A Long Life Prayer for Nobody

With compassionate prescience, you took rebirth in the West
On the very day destruction violated the Tibetan border:
You, the fearless shepherd of frightened beings in flight.

As a child in a land with little Dharma
The Buddhas themselves were your teachers
Bestowing the confidence of timeless knowledge.

You greeted the weary when they arrived
Giving to each the symbolic seed of their future activity:
Always, you were the guardian and protector.

Of fortunate birth and noble lineage
You kept secret the name that might have brought you comfort
And concealed yourself within the dance of wisdom.

You upheld the traditions in the most troubled hours
A well-placed guide for Padmasambhava's sons:
You, the heart emanation of kings and heroes.

Those who give refuge to all beings
Themselves found refuge in you,
Disguised as a whispering mirror at our side.

With perfect devotion we pray for your long life
Moreover, we beg you to look quickly upon us with mercy
From the azure blue sky of intelligence and emptiness.

Test from the Road

I'm on my way to release a box full of turtles.

Samye: The Center

Samye, in the first half of the 20th century.

W.Y. Evans-Wentz

Every Western Buddhist of the past generation is familiar with the American, Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz, PhD (1878-1965) (right). For the final twenty-three years of his life, he lived in a small room in the Keystone Hotel in San Diego. It is said he chose the Keystone because it was near the city's only vegetarian restaurant—the House of Nutrition—and near the public library, where he sometimes checked out his own books because he had given all of his copies away. He also owned land and a small retreat house at Mt. Cuchama, a few miles away near the Mexican border. According to his will, Evans-Wentz deeded Mt. Cuchama to the State of California with the provision that it be made a public monument to symbolize goodwill and fraternity between the races and faiths of the Occident and the Orient. I do not know if this has, in fact, been accomplished but if it has not, then the site deserves a 108 foot stupa. Every Tibetan Buddhist teacher alive owes a profound debt of gratitude to this being. He died near Encinitas, California, after having donated his papers and books to the Oxford Library where, because of water damage, many were subsequently thrown away.

Evans-Wentz, shortly before his death in 1965.

Padmasambhava's Footprint

Padmasambhava's footprint, at Moon Cave. Compare this with the handprint, posted below.

Shechen Kongtrul

One of my teacher's teachers: Shechen Kongtrul, Pema Drimey (1901-1960)

Recognition Guide to Buddhist Monks

I saw this on another site, and I thought it was fun. Here is a Recognition Guide to Buddhist Monks. Top row, left to right: Burma, China (commonly seen on Mainland), China (seen in Taiwan), Japan, Korea. Bottom row, left to right: Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Thailand, Viet-Nam (countryside).

A Dream

Ordinarily I do not like to post things of a personal nature. Still, there is an exception to every rule.

Last night I had a dream of the XVIth Karmapa.

I dreamed that we were on an unimaginably beautiful island, with magnificent flowers, foliage, streams, springs and so forth. His Holiness said, "You know, last night I came into several hundred thousand dollars. Do you think we should buy this island?"

In the dream, the island was owned by a woman of peculiar temperament. I cautioned the Karmapa, "I know she paid $2 million but it is likely she will ask for $5 million."

Then, at this point, the XVIIth Karmapa came to me, clear as could be and said, "Don't worry Rinpoche. People like us cannot be cheated."

Below is a picture of the face that came to me in the dream.

Where Is the Black Crown?

Here are four different views of H.H. the XVIth Karmapa wearing the Black Crown. The first (black and white) image was taken in Tibet. It is plain this is not the same black crown he is wearing in the three photographs that follow.

When I attended the Black Crown ceremony, it was with the understanding that merely to see the Karmapa wearing the Black Crown would be sufficient to confer liberation at the time of death. I had the rare opportunity to examine the crown closely, and I do believe it is true: the crown is made from dakini hair.

Gesar, Trungpa & Flags

Robin Kornman, who is translating the Gesar epic, has the above flag noticed on his website. He calls it Trungpa Rinpoche's "secret flag," and explains that Trungpa designed it during a calligraphy workshop. Nevertheless, Robin is asserting a copyright in the design, which apart from being ridiculous is also charming. Doubtless Robin will assign this copyright to the 12th Trungpa Tulku.

According to Robin, the above depicts a Chinese character which he describes as the character for "Universal Monarch." Well, yes and no. The character, "Wang" (or "Wong," if you prefer, but certainly not "Huang") can be considered the character for "King." To depict this character in black is incorrect. It should be imperial yellow. Similarly, the six dots to the left should be on an aquamarine blue field, and should be the six colors white, blue, yellow, red, green, and charcoal black.

A Splendid Model

Here is a lovely, home-sized altar.

Of Temples

Everybody is always telling me how difficult it is to build a Tibetan Buddhist temple in America. Do you think it is easier to build one in Tibet? Proportionately speaking, it seems to me that it is much more difficult to build in Tibet where there is less population, far less wealth, less sophisticated logistics infrastructure, and so forth. Indeed, after 45 years dealing with Buddhism in America, I have come to the unhappy conclusion that the only reason we do not have more temples is because American Buddhists are fundamentally tight-fisted and lazy. The prevalent attitude seems to be, "go find a Taiwanese millionaire and let them pay for the American temple." I am ashamed to think about such things, and I am ashamed to say such things, but true is true. The representative of a Tibetan Buddhist group came to me in California and asked for help in building a temple. I told her I would donate all of my earthly possessions and wealth, with the sole exception of the clothes on my back, if all the members of her group would do the same. Unfortunately, there were no takers. This does not make any sense at all. Should we wait on Taiwanese millionaires, or should we handle these issues right here and now? Take a close look at the Tibetan temple in the photograph above. Pay particular attention to the image of Buddha at the left. Notice the terrain, and then tell me if this was easier than plunking down a million U.S. dollars.

Jamgong Mipham Rinpoche's Monks

Here is the crew at H.E. Jamgong Mipham Rinpoche's monastery. They are living only for your happiness. What are you living for?

Liberation Upon Seeing

They even make bumperstickers of these, which may or may not be what the terton Migyur Dorje had in mind, but who knows? Isn't the objective to get this in front of the largest number of people? Suppose we rent billboards for this image? In any event, the promise is as follows:

"Those who see this script will not experience the three lower realms and will be liberated from the fear of falling into the lower realms; will be purified of the five poisons and will be freed from the results of one's karma; will be freed from the fear of remaining in samsara."

Mipham Rinpoche

H.E. Jamgong Mipham Rinpoche and his wife, Dechen Wangmo

Col. Olcott and the Buddhist flag

Col. Olcott, and the International Buddhist Flag.

Most people (outside of Sri Lanka, where they have statues of him in public places) do not realize that an American, Col. Henry Steele Olcott (1832-1907) is indeed the designer of the Buddhist flag, among his many other contributions.

Jigme Lingpa statue

Here is a really splendid rupa of Jigme Lingpa.

Of the Terton

Terton Sonam Gyaltsen (1856-1926)

My teacher often referred to him with the greatest respect.

Notions of Tonglen

Thought Transformation in Eight Stanzas
By Langri Tangpa Dorje Senge

1.
Being determined to accomplish
The highest welfare for all beings,
Who are more precious than the wish-fulfilling gem,
I shall constantly hold them dear.
2.
When accompanying anyone,
I shall view myself as the lowest of all
And in the depth of my heart,
Shall hold others dearly as supreme.
3.
Examining my continuum through all actions,
As soon as an emotional affliction arises
That endangers myself and others,
By facing it, I shall strictly avert it.
4.
When seeing a being of wicked nature,
Who is forced by violent wrongs and sufferings,
I shall hold dear this one – so hard to find -
As though discovering a precious treasure.
5.
When others, out of jealousy,
Treat me badly with abuse, insults and the like,
I shall accept their hard words
And offer the other the victory.
6.
When someone whom I have assisted
And in whom I have placed great hope
Inflicts me with extremely great harm,
I shall view him as my supreme spiritual friend.
7.
In short, I shall offer benefit and bliss to all mothers,
In this life and in the future continuum
And secretly I shall take upon myself
All of the harms and sufferings of my mothers.
8.
When, having not defiled all these by the stain
Of preconceptions of the eight worldly feelings,
And perceiving all phenomena as illusory
Free from aversion and clinging,
I shall release from bondage.

In Memory of A Friend

"Altogether we are happy to die.

We take our joy along with us.

It is unusually romantic to die:

Born a monk,

Died a king-

Such thunderstorm does not stop.

We will be haunting you, along with the dralas.

Jolly good luck!"

--from Trungpa Rinpoche's Last Will & Testament