Today is the lunar 7th, because our calendar has the 6th as an omitted day, so here we go again. Diversity is the spice of life, don't you think? Anyway, today is the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. It seems like only yesterday. Today is Tiger, Li, Red 7, not a bad day for prosperity rituals.
Today is Rat, Zin, Yellow 5. If you have important requests to make, today is the day. Not a bad day to get engaged. This is an excellent day to make offerings to the Nagas.See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information.
Today is Pig, Gin, Green 4. Not a bad day for running errands, but no prayer flags today.See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information.
The Lunar 3rd. Today is Dog, Kham, Blue 3. Not exactly a bad day to make offerings to the Nagas (not a particularly good one either), but a wedding? Scratch marriage off your list today.See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information.
I wonder how we missed mentioning this really splendid resource: Digital Himalaya.
Crowds estimated as "well in excess of ten thousand" turned out for His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama at the University of California Santa Barbara yesterday, and a number "at least three times larger" is expected at the University of California Berkeley today, prompting police officials to close the city's streets.
OM MANI PADME HUNG
Today is lunar 29, Horse, Li, White 8. I wouldn't hang prayer flags today. Today is a good day for sang. Avoid contact with unclean things today: garbage, blood, etc. The 29th is of course a Dharmapala day, but this month, the Rigpa Calendar has that pegged for tomorrow (Friday the 24th April), because of the double day mentioned earlier this week. Therefore, the 28th that arises today (according to one system of calculation, as published in the Rigpa Calendar because of the double day) is a baden, or very bad day for raising prayer flags. Confused yet? Note that the calendar used by Rigpa is the same as the Men-Tsee-Khang Calendar, which is to be regarded as authoritative in some senses; however, the calendar I am using, which is the combined Chinese and Kalachakra calendar, is no less authoritative, so who ya gonna' call?
Sometimes I think that Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and a few others are the only hope for Tibetan Buddhism in the 21st century. It is merely a maybe-not-so-useful feeling I have. Here is something that he published just a few days ago on his Siddhartha's Intent website: "A Short Note From Someone Pretending to Do Retreat."
Last month yet another great master, Kyabjé Penor Rinpoche, passed into paranirvana. What a loss for the world! And what a loss for those of us who have a connection with him! For me, his passing has brought home the troubling realization that, while many great masters are still alive and with us, from the point of view of our own impure perceptions, they are no longer young, and sometimes appear to be quite frail. This worrying reality should inspire in all of us a real sense of urgency. During the past few years, I myself have noticed that, quite suddenly, many of my friends are being attacked by terminal diseases, like breast cancer and brain tumours. Although I know I shouldn't be surprised, I always am because I have such a tenuous acquaintance with the concept of impermanence. Actually, people all over the world are dying every second, yet it's only recently that I've started noticing it happening to people I know personally, and every time one of my friends dies, a big part of me always asks, "Why is this happening to me? To us?" Eventually, of course, I remember that death is simply one inevitable aspect of being human. Then I feel foolish for not having seen that, for me and everyone of my age, such losses are unavoidable; that, in fact, as we get older, we will have to face the deaths of those we love more and more frequently. What is the human body, after all? Little more than a bunch of pathetically fragile components that have been cobbled together without the proper glue or strong enough nails. Is it any wonder that, sooner or later, we all fall apart? Yet, every time it happens, our ignorant minds are constantly surprised by death and illness, and everything that goes with it. Over the years there have been so many tragic deaths, but the most tragic of all is the death of someone young. Personally, I am always saddest when someone younger than I am dies, and I think that for almost all human beings, the idea that young people die is somehow unacceptable and unfair--this is how we think. In reality, though, death doesn't have any preferences; it doesn't strike according to the age of its victim. And as Buddhists, we've been told about the uncertainty of death so often, we really can't complain that we haven't been warned--Shantideva alone repeatedly dedicated whole chapters to the subject. Nevertheless, we still complain--it happens all the time. So, what is purpose of this message? For those of you who are "over the hill", like myself, please take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and Guru, Deva and Dakini, because we all need protection from bad health and all manner of disasters. After all, who knows what's in store for any of us? I'd also like to emphasize that one of the main causes of our weakness and vulnerability is the sheer weight of our karmic debt, and in order to repay and clarify these debts it is important to practise Riwo Sangchö. Of course, when you practice--whichever practice it is that you like to do, Refuge, Bodhicitta, Riwo Sangchö, whatever--always take a good look at your motivation. Doing any kind of spiritual practice because you think it will ensure a long life--perhaps even that you'll live for ever--is like trying to freeze a bubble of soap in time; it's just not possible. All you can do is practise with the wish that you remain alive long enough to become better acquainted with the dharma. Even one second longer in such a life is extremely precious. Ultimately, of course, we should say prayers and do practice in the hope that one day we will be free from the agony of time, and from the agony of the separation of all the transitory elements that, in our deluded minds, we have pieced together so convincingly. Most of us are so lost in our delusions that we actually believe them to be permanent, and when the illusion we've created reveals itself in its true colours, we suffer the most unbearable agonies. And it is from this kind of delusion that, ultimately, we need to free ourselves. A short note from someone pretending to do retreat. Bir, 12 April 2009
Today is lunar 28, Snake, Zon, Red 7. I can't tell you what to do, but if it was me, I'd give somebody a nice gift today.
Tulku Tsenyi Khentrul Tenzin Tseten Rinpoche, a nine-year-old boy, was enthroned earlier this month as the reincarnation of Geshe Lobsang Gyatso, the founder of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD). Tenzin Tseten, was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of Lobsang Gyatso in 2006. He was born in Leh, in Jammu and Kashmir, on May 14, 2001. Lobsang Gyatso, 70, was murdered along with his two disciples in February 1997. He was a close confidante of the Dalai Lama. “We came to know about five years ago that a boy in a remote village in Leh knows about his past life. Our interaction with the boy affirms our belief that the slain monk has been reborn,” one the Dalai Lama's spokesmen said. A large number of officials of the Tibetan government-in-exile and representatives of various monasteries attended the coronation ceremony at Tsuglagkhang, the main temple at McLeodgang.
"[O]ne should be beware. Average people, blind with the cataracts of dimwittedness, not only have a heap of defiled, perverted behavior, but even produce proofs and charts about it, and present it as wonderful subject matter."--Jigme Lingpa, Dancing Moon in the WaterI must confess, when I first heard that people were setting mantras to music, my initial reaction was one of horror. However, since I always strive to be open-minded about things, to the extent of letting them prove themselves, I decided to withhold judgment until all the evidence was presented.The first things I heard were those horrible bubblegum mantras. During this period I lived in a Chinese household, and the lady of that house -- bless her heart -- brought this stuff home and proceeded to play it 24 hours a day. I do not know who makes these recordings, nor do I understand how, because they all seem computer-generated. I have highly eclectic musical tastes. I can listen to Chinese classical opera, Italian grand opera, Cambodian ghost music, Sonny Boy Williamson, Merle Haggard, and Jackson Browne. I can listen to almost everything, but two things I have decided not to hear: rap music and bubblegum mantras.There are silences so perfect that they are insulted by music, but there is no music so perfect that it can be insulted by silence. In a very gross sense, mantra, while certainly inclusive of music, is not music but perfect silence. I use the word "silence" in this latter sentence in the evocative context of silence of the spheres: the resonance of deep space. Mantra is, after all, what space sounds like. Mantra is also what space feels like. All sound is mantra, but not all mantra is sound.Oh, wow, man... maybe mantra is like some sort of organizing energy (little new age joke here). Well, if it is, you better be able to sing, right?Some people argue, "you can't break mantra." That could be true, and if it is, then this truth is not delimited by mantra, but extends to all forms of sonics. If it may be said that mantra cannot be defiled because of its very nature, then it would be equally true that culturally specific and highly individual decisions about "good" and "bad" language are completely unnecessary. That would be a real eye-opener, now wouldn't it?
Close the eyes of the children.Anyway, I stumbled along thinking that mantras set to music are a wrong idea, and I waited to hear music set to mantras. My wait was rewarded around 1996, with Lama Gyurme and his collaboration with Jean-Philippe Rykiel; the latter a real musician, as distinct from a machine. I played their rendition of the Medicine Buddha mantra 24 hours a day for over a year. I think it is profoundly beautiful, and I also think "music" has nothing to do with its beauty. Close on the heels of Lama Gyurme came Yungchen Lhamo, and again, the spirituality of the artist made all the difference. Sheer beauty.Yet, as beautiful as it is, we should not be lulled into relaxing our vigilance. In Tibet, cruel hunters used to play flutes in order to captivate deer. We should ask ourselves: what is the net effect of mantra set to music?"The behavior of ghosts and harmers is weird." --Jigme Lingpa.That is one study. Here is quite another, which comes to us courtesy of the Buddha Pests. Their teacher has "released her album," and they now wax ecstatic (these are actual quotes):"It is like [name tenderly deleted so as to not frighten livestock] is giving all of us a whole new way of practicing while we wrestle with the traditional transliteration of Tibetan and Sanskrit - or worse, some of us may feel dry and empty from more culturally 'unaccessible' protocols and traditions!"Damn! Those pesky, dry sadhanas again! They give me split ends! Put on the dance mix!"And the rest of the world is invited to join in because these are Universal Truths. The Cult of Compassion if you will- All can join in. Those of us with commitments will still chip away at the beautiful traditional chants and melodies - but yippie-kaya-hooo that we can supplement with this blues fest full of mantra!"The phrase "blues fest full of mantra" is one that I have finally lived long enough to hear used in a sentence. However, to outdo himself, our breathless reviewer adds (and I am not kidding):
PRAYER FOR THE SWIFT REBIRTH OF
KYABJE DRUBWANG PEMA NORBU RINPOCHE
As Written by H.E. Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
(Short Version)
NGA GYAI TSUG GYEN PAN CHEN VIMALA
You are the crown jewel of five hundred scholars,
阿節祝間邊千比瑪拉
五百智首大智無垢友
LAR YANG SID PA ZUNG WAI TSUL TEN CHAN
The great scholar Vimalamitra, who has taken birth once again;
拉楊夕巴松威楚殿巴
復再示現受生之行相
NYING POI TEN PA PEL LA DA DRAL WA
You who has no rivals in spreading the heart essence of the teachings;
寧杯殿巴佩拉達扎哇
弘揚精粹教法無倫比
PADMA NORBUI ZHABS LA SOL WA DEB
I pray to Drubwang Padma Norbu;
貝瑪諾比霞拉梭哇碟
貝瑪諾布蓮足前祈請
GANG GI YANGSRID CHOG GI TRUL PAI KU
Hold us with your compassion
剛計楊夕秋計祝別固
尊者在化殊勝應化身
NYUR WA NYI DU JON PAR THUG JE ZUNG
Through the swift rebirth of your reincarnated supreme emanation!
紐哇匿笃卷巴突節松
惟願大悲攝受速轉世
The first four lines an original prayer composed by Khenchen Ngagi Wangmo, and the last two lines were verbally added by H.E. Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche on 28th March 2009 over the phone as a prayer for the swift rebirth of His Holiness Padma Norbu Rinpoche.
Today is the lunar 27th: a Dragon, Zin, White 6. I wouldn't hang prayer flags if I were you. Good for construction projects, bad for lawsuits, and watch out for traffic tickets. Good day for a haircut. Note that the very popular Rigpa Calendar has this as lunar 26th, because they've doubled the 25th this month. This is one of those situations where you can't say "right or wrong," because they're using one system and I'm using another. Today is the anniversary of Taranatha.
Today is the lunar 25th, Dakini Day. Today is Tiger, Kham, Green 4. Today is mixed for medical activities, but is the best day this month for offerings to the Nagas.
