Ninth Ogyen Tulku's New Booklet for Free Download

The Ninth Ogyen Tulku (see here for an account of the other eight) is a very nice young man with a large role in his future. He is based at Namdroling, but travels to Taiwan, Canada, and the United States. He speaks Mandarin rather well, which is useful when he visits Taipei and the Chinese settlements in British Columbia. He is still learning English, and this he does with good nature.I hope we can see more of him in the United States. He has an open, generous mind.

He has recently written a small booklet, Light of Liberation, that was translated from Tibetan to Chinese, and then to English by other hands. This booklet is available on the net, for free download, by clicking here. This is a work on ngondro, and he writes: "I authorize anyone who is interested to copy this and practice it."

I hope you will take the opportunity to support his efforts, possibly inviting him to visit your centers and so forth. As I say, he is of the future.

A Personal Anniversary

I hope you will forgive me notice of a personal anniversary -- but, since my family and friends are the target audience of this weblog, it isn't altogether inappropriate.

Today is March 30, 2009.

On this day, three years ago, I was dead on an operating table in a hospital in Arcadia, California. The atoms that arrange my heart rearranged themselves.

I remember the surgical nurse shouting at me, "It's a decision! It's just a decision! Come back!" I remember thinking to myself, "Hey lady, I know it's a decision, but I'm taking a little vacation here." She seemed to know these thoughts, and shouted, "Don't get attached to it! Come back!" She was a big old red-headed gal, used to getting her way. I liked her immensely. Not everybody knows what to say.

She kept arguing with me, and the doctor kept busy with technical matters, so I decided to come back. Westerners will say things like, "Well, it wasn't your time yet," but that isn't entirely correct. Like the lady said, it is very much a decision.

That heart attack was one of the best things that ever happened to me. The dress rehearsal gave me a lot of confidence about opening night. The three years since then have been an absolute joy in every respect. I would not wish to revise even the smallest moment of the most difficult day.

One can argue that one's karma permits but a set number of days. Again, that is not entirely correct. The analogy used to argue the point is of a butter lamp, filled with butter, and a strong wick. The conditions may be optimal, but somebody suddenly opens a door, and a wind blows out the flame. There is still butter in the lamp, but the flame is interrupted.

Longevity practice, and here I am thinking specifically of White Tara practice as expressed in the Karma Kagyu tradition, is another case in point. The seeming imperative of a "set number of days," becomes a rather more flexible concept in view of such practices.

One frequently hears, "You were spared for a reason," speculating that some higher, original architecture came into play. Once more, that is not altogether the case. Any higher, original architecture is the architecture of no architecture at all. Sometimes it is a powerful, useful meditation to stop looking for reasons, you know?

Either you are committed to remaining for the benefit of all sentient beings, or you are committed to returning for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Sometimes it is even possible to contemplate both commitments as having the same, simultaneous presence, as when one recovers from a dream yet still thinks of the dream. In such event, the fleeting death is always with us, the fleeting life is always with us, so we aren't resting anywhere and we aren't going anywhere.

It is unnecessary and therefore useless to be afraid of death, or to be saddened by death or its rumors. Some say it is necessary to "prepare" for death, but even there you may get an argument. For example, Patrul Rinpoche once said that the most important thing is to be kind. He said that you can leave all the fancy meditation for the moment of death, because then you'll be meditating anyway.

Today is very beautiful. Right now is very beautiful. The sun is setting, there is a rabbit munching grass a few feet away from me, and everywhere I look, all of the wishes of my heart are constantly fulfilled.

It would be wrong to take anymore of this moment with thoughts of some other moment.

Did you know that if you bow your head to rabbits, they will hop right up to you?

Latest Advice from Namdroling Monastery: Death of Penor Rinpoche

The following has been released over the signature of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche's former secretary:

"For those who have studied and practiced with His Holiness, and consider Rinpoche as their Root Guru or Tsawé Lama, please carefully read the following advice, as all students should carry out their practices at this time based upon the instructions received at the levels they have completed.

"Ngondro and Tsa Lung students should follow the instructions outlined in the Guru Yoga practice, also known as Lama'i Naljor. At the dissolution stage they should merge their mindstream with the meditation of His Holiness.

"Dzogchen students should practice according to the teachings they have received, entering into meditation as instructed. This is the best time to merge your mindstream with the meditation of His Holiness.

"All others should follow practices according to the instructions given to you by His Holiness. Dorje Sempa (Vajrasattva), is also recommended.

"If you wish to come to the monastery, please know that His Holiness will remain in meditation for several days and that the best time to join us is after Rinpoche comes out of the state of Thugdam. To help with your travel plans, it is suggested you consider coming in about seven to ten days.

"Now is the time for us all to join together as one heart, merging our meditation with that of His Holiness."

Lama Lobsang Chophel, Secretary

Salute to the Best Man in Spain

Meet the Honorable Enrique Bolin, former mayor of Benalmádena, Spain. In 1997, after a chance meeting with a Tibetan lama, and a subsequent trip to visit Tibetan settlements in Nepal, Mayor Bolin decided that what his town needed was a stupa. That's right: a Buddhist stupa.

Mayor Bolin put up the equivalent of USD $300,000. in public money to get the project started. I think we all understand enough about politics to appreciate what that must have entailed.

This is what it looked like when they were finished. Today I want to salute Mayor Bolin and all Spanish Buddhists. This is a remarkable achievement.

You can read the whole story at http://www.stupabenalmadena.org/en/stupa_en.html

Your Enemy Is Your Friend

Above: HH Dalai Lama makes his now-famous
"hell on earth" speech, earlier this month.

I have been thinking about writing this for a very long time -- years, in fact, and even though it won't make many friends for me, I'm going to go ahead and write it anyway.

Certainly, what the Cult of Mao did in Tibet is utterly indefensible. In 1960, the International Commission of Jurists found evidence to suggest that genocide was committed. The word "genocide" is sufficient condemnation, so we don't need to add anything. This was less than a decade following the Nuremburg trials, yet here humankind failed itself once again. You can look at this as a Chinese crime if you wish, but it really belongs to all of us.

Fifty years have passed, and while the world has developed a flicker of conscience -- largely because the world once again did nothing while a group of madmen took a peaceful nation by force of arms -- it really is too little, too late.

Tibet is Chinese property now.

Like it or not, that isn't going to change.

So, we need to learn how to look at these things in terms of people, not governments.

What I have wanted to write for so long is about people, and comes to me in vignettes.

Like the time I took my girlfriend, a former officer in the People's Liberation Army (she was in fact a colonel in the medical corps), down to the Monterey Park Public Library. There was a really marvelous book there. I'm sorry, but I simply cannot remember the title or author. It was a "coffee table" book of "before and after" pictures of Tibet. You saw what the monasteries and so forth looked like before the Chinese came, and then you saw what was done to them.

We looked at every page of this book together, and when we were finished, her eyes were wet with tears. "I had no idea," she said.

I told her to try again, but she was in earnest.

"You have to understand that we saw only what the government wanted us to see," she said. "Until I saw these pictures, I thought what we did in Tibet was glorious. Now I understand that we were wrong."

The thing is, she wasn't kidding. If you were an 18 year old PLA conscript in 1959, you'll be 68 now. Indeed, most of the senior commanders responsible for the atrocities in Tibet are long dead.

I think the vast majority of Chinese, who are decent enough folk, would be apalled if they knew the real story. But information in China is a strange thing. You can buy books in Hong Kong that are considered subversive in Kunming. If you are one sort of person, you can possess them anyway. If you are another sort of person, they might be enough to get you in trouble. People say the 'net is censored there, and to a certain extent it is -- at one level -- but in the highrise offices that do business with the world, I can promise you that nothing is censored.

Another vignette comes to mind. My companion and I were visiting a temple in Southern China when suddenly we heard a commotion. We saw a group of men dressed as Tibetan monks, arguing with a security guard. The security guard was in the process of ejecting them from the temple grounds, and the idea offended me so much that I rather stupidly decided to leave with them. I reasoned that if the police came, they would be so busy with me that the monks could get off with a reprimand.

The thing is, they weren't Tibetans. They were Chinese down from the border, dressed as Tibetan monks, working a hustle.

The third vignette is more recent. I wandered into a shop to purchase some clothing. During the fitting, I gazed absently across the street. A woman was struggling to carry a huge statue of Padmasambhava into a ground floor shop. I dismissed the tailor and crossed the street to help. Her shop was in fact a "Tibetan" shop. She was a girl from Guandong province, who had been a military interpreter in Lhasa.

We spent the rest of the afternoon discussing her practice. She told me she had done 500,000 prostrations and 5 million vajra guru mantras. Since leaving the military, she spent her time translating Tibetan dharma books into Chinese.

You know... there is a great deal of interest in Guandong province. The faithful there raised the millions necessary to cast and erect the huge, new statue of Padmasambhava for Samye... the one that the military promptly took down.

Do you see that there is a difference between what the people think is right, and what the government thinks is right?

If you go around China today, you meet many, many people who are attracted to Tibetan Buddhism. It is a bit like America in the 1960s, in that regard. The Chinese hippies -- they call themselves the avant garde -- have taken to Tibetan Buddhism the way Western hippies did in the 'sixties. Except, instead of taking themselves off to Kathmandu, to the Blue Tibetan, in order to smoke some weed, they take themselves off to East Tibet, to a monastery, in order to do their ngondro.

There are tulkus in today's Tibet who hold government positions. There is government money being invested in the renovation of temples, libraries, and monasteries. There is a great deal of new construction. If anyone doubts that there is a mini-renaissance -- of sorts -- taking place, then we will have to bring in the evidence.

That evidence can be had easily enough.

So, the thought that has formed in result of these vignettes is that it doesn't do anyone any good whatsoever to go struggling against the Chinese government. Instead of alienating the Chinese people by hammering away at their government, I believe we should befriend them, and let them do their own hammering. Think about it... if the Chinese government wants to spend money to fix up the temples they once destroyed, isn't that a good thing? Did we, overseas, force that to happen? No, we did not. That is strictly an internal development.

I believe we should go to China in droves, and make friends there. Personal involvement... not politics as usual... is going to bring benefit. If we don't accept things as they are, and go to the region with an open mind and an honest heart, then how are we to save what is left of Tibet? What exists of Tibet in India is not Tibet, anymore than Chinatown, U.S.A. is China. What exists of Tibet in Tibet is Tibet.

Contrary to popular belief, hell is not for demons. Demons like things simple, so they stick to temples, where the pickings are easy. Or maybe Las Vegas, if they are very lucky demons.

So, if we go to hell, we really don't need to think about struggling with demons.

What we'll really be doing is struggling with ourselves.

Hell is where angels go if they are truly angels, don't you think so?

Misfortunes

"It is wrong to think that misfortunes come from the east or from the west; they originate within ones own mind. Therefore, it is foolish to guard against misfortunes from the external world and leave the inner mind uncontrolled."

--Shakyamuni Buddha

Formal Announcement: Death of Penor Rinpoche

Palyul International has just issued the following formal announcement concerning the death of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche:

Advice of Gyang Khang Tulku at Death of Penor Rinpoche

Gyang Khang Tulku (the heart-son of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche), has published immediate advice to all disciples of His Holiness on his website, as noted above.

Nagas Have Long Memories

According to the standard calculation, there are six very good days to make offerings to the nagas this month, and offer we should, because this is their "memory month." They will remember everything that happens... they will always remember.

The best days for offerings this month are the (lunar) 7th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 21st, and 25th. While there are other days of lesser auspiciousness where you might make offering, you will want to studiously avoid the (lunar) 2nd (today--- which is why we are posting this, so nobody gets upset), 4th, 16th, 26th, 27th, and 28th.

PENOR RINPOCHE DIES

Kyabje Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche (1932-2009)

His Holiness Penor Rinpoche has entered thugdam at 8:20 P.M. 27 March 2009 in India, not 3:30 P.M. as previously reported by the Phayul Tibetan news services. He left Columbia Asia Hospital in Bangalore at 3:30 P.M., returning to Namdroling Monastery when his medical condition deteriorated. He was the Third Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche, the Eleventh Throneholder of the Palyul Lineage, and a former Supreme Head of the Nyingma School.

Penor Rinpoche was a special being, of whom it was said, by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, that "he is a saint who has transcended the boundary of samaya."

Penor Rinpoche himself once explained:

"It is not uncommon for there to be a lengthy span of time between the death of a master and the appearance of his or her subsequent reincarnation. My own tulku lineage is an example of this. There was a 130 years hiatus between the death of the First Pema Norbu in 1757 and the birth of the Second Pema Norbu in 1887. This is common in all the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. As for how these gaps come about, while tulkus are understood to have vowed to be continually reborn to help beings, it is not necessary for them to take rebirth in a continuous sequence of lives in this world. It is believed that they can be reborn in other world systems where they continue their compassionate activities, returning only later to this world system. This is how such lapses in tulku lineages are understood in Tibet."

Apart from the deep sense of sorrow this brings to thousands of his faithful followers the world over, Penor Rinpoche's death is widely expected to spark an immediate power struggle within the already shaken Palyul Lineage. In a rare public acknowledgment of behind-the-scenes discord, issued Wednesday, Namdroling Monastery secretary Lobsang Chophel begged for dissident Nyingma factions "to put aside past disagreements and not to engender any new ones."

His Holiness the Fifth Karma Kuchen Rinpoche

It is expected that overall leadership as the 12th throneholder within the Palyul Lineage will now be taken by His Holiness the Fifth Karma Kuchen Rinpoche (b. 1970), who heads the main Palyul monastery in Tibet. He is said by his close advisors to be "particularly apalled" by the conduct of foreign organizations claiming affiliation with the lineage, and is promising reform.

Other leaders with powerful support within the sangha are H.E. Gyang Khang Rinpoche, and H.E. Mugsang Kuchen Rinpoche, both of whom echo His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche's calls for reform.

These events will have wide effect, as the Palyul Lineage maintains one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastic infrastructures of the present time. In recent years, the organization has been plagued by financial instability, and criticism over the conduct of its overseas operations. This criticism was never directed to His Holiness Penor Rinpoche; rather, it was directed toward his administrative staff.

Link here: http://tibetanaltar.blogspot.com/2009/03/penor-rinpoche-dies.html
Keywords: His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, death, passing, passed away, died

Prominent Tulkus Rush to Aid Stricken Penor Rinpoche

UPDATE: H.H. PENOR RINPOCHE DIES
AT APPROXIMATELY 8:20 PM IST
AT NAMDROLING MONASTERY

Amid calls for cohesion in the sangha, prominent tulkus from numerous lineages are rushing to Namdroling Monastery where, in just a few hours time, they will conduct divinations and perform rituals intended to aid stricken Palyul lineage leader His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, who was taken to hospital at 3:00 A.M. Tuesday, March 24, 2009 under emergency conditions, and remains in the Intensive Care Unit at famed Columbia Asia Hospital in Bangalore.

Last month, the internationally venerated senior Palyul lineage master Gyaltrul Rinpoche stated, "His Holiness Penor Rinpoche is very sick and might be going away soon. We have all had lots of empowerments with His Holiness, taken many vows and broken many. They say that it is most effective to purify your connection with a teacher while he is still here with us, and we all need to purify."

Reached by telephone a few moments ago, a hospital spokesperson identified as Patel characterized the 77 year old diabetic's current condition as "of extremely serious concern to his doctors." He has been admitted to hospital several times in the past months, and is in steadily declining health.

Meanwhile, numerous prominent tulkus, including Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Minling Khenchen Rinpoche, Ralu Rinpoche, and Ringo Tulku Rinpoche, are currently arriving at Penor Rinpoche's monastery. Nyingmapa patriarch Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche is also reportedly preparing to attend.

An unusual and singularly worded official statement issued Tuesday, but circulated Wednesday, over the signature of secretary Lobsang Chophel, begged for dissident Nyingma factions "to put aside past disagreements and not to engender any new ones."

Keywords: His Holiness Penor Rinpoche health, hospital update

Kyabje Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche has advised repeating 10,000,000 (ten million) recitations of the Riwo Sangchö practice. Riwo Sangcho is the work of Lhatsun Namkha Jigme (1597-1653), a manifestation of both Vimalamitra and Longchenpa. It is the mangak or innermost instruction of his pure vision terma Rigdzin Sokdrup, or 'Accomplishing the Life Force of the Vidyadharas.' This practice exists in unbroken lineage to the present time, through the so-called "Sikkim Dzogchen," directly to Penor Rinpoche's root guru, who was himself an incarnation of Lhatsun Namkha Jigme. Thus it is that Riwo Sangcho practice, which is understood to both remove obstacles associated with unpaid karmic debts, and to prolong life, is believed to be particularly necessary and effective in the present circumstances. The complete text of Riwo Sangcho, as prepared for the present age by His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, has been available for download on the web for several years. We also reprint it here. If one's motivation in reading this text or attempting its performance is to prolong the life of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, what is wrong with that?

Riwo Sangcho, Complete Text, for Penor Rinpoche

RI WO SANG CHOD KYI DAG DON TRIG KOL ZHUG THE MOUNTAIN OF BURNT OFFERINGS

is herein contained:

OM SWASTI: “The Mountain of Burnt Offerings” is an instruction taken from Lhatsun’s “Vidyadharas – Achievers of Life Force.” To do this practice, prepare some auspicious things such as good quality wood, incense, medicine, the three white and three sweet substances, flour,
etc. Place them inside a clean container or hearth; light a fire and sprinkle them with clean water. The ceremony may also be done with stick incense (preferably Tibetan incense). When repeating the syllables “OM AH HUM” visualize the smoke filling all of space.

Begin with REFUGE: (repeat 3 times)

OM: AH: HUNG:
KYA NYAM SID ZHI KYAB KUN NYING POY CHUD:
Of all the refuges in samsara and nirvana present throughout space, the quintessence
WANG DRAG RIG DZIN PAY MA THOD TRENG TZAL:
is the powerful and wrathful Vidyadhara, Payma Thod Treng Tzal.
KHYAY KUR NANG SID GYAL WAY KIL KHOR DZOG:
The phenomenal world is totally perfected within his body as a buddha mandala.
DRO KUN SID LAY DRAL CHIR KHAB SU CHI:
We take refuge so all beings may cross over unenlightened existence.

BODHICITTA: (repeat 3 times)

SANG CHOG YAY SHAY OD SAL THIG LAY ZHIR:
We generate bodhicitta on the ground (alaya) of the sphere (bindu),
DRO KUN DRIB SUM DAG NAY KU DANG SANG
the supremely secret clear light and ultimate wisdom,
THUG KYI THIG LER LHUN DRUBG NANG ZHI NGANG:
so all beings may purify the three obscurations,
ZHON NU BUM KUR DROL WAR SEM KYAY DO:
and attain the spontaneously self-perfected bindu of body, speech and mind, and through the four spontaneous visions, attain liberation in the youthful vase body.

SEVEN PART SUPPLICATION:

SHI RIG MA CHO NYUG MAR CHAG TSAL ZHING:
I pay homage to the continuously present and unmodified nature of pure presence (rigpa);
TING THA DREL WAY OD SAL CHOD PA BUL:
I offer the clear light, freedom from depths and limits;
KHOR WA NYANG DAY NYAM NYI LONG DU SHAG:
I confess within the vast expanse, the equality of samsara and nirvana;
LO DREL CHO ZAY CHEN POR JAY YI RANG:
I rejoice in the great wearing out of reality, freedom from conception;
LUN DRUB DZOG PA CHEN POY CHO KHOR KOR:
I ask you to always turn the wheel of dharma, the Great Perfection;
KHOR WA DONG NAY TRUG PAR SOL WA DEB:
and to churn up the depths of samsara,
KHOR SUM MIG THA DREL WAY PHA THAR NGO:
free from the limiting three conceptions, I dedicated this to (reaching) the far limit.

SELF-VISUALIZATION:

KA DAG CHO KU YING LAY GAG MAY TZAL
From the dimension of primordial ultimate reality and the unceasing potency,
PAY MA THOD TRENG KAR MAR ZHON TSUL DZAY
(is) Payma Thod Treng: white-reddish body, youthful and handsome.
TSEN PAY ZI WAR DOR JAY THOD PA NAM
The brightness of his noble symbols and marks are blazing; holding vajra and kapala;
DZAY JID GYEN DANG CHA JAY YONG SU DZOG
perfectly adorned with majestic ornaments and garments.
DAM YAY NYI MAY GYAL KUN DUY PAY ZUG
Imagined form and wisdom form are not separate; the form embodies all enlightened beings:
KHOR DAY KUN GYI CHI PAL CHEN POR GYUR
the great splendor of everything within samsara and nirvana.

OM AH: HUNG VAJRA GU RU PAD MA SIDDHI HUNG
(repeat about 100 root mantras)

(Then clean and purify the burnt substances with RAM YAM KAM:)

RAM YAM KAM
Light the incense here.

TONG PAY NGANG LAY SANG DZAY ZAG PA MAY PAY YAY SHAY KYI DUD TZI
Based on emptiness, the burnt substances are transformed into inexhaustible amrita
DOD YON GYA TSOY TRIN PHUNG KHA KHYAB TU TRO WAR GYUR
That emanate throughout space massive clouds of vast desirable qualities.

(Bless with the three syllables (3 times), then repeat the sky treasury mantra
3 times.)

OM AH: HUNG
NAMA: SARWA THA TA GA TAY BHA YO BEE SHO MU KAY BHA
SARWA THA KHAM OT GA TAY SA PHA RA NA EE MAM GA GA NA KHAM SO HA

When doing accumulations, repeat the following section many times from:
DHRUM: RIN CHEN NA TSOG….. (Inside a vast container..) continuing through
the reciting of the three syllables as much as possible, and on until the
CONCLUSION section which begins with GYAL WA CHOD PAY NYAY ….. (May the
buddhas be pleased).

DHRUM: RIN CHEN NA TSOG DANG MAY NOD YANG SU:
DHRUM: Inside a vast container (made) from the essence of vajra jewels,
JIG TEN SID PAY DOD GYU DAM TSIG DZAY:
objects pleasing to the senses of mundane existence; the samaya substances;
DRU SUM YAY SHAY DUD TZIR JIN LAB PAY:
blessed by the three syllables (become) wisdom amrita.
NANG SID CHOD PAY DOD GYUR TRUG PA DI:
Offering clouds, pleasing to the senses swirl throughout the phenomenal world!
LA MA YI DAM DA KI CHO SUNG DANG:
(These are offered to) the lamas, yidams, dakinis and dharma protectors;
CHOG CHU GYAL WAY KYIL KHOR JI NYAY DANG:
to however many buddha mandalas there are in the ten directions;
DZAM LING ZHI DAG RIG DRUG LEN CHAG DRUN:
to our other guests, the Dzambuling lords of the land, the six kinds of beings and those to whom we owe karmic debts;
KHAY PAR DAG GI TSAY DROG SOG KU ZHING:
particularly those who steal life and life force,
NAY TONG PAR CHAY TZOM PAY JUNG PO DANG:
those who send illness, elemental spirits who stir up obstacles,
MI LAM TAG TSEN NGEN DANG TAY NGEN RIG:
those (who send) bad signs and indications in our dreams and send all kinds of bad omens,
DAY GYAY MA RUNG CHO TRUL DAG PO DANG:
the eight types of (demons) who are masters of malevolent magical projections,
ZAY DANG NAY DANG NOR GYI LEN CHAG CHEN:
those to whom we owe karmic debts of foods, housing and wealth,
DRIB DAG NYO DRE PHO SHIN MO SHIN DANG:
demons who are masters of obscuration, demons who cause insanity, male and female ghosts,
DRI WO TAY-U RANG DRONG SIN DRE MO NAM:
demons who cause fatal accidents, demons who take the essence of health and wealth, other demons who (live) in cities; (all male) and female demons.
LEN CHAG MAR POY MAY LA SEG TAY JAL:
As the red flames burn, karmic debts are paid back;
RANG RANG YID LA GANG DOD DOD GUY CHAR:
whatever is desired arises as desirable qualities.
JI SID NAM KHA NAY KYI BAR NYID DU:
As long as there is a sky,
DOD PAY YON TEN ZAY PA MAY PAR NGO:
we form the intention that these desirable qualities be inexhaustible!
DAG GI DU SUM SAG PAY DIG DRIB DANG:
The negativities and obscurations we have accumulated in the three times,
KON CHOG DAY SHIN KOR LA CHAY PA NAM:
and our (incorrect) use of offerings to the Three Jewels or for the benefit of the dead,
JIN SEG ME CHOD DI YI DAG GYUR CHIG:
are purified by the flames offered in this burnt generosity.
MAY CHAY NANG SID GANG WAY DUL TREN RE:
Each flame is an atom containing the entire phenomenal world!
KUN ZANG CHOD PAY TRIN PUNG MI ZAY PA:
Inexhaustible masses of Kuntuzangpo’s offering clouds
GYAL WAY ZHING KHAM YONG LA KHYAB GYUR CHIG:
thoroughly permeate the pure realms of all buddhas!
MAY CHAY YAY SHAY OD NGAY CHOD TRIN ZER:
Flames radiate offering clouds of five -colored wisdom lights;
RIG DRUG NAR MAY NAY SU KHYAB GYUR PAY:
pervading the six realms of existence, (even) the worst hell realm (Avici);
KHAM SUM KHOR WA JA LU OD KUR DROL:
the three planes of samsara are liberated in the luminous form of the rainbow body.
DRO KUN JANG CHUB NYING POR SANG GYAY SHOG:
May all beings awaken to the very heart of enlightenment!
OM AH: HUNG:
(Repeat these three syllables 100 or 1,000 times etc. and then:)
KU SUM DAG PA NOD KYI ZHAL YAY SU:
In an immeasurable container, the three dimensions of existence (kayas),
CHO LONG TRUL SUM NANG SID ZUG PHUNG NAM:
the ultimate, blissful and manifest form aggregates of the phenomenal world,
DUD TZI ZHU WAY JA OD PAR NANG GANG:
melt into amrita, filling space with rainbow lights.
KHOR WA NYANG DAY ZAG MAY DUD TZI CHUD:
(This) inexhaustible, quintessential amrita of samsara and nirvana,
THOG MAY DU NAY DA TA YEN CHAY DU:
since forever and until now,
NANG SID DRON DU GYUR PA YONG LA NGO:
is totally dedicated to our guests in the phenomenal world.
SA LAM DRAY BU YON TEN THAR CHIN ZHING:
Having perfected the levels, paths and fruition qualities,
TA GOM CHOD PAY BAR CHAY KUN SAL NAY:
and having completely dispelled the obstacles to view, meditation and action,
MAY JUNG KUN ZANG THUG KYI KHA JING SU:
within the dynamic space-like dimension of Kuntuzangpo’s realization,
ZHON NO BUM KUR TEN SID ZIN PAR SHOG:
may we attain the immortality of the youthful vase body.
KHOR WAY GYA TSO CHEN PO TONG PAY THAR:
When the great ocean of samsara is empty,
OG MIN PAY MA DRA WAR SANG GYAY SHOG:
may we awaken in Akanishta, Land of Lotus Nets.
PHUNG KHAM SEG DZAY TRAG DANG ZI JID BAR:
aggregates and elements are burnt substances blazing radiantly and brilliantly;
KAR MAR JANG SEM SEG DZAY DAY TONG BAR:
white and red bodhicitta are burnt substances blazing blissfully yet non-substantially;
TONG NYID NYING JAY SEG DZAY CHO YING GANG:
emptiness and compassion are burnt substances pervading the dimension of real existence (dharmadhatu).
NANG SID KHOR DAY DOR JAY OD NGAY ZHIR:
Within the phenomenal world, in the ground of the five vajra lights of samsara and nirvana,
LHUN DRUB DZOG SANG GYAY PAY SEG DZAY BUL:
we offer the burnt substances of spontaneously self-perfected and complete enlightenment.
NGON GYI LEN CHAG THAM CHAY JANG GYUR CHIG:
May all previous karmic debts be purified;
DA TA GYUD LA MI NAY THOL LO SHAG:
may they not remain in our present stream of being. We openly admit our errors;
MA ONG DRIB PAY KHOR LOR MA GYUR CHIG:
in the future may we not experience cyclic obscuration.
SO THAR JANG SEM RIG PA DZIN PA YI:
As to the vows and trainings of the pratimoksha, bodhisattva and vidyadhara (paths)
DOM CHAY LAB PA SANG NGAG DAM TSIG RIG:
and the (many) kinds of secret mantra commitments (samayas);
TSOR DANG MA TSOR NYAM PA THOL LO SHAG:
we openly admit all breeches committed consciously or unconsciously.
NAY DON DRIB DANG MI TZANG DAG GYUR CHIG:
May all illness, demons, obscurations and impurities be purified.
NAY MUG TSON GYI KAL PA ZHI GYUR CHIG:
May the times of plagues, famines and weapons be pacified.
THA MI OO SU OD PAY SUN MA DOG:
May the times of foreigners invading the central land be averted.
CHO DZAY LA MA DEN DREN BAR CHAY DOG:
May the obstacle of the guru being invited to manifest dharma (elsewhere) be averted.
BOD YUL TRA MI SHI PAY TAY NGEN DOG:
May inauspicious bad omens for the country of Tibet be averted.
ZA LU GYAL POY SOG OOG DUD PA DOG:
May the planetary forces, nagas and king-like spirits who (take away) our life force be repelled.
JIG PA CHEN PO GYAY DANG CHU DRUG DOG:
May the eight great fears and sixteen lesser ones be averted.
DAG CHAR GAR NAY TRA MI SHI PA DOG:
Wherever we life, may all inauspiciousness be averted.
DAM SI GONG POY THU TOB NU PA DOG:
May the power, strength and energy of demonic forces be repelled.

(return to “DHRUM: RIN CHEN – Inside a vast container” – when doing
accumulations)

CONCLUSION:
GYAL WA CHOD PAY NYAY GYUR CHIG
May the buddhas be pleased with these offerings.
DAM CHEN THUG DAM KOR GYUR CHIG
May the minds of the oath bound ones be satisfied.
RIG DRUG DOD PA TSIM GYUR CHIG
May the desires of the six kinds of beings be satified.
LEN CHAG SHA KHON JANG GYUR CHIG
May our karmic debts and debts of flesh be purified.
TSOG NYI YONG SU DZOG GYUR CHIG
May the two accumulations be completed.
DRIB NYI BAG CHAG DAG GYUR CHIG
May the karmic traces of the two obscurations be purified.
DAM PA KU NYI THOB GYUR CHIG
May the two sacred dimensions be attained.
JIN PA GYA CHEN GYUR PA DI YI THUY
Through the power of this vast and great generosity,
DRO WAY DON DU RANG JUNG SANG GYAY SHOG
may we become self-arisen buddhas for the benefit of beings.
NGON GYI GYAL WA NAM KYI MA DROL WAY
May all beings who were not liberated by previous buddhas,
KYAY WOY TSOG NAM JIN PAY DROL GYUR CHIG
be liberated through this generosity.
JUNG PO GANG DAG DIR NI LHAG GYUR TAM
May the elemental spirits who are living here or visiting,
SA AHM ON TAY BAR NANG KHOD KYANG RUNG
living on the earth, under it, in the sky or wherever,
KYAY GU NAM LA TAG TU JAM JAY CHING
always be loving towards beings,
NYIN DANG TSEN DU CHO LA CHOD PAR SHOG
and practice dharma day and night.
GAY WA DI YI KYAY WO KUN
Through this virtue may all beings
SOD NAM YAY SHAY TSOG DZOG SHING
perfectly accumulate merit and wisdom;
SOD NAM YAY SHAY LAY JUNG WAY
and from this merit and wisdom
DAM PA KU NYI THOB PAR SHOG
may they attain the two sacred dimensions.
BAD DANG TZOL WAY MA GOY PA
Not clothed with exertion and effort,
YID ZHIN NOR BU PAG SAM SHING
may it happen auspiciously that the wish fulfilling tree
SEM CHEN RAY WA KONG DZAY PA
fulfills the hopes of beings
SAM PA DRUB PAY TRA SHI SHOG
and accomplishes their intentions.

(Thus recite the words of auspiciousness and dedication.)

"Although there are various methods, both extensive and concise, for performing this ritual, here I have written it out as a daily practice with the liturgies abridged according to my own wishes. This was written by Jnana (His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche), the decrepit old granddad of all who sell the vajrayana in the marketplace."

H.H. Penor Rinpoche Hospitalized in Intensive Care

NOTE: H.H. PENOR RINPOCHE HAS DIED.
UPDATED HERE.
ALWAYS CHECK OUR FRONT PAGE
HTTP://TIBETANALTAR.BLOGSPOT.COM
FOR LATEST UPDATES

The following is being sent from Namdroling Monastery as noted:

Dear Friends and Students of Palyul,

This letter is primarily for close students of Palyul, but has been posted in case anyone needs the information herein.

We wish to inform you that His Holiness Penor Rinpoche has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Columbia Asia Hospital in Bangalore on March 24, at 3 AM. Health care arrangements for His Holiness are under the constant supervision of a Western-trained physician, and the condition of His Holiness has somewhat stabilized.

On the first day of the Second Month (27 March, 2009), many of the highest Nyingmapa lamas will join the Namdroling sangha to continue with beneficial practices determined by divination. Among those who have indicated they will attend are Dzogchen Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Minling Khenchen Rinpoche, Ralu Rinpoche, and Ringo Tulku Rinpoche.

For close students, it would be quite good if you could stay home from work on this day, or gather together in a harmonious fashion at your local dharma center, to practice. For those of us who cannot stay home or join with others, please don't worry but just keep the mantras lightly in mind while engaged in daily activities. All of us will dedicate our practice to the long life of His Holiness, and for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche has advised the repeition of 10,000,000 recitations of the Riwo Sangchö practice. Currently, monks at Namdroling monastery are carrying through with this practice. Vajrasattva practice is also quite good, but our main focus should be on Riwo Sangchö.

All of the high lamas have indicated that a positive result is very much dependent on us, the students of His Holiness. It is very important to keep in mind our connection as a global sangha community, to put aside past disagreements and not to engender any new ones. We have been reminded that our pure Samaya needs to be maintained at all times, not only in the presence of His Holiness or the precious teachers who instruct us. We should especially refrain from speculation and any form of gossip, particularly with respect to the condition and medical treatment of His Holiness. As His Holiness has taught us, we should keep our minds in a relaxed state.

The greatest offering we can make for our Tsawé Lama is our love for one another as a family, while maintaining pure samaya with our blessed teacher, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. Through our practice and the healing of our connection with one another, may the light of the Dharma grow as strong as possible, and may the good health of His Holiness swiftly return!


Please do forward to close students of Palyul so that all may join together in practice now.


With blessings and kindest regards,
Lama Lobsang Chophel
Secretary

Prayer for Swift Rebirth of H.H. Kusum Lingpa (Lamasang)

Words of Aspiration to the Beating of My Heart:
Yearning for the Swift Return of A Reincarnation

Om svasti! I respectfully greet the Guru of non-dual primal wisdom who arises in a Vajra Kaya immune to birth and death, the innate form of the immutable, vital essence of luminosity that is fully immersed in the expanse of the mudra of great joy.

Glorious Vajra, miracle of Great Oddiyana, spontaneous presence of the three Kayas, powerful and mighty Vajra Majesty, Vidyadhara of Jambudvipa, Treasure Lord of Siddhas, remember me with steadfast and heartfelt love until enlightenment.

Like the whinnying horse voice of Padmisvara, the virtuosity of Tumchen Wang Drag is inherently perfect. Your life upheld the very model of a blazing vajra of yogic discipline. My only father, the Guru of my heart, remains deep in my heart.

Each and every one of your fearless acts of yogic conduct and every single one of your unceasing, eloquent statements of truth and every wise and loving aspect of your unerring compassion fulfilled a Life Story of unlimited scope that is beyond our comprehension.

As you inherently are Guhyapati and Padmasambhava, and so are secretly capable of rending the illusion of phenomenal existence, not trapped within the network of concepts of "birth" and "death", how could interdependent notions like "coming" or "leaving" even apply, or make any difference to you?

Even so, in view of our habitual ideas that tend to hold on to things as everlasting, the image of an iron hook tugging away at one's heart still hardly describes how it is to witness the example of your departing into the expanse so suddenly. Think of me, think of me, Great Father who is so very kind.

As pearl-white flowers of wistful recollections of you spring from my streaming tears of sadness and longing until they form a brimming pool in my heart, Dear Father, are you not watching me with your treasured love?

At the age of 23, in the presence of Laughing Supreme Horse, you were told: "Come to Blazing Fire Mountain when seventy-six!" Entrusted with prophecies, you delightedly committed to do so. Father, is your love for your son that modest?

Suddenly roused from the all too brief, pleasant dream of my father's fine home filled with warm currents of wisdom and love, I, your orphaned child who has been left entirely on my own, am so troubled, crying out my pain and grief to myself.

All of the tears falling from the petals of pairs of downcast eyes of each of your disciples who hold faith and yearning for you in their hearts align in a choreographed dance of sadness, of recall and longing, that casts an overcast pall over the entire face of the globe.

We, your orphaned children who feel so sad and hurt because we take imputed objects to be very real, feel tightness in our chests and cannot catch our breaths, so depleted are we of the energy spent yearning for you.

At the heart of the lotus blossom of our memories of you gathers an endless stream of nectar of faith and longing. Should this uncontrived, auspicious circumstance please you, then swiftly exhibit the dancing flight of a magical bee!

Put everywhere on display limitless, magical formulations of the sublime wisdom of Heroic Manjusri, which overflows from within, of the treasury of compassionate love of the White Lotus Holder, which you master, and of the glory of the power and might of the Lord of Secrets (Guhyapati), which you ably possess!

I aspire that you swiftly return in the form of a Supreme Emanation who, with the dharani of perfect recall, retains all words that are heard, in whom is born deep certainty about all subjects for reflection, and for whom meditation and non-meditation arise as the true nature, free of concept-bound limitations.

As soon as you are born, may the tendencies from your past training reawaken, may the forces of love, compassion and intelligence grow strong within you, and may you turn the dharma wheels of profound and vast sutra and tantra. May you take fine birth as a Master who guides all those connected to him!

I pray that in a Kaya of primal wisdom whose nature is none other than Padma, bearing a boundless ocean of mind treasures, the Father's wealth, you swiftly return as a sublime, mad Terton emanation who fully alleviates the fallen fortunes of the teachings and people of Tibet.

Reveal yourself right now as a King of spiritual friends who is no different from our peerless teacher, the Victor Longchenpa who holds the secret of unbounded, vital luminosity, the face of empty-aware dharmakaya that equalizes samsara and nirvana.

As we are dangerously accustomed to solidifying our confused grasping and fixation, candidly appear as the executioner of obstructors in the three realms, the keeper of the unending treasury of secrecy in a Victor's form, and once more step forward as the illusory, heroic Lord of Secrets.

Incorruptible vidyadhara who has mastered vajra vitality, whose infinite activity to the ends of space is spontaneously accomplished, keep us all at the forefront of your retinue in every lifetime, please arise as the undying, miraculous Master of the Sanctuary.

Since we think only of you, like a forlorn child missing its mother or like someone dying of thirst yearning for water, may that for which we hope and pray, day and night, come true without delay through the blessings of the Three Jewels.

As dharmata is primordially unfabricated and pristine, and since interdependent causes and effects are infallible, through the power of our fully pure and genuine wishes and aspirations, may our aims be accomplished and hopes bear fruit, swiftly and without any hindrance.


The holy Terton emanation, Pema Tumdrag Dorje, when he was 23 years old, wrote of his vision of the Blazing Fire Mountain charnel ground, wherein was prophesied that in the appointed year of the variegated cow he would depart for the pure realms. Accordingly, the Terton, when he reached the age of 76, on just the second day of the new earth ox year of the Tibetan calendar, at precisely 9 o'clock in the morning, allowed his Attention to come fully to rest in the dharmadhatu.

With the pure aspirations of the supreme emanation Tsang Yang Jamtso and Tulku Durtrod Repa, among others, serving as an auspicious foundation, these very words of lamentation and aspiration for the swift return of a Tulku were composed by, among the progeny of the supreme Terton, the Lord of Refuge himself, the white water lily, the one to whom has been applied the name of a rebirth of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje, Hung Kar Dorje, even while his thoughts were taken up with faith and sadness, on the tenth day of the very same month. May the virtue of this composition at the very time when we implore our Lama Rinpoche to rouse himself from the luminous domain of dharmata bring about its fulfillment just as we request!

This English translation was expeditiously prepared on the very same day by Sherab Dorje, upon whom His Holiness Orgyen Kusum Lingpa bestowed the name of Nesang Waxi Lama Dorje Nyima, a past master of His Holiness' own family lineage. May the auspiciousness of this connection endure forever and ever, until every last one of His Holiness' aspirations and activities for the welfare of sentient beings is fully realized and accomplished. Ge'o!

Original Tibetan:

OM SVASTI!
GA CHEN CHAG JA'I YING SU RAB DUM CHING
MI SHIG OSAL DANG MA'I RANG ZUG SU
CHE CHI JIG MED DORJE'I KUR ZHENG PA
NYI MED YESHE LAMAR GU PAY JAL

ORJEN CHENPO'I JU TRUL DORJE'I PAL
KU SUM LHUN DRUB NU TU DORJE'I ZI
DZAM LING RIG DZIN DRUB PA CHENPO'I TER
CHANG CHUB BAR DU YEL MED TUG TSE GONG

PEMA WANG GI TA KED TSER WA TAR
TUM CHEN WANG DRAG JU TSAL TING NAY DZOG
TUL ZHUG DORJE BAR WA'I NAM TAR CHANG
PA CHIG NYING GI LAMA NYING LA ZHUG

JIG MED TUL ZHUG CHOD PA RE RE DANG
GAG MED DEN DON SUNG YANG RE RE DANG
TRUL MED CHEN TSE'I TUG JE RE RE LA'ANG
TA YAY NAM TAR DZOG PA SU YI POG

SANG WA'I DAG DANG PED JUNG RANG SHI DANG
NANG SID JU MAR ZHIG PA'I SANG WA'I KHAM
CHE CHI TSEN MA'I TRO TSOG MI NAY NA
SHEG ZHUG TAG PA'I TEN DREL PEN NOD CHI

ON TE TAG DZIN BAG CHAG KUN TOG NGOR
LO BUR YING SU SHEG PA'I NAM TAR NI
NYING LA CHAG CHU TAB PA'I PER MA 'U
GONG SHIG GONG SHIG YAB CHEN KA DRIN CHEN

CHO DUNG CHI MA'I JUN LAY TRUNG WA YI
DREN SEM MU TIG KAR PO'I ME TOG NI
NYING GI DZING BUR CHUR WAR TAM PA'I TSUL
PA CHIG TSE WA'I TER JI MI ZIG SAM

NYER SUM GUNG LOR TAM CHOG ZHED PA'I DRUNG
DON DRUG ME RI BAR WAR PEB SHOG ZHE
LUNG TEN NANG WA JE PAY ZHAL ZHE NANG
PA CHOD BU LA TSE WA MA CHUNG NGAM

CHEN TSE'I DROD LAB YO WA'I PA CHIM CHOG
YUN TUNG GA WA'I MILAM SED PA'I MOD
DROG TONG LHAG PAY NAR WA'I DA TRUG NGAY
DUG NGAG O DOD RANG GI RANG LA BOD

DED DUN NYING LA NYAR WA'I LOB MA RE'I
YID PAM MIG ZUNG DAB MA RE RE NA
DREN DUNG CHI MA RE RE'I CHO GAR JI
DZAM LING DUM PO'I SHIN RAY ROG POR CHAY

TAG PA'I DON LA DEN PAR ZHEN PA YI
CHO DUG SEM LA NYONG WA'I DA BU DAG
UG CHI JU WA TO WAR MI SHONG NAY
SHUG RING SHOR WA'ANG CHED LA DUNG WA'I TU

DREN SEM PEMA JAY PA'I TE WA RU
DED DUNG TSI CHUD MI ZED CHIL WA DI
GON CHOD JE PA'I TEN DREL CHO MIN NA
JU TRUL BUNG WA'I GAR TAB NYUR DU JUR

JAM PAL PA WO'I CHEN RAB LONG NAY DOL
PED KAR CHANG WA'I TUG TSE'I DZOD LA WANG
SANG WA'I DAG PO'I NU TU'I PAL DEN PA'I
TA YAY JU TRUL KOD PA CHIR YANG TON

TO PA'I TSIG NAM MI JED ZUNG CHI DZIN
SAM PA'I YUL LA NGE SHE TING NAY TRUNG
GOM DANG GOM MED TA DRAL SHI SU CHAR
CHOG GI TRUL WA'I KU RU NYUR JON MON

TRUNG MA TAG NAY JANG WA'I BAG CHAG SED
JAM DANG NYING ME LO DRO POB BA JAY
ZAB JAY DO NGAG CHO CHI KHOR LO KOR
DREL TSED DREN PA'I GON POR LEG TRUNG SHOG

PEMA'I SHI DANG NYI MED YESHE KUR
RAB JAM GONG TER JAM TSO'I PA NOR CHAY
GANG CHEN TEN DRO'I GUD PA YONG SEL WA'I
TRUL WA'I TER NYON CHOG TU NYUR JON MON

TA YAY OSAL SOG GI SANG WA CHEN
SID ZHI NYAM NYID RIG TONG CHO KU'I ZHAL
TON PA NYAM MED LONG CHEN JAL WA DANG
MI NYI SHE NYEN JAL POR DA TAR TON

ZUNG DZIN TRUL WAR A TAY TSE WAR GOM
KHAM SUM GEG CHI SHED MAR YONG SHAR ZHING
TA YAY SANG WA'I DZOD DZIN JAL WA'I KU
SANG DAG PA WO'I JU MAR LAR YANG NGOM

GUD DRAL RIG DZIN DORJE'I SOG LA WANG
RAB JAM TRIN LAY KHA NYAM LHUN JI DRUB
DAG SOG TSE RAB KHOR JI TOG MAR ZUNG
CHI MED JU TRUL LING WAR ZHENG SU SOL

DREN PAY DUNG WA'I CHE'U MA TAR DANG
KOM PAY JIG PA CHU LA MON PA ZHIN
DAG SOG NYIN TSEN MON DUN DRAG PO LA
CHOG SUM JIN LAB YEL WA MED PAR DZOD

CHO NYID DOD NAY TRO PA RAB ZHI ZHING
JUM DRAY TEN JUNG LU WA MI NGA DANG
NAM DAG SAM MON LU WA MED TOB CHI
RE DRAY GEG MED YID ZHIN NYUR DRUB DZOD

Penor Rinpoche Hospitalized

NOTE: PENOR RINPOCHE HAS DIED.
UPDATED HERE
ALWAYS CHECK OUR FRONT PAGE
HTTP://TIBETANALTAR.BLOGSPOT.COM
FOR CONTINUING UPDATES

This notice has just been released from Namdroling Monastery:

We thought to let you know that His Holiness Penor Rinpoche has been admitted to Columbia Asia Hospital in Bangalore, South India.

Over the past six weeks the condition of His Holiness has fluctuated, with some good days and some less so. On March 21, the Palyul Namdroling Sangha gathered at the monastery to pray for the long life and health of His Holiness. And on March 27, many high Nyingma lamas will also come to Namdroling Monastery to carry through these prayers for His Holiness. Among those who have indicated they will attend are Dzogchen Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Minling Khenchen Rinpoche, Ralu Rinpoche, and Ringo Tulku Rinpoche

The students of His Holiness have been advised to strengthen their connection with one another, dissolve any unsettled differences, and to dedicate their prayers for the long life and health of their teacher, and for the benefit of all sentient beings. Those familliar with Buddhist practice may focus on Riwo Sangcho and Vajrasattva.

With blessings and kindest regards,

Lama Lobsang Chophel
Secretary

Namdroling Nyingmapa Monastery
Arlikumari P.O. Bylakuppe pin 571104
Mysore District
Karnataka State, India

Tibet Bids Farewell to Lamasang

The Chinese central government in Beijing was kind enough to lift travel restrictions in Golok, so that numerous foreigners could attend the funeral ceremonies for His Holiness Kusum Lingpa.

Tens of thousands of mourners came to pay their respects, including representatives from the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. There was a notably large contingent from Taiwan.

Lamasang left literally thousands of relics, seen as jewels and gold beads.

Tens of Thousands Pay Respects to Kusum Lingpa

In the West, some were fond of speaking of him is a condescending or patronizing manner, noting only what seemed to be his eccentricity.

That is because they do not know themselves sufficiently to begin to know him.

Kusum Lingpa was a fearless giant who never forgot his people, and for the past week, his people have demonstrated that they will never forget him.

The line of mourners stretched over a mile.

People waited for hours in the freezing weather.

It would be fair to say that most of Golok came.

Lama Sang's Relics (Death of Kusum Lingpa)

The procession carrying His Holiness Kusum Lingpa's relics

The pyre was opened this past Saturday, Dakini Day (march 21, 2009) in the presence of several witnesses.

Lama Sang's relics and remains, wrapped in blue cloth.

The relics were so numerous as to be uncountable, assuming the form of jewels and beads of precious metals of all kinds. Seen below: pearl-like relics spontaneously manifested from the smoke coming from the pyre and were found over a wide area.

Under My Umbrella, 'Ella, 'Ella, 'A, 'A

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's opening remarks to the Translator's Conference in Bir made news all over Asia. Here is how Bhutan's Kuensel reported the story:

"Rinpoché said that, among the Buddhist culture, the Kangyur is widely used as a “merit-making object”: monasteries will buy a copy only for it to be stacked in the shelves. “If offerings are made, the text will be read out loud, but little effort will be invested in understanding the meaning of each word. While paying homage to the Word of the Buddha is a powerfully meritorious spiritual act, the Tibetan habit of using the Kangyur solely for this purpose is neither to be admired nor emulated: in fact, it’s a big mistake.” Rinpoché added: “Every religion has an original holy book - for Christians, it’s the Bible, and for Moslems it’s the Koran. For Buddhists, our root holy books are the Sutras and they are of vital importance, because what Buddha taught us must always be the final word on any given subject, not what we find in the Shastras (ancient Hindu commentaries on Buddhism) - and definitely not what’s to be found in the Tibetan commentaries.” Rinpoche said: “As Buddhadharma is taught more widely in the modern world, where attention to detail and authenticity are so valued, people are going to want to know what Buddha, himself, actually said. The trend today is for teachers, priests, scholars, politicians and fanatics to obscure the original meaning of important texts by interpreting them in a way that supports their own personal agendas - it’s happening in all religions, and sadly, Buddhism is no exception. When problems, created by such interpretations arise in the future, our beacon of truth can only be the Words of the Buddha.” Rinpoche said that Buddhist cultures today preserved and propagated the work of their own lamas, and have forgotten the Buddha’s Sutras. Such cultures often promoted the teachings of their own teachers far more than those of the Buddha, he said, - “and I have no trouble understanding why Tibetan Buddhism is sometimes described as “Lamaism”. “Today, as a result, our vision is quite narrow, and instead of dedicating our limited resources to translating the Words of the Buddha, we pour it into translating the teachings of individual lineage gurus, biographies, their long-life prayers, and prayers for the propagation of the teachings of individual schools.”

When I think about these words, I am immediately reminded of something Gyaltrul Rinpoche once said:

"Just be harmonious with each other and do your very best and follow the pure tradition, not “my way.” Don’t follow the highway of “my way,” that’s very shameful. That will cover up the pure Buddhist doctrine. And don’t mix the tradition with other things, with your own ideas and your own cultures. Don’t follow cultures for that matter. You don’t need to follow any culture, just the pure Buddhadharma, and nothing ever needs to be changed. It’s so sad when people think they need to adjust Buddha’s speech, like pouring blood into pure milk."

And, with reference to translation, Gyaltrul Rinpoche also said:

"So you see the importance of this work of bringing dharma now into the English language. It’s entirely dependent upon how the translator can realize that information and present it accurately and correctly. Translating is a skill that must be perfected. It is not just some ordinary job. You can’t just think, I’m going to be a translator, and think that it will be easy to learn to read, or that you can just learn some words and all of a sudden you will start translating. It’s really not quite like that. As a translator, you’re becoming a major servant of the doctrine, spreading the doctrine in a most potent way by bringing it into a language that people can understand. So be very careful and keep your samaya. Otherwise you will be just like a postman. "

When I regard how these two eminent teachers approach the subject -- and they are speaking more than a decade apart -- I begin to wonder why nobody listens to them. I begin to wonder why we still have people beguiled by ridiculous practices and preoccupations.

Responsible Buddhists the world over are fruitfully occupying themselves with worthwhile projects designed to save our shared traditions and provide the opportunity for contact with authentic teachings. Remarkable efforts like those of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, and others represent the best of what some call "Second Wave" Buddhism in the West.

It takes more than a flashy web site and a charismatic line of bullshit to keep it real. This is a degenerate age, and examples of "blood in milk" are much in evidence.

Regretfully, we have fringe Buddhist figureheads occupying themselves with martial arts, blues music, and constant fundraising in support of wild schemes ranging from cosmetics, to hair spray, to a new compact disk.

We have people who claim to "channel" the teachings, who have little or no education, and no inclination to correct their deficiencies.

We have a legion of Western "monks" and "nuns" who are running around "interpreting" the teachings for ladies' afternoon teas, without knowing how to read a word of Tibetan, and without ever having completed the five hundred thousand things. We see them emailing home for money on two thousand dollar laptops, and reporting their "exotic adventures" on charming little blogs, while real Buddhist monks and nuns live humbly and attend to their practices without fanfare.

What? No fiber optic in the cave? No wireless at the monastery? I'm heading for the hotel! Hey... if I listen to mantras set to music on the iPod, isn't that the same as saying them?

Sadly, we also have some Tibetans who should know better than to encourage such antics, but have a built-in conflict of interest when the cash register rings.

I received a lengthy letter a couple of days ago from Namdroling Monastery, and I want to share a portion of it with you:

"A recognised tulku is not de facto a realised being. If they do not listen to their root guru and follow the basic training to awaken their own potential, then they are not only useless to themselves but detrimental to others, too. Many of them around -- not the root guru's fault. If Buddhas could get us enlightened and behaving nicely, would we still have samsara?"

An interesting perspective, don't you think? Even with the best of circumstances, one still has to give up sawing long enough for the tree to grow, and then fall of its own accord.

And fall it will, as fall it must.

Buddhist Literary Heritage Project

The historic translator's conference in Bir concluded last week with the creation of the Buddhist Literary Heritage Project. Attendees were presented with the e-petition on the final day -- I know most of our readers signed this -- and the total number of signatures was well over 10,000.

The conference produced 5, 25, and 100 year goals for the Buddhist Literary Heritage Project. The 25 year goal is to translate the entire Kangyur and many volumes of the Tengyur and Tibetan commentaries. The 100 year goal is to make the entire Buddhist literary heritage available.

The direction for this has been placed in the hands of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. I pray for his long life. I firmly believe he can make it happen.

For a complete report on the conference and its concluding resolutions, see here.

Tibetan Feng Shui

I just came across an interesting article on what the author, Martin A. Mills, calls "royal Buddhist geomancy" in the December 2007 issue of JIATS, abstract here:

This is a must read. The academics have somehow managed to inject kinky sex (pinning the supine demoness... heaven knows my heart but she knew me better) and gender studies (she was pinned because monks hate women) into feng shui.

Is that anything like making a mountain out of a molehill?

Seriously though, questions about "Tibetan Feng Shui" abound, and we have touched upon this here (and here, and here) on DTBA in the past. For the past several months, I have been working on a little book about the subject, and if interest warrants, we may yet publish a few excerpts.

Anyway, this seems like a good opportunity to also mention that the indispensable THDL site is being completely overhauled, and will become the THLIB site in future. I can't explain exactly why this is being done -- on the theory of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" -- but everyone seems to think it is a marvelous idea anyway.

Great Perfection Prayer of Kuntuzangpo

Ho!
Everything — appearance and existence, samsara and nirvana —
Has a single Ground, yet two paths and two fruitions,
And magically displays as Awareness or unawareness.
Through Kuntuzangpo’s prayer, may all beings become Buddhas,
Completely perfected in the abode of the Dharmadhatu.
The Ground of all is uncompounded,
And the self-arising Great Expanse, beyond expression,
Has neither the name ‘samsara’ nor ‘nirvana’.
Realizing just this, you are a Buddha;
Not realizing this, you are a being wandering in samsara.
I pray that all you beings of the three realms
May realize the true meaning of the inexpressible Ground.
I, Kuntuzangpo, have realized the truth of this Ground,
Free from cause and condition,
Which is just this self-arising Awareness.
It is unstained by outer expression and inner thought,
Affirmation or denial, and is not defiled
By the darkness of unmindfulness.
Thus this self-manifesting display is free from defects.
I, Kuntuzangpo, abide as Intrinsic Awareness.
Even though the three realms were to be destroyed, there is no fear.
There is no attachment to the five desirable qualities of sense objects.
In self-arising consciousness, free of thoughts,
There is neither solid form nor the five poisons.
In the unceasing clarity of Awareness,
Singular in essence, there yet arises the display of the five wisdoms.
From the ripening of these five wisdoms,
The five original Buddha families emerge,
And through the expanse of their wisdom
The forty-two peaceful Buddhas appear.
Through the arising power of the five wisdoms
The sixty wrathful Herukas manifest.
Thus the Ground Awareness is never mistaken or wrong.
I, Kuntuzangpo, am the original Buddha of all,
And through this prayer of mine
May all you beings who wander in the three realms of samsara
Realize this self-arising Awareness,
And may your great wisdom spontaneously increase!
My emanations will continuously manifest
In billions of unimaginable ways,
Appearing in forms to help you beings who can be trained.
Through my compassionate prayer
May all of you beings who wander in the three realms of samsara
Escape from the six life forms!
From the beginning you beings are deluded
Because you do not recognize the Awareness of the Ground.
Being thus unmindful of what occurs is delusion —
The very state of unawareness and the cause of going astray.
From this delusive state comes a sudden fainting away
And then a subtle consciousness of wavering fear.
From that wavering there arises a separation of self
And the perception of others as enemies.
Gradually the tendency of separation strengthens,
And from this the circle of samsara begins.
Then the emotions of the five poisons develop —
The actions of these emotions are endless.
You beings lack awareness because you are unmindful,
And this is the basis of your going astray.
Through my prayer, may all you beings recognize your Intrinsic Awareness!
Innate unawareness means unmindfulness and distraction.
Imputing unawareness means dualistic thoughts towards self and others.
Both kinds of unawareness are the basis for the delusion of all beings.
Through Kuntuzangpo’s prayer
May all you beings wandering in samsara
Clear away the dark fog of unmindfulness,
Clear away the clinging thoughts of duality!
May you recognize your own Intrinsic Awareness
Dualistic thoughts create doubt.
From subtle attachment to this dualistic turn of mind
Dualistic tendencies become stronger and thicker.
Food, wealth, clothes, home, and friends,
The five objects of the senses, and your beloved family —
All these things cause torment by creating longing and desire.
These are all worldly delusions; the activities of grasping
and clinging are endless.
When the fruition of attachment ripens, you are born as a hungry ghost,
Tormented by coveting and desiring, miserable, starving and thirsty.
Through Kuntuzangpo’s prayer may all you desirous and lustful beings
Who have attachments, neither reject longing desires,
Nor accept attachment to desires.
Let your consciousness relax in its own natural state,
Then your Awareness will be able to hold its own.
May you achieve the wisdom of perfect discernment!
When external objects appear, the subtle consciousness of fear will arise.
From this fear, the habit of anger becomes stronger and stronger.
Finally, hostility comes causing violence and murder.
When the fruition of this anger ripens, you will suffer in hell
by boiling and burning.
Through Kuntuzangpo’s prayer, you beings of the six realms,
When strong anger arises for you, neither reject nor accept it.
Instead relax in the natural state and achieve the wisdom of clarity!
When your mind becomes full of pride
There will arise thoughts of competition and humiliation.
As this pride becomes stronger and stronger,
You will experience the suffering of quarrels and abuse.
When the fruition of this karma ripens, you will be born in the God Realms
And experience the suffering of change and falling to lower rebirths.
Through Kuntuzangpo’s prayer, may you beings who develop pride,
Let your consciousness relax in the natural state.
Then your Awareness will be able to hold its own.
May you achieve the wisdom of equanimity!
By Increasing the habit of duality, by praising yourself and denigrating others,
Your competitive mind will lead you to jealousy and fighting,
And you will be born in the jealous God Realm, where there is
much killing and injury
From the result of that killing, you will fall into the Hell Realm.
Through Kuntuzangpo’s prayer, when jealousy and competitive thoughts arise,
Do not grasp them as enemies.
Just relax in ease, then consciousness can hold its own natural state.
May you achieve the wisdom of unobstructed action!
By being distracted, careless and unmindful,
You beings will become dull, foggy and forgetful
By being unconscious and lazy, you will increase your ignorance
And the fruition of this ignorance will be to wander helplessly
in the Animal Realm.
Through Kuntuzangpo’s prayer,
May you beings who have fallen into the dark pit of Ignorance
Shine the light of mindfulness and thereby achieve wisdom free from thought.
All you beings of the three realms are actually identical to Buddha,
the Ground of all.
But your misunderstanding of the Ground causes you to go astray,
So you act without aim.
The six karmic actions are a delusion, like a dream.
I am the Primordial Buddha here to train the six kinds of beings
Through all my manifestations.
Through Kuntuzangpo’s prayer may all you beings without exception
Attain enlightenment in the state of Dharmadhatu.
Ah Ho!
Hereafter, whenever a very powerful yogin
With his or her Awareness radiant and free from delusion
Recites this very powerful prayer, then all who hear it
Will achieve enlightenment within three lifetimes.
During a solar or lunar eclipse, during an earthquake or when the earth rumbles,
At the solstices or the new year, you should visualize Kuntuzangpo.
And if you pray loudly so all can hear,
Then beings of the three realms will be gradually liberated from suffering,
Through the prayer of the yogin and will finally achieve enlightenment.