Alyce Zeoli | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

Excitement

October 24, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Desire Blocks Happiness”

I don’t know how many times people have come to me and said, “Gosh, I’m so excited about this path! I would love to practice this path. It seems so wonderful! I’m so excited about this path. But you know, that’s like me. I always get really excited about things, and I jump into them; and I get really on fire, and then I burn out real quick. But maybe this one is different! This could be it!” Well, you know, that’s the example that I can give you that I see again and again and again and again. But people are like that about everything! Whenever we get a new object, we get real excited about it, or we become attached to it; and we think this is the thing that is going to make us happy. But it isn’t. Or we get a new relationship, and we just get all in love, and in friendship, and whatever it is, enamored. And then we think, “Oh, this is going to be the one that makes a difference!” And then, well it does, but it isn’t. It really isn’t.

What are we actually seeing? First of all, we’re actually seeing the faults of cyclic existence. What begins must end. What goes up must come down. What causes us to be supremely elated must also cause disappointment. What comes together must result in separation. That is the fault of cyclic existence. That is its quality. We’re seeing the reflection of the condition of cyclic existence. More than that, we are seeing the reflection of our own mind. Our own mind. Our own mind has within it the karma, or cause and effect set-up, if you will, to be able to experience that kind of thing again and again and again. That is our habitual tendency. We are suffering from a kind of inflammation of the mind. The mind is inflamed. Interestingly, the very thing that causes us to be so inflamed by some new toy, you know, some new relationship, some new thing that comes into our life, some new event, some new job, some new spiritual path, some new idea… Something that comes into our mind that causes us to be so oh, gosh! everything’s going to be different now! So breathlessly excited. Everything that comes into our mind like that, that quality of inflammation. And it is like an inflammation, isn’t it? We become all puffed up and red like inflammations. That quality of inflammation is the same quality that will actually lead to the downfall of that particular circumstance to satisfy us, because that very inflammation is an indication of the instability of our minds.

Kunzang Palyul Choling: NEWS

October 6, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following YouTube video was prepared in response to recent challenges faced by Kunzang Palyul Choling Buddhist Temple:

If you would like to help support the restoration of all activities KPC has offered to the community please click here.

Learn more about Kunzang Palyul Choling (KPC) in this excerpt from “Reborn in the West” by Vicki Mackenzi

Renunciate Vow for Lay Practitioners

October 2, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following vows were composed by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo who received permission to offer them to her students from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche:

Renunciate Vow for Lay Practitioners

From this very moment forward I offer this life as a gift to the three precious jewels. My pure intention is to accomplish the purpose of Self and Others – Supreme Enlightenment – quickly and surely. Thus I vow that all my life, every portion, shall be used to accomplish that goal.

All my activities shall accomplish that goal.
All my thoughts and feelings are directed toward that goal.
All my possessions shall be to strengthen and support that goal.
I shall seek all appropriate teachings, empowerments, and spiritual activities in order to secure that goal.
My own enlightenment is now considered to be equal to, and non-dual with the enlightenment of others. Therefore I vow to support fully and without hesitation the practicing spiritual community.
I vow to support fully and with unconditional love the three precious jewels and their manifestations: the Sangha and temple.
I will not kill.
I will not lie to accomplish selfish purpose.
I will not steal.
I will not become intoxicated and therefore forget my purpose and vows.
I will not engage in adultery, or promiscuous activity by which my intention will be compromised.
I fully intend to do all that I can to accomplish the liberation of all sentient beings and my own equally.
I consider the realization of all beings to be equal with my own and of equal value.
I fully support the spiritual community and its purpose on earth.
Should any activity or possession or relationship be contrary to these purposes I will systematically change it or eliminate it from my life.

This I promise so that there will be an end to hatred, greed and ignorance within my mindstream and within the three thousand myriads of universes and so that myself and all beings shall achieve the precious awakening.

Bodhisattva Vow

I dedicate myself to the liberation and salvation of all sentient beings. I offer my body, speech, and mind in order to accomplish the purpose of all sentient beings. I will return in whatever form necessary, under extraordinary circumstances to end suffering. Let me be born in times unpredictable, in places unknown, until all sentient beings are liberated from the cycle of death and rebirth.

Taking no thought for my comfort or safety, precious Lama, make of me a pure and perfect instrument by which the end of suffering and death in all forms might be realized. Let me achieve perfect enlightenment for the sake of all beings. And then, by my hand and heart alone, may all beings achieve full enlightenment and perfect liberation.

Refuge Vows

I take refuge in the Lama

I take refuge in the Buddha

I take refuge in the Dharma

I take refuge in the Sangha

The Seven Line Prayer as Practice

September 15, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “The Guru Is Your Diamond”

Likewise, when the student accepts the teacher, they must honor that vow and they must make a similar vow in their own way. That vow is contained in The Seven Line Prayer. “Following you, I will practice.” Even though the prayer is directly to Guru Rinpoche, the prayer has an inner, outer and secret level of meaning. So we recite it thinking of Guru Rinpoche on a lotus and having the intention, hopefully, to understand that even though this appears as Guru Rinpoche on the lotus, it is inseparable from our own root gurus—same nature, same taste, same essence, same uncontrived primordial essence. And so, every time we recite the prayer to Guru Rinpoche, The Seven Line Prayer, we reconfirm that entire process: recognizing that Guru Rinpoche was the one who came from Orgyen; that he was born on a lotus in an extraordinary way. This is like our saying, ‘I understand that this is not ordinary. I understand that this did not happen as ordinary births, as ordinary conditions happen. And so having understood, I also promise to follow and to practice.’ And then we ask for the Guru’s blessing, Guru Pedma Siddhi Hung. Guru Pedma, grant me your blessings.

There is so much condensed into the power of that little prayer that I make you say again and again and again. There’s so much. One can go so deeply with just that one prayer. One can move through the stages of recognition to a depth that we didn’t think we could ever reach. One can create that connection by reciting again and again and again, “Following you I will practice. Following you I will practice.” And so those meaningful words, even though they are simple, we can understand them more deeply and more deeply and more deeply. “Following you I will practice.” What does it even mean? Does it mean I dress like Guru Rinpoche, or act like Guru Rinpoche, or do I wear some of his funny earrings, or what do I do? (I’ve got some funny earrings on, by the way.)

That’s not it. “Following you I will practice.” First, we practice the way Guru Rinpoche practiced, for the sake of sentient beings. That’s how Guru Rinpoche practiced. He came and was born into the world for no reason other than to benefit beings. He didn’t have to come and learn; he didn’t have to come and hang out. Like Lord Buddha himself, he didn’t have to come and learn or hang out. And yet he came for the benefit of sentient beings. And so that’s the way in which we promise to practice. Not only throughout this prayer, throughout this hour that I am practicing, but throughout this day, throughout this week, throughout this month, throughout this year, throughout all my lifetimes, may I follow the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and liberate beings. We’re talking here about liberating beings from suffering. This is what Guru Rinpoche did. Yes, he taught. Yes, he hid termas. Yes, he gave us the means, the method. But the intention was about liberating sentient beings. Following you therefore I will practice.

And so that’s our commitment. We take on this tremendous commitment, this tremendous opportunity to liberate beings from the clutches and the ravages of samsara. And that means we’ll live the week like that, the month like that, the year like that, the decade like that, our lives like that. And at the time of our death, we will make prayers to be reborn following Guru Rinpoche. And in our next life, we are reborn again to continue and to benefit beings. This is the method. This is the way. This is the powerhouse. We rely on this promise, this blessing.

Link to The Seven Line Prayer with audio files for practice accumulations.

Vajrayana: For This Time

September 9, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “The Guru Is Your Diamond”

On the path of Vajrayana, we are given something like a rocket ship, rather than a slow boat, to cross the ocean of samsara. When Lord Buddha first came to the planet and taught, when he was there as Shakyamuni, he gave teachings that were absolutely necessary for that time. During that time, we were not in Kaliyuga, which is a more degenerate age. During that time, it was easier to practice. It was easier even to speak Dharma. Peoples’ minds were more spacious and more expanded so that if one were to accomplish Dharma, it would be more easy to accomplish Dharma during that time. And yet, there was a difficulty. And the difficulty was that during that time, because there was more space in the mind, there was also more relaxation, maybe more joyfulness, less reason to feel compelled to exit samsara. So there are good and bad things in both times.

True that this is Kaliyuga. True that this is the time of degeneration. There are many false teachers and many false paths. And sometimes delusion rises up like a tsunami flood, and it is a difficult time. We look to the people that even guide this country, and you wonder where is the clarity, where is the morality. So it’s difficult. Even this country that was once the prince of countries, and can still be the peacemaker, the one who guards the little guy, instead now we’ve changed. So these are all indicative of this time of delusion.

Yet at the same time, we are so pressed because of our delusion, our neuroses, which means an inappropriate response to something that is not understood well anyway. Our neuroses also thicken and deepen, and with that comes an increase in pain, fundamental pain. Maybe not even a particular pain about something, but rather an all-pervasive sense of suffering.We are more unhappy, really, now when things are happening faster and materialism is in some ways more attainable, in many ways more attainable. Still we have become more and more unhappy and continually create the causes for unhappiness. So this pushes us to find a solution. And for some people, we look to psychology or psychiatry; and for other people, we look towards creating the causes for happiness through walking the path of spirituality. But many of us are seeking, and that’s important. That is something that is useful and to be treasured during this time.

For many of us, we’ll think that what drives us to seek is this pain, this angst, this modern angst that we all seem to carry around. That pain, on the one hand, seems sometimes unbearable, and then other times, just there. And we are uncomfortable and we can’t say exactly why. We feel wobbly, unguided, unknowing and we really can’t understand why that is. That suffering, of course, even though painful, can ultimately become part of the blessing that brings us to the Path. Maybe we didn’t even come here thinking, ‘What I need is a good Path.’ Maybe we came here for some other reason: Because we heard about this place; or we’ve heard a little bit; or we’ve read some books about Dharma; or maybe His Holiness the Dalai Lama has given us some wonderful teaching through his books; and something has just hooked us a little bit. Maybe we heard about the crystals. That brings people! Whatever it is, it’s that sense of things not being wholesome or right. It’s that sense of fundamental unhappiness that drives us forward.

And so, in the beginning, that’s how it feels. It can be a very poignant kind of search and we feel deeply moved by it. So when we begin to examine the Path of Vajrayana, we find that rather than being the gentle ship that crosses a relatively gentle ocean as was in the time of Lord Buddha’s physical life, now we have a different situation. We are propelled by the depth of our feeling, by our discomfort; and we’re looking for something. And we seem to, in this time, connect with something that is more potent, maybe a little fiercer in a certain way, more condensed definitely, than the original teachings of Lord Buddha.

Jewel of the Dharma in the West

September 2, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is from a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

I am racking my brain to think of more ways to fund raise. It feels like crying in the darkness. His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche tells me KPC is absolutely necessary, as did His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. Palyul needs us to be strong for the sake of all beings and for western Dharma.

We are not on time, we are lagging. Please wake up and march forward with me and make the world a better, kinder place.

Support the Renovation

The Seven Line Prayer: An Introduction

August 21, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Experiencing the Hook of Compassion”

The Seven Line Prayer is so important. It is a magnificent prayer. It was not made up or composed by an ordinary person. It was miraculously manifested when primordial wisdom dakinis appeared literally from the sky to devout practitioners and told them, “This is how one calls the Guru. This is how one practices.”One will actually move toward enlightenment and can achieve enlightenment merely by reciting this prayer. Whenever a student asks me formally to be their teacher, I ask them to repeat this prayer many, many times. In fact I hope that each student will repeat it a hundred thousand times. Now that sounds like a piece of work, doesn’t it? In fact, it is. But eventually you will learn to say the prayer so well that you can say it really quickly. You don’t have to say it slowly; you can say it very quickly and you can do a whole mala, that’s a whole prayer beads’ worth, in maybe ten, fifteen minutes. That’s pretty easy to do. That’s pretty easy to do. And then you can get to eight minutes. I don’t know what the world record is, but you can do it. You can, but you’re a blur. Your lips go “bluhbluhbluh..”.

Actually you can feel the wind on your nose.

This prayer actually occurs on three different levels. It has three different levels of meaning. The most profound level of meaning is so profound that the teachers do not give that level of meaning until you have accumulated three hundred thousand repetitions of that prayer. Isn’t that amazing? This prayer has in it everything. It has refuge; it has bodhicitta. There is every kind, every element of practice within this prayer; but it’s in such a succinct form, that it’s just a prayer. It isn’t really a practice. You know, pujas in the Tibetan tradition take hours and hours and hours. There are all kinds of mudras that you do, and instruments that you play, and all kinds of amazing technologies that you apply. But this prayer, in a very succinct form, really has the seed of everything.

On the most external level, it is, according to the translation, an invocation to Guru Rinpoche, who is the actual emanation and display of Lord Buddha who brought Vajrayana to Tibet; and he is supremely realized. On a deeper level, there are so many different levels of meaning, layer upon layer of meaning. The syllables that are in this prayer are power syllables. They have some particular power due to the way in which they were given through miraculous means, and due to the vibrational quality that is associated with these syllables. As you sound the syllables, they actually purify the inner, psychic channels, winds and fluids, that in sentient beings are polluted and kinked and distorted and actually blocked. The sounding of these syllables begins the process of purifying them and unkinking them, and actually changing you in some profound way, some psychic way, that is really extraordinary, actually extraordinary. Plus in a hidden and symbolic secret way, all the elements of practice are in this prayer, including extraordinary devotion to one’s guru . As you begin to sound it with faith that this miracle will take place, the change begins to occur, even though you are not doing the full practice. So if you want to begin, learn how to say this practice. Learn how to say this prayer.

See the prayer and listen to Jetsunma recite it by clicking here

Palyul Prayer: A Musical Offering

July 29, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is a musical offering of the Palyul Prayer by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Our Best Hope

July 28, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “This Time is Radical”

When we practice meditating on emptiness and non-duality, we think we should come out of that feeling oh so peaceful, like milk. And then after that, we should be so peaceful. And I think, “Right on. Whatever.” Mostly, I think, let’s gather together and be of benefit. I think that’s the most important thing.

At this time, there are people who have come in contact with Dharma. From this time forward, there are those who have the karma to practice but will not have the opportunity because the darkness is getting thicker.For them, we will record mantra and we will send it out to the world. And if it can wake them up, it will wake them up and they will come. And if you don’t know that His Holiness gave his blessing to this, then I’ll tell you that he has.

His Holiness is interested in this. He doesn’t care what it sounds like. He’s not a big rock and roll fan. Not into Hip Hop. Wouldn’t know 80s music from Sub Dub. Just doesn’t know. But His Holiness said, ‘We’ve got to get it out and we’ve got to get it out now.’ And so for me in my practice and in my activity, and that includes the music, we have two streams going here. I’m going to go up to New York and record with John Ward on Monday; and then we have another stream that is in the studio. We are going to do more and more and more and more until everyone who can hears it, and they will come. I find that there is no way to reach out to them because they have, through the thickness and the darkness and the delusion, become too dense to hear. But my determination, our determination, is to call to them so loudly and so clearly in their language, which is today’s language, that they can’t resist us. And they will come. And with every effort that we make, we will continue to practice and pray. And I believe that because of that, they will come in droves.

So I wanted to tell you that. Not because I wanted to put out energy before its time or to brag or anything like that. It’s not like that really. I’m not ambitious in that way. I’m only ambitious in one way, and that is, get it out. Sound the call. So while it’s so dark they can’t see, still maybe they can hear.

I want you to know that when people hear me doing this, they won’t know that His Holiness wants me to do it. They’ll think, ‘What is this? A tulku? A reincarnate lama from a throne singing whatever? Blues or hip-hop or whatever?’ But if you listen to it, there’s mantra in it, and there’s Dharma in it, and it’s real. And so I say to you that I have permission, first of all, and I have the heart for it, second of all. God, I hope I have the voice for it. I feel that this is a time of either despondency or empowerment. You are either getting left behind or you’re climbing onboard now. Things are going to get really exciting around here really fast. So I want you to keep your heart practice, and never be swayed by anything you see, no matter what you see. Even if someone says, ‘Well, why is a Dharma teacher making this music?’ Then you can repeat the teaching, “All sounds are the Dharma.” Learn it. Learn it well and speak it, because that is the truth.

The other thing that His Holiness said is that the Dharma can’t be broken. You can’t break it. You can’t break something that is not of this world. The meaning of that is that in whatever context we can put the Dharma out to sentient beings, so long as it is with good motivation and completely respectful, it will manage. It will do its job. The way it works, as I’ve instructed you before, is that the very vibration, the very sound of Dharma, which is why you have to speak the mantra out loud, the very sound of it reverberates and corresponds with the winds, channels, and fluids within your deepest nature. So if one hears mantra, or sees some connection with the Dharma, even though they may be ordinary and kind of down in the dust and living a very secular, commercial, ordinary life, the power of mantra is such that boom! they can wake up. It is an ancient resonance that comes to them and they change quickly because of that. I see that happening. And I see that in this time, that’s our best hope. It’s our best hope.

The view and purchase music produced by Jetsunma please visit http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Jetsunma

Free download of “The Promise“

Wisdom on Social Media

July 27, 2013July 27, 2013 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following are excerpts from teachings offered by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo on Facebook and twitter:

Jetsunma’s Tweet: We have all types of karma. We have killed – ever killed a mosquito?

Facebook User: Are you saying that killing a mosquito is wrong?

Jetsunma’s response: Killing is always wrong but cannot always be avoided.

Facebook User: Why is killing a mosquito wrong? Does it have a soul? I understand the part about killing being wrong and that it cannot always be avoided.

Jetsunma’s response: We don’t think of “souls” in Buddhism. We feel that all sentient beings have the same primordial nature – all sentient beings are made of the same stuff.

A twitter teaching from the same day:

As I get older I have come to realize how precious life is and how little we do to live long. We don’t think of kindness or charity or that other sentient beings are suffering just like yoy and I. How sad! We don’t understand the connection at all. We think things just happen to us. Ha! Like we had nothing to do with this at all. Good grief!