The Mahashri Sutra

There is a talented young translator bouncing around cyberspace these days, and we want to give him a boost. If you visit

http://emptyelephant.wordpress.com/

you will be introduced to the work of Erick Sherab Zangpo. I would particularly suggest you click on this link, and learn how to lend this young man a helping hand. He is basically living "rough" in India, doing these translations for the sheer joy of doing these translations. Oh, to be young again, eh? Anyway... today is a good day to be generous.

The Mahashri Sutra

In the Indian Language (Sanskrit): Mahâshri Sûtra
In the Tibetan Language: Pal-chhen-mo’i Do
In the English Language: The Mahashri Sutra

HOMAGE TO ALL THE BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS!

Thus have I heard: at one time, the Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror, the Blessed One, was abiding in Sukhavati. Then, the bodhisattva mahasattva, the powerful lord, the noble Avalokiteshvara turned towards the Blessed One, went to the place where the Blessed One was, prostrated at the noble feet of the Blessed One, touching his head to the ground, and, circumambulating the Blessed One three times, sat down to one side.

Then, beholding Mahashri, the Blessed One spoke these words to the powerful lord, the noble Avalokiteshvara:

“If any fully-ordained monk, fully-ordained nun, novice monk, novice nun, or anyone else should come to know, to keep, to read, to write down, or to have others write down the Twelve Names of Mahashri, then, their poverty will be eliminated, and they will become wealthy. Moreover, all the assemblies of unified mandalas will also pray likewise for them in a similar fashion, all of them saying, ‘May it come to be!’.”

Then, the Blessed One, the Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror bestowed the Twelve Names of Mahashri:

(In Tibetan)

PAL-DEN-MA
PAL-TRI-MA
PADMAY-T’HRENG-CHEN
NOR-GYI-DAG-MO
KAR-MO
DRAG-PA-CHHEN-MO
PAD-MAY-CHEN
JEY-PA-MO
ÖD-CHHEN-MO
ZAY-JIN-MA
RIN-PO-CHHE-RAB-JIN-MO
PAL-CHHEN-MO

(In English)


She Who is Endowed with Splendor
She Who is Enveloped in Splendor
Possessor of a Rosary of Lotuses
Lady-Lord of Riches
She Who is White
She Who is Greatly Renowned
Lotus Eye
She Who Makes Things Happen
She of Great Light
She Who Gives Food
She Who Wholeheartedly Gives Precious Gems
She Who is Greatly Resplendent

(The mantra)

SYADYATHEDANA JINIGRINI SARVA ARTHA SADHANI
SHASHINA ALAGA SHIMANA
NASHAYA SIDDHANATU MANTRA PADEY SVAHA/
OM BIGUNI BARAMASU BHAGE SVAHA

If anyone should recite this three times, they will be victorious over all disharmonious circumstances. They will become endowed with excellent fortune. They will become endowed with not knowing the exhaustion of wealth.

Furthermore, everyone will give rise to an attitude which regards them as their own child, will be delighted by them, and will act in accordance with their commands.

If one should constantly read this unceasingly, then even if Brahma commits wrathful actions, one will be unharmed, and will come to serve under many buddhas!”

The Transcendent Conqueror spoke these words, and the bodhisattva mahasattva, the powerful lord, the noble Avalokiteshvara rejoiced; he vividly praised what had been spoken by the Bhagavan, the Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror.

THE MAHASHRI SUTRA IS COMPLETE.

Translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos (Sherab Zangpo)

Crane Festival

Bhutan's Annual Black-Necked Crane Festival begins November 12th, in Phobjika. A good place to begin your research into the matter is the Bhutanese Royal Society for Protection of Nature website, where you can find a brochure to download, and various other links of interest.

The festival is held at the 16th century Gangtey Monastery. Rather remarkably, every year on precisely the same day, a group of black-necked cranes arrive from Tibet, to winter in Bhutan. They are usually preceded by an advance party (can we get away with called them petrels?), which arrived on October 29th last year, and again on October 29th this year.

Cranes are unusual creatures, and I had an incredibly singular experience with one. Actually, I do not know what to make of it. I am still sorting it out.

Three years ago, I knew that I wasn't well, and I knew in advance this would become very serious. So serious, that I had occasion to communicate with a monastery in Asia where I have some  specific, beneficial connection, telling them, in essence, "this is it." Shortly after making this communication, I stepped into my orchard, feeling somewhat emotional, and began saying a prayer. It was around eleven in the morning.

As I stood there, a tremendous crane suddenly flew down from the sky and stood only a few feet away from me, staring at me inquisitively. What made this a bit unusual was I was in Southern California at the time, where such cranes are never seen! The distance separating us was no more than six feet, if that. Seen up close, these are huge birds, very tall, with a tremendous wingspan.

We both stood motionless, looking at each other for quite some time. Given the exigencies of the situation, I rather felt he was an emissary from the monastery with which I had just communicated.

After an interval, my monkey mind took over, and I fished around in a pocket for my cell phone camera. The crane then hopped up on an outbuilding, as I managed to take a rather blurry and unsatisfactory snapshot. He continued to look at me from his perch, then shook his head several times, and flew up into the sky. He circled around me, and then took off in a straight line toward the northeast.

Not long after, I had a major heart attack, and they took me precisely along that same route, to the hospital where, by an almost miraculous sequence of fortunate events, doctors managed to save my life -- even though the reports from this event explicitly state, "the likelihood of mortality is very high."

Ever since that experience, I take cranes and their doings very seriously.

So, the twelfth is an auspicious day to extend many prayers for the cranes, whether they are in Bhutan or anywhere else, and no matter what sort of cranes they happen to be. People say that cranes are symbols of longevity. So, my prayers are for the long life of the cranes. People also say, that if a crane calls to its young, even in the midst of a vast forest, the young cranes will immediately recognize and distinguish the parent's voice. So, my prayers are for their keen listening.

You may believe this strange, but I sometimes think that being human is actually a test, and part of the test is how compassionately we are able to treat birds, animals, fish, insects, and so forth. Perhaps this is a silly thought, but if even a grasshopper can't trust you, then who can trust you?

If you owe a crane some face, you should give it.

Daily Tibetan Astrology: November 10, 2009

Chinese 24th, M-T-K 23rd. Ox, Zon, Blue 3.  Practice is emphasized this month. Why not keep up the momentum begun yesterday, so we can glide into Dakini Day tomorrow, going  full steam? The 24th is missing in the Tibetan calendar this month, so we'll be jumping to the 25th tomorrow, and back in synch with the Chinese calendar. Today is a day of continued progress in all things.

Published every day at 00:01 香港時間 but written in advance and auto-posted. See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information. If you know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can get information about your positive and negative days by clicking here. If you don't know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can obtain that information by clicking here. For specific information about the astrology of 2009, inclusive of elements, earth spirits, and so forth, please consult our extended discussion by clicking here. The Ox Year baden senpo (bad days to raise prayer flags) this year (2009) are: November 9, 23, 24; December 5, 20, and next year (2010) are: January 1, 12, 16, 28; February 8. Click here for Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. Daily Tibetan Astrology copyright (c) 2009. All rights reserved.

Calling the Guru from Afar

The Prayer of Calling the Guru from Afar: 

A Spontaneous Song of the Original Nature

Lama Khyen-no Lama Khyen-no Drin-chen Tsa-wai Lama Rinpoche Kye Khyen-no

The Essence of natural mind is unchanging, and quiescent from the very beginning.
Forever pure, profound, and all-knowing; dwelling as the Youthful Vase Body.
Dharmakaya Lama, Yeshe Dorje, heed me!
Grant your blessings to attain great confidence in the View.

The nature of mind is eternal and inseparable from the assembly of clear luminous clear light.
Dwelling in Joy as the ceaseless, spontaneous display of the Five Perfections.
Sambhogakaya Lama, Dechen Dorje heed me!
Grant your blessings to attain perfection in Meditation.

Impartial compassion, primordial wisdom, free from all limitations,
all pervading source of emptiness-awareness: dwelling as the naked essence of mind.
Nirmanakaya Lama, Drodul Lingpa heed me!
Grant your blessings that my Actions be of great benefit.

The Ground of primordial awareness is unmoving and unchanging.
Whatever arises is the expression of the Dharmakaya, neither good nor bad.
Present consciousness is actually Buddha.
In my heart I found the Lama who is free of cares.
When I fully realize my primordial mind as the Lama's true nature,
reciting prayers full of pride and boasting about my deeds are no longer needed.
By letting go in the free natural flow of uncontrived intrinsic awareness,
whatever arises is without basis, and the blessings of self-liberation are obtained.
There is no chance to attain enlightenment by doing contrived practice.
This meditation produced through intellectual analysis is a great deceptive enemy.
Now, the whole manner of conceptual grasping collapses with the abandon of a madman.
So let this life be spent in a state of uninhibited natural ease!
As a practitioner of Dzogchen, I am happy in whatever I do.
As a lineage holder of Padmakara, I am joyful no matter who I am with.
The protector, Great Treasure Revealing Lama, is absolutely without equal.
The teaching of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis is truly beyond compare.
The darkness of the heart's great ignorance is dispelled from its very seat.
The undiminished sun of luminous clarity shines continuously.
The good fortune is the kindness of the Lama, the only father.
I will remember only the Lama, whose limitless kindness can never be repaid.

This prayer was requested by my famous Vajra student, the tulku Jigme Choyin Don Thamchad Drupa Deg. This was spoken as delirious chatter by Jigdrel Yeshe Dorje. It was composed at Copper Mountain Palace in Padmako.

This was published in order to benefit beings who did not have the good fortune to encounter Dudjom Rinpoche personally, and so have difficulty understanding what is a true Guru.

Tibetan Prophecy 2012: Updated

Our title is bogus, because to my knowledge, there are no Tibetan prophecies specifically concerning 2012. However, when I study the search engine keywords, I see people are visiting here in the belief that there might be some Tibetan angle to the whole December 21, 2012 mish-mosh.

UPDATED: Since posting the above, I have been made aware of some Tibetan prophecy arguably related to 2012, which will become the subject of a future post -- and I want to thank our very expert correspondent for bringing this to my attention.

What December 12, 2012 actually represents is the Mayan Long Count calendar going from twelve baktuns to thirteen baktuns -- sort of equivalent to a Mayan Y2K, I suppose. Yet, the Mayans were extremely clever people, so their baktuns run up to nineteen, and then turn into pictuns. To grasp the concept, understand that one pictun equals twenty baktuns, and one baktun equals four hundred years. The Long Count calendar isn't even the "sacred" calendar, which is in fact the two hundred and sixty day Tzolkin calendar. Because it is astrological, the Tzolkin never even pauses.

The other thing that happens is that some of the Taiwanese hundred year calendars, i.e. the ones that began in 1912, stop at 2012. But, I will bet you anything that the Taiwanese are busily printing up new hundred year calendars even as we speak.

Despite the above, many people will persist in believing that 2012 is some sort of pivotal year. As far as galactic alignments and so forth, this isn't particularly important. Can you recall May 5, 2000? This is the same sort of thing.

Sorry to disappoint you, but from an astrological viewpoint, 2010 is a whole lot more saucy than 2012. 2010 is the year of the Iron Tiger. If you want to understand Iron Tiger, think of people like Ho Chi Minh, or Charles DeGaulle. Think about events like the Chinese invasion of Tibet, or the Korean War for that matter.

So, here is a little song I wrote... I hope you learn it note for note:

Don't worry. Be happy.

Daily Tibetan Astrology: November 9, 2009

Chinese 23rd, M-T-K 22nd. Mouse, Zin, Black 2.  Lha Bab Duchen. Today, the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied by a factor of 10 million. Today is also a yan kwong  day, and baden, so no prayer flags. 

All things being equal, today is the best remaining opportunity in 2009 to really set aside a solid ten or twelve hours and practice. This can be mantra accumulations, pujas, sadhanas, whatever works, but it has to be from the heart. Astrologically, that really is the message today: keep it real. I would also like to mention that this is an ideal day to liberate creatures destined for a cruel decision (i.e. release captive animals destined to die, etc.) If you feel you have enemies, today is a good day to thank them, and say many prayers for them, and really look fearlessly at yourself, asking yourself why you have this notion of enemies, or rivals, or whatever it is that has you all stirred up. Also, if you owe someone a debt, today is a good day to get that settled.



In an other-than-astrological sense, today is a day to take being a Buddhist seriously and respectfully. There are many traditions and lineages within the context of Buddhism as practiced in Tibet, but there is fundamentally the idea that we are Buddhists together, regardless of the tradition or lineage. We should respect each other and not get caught up in this or that. What is real, is real. If you are real, you don't need to swing your Gucci rag around and try to draw crowd. Just keep practicing and let things take care of themselves.



Just be kind.

So, what are we doing at my place? Well, some dipa offerings, saffron water and flower offerings, a few other little things here and there... you know, whatever we can relax into in a natural sort of way.

Published every day at 00:01 香港時間 but written in advance and auto-posted. See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information. If you know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can get information about your positive and negative days by clicking here. If you don't know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can obtain that information by clicking here. For specific information about the astrology of 2009, inclusive of elements, earth spirits, and so forth, please consult our extended discussion by clicking here. The Ox Year baden senpo (bad days to raise prayer flags) this year (2009) are: November 9, 23, 24; December 5, 20, and next year (2010) are: January 1, 12, 16, 28; February 8. Click here for Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. Daily Tibetan Astrology copyright (c) 2009. All rights reserved.

Buddhist Bank Robber Cat Visitation Case

According to that bastion of conservative British journalism, the Daily Telegraph, a German Buddhist named Peter Koenig, now serving time for armed bank robbery, filed a motion for visitations by his cat, on the grounds that the cat is the reincarnation of his deceased mother.

The court denied the motion, saying: "While we respect the religious freedom of individuals, the accused has not been able to furnish proof that his deceased mother has been reborn in a cat. Therefore, the request for visiting rights for the feline is rejected."

All sentient beings have, at one time or another, been our mothers.

Daily Tibetan Astrology: November 8, 2009

Chinese 22nd, M-T-K 21st. Pig, Gin, White 1.  Today is a zin phung day. Oh, what should I say?  I'm too lazy today, so I'll let somebody else do the work:

Good day to perform lhabsang and thruesel, propitiate god and deities, consecrate, do chagu, sow seeds, establish plants, and plant flowers.

 Not a good day to consecrate, construct religious monuments, marry, hold celebrations, put a roof on the house, or hoist prayer flags.

Tomorrow is... well, you already know. Everything ready? Of course it isn't. Ever try to find barley flour at 10:00 p.m. on a Sunday?

Published every day at 00:01 香港時間 but written in advance and auto-posted. See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information. If you know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can get information about your positive and negative days by clicking here. If you don't know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can obtain that information by clicking here. For specific information about the astrology of 2009, inclusive of elements, earth spirits, and so forth, please consult our extended discussion by clicking here. The Ox Year baden senpo (bad days to raise prayer flags) this year (2009) are: November 9, 23, 24; December 5, 20, and next year (2010) are: January 1, 12, 16, 28; February 8. Click here for Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. Daily Tibetan Astrology copyright (c) 2009. All rights reserved.

Fall of the Berlin Wall

Monday, November 9th 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Monday is also Lha Bab Duchen, when the effects of one's actions are multiplied by a factor of 10 million.

On Monday, when people all over the world celebrate historic events in Germany, please take some time to remember the "other" wall:  the one that honors  heroic men and women of the intelligence profession who made it happen through their unselfish dedication and unprecedented personal sacrifice.

Occupation in the clandestine services can take a terrible toll upon the human heart. It is cruelly easy to dismiss the artifacts of this when we encounter those who have been damaged. However, let it be clearly understood that such people are in fact the best people we have: true bodhisattvas, who live and die in silence, deception, and secrecy, with all trace of their roles erased by design.

In the end, there is nothing left but what they have given.

What they gave twenty years ago was freedom to millions.

It was a towering achievement.

Lets give back millions of prayers for them.

It is just fundamental decency.

Tibetan Medicine Blog

Over at the Tibetan Medicine Blog, well respected Massachusetts practitioner Malcolm Smith is doing a good job covering the field. Without him, I probably wouldn't have spent nearly as much money at Amazon this week, collecting such gems as Frances Garrett's Embryology in the History of Tibetan Medicine.

Hmm... don't know if I like that or not... the spending money on books part. One book always leads to another book. That leads to another, and another, and before you know it, you're shaking outside a library, waiting for it to open. Worse still, you get a job at a university somewhere, just so you can be near books. We all know people like this, and it isn't pretty.

Anyway, Malcolm has his head on his shoulders, writes comprehensible sentences with flair, and is highly recommended. Tibetan traditional medicine is fun. You spend a lifetime acquiring the fundamentals, maybe a couple of minutes actually practicing, and then you pass away from complications arising from the trauma of acquiring the fundamentals.

You know, we should probably start running a few more TTM articles in here, before the light changes.

Off Skylarking

I'm going to go off skylarking for a couple of days, before Lha Bab Duchen takes all of my attention on Monday. You might want to remember that Monday is baden, so no prayer flags. Sort of disappointing, eh?

Well, there are other days.

In the meantime, have fun, be kind, and remember to say your prayers.

Rabbit Massage

I highly recommend Chandra Moira Beal's The Relaxed Rabbit as the finest exposition of rabbit massage yet available. As the above excerpt demonstrates, this is a delightful and informative production. My rabbits also endorse this, but they are too relaxed to say anything more right now. Click here for more information.

This has been Rabbit Week here at Digital Tibetan Buddhist Altar, and I hope everyone had fun.

Our Heritage: Bought and Sold

If you go on eBay, and go searching around, you will quickly uncover evidence of a brisk trade in Buddhist antiquities. Some of these items are patently forgeries, but what is most disturbing, is that some of them are not.

Much of this is being dealt through Australia. I do not know if the AFP has a stolen artifacts capability similar to that of the FBI, but perhaps that is something that Buddhists in Australia might want to examine.

I wonder if the Radio Mullahs are trading in stolen antiquities in addition to opium? Worth looking at, don't you think?

Daily Tibetan Astrology: November 7, 2009

Chinese 21st, M-T-K 20th. Dog, Kham, Red 9. Nyi nak. Spend the day preparing for Monday's observances, but take it slowly and carefully. Do you understand nyi nak?

Published every day at 00:01 香港時間 but written in advance and auto-posted. See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information. If you know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can get information about your positive and negative days by clicking here. If you don't know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can obtain that information by clicking here. For specific information about the astrology of 2009, inclusive of elements, earth spirits, and so forth, please consult our extended discussion by clicking here. The Ox Year baden senpo (bad days to raise prayer flags) this year (2009) are: November 9, 23, 24; December 5, 20, and next year (2010) are: January 1, 12, 16, 28; February 8. Click here for Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. Daily Tibetan Astrology copyright (c) 2009. All rights reserved.