Tibetan Buddhist Altar

Willingness and Bodhicitta

June 9, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

How do you practice this Bodhichitta? In the beginning, the most important posture is to start from where you are. That is your time and space grid, That’s your place, your posture, your “now.” You have to start there. Now that may seem like restating the obvious. “Of course you’re going to start from where you are, oh queen of the department of redundancy.” But most people never start exactly where they are, with that kind of self-honesty, being genuine on their path. No baloney. No games. You look and see what your habit patterns are and what your practice has been. You really look inside yourself and see what your qualities are and face them honestly. It’s not necessarily going to be good news. Some of it will be good, but not all of it. Trust me on this. You look at it the way a child looks at a world it doesn’t have the capacity to conceptualize.

When we look at something, we judge it immediately. We don’t know how to look at something without judgement. When a child looks at the world, it looks at the world with a sense of wonder. In a way, it has no idea what it’s looking at. I read about a perfect example of this in a book. For instance, a one-year-old child, playing in their yard might stop dead in their tracks because they can feel a vibration, but they have no idea where it’s coming from. They don’t even know where to look. And suddenly they just look up and see this thing. They don’t know it’s a plane. They point, go “uh uh uh” you know. It’s shining and it’s moving; and they remain completely absorbed in it until it reaches the end of the sky. And then it’s gone and they just go “wow!” in baby talk of course, whatever their particular way of describing that is. Just two years later, by the time the child is three-years-old, they are going to hear the noise, know where to look, look up at the sky and go “airplane,” and then go back to whatever they were doing. That wonder, that freedom to reinterpret, to actually see everything, is gone. Literally, from that point on, they never see another airplane. It’s like that with all of our ideas and concepts, particularly these subtle concepts about ourselves and about love.

We have very little understanding about how to look at ourselves and to see ourselves fresh and new, so that we can determine how to give rise to the Bodhichitta within our lives. That takes a great degree of self-honesty. If you are not willing to see yourself, whatever poop you have produced, and whatever negative habitual tendencies you have, as well as, and equally with your good qualities, there is no way to actually know yourself. You’ll be like the three-year-old who says, “Oh, airplane.” From the moment that unwillingness occurs, you never see yourself again, not ever.

So here’s the trick. Be willing, in an honest way, to really look at yourself and see where you are, and from that point, you can freely and honestly begin to practice the Bodhichitta. That is a very important first step.

Astrology

June 9, 2011 by Norma

Early today an idea comes that puts you directly on the wrong side of something. Be careful! Re-think an early decision later in the day. You will see things differently, and you can correct any mistake you’ve made. If it seems everyone is against you, you’re a flat-earther in a world of round-earthers. Reconsider your beliefs. A wonderful encounter with someone who genuinely loves you appears today. This helps heal your disappointment over the previous realization. People care for you, not because you’re “right”, but because you’re you. A happy communication comes your way. If you can sing, this is the day to fill the air with your voice. Write or call siblings or neighbors. Reach out to others. Arnold Glasow said, “Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.”

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!

What Will You Give?

June 8, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

Hammering on sentient beings for their “faults” or for their thoughts and opinions is unacceptable. The first reason is, the hurt it causes, and then because the persons judging and pointing are themselves flawed. Gossip and threats, puffed up judgments are a downfall. We should try to see the situation and indeed the world from other’s eyes. Chances are if we just strike out blindly, before walking in that person’s shoes for a mile or so we will likely be dead wrong on all accounts.

To avoid judging, gossip, hate etc requires a generosity of spirit. We must learn that generosity for ourselves, once we have been taught. We are rarely raised with such pristine ethics. And when we gain this kindness it is through the effort of changing our habitual tendencies. It takes work, work that few attempt, or stick to. We are afraid to be honest, afraid to open up, to care, we would rather step on others. Many think if they open, soften the heart, they will be duped, endangered and a total chump for being “vulnerable.” His Holiness the Dalai Lama says that warm heartedness, compassion, kindness are the basis for all spiritual paths.

Further we are encouraged to note and study the condition of samsara, and the actual suffering of beings. This too, takes courage! “Good grief!” we think. It will spoil my mood! Upset me! However if we do not follow this pith instruction we will have entirely missed the boat on the treasure, result and nectar of the Buddha Dharma. Not to mention the joy of a kinder, gentler world. And we all have that responsibility, not just the chosen few, not just His Holiness the Dalai Lama, but all of us.

I wish we could develop the view of being caretakers of the Planet, like the Native Americans and other indigenous tribal people do. They stay in touch with the natural world and in their own mystical way support and hold it. There is no excuse, no reason behind sitting on one’s duff and being of no help, only “tisk tisking” at everything. What will you give? We must all do what we can. Love and respect all equally and totally. Open the heart and mind so compassion truly pours forth, glorious to see. That will not make you weak or vulnerable or soft. It will make you love, and you will be greatly loved and respected as well. Try it!

OM TARE TUTARE TURE SOHA

OM MANI PEDME HUNG

OM AH MI DEWA HRI

OM AH HUNG BENZAR GURU PEDMA SIDDHI HUNG

Letting Go of Concepts

June 8, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

How are you going to practice Bodhichitta? That’s the question. What’s it going to look like for you? Do not make the mistake that so many people make by trying to adapt a saintly demeanor where everything is love and light and there are no real feelings, only fabricated ones. As if all of those neurotic little ulcers in our personality are neatly covered with bandaids and we’re not seething underneath them at all! That’s not the mistake that you want to make. That’s not even what compassion looks like. Why should it? What difference could it possibly make to any other person, really and truly, that you look saintly? How is that going to help someone else, unless that’s exactly what that person needs to see? Then, as a Bodhisattva, that’s what will happen.

I have to say, for the most part, my experience has been that love is not neatly tied up in little bundles or appearances. It doesn’t necessarily fit in a box. Love, we should all know by now (unless we’re just stupid) is not convenient. It is just not convenient. Love is messy.. It doesn’t have any particular appearance, because it appears exactly as it needs to appear. So don’t make that terrible mistake of doing something that’s the equivalent of playing dress-up, putting on your mommy and dad’s clothing and walking around like “Oh I’m a Bodhisattva now.” That’s not it. Adapting a certain demeanor that you feel is some sort of compassionate ideal has nothing to do with love. It brings no real benefit. All it does is stroke your ego. In one way, the most self-absorbed thing that you can do is to selfishly use Bodhichitta as a costume for yourself. Instead toss all those images out the window.

Do you think that Bodhichitta should always appear as sweet words and sugary kindness? No. No, if sweet words and sugary kindness always worked, if that’s all that it took, you could go to Dale Carnegie or something like that modified to fit this particular need. You could learn how to speak words of love and light, and how to be so sweet that everybody loved you. If that’s all it took, how easy it would be. I mean, really, it would be a no-brainer. Somebody could write a list of statements and responses that you could have all typed up on a laptop computer. Whenever you got hit with a situation and didn’t know how to practice Bodhichitta, you could just key it in and come up with a response—see the blue aura, give the blue speech. It could work, but that’s not how love is. Love is messy. Love has to reinvent itself every single moment, because it’s constantly looking to see what is needed. The moment love becomes a concept, it is not love. The moment you have a concept about what love should look like, you are not loving. Love is not the way you think.

Astrology

June 8, 2011 by Norma

This is a good day for hard work, organizing things and figuring things out. Clean out your files, pay bills! The talkers are still talking, and you may find that so much chatter is interfering with your work. Be kind, gentle and firm with those who interrupt your work with discussion. If you are the one who can’t stop talking, consider writing your ideas down for later reference. Set things aside. Work on your dream project. Head in the direction of your inspiration, it won’t fail you. An old love or a sad memory may arise. If you owe somebody something, pay it back today! Have your car checked out, if necessary. You need it more than ever now. A conflict exists between your thinking and your emotions. Something that sounds rational doesn’t fit emotionally. Aristotle said, “There is a foolish corner in the brain of the wisest man.” Make adjustments and set things right.

Introduction to Meditation – YouTube Video

June 7, 2011 by anisonam

The following is a YouTube video teaching by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Astrology

June 7, 2011 by Norma

If hurt feelings appear, someone’s pride has been wounded. Go back and apologize if you’re the culprit. In a different direction, you are creating something of breathtaking beauty and grace. Try not to overlook or ignore this area, it’s so ephemeral that you could fail to see it. Something quiet and generous is in the environment, an idea or person, pay attention! A good idea or a communication based on realistic assessment of facts can be made today. If you have gone in a wrong direction or pursued unsuccessful ventures, change direction! Stubbornly continuing something because “This is what we’ve always done” isn’t going to work. Take responsibility and be realistic about what you’ve achieved. Erica Jong said, “Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing. No one to blame.” These are mental times, and if you use your mind you will find the solution to your problem.

Compassion in Real Life

June 6, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

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

When we begin to practice the Bodhichitta, we become more in tune with the idea that the great Bodhisattvas are willing to do whatever it takes regarding the suffering of sentient beings,. We, in our practice, should follow accordingly, and use them as our example. When we look at the world today, and when we study in the texts, we see that sentient beings, as numberless as grains of sand on the earth, are revolving in the six realms of cyclic existence. And we are suffering horribly— horribly and needlessly. Needlessly because, other than our own habitual tendency, our desire and our own distorted perception, there are no chains that bind us here. And so the Bodhisattva is moved to tears watching the suffering of sentient beings and seeing that even here in the human realm where things are pretty terrific and we have the capacity to practice, we are still suffering from old age, sickness and death. And there is nothing we can do about it.

When the Bodhisattvas see that, they consider that enough is enough and they feel a heartfelt courage or concern come up within them. Therefore, their determination to be of benefit to sentient beings and to do, literally, whatever it takes is born. So now we are on the path of the Bodhisattva. How should we engage on that path? We really don’t know how the mechanical appearance of it should look in our lives,. This is a big dilemma for westerners. I’ve noticed this myself. Once we vibe with the idea of compassion, we seem to understand it. When so many of the ideas of Dharma seem foreign, why is it that the idea of compassion is somehow more palatable and more understandable? Well, probably because we’ve seen the idea before, in other religious systems in our culture with which we are better acquainted. So we have the idea in our minds already. I think also, for those of us who are American, we have this national identity of being a great country, or a prosperous country, and therefore we feel that we are in a position to minister to others. It’s almost like a subtle national identity that we all seem to have. We know we’ve got more food , more clothes , and better conditions than a lot of the other guys. So, in a national or group way, we are aware of our capacity to be an elder brother or sister in the world. I really think that that’s part of us. Our national identity is definitely a factor here..

Where the terrible confusion comes in is that we don’t know what Bodhichitta should look like. When we actually get down to the nuts and bolts of our practice, something is missing. Something just flies the coop. It really doesn’t quite connect in our mind. So we try to draw on these archetypal pictures that we have in our culture. One of the pictures that we have is a saintly archetype. Does it come from medieval time? Probably, I would think so. I would say that we are very slow to change some of our ideas. We’re pretty quick to change our fashion sense, our idea of how to get educated and how to remain current in certain things in the world, but subtle archetypal ideas take a long time to change. We have the idea that that we would look saintly practicing compassion, the idea that a Bodhisattva has to be something that… Well I don’t know. What did medieval saints look like? Maybe a little anemic, you know? Like if you were too robust, or maybe had a pint too much blood, you wouldn’t look very saintly. I don’t think I’d pass for a saint either. You know I think I look like a make-up expert or something else, a beautician.

So we have these pictures and our saintly image is somewhat anemic. We have this idea that saintly people should never really let out a good guffaw, and have absolutely zero capacity to find anything truly amusing, most especially not themselves. Lord knows that saintly types have no capacity to laugh at themselves. In fact, all they are able to do for the most part is to roll those eyes ever skyward and look pure. So we have some kind of ridiculous idea of what sainthood or compassion actually ought to look like.

Well, I don’t think compassion looks like that at all. I think compassion can look like a banana, if that’s what sentient beings need. I think compassion can look like a puppy if it brings comfort to sentient beings. I think compassion can look exactly like whatever it takes. Actually all the teachings about the great Bodhisattvas say that they literally appear in any form in order to bring benefit to sentient beings. In The Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, which I hope each and every one of you will buy a copy of at some point, there are many beautiful and heart-wrenching prayers, like, “Let me return as a bridge so that sentient beings may cross over. Let me return as food so that sentient beings will be nourished. Let me return as shelter so that sentient beings will be protected,” this heartfelt cry to return in whatever form necessary in order to be of benefit to sentient beings.

I don’t think that a bridge or a banana or whatever it takes will necessarily look like some anemic saintly thing. Instead, I think compassion can be pretty exotic and meaty stuff. I think it can look like meat and potatoes. I think it can look like whatever it damn well pleases, so long as it gets the job done.

Astrology

June 6, 2011 by Norma

Men and women work harmoniously today. Men give the ideas and women give the magnetism and leadership. Beware of an appeal to your pride that is costly for you. Magnetic people who flatter you have ulterior motives. Two strands appear today. One involves sound ideas and strategy for the future. Take this. The other involves purchasing things that you don’t need that are too costly. You have just been taken. Beware of people selling things, and you’ll be surprised by who they are. Buy things because you want them, not because you like the salesperson. Men and people in positions of authority are slowly and surely working through diplomatic issues. Artists are coming up with wonderful ideas. Garson Kanin said, “The best part of one’s life is the working part, the creative part. I love to succeed. However the real spiritual and emotional excitement is in the doing.”

Overcoming Hope and Fear

June 5, 2011 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

The following is from a series of tweets between Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo and one of her followers on twitter:

Questioner: the problem is reality and society keep proving and backing a cynical outlook.

Jetsunma: There will always be people with poor qualities, but you can choose like-minded friends who are kind and worthy. I’ve met both kinds, believe me. And, did you know – cynicism is a habit, just like compassion, happiness, good heart, etc. You can learn to run different “tapes” in your mind. I get stalkers, haters, sarcasm, hostility but I don’t take it personally. It speaks to their character, not yours. If the shoe doesn’t fit you don’t have to wear it.

You should see the hate I get thrown at me. But it is gossip and lies, and I pay no attention. On the other hand, so much love, kindness, friendship, and I hang with people who want to leave the world a better place. So the choice of how to be affected is truly yours and mine.

I too have to work on my own perception. Try to see it for what it is. Just empty reaction, hope and fear. We all do. Being honest here. It takes work and willingness to look within. And I try to see through circumstance as though it is a dream. Insubstantial, born and gone at the same time.

Questioner: then your in control sister! And the environment is tamed.

Jetsunma: How sweet! But no. I was cruelly stalked for three years. Three horrible, miserable years. And I block a circle of gossips that continually insult and make fun of me. When I think of them they are a “muse” to write and teach. And to explain poor qualities and the hurt and harm that comes from that crud. So in a way their cruelty is a blessing, and motivation to teach. These people go after others too. They seem to need victims. How can you take people like that seriously?

Questioner: then your so irresistible your stalk-able.

Jetsunma: You are very kind. Actually he is off the streets now, (violent felon) no longer able to harm others. He is not a loving man, I don’t think it was my “charms” that interested him so much as my position and Lineage.