Teachers | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

The Appearance of the Wrathful Deities

December 31, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo offered during a Phowa retreat:

So, you are training; you are preparing. You know what to expect. You know that you will go into a state that is unfamiliar to you, with senses that act differently than your senses act now, although they will be similar in some ways. You know that you will have many choices. You know you will see things that are uncomfortable for you and unfamiliar; you will see things that are more familiar. You are beginning to understand that there are things that you should look for and things you should go toward, but mostly, you have heard the most precious piece of information. You will hear it again and again and again. And that is that these things that you see in the bardo are not to be feared. They are displays and emanations of your own mind. No matter what they look like, no matter what you see, no matter how unfamiliar you are. From the very brightest lights to the very most confused and deluding negative lights… The lights that emanate from the hell realm are things that are an expression of some particular aspect of your own nature—whether it is your nature in a state of defilement, or the samsaric elements of your nature, or whether it is your nature in this most pure form, which is your ultimate primordial Buddha nature. Everything that you see in the bardo will be you. There is nothing to run from; it is childish and stupid to run. You cannot run away from yourself; it will pursue you. As you will see in the bardo, there are cycles of coming back and trying to choose again, coming back and trying to choose again. You’ll see that as we move on. So let’s move on.

Now we have come to the part of the bardo where the peaceful Buddhas have finished appearing. In order for you to be continuing in the bardo now, this means that the peaceful Buddhas have appeared. You have seen your nature in all its different elements and displays;. You have seen the displays of the qualities of your nature, but you did not recognize them, and you did not follow them. Fortunately, you also saw the displays that are sort of vibrational showings or displays, and also ways to enter the different six realms of cyclic existence, and so far you have not entered those either, for whatever reason.

It is hard to say what the reasons are. It can be that habitually you are a person of extreme caution and are unwilling to do anything without a great deal of examining. Of course that won’t work, because if you have not been trained, you are examining bardo with the same, if not more, delusion than the delusion that you have in life, when you could not examine enough to be able to get yourself out of samsara anyway. So that kind of examination will not serve you. It is this training and devotion to one’s spiritual mentor that will save you. That is what actually works. But somehow you’ve managed not to go into rebirth at this time. You are still in the bardo. Now at this time, the wrathful deities appear.

When the wrathful deities appear, they do so singularly and they do so en masse. They appear to you in different ways—it’s a very dynamic kind of presentation. It is also with the peaceful Buddhas, but with the wrathful Buddhas it is even more so. The reason why is that the wrathful Buddhas—you’ve seen pictures of them, or the next time you go into the Prayer Room you should look at some of the wrathful Buddhas and you will see—they are downright spooky looking. And you ask yourself, “Whoa, what, are they like Guido and Raoul, the hit men from New York?” What is it? When the good guys can’t talk you into it, the bad guys beat you into it? You must wonder what the wrathful deities are. The wrathful deities actually are symbolic and are meant to display the aspect of enlightened compassion and method that is forceful, dominating, expanding, progressing, purifying. These are all very active words, aren’t they? They’re very dynamic and active words. There are, of course, displays and expressions of one’s Buddha nature that appear as absolute stillness and absolute emptiness, and very peaceful kind of display. Of course, that is the wisdom aspect of one’s own nature. But what is the method aspect of one’s own nature? If wisdom and method are non-dual and completely inseparable, as they are, looking at them from the purely awakened state, then it must also be, just as much, if stillness is your nature, then movement is your nature. They are the same and indistinguishable. If emptiness is your nature, then fullness is your nature, because in truth, in the awakened state, emptiness and fullness cannot be distinguished. They are not only inseparable, they are not distinguishable. It is only we that separate emptiness from fullness and peacefulness from aggression or activity.

So, as in the case of Vajrakilaya, which many of you here practice, Vajrakilaya is the very wrathful display of Vajrasattva. Vajrasattva. Who could be more peaceful than that deity who is meant to purify all of our samsaric afflictions, who has the capacity to purify all of our “sins,” all of our afflictions, all of our ego clingings, our hatred, our greed, and our ignorance? Who is more forgiving and more peaceful than that? And yet the wrathful display of Vajrasattva is Vajrakilaya. Does that mean that Vajrasattva has PMS and on a monthly basis emerges as Vajrakilaya in a real bad mood? Do you think that’s what it is? No, that’s not what it is; of course it’s not. It is the same nature. It is the same. Vajrakilaya is completely indistinguishable from Vajrasattva. They are the same in their function. They are the same in their capacity. They are the same in their enlightenment. But they are different in the display of method. That is all.

The Path to a Joyful Mind

November 10, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Take Control of Your Life”

On the Vajrayana Path, the teacher will say, “I will beat you to death if you don’t straighten up. I will just take a stick to you.” You know, His Holiness [Penor Rinpoche] is famous for doing that. He once had a Tulku who was dying and this Tulku was someone that His Holiness had a lot of hopes in. Obviously there was some obstacle to his life. What was it? We don’t know. But His Holiness realized the Tulku was dying. So he went in to see the Tulku, and the Tulku must have said something that brought up His Holiness’ awareness of this obstacle. His Holiness took off his mala and starting beating him with his mala, just beating him and beating him. And the next day, the Tulku was completely well.

Sometimes the lamas are wrathful in order to remove obstacles. Sometimes the lamas are so wrathful that they are more wrathful than any parent we’ve ever had and we see that. Or we love the lama so much that the wrathfulness of the lama seems like a big stick and we can hardly bear it. Or the disappointment of our lama seems like a big stick and we can hardly bear that. Then sometimes the lama says, “You are such a special being. You are so intrinsically special, even your karma is special. You are special to me. I love you so much. Come here. Come on.” And the lama says, “I love you.” And the lama says, “I know you.” And the lama says, “I see your heart. Feel that?” And the lama says, “I have great gifts to give you. Dharma is beautiful. It’s a joy to practice. It’s everything the Buddha has offered. I’ll set this immense banquet in front of you and you can eat the food of Dharma. How beautiful.”

Of course the lama neglects to mention that Dharma is difficult, that the path is hard, that the things that we have to face about ourselves are horrible and ugly and the things that we have to change about ourselves are very hard work. It’s very hard to change that ego-cherishing into pure generosity and bodhichitta. It’s so hard. The lama may invite you to have some tea. But if you have real potential, the lama’s going to smack you upside the head and say, “Straighten out, buddy. That’s not the way to practice Dharma.” And that’s the part that we should be grateful for. Not only should we not get mad because that would be a big mistake; but instead we should say, this is the very nectar of the Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha has instructed us how to ‘wake-up’ and now we must do the work of waking up. When we practice Dharma, Dharma is something that we practice 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There’s no Sunday in Dharma. We’re just practicing the habits of our culture [having teachings on Sunday] and we know that you work. Otherwise, there’s no Sunday in Dharma. Dharma is every day. We shouldn’t come here to see an altar; there should be an altar in our homes. To come here and practice is wonderful. We welcome you with open hearts and open arms; but this should not be the only place you practice. You should maintain your practice every day.

This is the way to be happy. Because if you create the habit of practicing and doing some Dharma, making prayers and offerings, practicing say, Ngöndro every day, or even just reciting Seven Line Prayer every day, the mind begins to change. It’s less inflamed, less needy, less concerned with what you want, less concerned with bad habits. The mind begins to change in such a way that it’s less inflamed, more relaxed. And a more relaxed and spacious mind is the prescription for a more joyful mind.

Putting the Teachings Into Practice

November 9, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

I wish my Sangha was more concerned with the welfare of others. And more concerned with our Temple (KPC) to the degree that they help.

Some in our community work for othersand do their practice with depth and concern. They truly have the proper intention and the Bodhicitta Many are simply lazy and unconcerned. They like the dog and pony show and the exotic belonging to a place like KPC. They sign up but do nothing, start but never finish, are like children who expect to have their toys cleaned and picked up for them. They don’t even recognize What needs doing. They just show up and enjoy the show. That is not Dharma and will not lead to the precious awakening .

This is a great weekend to do some outside cleaning and picking up. Get some fresh air and sunshine. The grounds are a mess. Plants that have gone down for the winter need cutting back and fallen branches, leaf trash, all need cleaning up. It is good to present ourselves in a neat, respectful way. We should have no junk laying around and get rid of abandoned, and now useless things like the RV. Which we really needed to transport animals and other things and people, especially to Dakini Valley, while we sat slack-jawed watching it rot.

Pick Up the Shovel

November 5, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Take Control of Your Life”

When we create a close relationship with our teacher on the path of Vajrayana—once we have examined the teacher’s qualities and have decided for ourselves that this is indeed the root guru—then we must follow. If the root guru can teach us Buddhism, they have to have something of that same capacity [as the Buddha]. Now maybe the root guru can see what it is that’s brought us here—the suffering that’s brought us here, and the accomplishment. The root guru looks at you and sees you are Buddha, and yet you suffer. So the root guru says, “I wish to teach you how to live, how to practice, so that your suffering ends and so that you can benefit others.” Nowhere else is one taught that way: understanding the true nature, one’s appearance and one’s nature that is empty. Therefore only the Buddha is the appropriate guide.

The Buddha teaches us that everything is about karma. It’s about choices; it’s about cause and effect; it’s about realizing one’s nature and remaining stable in the bliss of emptiness. If we remain stable in that, we are free to examine any part of our lives. And most of all, first and foremost, we should examine our minds.

The Buddha has taught us that first, and most importantly, we should establish our motivation,. And our motivation is based on the first teaching of Lord Buddha—that all beings are equal in their nature. All beings. That they are all suffering and yet what they all have in common is that they all equally wish to be happy. The smallest worm, anything with consciousness in its own way, in its own language, is striving to be happy. Then the Buddha teaches us the pristine message—the message of hope and the one that allows us to practice at last. The Buddha says, “All beings are suffering, but there is an end to suffering, and that end is called enlightenment.”

Beyond that, Lord Buddha says we must examine our minds, our intention. This is profound work; this is deep work. You can’t practice a little Dharma over here and commit a little adultery over here. You can’t practice a little Dharma over here and have someone in your life whom you know doesn’t have a bite to eat and not help them. You can’t practice a little Dharma over here and have no respect for the Sangha or the temple or the teacher. In other words, Dharma’s not like a pretty little high church package. Even though we have bunches of fancy things around here, it isn’t like you walk into a giant temple and go, “Oh, I’m moved emotionally, and it’s Sunday. I did it. I’m a good Buddhist.” No. That’s not Dharma. “I came on Sunday, I sang some songs and I’m impressed with the church. Now I’m going home.” No, that’s not Dharma.

Dharma is different. When we see these objects that are beautiful and magical and we see the brocade and we see the statues, yes, it thrills our hearts and we recognize on some level that something very precious and beautiful is here. But the Buddha didn’t tell us to sit around and think about how things are precious and beautiful in the temple. The Buddha taught us that Dharma isn’t like a beautiful package of golden brocade. Dharma is a knife, and it’s meant to cut. It has a sharp edge, and it’s not always painless. Dharma teaches us that the honest truth is that non-virtuous activity and habitual patterns will only lead us to more unhappiness. That means we have to go in there with a shovel and a pick axe and start changing our minds.

Unconditional Love

September 17, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Keeping Heart Samaya”

When we consider the student’s relationship with the teacher on this path, we are talking about very high stakes. We are not talking about a student-teacher relationship in order to get through a six week course. We are not talking about a student-teacher relationship with which to graduate with so many credits from college. We are talking about a student-teacher relationship wherein the end result is the ultimate fruit or jewel, the crown of cyclic existence, that is, the potential or capacity to enter into the door of liberation and be free of suffering at last. These are enormous stakes.

So both parties in the student-teacher relationship have to take that relationship very seriously, very seriously. I know for a fact that the teachers regard the students with great seriousness. Their love for the students is unconditional. Once that student-teacher relationship has taken place, the teacher has become, for the student, Guru Rinpoche’s appearance in the world, Lord Buddha’s appearance in the world. Once that happens, there is a love there or a bonding that cannot be undone by anything in the world. There is nothing in the world that can take Lord Buddha’s blessing, Guru Rinpoche’s blessing out of your heart. Nothing can do that.

Even if the students themselves were to act in a very inappropriate way, breaking the samaya bond, acting out of accordance with what the teacher has taught, even committing really negative actions like harming the teacher in some way, it is always the truth that if the student were to make restitution, were to turn their face towards Dharma again and truly wish to accomplish Dharma, and wish to separate themselves from their previous non-virtuous acts, the teacher would immediately respond to that. There is no question.

As parents we do that with our children, don’t we? Sometimes children will do pretty bad things, throw baseballs through windows, knock the cookie jars over, and really much worse things. So even though these acts may occur, the parent will always accept the child again. The parent will not stop loving the child. It may be true that there is a difficulty there, a burden, a strain, a suffering, but that is your child. A good parent would never turn their face away from their child just because their child made a mistake. Parents know that children are immature with very little discrimination. They are learning, and it’s the parents’ job to teach them. Exactly the same with the student and the teacher.

The teacher knows that students are sentient beings. According to the Buddha’s teaching, all sentient beings are suffering. They all wish to be happy, but they do not know how to make the causes of happiness occur. They don’t understand cause-and-effect relationships. So isn’t it to be expected that mistakes will be made? Of course mistakes will be made. It’s only reasonable and logical. So the teacher would never hold it against the student. That relationship is like the Buddha’s compassion, all pervasive, beginningless, conditionless, without end. That is the nature of that love.

So when we look to the student’s commitment, or samaya, to the teacher, we should look to see the same depth, the same bonding, the same beauty in that commitment as well. And that commitment should be a joy on both parts. Less the flavor of duty and responsibility than the flavor of love. The love between the student and teacher is like the Buddha’s compassion.

Why Enlightenment Matters

September 15, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

After practicing Aspirational Bodhicitta, you will move into Practical Bodhicitta. Practical Bodhicitta is where one actually attempts and begins actually to develop the technology or method by which the cessation of suffering can be brought about.

Again, back to the foundational teachings of the Buddha: The Buddha teaches us that the sufferings that we see and think we understand the causes for are only symptomatic of a deeper suffering; and that deeper suffering is actually the faults of cyclic existence. These are the real sufferings: Impermanence; the fact that cyclic existence has nothing inherent within it that leads to the end of suffering. These things are the faults of cyclic existence.

Having understood the faults of cyclic existence, we must then think what the Buddha has told us: Only enlightenment brings about the cessation of suffering. And to carry that further, only an enlightened being, and ultimately a supremely realized being, can truly bring about the end of suffering. So you have to consider Practical Bodhicitta in more than one way. You must actually consider that you wish to accomplish whatever means will bring about the cessation of suffering for all sentient beings: whatever practices will bring about the end of suffering; whatever methods. You have to employ these methods; but you must also think that your own enlightenment then becomes significant. Even if you are thinking only of sentient beings—and that is the proper motivation—even if you are thinking only of motherly sentient beings and their suffering and not thinking of your own suffering so much, if you have come to that profound level of Aspiration Bodhicitta because of entering into the phase of Practical Bodhicitta and the need for you to accomplish enlightenment in order to lead other beings to enlightenment, then one’s own enlightenment becomes significant. And that is the real reason why one’s own enlightenment becomes significant. Yes, it’s true that each of us wishes to be free of suffering. But from the point of view of Bodhicitta, the proper motivation for practice then is the cessation of suffering for all sentient beings.

An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Bodhicitta”

Navigating the Darkness

September 13, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Keeping Heart Samaya”

As sentient beings revolving in samsara, trying to go through life in the ordinary ways that sentient beings go through life, we are unable to see some of the conditions of samsara. For instance, the Buddha teaches us that there are six realms of cyclic existence, six different realms, only one of which is human. There are the hellish realms, the hungry ghost realms, the animal realms, the human realms, the jealous god realms, the long life god realms.

The Buddha teaches us about those different realms. Well, I haven’t seen all of them, and most everybody I know hasn’t seen all of them, at least not that they can remember. I know for sure there are animals. I know for sure there are humans. But how can any of us know about these other realms? We have to rely, therefore, on the Buddha’s enlightened perception that is born from the profound realization that the Buddha accomplished and described when he said simply, “I am awake. I am awake.”

So we rely on that perception, and from that perception the Buddha has taught us many things. One of the things that Buddha has taught us is that all sentient beings are suffering. Suffering is all pervasive, and – sorry to ruin your perfect day – you need to learn the reality of cyclic existence. It is a little bit like needing to walk through a room full of furniture and obstacles and room dividers and shelves and sofas and rugs, and all kinds of things. Unfortunately because our vision is so obscured, it is as though that room were dark and the shades drawn and there were no lights on.

The Buddha teaches us that to learn about cyclic existence would be like turning the light on in that room. If you are unaware of the condition of cyclic existence, it is kind of like trying to get through a room full of obstacles with no help, with no vision, no way to decide how to get through that room. So you are going to stumble over things; you are going to fall over things. There will be many, many hurtful and painful obstacles. Instead, the Buddha recommends turn the lights on. Be aware of the condition of cyclic existence. Know what you are up against. Strategize your path through life intelligently rather than living carelessly and haphazardly, stumbling over everything, having every obstacle that could take you down, in fact, take you down.

Many of us have experienced painful life situations that could have been prevented by the generation of some merit or kind acts that produce virtue within the mind stream. So the Buddha teaches us to know carefully what samsara actually is.

The Karma of a Cup of Water

July 16, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

An excerpt from a teaching called Perception and Karma by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, July 19, 1989

I’d like to illustrate some very basic teachings on the six realms of cyclic existence by looking at a cup of water. In the human realm, this is a cup of water and it has lemon in it. I know that it’s water because it smells like water. It tastes like water with lemon. I know what that tastes like. I can tell the difference between tastes. I know that water is good for me; I know that it will quench my thirst. The reason why I’m having this experience is because of my karma. In the animal realm, a dog would also experience that. Let’s say a dog or some kind of lion or tiger or bear would experience that as water, also. They wouldn’t know what the lemon was, they would think there was something funny in there, but they would experience it as water. They don’t taste very much. They know the water by smell. They can’t taste the difference between city water and country water. They might be able to smell a difference. But they know it to be water, and they instinctively drink it when they are thirsty. They don’t think much about whether it will do this or that for them. They don’t think about how much they need. So their experience with water is similar, but different.

In the hungry ghost realm, beings are horribly thirsty and horribly hungry, and their mouths are very, very tiny, so they’re not able to take in food. Someone from the hungry ghost realm would experience that as a cup of pus and would not be able to drink it because their experience is that it’s pus, it’s horrible and it isn’t drinkable, it isn’t water. It smells foul and is foul. It is not something you would drink. So, they do not drink and they continue to be extremely thirsty. This is my cup of water, I know that it’s not pus but in the hungry ghost realm it would be experienced as pus and they would be terribly thirsty.

Why do they experience it that way? Are they jinxed? Did some magician go to the hungry ghost realm and transform all the water? Is someone out to get them? Had they just not looked in the right places? Should they keep on checking around? Should they think positive? What would happen if they could get it down? Would it act like water? No, it would act like pus, right? Even if they could drink it, the water would act like pus to them. No matter what they do, it remains pus and they remain thirsty. That’s really disgusting, isn’t it? Why does that happen? It happens because of the karma of their mind. Their perceptual experience that they have, the construction that they abide within has that reality or that quality because it is an emanation of their mind. It is the karma of their mind. It’s as real and as solid to them as the fact that this is water to me.

What about someone from the hell realm? Depending on which hell realm it is, it would be either a cup of fire or a cup of ice. Unfortunately, it would be a cup of fire if they were in the hot realms and it would be a cup of ice if they were in the cold realms. The difficulty is that if they held their nose and said, “I really think this is probably water.” They would drink fire and be burned. It’s very real, very real to them. Why is that the case? It is the case because that is the karma of their mind.

On the other hand, if this were experienced in the god realm, it would be experienced as a cup of elixir, the nectar of long life, or the elixir of infinite power, or the nectar of infinite beauty. The gods would drink it and live a long time, anyway. Nothing is forever in the god realm. They would take it and it would be like an elixir that would put them into a state of absolute bliss for a while.

Well, I drank that water. I drink lots of water, and so far, no bliss. So it isn’t happening to me. That’s because the gods have the karma of their minds and that’s how it works out for them. Each one of these different beings that I have described arises from emptiness. They are the same as emptiness; they are inseparable from emptiness. Each cup in those different realms, no matter what was in it, arises from emptiness, it is the same as emptiness, it is inseparable from emptiness, and yet the experiences are totally different. The experiences are different due to the karma of our minds.

Everything that you have ever experienced is completely relative, completely artificially constructed and totally experiential. Everything that you have experienced is like that, and yet what do we do?

Let’s think about the poor old guy in the hungry ghost realm with a cup of pus. That’s really disgusting, isn’t it? Let’s say that he picks it up and he sees that it’s pus, and he puts it back down. Now what is the next thing he does? He sits there and he feels really miserable. He feels agonizingly miserable and thirsty. Then he thinks, “Why does this happen to me?” Then he thinks, “Everywhere I go, there’s this stuff.” He thinks, “There’s no relief.” He goes on and on and on and continues with the experience. The experience does not stop when he decides not to drink it. He continues with the experience. He reacts to the experience. The karma is that he experiences pus. He’s in the hungry ghost realm and he’s experiencing phenomena as he experiences it, which is pretty disgusting, and he’s experiencing also this great longing for nourishment and help and respite from his suffering.

Then, after he doesn’t drink it, he continues with this process of saying, “Why doesn’t anybody love me and give me something to drink? Why do I have to suffer this way?” And then goes on with, “I’m so hungry, I’m so thirsty, I’m so ugly” and so on. What I have just described is an elaboration process that branches from the original karmic occurrence. That elaboration is a very important factor and a very important thing for us to look at and understand. It is the process of exaggeration. Now, it sounds really far fetched to talk about this guy in the hungry ghost realm, but I use that example because it’s so solid, you can really understand how that might happen.

What about us? Let’s use for example the experience that we have when we lose our job. We lose our job, and it’s not the first time we’ve lost our job. The karma of that particular relationship that you had in order to have the job, ended. Maybe it just ran out because it was time. Maybe it ended because you ended it but the karma of that particular relationship ran out. What happens after you’re fired, though, is a process that continues and becomes more a part of you than the actual firing or even the job ever was. That process is the process of exaggeration and elaboration. You begin to elaborate on the process.

The first thing that happens is you begin to make an entire scenario about what really happened. What really happened has a certain flavor. You have perceived it in a certain way. You have lost your job and you have the perception that your boss was kind about it, or your boss was mean about it, or it happened in this way, it happened at midday, it happened at night, it happened in the morning, it happened when it was a good time for you, it happened when it was a bad time for you, it happened before your car payment, it happened after your car payment. You have your own kind of perception about it.

Spinning off from that, you have your determination, which is a more subtle process, about what the real story is. In other words, you’re always going to decide for yourself whether you should have been fired, whether that was righteous, whether you should be treated meanly or whether you should be treated nicely. You’re always going to decide for yourself whether things happen as they do for good reasons, and then you’re going to make up a whole story about how it should have happened. Probably you spend the next few days, weeks or months reworking the entire thing, and imagining what you might have said to your boss under different circumstances. You have your own particular belief about how things should have happened. From that you continue to elaborate and exaggerate situations, working it into the roots of your being, thinking ultimately, after you really work it down the pike, I’m a failure. “Nobody loves me. My mother didn’t love me. My father didn’t love me. I’m destined to be poor and I am deeply flawed.” You know what you do. I don’t have to tell you. You go into the entire scenario of all the different things that you feel are absolutely true. So the experience doesn’t end with the cessation of a certain job opportunity, it continues with an elaboration process and that process is as real as the actual experience. The exaggeration process usually is the one that sticks with you, longer that the experience itself, often longer than the job itself. That is the experience that sticks with you.

Be Careful

July 15, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

An excerpt from a teaching called Perception and Karma by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, July 19, 1989

The subject of perception – how perception relates to the nature of emptiness, how perception occurs, and the antidote to impure perception – is very difficult to understand. In truth, it can’t really be taught effectively. When it is taught, it is communicated in such a way that one has a taste of it. However, in order to truly understand something about the perceptual process, that all phenomena, all experience, all feeling, as well as all sense of self, is merely an artificial construction and experiential phenomena, one must have something of an understanding of emptiness.

When you hear these kinds of teachings, you should know that at worst what you’re getting is no understanding whatsoever – like a bowl turned over where the water hits and it bounces off. On an intermediate level you may hear the teaching and have some intellectual or theoretical understanding. Since we have not practiced on the most profound levels, the best that could happen under these conditions is that we will hear the teachings, have something of an understanding intellectually, and through one’s contemplation, develop a sense of insightfulness as to what this might mean. The best thing that could happen is that in one’s practice one might have a moment of space or a moment in the generation process or perhaps in the dissolution process, where there might be a recognition of what I’m talking about, or a feeling that maybe you stood on the ground floor of that understanding and somehow you have a broader view of it, that you have ascended into a more profound level of understanding.

However from hearing these kinds of teachings, we do not understand the nature of emptiness. We do not understand phenomena. We do not get that the experience that we have of phenomena is that it is a perceptual process. We do not stop relating to “thing” as thing, we do not stop relating to “self” as self. You should not make the mistake that many practitioners have made, of thinking that hearing teachings like this, you have come to understand emptiness. You should not, and this is the worst possible scenario, take these teachings and think that you have a profound understanding, and then act like you do. That’s the worst thing that you can do with the teaching. There is nothing worse than that. It is also the most common, unfortunately.

In acting as though you understand what these teachings are about, you might fall into the trap of reinforcing your sense of self, reinforcing the ego-clinging and ideation, as well as the clinging to phenomena as being real. Ultimately, these ideas are phenomena, just as all things are phenomena. When realization is attained, even the most profound teachings, even the deepest dharma is understood to be merely phenomena, and also empty.

You should be very careful. You should watch your mind and watch how you assimilate these teachings. Be very, very watchful of yourself, and be certain that you literally understand that no understanding will come without sincere effort and contemplation.

The best way to increase one’s understanding of these kinds of teachings is to practice Guru Yoga. When you practice Guru Yoga you increase your connection with Guru Rinpoche. You increase your awareness of his teachings. You begin to develop a sense of union and therefore the ability to receive the empowerment of his enlightened intention. You are able then to hear teachings from your own teachers better. All of the auspicious conditions that can occur will occur when you practice Guru Yoga. If there’s any teaching being given out that is profound and worthwhile, then perhaps the best thing to do in order to increase your understanding is to practice Guru Yoga, and that includes the Seven-Line Prayer. Practice in any way that will increase devotion. Devotion is like a golden highway that connects your heart with Guru Rinpoche’s heart, your mind with Guru Rinpoche’s mind. It allows his enlightened intention to bring forth empowerment, and that is the same with our own root teachers. In practicing Guru Yoga, in practicing all practices that have anything to do with devotion, the connection with our root teachers is established. The connection is established and one realizes one’s root teacher to be inseparable from Guru Rinpoche, and therefore inseparable from the nature of emptiness itself.

These are some of the methods that you might use so that you can have a deeper understanding. I, also, wanted to give you some insight as to how not to hear these teachings and how not to accept these teachings. This is of the utmost importance.

Daughter of the King of Zahor: From “The Lives and Liberation of Princess Mandarava”

June 26, 2014 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is respectfully quoted from “The Lives and Liberation of Princess Mandarava” translated by Lama Chonam and Sangye Khandro:

Glorious yogini mother of the buddhas, from within the oceans of exalted pure realms, the play of your emanations appears in one hundred million embodied forms. Limitless beyond measure is the marvel of the indication of your presence throughout many aeons.

According to the capability of sentient beings, you display the dance of the miraculous activity of mundane appearances. With stainless natural wisdom, you reveal the profoundly extensive essence of the path of maturity and liberation. You are well known as the mother of all the conquerors, who maintains virtue in the four states of existence. All the heirs of the buddhas without exception have bowed to your lotus feet and attained true realization. As the very basis for the appearance of all wisdom dakinis, like space itself, you are the queen consort of the space of truth. All the dakinis who have appeared in this world throughout the three times are only the clouds of your own radiance. Akshobhyavira, your vajra major and minor marks reveal the expanse of the nature of emptiness. Like a great downpour of rain, you appear — for the benefit of beings — from the supreme realm of the nirmanakaya as the natural manifestation of the five families and the inconceivable magical net of perfectly arranged manifestations. As a dakini your enlightened powers are manifest in an infinitude of miraculous activity. Known as Mandarava, your fame encompasses the three realms of existence. Unwavering from the essential nature, may you remain in the center of the lotus in my heart, indivisible and firm, until the heart of enlightenment is realized. Respectfully, I bow to you to encounter my own true nature.