The following was a spontaneous comment by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo upon hearing that the birds at Garuda Aviary have come to love her “bird stew.” She refers to some birds who came from a terrible situation and have healed under the care of the aviary’s caretaker Rigdzin Zeoli to the point where they not only enjoy freshly prepared food, but now enjoy the freedom of the aviary’s outdoor flight cage.
Some people think “love” is most important – “I’ll just cuddle you and love you.” But when I was little I was hungry, and I know what it’s like for a growing body to be hungry, and it’s agony. Your body is screaming for something, and you don’t know what it is.
Just imagine these little birds, watching their flock die all around them. How horrible it must have been to know that they’re dying, they’re all dying, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. How hot it was in there! No clean water.
How they’re healing so well makes you understand how deeply Rigdzin understands birds. He’s never lifted his eyes to them, never scared them, never done a quick motion around them. He knows what he’s doing with the birds. He really is an expert.
Jetsunma prepares fresh “stew” for the birds at least once a week, and aspires to offering it to them twice a week. She said this is the kind of thing that really matters to her…
If you would like to help support the birds of the Garuda Aviary please click here.
The following is a full length video teaching recorded live at Kunzang Palyul Choling on Sept. 23, 2012, in celebration of the 24th Anniversary of the Enthronement of Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:
The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Longing for the Guru”
If you feel that you have become deadened to that longing you once felt, if you think that you don’t long for your Teacher or long for the Buddha, if you think that you don’t long with a heartfelt longing for that awakening, then you should try to remember your childhood and the different feelings that you had.
What are some of the things that you did? Were you promiscuous? Did you become involved in drugs or alcohol? Did you become very materialistic in certain ways? And if you can remember the beginning of that, was it based on longing? Was it based on something that you could hardly remember, but remember that it was sharp and poignant? Was it really based on that?
If you can remember a time like that, you should spend time becoming reacquainted with the purity of that urging. Cultivate that longing. Not cultivate it in a false way or in a contrived way, but search for what was already there. Feel what was felt. Don’t make up a feeling. That’s important, because then you’ll blame yourself again. Instead, try to remember that feeling, even if it just numbs you to think that you have gone so far astray, you should not be ashamed because your karma is that you were born into a culture where what you felt was not acceptable and you tried to fit it into ways that were acceptable. Those ways did not work for you and then you shut down. You should try to go back to that original feeling and find a way to forgive yourself. You have to confess in order to be able to fully forgive yourself. Don’t confess: Oh, I’ve been a bad girl, or I’ve been a bad boy, I’ve done this and I’ve done that.
The confession that you should make to the primordial root Guru is: You were everywhere, and I tried to find you here. The true confession is the lack of understanding the nature of the Guru. The true confession is the lack of understanding as to what you are. That’s the real confession, and that’s the real sin that was committed. Yes, karma happened. But that core confession and purification can bring about the end of all the karma that arose from that, truly. It can bring about the end of all sufferings that came from that point. You should allow yourself to remember the longing that you felt and learn to live with it.
In learning to live with it and having it be the warmth in your heart, allowing yourself to be with that and to live with that, then that longing will bring the proper result. So long as it is diverted, so long as you refuse to feel it, so long as you do not allow yourself to be pure and then constantly cover up with feelings of impurity, so long as that condition continues, the longing cannot be satisfied.
That longing, if it’s felt in its pure way and if you can manage to get your ego out of the way, can be the very bread by which you are nurtured to continue in a firm way on your path. That longing can be the way that provides the actual, undeniable connection with one’s own root Guru. It perfects that relationship so that one can realize the nature of the primordial Guru and realize that they are the same. You can understand that what you see in front of you is the miraculous touch of Lord Buddha, that the relationship with the Teacher, the relationship with the path, the relationship with all of the teaching, the relationship with your own practice can only be a result of the miraculous intention of the Buddha. So long as we continue to understand our teaching and our path as something external, we will never understand the nature of it. We will never be able to truly drink of the taste of that nature. Instead, we will continue to feel separate from the mandala.
The following is from a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:
Today I had the joy of hearing of a miracle.
A student woke up a few days ago unable to move left side of her body. Scan said she had a bran tumor the size of an orange. She prayed and did mantra constantly since, and sang the Seven Line Prayer during the biopsy. Today she woke up with 75 percent function returned. The tumor had shrunk to size of an acorn.
She gives credit to Chenrezic and Guru Rinpoche. She carries my photo and recites Seven Line Prayer and Mani Mantra loud and proud.
I say these are the Miracles of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. She will come here to make offerings and prayers and therefore I have great confidence in her life. She must, now, live a noble life.
No doctor has seen this before and they were still diagnosing. But an orange is as big as it is and an acorn is little and shrinking. #Miracle
From a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo originally tweeted on April 21, 2011:
For the last two to three days I’ve felt a change in the wind. As some of you know I have taken time off to heal. In these last days I realize I have not worked so hard at it. But I’ve been reading about people who have had similar challenges and have broken through into better balance. And they seem happy and engaged. The stories of how their lives are remind me so much of my own, and their beginnings seem to be like mine. I feel very inspired by these courageous Tribal people, yet I also feel guilty, and disappointed in myself. I see that I have been waiting for something, someone to heal and re-inspire me, unconsciously. For this I am ashamed, for I myself have allowed my mind to fall into a disempowered state. The last three to four years have been devastating and I’ve let myself down by letting them take my confidence, courage, hope. I see that I have begun to feel that I cannot help others, have no strength to do so. I have allowed fear to rule my life. And I’ve been keeping this to myself, just waiting for the cure. How ridiculous! There is healing all around. But I did not reach for it, I just let others decide if I was worth anything or not. For some reason my mind is like a mirror, I absorb what others tell/show me about myself. When with my Lineage and teacher I feel good. But around gossip and hurt, negativity, being put down constantly by ordinary view – it just knocks me to the ground.
I have, as you know, also been greatly concerned with the condition of our Earth Mother, and the rampant poisoning of her precious body. So I call out night and day for her relief from suffering, and for all her children. But have not done one thing to help myself. Therefore I’ve let not only myself, but all creation down. I am deeply ashamed. I am working now to see what can be done for me.
Since my guru Kyabje His Holiness Penor Rinpoche found and recognized me, and well before, I saw how much people were suffering, mostly spiritually. So even as a teenager I tried to help others. And others were drawn naturally to come to me. After the recognition I understood why and took off with my feet already running. That was, sadly late in life, I was a mother, etc, so I could not just run off to India, although I did go to be taught, and many teachers have come to teach me Buddha Dharma. I never learned how to nurture myself. So when others knock me down I have a hard time getting back up. Maybe because of my ugly childhood, but I only blame myself.
I worry about others, and must help in my intended way. I am seeing that we are connected to Earth and it matters very much that we take care of ourselves and each other. We think the Japanese radiation is ruining Earth or maybe pollution, so many things are happening. But here is the truth: we live in and on the Earth, our Mother and the Earth also lives within us! As do the Sun, Moon, Stars, all elements! We live within each other, and are one human family. So how can Japan’s problems happen? War? Pollution? Because we feel separate from it all and each other. We even become separated from our own minds and hearts. A shame we were taught badly by teachers with nothing but ordinary view, but we have. Thus we must seek connection, wisdom and truth. I’m going to use what I have been given, and seek more. I must lead myself out of this sorrow, and keep on learning and growing. Oh, true, I’ve built the Temple, a bunch of powerful Stupas, taught a lot. But I’m not dead yet, so I cannot let fear rule. It is compassion, responsibility, connection I must go to, to pacify this hard time. How? I don’t know yet. But there is a change in the wind, I feel it, hear it, smell it and feel I can trust it. Come with me, we all need to learn, search, pray, and love. Because a new wind is coming. And I feel it. Kye HO!
I wrote this longevity prayer on the day that I arrived here. The first human rebirth of Ahkon Lhamo occurred some 300-400 years ago in Degii, which is the eastern country of Kham. She was born as the sister of the Vidyadhara Kunzang Sherab who was the founder of the Palyul lineage. And her name was Ahkon Chang Chub Lhamo. She was a true Dakini. At that time in her life she didn’t have a lot of wealth or a lot of ordained sangha followers per se in a monastic type of situation, but she was a great practitioner and she had tens of thousands of disciples. She was able to spread forth the doctrine in an amazing way. Previously, she was Mandarava, Lamchen Mandarava, who was the Indian consort of Guru Padmasambhava. Mandarava was well known of the 21 Taras to be the emanation of White Tara and Drolma Karmo.
Now she has once again arisen from the sphere of the Three Kayas and the name that I have mentioned for her is also her name in this lifetime, Lhamo Metog Dron, which appears throughout this prayer. She has come to you as a true guide and object of your devotion to lead you on the path to liberation so you should always have strong faith and devotion in her and receive her spiritual instructions.
She is one who is destined to work for the doctrine and the purpose of sentient beings and won’t have a lot of time for retreat or extensive accomplishment practices, because her commitment is to spread forth the doctrine and work for sentient beings directly through activities in the same way as leaders like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who always shows the amazing example of someone who is solely concerned for the purpose of benefiting all people of all nations in the world, but of course primarily as his responsibility, he is the spiritual and secular leader of all of the six million Tibetan people.
The Dalai Lama himself is always circling the globe in pursuit of bringing the message of freedom and peace of mind to all beings, so he is a supreme example of someone who untiringly and unceasingly works for the benefit of parent sentient beings and the doctrine through his activities.
Similarly, His Holiness Pema Norbu Rinpoche has undergone incredible hardships and difficulties to establish the doctrine in India and in Western countries. He has thousands of ordained sangha members surrounding him and is the upholder of the supreme Nyingma School at this time, a great example of someone who unceasingly works to spread the doctrine and benefit beings in this world.
Similarly, the great Dodrupchen Rinpoche who is one of the great masters of all time, an emanation of Guru Rinpoche, has thousands of monk followers and is someone who supports all of his sangha, even right down to giving them the food that they eat. And so, he has had to take it on as his own responsibility to support all of those who have chosen the path of renunciation and who wear the golden robes of the ordained sangha.
Now, for myself, even though I also do have a fairly large institution, I myself really don’t even eat food that is that good and I always try to give better food to my community. I consider myself to be a servant of sentient beings. I try not to stay in a high place with a lot of elaborations.
In fact, the way to be of the greatest benefit to others is to personally remain low and humble. This is the way that the Dakini always remains as well. And so, I would like to make it the first priority of Dakini Ahkon Lhamo and the sangha to always honor the sovereign of your Buddha family, His Holiness Pema Norbu Rinpoche until the time of your death. He is truly your leader and your root teacher, the head of your lineage. There is nothing else that you need to do. There is no other place that you need to go other than to be right here to propagate the doctrine that he has so securely established here. If it were I, I certainly would be 100 percent satisfied to be under the guidance of such a great realized being.
In terms of this Palyul lineage, since Ahkon Lhamo herself is the reincarnated sister of the founder of the Palyul tradition, Vidyadhara Kunzang Sherab, then clearly this is your own spiritual tradition. Except for Palyul, it is not so important to pursue other traditions because primarily you should be propagating the Palyul tradition. It should certainly never, ever be forgotten. Ahkon Lhamo must continue to propagate it and never forget it, even at the cost of her life.
And so, primarily then, Pema Norbu Rinpoche is your sovereign, your supreme root teacher, whom you should always honor above and beyond all else and you should always uphold the Palyul lineage and doctrine and see that it is propagated in this Western land. All of you disciples should take care of your precious teacher and she will always take care of you in assisting one another to accomplish these goals in this land.
His Holiness Kusum Lingpa and Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo wearing Green and White Terton Robes
The following is from a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:
I like reading my followers and meeting many kind hearted people out there. It nourishes me , too, that connection. I feel the love. So I come bearing gifts of compassion, community, and Dharma.
OM MANI PEDME HUNG
I feel the ripple of union with you all and thank you for your friendship. If I can help you that’s the best. Or you can help me, even that, but I’d rather it were you. Plus, since we are one, it’s got to be that way. That’s the way it is.
Silly beach talk from me to you. Although you already had it, and it was born and accomplished. I love you.
The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Western Chod”
I eventually came to draw a lot of strength and a great deal of comfort from that early practice (Chöd) because I found out that I actually never ever had to make another decision. And that’s what we struggle with all the time.
The rest of my life became not a dilemma in some odd way, even though there are many aspects of my life that would seemingly be problematic. It isn’t a dilemma because already the mind is relaxed. That’s one of the great benefits of that practice—the mind becomes relaxed. You’re not tense in the position of getting ready to determine, getting ready to decide. That requires a great deal of mental tension. So that’s done. The mind’s relaxed and it’s all right. There’s a big yes happening. There’s a big yes happening. I agree. I agree. It’s already done, so I don’t have to reinvent that dilemma and solve that dilemma every time. It’s already done. That’s the great blessing of a practice like that.
I have to tell you, once you really examine the faults of cyclic existence that way, and the eyes of suffering… I really recommend that if you do this practice. you can do it sitting, standing, anyway you want to. Do it while you’re walking around. Just constantly think like this. My recommendation is fill your eyes with suffering. Not your heart, not your mind, your eyes. We walk around feeling insulated. We don’t want to see it. You’re flipping through the channels and you see that child in, what, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, someplace like that, belly bulging, ribs sticking out at the same time and limbs that big around, and crusty at the side of the mouth. And why? Because they haven’t had any food recently. And no good food consistently. They’re starving. The first thing we do when we see that? Change the channel because we have the habit of not wanting to see that. We don’t want to see that.
My recommendation is spend some time seeing it. Stop turning away from the sight of suffering. Use that as a tool. It doesn’t mean that you have to, you know, give Buddhism a bum rap. I’m not asking you to be unhappy. I’m telling you that if you really open your eyes and see, you are in a scene where you are half unhappy and half happy already. It’s already mixed. This is not something you have to pretend. All I’m asking you to do is face it. Really look at it. Do not turn your eyes away from it. Fill your eyes with suffering. Stop faking it. We are a nation of fakers. Stop faking it and really see it. See what hatred produces. See what it looks like. Look into the face of it. See what hunger looks like. Face it. See what bigotry looks like. Look at it, face it, see what it feels like. See what ignorance feels like—the kind of dullness and slothfulness that you can hardly get yourself together. Get a good mouthful of that! See what that looks like. Look at all of this concerning ordinary experience in samsara. And then, having filled your eyes with that, you can use that as motivation, as a reason to practice.
So my recommendation is practice deeply, practice consistently. Do not turn your eyes away from suffering. Practice with courage. Be really courageous about this, and never let yourself off easy in this practice. To the bone, and then give them up too. Practice to the depth of your being, until you are deeply satisfied, until you know that you would never take back that offer again, the offer to be a vehicle by which suffering might end. Do not give up your practice until you know that you’ve done that. Be a hero. All you have to do is be a hero one time, one time in your whole life, concerning giving rise to compassion for the sake of sentient beings. Be a hero. Be undaunted. Do not be happy or satisfied with yourself until it is complete. Do not be happy or satisfied with yourself until you have really seen the suffering of cyclic existence and it makes you sick to your stomach, that not only you, but everyone you see is caught in it.
Practice as deeply as you are able. And you are able to practice more deeply than you could ever have imagined. So the goal here, of course, is to give rise to the Bodhicitta, give rise to compassion to realize the faults of cyclic existence. I used to think this to myself, whatever I saw,”There’s no future in this.” So in the future when I picked up a bag of potato chips, I’d go, “Well I can eat it or not eat it, but obviously there’s no future in this!” And I could look at any scenario in life and I would go, “Pff, no future in it. I’ve examined it. I’ve been there, I’ve done it in my mind.” That’s the awareness and understanding that you should be armed with.
