International Dunhuang Project

The British Library--surely one of the finest such institutions the world has ever known--is attempting to make over 100,000 items from Dunhuang available over the Internet. You can read all about this, here. The real thrill is that you can sponsor a sutra, just like the old days! I see that it will cost £1,107 to do the Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra. This is the Chinese, but they also have numerous Tibetan works. Therefore, if you wish to sponsor a sutra in Tibetan, visit the above site. If I had more time, I would spend it studying the treasures found at Dunhuang.

Chushi Gangdruk - "FOUR RIVERS, SIX RANGES"

News of a large statue of Guru Rinpoche recently moved at Samye Monastery calls to mind "Four Rivers, Six Ranges." This was the nominal designation of Tibetan guerillas based in Kham, who waged unsuccessful resistance warfare in the 1950s. This expenditure of blood and treasure... what did it gain? What I mean to say is that when you hear of such things, there is always this tendency to react...to aggressively wish something. But, we should stop and think. Getting angry at the Chinese doesn't help anything... planning reprisals doesn't help anything... shouting slogans doesn't help anything. Quite possibly, we don't know all the facts surrounding the Samye matter.

Then.. there is this quotation from H.H. Dalai Lama XIV:

"The ability to look at events from different perspectives can be very helpful. Then, practicing this, one can use certain experiences, certain tragedies, to develop a calmness of mind. One must realize that every phenomenon, every event, has different aspects. Everything is of a relative nature. For example, in my own case, I lost my country. From that viewpoint, it is very tragic--and there are even worse things. There's a lot of destruction happening in our country. That's a very negative thing. But if I look at the same event from another angle, I realize that as a refugee, I have another perspective. As a refugee there is no need for formalities, ceremony, protocol. If everything were status quo, if things were okay, then on a lot of occasions you merely go through the motions; you pretend. But when you are passing through desperate situations, there's no time to pretend. So from that angle, this tragic experience has been very useful to me. Also, being a refugee creates a lot of new opportunities for meeting with many people. People from different religious traditions, from different walks of life, those whom I may not have met had I remained in my country. So in that sense it's been very, very useful."

Remembering Pema Wangyal

I learned that Pema Wangyal passed away.

I once commissioned him to paint two tangkhas: Longchenpa and Jigme Lingpa. I still have the Longchenpa tangkha hanging at the head of my bed. The one of Jigme Lingpa was lent to a student who now refuses to give it back.

Once upon a time, Pema was staying in San Francisco and we decided to have lunch together. When we finished, he sat down to paint and I sat idly by, picking my teeth and playing with the pots of colours. We were chatting about women---Pema had a string of blondes, and they were all becoming jealous of each other. He wanted me to intercede to keep the peace. Without thinking, I dipped my fingers into the blue and put my fingers on the wet toothpick, which I then placed in my mouth.

That was enough to stop my breathing.

One of the lamas came rushing into the room when he heard me choking, and Pema shouting that I had poisoned myself with the blue---cyanide---paint. The lama smacked me over the heart with his thumb and forced one of H.H. Karmapa's Precious Pills down my throat. Thereafter, with his fingers on my pulse, he asked me, "How do you feel?" I replied: "I don't care how I feel."

That is how effective the Precious Pills are.

I got the above photograph from Mike Dunham's blog. I hope the photographer will not mind if I include it here with this memory of my friend.

The Liberation of Small Creatures

The review copy of my little booklet, Perfectly Natural Reaction: The Liberation of Small Creatures is now available for download here. We will keep this link active for awhile, with the provision that you write to me and tell me how you liked it, or did not like it, as the case may be.

NOTE: AS OF 23 FEBRUARY 2009 I HAVE TAKEN THIS OFF LINE.
YOU CAN WRITE AND REQUEST A COPY IF YOU LIKE.

Download Site

When opportunity permits, we will be parking downloads somewhere at [deleted] This will be inclusive of documents, recordings of mantras, and images.

NOTE: AS OF 23 FEBRUARY 2009 I HAVE TAKEN THIS OFF LINE.
YOU CAN WRITE AND MAKE REQUESTS IF YOU LIKE.

Garab Dorje

What's up with Garab Dorje's right hand in this painting?

More Treasure Vases

Nubri Monastery - Your Turn to Help

I am tremendously moved by the circumstances at the 500-year-old Nubri Monastery.
H.E. Dodrupchen Rinpoche's students have taken responsibility for assisting.
I hope everyone will help them!
Visit the Nubri Monastery Home Page and see for yourself.

How to Contact Me

Friends have suggested that I provide a point of contact for people with questions. That is easy: rinpoche!(at)riversky(dot)org

Naturally, you would remove the exclamation mark before using this address.

Social Notes from All Over

His Eminence the Ninth Ogyen Tulku and Tenpa Rinpoche engaged in a White Mahakala Empowerment, 13 June 2007 (Ogyen Tulku did all the work and Tenpa Rinpoche just sat around doing nothing).

High Desert

My new book, High Desert: Imitations of Meditation in America's Western Mojave, is now in pre-press. This will be available in September 2007 just about everywhere.

Kalu Rinpoche

The most recently available photograph of Kalu Rinpoche, who is seventeen years old now.

Gesar Flag, Nyingma in America Style

Here is a scan of the original design for the Nyingma "Gesar" prayer flag commissioned by H.H. Tarthang Rinpoche circa the early 1970s. I seem to think this was drawn by somebody named Glen Eddy, but I could be wrong about that. Note the seal of the Tibetan Nyingmapa Meditation Center, at top, center.

Early Dharma Press

Above is not, strictly speaking, the first thing ever published by Dharma Press (now Dharma Publishing), but it is certainly among the first.

This picture by Sherab Palden Beru was published in August 1969, by Tarthang Rinpoche, on an Excelsior hand-powered printing press I helped to buy.

The original was published in the British magazine Middle Way, to illustrate an article by Trungpa Rinpoche.

I had the block done by M&H, in San Francisco. The gold for all of this came from washing dishes for USD $2.00 an hour at the Khyber Pass Restaurant, and whatever I could scrounge.

The signature at the bottom is that of H.H. Tarthang Rinpoche. This picture has survived fires, floods, and other disasters.

For the record, the first thing ever published by Dharma Press was a silkscreen work, and then, after the press was delivered, a little business card with the Seven Line Prayer.

Here is another picture, of Milarepa, by Sherab Palden Beru, done in Scotland circa 1968.

Nyingma Seal, Revisited

Here's another version of the Nyingma seal. You will notice the syllable in the center is "AH" not "OM," and the two-headed "lotsawa" birds are apparently of the same family (rather than two different families).

Old Photo of Tarthang Rinpoche

This is an old photograph of H.H. Tarthang Rinpoche and Nazli Pema, taken circa 1967.

Dzogchen Sadhana by Dudjom Rinpoche

Introduction.

During a visit to the United States of America, His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, Jigdral Yeshe Dorje, late Supreme Head of the Nyingma Sect of Buddhism as practiced in Tibet, composed the following brief sadhana at the request of Jetsun Pema Chonzin Sanga Wangmo, in New York, when she was still quite young. In some sense, perhaps she was working to find a balance between the tradition of her predecessor and the demands of life in the West. Quite probably, His Holiness sensed her dilemma. This sadhana is thus intended to support non-conceptual meditation in the Dzogchen tradition, and—as with all gems springing from the ocean-like mind of Dudjom Rinpoche—is particularly suited to the current time. This work was first published in Darjeeling, India, in an edition of 500 copies, in 1970. Now, thirty-seven years later, Tenpa Rinpoche has decided to cause a completely revised edition of this work, which is dedicated to the welfare of all sentient beings. Note that in the following, performance instructions are printed in italics, and the English translation immediately follows the Romanized Tibetan. May this be auspicious!

The Sadhana

[1] Refuge.
Repeat three times, with folded hands.
chog-sum kun-du lamar kyab-su-chi
I pay homage to my Guru, the embodiment of Buddha, Dharma,
and Sangha.

[2] Shaping of Motive.
Repeat three times with hands at the heart.
sem-kay kha-khyab dro-wai dhon-du-jug
I dedicate myself to the welfare of all living beings covered by the
sky.

[3] Purification.
Visualize that Vajrasattva is seated above your head. As you recite this verse, a stream of nectar descends from Vajrasattva and enters you, through the crown of your head. This stream of nectar completely washes away your sins and obscurations.
chi-wor dor-sem ku-lay dud-tse-yi gyun
bab-pay dag-gi dig-drip ma-lu-jang
From the figure of Vajrasattva sitting atop my head, a stream of
nectar descends and completely cleanses away my sins and obscurations.

Now repeat the short mantra of Vajrasattva 111 times.

om-vajra-satava-hum

[4] Self-generation of the Deity and Visualization of
the Guru.
Imagine that your purified body is instantly transformed into the red dakini, Naljorma. Visualize that your own Guru is seated directly in front of you, at eye-level. As you watch, your Guru transforms into Padmasambhava, with whom he is understood to be identical, and you say the following:
rang-nyd nal-jor ma-pal dun-kha-ru
tsa-wai lama pay-jung nyo-su-shug
I transform myself into a yogini. I visualize my Guru as identical to
Guru Padmasambhava, sitting in front of me, facing me.

[5] Mandala Offering.
Place your hands into the mudra of Mount Meru and the worlds of the four directions.
Believe that you are offering the entire universe to Guru Padmasambhava.
Repeat three times.
kham-sum nod-chud rang-lu phung-kham-che
zag-me de-tong man-dal tsog-su-bul
I offer the Guru the mandala of Sunyata-Bliss, created out of all
that the Three Realms, including myself, contain.

[6] Prayer to the Guru.
kyab-kun nso-wo khyab-dak lama-la
nying-nay sol-wa dep-so chin-gi-lob
Of all the Protectors, the all-pervading Guru is the real Protector.
From the center of my heart, I invoke your blessings. Bless me,
please.

Now repeat the Vajra Guru mantra 111 times.

om-ah-hum vajra-guru padma-siddhi-hum

[7] Blessings and Initiations.
Believe that you have received the Guru’s blessings and the four tantric initiations, and then repeat the following. Afterwards, remain in the non-conceptual mind as long as possible.
sang-sum chin-lab wang-shi yong-zog-thob
lama-rang-sem yer-med zog-pa-che
lo-drl rig-tong-jen-pa dod-mai-shi
ye-yin don-ki lamai rang-shal-ta
I have fully received the Three Sacred Blessings and the Four Initiations. Seeing the Guru and myself in a non-dualistic manner is the great dissolution. The non-conceptual mind is called the raw void: rigpa. This is the primordial mind. This is the face of the real Guru.

[8] Dedication of Merit.
As you dissolve the meditation, dedicate all merit you have earned to the benefit of
others.
gye-tsog tha-ye dro-wai don-du ngo
kyun-kyang dorje-zin-pai sa-thob-sho
May the boundless merits I have earned through this practice be
of benefit to all sentient beings. May they attain the state of
Vajradhara.

[9] Generation of Proper World-View.
nang-drak rik-pa lamai-ku-sung-thug
dag-pa ram-jam tashi-delay-sho
Whatever I see, hear, and think is the form, the voice, and the mind of the Guru. May everything be pure and divine. May good luck prevail for all.

A Brief Tsog by Jigme Lingpa

A Brief Offering Ritual for Daily Practice
Jigme Lingpa

The incomparable Nyingmapa visionary, Jigme Lingpa (1730 – 1798), foresaw a future when sentient beings would have neither the time nor the inclination for spiritual practice. To assist sentient beings in this degenerate era, and from the depth of his compassion, he composed the following brief tsog, or offering ritual. Although this tsog is indeed abbreviated, nevertheless, it lacks nothing. Sincere daily practice, with either visualized or other offerings, will bring swift results.

ram yam kham, om ah hum
tsog dze deu yon ye she rol pa’i gyen (bell, drum)
The materials of offering; the objects of enjoyment ornamented by the play of wisdom:
tsog je tsog dak rig dzin la ma dang
den sum kyil khor ne yul nyer zhi’i dak
pa wo khandro dam chen cho srung nam (bell, drum)
Lord of the Assemblage, Master of the Assemblage, the Knowledge-holding Lama, and Mandalas of the Three Seats; Lords of the Twenty-Four Sacred Places, Dakas, Dakinis, Vow-holding Protectors of the Doctrine:
dir shek long kyeud tsog kyi cho pa zhe (bell, drum)
Come accept offerings.
gal trul nong dang dam tsik nyam chak shak (bell, drum)
I confess deviations, delusions, and impairments of the Samaya.
chi nang bar ched cho kyi ying su drol (bell, drum)
Liberate in the Dharmadatu outer and inner obstacles.
lhag tor zhe la tin le drup par dzod (bell, drum)
Accept the remaining tormas and carry out your activities.
om guru dewa dakini gana tsatra putsa ho,
utsita balingta kha hi (bell, drum)

Kyabje Tarthang Tulku

Herewith two new photographs of His Holiness Kyabje Tarthang Rinpoche.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to one and all. Here is a fascinating site devoted to Tibetan postal history, seals, banknotes, and other charming diversions. I hope your forthcoming year is prosperous and healthful.