Here's more of the previous interview. I do hope these don't "disappear" off the web.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
TRUTH BE TOLD
This all makes sense don't you agree? Here follows Project Camelot's interview with Richard Hoagland. (http://www.enterprisemission.com/)
Friday, February 15, 2008
Love Beyond Time
A moment of happiness,
you and I sitting on the veranda,
apparently two, but one in soul, you and I.
We feel the flowing water of life here,
and the birds singing.
The stars will be watching us,
and we will show them
what it is to be a thin crescent moon.
You and I unselfed, will be together,
indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.
The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar
as we laugh together, you and I.
In one form upon this earth,
and in another form in a timeless sweet land. ~Rumi~
you and I sitting on the veranda,
apparently two, but one in soul, you and I.
We feel the flowing water of life here,
and the birds singing.
The stars will be watching us,
and we will show them
what it is to be a thin crescent moon.
You and I unselfed, will be together,
indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.
The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar
as we laugh together, you and I.
In one form upon this earth,
and in another form in a timeless sweet land. ~Rumi~
Monday, February 11, 2008
Starflights
She kissed the flower and fell into his arms, he caught her against his heart and they tumbled together falling up towards the stars...as one they became the new star born from the heart of dark fire.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
∞
When ever you feel that your problems in life are overwhelming this is a good film to watch to gain some "perspective" on the situation...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Test of Time
Questions abound...
It appears that when we observe things, experiences and so on they are experiencing changes which we mark with measurements or increments of time. Yet exploring the notion of time we have yet to find that it exists beyond a relative framework. For that matter, all of what we term the world has no real existence beyond our conceptions of it. Examining each thing we encounter including our own thoughts will readily show us this. So if there is no time beyond our relative experience of it...and still it is a concept....the fading of a flower is only a comparison of our memory of that flower and its faded form in the moment of perception. Exploring the notion of the past we can see that the past does not exist anywhere in that it is not an arbitrary location that we can travel to except within the framework of our perceptions of it. Examine your experiences of the past. It is all memory. Even if you were to present me with a receipt stating the date and time of a purchase made a month ago, that is NOT the past, that is not the collection of moments in which I spent shopping for those items. Indeed, those moments and only a fraction of them are available to the conscious mind are trapped like flies in amber. Like the amber which has hardened from its once pliable form, these moments are still pictures or at best short vignettes of that experience. And the images, the thoughts are NOT that experience. Which brings me to a question...do we truly experience time? Given that my impressions of it are that its nature is illusory and that I am told that I experience time by calendars, watches, clocks and so forth, can I truly say that time itself is fact, is truth? Yes I can, and have watched the movements of the stars, the sun and the moon. Their great slow procession across my perception of the sky. Yet in the moment of watching fully there is no movement, and yet much movement. I'm questioning a notion upon which civilizations are built and I realize that may be uncomfortable for some. Many are secure in the idea that the sun rises and sets even though its not really doing so. I am venturing to the cliffs though, in search of truth. The truth that the present moment is. That appearances are like bubbles or dreams. More musings later...
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Lost
You left our warm home one winter's night,
Venturing down to the icy water, silently drifting,
Flown there with the netherbirds which must roam.
You'd left faint prints in the snow, I thought,
To show me where I must go.
I tried to reach you, ran quite fast,
But you'd gone where I cannot follow:
The waves are deep and the boat long gone
From its roost in shoreline's shallows.
You floated away in the thin row boat,
Hardly a shelter on such a sea, no oars you took,
On Hades' bark, no look behind, you followed
Blythely some phantom empty shadow.
I called to you, but your eyes
Slid from mine to over yonder, what's
that he sees I wonder,and
as your mouth chattered some inane moonlit blather,
I realized you couldn't hear my cries.
Your giggles,far from happy, were
filled with the empty drifting on endless seas,
Alone and confused and without help,
with no land in sight for eternities.
Your line to here and now grew taught and thin
And snapped eventually so tight it pulled,
You venturing to that place where darkness
reigns supreme, the vast desert of no man's land,
that has no king nor queen.
My heart is heavy now with grief,
For I cannot help you nor even offer
Temporary relief for you who cannot hear me.
Like a beautiful silk tapestry that has come
undone, you've left me far behind and now
you've gone and lost your Mind.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Dewachen
THE QUALITIES OF DÉWACHEN
In general, to enter a buddha-realm, one must have removed even the most subtle of obscurations, kept very pure samaya, and have attained the first bodhisattva level. So, for ordinary beings, it is very difficult to enter a buddha-realm. However, due to Amitabha's strong wishing-prayers, anyone who makes a sincere wishing-prayer to go to Déwachen can be reborn there, even though one has not purified unvirtuous karma nor liberated oneself from the disturbing emotions.
In this present Superior Aeon, the Bodhisattvas Manjushri, Chenrezig, and Vajrapani, as well as deities, nagas and humans, requested Shakyamuni to teach "The Sutra of the Pure Realm of Déwachen". This sutra describes the qualities of Déwachen. In brief, these qualities are that the earth is made of precious substances, the ground being as flat as the palm of a hand, not uneven like our world of mountains and valleys. It is vast and spacious, and the light shining from the body of Amitabha, and from the jewels and precious substances, makes it very clear. The ground is not rough, solid or stony, but soft, smooth and comfortable. If one were to press down on the ground, it would give way and spring back like foam rubber.
In Déwachen, the trees are made of 7 precious gems: all the roots are of gold, the trunks are silver, the branches lapis-lazuli; the large leaves are crystal and the small ones are pyrites; the blossoms are pearls and the fruits are diamonds. Whatever one wishes for appears from these trees. Jewels, tassels and adornments loop from one tree to another. Birds and animals, unlike those of our world, are manifestations of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Some are the colours of conches, turquoises and corals, and their bird-calls are very enchanting, like the sound of a lute. Within those sounds are taught the vast and deep teachings of the Dharma.
The rivers flow softly and gently, carrying the fragrance of camphor and white and red sandalwood. This water has 8 qualities: its essence is very cool, its taste delicious, its outer appearance light, soft to the touch, very clear and unsullied by stones or pebbles; if drunk, it gives no harm to the throat or stomach. On the water are buddha-manifestations of geese, ducks and cranes. One can bathe in the many pools, reached by descending flights of 7 steps made of precious stones.
Although these pools are deep, as one enters, the depth of the water adapts itself to the size of one's body. Surrounding these bathing-pools are fragrant utpala and lotus blooms, emanating light-rays. At the tips of the light-rays appear innumerable Buddhas, each surrounded by Arhats.
Within this buddha-realm resides Amitabha, known in Tibetan as 'Öpamé', meaning 'Immeasurable Light' or 'Limitless Radiance' because light-rays from his body pervade every buddha-realm, illuminating them all. He is also known as Buddha Amitayus, or in Tibetan 'Tsépamé', meaning 'Immeasurable Life', because the extent of his life cannot be calculated. His body is as red as ruby, which symbolises the warmth of his compassion extending to all beings.
In general, to enter a buddha-realm, one must have removed even the most subtle of obscurations, kept very pure samaya, and have attained the first bodhisattva level. So, for ordinary beings, it is very difficult to enter a buddha-realm. However, due to Amitabha's strong wishing-prayers, anyone who makes a sincere wishing-prayer to go to Déwachen can be reborn there, even though one has not purified unvirtuous karma nor liberated oneself from the disturbing emotions.
In this present Superior Aeon, the Bodhisattvas Manjushri, Chenrezig, and Vajrapani, as well as deities, nagas and humans, requested Shakyamuni to teach "The Sutra of the Pure Realm of Déwachen". This sutra describes the qualities of Déwachen. In brief, these qualities are that the earth is made of precious substances, the ground being as flat as the palm of a hand, not uneven like our world of mountains and valleys. It is vast and spacious, and the light shining from the body of Amitabha, and from the jewels and precious substances, makes it very clear. The ground is not rough, solid or stony, but soft, smooth and comfortable. If one were to press down on the ground, it would give way and spring back like foam rubber.
In Déwachen, the trees are made of 7 precious gems: all the roots are of gold, the trunks are silver, the branches lapis-lazuli; the large leaves are crystal and the small ones are pyrites; the blossoms are pearls and the fruits are diamonds. Whatever one wishes for appears from these trees. Jewels, tassels and adornments loop from one tree to another. Birds and animals, unlike those of our world, are manifestations of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Some are the colours of conches, turquoises and corals, and their bird-calls are very enchanting, like the sound of a lute. Within those sounds are taught the vast and deep teachings of the Dharma.
The rivers flow softly and gently, carrying the fragrance of camphor and white and red sandalwood. This water has 8 qualities: its essence is very cool, its taste delicious, its outer appearance light, soft to the touch, very clear and unsullied by stones or pebbles; if drunk, it gives no harm to the throat or stomach. On the water are buddha-manifestations of geese, ducks and cranes. One can bathe in the many pools, reached by descending flights of 7 steps made of precious stones.
Although these pools are deep, as one enters, the depth of the water adapts itself to the size of one's body. Surrounding these bathing-pools are fragrant utpala and lotus blooms, emanating light-rays. At the tips of the light-rays appear innumerable Buddhas, each surrounded by Arhats.
Within this buddha-realm resides Amitabha, known in Tibetan as 'Öpamé', meaning 'Immeasurable Light' or 'Limitless Radiance' because light-rays from his body pervade every buddha-realm, illuminating them all. He is also known as Buddha Amitayus, or in Tibetan 'Tsépamé', meaning 'Immeasurable Life', because the extent of his life cannot be calculated. His body is as red as ruby, which symbolises the warmth of his compassion extending to all beings.
Having taken birth in Déwachen, one does not hear any more even the mere names of the 8 unfavourable states, or of the lower existences . In Déwachen, there are no ordinary women with anger, pride or desire. In this world, sometimes men love women, and at other times they are angry with them and quarrel, yet feel great suffering when they die. However, in Déwachen there are only goddesses, 3000 emanated to serve each individual.
If someone in Déwachen wishes to visit the other pure realms of, for example, Vairochana, Ratnasambhava, Tara or the Glorious Copper-Coloured Mountain of Guru Rinpoche, one can simply go there, receive empowerments and teachings from those particular Buddhas, and return again to Déwachen. Having been born in Déwachen, one possesses unobscured clairvoyant powers, including the ability to see other beings in their particular worlds and give them protection and blessings, or, at the time of their death, to go to the bardo to meet them and bring them to Déwachen.
If someone in Déwachen wishes to visit the other pure realms of, for example, Vairochana, Ratnasambhava, Tara or the Glorious Copper-Coloured Mountain of Guru Rinpoche, one can simply go there, receive empowerments and teachings from those particular Buddhas, and return again to Déwachen. Having been born in Déwachen, one possesses unobscured clairvoyant powers, including the ability to see other beings in their particular worlds and give them protection and blessings, or, at the time of their death, to go to the bardo to meet them and bring them to Déwachen.
Monday, October 01, 2007
ILLUSION
i fell in love with this guy
he was deep like the woods
intense and mellow as the river
vast and lovely like the sky.
he loved me like no other,
in mind and soul but as for
body he never was my lover.
in my mind we communed,
in my heart we touched
in my essence we were one.
i fell in love with this guy
intense like lightening and soft
as a morning sky.
i turned a blue marble i found along
the road over and over examining
for cracks and flaws, and kept it,finding none.
i turned my new love i found along the path
over and over looking for its beauty
and finding only illusion and sorrow,
i left it there where hope couldn't follow.
in my mind we communed,
in my heart we touched
in my essence were we one...
yet all along there was no one.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Sister of Light
To my friend and vajra sister: Thubten Lhamo
Sister, you who have seen me in good times and in bad,
Sister whom I once inspired and now inspires me,
I am awestruck by your courage, your generous nature which
Shines brightly and constantly like the sun,
Your graceful efforts to move beyond your present circumstances
and find your true nature,
Your time honoured being.
May you acheive the long sought goal of many in this very lifetime.
May you have peace and good fortune always.
May you be a light for others who are stumbling through the darkness.
Sister, you who have seen me in good times and in bad,
Sister whom I once inspired and now inspires me,
I am awestruck by your courage, your generous nature which
Shines brightly and constantly like the sun,
Your graceful efforts to move beyond your present circumstances
and find your true nature,
Your time honoured being.
May you acheive the long sought goal of many in this very lifetime.
May you have peace and good fortune always.
May you be a light for others who are stumbling through the darkness.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Monday, September 03, 2007
Atisha's Life
Childhood and Renunciation of Princely Life
In eastern India, in the land of Jahor, in the city of Bangala, in the Golden Banner Palace, lived King Kalyana the Good and Queen Prabhavati the Radiant. The royal palace was crowned with thirteen golden roofs, one set atop the other, and magnificently adorned with 25,000 golden banners. It was surrounded by countless parks, pools, and beautiful gardens. The kingdom was as rich as the ancient, opulent dynasties of China.
The royal couple had three sons, Padmagarbha, Chandragarbha, and Shrigarbha. It was this second prince, who grew up to become our illustrious teacher, Atisha (Jo-bo rje dPal-ldan A-ti-sha) (982-1054).
When Atisha was eighteen months old, his parents held his first public audience at the local temple, Kamalapuri. Without any instruction, he prostrated to the venerable objects inside and spontaneously recited, "Because of the compassion of my parents, I have attained a precious human life rich with the opportunity to view all you great figures. I shall always take from you my safe direction (refuge) in life." When introduced to his royal subjects outside, he prayed to realize his fullest potential in order to satisfy their every need. He also prayed to be able to take the robes of a spiritual seeker who has renounced family life, never to be proud, and always to have compassionate sympathy and loving concern for others. This was most extraordinary for such a young child.
As Atisha grew older, his wish to become a mendicant monk increased ever stronger, but his parents had different expectations. Of their three sons, he was the brightest, and the auspicious omens at his birth helped convince them that he should be the royal successor. Therefore, when the boy reached eleven, the customary age for marriage at that time, they made elaborate preparations for him to take a bride.
On his wedding eve, the Buddha-figure (yidam) Tara appeared to Atisha vividly in a dream. She told him that for 500 consecutive lives he had been a mendicant monk and therefore not to have any attraction for the transitory pleasures of this world. She explained that an ordinary person caught up in them would be relatively easy to rescue, like a goat trapped in quicksand. But, as a royal prince, he would be as difficult to extract as an elephant. The boy told no one about this dream, but on other grounds cleverly excused himself from this marriage.
Having firmly resolved to find a spiritual teacher, but telling his parents he wished to go hunting, Atisha now left the palace with 130 horsemen. First, he met in the jungle the holy Jetari, a man of the brahmin priestly caste who was living as a Buddhist recluse. From him, the lad formally accepted a safe direction in life and took the bodhisattva vows. This holy man then sent him to the sequestered monastic university of Nalanda and the spiritual master Bodhibhadra.
Atisha immediately set off with all his horsemen and there, from Bodhibhadra, he again received the bodhisattva vows and teachings. He was next directed to the great Vidyakokila for further instruction and then on to the famous Avadhutipa. This latter master advised the boy to return home, treat everyone respectfully, but try to see the drawbacks of such a luxurious life and then report back.
Atisha’s parents were delighted to see him and thought at last he would settle down, take a wife, and prepare for his future rule. However, the lad informed them that he had in fact gone in search of a spiritual teacher for guiding direction. He confessed that all he wished was to lead a quiet, contemplative life and had come for permission to take leave of his princely duties.
Shocked at his words, his parents tried to dissuade him from leaving. They said he could combine both lives and offered to build sequestered monasteries near the palace and let him study, feed the poor and so on. They pleaded with him not to return to the jungle. But, Atisha told them he had not the slightest attraction to royal life. "To me," he said, "this golden palace is no different from a prison. The princess you offer is no different from a daughter of the demons, the sweet food no different from the rotted flesh of a dog, and these satin clothes and jewels are no different from rags from the garbage heap. From this day onwards, I am determined to live in the jungle and study at the feet of the master Avadhutipa. All I ask is for some milk, honey, and brown sugar and I shall take my leave."
There was nothing his parents could do but consent to his request and so Atisha returned to the jungle with these provisions and an embarrassingly large entourage of royal attendants they insisted accompany him. Avadhutipa now sent the young prince to the master Rahulagupta, on the Black Mountain, to enter the practice of tantra. Atisha arrived with all his horsemen and told this vajra master how he had studied with many teachers, but still was unable to shake off his bondage to royal life. Rahulagupta conferred upon him his first empowerment, which was into the practice of Hevajra, a Buddha-figure with which to bond his mind. He then sent him back to the palace with eight of his disciples, four male and four female, dressed scantily in the bone ornaments of mahasiddhas, great adepts with actual attainments.
For three months, Atisha stayed in the environs of the palace with these strange new companions, behaving in a completely unconventional and outrageous manner. In the end, his parents were forced to give up all hopes for their precious son. Thinking him to have gone mad, they gave full permission for him to leave with his rather unsavory-looking friends and be gone once and for all.
Studies in India and the Golden Isle
Atisha immediately ran back to his master Avadhutipa and now, from the age of twenty-one to twenty-five, studied intensively the Madhayamka middle way outlook of reality. During this period, he also studied with many other highly accomplished teachers and became extremely well versed in all systems of tantra practice. In fact, he became rather proud of his erudition and felt he was rather clever with these hidden measures to protect the mind and that he had mastered all their texts. But then, he received a pure vision of a dakini, a celestial maiden whose movements are unimpeded by ignorance, who held in her arms many volumes on the everlasting streams of such tantra systems. She told him, "In your land, there are only a few such texts, but in our land there are so many," After this, his pride was deflated.
One day, he decided to go off and devote all his energies to the tantra practices in order to realize his fullest potential in his very life. His vajra master, Rahulagupta, then appeared in a dream and advised him not to do so and desert everybody, but to become a mendicant monk. He should continue in this manner with steady practice and achieve perfect enlightenment in its due course of time. Thus, at the age of twenty-nine, Atisha received from the stable elder, Shilarakshita, the robes of a spiritual seeker who has renounced family life and was given the name Dipamkara Jnana, "He Whose Deep Awareness Acts as a Lamp."
During his first two years after taking robes, Atisha studied at the monastic university of Odantipuri with the great Dharmarakshita, the author of the famous lojong (blo-sbyong, mind-training) text for cleansing our attitudes, The Wheel of Sharp Weapons. They focused on all the Hinayana or modest-minded measures to take as a vehicle leading to liberation, but Atisha was always dissatisfied. He longed for the fastest way to realize his fullest potential.
[See: The Wheel of Sharp Weapons .]
His vajra master Rahulagupta told him, "It does not matter how many pure visions you receive, you must train to develop caring love, compassionate sympathy, and a bodhichitta aim totally dedicated to benefiting others and to achieving enlightenment." He advised him to commit himself wholeheartedly to the Buddha-figure Avalokiteshvara, to bond his mind closely with him and work to become enlightened so that he could best free everyone from samsara, uncontrollably recurring existence. Only with this achievement would he realize his fullest potential.
In eastern India, in the land of Jahor, in the city of Bangala, in the Golden Banner Palace, lived King Kalyana the Good and Queen Prabhavati the Radiant. The royal palace was crowned with thirteen golden roofs, one set atop the other, and magnificently adorned with 25,000 golden banners. It was surrounded by countless parks, pools, and beautiful gardens. The kingdom was as rich as the ancient, opulent dynasties of China.
The royal couple had three sons, Padmagarbha, Chandragarbha, and Shrigarbha. It was this second prince, who grew up to become our illustrious teacher, Atisha (Jo-bo rje dPal-ldan A-ti-sha) (982-1054).
When Atisha was eighteen months old, his parents held his first public audience at the local temple, Kamalapuri. Without any instruction, he prostrated to the venerable objects inside and spontaneously recited, "Because of the compassion of my parents, I have attained a precious human life rich with the opportunity to view all you great figures. I shall always take from you my safe direction (refuge) in life." When introduced to his royal subjects outside, he prayed to realize his fullest potential in order to satisfy their every need. He also prayed to be able to take the robes of a spiritual seeker who has renounced family life, never to be proud, and always to have compassionate sympathy and loving concern for others. This was most extraordinary for such a young child.
As Atisha grew older, his wish to become a mendicant monk increased ever stronger, but his parents had different expectations. Of their three sons, he was the brightest, and the auspicious omens at his birth helped convince them that he should be the royal successor. Therefore, when the boy reached eleven, the customary age for marriage at that time, they made elaborate preparations for him to take a bride.
On his wedding eve, the Buddha-figure (yidam) Tara appeared to Atisha vividly in a dream. She told him that for 500 consecutive lives he had been a mendicant monk and therefore not to have any attraction for the transitory pleasures of this world. She explained that an ordinary person caught up in them would be relatively easy to rescue, like a goat trapped in quicksand. But, as a royal prince, he would be as difficult to extract as an elephant. The boy told no one about this dream, but on other grounds cleverly excused himself from this marriage.
Having firmly resolved to find a spiritual teacher, but telling his parents he wished to go hunting, Atisha now left the palace with 130 horsemen. First, he met in the jungle the holy Jetari, a man of the brahmin priestly caste who was living as a Buddhist recluse. From him, the lad formally accepted a safe direction in life and took the bodhisattva vows. This holy man then sent him to the sequestered monastic university of Nalanda and the spiritual master Bodhibhadra.
Atisha immediately set off with all his horsemen and there, from Bodhibhadra, he again received the bodhisattva vows and teachings. He was next directed to the great Vidyakokila for further instruction and then on to the famous Avadhutipa. This latter master advised the boy to return home, treat everyone respectfully, but try to see the drawbacks of such a luxurious life and then report back.
Atisha’s parents were delighted to see him and thought at last he would settle down, take a wife, and prepare for his future rule. However, the lad informed them that he had in fact gone in search of a spiritual teacher for guiding direction. He confessed that all he wished was to lead a quiet, contemplative life and had come for permission to take leave of his princely duties.
Shocked at his words, his parents tried to dissuade him from leaving. They said he could combine both lives and offered to build sequestered monasteries near the palace and let him study, feed the poor and so on. They pleaded with him not to return to the jungle. But, Atisha told them he had not the slightest attraction to royal life. "To me," he said, "this golden palace is no different from a prison. The princess you offer is no different from a daughter of the demons, the sweet food no different from the rotted flesh of a dog, and these satin clothes and jewels are no different from rags from the garbage heap. From this day onwards, I am determined to live in the jungle and study at the feet of the master Avadhutipa. All I ask is for some milk, honey, and brown sugar and I shall take my leave."
There was nothing his parents could do but consent to his request and so Atisha returned to the jungle with these provisions and an embarrassingly large entourage of royal attendants they insisted accompany him. Avadhutipa now sent the young prince to the master Rahulagupta, on the Black Mountain, to enter the practice of tantra. Atisha arrived with all his horsemen and told this vajra master how he had studied with many teachers, but still was unable to shake off his bondage to royal life. Rahulagupta conferred upon him his first empowerment, which was into the practice of Hevajra, a Buddha-figure with which to bond his mind. He then sent him back to the palace with eight of his disciples, four male and four female, dressed scantily in the bone ornaments of mahasiddhas, great adepts with actual attainments.
For three months, Atisha stayed in the environs of the palace with these strange new companions, behaving in a completely unconventional and outrageous manner. In the end, his parents were forced to give up all hopes for their precious son. Thinking him to have gone mad, they gave full permission for him to leave with his rather unsavory-looking friends and be gone once and for all.
Studies in India and the Golden Isle
Atisha immediately ran back to his master Avadhutipa and now, from the age of twenty-one to twenty-five, studied intensively the Madhayamka middle way outlook of reality. During this period, he also studied with many other highly accomplished teachers and became extremely well versed in all systems of tantra practice. In fact, he became rather proud of his erudition and felt he was rather clever with these hidden measures to protect the mind and that he had mastered all their texts. But then, he received a pure vision of a dakini, a celestial maiden whose movements are unimpeded by ignorance, who held in her arms many volumes on the everlasting streams of such tantra systems. She told him, "In your land, there are only a few such texts, but in our land there are so many," After this, his pride was deflated.
One day, he decided to go off and devote all his energies to the tantra practices in order to realize his fullest potential in his very life. His vajra master, Rahulagupta, then appeared in a dream and advised him not to do so and desert everybody, but to become a mendicant monk. He should continue in this manner with steady practice and achieve perfect enlightenment in its due course of time. Thus, at the age of twenty-nine, Atisha received from the stable elder, Shilarakshita, the robes of a spiritual seeker who has renounced family life and was given the name Dipamkara Jnana, "He Whose Deep Awareness Acts as a Lamp."
During his first two years after taking robes, Atisha studied at the monastic university of Odantipuri with the great Dharmarakshita, the author of the famous lojong (blo-sbyong, mind-training) text for cleansing our attitudes, The Wheel of Sharp Weapons. They focused on all the Hinayana or modest-minded measures to take as a vehicle leading to liberation, but Atisha was always dissatisfied. He longed for the fastest way to realize his fullest potential.
[See: The Wheel of Sharp Weapons .]
His vajra master Rahulagupta told him, "It does not matter how many pure visions you receive, you must train to develop caring love, compassionate sympathy, and a bodhichitta aim totally dedicated to benefiting others and to achieving enlightenment." He advised him to commit himself wholeheartedly to the Buddha-figure Avalokiteshvara, to bond his mind closely with him and work to become enlightened so that he could best free everyone from samsara, uncontrollably recurring existence. Only with this achievement would he realize his fullest potential.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Responsibility for ourselves -Alex Collier
Here Alex is talking about the different races that exist within our galaxy and what they have imparted to him regarding what is happening and will happen in the near future in relation to the evolution of other beings, ourselves, stars, planets and so on. He makes some very important points about what we must do and what will happen if we don't do what we must: take responsibility for ourselves as a race and as individuals. Please listen to the message.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Letter on a Leaf
Today was scorching. Its a beating down sun sort of weather, with endless blue sky and not a cloud in sight. I travelled for about three hours outside in the midday heat. Unlike others however I was enjoying the intensity of it and finding cool pockets of shade in the trees to also enjoy the temperature difference. While we were waiting in one of these pockets of shade I picked up a stray leaf on the ground because I had noted something strange about its colour. I turned it over and on the underside was a letter in turquoise metallic ink. It said:
Dear Reader,
my name is Sarah. I am sitting under the same tree you are now sitting under. Its hot and I am enjoying its shade as much as you may be. I don't have much to tell you besides this but I wanted to share this moment with you and let you know that you are not alone. So dear reader enjoy the pleasure of this moment in the shade as I did.
Then it listed some details about her which I won't post here for privacy's sake. My thoughts about this was "how sweet that another person would leave such a message on a leaf for someone else such as myself to find" and " what was she like this writer on leaves?". I left the leaf where I'd found it for the next reader that they too would realize they are not alone in the world. Or in enjoyment of the day and the shady grove.
More musings later...enjoy your moments.
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