Tibetan Buddhist Altar

The Swiftest Path

December 29, 2010 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Mind as Guru happens after one practices well with Guru Yoga according to Vajrayana Buddhism. Guru yoga is the most powerful method of all. We are taught it is the fastest method to realization of all. The Guru Yoga is practiced at every level. It is a large part of Ngundro, and real accomplishment of Dzog Chen depends on it. In these times of degeneration it is without exception the best way. One mixes mind with that of the Guru like milk mixed with water until they are inseparable. Not the personality, that is just relativity, not important, but the accomplishment, the lineage of pure transmission, the true face of a Nirmanakaya appearance; Buddhahood.

Without this peerless training and practice there is little hope in these dark times of worthless opinions and pride. To rely on one’s own limited mind without first practicing Guru Yoga is useless as the mind has not been ripened. An unripe mind is deeply opinionated and ego-centric. Hard like rock and worthless, in that it has no capacity to perceive with any depth. All is mental acrobatics and superficiality. Therefore one sounds, even trying (from the ego, natch) to sound deep it is just spiritual bologna. The meat is mixed with crud from the floor and stuff one cannot spell or name. To think the mind is Guru before it is deepened and ripened is dead wrong.

We consider our Tulkus to be Nirmanakaya Buddhas, therefore not “of”, or trapped in samsara. Like entering a room full of smokers, the Tulku may smell like a smoker, but the taint is gossamer thin. The actual smoker has the poison throughout their winds, channels and fluids. So we look to these Nirmanakaya forms as that which did not arise from samsara. They are an extraordinary display of all the Buddhas and their retinues. The personality is irrelevant. It is the direct line to the realization of the Guru we look for.

Many claim enlightenment, even saying they are the Guru. But when we examine the results, their lives, their accomplishment, their capacity, their deeds we can see this is not so. You see, the seed of samsara only produces more samsara. Whereas the seed of the awakened mind arising from the primordial ground of being will result in Buddhahood.

Sadly there is no free lunch here. One has to work the path to see the result. Like exercise, it doesn’t help to think about it. One has to practice and build until real muscle is seen. That muscle, in this case, is the accomplishments of one’s life. Not just selfish concern but true benefit for all beings. Have you fed them? Clothed them? Liberated minds? Have you done anything beyond the personal realm? So we’ve raised a couple of kids, cook dinner every night, all that. Good for you, but all mammals do that. It is the extraordinary accomplishments that make the difference. Many boast about their accomplishment; I say, show me. There is plenty of wheat and chaff in samsara; can you make gold? Can you make a lasting footprint of Bodhicitta that will benefit beings in the time to come? OK, well, I guess that’s my job then. I accept!

Astrology

December 29, 2010 by Norma

12/29/2010 Wednesday

Frustration! Holdups, hang-ups. If you try to push through a blockage, it only gets worse. However, if you accept that you must wait, you can relax and enjoy yourself. Watch a movie, read, or play games. It’s a wait, wait, wait sort of day, especially if you’re trying to get something done. Today is your last chance to rework an issue from the past. You’re tired of this, but give it your best shot. William D. Tammeus said, “You don’t really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around – and why his parents will always wave back.” Just go ahead and wave back today as the same thing goes round and round. It will change tomorrow.

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!

We Are the Ones

December 8, 2011December 28, 2010 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

It seems, these days, that the world is divided up in slices, like a pie. There are those who build, create, heal, teach, add and love. Then there are those who break it down, destroy, hate, blow their egos up, hurt others, lie and bring harm. Of course, there are also those who are themselves victims, hurt, alone, afraid, undone and suffering.

This has for me been a time of truly awakening to the suffering of the world. I had always believed in the underlying good in humans. I still do, but more in the sense that all beings are themselves the seed of Buddha. In the last three years of my life I have seen more hate, more meanness, more corruption then I ever did growing up, and that was bad!

This is to me heartbreaking. Those who love and care are terribly outnumbered. Those who would beat up the whole world for fun are too many. I cannot understand hating for entertainment. Is it too much to ask for that haters leave us to our own choices? Many of us choose a path that involves morality and ethical behavior. To the hate side, that is not cool. To the caring side there is no love without ethics and morals.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaches the value of dialogue. I agree – to a point. When we dialogue and are only greeted with rage and rant there is nothing to work with. The two sides have very different goals. The haters love confusion, delusion, harm, chaos, destruction. The caring ones want a good result; plenty for all, loving kindness, a bright and giving society – basically to make this world a better, more loving place by having been here. Since we cannot take anything with us but our own karma, we give it all for the sake of all beings. The ignorant do not understand – a huge funeral, crypt, whatever, to inflate ego does no good at all. It is our deeds that speak the loudest.

I have this idea, for instance, of offering my body to feed polar bears, since we have nearly destroyed them. My Lineage will likely not allow. But it is my dream to have my body fed to a mother sow and her cubs. It may save their lives. Who cares if the ego is treasured? It is nothing, and healing hunger is something. I had a dream that I would be allowed to do that. I was so happy to do it.

Who are you, then? A caring one? A hating one? A victim? A BEAR??? This is one lonely planet we must all share, like that pie. What is your goal? What do you hope to accomplish?

My profound wish is to nurture and benefit this world and all sentient beings. I want to die on my feet trying. I want to hold the world in my arms. May I feed the hungry, clothe the poor, save the animals from suffering, and teach the young and the lost. And when I die, may I bring life again by offering my body. Can you understand that? Why waste anything when there is so much NEED? Why play ego games when there is so much at stake? Give it all. You have nothing to lose. Make a difference. Be a mensch. Grow up and love like everything depended on you. Because it DOES.

Indeed, we are the ones we have been waiting for, as our President says. There is no one else. Be kind while you can. It has always been up to you, to us – all. Choose. Then walk your talk.

OM MANI PEDME HUNG!

Advice for the Path

December 8, 2011December 28, 2010 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

HH Penor Rinpoche & HH Karma Kuchen Rinpoche

The very best way to announce that you are an ordinary deluded sentient being is to claim yourself to be Enlightened.

The best way to announce you are needy with an ego to match is to insist that you are enlightened.

The very best way to let everyone know you are truly a fool is to shout out everywhere that you are enlightened.

The very best way to warn everyone you are an egomaniac and dangerous is to claim enlightenment and that you can “give” it to others.

The #1 way to announce your ignorance of spiritual matters is to be hateful and vengeful.

The very best way to let everyone know you are not acquainted with compassion is to gossip and slander.

The best way to express good qualities and show your stuff is to shut your pie-hole and benefit beings. Make the world better.

The best way to live a decent wholesome life is to get off your butt and actually do it!

The best way to offer spiritual leadership is to walk your talk and know it isn’t about you.

The best way to bring beings to the Path is to practice it, accomplish it, be it in every area of your life.

If you meet someone who proclaims himself to be accomplished and enlightened, the best thing to do is let him be.

If you meet a teacher who makes no claim for themselves, but allows others to speak; and their life and works are sublime- call them Guru!

If that teacher promises hard work, change, method, empowerment, a lineage of purity to depend on- follow to the ends of the earth!

If you are on the path and are practicing daily and well under the guidance of a qualified Guru, please rejoice! Be happy! Each day new and better causes and conditions will appear to enhance your progress.

If you walk the Path of Dharma guided by a pure Guru you have already attained the nectar of this human rebirth.

Astrology

December 28, 2010 by Norma

12/28/2010 Tuesday

It’s a Mexican standoff today. You want something and the other side is dead set against it. Both sides are formidable today, so do not mistakenly think you can overpower or out talk the other side. Strong people are about. Do not engage in debates with strangers, it could quickly turn bad. If you’re involved in a fender bender with someone, be careful. The other side is potentially dangerous. Be polite, accept fault if it’s yours. Avoid a fight, run away. If someone else wants to run away, let him or her go. Later in the day things brighten up. You receive a pleasant call or message from someone who cares for you, and the evening is down right glorious. Relax, have fun, enjoy your friends.

How to Face Adversity

December 8, 2011December 27, 2010 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of Tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Good afternoon Twitterverse from Barnesville MD where the wind is blowing and gusting hard. And it is freezing cold. We never got any good snow, either. Booo. At least the sky is blue and the sun is out. Hard to believe the year is almost kaput. Let’s hope 2011 is less stressful and much kinder and more giving.

I am paying no attention to the stalker but the Avatars just whine, threaten, lie. I still feel the best method to deal with it is to never watch, never answer and stay true to the Bodhicitta always. I intend to be like water. Powerful but not resistant, so when a sword is stuck in I will not be bothered. I will not be hurt. I will be strong and true to my vocation. This is my vow and promise. I am not going there and will remain stable.

Family: What Is the Purpose?

December 8, 2011December 27, 2010 by Holly

Family making offerings at Kunzang Palyul Choling Temple

Family: What Is the Purpose?

By Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

Since ordination is so central to Tibetan Buddhism, I am often asked what the point is of marriage and family.

First, I will say that the status of householder is well recognized. A Buddhist householder who upholds Genyen vows is committed to the path to the point that there is a certain degree of renunciation. Not to the degree of bikshu or bikshuni, but still present.

From that description, one can see that the modern ideas of love and marriage are not helpful. Generally we “fall in love” due to strong attraction, sexual desire, the wish to be connected in a profound way. Often there is the biological need to procreate and pass our genes on. Due to strong attraction and desire, we are often compelled or driven to be with someone.

Actually, those are not good reasons to get married. The best reasons are shared goals, shared path, shared capacity both spiritual and intellectual, and the love that is born of respect for one another, understanding of each other’s needs, and a willingness to share life’s ups and downs.

The superior way of marriage is when both parties are committed to the path and to living the life of a Bodhisattva together. The best marriage is the one that supports both parties in such a way as to enhance their spiritual life. To interact with kindness and a respect for each other’s efforts on the path, and to catalyze true effort and result. An example would be one parent “holding down the fort” while the other is in retreat.

In a marriage, both parties should encourage each other to develop their very best qualities, and support each other in uprooting their poisons and abandoning them. The quality of a relationship born of faith and compassion is much different from an ordinary marriage based on material goals. The mutual embrace of a sacred life is deepening, and bonding. And satisfying in the long run.

Such a marriage is capable of bringing into the world children of great promise. By their parents’ teachings, they will come to know truth. By their parents’ example, they will learn to love and respect. These are the children who will be empowered to stand for truth, inner peace, strong wholesome values, and faith.

In short, marriage and family can be powerful agents for creating a better, more balanced world. From generation to generation, therefore, this is a blessing that keeps on giving.

Astrology

December 27, 2010 by Norma

12/27/2010 Monday

A meeting with a deep person or subject occurs today. Men in particular, but also those in charge, see into a subject that has been obscured to them before now. Something veiled, hidden or below the surface comes into the picture. General feelings of being overwhelmed or of “At last I understand” are some of the possibilities today. A loss can be explained. You may attempt to make an overarching judgment, but it won’t work. Take what you get. At the same time, you are working hard, and you could meet a surprising cohort, a fellow worker, who is interested in partnering with you. It’s a good balance, as long as you’ve known this person and thought of joining in the past. Beware of a brand new presence; it will come to nothing. Romance still is in the picture, and it’s an important day to be sure everything is well lit. Light is your friend today.

Cultivating Awareness

December 8, 2011December 26, 2010 by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

From a series of Tweets by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo:

Did you know that there is a fundamental difference between Vajrayana Buddhism and other faiths? All faiths improve our life, our minds and hearts, and give us structure and aspiration, hope. Buddhism has all that in common. The difference is that Vajrayana Buddhism does not recognize self-nature to be inherently real. In relative view we perceive self as solid through the five senses which also are empty, yet are themselves perceived as real and solid. The entire reason we compile our lives as seemingly solid is that once we fall prey to the concept of duality – self and other – both of which are dream-like, we simply cannot see the great expanse of truth.

Conceiving self and other as real sets us up to react to what is perceived as outside this supposed “self.” We always react with hope, fear, or indifference. Like I hope you will love me. I fear you will abandon me. I hope there is food and money. And fear it will not be enough. I hope you will not harm me – I fear you will. Indifference is involved when both views have been applied and neither does. I hope there is something coming from you but I see nothing will – therefore I am indifferent to you. In fact most people and things that do not excite our hope or fear usually are not even on our radar. Our five gross senses are meant to recognize what seems to be “other” and to measure and assess that. So you see – this whole perceptual event occurs instantly, before we even realize it has. So our entire awareness is based on that, meant to perform in a certain way. That is the only means to sense at that level.

In meditation we close out the gross senses and give rise to those awarenesses which are far more subtle and intuitive – quite gossamer, in fact. Much more spacious and formless themselves, this subtle awareness is what is needed to fully recognize the primordial ground of being, and the spacious empty luminosity that is our true face, the same taste as Buddhahood.

One must meditate to dispel the illusions of separateness and solidity. And we enhance the more subtle (and true) view that is the essence of true discernment and the precious awakening called enlightenment. It takes time! As we begin to awaken we develop compassion as we are not separate and no different on the relative level as all sentient beings struggle to be happy, while being unaware of their true nature.

I am asked- if we are empty of self nature, then who gave birth? Had that heart attack? Who says “ouch” when pinched? And what is it that reincarnates?

In Buddhism we see no self. What happens is rebirth. Buddha said we are cycling through death and re-birth and suffering because of desire. So true! Not a separate entity, but the thread of desire and other habitual tendencies rise up as our mindstream and continue on. We, then, with the five (made for this) senses believing in separation consciousness then measure, contrive and support it. Then once again we believe that we and all phenomena are all entirely solid and real. It is sort of real in that we react. Ouch! Yet not real in that there is no pinch no pincher, no pinchee, no hand, no no-hand, no pain, no no-pain, no self, no sorrow and no one to gain from self cherishing. And all of this is dream-like and without substance; no here, no there, no hate, no love, no one to hate or love. Yet our nature is love itself, BODHICITTA!

Astrology

December 26, 2010 by Norma

12/26/2010 Sunday

A burst of energy puts zip in your step today. You feel good, energetic, and the people and things you love surround you. And what if you’re alone? Reach out to those you care for, love is in the air! This is a good day to carry out your plans with a degree of flexibility. Things could change. You will end up at your destination, but it may not be by the route you imagined. You and someone could bicker today, there’s a tendency to split hairs. It’s a “you say potatoes and I say potatoes” day. Recognize that you agree on the overarching topic – what to have for dinner! Revisit the past. Don Ward said, “Somebody saw something in you once–and that is why you’re where you are today. Thank them!”