Teachings

Courageous Awareness

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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.

 Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

Tulku Dawa Gyalpo Has Arrived!

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

Venerable Tulku Dawa Rinpoche arrived this evening to many welcoming hearts at KPC this evening. It is lovely to have him! He teaches tomorrow night.

He is a devout disciple of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. I feel comfortable with his energy, he is Palyul. His knowledge is a mine of jewels as he has studied well and worked hard.

Please join us this weekend if you are in the D.C. area, or tune in to the webcast!

Tulku Dawa’s Schedule of teachings

WEBCAST 

Offered for the Benefit of All Beings

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The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Western Chod”

My teachers have instructed me that that practice is actually called ‘chöd’ (and there is an umlaut above the o).  Actually there is no text to go with it so you couldn’t say it was the practice of chöd as it is written in the text.  It has been called by my teachers the essence or essential nectar of chöd.  So I have been given permission to continue to practice that way and also to teach others to practice in that way. My experience has been that it has made my life a lot easier.

Now how is that? Well, I’ll tell you.  It came to pass that there were many sacrifices that needed to be made.  I’m not saying this so that you’ll say “Oh, isn’t she a good girl!”   Save it.  I don’t care.  But there were sacrifices that needed to be made. If I’d had my druthers, I would still be on a farm in North Carolina.  By now I would not only know how to put up beans, but I would have the best darn garden you’d ever seen, and all the farmers around would be impressed.  And I would have a dairy cow to boot.  I would still be there.  I would still be there, much isolated.  I prefer a lot of privacy.  Even though I seem to be good at this (I don’t know why but I seem to be good at this),  I have to tell you that everyone who knows me well knows that to get me out of the house so that I’ll come and do my job, it takes oh, spraying with Pam and loosening her up with a crowbar.  It’s not my natural tendency to want to come out and do this. I really don’t like this kind of thing.

Not only did privacy have to be given up (and that seems to be getting worse and worse), but also personal freedom.  Now I am in the position where if I decide that I want to go somewhere and just not think about whether I look like a dharma teacher or not, just sort of be myself, I find that it’s a little tricky. It happens pretty often that people will come up to me and they will say “Are you that Buddha lady?”  It really happens on a regular basis.  In fact one time at the airport somebody came running up to me, “Are you that Jetsa Jetsa Buddha lady?”  That Jetsa Jetsa Buddha lady, that’s me!  So I have that kind of going on. And you know, I was not brought up as a Tibetan.  I was not groomed for this job; I just got this job.  So I found that many sacrifices had to take place, including watching my children have to give up their own privacy.

There are just a lot of issues.  When we first came to this temple, none of the doors that you see were here.  There were hardly any doors on the inside of the temple.  Everything was very open and this room was divided in half. We used to live upstairs, but there were no doors between the upstairs and the lower, and so basically I was not separate from the temple whatsoever. And the only coffee pot, get this!, the only coffee pot in the whole place was downstairs where the kitchen room is downstairs now, and I slept upstairs.   , Because this place was open 24 hours a day, I would have to wade through students to get to my first cup of coffee in the morning.  If that’s not love, what is? ?  Then my students would say to me, “You never smile at me in the morning.”  Smile in the morning!!  The weight of the bags under my eyes keep my cheeks from going up, what can I tell you!  So anyway, smiling was not forthcoming before the coffee, I’m sorry.  There’s not that much compassion in the world!

I eventually came to draw a lot of strength and a great deal of comfort from that early practice because I found out that I never actually had to make another decision.  And that’s what we struggle with all the time.  Should I spare this time to do my practice?  Should I spare this time to practice compassion toward others?  Should I spend the effort to go over here and help that person?  Should I do that? It’s that thinking—should I, should I, should I?  You burn more calories doing that than any of the good works that you actually do in your life.  So I found out that that head thing that we do when we can’t decide and we always go through the dilemma of being a samsaric being, that was alleviated, and I never really had to make another decision ever again.  I felt that from that point on, everything in my life had already been decided because I didn’t own my feet, I didn’t own my ankles, didn’t own my body, didn’t own my speech, didn’t own my hearing, didn’t own anything. Anything!  I had already decided that I owned nothing.  None of it was mine.

So then whenever I was called upon, well will you do this, will you do that, will you do that?  Now the ultimate test, the moving!  Will you do that?  Yeah, I’ll do that.  You know why I’ll do that?  Because it’s already decided.  None of this really belongs to me.  My job now is to protect every capability that I have or any effort that I’ve made in order to benefit beings.  That I will protect, with fangs out and nails extended.  That’s when you’ll see the meanness in me.  That I will protect, but regarding anything personal, it’s no big deal because it’s already gone.  I don’t own it.  So I take good care of it.  I feed it well.  I exercise it, but ultimately I realize that I’m doing that in order to maintain its strength in order to benefit sentient beings.  I don’t feel that I own it.  I’ve  already given it up.

 Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

What Are You Looking For?

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An excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Longing for the Guru”

In order for you to be with your Teacher, however good or bad that Teacher may be, if you are in a situation where you are close to your Teacher and consistently so and have a great deal of relatively intimate guidance, you must have spent a great deal of time longing for the Teacher.  It must be that you have spent a great deal of time making wishing prayers that you would never be separate from your Teacher.  There had to be a great deal of time spent in that consideration and with that intention.  It’s the only karma that will allow for this situation.

Each of us, then, as we grew up, must have experienced the seeds of that longing.  If we look back at our earlier lives, we may not understand that.  It’s very difficult to understand how we ended up practicing Vajrayana.  We certainly weren’t brought up this way.  We certainly had no idea in our younger lives that we were going to be Buddhists, that’s for sure.

Yet, if we were to look in a penetrating way, we would discover that somewhere in our childhood there was a longing.  That is the seed or the residue of something that we experienced in a previous incarnation.  Because it is not consistent with our culture, because it is not sympathetic with what our culture views as proper, probably when we grew up, we never heard of a Teacher.  We never heard of a Guru.  We may have diverted into different paths.  We may have felt the longing as a need to find ourselves or we may have felt a sense of waiting to be told or to find something that we knew we would find.

For instance, it is possible that you felt a sense of searching and perhaps went from relationship to relationship, searching for someone who would be intimate with you, a certain searching for a fullness that was never found.  It could be that you even went from a self-help group to insight situation to church to different kinds of situations that you thought would bring you the answer and you had no idea that it was a spiritual search.
But now, in retrospect, if you examine that, do you think that perhaps you were looking for something you didn’t find because you did not understand exactly what you were looking for?  Surely, if you examine your life, you will find something of that longing in your past.

Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo.  All rights reserved

Gaining Strength!

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

Just back from Phys Therapy. Worked hard and making great progress! Even one session made a difference. Proud of myself and happy with the clinic.

My physical therapist is awesome! She totally gets how I got there. A kind lady. I trust her.

OM TARE TU TARE TU TURE YE SOHA!

When you’re gaining strength you are alive!

 Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

Practical Advice for IBS

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The following is extracted from an exchange with one of Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo’s twitter followers:

Follower: Ah, I thought you had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), which I have.

Jetsunma: I do have both. Today was tough. Half and half.

Follower: Very sorry! Do you have any advice for others with IBS?

Jetsunma: Gentle fiber, small frequent meals, fresh aloe juice, Green Superfood. Fluids. No ibuprofen or aspirin. That is just what works for me. Who knows? Just know what makes me bleed, and stop.

Second Follower: boil chia seeds in water & drink immediately

Jetsunma: And center in your body. Commune with it. You’re in charge and yet are one.

The Guru Above the Crown of My Head

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

I’m doing much better with my treatment. I’ve had, honestly, fear (from stalker) and stagnation locked up in my body. I’m working it hard so I can be strong for  Pema Kod. I’m determined.

We have so much power once we decide to change things. And I have, being the only one after all, who can. I am much stronger now, and grateful to the Bliss Gone Guru for answering prayers. Eh Ma Ho!

I’m not gonna stop. The Guru above the top of my head is my strength and safety. Who can doubt it?

Om Ah Hung Benzar Guru Pema Siddhi Hung!

 Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

Blessings Near and Far

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

Today we had about 60 volunteers to clean up the Stupa land from earlier big storms. These are dedicated hikers who use the land and Stupas for meditation, fitness and recreation. The blessings are theirs to enjoy. We barbecued too. They love the land.

Speaking of land I’ve been invited to go to Yang Sang Pemakod on the border of Tibet/China and India in January.

This is on top of the world. This is the only image I have so far, will get more. It is truly Shangrila. Many great Lamas go for pilgrimage and it is a place of power and mystery. It is a place of power especially due to Guru Padmasambhava’s unfathomable blessing. At the level of The journey to Maritika Cave years ago. Worth it to see the Guru’s blessing so long ago. And now. Uninterrupted. We’ll have to find sponsors!

Now it is up to me to get strong and prepare. I don’t think I can turn this down. Soon the documentary will be up but the format must be changed I feel so blessed!

And here are the workers chowing down after a full day’s work. Way to go! Thank you all!

 Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Norbu Lhamo All rights reserved

Chenrezig in the Six Realms

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Download the Chenrezig in the Six Realms practice

The following is the practice of Chenrezig or Avalokitesvara Appearing in the Six Realms

From the Nam Chö Treasure Revelations of Terton Migyur Dorje

TSIG DUN SOL DEB  – Immutable Seven Line Prayer

 

HUNG                ORGYEN YÜL GYI NUB JANG TSHAM

HUNG                On the Northwest border of the country of Urgyen

PEMA  GESAR  DONG  PO  LA

In the pollen heart of a lotus,

YA  TSHEN  CHOG  GI  NGÖ  DRUB  NYE

Marvelous in the perfection of your attainment,

PEMA  JUNG  NE  ZHE  SU  DRAG

You are known as the Lotus Born

KHOR  DU  KHANDRO  MANG  PÖ  KOR

And are surrounded by your circle of many Dakinis.

KHYED  KYI  JE  SU  DAG  DRUB  KYI

Following you, I will practice.

JIN  GYI  LOB  CHIR  SHEG  SU  SÖL

I pray that you will come to confer your blessings.

GURU  PEMA  SIDDHI  HUNG

(Repeat three times)

RANG  NYID  THUG  JE  CHEN  PO  NI

Experience self-nature as Avalokitesvara,

KAR  PO  SHAL  CHIG  CHAG  SHI  PA

White in color, with one face and four arms;

THAL  JAR  TRENG  WA  PEMA  DZIN

With palms pressed together, holding a mala and lotus,

KHIL  DRUNG  RAT  NA  DAR   GYI   GYEN

In full lotus posture, adorned with jewels and silks,

PEMA  DA  WAI  DEN  LA  SHUG

Seated upon a lotus and moon seat.

OM  MANI  PEME  HUNG

 

LHA  YI  JIG  TEN  WANG  CHUG  KAR

The white colored Avalokitesvara, (Jigten Wangchuk) of the

Gods’ Realm,

SHAL  CHIG  CHAG  SHI  THAL  JYAR  DANG

Has one face and four arms, with palms pressed together.

PI  WANG  PEMA  DA  WAI  TENG

Seated upon a lotus and moon, holding a Vina.

KYIL  MO  TRUNG  GI  SHUG  PAR  SAM

Think that he rests in the full lotus posture.

OM  OM  SOHA

LHA  MIN  JIG  TEN  WANG  CHUG  JANG

The green-colored Avalokitesvara (Jigten Wangchuk) of the Titan Realm,

SHAL  CHIG  CHAG  SHI  THAL  JYAR  DANG

Has one face and four arms, with palms pressed together.

GO  TSÖN  PEMA  DA  WAI  DEN

Seated upon a lotus and moon, holding armor and a sword.

KYIL  MO  TRUNG  GI  SHUG  PAR  SAM

Think that he rests in the full lotus posture.

OM  MA  SOHA

MI  YI  JIG  TEN  WANG  CHUG  TRA

The multi-colored Avalokitesvara (Jigten Wangchuk) of the Human Realm,

SHAL  CHIG  CHAG  SHI  THAL  JYAR  DANG

Has one face and four arms, with palms pressed together.

TRENG  WA  PEMA  DA  WAI  TENG

Seated upon a lotus and moon, holding a mala.

KYIL  MO  TRUNG  GI  SHUG  PAR  SAM

Think that he rests in the full lotus posture.

OM  NI  SOHA

DÜD  DROI  JIG  TEN  WANG  CHÜD  DÜD

The smoke-colored Avalokitesvara (Jigten Wangchuk) of the Animal Realm,

SHAL  CHIG  CHAG  CHI  THAL  JYAR  DANG

Has one face and four arms, with palms pressed together.

PO  TI  PEMA  DA  WAI  TENG

Seated upon a lotus and moon, holding a scripture.

KYIL  MO  TRUNG  GI  SHUG  PAR  SAM

Think that he is seated in the full lotus posture.

OM  PED  SOHA

YI  DAG  JIG  TEN  WANG  CHUG  MAR

The red Avalokitesvara(Jigten Wangchuk) of the Hungry Spirit Realm,

SHAL  CHIG  CHAG  SHI  THAL  JYAR  DANG

Has one face and four arms, with palms pressed together.

DROM  BU  PEMA  DA  WAI  TENG

Seated upon a lotus and moon, holding a treasure receptacle.

KYIL  MO  TRUNG  GI  SHUG  PAR  SAM

Think that he rests in the full lotus posture.

OM  ME  SOHA

NYAL  WAI  JIG  TEN  WANG  CHUG  NAG

The black Avalokitsvara (Jigten Wangchuk) of the Hell Realm,

SHAL  CHIG  CHAG  SHI  THAL  JYAR  DANG

Has one face and four arms, with palms pressed together,

ME  CHU  PEMA  CHAG  NA  DZIN

Holding fire, water, and a lotus.

KYIL  MO  TRUNG  GI  SHUG  PAR  SAM

Think that he is seated in the full lotus posture.

OM  HUNG  SOHA

DE  TAR  THUG JE  CHEN PO   DÜN  GYI  TSO  WOI  THUG  KAR  DA  WAI

DEN  LA  HRI  LA  YI  GE  DRUG  GI  KOR  WA        KHOR  DRUG  GI  THUG

KAR  OM  SOG  YIG  DRU  RE  RE  LA  YI  DRUG  GI  KOR  WAR  GYUR

 

Thus, of the seven Avalokitesvaras, in the heart of the central one, is a moon seat upon which is a HRIH, surrounded by the six syllables. In the heart of the six surrounding Avalokitesvaras, are the respective seed syllables of each one, such as OM, and so on, also surrounded by the six syllables of the mantra.

OM  AH  HUNG  HRIH     OM  MANI  PEME  HUNG

The Praise

HRIH SANG  NGEN  NYI  MED  THUG  JE  CHEN  PÖ  SHING

HRIH   In the Realm of Avalokitesvara, where good and bad are non-dual,

MED  SHIN  NANG  WA  GYU  MA  TA  BÜ  TSUL

Likewise appearances are understood to be illusionary in nature.

NANG  SHIN  DAG  PA  SHEN  DZIN  MED  PAI  NGANG

Within a state of pure perception, void of compulsory attachment,

CHAG  DANG  RANG  DROL DAG  PA  RAB JYAM  SHING

Is the pure expansive realm of self-liberation attachment and aversion.

THUG  JE  CHEN  POI  SHING  LA  CHAG  TSAL  TÖD

I prostrate and render praise to the Realm of Avalokitesvara.

OM AH HUNG HRIH OM MANI PEME HUNG

HRIH NANG  TONG  NYI  MED  THUG  JE  CHEN  PÖ  KU

HRIH   The Body of Avalokitesvara is the indivisibility of appearance and emptiness.

TONG  SHIN  NANG  WA  CHU  DA  TA  BÜ  TSUL

The empty nature of appearance like the reflection of the moon of water.

NANG  SHIN  TONG  PA  GYA  TSO  CHEN  PÖ  NGANG

Within this great ocean of the empty nature of appearance,

NANG  TONG  RANG  DROL  DAG  PA  RAB  JYAM  KU

Is the pure expansive Body of self-liberated empty appearances.

THUG  JE  CHEN  PÖ  KU  LA  CHAG  TSAL  TÖD

I prostrate and render praise to the Body of Avalokitesvara.

␣

OM AH HUNG HRIH      OM MANI PEME HUNG

HRIH   DRAG TONG JÖD  MED  THUG JE  CHEN  PÖ  SUNG

HRIH   The Speech of Avalokitesvara is the inexpressible empty nature of sound,

TONG  SHIN  DRAG  PA  DRAG  CHA  TA  BÜ  TSUL

Naturally empty like the sound of an echo.

DRAG  PA  SHIN  TONG  JÖD  DU  MED  PAI  NGANG

Within the inexpressible empty nature of sound,

DRAG TONG  RANG  DROL DAG  PA  RAB JYAM  SUNG

Is the pure expansive Speech of self-liberated empty sound.

THUG  JE  CHEN  PÖ  SUNG  LA  CHAG  TSAL  TÖD

I prostrate and render praise to the Speech of Avalokitesvara.

␣

OM AH HUNG HRIH      OM MANI PEME HUNG

HRIH   SAL  TONG  DZIN  MED  THUG  JE  CHEN  PÖ  THUG

HRIH   The Mind of Avalokitesvara is ungrasping clarity and emptiness,

TONG  SHIN  SAL  WA  JA  TSÖN  TA  BÜ  TSUL

Empty and luminous like the colors of a rainbow.

SAL  SHIN  TONG  PA  NAM  KHA  TA  BÜ  NGANG

Within clear emptiness, similar to the sky,

SAL  TONG  RANG  DROL  DAG  PA  RAB  JYAM  THUG

Is the pure expansive Mind of self-liberating clarity and emptiness.

THUG  JE  CHEN  PÖ  THUG  LA  CHAG  TSAL  TÖD

I prostrate and render praise to the Mind of Avalokitesvara.

␣

OM AH HUNG HRIH     OM MANI PEME HUNG

HRIH   CHAG  SEG  SA  SHI  THUG  JE  CHEN  PÖ  SHING

HRIH   In the realm of Avalokitesvara, the foundation of the earth is molten lava;

AH  WA  LANG  GO  THUG  JE  CHEN  PÖ  KU

Avalokitesvara’s Body is the ox-headed Shinje.

SÖD  SÖD  GYOB  GYOB  YI  GE  DRUG  PAI  DRA

Kill, kill, strike, strike, with the sound of the six syllables;

DA  DUNG  RAL  DRI  NA  TSOG  CHÖD  PAI  DZE

Wielding various offering materials such as a spear, sword and arrow.

DE  DUG  RANG  DROL  DAG  PA  RAB  JYAM  LONG

In the pure great expanse of self-liberation of happiness and suffering,

NANG  SID  THUG  JE  CHEN  PO  LA  CHAG  TSAL  TÖD

I prostrate and render praise to the Avalokitesvara of phenomenal existence.

␣

OM AH HUNG HRIH     OM MANI PEMA HUNG

 

This is a terma revelation by Terton Migyur Dorje

 

Dedication Prayer

By this effort, may all sentient beings be free of suffering.

May their minds be filled with the nectar of virtue.

In this way, may all causes resulting in suffering be extinguished,

And only the light of compassion shine throughout all realms.

– Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo

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