge, filling all space.
In her right hand, Vajravarahi holds a curved knife and in her left hand, she holds a skull cup. She has all the bone ornaments. Your consciousness is manifested or transformed into Vajravarahi, and your body is like a corpse. When you say Phet again, Vajravarahi takes the curved knife and with just one motion your skull becomes a skull cup in front. Then Vajravarahi with the curved knife places your corpse inside the skull cup. Then dualistic mind and negative thoughts in the form of bubbles are purified, and everything transforms into the five nectars and five meats, which is very pure substance. The skull cup becomes as huge as three thousand myriads of universes. The nectar is whitish with a radiant reddish hue. Steam rises from the nectar, which symbolizes the five desirable objects of the five senses. Underneath that skull cup, there are three skull cups, two dry and one wet, which symbolize the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. Beneath that, wisdom fire burns. As it burns, everything within the skull cup heats up, purifying all the afflictive emotions and dualistic mind and impure substances, transforming everything into wisdom nectar that fills three thousand myriads of universes.
Then after saying two Phets, instantly Vajravarahi, holds a golden spoon in her right hand and a skull cup in her left. Then from that skull cup she ladles nectar and pours it, making offerings first to the lamas, and then to the meditational deities, and then the dakinis, and so forth. After that when one says Phet, Vajravarahi makes offerings to all the local beings and the owners of the land, and so forth. And then after saying another Phet, Vajravarahi makes offerings to all sentient beings of the six realms.
As one makes all these offerings, one can purify all the debts and loans and negativities from past lifetimes. After making offerings to all those beings that are owners of sickness, demonic forces, creators of obstacles and negative forces, they are completely satisfied and pleased. In that way by making offerings to all the gurus and meditational deities and dakinis, one could have complete accomplishment and receive all the blessings. And by making offerings to all the negative forces and all other evil beings, they are completely satisfied and pleased. One feels as though all karmic debts have been repaid, and everything is purified.
At the end when one says Phet, then all the offerings, the objects of the offerings, and the offeror, all three, cease to exist and dissolve into emptiness. After that one can do all the dedication and aspiration prayers.
India 1996: HH Penor Rinpoche on His Recognition of Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo
The following is a transcript from Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo’s visit to see her teacher, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche in India in 1996. Two YouTube Videos below show the ceremony from which the transcript was taken:
Kata ceremony in India 1996
His Holiness Penor Rinpoche:
This evening we are gathered here today in our monastery, also together with our Washington sangha. On this occasion, I would like to reiterate some information that maybe some of you are not aware of and that is initially, of course, the founder of the great Palyul tradition and the individual who is responsible for the establishing of the original monastery together are the great Vidyadhara Kunzang Sherab, his sister, Genyan Ahkon Lhamo, lived her life at that time. Initially, when I first traveled to the United States and I met Jetsunma, I noticed that she had developed in her mind stream a very great development of the bodhicitta, the awakened mind and that she had taken the vow to work for the welfare of all parent sentient beings according to the meaning of the awakened mind. Dependent upon that she had certain students who were following her example in that the bodhisattva vow was being taken by them and they were making prayers that were ongoing as a vigil for 24 hours throughout the day and night. This was something that was going on for some years without ever stopping. And so, this is what I first came to notice, such a remarkable thing.
At this time, in the Western country, in her situation, it wasn’t really a circumstance whereby she was depending upon a teacher to be trained and that she had been trained and was doing this kind of practice from that point of view of having trained and having learned it from another. But in fact, it was natural. It was a natural practice and a natural development of the bodhicitta, and it seemed to be something very pure and great.
And so to me, I felt quite amazed. And then I thought about it on many occasions after that. I’m not someone who claims to have much experience or any kind of clairvoyant insight at all, but I do have thoughts which come to mind from time to mind and in examining the reoccurrence of my thoughts, I came to realize that she was an individual who was blessed and carrying the same mind stream and prayer as the sister of Kunzang Sherab, Ahkon Lhamo. And so, I recognized her to be the reincarnation of Ahkon Lhamo.
However, because in the West, the concept of tulku, which is “intentional manifestation embodiment” is not something that people are necessarily accustomed to or something that they necessarily would understand. So, realizing that if I sort of suddenly laid out this fact, that it might be something that would be too potent or it would happen too quickly for what people could really understand. I didn’t speak about it for some time.
Generally speaking, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, for the purpose of sentient beings, they manifest in whatever way can bring benefit to others. This is due to the force of their prayers and their compassion. Dependent on that, they will take rebirths that are undetermined and uncertain time and manifest in various ways anywhere and at any time and anyplace. And so, it’s not to say that they don’t manifest in the Western countries. Certainly, they do. But because the tradition of discovering a tulku is not something that is common to the West, then I was not inclined to make a recognition just right away like that, bearing these facts in mind.
And also to make a recognition of a tulku in the West I also came to know is not something that would be disagreeable to the students that was entirely wanted and very agreeable. So, knowing that and finding the right time, upon my return, I did make a formal recognition and I was overseeing the formal enthronement of Kunzang Sherab’s sister, Ahkon Lhamo, as she is. Now, this is not something that you don’t all already know about, but I am reiterating it here on this occasion just to make it very clear.
And now in Washington, D.C. under the guidance of Jetsunma, we have a very strong and well established Palyul dharma center that is a seat for the Palyul lineage and it is being upheld accordingly and this is something that has been established and has been maintained for many years now and so, this is the type of activity that she is conducting for the purpose of the doctrine along with the help of her sangha and the honor of the morality that is maintained by the greater sangha community that surrounds her.
In Washington, Jetsunma teaches to her students and the students maintain the confession practices and other requirements and she also maintains regular teachings to several hundred students who are practicing now under her guidance.
And also, in the countries in the West, right now our center in Washington has the largest ordained community of disciples who have taken the formal vows of lay and novice and full ordination. Of course, there are Western students who have embraced these vows in other centers and in other places, but the largest community is the Palyul Center in Washington under Jetsunma.
Therefore at this time, Jetsunma and several of her students have come here to our monastery, Namdroling, to take a look around and to join us for these few days, so I would like to thank you very much for coming here and taking the time out. And also, of course, I would like to thank you for your effort in establishing the Palyul doctrine, the Nyingma doctrine in general and the greater doctrine of the Buddha in its entirety. I would like to thank Jetsunma and all of her students and also for their efforts they have shown towards attempts to help us achieve a free Tibet. So, thank you very much.
And as it has gone well until now, I also have an expectation that on into the future, that the entire sangha and our sanghas together will maintain this auspicious connection for the benefit of the doctrine and sentient beings and that year by year, this will only increase and that also all of your studies of the Buddhadharma will be most excellent, very stable and always improving.
Today, although I don’t have too much too offer, very humbly, to indicate the special occasion and also with prayers for Jetsunma’s longevity and the longevity of the doctrine, I offer her the white scarf of auspiciousness. And in support for her longevity, I offer her the image of Buddha Amitayus; as a support for her enlightened speech to be ever increasing, I offer her the vajra and bell; and as a support for the enlightened mind the stupa, I offer her the collected works of terton Jetsun Nyingpo; and I offer her the crossed vajra as a seat for her to remain upon to indicate her longevity in this world, and the white conch shell, another brocade, a bolt of brocade. Otherwise, I don’t have too much to offer.
And now, go on about the rest of your journey. Please know that we are always one family, so you must come again and again. The door is always open in that way and that Jetsunma and all of her sangha, I will offer the prayer that you will always be well and that your practice and everything that you wish for will always continue to increase and bear fruit.
JETSUNMA: Please tell His Holiness that his kindness is immeasurable, and tell him and that in this and every future lifetime, I will follow him. I will always do as he has taught me.
Part 1
Part 2
Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved
What Is A Good Death?
The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo offered during a Phowa retreat:
While there are individual experiences in the bardo of dying, let’s talk about the general ones so that we can prepare. Since we are talking about the six bardos, in general, we want to be very clear on the bardo of the moment of death, and that’s the last subject that we will cover today. It is a very, very important one, because we are all, in our way, preparing for death and we will all definitely experience death.
So, first of all, the bardo of the moment of death. We have talked about the point preceding death. Preceding death there is a period of time during which—and a person may or may not know—one has met with the conditions that will bring about the death. Now for those people who have a disease, a heart disease, or AIDS, or some disease that is degenerative or progressive in some way, the moment that the disease occurred to them was the moment that they entered into another bardo. Although it is still contained within the bardo of living, it is the bardo that preceeds death. What we’re talking about now is the actual bardo of the moment of death. That is when death is marked; it can be seen from the outside, and it actually occurs.
Before I begin I want to make something very clear. We have funny ideas about death. We have some terrible ideas about death. First of all, we’re scared to death of death. That’s the truth. I really didn’t mean to make a pun, it sort of happened that way. But we are scared of death, we are terrified of death, and it’s because we are unprepared. That’s the only reason to be afraid of death. And preparation, as it happens, will dispel the fears of death. I even think that during this week some of your fears of death may be dispelled, because you will be better prepared. But, in truth, until that time, we are terrified of death, and that is the main feeling we have about it. We do not understand death. We think that death is a horrible, sort of killing thing that we have to go through, and that the best way to go through it is unconscious. That’s the kind of idea we have. People often will actually pray, “Let me die in my sleep. Let me die unknowing that I’m going through the death experience.” And there are other people that say, “Let me die quickly.” Well, for my money, I would like to be one of the fortunate ones who know for some period of time before their death that they have caught the cause of their death or that they have the cause of their death. For my money, that’s what I wish would happen to me if I were an ordinary sentient being. If I were in that position where I was caught in samsara—and we all feel that way, we all are—I would wish to have preparation time. I would wish to know beforehand.
Those of us who are aging gradually and staying clear and in good health through the aging process, we are fortunate, because our minds are clear; and yet we can clearly see in the mirror that we are approaching this time. Clearly we are not the same person we were ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years ago. Clearly that is true. We have pictures to prove it. These people are fortunate. We are fortunate. Because seeing the evidence of death approaching, we have time to prepare. Yes, we have to experience the discomfort of knowing that death is approaching, but it’s like going into the room, turning on the light, and seeing exactly where the stuff is so you can get around it. Remember we used that analogy early today, of walking through a room with all kinds of furniture. You want to do it when the light is on; you want to know how not to stumble. So this is what we are experiencing if we can prepare for our death.
Particularly, think about the tremendous suffering of diseases like AIDS. We talk about the tremendous suffering of something like that; and the biggest and most horrible part of it is that we die younger than we would have died if we did not have the disease. And that’s how we think about it. And yet, a disease like that gives us an opportunity. In a way, it is half of a blessing. In a way, it is the quintessential suffering of cyclic existence, couldn’t be worse. It is, in a nutshell, what cyclic existence actually is when you take away the barbiturate effect that it has on us. Yet, in another way, it is a way to understand —you understand clearly as never before—that death is imminent. There is a way to understand that you could not have had any other way, and it gives us extraordinary time. It gives us an extraordinary clarity of time to be able to practice because we’re motivated. It’s just that clear. We are motivated. We know we have a date to keep. Those of us who don’t know what that date is, we’re a little more vague about this. We don’t want to be bothered, frankly, and so we are at a disadvantage.
Less lucky is the stuff that most people pray for: a quick death. Instantaneous. “Hit me with a truck.” That kind of thing. That’s how people think, “Get it over with. Get me out of here.” And it’s because they don’t understand what death is. They do not understand that once the eyes are closed and the breath has stopped, it sounds like a pun, but basically life goes on in one form or another. One continues to continue. That is the nature of what we are. And so there is no true cessation other than the cessation of breath. To die a quick death may save a little bit of discomfort for the unprepared, but it gives us no time for preparation. Even the dissolution of the elements occurs in an untimely and hurried way so that we cannot cope with them well. So do not pray for an instant death.
Neither should you pray to die in your sleep, because it is too confusing. You are already in the sleeping bardo. The sleeping bardo has a heavier level of delusion in a way than the waking bardo, because you literally are not slowed down by the time it takes physicality to process itself. For instance, if I want to walk from here to that door it’s going to take me a certain amount of time and effort because of the physicality of the situation; but in the dream, I’m there, I’m out, I’m gone. I can go anywhere. So in a way there is even more delusion there. You do not want to die in the middle of the dream state unless your practice is so good that you would recognize the bardo even in the dream state; and that can only be hoped for if you are the kind of person who has complete control and direction over your dreams. Always. And that ain’t you. So instead, pray for a time of knowing and a time of preparation. Pray for the leisure to prepare for your death. That is the appropriate and best prayer.
Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved
Who Is Padmasambhava?
The following is respectfully quoted from “The History of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism” by Dudjom Rinpoche:
He studied all the sūtras, tantras, and sciences under the many scholars and accomplished masters of India, of whom the foremost were: the eight great awareness-holders, from whom he received the Eight Classes of Means for Attainment; Buddhaguhya, from whom he received the Magical Net; and Śri Simha, from whom he received the Great Perfection. Training himself thus, he fully understood all doctrines after studying them only once. He could see the deities even without propitiating them. In this way, he became renowned as Loden Chokse (Intelligent Boon-seeker), and he demonstrated the ultimate attainment of a holder of the awareness of spiritual maturation.
Then he gained influence over Mandāravā, the daughter of King Ārsadhara of Sahor, who possessed marks of a dākinī. He took her to the Māratika Cave, to serve as the consort for his practice; and for three months they practised the means for attainment of longevity. Lord Amitāyus actually came there and empowered them, and he consecrated them to be no different than himself. He granted them one billion rites of longevity, whereby Padmasambhava attained the accomplishment of awareness-holder endowed with power over the duration of his life.
Having thus attained the body of indestructible reality that is beyond birth and death, Padmasambhava went to subdue the kingdom of Sahor. When the king and his ministers tried to immolate him, he performed the miracle [of transforming the pyre into] a lake of sesame oil, in the midst of which he remained seated on a lotus. Thus he secured them in faith and introduced them all to the doctrine, so that they reached the level of no-return.