༈ །འཛམ་གླིང་ཕན་བདེའི་དགའ་སྟོན་རོལ་པ་ཆེ། །སྔ་འགྱུར་རིག་འཛིན་སྐྱེ་བུའི་དཔལ་དང་ལྡན། །སྔགས་འཆང་རིགས་སྡེའི་ཡོན་དང་དབང་ཐང་གི །རྒྱས་པའི་ཤིས་མཚན་ཀུན་ཏུ་འབར་འགྱུར་ཅིག །།
A great festival display of benefit and happiness in the world, by the grace of those vidyadharas of the Early Translation Tradition, may auspicious signs of increasing quality and power of the Mantradhara lineage expand and blaze everywhere.
།འདུལ་དཀའ་འདུལ་དང་མགོན་མེད་སྐྱབས་ཅིག་པུ། །རྨད་འབྱུང་དབང་ཆེན་པདྨའི་རིག་འཛིན་གང་། །འགྲོ་བའི་དོན་དུ་སྣང་བ་བརྟན་ཞིང་རྒྱས། །རྣམ་གྲོལ་དགེ་ལེགས་མཁའ་དང་མཉམ་འགྱུར་ཅིག །།
Tamer of the hard to tame, sole refuge of protectorless beings -- may Powerful Padma's wondrous vidyadharas manifest for the benefit of beings, be stable and increase. May liberating virtue and goodness be equal to space.
།དུས་གསུམ་སངས་རྒྱས་གུ་རུའི་རྒྱལ་ཚབ་དངོས། །བཀའ་དྲིན་གསུམ་ལྡན་ཡིད་བཞིན་ནོར་བུ་མཆོག །སྐལ་ལྡན་བུ་སློབ་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་དེད་དཔོན་དུ་། །བསྐལ་བརྒྱར་བཞུགས་པའི་བདེ་ལེགས་བཀྲ་ཤིས་ཤོག །།
Present regent of Guru [Padma}, Buddha of the Three Times, supreme wish granting gem of triple kindness, as the captain of fortunate disciples, let their be the good sign of your remaining for their happiness and welfare for one hundred aeons!
ཞེས་རང་གི་སྙིང་སྨོན་ཨི་ཏི་བྷཱཥིཏཾ། མངྒལཾ་བྷཝེཏ྄།
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Rare but Distinct Auspices
Scripture emanates from the heart-mind of Awakened Ones, such as Buddha Shakyamuni, Guru Rinpoche and Dorje Sempa, and is severally taught to disciples via direct transmission of meaning mind-to-mind; via non-literal, non-verbal symbolic indication; or by personal verbal communication. Buddhist teachings are given via literal prescription ("the cause of suffering should be abandoned"), via literal description ("the cause of suffering is afflicting emotions"), or through non-literal expressions.
For example, "In the retreat cell of the body, take refuge in the Lama of unborn awareness" uses metaphor; "adjust your mind the way a lute player adjusts the strings" uses analogy. "Kill your mother and father" is yet another type of non-literal statement known from scripture, known as gong-ke or "intentional language". The shock value of the statement drives home the underlying intended meaning, where "kill" means "eliminate", "mother" means lust and attachment, and "father" means anger and aggression. A similar principle is at work whenever the "F" word is used for emphasis in spoken English. If used sparingly, its effect can be a powerful aid to memory.
Metaphor is code for what cannot be said or indicated directly, as in the expression "space-like emptiness", or "like a mute's experience of chocolate". Space cannot be indicated by pointing with one's finger, because wherever one points there is space, in fact one's finger itself occupies space and so exemplifies an instance of space, albeit one occupied by a material substance. Basically space is used to indicate itself, which is really no indication at all. So no particular instance of pointing to space really serves to indicate space by example, since any and every signifier of space (like a pointing finger) is as much an instantiation of what is indicated (space) as anything else.
If we understand the function of language generally, and metaphor in particular, as though space itself were being used to indicate space as an example of space, then we can understand the way Dharma is used to indicate Dharma. Here, the word "Dharma" includes Dharmakaya, as living present embodiment of Dharma.
There is no way to exemplify space by comparison to something else, since there is nothing else like it -- only space among the five elements is independent of and always unaffected by the other four, whereas the other four are identically and equally dependent upon space for their every function. There nothing else like space to compare it with, because space is literally not a thing, nor is it nothing either. It is not nothing because it is always necessary, whereas nothing is never necessary.
So much for space. Ditto emptiness.
If someone says, "how much space do you need", we can still indicate effectively, via symbolic gesture or literal description, what amount is required. Similarly since all phenomena are empty, and emptiness is phenomena, pointing to phenomena to exemplify emptiness is redundant, since they are emptiness. Pointing to space to exemplify emptiness is inadequate, because emptiness is the nature of space already. Therefore since emptiness is unique as well as inclusive, it admits of no example or comparison in truth, yet examples and comparisons do sometimes serve to generate understanding of emptiness or eliminate misconceptions about it, by illustrating the abstract logic that is, in point of fact, the real method used to "teach" emptiness.
With metaphor, and in word choice generally, messages that cannot be stated literally, for whatever reason, are coded. Those words are coded in letters. Letters are coded by convention in relation to other letters, or with reference to the schematic diagram of how the sound represented by the letter is actually formed in the mouth or throat. The letter 'A' in various scripts may be seen as an image of breath held in the lungs, or ready to exhale from the lungs.
Sentences are coded in words, and syntactical subunits and units. Within those units, word choice, order, repetition, as well as alliteration, predominance of certain vowels and consonants, as well as the pattern of those, encode subtle information, which may or may not be indicative of something relevant, and are normally not visible or interpretable consciously except perhaps in cases of synaesthetic awareness. There are many layers of significance associated with text. Except in the speech of Buddhas or the writings of enlightened speech-masters, the subtle effects of the aesthetics of composition, and the semantics of word choice, use of metaphor and rhetorical devices and so on, are haphazard and creative of subtle cognitive dissonance. The writings of truly blessed speech on the other hand have synaesthetic energy based on subtle, potentiated interdependence of the words and letters as they appear for a specific time, purpose and so on.
Being thus coded secures the meaning -- or rather, infinite panoramas of meaning -- of the scripture according to the various natures, abilities and predilections of living beings that see, hear or remember scripture. In this way all scriptures, whether encoded as letter-shapes or letter-sounds, as written, spoken or recorded words, or as memories of those letter-shapes and sounds, are encapsulations of potential that yield meaning -- such as guidance, or indication of mind-nature -- whenever the potential for yields of meaning exists. For example, when someone has time, ability, inclination and material support to recite the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, his or her previous memory of reading that Sutra, as well as the fresh experience of reciting and seeing the letters and words, unleashes the potential message of the scripture, as well as that person's potential wisdom generated in response to the scripture.
In this way, a scripture -- or even every single letter contained within it -- is a Buddhahood delivery device. Those who fear awakening -- those who wish to control and abuse other beings, especially -- are ignorant of and greatly fear scripture. That is why the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras are recited as the best of all reversals of ill-will and misfortune, because they overturn the rule of Samsara itself.
There is a distinction between scriptural utterance (bka') and enlightened intent (dgongs pa). The statements of intent in scripture are sometimes literal expressions of the Buddha's intent: for example, "The cause of suffering should be abandoned". In other places those statements are not literal expressions of the underlying intent, e.g., "in one in whom compassion is cut off, there is no lineage of enlightened potential".
There is another distinction, between a scripture that has been heard from a scriptural-transmission holder's living speech (Tib. lung, Skt. agama), and the same scripture as understood by phases, e.g., conceptually (rtog, rtogs) or nonconceptually realized (Tib. *yang dag rtogs, Skt adhigama). In the first case scripture is internalized, and in the second, fully integrated.
Analogously, the encoding of Buddha's relative intent ("the cause of cyclic existence should be abandoned") and Buddha's final message of intent ("the end of suffering is Nirvana") is, schematically at least, complete in His scriptural statements that are literal expressions of those intents, relating to relative and ultimate truth. But the full range of evoked meanings and messages relative the hearers or recipients of Buddha's scriptural messages can only be accomadated via metaphor, or other coded forms of speech. This is because the nonconceptual realization of Buddha's intent -- which is Dharmakaya --requires interpretation and repeated, elaborated expressions culminating in final, immaculate simplicity of non-elaboration, in other words, a path to attainment.
For example, "In the retreat cell of the body, take refuge in the Lama of unborn awareness" uses metaphor; "adjust your mind the way a lute player adjusts the strings" uses analogy. "Kill your mother and father" is yet another type of non-literal statement known from scripture, known as gong-ke or "intentional language". The shock value of the statement drives home the underlying intended meaning, where "kill" means "eliminate", "mother" means lust and attachment, and "father" means anger and aggression. A similar principle is at work whenever the "F" word is used for emphasis in spoken English. If used sparingly, its effect can be a powerful aid to memory.
Metaphor is code for what cannot be said or indicated directly, as in the expression "space-like emptiness", or "like a mute's experience of chocolate". Space cannot be indicated by pointing with one's finger, because wherever one points there is space, in fact one's finger itself occupies space and so exemplifies an instance of space, albeit one occupied by a material substance. Basically space is used to indicate itself, which is really no indication at all. So no particular instance of pointing to space really serves to indicate space by example, since any and every signifier of space (like a pointing finger) is as much an instantiation of what is indicated (space) as anything else.
If we understand the function of language generally, and metaphor in particular, as though space itself were being used to indicate space as an example of space, then we can understand the way Dharma is used to indicate Dharma. Here, the word "Dharma" includes Dharmakaya, as living present embodiment of Dharma.
There is no way to exemplify space by comparison to something else, since there is nothing else like it -- only space among the five elements is independent of and always unaffected by the other four, whereas the other four are identically and equally dependent upon space for their every function. There nothing else like space to compare it with, because space is literally not a thing, nor is it nothing either. It is not nothing because it is always necessary, whereas nothing is never necessary.
So much for space. Ditto emptiness.
If someone says, "how much space do you need", we can still indicate effectively, via symbolic gesture or literal description, what amount is required. Similarly since all phenomena are empty, and emptiness is phenomena, pointing to phenomena to exemplify emptiness is redundant, since they are emptiness. Pointing to space to exemplify emptiness is inadequate, because emptiness is the nature of space already. Therefore since emptiness is unique as well as inclusive, it admits of no example or comparison in truth, yet examples and comparisons do sometimes serve to generate understanding of emptiness or eliminate misconceptions about it, by illustrating the abstract logic that is, in point of fact, the real method used to "teach" emptiness.
With metaphor, and in word choice generally, messages that cannot be stated literally, for whatever reason, are coded. Those words are coded in letters. Letters are coded by convention in relation to other letters, or with reference to the schematic diagram of how the sound represented by the letter is actually formed in the mouth or throat. The letter 'A' in various scripts may be seen as an image of breath held in the lungs, or ready to exhale from the lungs.
Sentences are coded in words, and syntactical subunits and units. Within those units, word choice, order, repetition, as well as alliteration, predominance of certain vowels and consonants, as well as the pattern of those, encode subtle information, which may or may not be indicative of something relevant, and are normally not visible or interpretable consciously except perhaps in cases of synaesthetic awareness. There are many layers of significance associated with text. Except in the speech of Buddhas or the writings of enlightened speech-masters, the subtle effects of the aesthetics of composition, and the semantics of word choice, use of metaphor and rhetorical devices and so on, are haphazard and creative of subtle cognitive dissonance. The writings of truly blessed speech on the other hand have synaesthetic energy based on subtle, potentiated interdependence of the words and letters as they appear for a specific time, purpose and so on.
Being thus coded secures the meaning -- or rather, infinite panoramas of meaning -- of the scripture according to the various natures, abilities and predilections of living beings that see, hear or remember scripture. In this way all scriptures, whether encoded as letter-shapes or letter-sounds, as written, spoken or recorded words, or as memories of those letter-shapes and sounds, are encapsulations of potential that yield meaning -- such as guidance, or indication of mind-nature -- whenever the potential for yields of meaning exists. For example, when someone has time, ability, inclination and material support to recite the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, his or her previous memory of reading that Sutra, as well as the fresh experience of reciting and seeing the letters and words, unleashes the potential message of the scripture, as well as that person's potential wisdom generated in response to the scripture.
In this way, a scripture -- or even every single letter contained within it -- is a Buddhahood delivery device. Those who fear awakening -- those who wish to control and abuse other beings, especially -- are ignorant of and greatly fear scripture. That is why the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras are recited as the best of all reversals of ill-will and misfortune, because they overturn the rule of Samsara itself.
There is a distinction between scriptural utterance (bka') and enlightened intent (dgongs pa). The statements of intent in scripture are sometimes literal expressions of the Buddha's intent: for example, "The cause of suffering should be abandoned". In other places those statements are not literal expressions of the underlying intent, e.g., "in one in whom compassion is cut off, there is no lineage of enlightened potential".
There is another distinction, between a scripture that has been heard from a scriptural-transmission holder's living speech (Tib. lung, Skt. agama), and the same scripture as understood by phases, e.g., conceptually (rtog, rtogs) or nonconceptually realized (Tib. *yang dag rtogs, Skt adhigama). In the first case scripture is internalized, and in the second, fully integrated.
Analogously, the encoding of Buddha's relative intent ("the cause of cyclic existence should be abandoned") and Buddha's final message of intent ("the end of suffering is Nirvana") is, schematically at least, complete in His scriptural statements that are literal expressions of those intents, relating to relative and ultimate truth. But the full range of evoked meanings and messages relative the hearers or recipients of Buddha's scriptural messages can only be accomadated via metaphor, or other coded forms of speech. This is because the nonconceptual realization of Buddha's intent -- which is Dharmakaya --requires interpretation and repeated, elaborated expressions culminating in final, immaculate simplicity of non-elaboration, in other words, a path to attainment.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Reflections on 'Sri', or Epicyclical Recurrence
NAMAS
KĀLA-MAHĀVIGHNĀNTAKA-KĀYAYA
Please consider reading through this essay if you are familiar with one or more of the following: algebra, spreadsheets or databases, and/or Tom Cruise's holographic computer desktop interface as shown, via special effects, in Minority Report.
All the same, please feel free to ignore the next two paragraphs if not familiar with linear algebra and/or an OOPL.
Habitual patterns (Tib. bag-chags) can be understood by analogy to algebra and object-oriented computer programming. Habitual patterns are like data in a five-dimensional matrix. Or, they are like a database in which each of a limited number of data objects must be referenced as index of five row/columns: x, y, z, t, and R (R=rig pa or awareness) and where each such object instantiates a unique type.
As an abstract of that database, imagine a spreadsheet document, where for each sheet there are three rows (x,y, and z dimensions) and one column (t, or time). In each box is a bit of data -- a value, or (thinking as object-oriented programmer) an object that is identified as a coordinate of values x, y, and z, and t, and whose default value derives from some arbitrary function of values contained within the same matrix. Understand also that defaults change as a function of t which means some (but not necessarily all) objects in the superset database from which our document's present data derives will modify at each successive t and therefore also the properties of related objects in it. For this reason, the values on our sheet abstract are also liable to change, but only never all at the same time, and moreover, we assume their liability to change fluctuates according to cycles and epicycles.
Imagine that our personal karmic timeline spreadsheet document is navigable through an interface like Tom Cruise's in Minority Report. The document has 365 sheets, which are arranged in a circle or torus shape, through which one can browse at will and observe the changing data-objects in each cell. Each sheet has 86400 pages for its t or Time column, corresponding to the number of seconds in each day. A knower of three times (dus gsum mkhyen pa) can browse such a document and its 365 sheets ad libitum for any time, place, or being.
The three dimensions of (objective) material-spatial data contained in each such document derive from the kun-gzhi or ground-of-all (alaya) as karmic potentials, and from the fourth dimension of data structure which is instances of time. Though cyclical time, each instance of time is recorded after its occurrence with a constant value, and as a data object, contains a history of its own genesis to that moment.
So time has everywhere the same value in each moment, but not each moment of present time has the same value as the next or previous moment. The fifth dimension of this matrix, if any be reckoned, is timeless awareness (rig pa'i ye shes or R). Extending our implicitly mathematical metaphor, the value (=meaning) of time generally, or in any specific instance, is understood as a function of awareness. Awareness (rig pa) is potentially a function of timeless awareness (ye shes) which means awareness admits of two phases or degrees: (i) awareness (rig pa) as functionally equivalent to apperception (rang rig) and realized to be timelessly so in its every instance (so so rang rig pa'i ye shes), and (ii) awareness as not functionally so, which is unawaress (ma rig pa). Unawareness (ii) is functionally equivalent, for present intents and purposes, to every particular instance of possible experience (so so'i rnam par rig pa). In other words, in having a particular experience, we have awareness with a degree or functional capacity of unawareness. Particular instances of experience are glossed variously as "dualistic perception" (dvi-vijñāpti), "consciousness" (vijñāna) and so forth
When there is awareness (i), the value of time is timeless, hence the expression 'timeless awareness'; when there is unawareness (ii), the value of time relates to future and past time, and instantiates as habitual patterns or karma.
Timeless awareness, and karma taken together as a whole process, are like Tom Cruise with the mind of an accountant, browsing the toroidal 365-sheet data matrices of cyclical time that belong to any and every sentient being, seeing who owes what to whom, and then making them pay up somehow, the more painlessly the better.
The variance of time's value at each successive moment recorded in the sheet is a function of the relative presence (rig pa) or absence (ma rig pa=avidya) of awareness as the moment occurred. Since the strength or relative presence of awareness can fluctuate, so can the value of time in successive moments, and with that, the relative strength of karmic affect subject to awareness.
Understood (more or less) thusly, the supposition that every moment in time is equally a moment--yet every moment has a greater or lesser value in the scheme of repetitive cycle overlaid with epicycles of value-flux--provides a context for understanding what sri (pronounced 'C') means in Tibetan medicine, psychiatry and astrology. Of course it would beg the question of what we really mean by 'value' since mathematical or computer-programming-based metaphors aside, the value of time is unquantifiable due to its pure subjectivity --that is, either awareness or unawareness. Otherwise put, in the time frame of individual moments awareness is a Boolean data-type.
Somewhere in our successive moments of time, there are precious times that bless us invariably, dreadful times that curse us whether we know it or not, and a great many moments that seem unavoidably neutral or useless, irrespective of our wishes. Unavoidably positive, negative or value-neutral recurring moments are due to previous karma intersecting with the timeline and circumstances of our birth, as well as our conduct in this life. Altogether these would be termed srid (also pronounced 'C'), or cyclic existence, within this particular life.
In the particular context of habitual, potentially unfortunate or unforseen, or recurrent, or perhaps also 'deja vu' circumstances, such recurrent moments are known as sri. When those recurring moments build up, or instantiate, in connection with ongoing affect of previous spiritual disasters, they are termed dam sri and so on, with reference to literal and metaphorical demons from the past.
Since 'psyche' includes awareness as well as intentionality, we should understand 'psychic' as functionally equivalent in meaning to 'energetic'. By 'energy' let us understand not only what chemistry and physics could measure in us, but also what we can experience via various accomadations of our limited physicality to our mental, or rather spiritual self-empowerment. That means at some point undertaking discipline, which leads to transformation of habitual patterns, primarily by bringing them to awareness via some method or another. If we move the energy of speech and body, it is only due to the energy of the psyche itself. The energy of body, speech and mind are naturally inseparable, which at the level of the Buddha is known as Svabhavikakaya or Natural Essence Body.
'Energy' thus understood is what relates most directly in nature to so-called astrology. Astrology concerns the logic (or rather, the analogic) of 'stars' which for astrology, are either planets that reflect sunlight, or suns that give light. Earth is reckoned implicitly as a planet which has its own version of astrological influence on us. That influence relates to the times of year, and therefore also the seasons, and therefore also the elements, particularly as those are aligned with the cardinal points of the compass. In that connection so-called 'astrology' is practiced, for practical intents and purposes, as geomancy or feng-shui.
The sun's annual path on its ecliptic, through the twelve astrological constellations, is the measure of time in our aforementioned mathematical matrix analogy; the sun itself stands for the 'fifth dimension', or timeless awareness, which illuminates all and is final measure of all.
The earth's native astrology relates most vitally to the cycle of the Sun, through solstices and equinoxes. The cardinal and intermediate points of the compass, and the several seasons and subseasons of the earth's solar year, correspond to the eight eight trigrams of the I Ching and their several arrangements in a circular pattern. Each of those eight can be derived for every day, hour, minute and second of each day of the year, for each year of the sexagenary cycle (consisting of 12 animal years combined with 5 elements). Each sexagenary cycle has its own index in history, with its own prophecy in previous cycles and providing prophecies of its own relating to future cycles. In the Tibetan rendering, we are in the seventeenth rab-'byung or sexagenary era since that cycle was adopted.
So essentially are as many seasons, astrologically speaking, as there are moments in a solar year. This is the basic understanding of Tibetan astrology, which combines (among other elements) the teachings of the Kalachakra (Wheel of Time) Tantra, deriving from 10th-century India or Central Asia, as well as ancient teachings of Chinese philosophy and 'astrology' (e.g., the trigram symbols and their various uses).
The upshot of the Tibetan view of astrology is that every minute, if not every moment, in every day of every year of our precious human lives has an accreted personal character that is unique (due to our previous karmically conditioned experience of the same moment in previous years), as well as a universal character that is unique but also interpersonal and pervasive in natural phenomena. Based on the latter universal character, the various qualities of the various times and subcycles of time in a year can be predicted and taken advantage of, through calculating the coincidence of the twelve year-animals and five elements with those of a particular person, persons, time(s) or place(s).
Understanding and recognizing the peculiar character of those times implies opportunity for liberation to the extent that in recognizing patterns of circumstances as those coincide on outer and inner levels of experience simultaneously in different phases of time throughout the year, one can eliminate the traces of previous habit instantiated by our personal karma at particular times or seasons, due to the cyclical or repetitive (and universal, interpersonal) nature of those times or seasons.
In any case one may simply rest in a state of recognition as those moments in time come up that uncannily incite or aggravate previous habits in similar moments before, and see therein the timeless, or at least repetive nature, of subjective and universal time as they coemerge and coalesce in each moment. In this there is nothing to remove and nothing to add. Subjective habit is first felt as impulse, which is not karma or action, and at the same time, the context of impulse is just an adornment of (or, a dimensional matrix that is part and parcel of) the time itself.
Together they are primarily energy patterns so on the path their manifestation is either liberated as it is, as pure display with sheer awareness, or transformed -- optionally -- by increasing and transforming their natural expression in union with the expression of the path. In this way, various practitioners of the three yanas knowingly, or unknowingly, relate the repetition of personal habit and temporal precipitation of habit as external circumstance to the cause of suffering and the arising of suffering, and then, via recognition, avoidance and positive endeavor, make an end to suffering via the path.
Friday, August 11, 2017
End-Time Rituals/དུས་མཐའི་རིམ་གྲོ
End-Time Rituals,
by the Third Dodrupchen RInpoche,
Jigme Tenpa'i Nyima, 1865-1926
The sole basis for happiness, joy and auspiciousness is the Buddhas' teaching. But the holy ones holding it are mostly gone. When people engage in un-Dharma, divines and humans are distressed, and the inferior realms such as the demigod's grow in power. Such is the nature of things. Especially, the people of Tibet will forget their unique protectors, Orgyen Rinpoche and the deity Great Compassion, seeking refuge instead with worldly elemental spirits. When the karma they create is exclusively non-virtue, the key to their merit [which is] aspiration becomes perverted. The thus-blackened laymen and laywomen, monastics with broken vows, and mantra practitioners with damaged vows are reborn as dark elementals with great power, and foment disturbance amongst the eight classes of gods and demons. The wild ghost-demons (rgya 'dre) at the four limits lead them by the nose, and the nine Gongpo demon-brothers' armies will rise up like a winter gale. Many Light Side side earth-lords will be driven from their abodes, for the most part yoked and rendered unable to rise up. Even the most powerful protectors of the Buddha's doctrine will realize they have no way to protect due to the fact that Tibetan people have become devoid of any Dharmic charisma, and will depart for Vidyadhara cities such as Zangdopalri.
When this land of Tibet has become like a vast, depopulated landscape, as a sign of the central and outlying elementals intermingling, people from the center and outlying areas will also mingle. Countries will overlap each others' borders, and modes of Dharmic conduct will overlap/contradict. At that time, generally speaking disease, famine, war, conflict and other tremendous fears will abound.
In particular, armies in the four directions will gather time and time again, as the Knower of Three Times, Great Orgyen, has said in transmitted texts. Moreover, amongst the ten great times of [predicted] upheaval, nowadays (late 19th-early 20th century) the eighth is mostly finished and the ninth is close at hand. There are ways of reversing those [upheavals] but due to the power of the collective karma of the Tibetan people, it is difficult for just a few of them to do the reversing. As for the many, they do not practice collaboratively and cannot seem to agree. But if practioners came around, those of capable of holding awareness mantras at the level of definitive approach and accomplishment should practice the Martial Threadcross (g.yul mdos), heal the earth essences (sa gnad me btsa'), throw reversing Tormas, consigning the Gongpos ('gong po Ar gtad), suppress dam-sri, and make prayers and offerings to the Dharmapalas in general, and the Twelve Tenmas in particular. They should do peaceful and wrathful Jinsek in all detail, proclaim the commitments of gods and demons, and so forth. If they can practice without self-deception and with extraordinary intent for the universal benefit of the Teachings and sentient beings, it is very powerful -- but it is difficult to gather many such highly qualified individuals.
What is easy to accomplish and most definitely effective is monastics and mantrikas, laymen and laywomen, and young girls all reciting many hundreds of millions of Mani, and especially to recite in a loud chorus on big holidays; to carve mani stones; raise prayer flags [with the Mani], and also, do just the same with the Guru Siddhi mantra. Recite the Sampa Lhundrup many times, and particularly amongst the thirteen Wish-Granting Gem-like pith instructions, the first is "When the terrible armies of Hor and so forth gather at the borders" [i.e., the Sampa Nyurupma?]. This should be accumulated tens and hundreds of thousands of times.
One should perform many obeisances to, recite, and make copies the Dharani and mantra of Ozerchenma. Do as many demon-reversals of Prajnaparamita as possible. Do the Mandala-rite of Tara purely, many times, and recite the 21 Tara-obeisances 10 million times, as much as possible. Accumulate as many Dung-chur (100 million) accumulations of Tara's ten-syllable mantra. To raise as many large flags of Tara as possible is extremely important.
These are absolutely not recommendations based on my own mirror-divinations, or based on my own personal sense of what kind of rituals might be good to do. These are written down without distortion from the treasure-texts of the Second Buddha of Oddiyana, so they are quite worthy of being taken to heart. Generally speaking, these considerations are like gathering water from afar, prior to running out. Similarly, before anything happens, we have to practice in advance. This is a foregone conclusion. So now, whenever many qualified practitioners are possible, in each case I thought it might be helpful for someone's happiness. That is why I wrote this; let their be virtue!
Translated Aug. 10, 2017, by Vagchandra
by the Third Dodrupchen RInpoche,
Jigme Tenpa'i Nyima, 1865-1926
The sole basis for happiness, joy and auspiciousness is the Buddhas' teaching. But the holy ones holding it are mostly gone. When people engage in un-Dharma, divines and humans are distressed, and the inferior realms such as the demigod's grow in power. Such is the nature of things. Especially, the people of Tibet will forget their unique protectors, Orgyen Rinpoche and the deity Great Compassion, seeking refuge instead with worldly elemental spirits. When the karma they create is exclusively non-virtue, the key to their merit [which is] aspiration becomes perverted. The thus-blackened laymen and laywomen, monastics with broken vows, and mantra practitioners with damaged vows are reborn as dark elementals with great power, and foment disturbance amongst the eight classes of gods and demons. The wild ghost-demons (rgya 'dre) at the four limits lead them by the nose, and the nine Gongpo demon-brothers' armies will rise up like a winter gale. Many Light Side side earth-lords will be driven from their abodes, for the most part yoked and rendered unable to rise up. Even the most powerful protectors of the Buddha's doctrine will realize they have no way to protect due to the fact that Tibetan people have become devoid of any Dharmic charisma, and will depart for Vidyadhara cities such as Zangdopalri.
When this land of Tibet has become like a vast, depopulated landscape, as a sign of the central and outlying elementals intermingling, people from the center and outlying areas will also mingle. Countries will overlap each others' borders, and modes of Dharmic conduct will overlap/contradict. At that time, generally speaking disease, famine, war, conflict and other tremendous fears will abound.
In particular, armies in the four directions will gather time and time again, as the Knower of Three Times, Great Orgyen, has said in transmitted texts. Moreover, amongst the ten great times of [predicted] upheaval, nowadays (late 19th-early 20th century) the eighth is mostly finished and the ninth is close at hand. There are ways of reversing those [upheavals] but due to the power of the collective karma of the Tibetan people, it is difficult for just a few of them to do the reversing. As for the many, they do not practice collaboratively and cannot seem to agree. But if practioners came around, those of capable of holding awareness mantras at the level of definitive approach and accomplishment should practice the Martial Threadcross (g.yul mdos), heal the earth essences (sa gnad me btsa'), throw reversing Tormas, consigning the Gongpos ('gong po Ar gtad), suppress dam-sri, and make prayers and offerings to the Dharmapalas in general, and the Twelve Tenmas in particular. They should do peaceful and wrathful Jinsek in all detail, proclaim the commitments of gods and demons, and so forth. If they can practice without self-deception and with extraordinary intent for the universal benefit of the Teachings and sentient beings, it is very powerful -- but it is difficult to gather many such highly qualified individuals.
What is easy to accomplish and most definitely effective is monastics and mantrikas, laymen and laywomen, and young girls all reciting many hundreds of millions of Mani, and especially to recite in a loud chorus on big holidays; to carve mani stones; raise prayer flags [with the Mani], and also, do just the same with the Guru Siddhi mantra. Recite the Sampa Lhundrup many times, and particularly amongst the thirteen Wish-Granting Gem-like pith instructions, the first is "When the terrible armies of Hor and so forth gather at the borders" [i.e., the Sampa Nyurupma?]. This should be accumulated tens and hundreds of thousands of times.
One should perform many obeisances to, recite, and make copies the Dharani and mantra of Ozerchenma. Do as many demon-reversals of Prajnaparamita as possible. Do the Mandala-rite of Tara purely, many times, and recite the 21 Tara-obeisances 10 million times, as much as possible. Accumulate as many Dung-chur (100 million) accumulations of Tara's ten-syllable mantra. To raise as many large flags of Tara as possible is extremely important.
These are absolutely not recommendations based on my own mirror-divinations, or based on my own personal sense of what kind of rituals might be good to do. These are written down without distortion from the treasure-texts of the Second Buddha of Oddiyana, so they are quite worthy of being taken to heart. Generally speaking, these considerations are like gathering water from afar, prior to running out. Similarly, before anything happens, we have to practice in advance. This is a foregone conclusion. So now, whenever many qualified practitioners are possible, in each case I thought it might be helpful for someone's happiness. That is why I wrote this; let their be virtue!
Translated Aug. 10, 2017, by Vagchandra
Thursday, August 10, 2017
༈ །ཤིན་ཏུ་དབེན་པ་བའི་རྫུན་ངག་བཞུགས།།
༈ །ཤིན་ཏུ་དབེན་པའི་འདུག་ཚུལ་ལ། །ཞེ་འདོད་གང་ཡང་མེད་པའི་བཙན་པའི་ས། །དངོས་གྲུབ་གང་ཡང་མེད་པའི་སྟོང་པའི་མཁར། །སྐུ་ཞབས་ཆེ་གེ་སྨོན་མེད་བཙོན་དུ་བཟུང་། །སྟེང་འོག་མེད་པའི་རྟོག་པའི་ཁང་ཆུང་རྡིབ། །ཡངས་དོག་མེད་པའི་རྟོག་མེད་ཀློང་དུ་ཤོར། །སྐད་ཅིག་གཉིས་མེད་འཁོར་འདས་གཞི་རུ་ཆགས། །རང་གཞན་སྟེང་འོག་ཐར་བའི་ཐབས་ཤེས་འཇུག །རེ་མེད་ལམ་དུ་རྒྱུགས་བཞིན་རིལ་མར་འཕོ། །རྡོག་མེད་ས་བཀྲ་མེད་པའི་ཐང་དུ་སླེབ། །འབྲས་བུ་ལམ་བྱས་སྐམ་སར་ཆ་མེད་རྒྱུ། །བྱིན་རླབས་ཆུས་སྐོམ་མོས་གུས་རྫ་ཕོར་སློང། །གདམས་ངག་ཤ་མེད་རང་ཤ་ཆོད་ཆེས་ཟ། །དེ་འདྲ་དབེན་པའི་གང་ཟག་ཤིན་ཏུ་ཕོངས་་་་་སམ། སྲིན་བུས་རང་དར་སྐུད་ཀྱིས་འཐུམས་པའི་བདེ་མལ་དུ་ཤིན་ཏུ་འཁྲུལ་ཞིང་རྨོངས་པ་ལྟ་བུའི་གང་ཡིན་མི་ཤེས་པས།། ཞེས་གང་ཡང་མི་ཤེས་པའི་གད་མོ་སློང་དེ་འབྲིས་པས་ཀུན་ཏུ་མི་འཁོན་པ་དང་དགེ་བའི་རྒྱན་དུ་གྱུར་པའི་རྒྱུར་གྱུར་ཅིག
In the manner of abiding extreme isolation,
In a terrible place where there is no preference whatsoever,
In an empty castle where nothing at all is accomplished,
There is Mr. Nobody, stuck in a wishless dungeon
Without above or below, the small room of concepts collapsed,
Without opening or narrowing, slipping into the space of non-thought
In a single instant, without a second, samsara and nirvana stick to the ground,
Above and below, methods to liberate oneself and others begin
Running hopelessly on a path, everyone stumbles together.
Unpatched, one arrives on an unmapped plain,
The result taken as path, on dry ground one wanders clueless,
Thirsting for blessing water, one carries the bowl of devotion,
Without meat of spiritual advice, consuming one's own flesh for nourishment:
Such an isolated individual is extremely deprived!
...or, perhaps he is just confused and deluded like worm tied up all comfy in his own silken thread -- I don't know, but even so this really made me laugh to write it. May all be not offended, and may this become the cause for the poetics of virtue (dge ba'i rgyan)!
In the manner of abiding extreme isolation,
In a terrible place where there is no preference whatsoever,
In an empty castle where nothing at all is accomplished,
There is Mr. Nobody, stuck in a wishless dungeon
Without above or below, the small room of concepts collapsed,
Without opening or narrowing, slipping into the space of non-thought
In a single instant, without a second, samsara and nirvana stick to the ground,
Above and below, methods to liberate oneself and others begin
Running hopelessly on a path, everyone stumbles together.
Unpatched, one arrives on an unmapped plain,
The result taken as path, on dry ground one wanders clueless,
Thirsting for blessing water, one carries the bowl of devotion,
Without meat of spiritual advice, consuming one's own flesh for nourishment:
Such an isolated individual is extremely deprived!
...or, perhaps he is just confused and deluded like worm tied up all comfy in his own silken thread -- I don't know, but even so this really made me laugh to write it. May all be not offended, and may this become the cause for the poetics of virtue (dge ba'i rgyan)!
༈ བླ་མེད་ཐེག་པའི་ངེས་འབྱུང་།
།ཨ་ཏི་བླ་མེད་ཐེག་པའི་ངེས་འབྱུང་ནི། །ཟུང་འཛིན་གཉིས་མེད་སྙིང་རྗེ་སྤྲོས་དང་བྲལ། །ཡང་དག་གཞན་དབང་བརྟེན་པའི་ཚུལ་རྟོགས་བཞིན། །རིག་པའི་རང་དབང་གདེངས་སུ་འགྱུར་པ་ན། །རང་གཞན་དབྱེར་མེད་ཚོམ་བུར་འཚང་རྒྱ་བའི། །འོད་གསལ་ཐིག་ལེ་གཅིག་བཞུག་དམ་བཅས་སྟེ། །སྔ་ཕྱི་མེད་པའི་དོན་ཀུན་གྲུབ་པའི་ཞོར། །གང་འབྱུང་ལྷོད་པའི་དལ་དུ་འཇོག་བདེ་བས། །འཛིན་པའི་ཞེན་ཆགས་ཚུབ་རྟོག་སྤང་དུ་མེད་། །དྲན་དང་ཤེས་བཞིན་རང་བཞིན་རྩིས་ཆེས་པས། །དོན་གཉིས་སྒྲུབ་སླད་བག་ཡོད་ངང་གིས་འབྱུང་། །སྨོན་དང་བཀྲ་ཤིས་སེམས་པའི་ཀུན་རྟོག་འཕེལ། །ལམ་སྦྱོང་རྗེས་སུ་བསྒྲུབ་པའི་སེམས་ཤུགས་བསྐྱེད་། །འདི་ལྟར་འཁོར་བ་ལས་འབྱུང་སྡུག་ཀུན་སྤང་། །གཞི་ལས་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་ཡོན་ཏན་ངང་གིས་རྒྱས། །ལེགས་སོ་བསམ་པའི་བློ་དང་ལྡན་པས་བྲིས། དགེ་འགྱུར་ཅིག ཤུ་བྷཾ།
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