dreams dreaming dreams of this love

.Lha Bab Düchen (Wyl. lha babs dus chen), the 'Festival of Buddha's Descent from Heaven'

(November 3rd is the day for this celebration this year)

  .Lha Bab Düchen (Wyl. lha babs dus chen), the 'Festival of the Descent from Heaven'

— One of the four major Buddhist holidays. It occurs on the 22nd day of the ninth Tibetan month. Buddha’s mother Mayadevi was reborn in Indra’s heaven. To repay her kindness and to liberate her, and also to benefit the gods, Buddha spent three months teachings in the realm of the gods.

When he was about to return to this world, Indra and Brahma manifested three stairs of 80,000 yojanas each reaching this world in Sankisa. As the Buddha walked down the central one, they accompanied him to his left and right carrying umbrellas to honour him. He descended to earth in Sankisa, which is located in modern Uttar Pradesh, and which is counted among the eight holy places.

During this day, positive or negative actions are multiplied 10 million times. Happy Lhabab Duchen one of the 4 great Buddhist festivals commemorating four events in the life of the Buddha, according to Tibetan traditions. Lhabab Düchen occurs on the 22nd day of the ninth month on a Tibetan calendar. This is a Buddhist festival celebrated to observe the descent of Buddha from heaven back to earth. Buddha had left for heaven at the age of 41, having ascended to The Heaven of Thirty-Three (Trayastrimsa) in order to give teachings to benefit the gods in the desire realms and to repay the kindness of his mother by liberating her from Samsara. He was exhorted by his follower and representative Maudgalyayana to return, and after a long debate managed to return. This is considered to be one of the eight great deeds of the Buddha. He returned to earth by a special triple ladder prepared by Viswakarma, the god of machines. On Lhabab Duchen, the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied ten million times. It is part of Tibetan Buddhist tradition to engage in virtuous activities and prayer on this day. -Lama Tsultrim Allione

You ask why Guru Rinpoche, in the form of the Yogi Nyima Ozer, is in a bar drinking alcohol?

You ask why Guru Rinpoche, in the form of the Yogi Nyima Ozer, is in a bar drinking alcohol? Because you and all beings are just in this place - this drunken tavern. The tantric yogi remains in this realm and drinks the intoxicating nectar of experience transforming it into amrita – the nectar of deathlessness.

The bar where this yogi is drinking is the nature of our intoxication and delusion within samsara. The sun and moon are the internal and external nature of time, alternation and desire. When a yogi becomes master of her or himself then they are master of the world of experience.

Nyima Ozer is the form of Guru Rinpoche who transcended time through his yogic mastery of sexuality and his display of third concduct – the conduct in accord with tantra. Externally there is the ever changing nature of the four seasons – internally there is the ever changing nature of moods, flavors of feeling related to the play of bindu or the red and white drops of the subtle body. These drops are the nature of gender and desire.

In the story of Nyima Ozer, when he stabs his phurba into the barroom table, he stops the sun and the moon in their cycling across the sky. This is the yogi’s challenge – to be able to stop and start the cycling of alternations. Nyima Ozer stops the sun and the moon in their tracks – and he also allows them to begin their journey and play again once mastery is acknowledged by the king. - t.k., from talks on the manifestations of Guru Rinpoche (via Traktung Khepa on facebook Oct 29 2015)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207027508278646&set=a.10200849573634141.1073741833.1608162044&type=3&theater

Special Request from Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche: October 25th, 2015 Be very mindful next ten days.

Special Request from Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche:

Everyone Please Be Careful and
Recite Mantra Continuously

October 25th, 2015

"Please, everyone, be particularly mindful for the next ten days. Recite mantra as much as you can, whatever you are doing. You can recite Guru Rinpoche's mantra - OM AH HUNG BENZAR GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG. Or if you practice Vajrakilaya, you can recite the Kilaya mantra - OM BENZAR KILI KILAYA SARWA BIGHNEN BAM HUNG PHET. Either way, the mantra will help protect you, both by making you more mindful and by the protective blessing of the deity. I feel this time right now is a little bit delicate and we need to be careful not to create obstacles.

Particularly you who are working - doing projects, building things, you carpenters and workers - be very careful with your tools and mindful with all your actions so that you don't harm yourself in an accident.

But not only the workers! No matter what you are doing, everyone should be a little extra careful during this time, men and women, young and old, whether you are driving or sitting or anything.

Actually, if you are driving, be particularly careful. Everyone drive very mindfully. People are crazy in their cars, not paying attention. Everybody focus on the road and be conscious, and say mantra as much as you can.

If you are cooking, do your cutting and cooking consciously. If you are walking, be aware. Whatever you do, do it very safely. If you are hunting, be careful - what are you going to hunt, anyway? You are just hunting yourself.

Say mantras continuously, as much as you can, whatever you are doing, more than your usual blah, blah, blah. In fact, except when your mouth is busy eating, it should be saying mantra during this time. When you are engaged in activities, you don't need to particularly focus on the mantra, but continue to say it. Then whenever you can focus for a minute, pay attention to the syllables you are saying and remember the deity. That will help protect you.

Anyway, maybe everyone thinks I am crazy and making some big deal. Maybe I've gone too far. Maybe you think I'm exaggerating. That's okay - I am crazy. My job is just the announcement. If you are going to practice or not, that is up to you. If you believe me or trust me, be careful. If you don't trust me, you don't have to follow what I say. If you don't buy it, that's not my problem. I'm not going to follow each person around saying, "Hey! Practice!" It's up to you.

Hopefully we won't make obstacles and screw ourselves up. So everybody try, okay?"

Tashi delek!

-Gyatrul Rinpoche

SINGABLE 21 PRAISES TO AYRA TARA via Erik Pema Kunsang at blog http://levekunst.com/singable-21-praises-to-ayra-tara/

n TANTRIC POETRY by Erik Pema Kunsang10/27/20151 Comment

The Buddha Shakyamuni sang these twenty-one verses spontaneously.  They are considered to be of tantric nature, each verse has four levels of meaning: literal, general, hidden and ultimate. Our normal reality in each moments contains same infinite vastness and depth and this tantra helps understanding it. There are many books in English that open up for this depth of meaning, not only by explaining the nature of this wonderful female buddha, but also by helping us to connect with the nature of our minds.

Tara made the promise that whoever sings her praise with her name mantra, even if it be only the first verse, will be touched by the light ray of love and compassion, feel an immediate relief from fear and worry, gradually undo what burdens the heart and ultimately be at one with her level of realization, true freedom and enlightenment.

It’s a great joy to disconnect part of the intellectual mind and instead glide on the gentle wind of melody. Previously it has been sung in Sanskrit and Tibetan to free the meditator’s mind while singing. Now we can chant it in English in this singable version performed beautifully by Sascha and Rodrigo.

Here is a link to a free download that can help unpack this praise that has chanted by millions of meditators since it was first expressed.

OM
Homage to Tara, the noble and sublime.

Homage to TARA, the swift and courageous,
You drive away all our fears with TUTARA,
Savioress fulfilling all aims with the TURE,
With syllables SOHA we offer you homage.

Homage to Tara, the swift and courageous,
Gaze is as quick as flashes of lightning,
From Lord of Triloka, his face like a lotus,
You rose on a billionfold blossoming stamens.

Homage to you with a face that resembles
A meeting of one hundred full moons in autumn,
And who with the brightness of stars by the thousands
Shine in a vast perfect light of resplendence.

Homage to you, the golden-hued lady,
Whose hand is adorned by a blue lotus flower.
Your scope of activity is giving, exertion,
Fortitude, peace, tolerance, meditation.

Homage to you, the victorious, boundless,
From the tathagatas’ crown emanated.
Those who obtained every transcendent virtue,
Offspring of victors, rely on your guidance.

Homage to you filling Realms of Desire,
Its aspect and space with the HUNG and TUTTARA.
Sevenfold worlds under feet you can trample;
You bring all and everything under your power.

Homage to you who is worshipped by Indra,
Agni, Marut, Vishveshvara and Brahma.
All the vetalas, bhutas, gandharvas,
As well as the yakshas, give praise in your presence.

Homage to you, who by TRAT and the PHAT sounds,
Crush every magical wheel, evil forces.
Right leg extended and left bent, you trample,
Within whirling flames you are blazing intensely.

Homage to you, the swift, terrifying,
Who conquers the most tenacious of maras.
Knitting the brow on your lotus-like features,
You slay every foe without an exception.

Homage to you, with your fingers in mudra
Adorning your heart to show the Three Jewels.
Your masses of light are beautiful, swirling,
Connecting with every direction, in circles.

Homage to you, from your crown manifesting
Joyous, majestic, brilliant garlands.
With the great clangor of laughter TUTARE,
Demons and worlds are in your domination.

Homage to you with the magnetize-powers,
Who gather protectors of earth in assembly.
With syllable HUNG and your brow which is frowning,
You liberate every poor, destitute being.

Homage to you, with the crescent, a moon-crown,
While your adornments so brilliantly sparkle,
And Amitabha is placed in your topknot,
Ceaselessly, vast rays of light radiating.

Homage to you, seated in flaming garlands,
Engulfed in a fire like the end of the kalpa.
Right leg extended and left bent, defeating
Enemy hordes with your joy-bringing, swirling.

Homage to you, with your palms you are striking
The earth while using your feet to be stamping.
Regally frowning, with the hung letter,
You shatter the sevenfold layers of lokas.

Homage to you, blissful, virtuous and peaceful,
Enjoy the domain of the tranquil nirvana.
Fully possessing the om and the soha,
You overcome even the greatest of evils.

Homage to you, who encircled by joyous,
Utterly smashes the forms of opponents.
Clearing away with the HUNG of awareness,
Arranged is the mantra by tenfold of letters.

Homage to you, with feet stamping TURE,
Fully presenting the form of the HUNG-seed,
You cause the three worlds to all be atremble,
Including Mount Meru, Mandhara and Vindhya.

Homage to you in whose hands is a deer-marked,
Shaped like the devas’ ocean of nectar.
Sound of the PHAT and the twice uttered TARA,
Without an exception, dispels every poison.

Homage to you, who is asked for your guidance
By rulers of devas, by gods and kinnaras.
Your armor of joy, a radiant brightness,
Removes every nightmare and calms every quarrel.

Homage to you, whose two eyes are shining,
With brilliant light like the sun and the full moon.
By TUTTARA and with the twice chanted HARA,
You clear away even infectious diseases.

Homage to you who can calm down completely,
Through the array of the threefold thatness.
Crowds of vetalas, bhutas, and yakshas
Suppressed with the TURE, sublime mother Tara.

Together with this, the root mantra in praise form,
These were the twenty-one verses of homage.

Translated by Erik Pema Kunsang.
Music by Tara Trinley Wangmo.
Rearranged and singing by Sascha Alexandra Aurora and Rodrigo Reijers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ERIK PEMA KUNSANG

 Facebook Twitter Google+

Translator of ancient Buddhist scriptures, author, bridge-builder to modern life, Buddhist teacher & meditation instructor. Founder of LEVEKUNST art of life. Other LEVEKUNST articles by the same author. Erik's website & retreats.

Tangkha photo by Boudha thanka, Nepal. The face of Tara is from a statue at Nangkyi Hermitage, crafted by Senge under the guidance of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche.

Jigme Lingpa via Nyingma Masters on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nyingma.masters/photos/a.664868596951329.1073741828.661664957271693/724661414305380/?type=3&theater

Mesmerized by the sheer variety of perceptions, which are like the illusory reflections of the moon in water, beings wander endlessly astray in samsara's vicious cycle.

In order that they may find comfort and ease in the luminosity and all-pervading space of the true nature of their minds, I generate the immeasurable love, compassion, joy and equanimity of the awakened mind, the heart of bodhicitta.

~ Jigme Lingpa

How to make compassion useful. - Kalu rimpoche

Hi Dear Friends,

Topic: How to make compassion useful...

As a Buddhist practitioner we talk a lot about compassion. I want to be precise about that in particular. In Buddhism we have many methods. Now we talk about compassion as a topic rather than applying it to ourselves. I want to talk precisely about compassion, how to apply it and how to bring that quality into our daily life. stop practicing Dharma or your spiritual path as if you were in the army, because spiritual Dharma practice means finding your freedom and stability and harmony and peacefulness in your state of mind; and also the willingness to give to others.

Right now in the 21st century the problem in Buddhism is that everybody is just following the same direction. You know, eating the same food is fine, but everybody practicing as one person, in one direction without any intellectual knowledge, without any doubt, without any question is the cause of suffering, that you are creating by yourself. Sooner or later you will fall into confusion.

My advice is find your own journey, that’s the most important part, because trying to copy another practitioner’s life story will not help you, but will cause you more suffering and more confusion rather than understanding the true meaning of Dharma. Never try to copy the master, never try to copy your Dharma brothers and sisters. Make your own improvement; make your own balance under the guidance of your own teacher. Remind yourself of the meaning of impermanence and naturally the meaning of compassion will apply to yourself. Running after compassion will no longer help you any time soon. So start by understanding the meaning of impermanence, and once understand the meaning of impermanence there will be understanding of reality. Once you understand the meaning of reality you will accept the meaning of Samsara. When you understand and accept the meaning of Samsara, genuinely, there will be genuine love and caring for sentient beings unconditionally. Once you have that, honesty and transparency will appear from your quality state of mind. Once you have that and once you have meditation and spiritual stability naturally there will be harmony with yourself and with others as well and that’s the purpose of everything.
Love and care from your Kalu rimpoche

Thinle Norbu Rinpoche or Dungse Thinle Norbu (gdung sras phrin las nor bu, 1931-2011)

གདུང་སྲས་ཕྲིན་ལས་ནོར་བུ་
Thinle Norbu Rinpoche or Dungse Thinle Norbu (gdung sras phrin las nor bu, 1931-2011)

This photo shows him as yogic practitioner practicing one posture for Thögal.

He was a prominent modern teacher in the Nyingma lineage, was the eldest son of Dudjom Rinpoche and the father of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. He was the incarnation of Tulku Trimé Özer, who was one of seven sons of Dudjom Lingpa, and was also considered to be an emanation of Longchenpa. In his youth in Tibet he studied for nine years at Mindroling Monastery. He used to live in New York state, USA.

He passed away in New York on 27 December 2011, the 3rd day of the 11th month of the Iron Rabbit year.
Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche was a major modern teacher in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the eldest son of Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, the former head of the Nyingma lineages.

Rinpoche was the father of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche and of Garab Rinpoche. His association with the Dudjom Lineage is a long one: he is held to be the incarnation of Tulku Drime Oser, one of seven sons of Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904). He was also was considered to be an emanation of Longchen Rabjam, the great 14th century Nyingma scholar and siddha who composed the Seven Treasuries.

In his youth in Tibet, Rinpoche studied for nine years at Mindrolling Monastery, one of the six major Tibetan monasteries of the Nyingma school. Having fled his homeland, he spent some time in Bhutan, where his sons were born. He was the chief architect of the Thimphu Memorial Chorten, which he built in 1974, under the guidance of his father, to honour the memory of the third King of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (1928-72).

Dungse Rinpoche lived in Bhutan since mid-’50s and has many devotees all over Bhutan. He left Bhutan in the mid-’70s in deferment to the directives of his father, the late Kyabje Dudjom Jigdrel Dorje Rinpoche, to teach in the West. In later years he divided his time primarily between the United States and Nepal.

Rinpoche's best known works in English are Magic Dance: The Display of the Self-nature of the Five Wisdom Dakinis. (1982), White Sail: Crossing the Waves of Ocean Mind to the Serene Continent of the Triple Gems (1992) and A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar (2006).




https://www.facebook.com/280100425371178/photos/a.426142470766972.88722.280100425371178/817278591653356/?type=3&theater

Guru Rinpoche, Monkey Year 2016 and beyond, Episode 1

Dudjom Rinpoche - A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom

It is naturally very difficult for us beginners to see the teacher as having exhausted all faults and perfected all good qualities. When the teacher is actually present, conditions can easily make wrong thoughts come up, and they may be very strong. We might think, “This teacher is very short-tempered, he’s so tight-fisted, he only likes new people . . .” 

You must resist such thoughts and think, “This is impossible, it is my own impure perception and way of seeing things.” Part from your disrespectful attitude immediately, or within four hours, or at least within twenty-four hours. The Great Omniscient One has said:

Constantly dwell on the teacher’s good qualities,
Don’t think of faults, and even if you see any, consider them as good qualities:
“They are surely my own perception, for the teacher has no faults.”
Think this sincerely, and use the antidote of parting and restraint.

Moreover, should you have a disrespectful thought in a dream with regard to the teacher’s conduct, you must part from it as soon as you wake up, as is explained in the Display of the Perfected Wheel:

If in the course of a dream
You see faults in the teacher,
Part from that the moment you awake.
Should you fail to part from it, it will grow into
The cause for rebirth in the Hell of Ultimate Torment.

If you hear others speaking of faults in the teacher, do your best to find a way to stop them, and if you cannot do so, block your ears with your fingers and reflect on the teacher’s good qualities. You should not keep the company of such people or relax with them. As the Source of Nectar Tantra says,

If they criticize the diamond master,
Stop them by peaceful means or wrathful.
If you do not have the ability,
Mindfully block your ears.
Do not associate with them or talk to them;
If you frequent them
You will cook in the lower realms.

Nowadays there are many people who talk about the qualities of, say, a good dog: they extol its fine pedigree and loud bark, they claim how much fiercer it is than the most savage carnivores, and so forth; and they praise the excellence of their horses and cattle, saying how indebted they are to them.

But when it comes to the excellent qualities of a master who teaches the Dharma, rarer than a star in the daytime, it seems, are those who think about all the qualities their teachers have and all the kindness they have shown.

Point at yourself, now, and think carefully: we do not even have as much regard for our teacher as for our horses and cattle and dogs; how could we ever attain accomplishment that way?

Reflect and call to mind even the smallest of your teachers’ good qualities. Think of their kindness — even just a single verse of a scripture that they have transmitted to you, or a cup of tea, or simply an approving look. By thinking about this, not just once, but again and again, your devotion will grow.

In this manner, work hard at the different ways to please your teachers: by serving them with material offerings, you will fill the measure of the two accumulations; by serving them with your body and speech, you will purify the obscurations of your body, speech, and mind; and, most importantly, by serving them with your practice, you will hold the teachings of the practice lineage. The benefits of so doing are described in the Sutra Requested by Maitreya:

Know that all attainment—all the mass of perfect liberation and vision of primal wisdom of the Listeners, Solitary Realizers, and Unsurpassable Buddhas — all of it arises from having perfectly followed a spiritual friend. Maitreya, you should also know that the benefit and happiness of sentient beings all arises from one’s own sources of good, and those too arise from the spiritual friend.

In the Sutra Requested by Ratnacuda we read:

Child of the gods, by following and venerating a spiritual friend, you will see everything as a pure Buddhafield, you will obtain thesupreme concentration of great compassion, you will never be without transcendent wisdom, you will bring sentient beings to full maturity, and all your hopes will be perfectly fulfilled.

And the Great Omniscient One says:

As a result, unbiased pure perception arises,
One is trained in loving kindness, compassion, and bodhichitta,
Experiences and realization naturally grow,
One acts on an infinite scale for others’ good
And accomplishes all their wishes in accordance with the Dharma.

And so on—all this is widely dealt with in numerous texts.

This completes a brief account of how to follow the spiritual friend, who is the root of the path.

- Dudjom Rinpoche - A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom


(((via https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153378770687928&set=gm.525807934241040&type=3&theater)))

Sogyal Rinpoche ~ Loving yourself and filling your heart with compassion