After repeated requests from her students, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo agreed to recount parts of the story of her life, and at the insistence of her students, consented to be videotaped. This is the first part of her story:
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A Treasury of Wisdom and Blessing
The following are some teachings from other Lineages:
Terton Sogyal Rinpoche: On Ignorance
Surely one of the most heart-breaking aspects of our lives is that we cannot recognize the fundamental cause of our suffering. Isn’t it curious how we can not detect ignorance at work? But, you see, this lack of awareness is exactly what ignorance, ‘ma rigpa’ in Tibetan, is.
For full teaching go to: http://www.rigpa.org/en/teachings/extracts-of-articles-and-publications/more-articles-and-publications-/view-and-wrong-view.html
From Khenchen Palden Sherab: Cause and Effect
Now we shall explore the third attitude, the cause and effect system. This is also known as the understanding of the system of the cause and effect. Everything really depends upon the cause and effect system. The law of cause and effect is always working. If a cause and condition are present, there will definitely be a result. Results must come from their causes and conditions. Right causes and conditions produce right results or effects. This never alters. This always operates. If we don’t have the right causes and conditions, there will not be right results no matter how much we hope or expect them. If we have the right causes and conditions, definitely the right results will come. It is inevitable. Even if we say we don’t want them, the results will definitely show up. Inwardly everything is like this also. Positive inward causes and conditions bring positive inward results. Negative inward causes and conditions bring negative inward results. Mixed positive and negative inward causes and conditions bring mixed inward results or effects. Knowledge of the cause and effect system is very important in Buddhism. Karma is the name of this system. You are the one who gets the results of your own causes and conditions. You are the producer of your own causes and conditions; you are therefore the producer of your own effects. Whatever you do, the results will come to you. By understanding this system, we can learn the importance of having more positive attitudes. Reduce your negative activities, and learn more positive activities. This is the lesson of this line of the text.Cause and effect are inevitable.
For the full teaching go to: http://pbc-tn.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/NgondroCommentary.pdf
From Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche: Cause and Effect
The third ordinary foundation practice is the truth of karma, cause and effect. Unfortunately, many deluded people believe that although death may be a very harrowing experience, after it has occurred, one is then completely free. Some believe that once you’re dead, things are all taken care of for you, as if somebody picks you up and puts you in a very enjoyable place where there are all kinds of pleasant entertainments. Other people believe that after death there is nothing, all experience just abruptly ends. There’s no good or evil, it’s just ashes to ashes and that’s that. Of course, such attitudes are the epitome of ignorance, and reveal a total lack of wisdom. It is utter delusion to believe that there will be no suffering, only pure enjoyment awaiting you after death. It is grievous that people do not realize that we are experiencing this life and its various conditions because of our conduct in previous lives.
Sometimes we think that once we are dead we will experience a very magical realm, and that even if we face suffering we’ll have the ability to immediately transform it. But how could this possibly be done? We should use our intelligence and other abilities now, while we have time, to see through our delusions. For instance, if it’s winter and you want it to be summer, no matter how much you long for the seasons to change, you are powerless to do anything about it. And if you are sick and want to be healthy again, you can’t just miraculously cure yourself. All suffering and experiences of the phenomenal world are caused by our habitual patterns and our karmic accumulations, and these are the materials with which you must work.
Furthermore, when somebody says that nothing exists after death, that you are free of suffering because you’re dead and it’s all finished, that is a very ignorant attitude. It’s something like standing before a blazing fire and telling somebody that if they close their eyes and jump into it, it’ll be okay. This will of course just make the situation worse. It’s a simple refusal to acknowledge reality, a wishful desire to escape the order of things. But it doesn’t change anything. It will only make reality that much more difficult to face. It’s also akin to playing around on the edge of a cliff, believing you won’t fall off. But then, once you’ve fallen, and you’re in midair, it’s completely useless to say to yourself, “Oh no, I hope I land softly.” No matter how much wishful thinking you do at that point, it won’t help you at all.
For the full teaching go to: http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/buddhism/dha/dha03.php
#TroyParrot URGENT: Rescue Parrots in Troy
Links to story about birds: http://www.whiotv.com/news/28788559/detail.html
http://parrotnation.com/2011/08/06/an-avian-auschwitz/
SIGN THE PETITION: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/save-the-parrots-of-troy-ohio/
Owner: Doug Ratcliff – who currently is refusing to allow volunteers to feed and water
10 birds have been rescued and are being cared for at Dayton South Veterinary Clinic but dozens more are remain in wretched conditions at the home, 30 birds have already died.
Initially Ratcliff allowed members of the Miami Valley Bird Club to rescue the 10 birds, and to begin offering food and water to those that remained. However, in an interview with a veterinarian in the article above:
““Now, he has put a stop on everything, and they are no longer allowed to go in and feed, clean or water,” Brauer said.”
Please help save the parrots! Here is contact information for government officials:
Mayor:
Senator Sherrod Brown in Washington DC
Phone 202 224 2315
Send Senator Brown a letter via http://brown.senate.gov/contact/
Governor John Kasich
Phone 614 466 3555
Send a letter via http://governor.ohio.gov/Contact/ContacttheGovernor.aspx
Humane Officer Sharon Karns
phone: (937)216-0070
Miami County Humane Society Director Terese Lynn
phone: (937) 698-7322
phone 2: (937) 335-9955
email: [email protected]
Prosecutor Lenee Brosh
phone: (937) 440-3928
Ohio SPCA
phone: (740) 420-2984
email: [email protected]
Miami County Animal Shelter Director Marcia Doncaster
phone: (937) 332-6919
HSUS Ohio State Director
web form: http://www.humanesociety.org/forms/states/contact_ohio_director.html
Union Township
phone: (937) 698-4480
fax: (937) 698-6171
email: [email protected]
Prosecutor Gary Nasal
phone: (937) 440-5960
email: [email protected]
Miami County Health Department
phone: (937) 440-8105
email: [email protected]
Speaker of the House Congressman John Boehner
phone: (937) 339-1524
Mayor Michael L. Beamish
phone: (937) 339-1221
fax: (937) 339-8601
email: [email protected]
Congressman Michael Tuner
phone: (937) 225-2843
fax: (937) 225-2752
Senator Rob Portman
Phone: (202) 224-3353
Tri-State County Animal Response Team
phone: (513) 702-8373
Concord Township
phone: (937) 339-1492
fax: (937) 332-1828
email: [email protected]
Union Township Trustees
President – Jim Albaugh ph – 937-698-6432
Vice President – Bill O’Brien ph – 937-698-4216
Trustee at large – Phil Mote ph – 937-947-1217
Fiscal Officer – Majorie Coate
Invitation
The following is an invitation offered to participants of the Palyul Ling Retreat in upstate New York:
After the wonderful experience of being in New York at Kyabje Penor Rinpoche’s center with our precious Palyul family, many people wish the summer would last. If you are one of these, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo and the sangha of Kunzang Palyul Choling joyfully invite you to come visit our center and continue your practice experience.
We would like to share our lovely temple enriched with the blessings of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche’s first Rinchen Terzod outside of Tibet, and all the supports for Dharma practice. We have teaching and meditation rooms – open 24 hours a day for prayers, and a continuous prayer vigil around-the-clock.
If you like the outdoors, you can walk freely in our 72-acre peace park and enjoy the 15 Stupas that grace the property there. One of them contains precious relics of Terton Migyur Dorje, a gift from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, who consecrated the Stupa. Many people have experienced tremendous healing from circumambulating the Migyur Dorje Stupa with faith. For those of you with the transmission, we also have a private Tsa-Lung hut on the property and weekly practices there.
You will be welcomed by our large ordained Sangha – many of whom you know – and who uphold the practice calendar with daily tsog, and frequent group practices. All of this we’d like to share with you so that you may deepen your practice and fulfill your deepest wishes for enlightenment in this lifetime.
We hope you will visit soon!
www.tara.org
Astrology
Ok, someone has done a bit of work and you’re here to tell them what’s wrong with it. The job needs revision but try to revise in such a way that everyone is happy. You can correct things without damaging someone’s ego or wounding their spirit. If the other side is incommunicado, go back and try again. If you have gotten corrected, be accepting. This is an excellent day to attend to health matters, choose a new doctor, or get a tune up of any sort. A perfectionist is on the job, which is better for machines than for people. “Hannah Arendt said, “In order to go on living one must try to escape the death involved in perfectionism.” Be gentle with yourself and others. On another front, do your absolute best to look fabulous today. Brush up, spiff up, it’ll make all the difference!
The daily astrology post affects everyone. Because individual charts vary, the circumstances outlined in the post will affect people differently. Some will feel this energy in the personal arena, some in finances, some with children or family, some in work and so forth. There are many departments of life. Look to see where the dynamic affects you!
Love That Sustains
Excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo from the Vow of Love series
How can you develop the kind of love that sustains itself? How can you cultivate compassion like a fire that never runs out of wood to burn? That never goes out. The fire of compassion is based on being courageous enough to come to an understanding of suffering. You have to come to a deep understanding that all sentient beings are suffering endlessly and helplessly, and bring yourself to the point where you can’t bear it. Cultivate the understanding that even though you know you can’t see all sentient beings, you can’t feel them, you can’t touch them, still, you want nothing more than to rid hatred, greed and ignorance from their minds, because you understand this is the cause of their suffering. You understand the whole dynamics of suffering: why it exists, how it exists, where it exists, how it grows, and at that point you become deeply committed.
You can begin by renouncing the causes of suffering yourself. If you have not renounced the causes of suffering, you can’t do a thing for anyone else, and so it takes a tremendous amount of courage. According to the Buddha, hatred, greed and ignorance in the mind are the causes of suffering. Hatred, greed and ignorance are preceded by desire. If there is no desire in the mind, there is no root from which these poisons can grow; there is no cause for hatred, greed and ignorance.
Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo. All rights reserved
Motivation That Nourishes the Path
Excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo from the Vow of Love series
It’s almost impossible to attain the goal of selfless compassion, where you commit every fiber of your being to benefiting all sentient beings, seen and unseen, without a moment’s hesitation. It’s almost impossible to develop the kind of compassion where you understand that all sentient beings are revolving helplessly in such suffering that they can’t bear it, and you can’t bear to think it’s going on, without cultivating a deep understanding of suffering. You want to avoid the trap of making the very same prayers that the selfishly motivated person might do, but instead have the idea that you want to be a great Bodhisattva.
One goal will produce lasting results and the other will not. The person with the motivation of selflessness has the key. Through extraordinary, selfless compassion, that person has the strength to persevere through everything until he or she is awake. That person will persevere until he or she has completely purged from his or her mind even the smallest, gossamer thin seeds of hatred, greed and ignorance. The person whose motivation is to be the ‘good person’ will not be able to do the same for any length of time. The foundation isn’t strong enough. That person may need some kind of feedback, or warm fuzzies as reward for being good. Even tried and true Buddhists will find this impure motivation in your minds. Even our ordained Sangha will find that they, themselves, will have dry periods. You’ll go spiritually dry, bone dry, and you’ll think, “What am I doing here? I can’t go on; it’s just too hard.” Then the next day, you’ll wake up and you’ll think, “Another day…good.” You’ll have all these different feelings that are just so common. Everybody, everybody has them. You don’t have to be a Buddhist to have these feelings.
Why does it flip flop back and forth? Because you have not built the firm foundation of very pure, selfless compassion. You need to cultivate it every single moment. You need to get yourself past the point where you need warm fuzzies to keep you going. If you are only looking at the symptom of suffering and trying to manipulate your environment to turn suffering around, you will always need feedback. That feedback may or may not come. Your compassion, your love should not depend on that.
Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo. All rights reserved
Astrology
Mental activity is sharp today. A razor like mindset can cut through information and find the most important points. Use your mind today, not your emotions. Emotional thinking will betray you. Do your best to separate yourself from your desires, and work with the things that make sense rationally. If emotions well up, recognize them, but continue with your job. It’s as through two forces are attempting to gain control of your life. One appeals to your heart and the other to your mind. The mind holds the winning hand right now. Beware of being pulled out of the present. Charles Flandrau said ” the greatest gift is the realization that life does not consist either of wallowing in the past or of peering anxiously at the future. It is good for one to appreciate that life is now…this day, this hour.” Be here now. A happy message is welcome.
The daily astrology post affects everyone. Because individual charts vary, the circumstances outlined in the post will affect people differently. Some will feel this energy in the personal arena, some in finances, some with children or family, some in work and so forth. There are many departments of life. Look to see where the dynamic affects you!
Setting Aside Judgment
The following is an excerpt from a teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo called “Your Treasure is Heart”
We view our own liberation as non-dual with the liberation of others: As I reach liberation, as I move closer to enlightenment, I am more and more able to be of benefit to others. So I am interested in my own spiritual practice, interested in my own enlightenment for their sake, as well as for my sake. Of course, I am one of them. My own liberation and the liberation of others become non-dual, and we begin to understand that we are truly and utterly inseparable in essence and in truth.
So we begin by walking with these simple and mindful meditations. Now don’t get obsessive about it. If you forget to do it for an hour a day, just like anything else, you just climb back on. Judgment is useless—you can toss it out. What is needed, what you should cultivate, is the ability to view yourself honestly, without self-hatred. Self-hatred has no place on this path. Hatred of any kind has no place on this path. So, too, that kind of ridiculous judgment. I would prefer that you do not judge me as a Bodhisattva, expecting me to look or act a certain way. I would prefer that you do not judge yourself as a budding Bodhisattva to look and act a certain way, and thereby condemn and end your potency on the path. So don’t do it to me, and don’t do it to you. You won’t catch me doing it to me or you.
Copyright © Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo. All rights reserved
United States v. William Cassidy 8:11-cr-00091
Dialogue and critical thinking are valuable gifts we share as sentient beings. Freedom of belief and freedom of expression are valuable rights we cherish in our democracy. Hatred and violent threats, however, are neither valuable nor right. In recent years, Jetsunma and KPC have been threatened repeatedly and made the target of hateful, homophobic and misogynistic epithets.These threats were reported to law enforcement and, following a full investigation conducted by FBI and U.S. Department of Justice, federal criminal charges were filed in the case of United States v. William Cassidy, 8:11-cr-00091 and he has been charged with cyberstalking.
We understand from law enforcement that, as part of that criminal investigation, search warrants were executed upon the residences of both William Cassidy and an individual named Andrew Wilson. KPC has no comment on these matters and possesses no authority over the ultimate outcome of this criminal case. The matter now is up to the courts and our criminal justice system. KPC has cooperated fully with law enforcement requests and will continue to do so.
What matters remain in our hands and in the hands of all responsible, peace-seeking and law abiding citizens is our own behavior. Persons seeking the path of truth do not taunt and seek to hurt others through hateful and demeaning epithets directed at women and sexual orientation. That is not an esoteric concept but common decency. Hatred and fear wear many masks in our world but their true face is eventually revealed. We call upon all to engage in healthy dialogue and critical thinking free of hatred and fear. Love, forgiveness and acceptance are the way of peace and enlightenment.