Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun's topics - tribe.net

A funny thing happened on the way to meditation

2009-12-20T23:36:18Z

I live in San Diego. I go to the beach a lot to meditate since the sound of the ocean soothes me. I do open eye meditation there so I can really be in the moment, watch and observe the water, birds, and waves; listen to the sounds. It's all good. As winter approaches it's even better. No one is there. I can walk the mile between Mission and South Mission beach alone, plop down somewhere in the middle and really have a good sit.

Down a South Mission there is a rock jetty. My friends and I have witnessed the rather large rats that live in there and scavenge the leavings of humans at the beach. They make a fairly good living considering the size of them. It's pretty funny to when making smores at the firepit to watch a rat try to eat a giant marshmallow. I am amused by them, not disgusted as most are. They are getting by just as we all are.

So last night I walk the mile to the jetty, turn and start to walk back. It's a beautiful night. I am alone, not a soul is out tonight. It's not too cold and the surf is not too raucous. I walk about a third of the way back and decide to have my sit. Some snowy plovers are darting in and out of the surf looking for a snack. The sound of the waves breaking is so relaxing. I listening as the line of bubbles near my feet hiss all the way down the beach until the moment of silence happens, then the cycle begins again. The sky is clear, my breath is slow, this is a joyful sit.

I'm there a while and then I get this feeling I'm not alone. I haven't heard anyone but it is night, I am alone, and this place can be unsafe. I decide to end my meditation and have a look around.

Less than two feet from me is a rat, having a sniff at me, This rat has come pretty far down the beach to see if I had any goodies on me. When I turned, it didn't run off very fast. He just turned and left like he going that way anyway. So funny!

I now need a meditation squee instead of the bell. Hahahaha!

What's a funny thing that happened to your meditation?

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 3 replies

Obama and Palin are too fat, yo . . .

2009-12-13T07:26:06Z

NO MORE TIBET! KOREAN WAR! US ARMY for Willie Mays, so no homer record BECAUSE THE CIA FLEW B-24 LIBERATORS, FROM TIBET AND TAIWAN, in 1948, inciting riot. The US invaded China at least three times, Sand Pebbles, CIA, and Yalu perimeter, slammed back to Inchon and to Parallel 38, by the PRC.

Expect their lawyers over here, for your stupidity, at calling American natives the outrageous, 'INDIANS,' which are not even from Stanford, in order to suppress how the Ming Dynasty's White Fleet sailed the world, to leave sailors in the Indies and triangle arrowhead tech with England, and then crossbow tech, with Europe, which was generally in use in China, when the riotous Greeks were fighting Persians.

Barry Bonds says, "Isaiah," when he hits 756 into the Cove, so he gets prosecuted, for revealing Jews are from Ethiopia, on the downlow.

FBI Director Mueller fabricated three sets of evidence AND DESTROYED EACH, IN TURN, including trial exhibits for CR98-0087 Larson, in the course of tainting the entire world, by his USA misconduct, in San Francisco, right before his appointment, to Director of the FBI.

Why does tainted Mueller get to remain, where bills of attainder caused the FBI to refuse to report discovery of 911 terrorists, in the USA?

The attack went down because the NSA and CIA actually prevented the FBI from reporting, TO ITS OWN SUPERIORS, presence of terrorists, in the USA, which participated in the air attacks, 9/11/2001.

Pigs riot and incite. Obama has caused police to shoot blacks, INCLUDING OSCAR GRANT, III, and Lovelle Mixon to shoot five OPD, four to death, one critically wounded, while he was blasted, but OPD and BART and John Burris all blew me off and hung up.

BART PD Chief Gary Gee is resigning, wouldn't you know! Why does Oakland PD get to hang up on me, did they hire LEVI JOHNSTON, as Chief? YOU DO NOT GET TO HIRE OUT-OF-STATERS, to come into California and riot, San Francisco and Oakland! Are you all Sallies?

Sally the Pig is a media Suicide Girl, chasing Levi Johnston, in error.

What a pig, is the fabulous SARAH PALIN! She is flopping all over Levi Johnston's brief play, in the lower 48, which will end, now, if Levi is at all smart and informed, about riot and interstate nuisance and conspiracy, deeper, than creeps who say, "nukuler," and cannot conceive of how BOTH the costs and persons are corrupted, there.

No design will overshadow the corruption of BOTH tainted funds and persons, and of their illegal agendas, to cross-contaminate. NO good design will be effected, under the circumstances of fraud, which complicate business, fatally.

If you previously LOST a bush-pilot election, where all the crashers tried to lose to Joe Plumber, and Granny Maddie calls the winner a Kenyan and he loses Prop.8 in Cali and Janet's Arizona, for letting Joe stay on for half an hour, Debate III, you LOST, in order to save your own, miserable, stupid LIVES.

Bush pilots DIE, poorly informed flappers.

They DIE. In choppers, in single-engine prop planes. They DIE, dead as can be.

When the BRATS had their TITS twisted by Saladin, and so they were sent back to BRITAIN, they left their offal, in Jerusalem, called a hot, new word, since from their Pope's SHIT FOR BRAINS, they could get God to tell them, they had a couple of things to do, before they could stay, in Jerusalem, next in the Victorian Crusade, 1882: invade Beijing, through Shiites in Iran.

Fart hard for bon Jovi, on Texas-TV! Blast the Prezzie's balls, out of his perple undies, with awesome, concentrated gas!

Sally's alley is all browned out. Go home, fool! Bush pilots were born, to lose control, and they will. At war, THEY CRASH, HARD.

Perhaps you have all heard, of the famous JOHN McCAIN, or even of his fine years in North Viet Namese custody, for repeatedly bombing the Hanoi Power Station, in a lousy Skyhawk, which cannot keep doing that sort of dirt, without a SAM of some kind getting Johnny down.

747 coming out of the sky, gonna take you sky-high-airhead-airliners, down to Memphis, on a midnight special ride! Got Burt Sugarman?

You can see Russia, haha about Levi's tricking Playgirl, I can see meatwads, plural, playing U2 sedition into 2011 disasters, foretold!

When you are trying to crash, DO NOT KEEP BUZZING THE AIRHEAD-STRIPSHOW, or you are GOING TO CRASH.

So you won't get health care, from already doomed Obama, but tards, you let the deregulated power deals corrupt big construction, SO WHAT PART OF NUKES OR OIL CAN STUPID SALLY FUND, when the Chinese are about to sue her for being a cowgirl, who shoots mooses and pretends they are some sort of native, if she gets to?

YOU MAY NOT HAVE YOUR COUNTRY BACK, until you shoot down some lousy bushwackers, Tenzin.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Your Experience of the Eightfold Path

2009-11-07T02:37:09Z

Hello.

What have your experiences with the eightfold path been?
What do they mean to you?

The Right View,
The Right Intentions,
The Right Speech,
The Right Action,
The Right Livelihood,
The Right Effort,
The Right Mindfulness,
The Right Concentration.

You are experiencing. What is that?

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

MEDITATE AND DESTROY- NOW ON DVD!!!

2009-10-25T06:26:55Z

MEDITATE AND DESTROY is NOW ON DVD!!

MEDITATE AND DESTROY is a 81 minute documentary about punk rock, spirituality, and inner rebellion through the eyes of bestselling author Noah Levine (Dharma Punx, Against the Stream). This powerful film examines the driving forces that transformed Levine from an addicted rebel into a Buddhist teacher and community leader. Tattoos, motorcycles, and an engaging punk rock soundtrack are featured in this inspirational story of finding new paths- even in our darkest hours.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FILM TRAILER (OR PURCHASE THE DVD):

www.meditateanddestroy.com

READ A REVIEW FROM MTV MOVIES:

moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/10/...d-buddha/

OFFICIAL SELECTION- INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- SANTA CRUZ FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- CALGARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- MELBOURNE BUDDHIST FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- FROM HERE TO AWESOME FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- NON VIOLENCE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=9194002961#/pages/Meditate-and-Destroy/9194002961

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Holiday study

2009-10-10T07:46:24Z

Hi... I am a psychologist studying people's feelings about the winter holidays. Who likes them, who doesn't, and why? I am seeking a sample that is diverse in age, relationship status, and geographic location. If you have 20 minutes or so, please click on the *anonymous* link below. (And feel free to send the link to potentially interested friends and family members) Thanks in advance.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=hKz45MQGByWfFM9xl1KScg_3d_3d

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Hello

2009-08-19T16:00:29Z

Hello, i am mathu. what is your definition of fun.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 4 replies

THE ULTIMATE 'ALL IS ONE' ENERGY SEMINAR EVENT - Orlando - April 25th - 28th

2009-04-08T06:26:57Z

In celebration of World Qigong / Tai Chi Day (April 25th), when millions of people around the world will practice Qigong & Tai Chi, the Supreme Science Qigong Foundation will host the Largest Qigong Gathering in US History!

For 4 days, 5000 people will come together, in one room, in Orlando, to learn and practice Qigong! Imagine, being one of 5000 people breathing together and moving together! The group energy will be AMAZING!

Qigong (pronounced "Chee Gong") is the ancient Chinese art of cultivating Qi energy. All matter, including the air around us, is composed of energy. In Qigong, we direct internal and external Qi, through deep abdominal breathing techniques, specific movements, and mental focus. You will literally FEEL the magnetic energy in the air, between your hands, and coursing through your body!

For just $99, in just 4 days, you will learn Level-1, and Level-2 standing Qigong forms, a beautiful, freestyle Qigong dance called Wu Ji, Pranayama Breath Empowerment and 9-Breath Method breathing exercises, powerful meditations, Taoist stretching, Food Based Healing, and Qi Healing. You will meet many beautiful, open people, overflowing with peace and love, and make new friends. There will be live music, huge TV screens so everyone can see, and advanced computer animations & more than 100 instructors to help you learn.

If you are a Massage Therapist or RN, this is worth 32 Continuing Education Credit Hours.

You can't find a better deal than this anywhere! This is an experience you will never forget! You will thank yourself for coming!

To REGISTER & GET MORE INFO, click or copy and paste this link: http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3417718-10649567

I hope to see you there!

Blessed be,
:) Michael Raphael
www.Zenfinity.com

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We need seed angels!

2009-03-06T10:08:51Z

We have a couple projects going that don't need funding - just participants!

The first is hyperlocavore.com. Hyperlocavore is a yardsharing community - built to support people in the practice of creating 'yardsharing' arrangements to grow food together.

Many people want to grow food but they lack one or two of these four things:
-time
-space
-skills
- physical strength

Forming a yardsharing group with your friends, neighbors, family or with your religious communities is easy - and free! You can set up a 'seeking yardshare' group for your area (like Chicago, South Side) or a private group for your own yardshare "Grandma's Backyard Garden"

CSAs are filling up fast. Community gardens have waiting lists. Food is getting more and more expensive.
Find some people and start growing together!

The other project we've started is The Great Let's Get Growing Seed Share.
We are asking experienced gardeners to become 'seed angels,' to adopt a newbie gardener and send them some garden seeds! I have sent four newbie gardeners enough seed that each of them will have huge beautiful edible gardens this summer. It's easy - it cost me less than 4 dollars to get four gardens going!

If you are an experienced gardener we need you to become a seed angel!
If you are a newbie food grower - sign up!

It's FREE
http://hyperlocavore.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/the-great-lets-get-growing-seed-share/

If you think these are good ideas please help us get the word out to your communities! Blog it, share it, tweet it!

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Silly Fun II

2009-03-05T00:52:52Z

original thread here:

http://buddhistsjustwannahavefun.tribe.net/thread/c2d7343d-e9cd-4871-a3ce-b95238ccf0ad?newpostingid=f943e477-33df-4abf-a6e2-dcf4283c35e5#f943e477-33df-4abf-a6e2-dcf4283c35e5

creating second thread to make download time quicker:

+++

Unwords

fun word site:

http://www.unwords.com/

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 32 replies

Buddhist Resources II

2009-02-26T20:10:17Z

continuing the Buddhist Resources thread from this link:

http://buddhistsjustwannahavefun.tribe.net/thread/10ac3ef9-43d0-4cf4-b743-3d5afd773196

+++

thought it might save some scrolling down..

+++

The Gateless Gate - Zen Koans

Tokusan Holds His Bowl

http://www.ibiblio.org/zen/gateless-gate/13.html

++++++++

101 Zen Stories

The Voice of Happiness

http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=27

++++++

Zen Meditation Instructions

http://www.mro.org/zmm/teachings/meditation.php

++++

Zen Centers Guide

http://www.dharmanet.org/infowebZen.htm

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 59 replies

90-day Zen Meditation Challenge

2009-02-05T17:11:33Z

http://www.tricycle.com/-practice/the-big-sit

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

New Online Buddhist Sanga

2009-02-04T07:24:20Z

Treeleaf Zendo is a Zen Buddhist Sanga in the Soto Tradition "dedicated to students of Zen Buddhism who cannot travel to a Zen Center, or
otherwise wish personal contact with a Zen teacher."

http://www.treeleaf.org

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Tao Te Ching on War and agression

2009-01-28T13:39:50Z

Tao Te Ching
Well known by its Chinese title, Tao Te Ching can be translated many different ways, including Book of the Immanence of the Way or simply Book of the Way. It is a 2,500 year old, essay-length poem about the Nature of Things. To those conversant in Chinese, it should be obvious the book is really a compilation of sayings, aphorisms, and pieces of wisdom passed down in oral tradition.

The Tao Te Ching divides roughly into two parts. The first is mostly about spiritual wisdom while the second, seemingly addressed to political leaders and their advisers, centers on social issues. An important lesson to be drawn from the book is that the character and beliefs of the people and their leaders are an integral part of good society and good government.

The teachings of the Tao Te Ching are available in many translations, but with one exception, I rely here on Stephen Mitchell's contemporary version. The wisdom of the Tao has also been applied to many disciplines: The Tao of Leadership, The Tao of Physics, and The Tao of Pooh. There is not yet a Tao of Bush. Making the Tao Te Ching required reading for President Bush could rescue the nation from the corruption, despair, and waste his administration has visited upon it.

On War
The Bush way was to initiate a war in Iraq which three years later shows no sign of abating. American military deaths in the war are over 2,200, and by the president's own admission, Iraqi civilian deaths exceed 30,000 with independent estimates as high as 100,000. The American occupation has brought civil war—not peace—to Iraq.

Instead of initiating a war, and then justifying it on discredited intelligence, what if the president had followed the path outlined in chapter 31 of the Tao. “Weapons are the tools of fear; a decent man will avoid them except in the direst necessity and, if compelled, will use them only with the utmost restraint. Peace is his highest value.” And many translations of the Tao add this warning: “And anyone who delights in killing people will come up short in the world.”

Elsewhere, the Tao makes clear the wise leader only resorts to force to prevent aggression or to restore order. Even then, it should be no more than a temporary action. The wisdom of China is that something is wrong when military force becomes a permanent social need. War, by its very nature, puts a nation out of harmony with the Tao.

When a country is in harmony with the Tao,
the factories make trucks and tractors.
When a country goes counter to the Tao,
warheads are stockpiled outside the cities.

On Civil Liberties
The Bush way is to bypass the system of judicial supervision established by law and order a secret wiretapping program to monitor international calls by U.S. citizens suspected of links to al-Qaida. Arguing the U.S. Constitution gives him the right to do so, the president accuses those who leaked details of the clandestine spy program of “threatening national security.” No matter that past and present government officials confirm the volume of information harvested by National Security Agency eavesdropping is much larger than the White House admits.

Most recently, President Bush asserted he retains the right to authorize abuse of detainees under extreme circumstances, despite agreeing to legislation in December 2005 explicitly prohibiting such treatment. In a recent statement, the White House said it would construe a ban on “cruel, inhumane, and degrading” treatment in the defense spending bill “in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the president” and his powers as commander-in-chief.

The Tao Te Ching has strong advice in chapter 75 for those who would seek to stifle civil liberties.

When taxes are too high,
people go hungry.
When the government is too intrusive,
people lose their spirit.

Act for the people's benefit,
Trust them; leave them alone.

Newly disclosed records also indicate counterterrorism agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been conducting surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations involving advocacy groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal rights, and poverty relief.

Turning to the wisdom of the Tao, this time in chapter 17, “If you don't trust the people, you make them untrustworthy.”

On the Imperial Presidency
The Bush way is to bristle over challenges to executive authority in the so-called war on terror. In the midst of the growing scandal created by the National Security Council's wiretapping program, the Bush administration readily admits the decision to eavesdrop without warrants is part of a broader effort to reassert the powers of the presidency. The Tao way is to govern in moderation, following the will of the people.

If you want to govern the people,
you must place yourself below them.
If you want to lead the people,
you must learn how to follow them (chapter 66).

Chapter 68 adds in part, “The best leader follows the will of the people” while chapter 59 opens as follows, “For governing a country well there is nothing better than moderation.” Finally, chapter 60 begins, “Governing a large country is like frying a small fish. You spoil it with too much poking.”

On Fear
John Adams observed in his Thoughts on Government (1776) that “Fear is the foundation of most governments.” Taking this maxim to new heights, the Bush way is to trade on fear, invoking national security concerns to justify acts ranging from the invasion of Iraq to scrapping the Geneva Convention to spying on Americans. In his December 2005 Oval Office address, the president again suggested we had a choice between invading Iraq or risking a terrorist nuclear attack at home while fighting terrorists in Iraq meant we weren't fighting them at home. On his secret program of spying on Americans, he implied we must make a choice between saving lives or following the law. Chapter 46 of the Tao concludes:

There is no greater illusion than fear,
no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself
no greater misfortune than having an enemy.

Whoever can see through all fear
will always be safe.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt reflected on the Tao approach when he cautioned in his first inaugural address, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

On Tax Cuts for the Rich
The Bush way is to push through tax cuts for the wealthy and pay for them with cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and student loans. The Tao way as found in chapter 53 is the center where things are in balance.

When rich speculators prosper
while farmers lose their land;
when government officials spend money
on weapons instead of cures;
when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
while the poor have nowhere to turn—
all this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Tao.

A December 2005 study suggests working-age Americans earning $50,000 to $100,000 are two to six times more generous in the share of their investment assets donated to charity when compared to Americans earning more than $10 million a year. This pioneering study of federal tax data was completed by the NewTithing Group, a San Francisco-based philanthropic research organization encouraging the most prosperous Americans to give more.

When temptation arises to leave the Tao,
banish temptation, stay with the Tao.

When the court has adornments in profusion,
the fields are full of weeds,
and the granaries are bare.
It is not the way of nature to carry a sword,
nor to over-adorn oneself,
nor to have more than a sufficiency
of fine food and drink.

He who has more possessions than he can use,
deprives someone who could use them well. (chapter 53).

Religion and Government
The Bush way is to mix government and religion, pandering to the religious right and breaking down the division between church and state. The Tao way as found in chapter 72 is instructive.

When they lose their sense of awe,
people turn to religion.
When they no longer trust themselves,
they begin to depend upon authority.

Therefore the Master steps back
so that people won't be confused.
He teaches without a teaching,
so that people will have nothing to learn (chapter 72).

Conclusion
Can President Bush learn from the Tao Te Ching ? The Master is not optimistic.

My teachings are easy to understand
and easy to put into practice.
Yet your intellect will never grasp them,
and if you try to practice them, you'll fail (chapter 70).

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

Buddhist Bibliography

2009-01-28T07:16:46Z

• Opening the Hand of Thought by Kosho Uchiyama

Roshi (2004 Edition) **
• Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

Roshi **

and

• Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of

Zen by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi **
• A Heart To Heart Chat On Buddhism With Old

Master Gudo by Gudo Wafu Nishijima Roshi (Jundo
Cohen, Translator) **
• To Meet the Real Dragon, Gudo Wafu Nishijima

Roshi
• Sit Down and Shut Up by Brad Warner **
• Nothing Special: Living Zen by Charlotte Joko

Beck **

and

• Everyday Zen: Love & Work by Charlotte Joko

Beck **
• Ending the Pursuit of Happiness: A Zen Guide by

Barry Magid
• No Death, No Fear by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh
• Asking about Zen: 108 Answers, Rev. Jiho

Sargent **
• The Art of Just Sitting, edited by John Daido

Loori
• Returning to Silence by Dainin Katagiri Roshi

**
• You Have to Say Something by Dainin Katagiri

Roshi
• The Essence of Zen by Sekkei Harada Roshi
• The Zen Teaching of "Homeless" Kodo by Kosho

Uchiyama Roshi **
• One Robe One Bowl by Ryokan
• Bankei Zen: Translations from The Record of

Bankei translated by Peter Haskel
• The Zen Teaching of Huang Po translated by John

Blofeld
• Meditation Now or Never by Steve Hagen
• Zen and the Brain by Dr. James Austin

MASTER DOGEN:
• From The Zen Kitchen To Enlightenment: Refining

Your Life by Eihei Dogen; Kosho Uchiyama Roshi

(Translator) **

and/or

• Nothing Is Hidden : Essays on Zen Master

Dogen's Instructions for the Cook by Shohaku

Okumura Roshi **
• The Wholehearted Way, A Commentary on Dogen’s

Bendowa by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi **
• Master Dogen's Shobogenzo-Zuimonki available

online: **
http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/index.html#
• Enlightenment Unfolds (the essential teachings

of Dogen) by Kazuaki Tanahashi **
• Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen

by Kazuaki Tanahashi **
• Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo (4 Volumes),

translated by Nishijima-Cross
• Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist, Revised, Third

Edition (Paperback) by Hee-Jin Kim
• Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community

(Eihei Shingi), Leighton/Okumura
• Dogen's Extensive Record (Eihei Koroku),

Leighton/Okumura

BASIC BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY:
• Buddhist Philosophy, A Historical Analysis by

David J. Kalupahana **
• In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of

Discourses from the Pali Canon, Bhikkhu Bodhi
(Editor)
• The Life of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Nanamoli
• What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded

Edition by Walpola Rahula
• Mahayana Buddhism, The Doctrinal Foundations,

by Paul Williams
• Buddhism Is Not What You Think by Steve Hagen

**
• Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor

BUDDHIST SUTRAS & ZEN CLASSICS:
• Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Talks

on the Sandokai by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
• The Heart Sutra by Red Pine (Bill Porter)

and

• Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on Heart

Sutra by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh
• The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch by

Hui-neng and Philip Yampolsky

and/or

• The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of

Hui-Neng translated Red Pine (Bill Porter)

and/or

• The Sutra of Hui-Neng, Grand Master of Zen With

Hui-neng’s Commentary on the Diamond Sutra
translated by Thomas Cleary
• The Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma, Red Pine
• The Diamond Sutra, Thich Nhat Hanh
• The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way:

Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika by Nagarjuna and

Jay L. Garfield

or

• Mulamadhyamakakarika of Nagarjuna: The

Philosophy of the Middle Way by Nagarjuna and

David J. Kalupahana

HISTORY OF ZEN BUDDHISM:
• Zen Buddhism, Volume 1: A History (India &

China) by Heinrich Dumoulin

and

• Zen Buddhism, Volume 2: A History (Japan) by

Heinrich Dumoulin
• The Record of Transmitting the Light (Keizan

Zenji's Denkoroku), F. Cook
• Living and Dying in Zazen (Biographies of

Sawaki Roshi, Uchiyama Roshi and others
associated with Antai-ji) by Arthur Braverman

KOAN COLLECTIONS:
• Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan

by Zenkai Shibayama Roshi

and/or

• Book of Serenity: One Hundred Zen Dialogues by

Thomas Cleary

and/or

• Master Dogen's Shinji Shobogenzo (Koan

Collection) by Gudo Nishijima Roshi

BUDDHIST ETHICS:
• The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist

Ethics by Robert Aitken Roshi
• Zen at War by Brian Victoria
• The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to

Action by Ken Jones
• The New Buddhism by David Brazier
• At Hells Gate by Claude Anshin Thomas

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

A Simple Buddhist Exercise

2009-01-18T16:23:48Z

Nice way to start the day..with this:

May All Beings Be Happy
May All Beings Be Healthy
May All Beings Be Free From Suffering
May All Beings Be Liberated

May I Be Happy
May I Be Healthy
May I Be Free From Suffering
May I Be Liberated

The Great Way of the Buddha I vow to attain.

I find that offering good will to everyone is such an excellent way to clear out the negativity and start the day...and of course the deeper aspects as well.

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Ancient Buddhist Oil Paintings

2009-01-15T10:32:40Z

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080422083309.htm

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Milarepa Movie Out Now on Netflix

2008-12-21T19:17:40Z

Just got notice in my Netflix queue...new spiritual movie finally out on Netflix:

Milarepa - Magician, Murderer, Saint

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499238/

I am a big fan of Milarepa, I think he was a great saint. I don't think any path is the same as it would be under the direct guidance of a great saint. Too bad there aren't more of them to go around!

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I like to walk alone

2008-12-19T05:45:05Z

I like to walk alone on country paths, rice plants and wild grasses on both sides, putting each foot down on the earth in mindfulness, knowing that I walk on the wondrous earth.
In such moments, existence is a miraculous and mysterious reality.
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle.
But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.
Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child--our own two eyes.
All is a miracle.

~Thich Nhat Hanh, "Miracle of Mindfulness"

from:

http://www.naturalniche.net/about/about.html

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 5 replies

Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche Visits Dallas 12/19-12/21

2008-12-13T19:42:46Z

Venerable Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche
Spiritual Director, Palyul Changchub Dargyeling Dallas
Dallas~December 19-21, 2008

7 Line Prayer Teaching / Rigdzin Düpa Empowerment

"When a disciple calls upon me with devotion and the yearning song of the Seven-Line Prayer, I shall come at once..."
-Guru Rinpoche

The Seven Line Prayer is said to be the most majestic of all prayers to Guru Padmasambhava, and is the most powerful way to invoke his blessings. In a very special three part teaching series, Rinpoche will explain the profound meaning of the outer, inner and secret aspects of this sacred prayer. Rinpoche will also confer the empowerment of Rigdzin Dupa, the inner aspect of Guru Rinpoche. Rigdzin Dupa, "The Gathering of Awareness Holders", is a very powerful practice for dispeling obstacles, and is one of the three root sadhanas in the Longchen Nyingthig tradition.

Fri 12/19 7PM-9PM Teachings on the Seven Line Prayer Part1
Sat 12/20 10AM-Noon Teachings on the Seven Line Prayer Part2
2:30-4:30PM Teachings on the Seven Line Prayer Part3
4:30PM Refuge Ceremony
Sun 12/21 10AM-Noon Rigdzin Dupa Empowerment
2:30-4:30PM Teaching on the practice of Rigdzin Dupa

Location of events:
320 Terrace Drive, Richardson, TX. 75083
For driving instructions, please visit www.pcddallas.org

Suggested Dontation:
Fri. evening $20
Sat (all day) $40 ($20 per session)
Sun(all day) $40 ($20 per session)
PLEASE NOTE: Scholarships available. No one turned away due to lack of funds

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Um, I'll have the Dharma Burger, please.

2008-12-11T06:35:53Z

Hello everybody. I'm new to Tribe, so I don't know if The Worst Horse has already been talked about here, but if not, check it out. If you've got interests in Buddhism, sub-culture, or humor it may just be for you.

http://theworsthorse.wordpress.com/

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

Bardo Comix.

2008-11-21T11:11:48Z

I love this. You may too.

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Spiritual Writing - The Snow Leopard

2008-11-07T15:26:12Z

how's this for some incredibly dense, descriptive language...(without ever being too much??)

Just incredible to me, wish I could write like this:

excerpt from The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen:

"Long ago some traveler brought poinsettia and oleander to Tatopani, and there is a tea stall in this village. Across from the tea stall, on a
thatch roof, grows a cucumber with yellow-flowered vine, under the eaves, on the clay windowsill, a flute, a wood comb, and a bright red pepper lie in happy composition. Beneath the windowsill small children tumble, and one little girl, sedate and serious, changes her clothes from top to bottom. In the mud street, in the rain, three small boys hunching knee to knee play cards beneath a black
umbrella."

And here's a link to a pic of a couple of snow leopard cubs:

http://www.duiops.net/seresvivos/galeria/leopardos/Double%20Trouble,%20Snow%20Leopard%20Cubs.jpg

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Please Call Me by My True Names

2008-10-27T16:01:36Z

Please Call Me by My True Names

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow --
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his "debt of blood" to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.

from this website:

http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/H/HanhThichNha/PleaseCallMe.htm

(from Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh, by Thich Nhat Hanh)

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Sri Chinmoy on The Buddha

2008-10-26T00:26:36Z

http://www.srichinmoylibrary.com/spiritual/lord-buddha

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Buddhists will have fun with this film.

2008-10-05T07:17:50Z

I just saw it--it's GREAT.

http://www.religulousmovie.net/

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Desire is not the Problem, Dualistic Identity Is

2008-10-02T00:43:10Z

Desire is not the Problem, Dualistic Identity Is

Excerpts from Troma Rigtsal Rinpoche’s upcoming book,
MahaSiddha Buddhism

Seemingly never-ending, unrelenting, seductive, distracting, debilitating; oh, the ebb and flow of Desire. Rumors abound that only the most realized, hard-core, radical, fanatical, warrior-hero Buddhists could ever dare work with it. But is Desire really such a problem? Desire is the radiance of Buddha-nature, our wakefulness to the sparkling, sacred qualities of existence. We glow with it. Our world is lit up when we are in it. In the surge of desire, we feel alive, tantalized and joyous. How then could it go so wrong at times? How then could it gain the reputation as being the bane of a Buddhist’s existence? To understand the answer, we must venture into the understanding of dualism and non-duality, the heart of the MahaSiddha’s Buddhism. The fundamental teaching is that most people live their lives in a state of dissatisfaction (dukha) caused by misperception of what we are. When we misperceive our own mind, we misperceive others, our world and all of reality. And in this misperception we find awkwardness and dissatisfaction at best.

Mistaken Identity

Imagine if you thought you were a tuba - imagine how this would complicate your life. People would try to feed you and you’d think, “tubas do not need food.” So you would not eat. Your lover would try to kiss you and as soon as their lips hit your “mouthpiece” you would blare out with your loud, low tuba sounds. Of course, this would make relationships difficult. Misunderstanding what we are is a serious mistake.

If you thought you were a plum and you were really a banana, trying to be more purple and round, more plum, more tart - imagine the awkwardness. Perhaps you would tighten up, knotting up your insides to mimic a plum’s seed and cover up how soft your long, white belly really was. You might try to act more like a plum and avoid expressing those embarrassing banana sentiments. Meanwhile, with all your efforts to be a plum, you might be plagued with shame and confusion about your inability to completely hide your big yellow peel and feathery, white flesh. Our attempt to be the plum would only make our existence as a banana much more complicated than it needs to be. Misperceiving what we are is a grave error that causes us to fall into all kinds of dissatisfaction, confusion and even all out suffering. Our mistaken identity in dualism is as ill-fitting (dukha) as thinking we are a plum or a tuba. It is a subtle but serious mistake that distorts our every experience.

How Desire Could Be Twisted

Our capacity for enjoyment quickly fades and our desire becomes twisted if we manipulate it to prove we are something we’re not. For example, we may think it is imperative to be a plum and therefore we need to be more purple, plum-like and juicy to be satisfied. We believe the way to satisfaction is in being a plum. We start looking for what is missing. A mixture of desire and grasping arise in a tidal wave as we fantasize about our future as a plum. We realize we need purple pants to cover up our yellow peel. We long for those pants, we day-dream about them and invest time in finding the exact right pair. We try them on and think about how great it will feel to finally be a plum. Finally, we get the purple pants, squat and roll around and do everything we can to be a plum. But something is still missing. There is still a problem – but it isn’t desire that is the problem, nor is it the object of desire that is the problem. Purple pants are not problematic by nature. They are quite enjoyable unto themselves, they are what they are. It is only when we are trying to manipulate them to disguise what we really are that a problem arises. Purple pants cannot do that. Objects of desire cannot provide the fixed, “good” self that the dualistic habit pursues. Nothing can hide our banana-nature, so life gets very tedious and unsatisfying when we let desire get tangled up in our dualistic identity.

If we misperceive what we are, we misperceive everything else, including desire and the objects of desire. Then instead of having desire properly and fully, we confuse desire and attempt to manipulate it to serve our mistaken identity. The piece of chocolate is no longer just a piece of chocolate, it becomes a way of drugging ourselves so that we don’t have to face our own insecurity. It becomes a way to avoid emptiness, the open-ended, insecure nature of what we are. The chocolate fails to do this of course, thus that desire leads to frustration. So also, relationship fails to makes us feel secure. Work we have done fails to prove we are the “good” self. Everything we have desired only fails us when what we are really wanting is not the object of desire. When the hidden motivation is establishing some ideal Self, the objects of desire doesn’t provide it. That is dualism, forever disappointing. Trying to establish Self is a futile pursuit, since what we are is too open-ended to be captured in fixed form. That is the "me" project that brings us so much suffering as we attempt to establish an identity made up of dualistic fantasies. It is dualistic because it is form based, the Self we want to find is imagined to be some permanent, definite, secure Self, divided from the temporary, ambiguous, insecure reality of life.

Every person wants to be loved for “who they are,” what if we also loved the objects of desire in this way? What if we enjoyed things for what they really are; lacking the security or confirmation, temporary and ineffable; as empty as we are. All objects of desire give us no solid ground to stand on, and we don't have take issue with that. We can enjoy phenomena as is. Then desire is just simple minded delight. Nothing more, nothing less.

Contacting What We Are Directly

Meditation is a method for contacting what we are directly. We can observe and become intimate with what we are. We discover moments where we are not relying on reference points to deduce what we are. We have the direct experience. Our attempts to prove we are “good” or disprove that we are “bad” through referencing how we measure up to plum-ness, tuba-ness or dualism has less meaning. What we actually are becomes directly apparent. Then desire is what it is. No more, no less, it is as pure and innocent as primordial existence. We can want the cake and eat it too. There is nothing un-buddhist about that. We can enjoy the cake even more, because we can eat the cake without the confusion of trying to use the cake to take away our anxiety, or give us the happiness or confirmation. It is just cake. We eat it as it is, with the calories, pleasure and the vivid emptiness that pervades all forms.

Desire can be as enlightening as it could be poisonous. Like everything, it could be the opportunity for waking up or confusion, based on our understanding of our own mind. We have all heard about the monastic path of renouncing desire. Who couldn’t appreciate the potency in that? Most adults have followed desire into neurosis at one time or another, but it is not the only direction we could go with desire. We could be in it and find liberation. Desire will only ever point to the non-dual nature of things if we do not try to forge a Self with it.

The MahaSiddhas

"Know that desire and covetousness are Discriminating
Awareness - You will find fine sensory distinction in no
other place than a mind hungering for beautiful things,
wanting the whole world. Look into the intrinsic
freshness of your desire and there is boundless light!"
-Yeshe Tsogyal, Sky Dancer

Motivated by revenge a king tried to corrupt the MahaSiddha of the Bell, by sending a woman to seduce him. Instead of being corrupted by desire, he was enlightened. Within passion, desire, love and companionship, he found the final ingredient to go beyond ignorance. The MahaSiddha called the Glutton was not told to go on a diet. On the contrary, he was instructed to increase his appetite to extend to all phenomena. When desire is liberated from the confines of dualistic identity, it is a raw appreciation that connects us with the living energy of all things. If we set down our dualistic obsession with trying to be other than as we are, then Desire is not a problem. A banana can enjoy appreciating plums. A person can enjoy a tuba. We don’t need to renounce them, unless of course that is our cup of tea. We only need liberate our grasping at dualistic identity to enjoy our world with awareness.

Disclaimer: Buddhism is a tradition of methods for awakening. The Buddha introduced 84,000 different methods that may seem contradictory because of their differences, but are each appropriate according to the specific individuals and stages of the path for which they are intended. This article is written from the perspective of the Inner Tantras. It does not address the relationship with desire taken by renunciate or monastic practitioners who take a different view as a method for awakening.

all content © 2007 MahaSiddha Dharma
for more information visit www.MahaSiddhas.org

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 12 replies

Ancient Buddha Statue Is Discovered in Afghanistan

2008-09-13T13:04:14Z

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/arts/09arts-ANCIENTBUDDH_BRF.html?_r=2&ref=arts&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Not endorsing

2008-08-19T23:25:50Z

Just enjoying:

http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/item/its-all-fun-games-long-sleeve-tshirt/68371861

Made me laugh and I thought I'd share.

Peace,
Laura

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Manga Avatar, anyone?

2008-08-19T02:34:54Z

http://www.faceyourmanga.com/homepage.php?lang=eng

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

HH Phakchok Rinpoche and the Chokling Tersar Lineage of the Great Perfection : An Introduction and 2008 Tour Notes

2008-08-13T21:48:39Z

HH Phakchok Rinpoche and the Chokling Tersar Lineage of the Great Perfection : An Introduction and 2008 Tour Notes

Keywords: Esoteric Buddhist yoga ( buddhatantra ), Great Perfection / AtiYoga / dzogchen i.e. primordial awareness yoga, tantric Buddhist empowerment, non-sectarian tantric Buddhist practice ( Rimay ), HH Phakchok Rinpoche Tendzin Jigmey Drakpa, Orgyen Dorje Den Center ( San Francisco ), Chokling Tersar lineage ( Nyingma / Ancient School transmission of Indo-Tibetan vajrayana ).

NAMO GURU SRI PADMAKARAYE
Homage to Guru Padmasambhava.

This summer ( 2008 ) His Holiness Phakchok Rinpoche, a primary tantric Buddhist lineage holder, is on a major tour ( see below for events ), giving tantric Buddhist transmissions and teachings in the USA, Canada, and Europe. He is a younger major teacher in the Chokling Tersar tradition of Nyingma and Dzogchen ( see below ).

This lineage derives directly from Guru Padmasambhava, a most extraordinary Indian guru and a principal cofounder of the Buddhist tradition in Tibet. Today six million or more people practice teaching deriving from from Guru Padmasambhava, in for example the Tibetan traditions such as Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma, including some millions of East Asians ( Chinese Buddhists of esoteric Buddhist lineage ).

This is a very magical, very powerful, and very yogic style of transmission, especially in terms of the inner practices. It is well supported by many independent practice lineages, of which the Chokling Tersar Foundation is an important example both in the USA and Europe. It is well established in California and Denmark, and several major teachers of this tradition give teaching tours.

This sangha ( spiritual fellowship ) is of major importance because Chokling Tersar Foundation has a translation / publishing organization called Rangjung Yeshe. This is one of the main sources worldwide for core Nyingma and dzogchen publications. I have and use quite a few Rangjung Yeshe practice and teaching texts. They are highest quality and indispensible for all Nyingma and dzogchen practitioners in particular, and broadly useful.

One of the most important books ever published for tantric Buddhists is
"Dakini Teachings", by Padmasambhava, and this is from Rangjung Yeshe.
Another key example, from the same source, is
"Light of Wisdom", by Padmasambhava and Jamgon Kongtrul.

For a general background on dzogchen, or "primordial awareness yoga", it is well worthwhile to obtain the book
"The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen", written by another important master of a parallel Nyingma lineage, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu. This is about the best place to start for a book introduction to the inner teachings, but is descriptive only, and not sadhana or formal practice per se.

Esoteric Buddhist yoga ( buddhatantra ) and Great Perfection ( dzogchen awareness yoga ) depend fundamentally on transmission, and so it is necessary to see a real teacher. Without a major transmission from an authentic guru, much or most of the teaching - and all of the yoga sadhana - does not work. Therefore I take this opportunity to make an important introduction.

( Please note that I DO NOT have any authority to represent Chokling Tersar Foundation, HH Phakchok Rinpoche, or any activity associated with this line of transmission. I am simple conveying what I know in a clear and definite way, to support this lineage and those who may benefit from it. I cannot make any promises that any of what is said here, or this kind of transmission, will solve any particular problem or give any particular result. The results are very personal and individualized. )

HH Phakchok Rinpoche Tendzin Jigmey Drakpa is not yet well known to the public, but is already having a great influence in transmitting key innermost teachings of tantra and dzogchen. Therefore it is auspicious and appropriate to make known this teacher and the availability of these teachings.

The qualifications of HH Phakchok Rinpoche are vast and profound ( see below for his autobiography ). He has highest-level authorization to give primary transmissions in both the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages, and is one of the few people who has a complete cycle of Sakya School tantric empowerments.

Two years ago I received a major dzogchen empowerment from this teacher, from within the Chokling Tersar, and personally confirm that his transmission is powerful and effective, not only as a tantric blessing / psychic cleansing, but also as a functional teaching / practice transmission. He is very direct and engaging and extraordinarily generous in his teaching. He is here to teach core precepts, not just bestow blessings. That means actual, whole person practice.

HH Phakchok Rinpoche gave me his card at the one time I was able to attend his transmission, so he is willing to personally engage students in a longer term sense. At that time he did lay on those present the general but significant requirement to Do A Daily Tantric Buddhist Practice, which is in fact the requirement of Guru Padmasambhava.

A daily practice typically means mantra recitation, as well as upholding ethical precepts of the Mahayana and Tantra. ( See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva_vows or better yet, the above book "Dakini Teachings" for teaching on outer and inner Buddhist ethics. ) A primary example of mantra discipline is Vajrasattva deity yoga, for which a short teaching is given at my tribe.net home under the Sanskrit picture for Hundred Syllable mantra.

A specific event listing for the Yangdak Heruka transmission and teaching to be given August 16, 17 & 18 follows. Orgyen Dorje Den can host at least 200 participants. This is a remarkably important group, and a "home fellowship" for me, though I have not seen them in many years. Their center teacher, Ven. Gyaltrul Rinpoche, is a great gift to the West. I have and use and recommend his books.

Basically, it is from the Eight Herukas Cycle which is associated with the Guhyagarbha Tantra, which was propagated as one of the primary practices of Guru Padmasambhava. This fully confers Vajrasattva, a key basic and continung practice, and *may* fully confer Great Perfection / Breakthrough as well ( no guarantee ).

Significant mantra teaching on the Eight Herukas is given in the remarkable book
"The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Paperback)", Publisher: Penguin Classics; Deluxe edition (January 30, 2007 ),# ISBN-10: 0143104942.

This is written in partial fulfillment of mahayana and tantric Buddhist teaching responsibilities, in support of His Holiness Phakchok Rinpoche, Orgyen Dorje Den and Ven. Gyaltrul Rinpoche, the Chokling Tersar lineage, and the benefit of as many people as possible.

Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu!

Acarya KT

http://www.phakchokrinpoche.org/events.htm
Events
H.H. Phakchok Rinpoche's 2008 Teaching Calendar
For more information on any of the below programs, please e-mail us at office@phakchokrinpoche.org.

San Francisco, California: Aug 15-19
Empowerments: Yangdak Heruka & Sangtik Korsum (Teaching and Advice)
Teachings: Advice and teaching on general Development Stage
Meditation Training - at Orgyen Dorje Den, Directions to Orgyen Dorje Den
Public Talks: The Great “I” (Berkeley Shambhala Center)
Great Longchenpa
E-mail: office@phakchokrinpoche.org

Toronto: August 27-Sept 1 – with H.E. Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche
Empowerment: Sangye Won
Teachings: Jewel Ornament of Liberation
Taklung Thangpa
Public Talk: The Great “I”

H.E. Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche
Empowerments: Vajrakilaya & Tara
Prosperity Vase Blessing & Tsok
Visit: Riwoche Society, riwoche.com
E-mail: pema@riwoche.com

Vancouver: September 5-7
Teaching: VajraYogini Program [ this is restricted to those who have the empowerment ]
Public Talks: The Great “I”
Meditation and Happiness
E-mail: Mara Shnay, mshnay@telus.net

Salt Springs Island: September 7-9
Empowerment: Medicine Buddha
Meditation Retreat
E-mail: Matthew, matthewphyllis@telus.net

Europe: Poland & Germany

Hamburg, Germany: Sept 20-21
Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo (Light of Wisdom)
E-mail: Arne Schelling, arne.schellingatgmx.de

Menz, Germany: Sept 22
Public Talk on The Great “I”
E-mail: Arne Schelling, arne.schellingatgmx.de

Berlin, Germany: Sept 23-24
Life Stories of Yeshe Tsogyal and Machig Labdron
The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra
E-mail: Anne Siml, annesiml@yahoo.de

Greifswald, Germany: Sept 25-27
Public Talk on Compassion
Mind Training
E-mail: Anne Siml, annesiml@yahoo.de

Rangjung Yeshe Gomde – Denmark: Sept 29-30
Lotus Essence Tantra
Heart Sutra
Questions and Answers for Meditators
Website: www.gomde.dk
E-mail: Erik Pema Kunsang, erik@gomde.dk

Warsaw, Poland: October 2-5
Kunzang Thuktig Preliminary Practice
Mind Training
E-mail: Julia E. Wahl, karmayeshetsomo@gmail.com
Mobile: +48 608 079 909

The following events will be at:
Orgyen Dorje Den
2244 Santa Clara Ave
Alameda, CA 94501
http://www.orgyendorjeden.org/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming this weekend, August 16, 17 & 18:
H.H. Phakchok Rinpoche, head of the Taklung Kagyu lineage and son of H.E. Chokling Rinpoche, nephew of H.E. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, and grandson of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, is coming to the San Francisco Bay Area from August 15-19 to give teachings and empowerments. Please plan to attend and spread the word regarding these precious teachings.
See phakchokrinpoche.org.
And for biographical info: http://phakchokrinpoche.org/lineage.htm
http://phakchokrinpoche.org/historyofpresentPK.htm

HH Phakchok Rinpoche will be giving the following empowerments and teachings at ODD.
Yangdak Heruka empowerment and teachings.
August 16 from 10 am to 12 pm and 2 to 4 pm.
When asked for some brief info about Yangdak Heruka, Rinpoche, translating from a text, replied the following in a phone call:
"Yangdak Heruka is the secret heart essence practice of Mahapandita Vimalamitra & Guru Padmasambhava. As a method to repair mistakes, purify broken samaya and reverse bad karma it is greater than even Vajrasattva. According to Ratna Lingpa, it is a supreme method for yogis to fulfill the root & branch samaya of vinaya, mahayana & vajrayana precepts & it will enable the practitioner to receive the 2 siddhis and have a long life. It requires accumulated merit from past lives to meet with these teachings and through practice you will see how fast the siddhis will be received. This terma is a revelation of Chogyur Lingpa--it is a short lineage--he revealed it on Guru Rinpoche Day from a Big Boulder. It is part of the Sangtik Korsum, which is a cycle of practice which also includes Vajrasattva & Vajrakilaya." This is the first time Rinpoche is giving the Yangdak Heruka empowerment in the USA.

Teachings on Sangtik Korsum cycle of empowerments, instruction on general development stage, and meditation training:
August 17 from 10 am to 12 pm and 2 to 4 pm
August 18 from 10 am to 12 pm and 2 to 4 pm
These teachings will relate to the specific cycle, Sangtik Korsum, but will also be applicable to whatever sadhana practice one is engaging.

The suggested donation is $100 for the three days, $35/ day & $20 per session.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Orgyen Dorje Den
2244 Santa Clara Ave
Alameda, CA 94501
www.orgyendorjeden.org

From
http://www.riwoche.com/phakchok_rinpoche.html

Phakchok Rinpoche's emanation-basis is the Lord of Secrets Dharmevajra, the compiler of the teachings of the Great Secrets (Vajrayana) of all buddhas; the arhat Ananda, the foremost disciple of our teacher (Buddha Shakyamuni); Lhalung Palgyi Dorje, the direct disciple of the Second Buddha of Uddiyana (Padmasambhava); (Rechung) Dorje Drakpa, the lord of siddhas; and many others.
. . .
The reincarnation of this sublime master was the seventh Phakchok Rinpoche, Tendzin Jigmey Drakpa, born in the Year of the Iron Bird, 1981, of the seventeenth year cycle. The family he was born into is, among the six original clans, the Nangchen Tsangsar of the Khepaga line which were chiefly holders of the Barom Kagyü Dharma lineage, a family line who maintained an unbroken tradition of combining Kagyü and Nyingma.
. . .

Due to his outstanding brightness and inherent qualities from former training, he comprehended reading and writing, and when he later studied the topics of knowledge with Kungo Kalzang, Karma Urgyen Rinpoche's younger brother, he gained effortless understanding by simply hearing what was said.

Here is a description of the ripening empowerments and liberating instructions Phakchok Rinpoche has received from masters of the Sarma and Nyingma schools of all traditions:

From Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche he has received longevity empowerments, the Six Volumes of Jatsön Nyingpo, Gyachen Kadzö (of Jamgön Kongtrül).

From Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche he has received the empowerments of longevity.

From Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche he has received the empowerments for the Rinchen Terdzö, the complete empowerments and reading trans-missions for the Chokling Tersar, the Dzogchen Desum, the empowerments, reading transmissions and instructions for the Kunzang Tuktig, the empowerment of awareness-display and mind-instruction for Dzogchen, the complete empowerments and reading transmissions for the Root Volumes of Nyingtig, the Hundred Chö Empowerments, and the Namkha Gojey.

From Kyabje Taklung Shabdrung Rinpoche he has received the complete empowerments and reading transmissions of the Taklung Kagyü, and the complete empowerments and reading transmissions for the collected works and terma teachings of Jedrung Rinpoche.

From Kyabje Chobgye Trichen Rinpoche he has received the empowerments and reading transmissions for the Gyüdey Kündü.

From Sakya Dagtri Drölma Podrang he has received the complete Drubtab Kündü.

From his father, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, he has received the complete empowerments and reading transmissions for the Chokling Tersar.

From Dzongsar Khenchen Kunga Wangchuk he has received the reading transmission for the collected works of the Five Sakya Forefathers, the Prajñamula, Madhyamikavatara, and the 400 Verses, Sakya Pandita's Tsema Rigter, Tsema Namdrel, the Higher and Lower Abhidharma and other works.

From Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche he has received the reading transmission for the Tenngyur, the Great Collection of the Translated Treatises.

From Kyabje Penor Rinpoche he has received the complete empowerments for the Rinchen Terdzö.

From Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche he has received the complete reading transmissions for the Rinchen Terdzö.

From Arik Khenchen Petse Rinpoche he has received explanation to the Guhyagarbha Tantra and the Manjushri Nama Sangirti, as well as mind-instruction.

From Kyabje Trülshik Rinpoche he has received the complete empowerments for the Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

From Kyabje Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche he has received the Tögal Cycle of Khenpo Ngakchung's Hearing Lineage, as well as mind-instruction.

. . .

This was translated by Erik Pema Kunsang, at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, February, 2000.

www.choklingtersar.org

http://www.rangjung.com/gl/Chokling_Tersar.htm
Chokling Tersar, the New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa ( copyrighted )
During the ninth century, Buddhism was introduced from India into Tibet and its literature and culture has since been preserved in a way that has been unique in accuracy and truthfulness to tradition. Four decades ago, the occupation of Tibet by Communist China began an era of repression and systematic destruction of this thousand year old Buddhist culture. Shreds of this tradition reached the countries on the southern slopes of the Himalaya ranges - India, Nepal and Bhutan - in the hands of the few refugees who managed to escape alive. During the following years these areas have been the meeting-point and a forum of exchange between a large number of people from all countries of the world.

In response to the heart-wish of Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, the Chokling Tersar Foundation was established. It is in the spirit of wishing to protect and preserve one of the important contributions to the world's cultural heritage, as well as responding to a growing demand within North America, that the members of Chokling Tersar Foundation support the foundation through donations of effort, money and prayers.

Chokling Tersar literally means the 'new treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa' and owes it name to the great Tibetan Buddhist master of the 19th century. Chokgyur Lingpa lived from (1829-1870) and was regarded by the most reputable living masters of his time as one of the major tertons (revealer of hidden treasures) in Tibetan history. His teachings are widely practiced by both the Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

The collection of treasures revealed by Chokgyur Lingpa together with its connected teachings are contained in the Chokling Tersar, a body of literature filling more than forty large volumes. In English translation each of these volumes would be between seven and eight hundred pages and the total would amount to approximately 30,000 pages. The connected teachings included in these forty volumes were written over the last 150 years, chiefly by his contemporaries Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Kongtrul, as well as by the subsequent upholders of the lineage down until today.

Kangyur - the TripitakaThe Chokling Tersar literature is meant to be studied and practiced as an addition to the traditional canonical scriptures of Tibetan Buddhism. These traditional scriptures are found in the Kangyur and Tengyur, the written words of Buddha Shakyamuni and their commentaries by learned Indian Masters. These two collections occupy respectively 104 and 273 large volumes.

In these scriptures are found detailed instructions on how to take full advantage of and imbue human life with its fullest meaning. These revealed scriptures were concealed by the 9th century Buddhist saint Padmasambhava with the expressed wish to be uncovered at specific times in the future. Many of them contain predictions for those times and which particular spiritual practices would be most beneficial for the people of those times.

Centers practicing the New Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa:

Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling monastery, Boudha, Nepal.
Lamas: Tsikey Chokling, Gyurme Dewey Dorje; Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche; Phakchok Rinpoche

Pema Ewam Chogar in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Lamas: Neten Chokling and Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche.

Tsikey Gompa in East Tibet.
Lamas: Chokling of Tsikey, Tsang-Yang Gyamtso; Tersey Tulku

Chokling Tersar Foundation, USA.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Buddhist Temple Adopts Tigers

2008-08-04T22:40:06Z

http://eamazings.com/index.php/eamazings/the-tiger-temple.html

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Spiritual Questions Game

2008-07-18T22:33:37Z

not sure if this is exactly Buddhist, but, I guess it depends on how it's answered?

QUESTIONS

What does spirituality mean to you?

Whom could you welcome into your community that perhaps you have been resisting?

When did someone's kindness make a difference in your life?

What have you been generously given?

Can you see that the source of happiness is being happy?

What is your experience when you are completely present with another person?

Where does life exceed your expectations?

How could you be more generous with yourself?

Who inspires you?

Where could you be more flexible?

When do you feel most alive?

What are you afraid to give?

Where could you lighten up?

What do your friends love about you?

In whose presence are you most alive?

Is your life aligned with your highest intentions?

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Hotei Poem

2008-07-08T15:02:58Z

not sure if this is really properly Buddhist, though, through artistic license, I think it would be fair to say that Hotei represents a Buddha figure...

a little homage to Hotei

(little link about him below:)

http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=12

Chinese Restaurant Buffet

This Hotei,
Thundering Heaven,
Smile Like He Just Tasted The Sky,
Drank it in full,
And Laughed.

This Hotei,
Powerful Lofty Infinite Being,
Gentle Heart of Gold.

Loving Everything,
Loving Like a Father,
Like a Mother,
Like your best ever memory of your very own Grandmother tenderly letting you lick the chocolate batter from the bowl she was mixing your favorite brownies in, just for you
only for you
touching your cheek
just for you

like that kind of love
and backed
by the transcendental power of Heaven itself
all sky blue eye smiles
and blanketing love till the tears well in your eye that gratitude could be such a welcome feast, there, as the door of love slightly opens and reminds you of what has always been Home.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

LOLBuddhaCats

2008-06-03T05:08:39Z

The Eight-Fold LOLpath

I'm in ur dharma weel
spokin' ur 8-fold path

right view:

WANT. Can haz? ATTACHMENT. OH NOES!!1!
Sufferin kitteh is sufferin.

right intention:

worldly thingz: I renounsez tehm.
mousies: I no nom nom nommin u no more.

right speech:

abusive speech: i abandonz it
mai right speech. let me show you it. but only at the rite tiem.

right action:

mousies? rly not nom nom nommin u. srsly.
also, ceeling cat sees whut i did ther, and iz no problem.

right livelihood:

monorail cat is on-line,
an full of benevvoluns
dis monorail cat don carry no gamblerz

right effort:

unwholesumness: DO NOT WANT
wholesumness: WANT

right mindfulness:

Bare attention: I haz it.
I see whut u did ther.

right concentration:

mousies? i not even thinkin of nom nom nommin u no more. srsly.
(O NOES!!!1! Mai bliss haz rolled undr couch!)

Ah! Betr!

Ekwanimitee. I haz it again.

...and the two extra ones, right knowledge:

I see whut we did ther.

and right liberation:

Chop wood, carry water.
Shred couch, hide cat toys.
Liberated kitteh is liberated.

The Eight-Fold LOLpath is copyright Elise Matthesen 2008; please do not reprint or repost without written permission. Permission can be gotten pretty easily by sending e-mail to elise@lioness.net. (I almost always say yes, but I love to find out how far it's spreading, and the permissions thing is good as a device to satisfy my curiosity on that.) Thank you. (And if you do reprint or repost without asking me, please please please include this paragraph so that my name and contact info go along with it so that the next person can ask, and I can find out how far it goes. If you see it out there anywhere uncredited, please tack this paragraph on. My catly curiosity thanks you.)
http://elisem.livejournal.com/1270361.html

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Silly Fun

2008-06-01T15:51:58Z

Just for silly fun..

anyone up for a chocolate thread?

Just to share your favorite kinds of chocolate?

any time I spend thinking about chocolate is time well spent...

I'll start..Almond Roca (chocolate over buttercrunch toffee)

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 142 replies

Movie - Dhamma Brothers

2008-05-11T08:10:31Z

Dhamma Brothers

Movie about to come out, about a group of prisoners who are learning Buddhism to cope with life inside.

http://www.dhammabrothers.com/

one of my favorite charities is the Prison Ashram

Project of the Human Kindness Foundation. They have been teaching meditation to prisoners for over 30 years!

Amazing, amazing folks!

http://www.humankindness.org/project.html

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

Missing Person - Update

2008-05-01T11:53:29Z

Hi Folks..

Awhile ago, I passed this along...about a Tribe sister who's son Chris has been missing since September.

(Here is the website:http://www.findchris.org/)

There is some news! It is the first lead in the case!

"Today a girl working at a gas station in Cortez, CO says' she can positively identify Chris as a boy that has come in several time, most recently with 2-3 day, trying to buy cigarettes..."

Here's hoping that the good folks in law enforcement can take this lead and finally bring Chris home!

Please send out some good vibes and, if you could, pass this info along to anyone you know in Colorado
and especially in the Cortez area.

Here is a link to a map for Cortez, CO:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Cortez,+CO,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title

thanks,

Jon

PS - Wendy from the Tribe Net staff has given me permission to cross post

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

Speaking of Buddhist resources...

2008-04-19T16:20:12Z

Anyone know Buddhists in the Naples, Italy area? Could you point me in their direction?

Thanks muchly!
SW :)

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Buddhist Resources

2008-04-16T02:03:20Z

Zen Mountain Monastery

conducts meditation retreats, also retreats in the
spiritual arts, etc.

http://www.mro.org/zmm/index.php

++++

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 111 replies

HHDL visits Seattle, makes Dave Matthews all giggly

2008-04-12T17:17:53Z

My BFF in Seattle got involved with Seeds of Compassion, the presenting organization, via the all-ages community choir that was created to sing for His Holiness ... and she says it has ballooned to 2000 members!!

Coverage in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/photos/popupV2.asp?SubID=3675&page=1>itle=Dalai%20Lama%20in%20Seattle
photos

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/video/showcase.asp?videoID=244
Dave Matthews says HHDL is “cute as the dickens.”

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/358878_davematthews12q.html
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds tear up Key Arena

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/358730_dalai12.html
Seattle P-I feature story

May all beings be happy!

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

4-12 Spiritually-minded folk from Rebecca Riots: "Best Band with a Conscience"

2008-04-08T03:11:21Z

Dear Friends,
Come have some "buddhist fun" with the Rebecca Riots: member Eve Decker bringsa Buddhist perspective to this upbeat, energized and meaningful folk music. - Best, Hannah

THE REBECCA RIOTS BRING FRESH RADICAL FOLK FOR OUR TIMES TO SAN GERONIMO
Folk icons The Rebecca Riots political/spiritual brand of acoustic music has
won them accolades locally and nationally, including ³Best Band with a
Conscience² from the S.F. Bay Guardian; ³This Band Should Be a Household
Name² from the East Bay Express, ³(Rebecca Riots) heals minds with its
social and political commentary" from The San Francisco Chronicle and even
³Dreamy Girl Band² from Girlfriends Magazine!

The Rebecca Riots will play at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center on
Saturday, April 12th at 8pm. We are located at 6350 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
in San Geronimo, 9 miles west of San Rafael. Tickets are selling
and we recommend advance purchase for this show. Will call tickets are
available online at http://www.sgvcc.org/artsevents/centerevents.html.
The Community Center is a great, low-key and alcohol-free venue for music
with great acoustics and an intimate size. It is only 15 minutes from San Rafael
but is nestled among the beautiful rolling hills of San Geronimo. Come out and
enjoy a hike, have a delicious meal at one of the delicious local restaurants
and catch a great concert on Saturday night!

Musically Rebecca Riots is known for upbeat, energized folk music. They do
three part harmonies, guitar, mandolin and harmonica. On stage, the three
women are charismatic, funny, and inspiring. Songs and between-song banter
touch on a range of timely political and social issues, including police
accountability; healing through interfaith spiritual practice (the three
musicians are Christian, Jewish, and Buddhist [Eve Decker, whose spiritual
home is at Spirit Rock]); caring for the country¹s homeless; gay-straight
alliance; prisoner¹s rights; positive body image for women; building with
straw bale; gratitude toward nature; facing death and loss; anti-apartheid
work; Palestinian rights; love and support of children and teens; and good
old celebratory love songs.

The band was formed in 1993. In the period from 1993-2001, Rebecca Riots
released four CDs, [Gardener (April 2000),
Live at the Freight & Salvage (1999), Some Folks (1998), Rebecca Riots
(1995)] were signed to Appleseed Recordings, and toured the United States
several times. They played the Vancouver Folk Festival, Bumbershoot, the
Salina Folk Festival, and regularly sold out multiple shows in Seattle,
Portland, and the Freight and Salvage in their home town of Berkeley,
California. They have shared stages with Peter Yarrow, Utah Phillips, Laura
Love, Street Sounds, Rhiannon, Ulali, Cheryl Wheeler, Sonia of Disappear
Fear, Gwen Avery, Alix Dobkin, Alice Stewart, and many other balladeers for
social change.

Rebecca Riots spent nearly a decade regaling the folk music world with their
catchy, thoughtful, uptempo songs before taking a break for a few years to
pursue other aspects of their lives. From 2002-2006 Rebecca Riots stopped
touring, playing one or two shows a year in Berkeley and produced one CD,
³Just As Sure². During that time Lisa had a baby and produced albums for
other singer-songwriters, Andrea became a public school teacher and visited
Palestine, and Eve did long meditation retreats and released a solo CD based
on Buddhist teachings.

In fact Eve is well-known to the Spirit Rock Meditation Center community,
³Spirit Rock has been my spiritual home since 1992.² She says. She has
performed at numerous events and benefits for the organization such as
Sylvia Boorstein¹s 70¹s birthday and is training to be a retreat leader.

The same passion that riveted audiences and drove the band to create songs
of struggle, love and inspiration has led these women back to the national
stage. After almost five years, Rebecca Riots will visit Marin as one of
their first stops in a return to touring that is generating buzz and
anticipation near and far.

The Riots will feature some of their new tunes as well as old favorites at
the SGVCC show. With five CDs already to their credit, the Riots are
preparing for a new recording that might be released as early as this fall.
"We have lots of new material that we really want to play out. New songs
need to be refined and polished and the best way to do that is to lay it on
the line and put them in front of a sophisticated live audience, like that
at San Geronimo" explained Riots member Eve Decker.

Rebecca Riots has been called "fresh, radical folk" but their recent return
to the stage shows growth and change as well. While the trio, Eve Decker,
Lisa Zeiler and Andrea Prichett have always brought their own, unique
personalities to the music, the years in-between have given lots of new
inspiration for their songs. Close harmonies and tight rhythmic guitar are
still a mainstay of the Riots. The themes of the songs still include lots of
political content, but the time off has made the music deeper. Its hard to
categorize the songs as being political or spiritual or topical or
specifically love songs. There is just a beautiful depth that happens when
Rebecca Riots do their thing.

WHERE: San Geronimo Valley Community Center
6350 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. San Geronimo, CA

WHEN: Saturday April 12th, 8pm

HOW MUCH: $15 adults/$12 seniors/$8 kids. Advance tickets recommended.
Available online at http://www.sgvcc.org/artsevents/centerevents.html. You
may also drop off payment at the Community Center (please call ahead) or
mail your check (made out to SGVCC with a note saying how many tickets you
want for what show) to us at SGVCC, Box 194, San Geronimo, CA 94963 Attn:
Hannah

VENUE CONTACT: 415-488-8888 www.sgvcc.org

--
Hannah Doress
Arts & Events Coordinator
San Geronimo Valley Community Center
arts@sgvcc.org
415-488-8888 #253
www.sgvcc.org

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

The Interactive Vision that set the world Free

2008-04-07T06:34:54Z

I thought you might like to see the Rainbow Dream Vision.
If you like this vision, please send it to friends.
You can get a fresh copy here to post into emails:
http://www.worldgathering.net/rdvplain.html
And: http://www.worldgathering.net/vision.html
Michael Irving ~~ Scotland UK
The Big World Gathering
http://www.worldgathering.net

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Rainbow Dream Vision of Freedom ~ 1993-2012
http://worldgathering.net/vision.html

The Rainbow Dream Vision of Hope
Intertribal Medicine Societies of Turtle Island
The Twenty Count: 1993-2012

Make copies of the Rainbow prophecy, and give or send them to people anywhere on the planet. Then let them be guided by their hearts to do the same until all planetary citizens are brought to life in the Rainbow dream, so that we may dream and work together for true peace. Love, Thunder Woman

Introduction by Aleran
Throughout the ages humanity has sought out the prophecies of the spiritually gifted to instil a clear hope and vision into life. During this time many prophecies come to us trying to lead us in many different directions.
Some prophecy points to disaster, hopelessness and the annihilation of mankind. But other prophecies create a vision of joyful transformation through quantum leaps into love and light.
As things stand now, the human race is dreaming a hell.
But as individuals and as a collective humanity it is our potential to dream of paradise and to create the kingdom of heaven on our Mother Earth.
Could it be that the pain in our hearts caused by the hell we have created will spur us on into visions and creations of a world formed in love?
It is my prayer and dream, along with a multitude of others who have taught me to dream the Rainbow dream, that each and every one of you learn to dream both while awake and sleeping, the dream of unity and love through divine transformation.
This prophecy is a dream and vision that is a potential reality for mankind. It is not an ultimatum. But it is ours to behold and to create if we only dare to dream it together.

The Rainbow Dream Vision of Turtle Island
Prophecies of The Native Americans
1993-2012

PART ONE ~
The distribution and giving back to humanity of the Twenty Count.
In the Turtle Island lore we say it is the time of finding one’s path with heart.
The time of seeking perfection, growth and development.
Most importantly the time of trust and innocence, when mythologies of the world are revealing secrets.

PART TWO ~
The critical time. The time of the animal. The time of Tuwalananie, the dark force.
The reason for this is that seeds of light have been planted and we are starting to grow and the teachings are starting to come out and all those ones who have taught partial truths, who have taught deliberate lies in history, are going to be threatened by the awakening of the Rainbow people because the Rainbow people exist in every country, in every nation, in every land.
The Dark Forces will be threatened and they will use their power and their power exists in technology. We are going to see new technology appearing which will be a tremendous threat to the survival of humanity.
We must exert our influence by gathering together and sharing our ideas and plans for alternative power and for world peace. If we put a double amount of energy with what we are for, we can change it. We can change it.

PART THREE ~
The time of human to human communication.
The time the human family finally starts to become human.
There will be more information brought out into open format than has ever been seen on this planet.
We will re-establish contact in a very knowledgeable way with our ancestors from the stars.
So mark that down because it will happen. The first contact will be with the Pleiades and will be totally acknowledged and will be known to all the world powers. The second contact will be with Sirius.

PART FOUR ~
When truth seekers begin to open the veil of the crack between the worlds, we will see our memory circles.
Many of the leaders who are trying to keep us locked in the past, will not function today, will fall.
Many teachers and wise people will be seen for who they are and they will be the farmers, the labourers and the gas station attendants because the tagashala will be fully awakened.
People will begin to link up with other people in gathering together circles.
Many of these will be the so-called 'common people' and not the teachers you see up there now.

PART FIVE ~
The various winged serpent wheels will begin to turn, to dance once again and when they do the rainbow lights will be seen in dreams all over the world and these rainbow light dreams will help awaken the rest of humanity.
We will sit in a new circle of law.
All civil and social laws will have to be in conformity with natural laws or the people will not accept them and they will have the enlightenment necessary to reject those laws.
Science will once again become metaphysics. They will discover four laws that will help them jump to universal law and transcend the time-space continuum which is the limitation of the age and once again we will begin to take our power and to work with rules and laws that are cosmic laws.

PART SIX ~
We will once again see the way to continue a new dream.
We will be given the road map back to the stars and we will see the star people come out of the illusion of their two-legged form and into their actual great sleeper-dreamer form.
A powerful time approaches humanity and its really hard for me to talk about it.
I am a great dreamer but I don’t know if I dream that large.
We will see a real shift in planetary consciousness.
Many of the enemies of the humans will begin to drop away.
We will totally gain the light of the great light wheel.
There will be one humanity, one planet composed of all the different ways of dancing in complete harmony in the great gathering together circle.
All the seeds will be planted.
The Earth will have its true reality formed.
It will join the sisterhood of planets, the daughters of Copperwoman and it will create within itself all forms of all things in harmony with the everything.
We will see a whole new way of perfection.
There will be plants on this grandmother earth that will give life and sustenance as never before seen.
Starvation on the earth, all those things will be gone. There will be total balance and harmony.

PART SEVEN ~
The new race of humans will begin to design their new reality of life on this planet as they intended it to be when they first came here from the stars.
We will begin to establish this planet and use the collective consciousness to hold the power of this space in harmony with the Great Circle of Twelve and all the planets. There is a whole lot I don’t even know. There is more that I am not supposed to talk about yet.
The dream will be actualised and this planet will hold its space in the great council of planets and become a part of the universal enlightened sisterhood and brotherhood of humanity and keepers of the light circles. It's happened on many planets and it's expected to happen on a lot of other planets.
There will be a moment when the population will be 'the' Population, and something great will happen.
This planet will have its design of energy movement guided by all of humanity living here.

The Great Spirit will leave its seed and the egg of everything here on this planet and it will create itself 20 times over at the speed of light and this prophecy ends as I have been given it by the Grandmothers that I share with you now.

~~~~~~~~~

Put a double amount of energy with what we are for. We can change it.

Make copies of the Rainbow prophecy, and give or send them to people anywhere on the planet. Then let them be guided by their hearts to do the same until all planetary citizens are brought to life in the Rainbow dream, so that we may dream and work together for true peace. Love, Thunder Woman

http://worldgathering.net/vision.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Background information ~ The Greatest Vision Ever Seen

~ The Greatest Vision Ever Seen ~
~ The Rainbow Dream of Freedom ~

http://worldgathering.net/greatest.html

The Rainbow Dream Vision of Freedom ~ 1993-2012
Intertribal Medicine Societies of Turtle Island
http://worldgathering.net/vision.html

~ A powerful time approaches humanity and its really hard for me to talk about it. ~ We will see a real shift in planetary consciousness. ~ The Earth will have its true reality formed. ~ We will see a whole new way of perfection. ~ Starvation on the earth, all those things will be gone. ~

~ VISION of FREEDOM ~

I hope many people will send the Vision of Freedom to friends.

I have been involved with the Rainbow Dream Vision of Hope and Freedom since 1984. In that year, three musicians came into my one-man printing and publishing office, and said, "You really must look at this." They seemed a little (funny how life is at times) like the three wise people bringing gifts. Two days later I was distributing copies at a conference, and like me, people were amazed and astonished.

That's when my life started to be 'larger than life'.
And, in 1987, I went to visit the Hopi in Arizona, North America.

As I drove in from the west, an older man sitting by the roadside waved down my car... later, it felt to me that I was expected. He took me to meet Qwa David Monongye, and in the evening I was taken to a ceremony in the kiva. A dozen or more men descended from a ladder in the roof, and formed up in an arc of a circle.

They faced one direction, towards one of the ends of the arc, and started a slow foot-shuffling dance. Then fairly suddenly, domino-effect, turned one-by-one 180 degrees to face the other end of the arc. At that point I very nearly fell off my chair ... something had hit me. A year or more later, thinking about it, the realisation seemed to be: 'We can change the direction the world is going in. It is possible.'

I drove off, eastwards, along the Hopi mesas to find somewhere to park up, and sleep the night. In the morning I got out of the car, and was surprised to see the face of the large rock only feet from the car had a carving on it. This was the Hopi's 'Prophecy Stone', and it shows people moving in a direction, and the path splitting into two. One path goes nowhere, it fades out. But the other path goes on, and corn symbols by the path indicate that this route leads to life and prosperity.

Many other unusual and significant things occurred out there in this ancient place where it feels like time had stopped. Indeed, after visiting the oldest township on the Hopi mesas ~ a tall, sharp-ended mesa, rather like a ship of the desert ~ my watch stopped, and never worked again. There is much more that happened.

In 1986 ~ the year before my first visit to the Hopi ~ I was within sixty feet of three disc craft, for around 25 minutes. This too, was like events were coming together to inform me of something significant, something much bigger than myself. In 1993, with friends, we were very close to craft in the area of the crop patterns of mid southern England on several occasions.

Since 1993, on most days when I first step out of doors I frequently see one or more flashes in the sky, seemingly from a source fairly close, and at a lowish elevation. I have always taken the flashes to indicate the locations of disc craft which are 'parked up' and are stationary. In 2007, possibly because I was loaned a camera with an unusual infra-red setting, many craft and aerial objects started to appear in my general scenic photographs. Most images are archived here: http://worldgathering.net/scotland

(A) The Rainbow Dream Vision says: "We can change it (the direction the world is going). If we put a DOUBLE AMOUNT of effort into what we are for."

(B) The Hopi Nation has a prophecy stone which predicts the world will come to a time of choice. And if we choose the good direction, we can go on into a good life.

(C) The craft appearing all over the world, seem to be waiting and watching. To see if we can figure things out. To see if we can: 'Seize The Day'.

The writing is on the wall, and it says: 'We can change direction.'

Please send the Rainbow Dream Vision of Hope and Freedom to your friends. And let's make a stand for what we really believe in. Put a DOUBLE amount of effort and energy into what you believe is important.

Don't feel disheartened. It looks like there are some unexpected, good moves to happen yet: "There is a whole lot I don’t even know. There is more that I am not supposed to talk about yet."

Text of The Rainbow Dream Vision of Freedom:
http://worldgathering.net/vision.html

Michael Irving
World-Action and The Big World Gathering
Scotland, United Kingdom ~ http://www.worldgathering.net

http://worldgathering.net/greatest.html

~~~~~~~~~

If you like this vision, please copy it and send to friends. Thanks.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Worlds Biggest Water Balloon Celebration Justin Hermin Plaza April 9th SF

2008-04-07T06:21:53Z

Non violent water ballon party at justin hermin plaza in celibration of the passing of the olympic torch.
Please be very careful not to extinguish the flame...

since the olympics should not be "Political" !

recomend red yellow and blue ballons in honor of his Holiness the Dali Lama and all those who have died in tibet to make china what it is today.

Nameste
William

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

The Second Coming of Christ

2008-03-28T04:25:49Z

Where and in what form do you think he will appear?

Here is one possibility:

http://iseyz.com/2008/03/18/cheeses-lamb-of-gouda/

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 11 replies

London-based Buddhist travelling to California and Nevada

2008-03-26T23:02:44Z

I'm an english buddhist (female) travelling to the US (certainly LA, San Francisco and Vegas, but possibly elsewhere also) in April ,and looking for intriguing experiences while i'm there. these experinces could be zen-related or Tibetan-based, but i'm not strongly affiliated to one brand of buddhism.

any suggestions? it would help if temples and other places were reachable by public transport.

mindfully yrs,

nod

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 5 replies

Stupid Intelligent Design Tricks

2008-03-22T05:02:54Z

All the irony meters broke down on Thursday. Cause: an incident at the Mall of America multiplex.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/03/expelled.php

Oh the humanity!!

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

URGENT! PLEASE HELP TIBET! SIGN THIS PETITION!

2008-03-18T21:58:29Z

URGENT! PLEASE HELP TIBET! SIGN THIS PETITION!
PLEASE REPOST!

> Dear friends,
>
> After decades of repression under Chinese rule,
> the Tibetan people’s frustrations have burst
> onto the streets in protests and riots. With the
> spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games now on
> China, Tibetans are crying out to the world for
> change.
>
> The Chinese government has said that the
> protesters who have not yet surrendered "
> will be punished". Its leaders are right
> now considering a crucial choice between
> escalating brutality or dialogue that could
> determine the future of Tibet, and China.
>
> We can affect this historic choice--China does
> care about its international reputation. China’s
> President Hu Jintao needs to hear that the ’Made
> in China’ brand and the upcoming Olympics in
> Beijing can succeed only if he makes the right
> choice. But it will take an avalanche of global
> people power to get his attention--and we need
> it in the next 48 hours.
>
> The Tibetan Nobel peace prize winner and
> spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has called for
> restraint and dialogue: he needs the world’s
> people to support him. Click below now to sign
> the petition--and tell absolutely everyone you
> can right away--our goal is 1 million voices
> united for Tibet:
>
::: SIGN THE PETITION! :::
http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/6.php
>
> China’s economy is totally dependent on "
> Made in China" exports that we all buy, and
> the government is keen to make the Olympics in
> Beijing this summer a celebration of a new
> China, respected as a leading world power. China
> is also a very diverse country with a brutal
> past and has reason to be concerned about its
> stability -- some of Tibet’s rioters killed
> innocent people. But President Hu must recognize
> that the greatest danger to Chinese stability
> and development comes from hardliners who
> advocate escalating repression, not from
> Tibetans who seek dialogue and reform.
>
> We will deliver our petition directly to Chinese
> officials in London, New York, and Beijing, but
> it must be a massive number before we deliver
> the petition. Please forward this email to your
> address book with a note explaining to your
> friends why this is important, or use our tell-a-
> friend tool to email your address book--it will
> come up after you sign the petition.
>
> The Tibetan people have suffered quietly for
> decades. It is finally their moment to speak--we
> must help them be heard.
>
> With hope and respect,
>
> Ricken, Iain, Graziela, Paul, Galit, Pascal,
> Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team
>
> PS - It has been suggested that the Chinese
> government may block the Avaaz website as a
> result of this email, and thousands of Avaaz
> members in China will no longer be able to
> participate in our community. A poll of Avaaz
> members over the weekend showed that over 80% of
> us believed it was still important to act on
> Tibet despite this terrible potential loss to
> our community, if we thought we could make a
> difference. If we are blocked, Avaaz will help
> maintain the campaign for internet freedom for
> all Chinese people, so that our members in China
> can one day rejoin our community.
>
> Here are some links with more information on the
> Tibetan protests and the Chinese response:
>
> BBC News: UN Calls for Restraint in Tibet
> http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7301912.
> stm
>
> Human Rights Watch: China Restrain from
> Violently Attacking Protesters
> http://hrw.
> org/english/docs/2008/03/15/china18291.htm
>
> Associated Press: Tibet Unrest Sparks Global
> Reaction
> http://ap. google.
> com/article/ALeqM5gSSpPcDOPMoAiRLhPUyezuCRiXBQD8VFDD680
>
> New York Times: China Takes Steps to Thwart
> Reporting on Tibet Protests
> http://www. nytimes.
> com/2008/03/18/world/asia/18access.html?ref=world
>
> --------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> ABOUT AVAAZ
> Avaaz. org is an independent, not-for-profit
> global campaigning organization that works to
> ensure that the views and values of the world’s
> people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz
> means "voice" in many languages.)
> Avaaz receives no money from governments or
> corporations, and is staffed by a global team
> based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York,
> Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

The Best Idea for an Invention Ever

2008-03-17T21:37:54Z

This one is going to make millions of dollars. VC firms and private investors, please contact iseyz immediately!

http://iseyz.com/2008/03/14/the-best-idea-for-an-invention-ever/

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 8 replies

One of the secrets...

2008-03-04T14:41:36Z

of happiness is appreciation.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Dharma Talk in Philly

2008-02-13T19:33:16Z

Zen teacher from Vietnamese tradition, giving a Dharma Talk talk this Friday (February 15) at St Stephens Church, in Philly at 7:30pm

For more info:

http://www.phathue.com

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Karma vs. Dogma

2008-02-11T14:52:57Z

Our dear monk was driving through the country road when suddenly a dog crosses the road.
The car hit the poor thing, which died without much ado.
There apparently was a collar in the neck of the dog.
The monk looked around and seeing a temple, went to knock on the door.
A monk opened the door.
The first monk said: "I'm terribly sorry, but my karma ran over your dogma."

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

Good Collection of Important Websites

2008-02-07T14:34:15Z

Dear Friends,

I found this important website which has links to all daily use Important Websites.

http://ihome.rapidmile.com

I recommend you to put it as your HOME PAGE and take use of it daily.

Also feel free to forward to your friends

Regards,
Namrata

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Jewish Buddhism

2008-02-06T13:40:13Z

If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. TheTao does not take sides. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao is not Jewish.

Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?

Drink tea and nourish life; with the first sip, joy; with the second sip, satisfaction; with the third sip, peace; with the fourth, a Danish.

Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.

Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems. What would you talk about?

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Oy.

There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?

Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.
]

Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as a wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with such rounded shoulders.

Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers. Each flower blossoms ten thousand times. Each blossom has ten thousand petals. You might want to see a specialist.

Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

The Torah says, Love your neighbor as yourself. The Buddha says, There is no self. So, maybe we're off the hook

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 9 replies

Presidential Find!!

2008-02-01T23:03:05Z

New Candidate for President!

http://www.cthulhu.org/

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Word of the Day (sanksrit)

2008-01-30T08:59:57Z

Patisamusaya - The feeling you get when someone in a higher position then you, like your boss, is less qualified then you and tells you to do something but you see the person doesnt know what they are talking about and you feel that you know better than them but you have to do what they say because they are the one in charge.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

watever

2008-01-25T04:14:56Z

collision
expansion
swirly things
contraction
expansion
collision of swirly things
partial expansion
contraction
expansion of swirly things
silence

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 3 replies

Before you jump on it

2008-01-24T09:52:02Z

Derren Brown Astrology/Palmistry: http://youtube.com/watch?v=haP7Ys9ocTk

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 8 replies

Does a mouse...

2008-01-19T20:09:11Z

Does a mouse have a Buddha Nature?

:D

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 10 replies

Menis

2008-01-17T17:15:50Z

http://iseyz.com/2007/12/16/menis/

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 5 replies

Heart Sutra Discourse

2008-01-10T23:44:36Z

I don't usually have a broadband connection but I got a 4 month deal that I couldn't refuse...

So I got the DivX player bundle and tried downloading some movies in the DivX format from Stage 6 where members can upload and download movies.
They had some related to Buddhism.

I found one that was really intriguing to me. It was called "the Heart Sutra" and it was a 20 minute condensation of a Chi Kung demo in Britain by a Chinese guy. He had all these black belt dudes attack him, and without even touching them physically, he was able to make them lose bodily function control and collapse as if they'd hit an invisible wall. Then he would ask them if they were OK.

It was something I'd only heard about in fables and stories.

http://www.stage6.com/Buddhism/video/1522520/Amazing!-Heart-Sutra-Discourse-With-Chi-Kung

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 3 replies

May All

2008-01-07T23:33:20Z

I used to meditate with a nice local group.

They were really a kind of women's group, who had started taking Yoga classes in the early 70's. A couple of their husbands joined in and I got to be one of the handful of men.

A lot of them were interested in insight meditation, but all different forms, including Zen Buddhism were represented. It was very pleasant. We would just sit down to meditate, once a week, for 24 minutes. It was nice, the time was marked with a little gong.

One of these folks taught me this simple Buddhist invocation:

May All Beings Be Happy
May All Beings Be Healthy
May All Beings Be Free From Suffering
May All Beings Be Liberated

I have liked this invocation so much. Just saying it over makes me feel better. It makes me feel better to wish everyone joy and health and happiness.

When caught up in the day and some business interaction goes awry and I find myself angry towards another, I really feel bad about it. Not only guilty, but also obstructed....like a tiny veil has been placed over me. When I let myself go of all resentment and just say this invocation wishing everyone well, I feel so much better, like the day has started with a clean slate.

So, I thought I would try to create a little poem-thing out of it....

May All Beings Be Happy

May all beings find that place of joy. May all beings find that place to dance within themselves. May all beings remember the silly and the goofy and dance with it and in it. May all beings be free from the shackles of pain and worry, of sadness and sorrow.

May All Beings Be Healthy

May all beings' bodies dance the joy of health, the freedom from physical pains and feel the gloriousness of the body as it moves from place to place in its every changing and infinite, delicate grace.

May All Beings Be Free From Suffering

May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings be free from the yoke of suffering that binds us to earth and keeps us from living in and dreaming with the stars.

May All Beings Be Liberated

May all beings be liberated. May all beings free freedom within and without, in all their actions. May all beings celebrate the sky and the vastness of the stars in the night sky. May the sky be the limits to everyone's dreams, making the world a new found freedom, painting our stories on the canvass of our lives, wherever we may will to go. May we all, each and everyone of us, be free!

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Happy 2008!!

2008-01-02T15:10:27Z

Hey fellow BJWHFers! (<---try saying that out loud. It's fun.)

I've been gone from tribe for a few months again. I'm sorry I disappear like that sometimes, but it doesn't look like there have been any problems here. Shwew! :)

(By the way--and I think I've made this request before--if there are problems, arguments, trolls, really bad smells, whatever, and I don't seem to be doing anything about it, please message me directly and let me what's going on. I'll rush right in with pepper spray, mantras, and/or sandalwood incense.)

So I know you're wondering where I've been, right? No? Oh. Well...nevermind. :) Actually, I've gone to the dark side. That's right...myspace. Ugh. I resisted, but they finally got me. Not anywhere near ass much fun as tribe, of course, but it does have some draw. Anyway.

I really have just popped in here to wish everybody a Happy New Year! Here's hoping 2008 kicks 2007's ass!!

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 5 replies

Looking to join (or start) a sangha in NY

2008-01-01T17:18:02Z

So there are plenty of sangas in commercial spaces where you pay a fee or a donation, but I would much rather find something a little more intimate-like meeting in eachother's homes every couple of weeks instead. Just a sit and some tea afterward. This is what some friends and I did in Montreal and it was perfect. Any takers?

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 3 replies

Weekly meditation group in the Mission

2007-12-30T14:35:28Z

Hello sangha!

Come join us on Sunday nights.
We sit in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.
For more details visit our website.

http://communitybuilders.meetup.com/3/

-Michael

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Drikung Kagyu Global Resources / Tantric Buddhism and Mahamudra Book References / Vajrasattva Retreat in North Carolina

2007-12-30T06:45:21Z

Namaste BJWHF-istas.

Well, this went out to about 48 groups, quite a lot of pagan groups, yoga groups, tantric groups and so forth.

Of course, being unmindful of the "no cross posts" rule on ( 98% Hindu ) Practical Tantra, I got immediately slammed there and the Kagyu / Mahamudra teaching article removed from there with extreme prejudice. I apologized immediately.

"Tell me M. Rick, what brings you to Casablanca?"
"I came for the waters."

But then I remembered, there must be another group of two I could hit in my mafia / machine gunning kinda way, so I posted this to Kundalini Yoga ( 3000 + people ) and now BJWHF, for a thousand more.

So, overall, today is a good day.

Long live the Mahayana, best of all possible paths!

May everything be good in the Beginning.
May everything be good in the Middle.
May everything be good in the End.

Oh, and by the way, this is in direct response to someone on one of the Buddhist listservs who recently asked for thoughts on "what to do when your head is in wash-cycle samsara mode."

My answer, which is unlike the fourteen or so people who responded with thoughts and contemplations, comes down to yoga.

Sooooo, just so you know, some of the BWJWHF-istas actually do practices. Mantra, pranayama, awareness yoga, stuff like that.

"Tell me M. Rick, what brings you to Casablanca?"
"I came for the waters."
"But, there are no waters in Casablanca. We're in a desert here!
"I was misinformed."

K T, he who laughs last

Title: Drikung Kagyu Global Resources / Tantric Buddhism and Mahamudra Book References /
Vajrasattva Retreat in North Carolina -- Repost from "Tribe : Teaching Yoga"

Keywords: Deity Yoga, global resources for Kagyu lineage Tantric Buddhism and Mahamudra practice, book: "Pearl Rosary The Path of Purification", inner healing yoga, interfaith retreat center, North Carolina, Southern Dharma Retreat Center, Drikung Kagyu lineage, Vajrasattva empowerment and retreat January 2008.

NAMO GURU SRI HASYAVAJRAYE

Homage to Mila Joyous Vajra, King of the Mountain Yogis. For the ordeals you endured, for the sweetness of this profound transmission, and for "a few cotton threads" we thank you from our innermost hearts.

"Knots of the right and left channels [ of the human energy body ] are loosened to their natural state
By Vajrasattva mantra which draws currents in and out of the central channel.
Don't rely on any mental support other than Vajrasattva mantra repetition."
Milarepa to Rechungpa,
quoted in "Drinking the Mountain Stream: New Stories and Songs by Milarepa"

A vast amount of effective Buddhist / yogic teaching is available through the web site for Vajra Publications, specifically for Kagyu lineage tantric Buddhism and Mahamudra practice. See the web site at
http://www.vajrapub.org/

The Drikung lineage is not yet well known in the West( and that WILL change, I promise you ), but it is powerful and available in different parts of the world. See
http://www.dkinstitute.org/
This lineage offers a serious and direct path to inner yogic discipline and primordial awareness yoga ( i.e. Mahamudra ). The Drikung lineage descends from great yogic masters such as Tilopa and Naropa of India, and Marpa and Milarepa of Tibet.

The Drikung lineage is, I will state from personal and professional experience as a yogi and vajrayana guru, entirely authentic, classical, and effective: I personally received two major rounds of empowerment from His Holiness Chetsang Tulku Rinbochay, once in Seattle and again in Hawaii ( Big Island ).

During one of these, a Heruka Vajrasattva in 1987, I experienced energy pouring down through my crown center as though a gallon of milk was literally being poured through the top of my head. How many yoga teachers do you know that can do that? ( I was outwardly and inwardly sick and exhausted at the time from several years of severe difficulty, so that was very much a necessary healing for my magnetic field. Reason enough to receive Vajrasattva empowerment and do the 100,000 recitations, although of course your mileage may vary. )

Understand therefore that HH Chetsang Tulku is a New School guru and a Kagyu guru of the first rank, someone to be respected as much as Vajradhara Kalu Rinbochay and Kyabgon Khentin Tai Situpa ( these being some of my other Kagyu teachers ). He is a very gentle, quiet, generous man, very warm and approachable. I would certainly trust anyone he names vajrayana guru.

I have many primary practice texts of the Drikung Kagyu, which are excellent, and indeed these were among the first key practice texts for Kagyu devayoga sadhana to be published. Since they keep producing more great study and practice materials, I needs must make more ( debit card ) offerings to receive the precious dharma ( although my dharma and yoga book stacks are more than overflowing ). It must be emphasized that these practice texts are generically useful for all New School tantric Buddhists, where New School refers to the Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelugpa Orders of Tibetan Buddhism.

Beyond this, be aware that the Drikung school, like the Karma Kagyu school of vajrayana, incorporates a substantial amount of Old School ( Nyingma and Great Perfection ) teaching and practice. For example, their Phowa ( Consciousness Transference At Time Of Death ) does not derive from the Kagyu lineage Six Yogas of Naropa, but rather from an Old School Treasure Teaching ( terma ).

As this letter goes out to a diverse and broad set of audiences, I will say a few words on the Kagyu lineage, on deity yoga, and Mahamudra. In short, here are some truly wonderful books for you:
Book 1) "Drinking the Mountain Stream: New Stories and Songs by Milarepa", by Lama Kunga Rimpoche and Brian Cutillo. This book is extraodinarily good as an introduction and in providing key teaching/ precept songs which are both poetic and intuitive.

Book 2) "The Garland of Mahamudra Practices", by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen and Katherine Rogers. This is a short summary of Cakrasamvara / Vajrayogini deity yoga and Mahamudra awareness yoga translated by a Drikung abbot from the writings of Kunga Rinchen, the Fifteen Lineage Holder of the Drikung Kagyu transmission. It is remarkably clear teaching on the essentials of New School vajrayana practice.

Book 3) "Clarifying the Natural State", by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal ( translation by the priceless western scholar Eric Pema Kunsang ). This practice summary for the primordial awareness yoga of Mahamudra is held to be "preeminent" and "indispensible" by the great modern scholar-yogi Khenchen Thrangu Rinbochay. 'Nuff said.

Book 4) "Becoming Vajrasattva; the Tantric Path of Purification", by [ Lama ] Thubten Yeshe, 2nd edition. A remarkably useful retreat and teaching manual on Vajrasattva. With this and Vajrasattva empowerment one can practice the indispensible deity of Purification, Vajrasattva / Diamond Being.

Now, there is going to be, in early January, a Vajrasattva empowerment and retreat to be given by a Drikung abbot ( Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche ) in North Carolina ( Southern Dharma Retreat Center ). Being given by an abbot, it could possibly be a major empowerment (i.e. a "four-banger", a four level catur-abhisekha empowerment ) for Vajrasattva, although I do not know. Even a medium level "three banger" Vajrasattva empowerment is really quite good.

If you live near there, farther from the world-class vajrayana empowerment venues, this is a truly great opportunity. Vajrasattva is the ultimate swiss army knife of tantric practice.
- If you are a healer, or someone in need of deep healing, this is for you.
- If you are someone oriented towards "higher consciousness", you can take this as a primary practice.
- If you have chronic psychic or mental or environmental discord, then Vajrasattva and the included Vajrapani ( Thunderbolt Holder ) are ofgreat importance for inner cleansing.
- If you are a western witch who wants to do goddess practice, you can take this transmission and thereby fully engage all the Twenty One Taras.
- If you wish to practice any of the standard Buddhist deities, such as Manjusri, Avalokitesvara, Amitabha, Vajrapani and so forth, you can do so on the basis of this one empowerment and a compendium of deity yogas, which is

Book 5) "Pearl Rosary The Path of Purification ( Sadhanas and Commentaries )" available from Vajra Publications. See
http://shop.vajrapub.org/product.sc?categoryId=1&productId=79

From that web page:
"Pearl Rosary The Path of Purification
"The content of this text is primarily meant for people who are far away and don’t have the opportunity to engage in Dharma practice in the presence of the teacher. The book itself is a representation of the teacher, and therefore is meant to help one’s Dharma practice. The text describes the methods of visualization and how to incorporate practice into our day to day life experience. .... The visualization of these deities is mainly concerned with the practices of tantrayana and mantrayana, which are the highest forms of practice. The path of visualization is very powerful and if properly engaged in, it is capable of transforming our life within a single moment.
"By engaging in this kind of practice, infinite clarity of mind is achieved, and through such power, we are able to purify our ordinary body and manifest the body of the deity. Likewise, we are able to purify ordinary speech, and manifest wisdom speech. Furthermore, we are able to purify the deluded ordinary mind, and realize the wisdom mind.
From the foreword by His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche"

The point is that it is much more direct and useful to take a single encompassing empowerment, such as the Vajrasattva, than to go here and there for smaller blessing empowerments. The Vajrasattva is of crucial importance in all schools of Indo-Tibetan vajrayana, AND at all levels, up through and including Great Seal and Great Perfection practice. I have therefore placed a short basic teaching ( under tribe member "k t" photo "Hundred Syllable mantra" ) for you.

This practice is really pervasive. You can get full Vajrasattva through many differently named transmissions, such as Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, Kalacakra, Padmasambhava, Tsik Sum Ne Dek/ Hitting The Three Essential Points, Vajrakilaya and so forth. I myself have received sixty one full Vajrasattva empowerments, often through primary lineage holders, and have completed a quarter million of the long Vajrasattva mantra. . . and intend to do more, because of the great purifying and empowering effects of this mantra and sadhana.

A story: some twelve years ago I was in Vancouver taking Native American yogic teachings from a Tsalagi ( Cherokee ) teacher named Ven. Dhyani Ywahoo. In addition to being a Tsalagi teacher of family lineage, she is also a Tibetan lama of the Nyingma lineage through HH Dudjom Rinbochay, and a Drikung Kagyu lama through HH Chetsang Tulku Rinbochay. Her young son decided to run through the teaching hall, so she called out to him, "Hey, wouldn't you like to DO SOME VAJRASATTVA PRACTICE? That was her way of telling him to settle down. So parents, this is a good practice for the kids. It's really one of the best gifts one could give a child or children, for their entire life.

I thank the Drikung lineage and Vajra Publications, HH Chetsang Tulku Rinbochay, Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche, and so forth. With abiding gratitude I dedicate the merit of sharing this teaching on Kagyu dharma to the Drikung teachers, all the Kagyu teachers, and those who take up these quintessential liberating practices for the benefit of all our relations.

May the Mahamudra transmission remain wide open like the sky!
May the Mahamudra transmission remain pervasive like the earth!
May the Mahamudra practitioners remain unshakeable like mountains!
May awareness remain shining like a flame!
May wakefulness remain lucid like a crystal!

OM AH NAMO GURU VAJRA DHRIKA MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM
OM AH NAMO GURU PRAJNABHADRA MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM
OM AH NAMO GURU JNANASIDDHI MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM
OM AH NAMO GURU DHARMAMATI MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM
OM AH NAMO GURU VAJRA DHVAJA MAHAMUDRA SIDDHI PHALA HUM. . . . .
NAMO NAMAHA

With best wishes to all at Southern Dharma Retreat Center, and best wishes to all of you who are willing to go forward in authentic yogic bodhisattva practice, this brief note is written quite unofficially, yet in partial fulfillment of serious formal teaching responsibilities.

Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu! Samaya . . .

K T, inner medical tantrika and dagger priest

Original event notice etc. follows:

" Southern Dharma Retreat Center is an interfaith retreat center which hosts meditation retreats representing the world's various spiritual traditions. Retreat teachers are experienced and recognized in their own traditions. All retreats have meditation, contemplation, and silence as underlying threads. Between teacher-led retreats, individual private retreats may be arranged.

Located part way up one of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina, isolated and forested, Southern Dharma provides a comfortable, secluded gathering place removed from everyday distractions. Retreats create an atmosphere of quiet reflection, peace, and opening to the truths within the heart. "

Contact information for SDRC:

Southern Dharma Retreat Center
1661 West Road
Hot Springs NC 28743
828-622-7112

southerndharma@earthlink.net

www.southerndharma.org

Registration Information at
http://www.southerndharma.org/RegistrationInformation.htm

-- In Drikung-Sangha@yahoogroups.com, Hun Lye <HLye@...> wrote:

Southern Dharma Retreat Center
Hot Springs, North Carolina

Presents

"Vajrasattva Retreat: Empowerment, Teachings and Practice"
January 1-4, 2008
Cost: $180 (includes meals and housing, offering to teacher is
according to one's abilities)
For registration info:
http://www.southerndharma.org/RetreatSchedule2007.htm or contact
Michael Campbell at 828-622-7112 or southerndharma@earthlink.net

*Retreat Description*
For four days of the retreat Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche,
co-spiritual director of the Tibetan Meditation Center in Frederick,
MD will lead us in Vajrasattva meditation, a purification practice
from the Vajrayana path of Buddhism, as practiced in Tibet. The main
meditation practice in the Vajrayana path is deity yoga. With this
technique one first visualizes a being with a perfect form of a
deity. Then one creates a perfect auditory note, for example "OM,"
then one imagines a perfectly clear luminous mind. In the practice one
is empowered to first imagine all of these as a mentally "created"
being - outside oneself, then one merges with that being and imagines
oneself to have those physical qualities of perfection. Then one chants the
appropriate mantra and acquires "perfect speech." Finally one
dissolves the visualization into emptiness, thus realizing the
"perfect mind."

In doing this practice one comes to see that one's very nature is now
and always has been the same as the Buddha's - that is,
pure,uncontaminated - uncreated emptiness and luminosity. It has just
been tarnished by one's unskillful actions in the past. The
Vajrasattva practice can help to remove the tarnish so that our true
nature comes into focus. Khenpo Rinpoche will explain this further
during the first session on the evening of the 1st. On the following
morning he will give the empowerment that allows you to do this
practice on your own. For the rest of the retreat we will alternate
between doing the Vajrasattva practice, doing silent meditation and
receiving dharma talks about the Path to Enlightenment as embodied in
the Six Perfections or Paramitas.

*Khenpo Rinpoche's Bio*
Khenpo Rinpoche was born in southeastern Tibet 1970. At the age of 14
he took his monk's vows and soon after began his Buddhist Studies at
Samye Monastery, the first monastery ever built in Tibet.
He was an outstanding student from the start and excelled in all of
his subjects. In 1987, he traveled to India to enroll in the Drikung
Kagyu Institute at Jangchub Ling in Dehra Dun.

After finishing his course work he spent three years teaching lower
classes in the monastic college. He was awarded the title "Khenpo" in
1998 and then spent another three years teaching Buddhist philosophy
at the Institute. He has completed the Ngondro, Chakrasamvara and
other deity-yoga practices in retreat. Khenpo arrived at the Tibetan
Meditation Center in April 2001 to become one of the Spiritual
Co-directors of the Center. He also began his study of English at that
time and is now
quite fluent in it. He has been teaching at the Tibetan Meditation
Center, The Garchen Institute and at other Drikung Kagyu centers in
the US since then.

*Southern Dharma Retreat Center*

Southern Dharma Retreat Center is an interfaith retreat center which
hosts meditation retreats representing the world's various spiritual
traditions. Retreat teachers are experienced and recognized in their
own traditions. All retreats have meditation, contemplation, and
silence as underlying threads. Between teacher-led retreats,
individual private retreats may be arranged.

Located part way up one of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North
Carolina, isolated and forested, Southern Dharma provides a
comfortable, secluded gathering place removed from everyday
distractions. Retreats create an atmosphere of quiet reflection,
peace, and opening to the truths within the heart.

Facilities include the meditation hall, lodge, and tent platforms.
The lodge, which can accommodate twenty-three, has a dining room,
kitchen, small library, double bedrooms on the second floor, and a
dormitory room on the uppermost floor. All retreatants are housed on
the premises. Four tent platforms are located adjacent to a small
mountain stream with many waterfalls. Tent platforms may be reserved
but we are unable to take reservations for rooms in the lodge although
any preference indicated on the registration form will be taken into
consideration. Rooms are assigned first on the basis of gender, then
for any special medical reasons, and finally in the order of
registration. Only for retreats with small enrollment is a single room
available.

There are several trails -- along the stream, affording mountain
views, and one to the top of the mountain.

Dana is a Pali word (the language spoken in India during the time of
the Buddha about 400 BCE) meaning generosity. Teachers are
reimbursed by Southern Dharma only for their travel. At the end of a
retreat, retreatants are offered the opportunity to offer
contributions (anonymous if they prefer) to the teacher. Southern
Dharma Retreat Center also relies on financial support through
charitable contributions.

--- End forwarded message ---

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 6 replies

when nothingness is.

2007-12-22T21:55:47Z

cipher of silence
invisible puddle
anti matter camophlaged
are your edges round?
blank noise center less
are you a vacuum
colorless void
emptiness postulated
soiled or unsoiled
you are the result
of positive or negative
inside out junk
that became nothing evolved.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 3 replies

Need instructions on...

2007-12-19T05:14:35Z

Yow!

I need instructions on how to put together the new Buddha-matic! Any thoughts?

<]8-D

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 18 replies

an actual buddhist joke; pretty good, actually. plus some polytheism and social psychology to boot.

2007-12-14T16:04:37Z

an actual buddhist joke; pretty good, actually. plus some polytheism and social psychology to boot.

Summary:
"One of the best ways to help people is to be kind and gentle, particularly when someone is badly hurt, alienated, burned out, or somehow has a hard time staying in touch with their inner nature or lacking clear vision for their own life. Turns out that the combination of humor and wisdom can work small miracles when other things don't seem to work at all. The technical name for this clinical strategy is an 'nlp reframe.' Throughout recorded human culture, story telling is a central part of the work of a shamanic healer. Wisdom humor should be part of the curriculum of the bodhisattva, because it supports psychological integration and balance. It's good therapy."

The [ cough- cough ] social reality:

After many years in Mahayana Buddhism and tantra, and time spent with Buddhists everywhere from Hawaii to France, I have yet to hear a western Buddhist tell a decent joke. [ Heard one truly disgusting joke during a major tantric empowerment about ten years back here on the West Coast. Will never repeat it. ] I rarely see these people express real warmth or a smile, and would be completely surprised to see any of these people dance. [ Kung fu or tai chi or aikido or reggae would qualify, for sure. Not holding my breath, folks. ]

This is in direct contrast to other pre-contact cultural systems, such as the Lakota Sioux, who have Coyote the Trickster. You can find stories of trickster spirits in a number of indigenous cultures. This is considered an important cultural heritage, and a major means of teaching the young virtues such as caution and humility, and the foolishness of arrogance. Not so with Buddhists. It's a cultural blind spot with Buddhists.

"It's all just dollies, you know? " - Humor just doesn't fly with these people. . .it's all about "Being Serious"

A couple years ago I spontaneously made a joke reference to a PhD Buddhist scholar and Tibetan translator. This was downstairs from the main temple hall, while we were all waiting for a Simhamukha empowerment. This wrathful Lion Faced Goddess is Very Scary. I personally met her once some years back, and wanted to leap off the couch and dive for cover. But then again, I really like girls who kick ass, one favorite being the real live human goddess Yeshe Tsogyel . . . and another being "Tomb Raider" Angelina Jolie. [ Like the T shirt at Folk Life said, "Adopt me, Angelina!" You know, it's like "Are we ready to save the universe?" Angelina : "Absolutely!" ]

So anyway, I turned around and told the Ph.D. Lotsawa, while we awaited entrance to the sacred mandala of empowerment, "You know something, it's all about dollies! Ken and Barbie dolls, you know. Simhamukha just happens to be a fierce Barbie, that's all." At home we use this phrase a lot, and for us it means many things in social psychological terms. For example, if a guy likes to date one woman after another, we view him as a Barbie doll collector. "It's all about dollies!" "Look, more dollies!"

I thought the line was funny - and some months later this got immediate laughs from some friends and new acquaintences at a dzogchen empowerment, thank goodness - but the poor PhD translator looked a bit disheartened and disoriented, with a quizzical look like I was somehow trying to mess with his head [ or had temporarily lost it ]. Naaah, it was just a toss off comment. Why? We had first jointly took a major empowerment together in 1980. In all the time since I'd shared about twenty seven words with him, about one word per year on average. So I was just trying to be sociable. Foolish me. . . at least my luck is consistent, right?

Yes, yes, this *is* very serious stuff, a ferocious lion-headed goddess dancing on a corpse with a chopper knife and a skull bowl filled with blood. And the protector practices are razor sharp. But an intuitive flash had just revealed to me while waiting for tantric deity empowerment # 75 or whatever, that these scroll painting and statues etc. really ARE kinda like Ken and Barbie dolls, and this reframe put dangerous esoteric matters in a broader, more balanced, and therefore more healthy, perspective for me.

My s.o. collects high-end Barbies, including Impressionist Art Barbies, Shamanic and Native American Barbies, Ken and Barbie sets [ King Arthur and Guineve, Lord Aragorn and Lady Arwen ], and like that. I gradually learned that dollies are actually very important to girls *and* women. [ Basically, if you don't know about dollies, you can't even understand female culture. Ever hear the phrase, "She's in the back, getting dolled up. . ." ? ]

So, we have scores of actual Ken and Barbie collector editions here at home . . . plus my tantric statues, real heavy duty stuff: a museum quality Vajrakilaya and Consort, a gilt Ekajati, gilt Padmasambhava, a large Tara, a good sized Vajrapani and a Shiva. Plus all the scroll painting images like the museum quality Milarepa from Nepal, and so forth. So, "Deities. Dollies. What's the difference? It's all just dollies!"

This is completely universal, as it turns out. Check out the movie Gladiator, where Russell Crowe as General Maximus is praying to little doll deities and praying for little doll representations of his wife and child. Maybe they did that in ancient Rome, you know? The Roman gods and goddesses truly embody the key cultural archetypes of their culture. More broadly, Hindus and Buddhists and Wiccans All Have Lots of Dollies. It's called polytheism, and is found everywhere. The Native Americans such as Hopi and Navaho have kachinas and there are the Three Corn Maidens and so forth.

That really distinguishes us from the Christians, the Jews, and especially the Islamists. [ In Islam, you Don't Get Any religious Dollies! They're all illegal. That includes Tara, the White Buffalo Calf Maiden, and everyone else. ] Polytheism just doesn't fly with these people. In fact, almost nothing does. And even if something *does* fly . . . But I digress.

My statement to this PhD is universally well founded in historical terms around the world, all the way back to the Willendorf Venus dolly collection of prehistory. It should have made sense, right? But noooo, nothing is *ever* simple or easy with esoteric types, Buddhist or otherwise. It's alllll gotta be serious and complicated allll the tiiime and, somehow, we've all gotta have difficulty communicating with each other, even in terms of a simple joke. Else we're not sanctimonious enough, I mean, not "proper Buddhists". So if it isn't difficult or serious, we gotta MAKE it difficult or serious, preferably both. Call it spiritual pride, call it psychological alienation, call it self-conflicted masochism, call it poor socialization. Whatever. I just have to ask, "And how is that working for you, anyway?"

"Fear and Loathing" and Running The Gauntlet

To me a brittle shut down insensitive attitude really sucks: it's unhealthy and self-defeating on several important levels. Even though I got stuck with being a vajrayana Buddhist spiritual doctor many years ago - Tag!! You're It, White Boy! - I mostly avoid Buddhist gatherings to get some fresh air, do some yoga or tai chi or mantra or whatever. Unless there's a good empowerment, 'cuz I too am really into the Dollies.

Is this dolly collecting - excuse me - continuing stream of empowerments - obsessive compulsive? At this point, I do have twenty eight full Vajrakilaya authorizations, and fifty eight full Vajrasattva authorizations [ they overlap with lots of stuff ], but it never hurts to get another good zap, another catur-abhisekha, or "four-banger" to use the technical term. As Lord Gampopa said, "Ours is a lineage of practice but it is also a lineage of blessings." So it's definitely part of being a good tantric practitioner, and I often invite some people I know to re-take major empowerments, and usually they thank me.

Given the above, I was dumbfounded to learn this year there's a listserv on tribe.net called "Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun." With a lot of members. I was kinda blown. How wonderful, I thought, this is great! Sure beats having to deal with lots of bad stuff, you know, the standard unsubstantiated attacks, vicious irrationality, clueless experts, gang action and lack of basic human values - or even decent English - often found on various religious fora.

Not that I've failed to adjust mind you. But I will *always* remember that in early 2002 a claimed tantric Buddhist [ a closet Sufi, looks like ] offered physical attack and bloodshed against me on a Buddhist listserv. There were one hundred people on that so-called Buddhist listserv, not one of whom responded to this illegal and sociopathic outburst. That tells you a lot about the emotional and social development of western Buddhists, doesn't it? Think I could make this up? And BTW, the guy was literally vowing physical violence against several million Buddhists in many countries around the world. I was really bitter for some time, and in a sense still am. So I haven't had a word with that dysfunctional crowd in over five years.

It's like Angelina Jolie famously said; "I trust no one." One LA woman asked me by email, what do you mean when you say "I'm on the team and I work alone" ? Well, you have the real answer right here, sometimes known as the Bitter Truth. What I told her was standard Tolkien, all noble and all.

Aragorn [ ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Book V, Chapter 2. ]: "I have no help to send, therefore I must go myself."

See : http://the-stewardship.org/metaphors.htm for more on Tolkien and Stewardship.

So, I'm actually a more serious sort, bookish, a mage guardian, combat shaman [ remember, I have twenty eight Vajrakilaya empowerments ! ! ], sworn protector of the Buddhist Law and so forth. Sometimes it bears down on me, as it certainly would on you. It helps to have much better "technical capabilities", grin grin. But you know the funny thing about survival and karma and social abuse and cultural warfare and all those interesting problems? It really helps A LOT to have a sense of humor, top remain light and flexible in mind and spirit. Sometimes you can even use humor to turn away conflict and physical danger, so it's almost a kind of kung-fu. That's why, last night, feeling a little worn down by some social stuff, we two watched "Almost Famous" on DVD. "It's all happening, it's all happening." If it's a good DVD, it's therapy, you know.

Having said all that, let me introduce the really cool Buddhist joke. The Dalai Lama hasn't even heard this one yet, and he knows a lot. Try this on the next Buddhist you meet, see if you get a good reaction. If not, then try getting a pulse, eh?

The remedy: Buddhist humor, from a Republican of all people [ Not from Snow Lion or any other major Buddhist catalog ]

There are, it turns out, good Buddhist jokes - maybe even a dozen or more known to humanity. In fact there is a two-for-one Buddhist joke, which my younger brother sent me as a birthday card. Being a Republican and all, he is even less fun than many western Buddhists, but you know, people can still surprise you sometimes. He likes to tease me about being one of these laughable, barking-up-the-wrong-tree Buddhist types by sending me these cards, and has found two so far. Mom likes to tease me this way also, which helps compensate and distract from her bitter rejection of lifelong Anglican communion and the way it is currently being torn in half. Go ahead and laugh, Mom. Looks like all you got was a religious dead end, so I'll laugh too.

There are Buddhist joke cards in bookstores or stationary stores the Chicago area, somewhere in the western suburbs along the Burlington rail line, more or less. I never saw anything like this in Snow Lion, but there they are, arriving by mail from the Midwest, of all places. As Richard Gere said, "Who knew? WHO KNEW?"

So here's what was on the card:

Buddha walks up to a hot dog vendor in New York City. He says to the guy, "Make Me One With Everything", and gives him some money. [ Say with complete deadpan expression, then pause for effect. ]

The hot dog vendor makes a hot dog, hands it to Buddha, and says "Here you go."

Buddha says, "Where's my change?"

The hot dog vendor says "Change comes from within."

So you know, it's all pratitya-samutpada, interdependent origination. As well as dollies, chronic miscommunication and, yes, a *few* Rangers here and there . . . just going out into the wilderness trying to make the world a better place for children and those who will come after. I too am a steward, in a long line of stewards. What we do we do for everyone. That is why spiritual teachers among the Lakota Sioux always begin by saying "All Our Relations." It is a prayer, it is an address to all beings, it is a sacred commitment to the health and well being of everyone.

The real road from here: "Kindness is my true religion."

One of the best ways to help people is to be kind and gentle, particularly when someone is badly hurt, alienated, burned out, or somehow has a hard time staying in touch with their inner nature or a vision for life. It can be as simple as listening attentively to someone who needs badly to be listened to. As the Dalai Lama said, "Kindness is my true religion." Turns out that the combination of humor and wisdom can work small miracles when other things don't seem to work at all. Story telling is a central part of the work of a shamanic healer. Wisdom humor should be part of the curriculum of the bodhisattva. And by the way, don't forget to stay in touch with your own heart.

Really feel your own heart, and you can thereby feel the hearts of others, and begin to build bridges of humanitarian worth between people. Really open the energetic matrix of your own heart center, and healing energy can flow from your hands to others who are hurt. The resonance of consciousness within your words can then reach people. This is the way to reverse the unconscious movements towards chaos and destruction, to help heal bitterness and loss, to help people find what is of real value in their own and others lives. It is worth your best efforts. This is all I have to say.

K T

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 10 replies

Lakulish Yogasan Championships 2008: Feb. 22; 23; & 24th, - City of Surat, Gujarat State, India

2007-12-12T17:32:39Z

For details and application forms, please refer to: http://www.lifemission.org/ and under "New" go to item #4 and click on "World Open Yogasan Championships".

Please note, to optimize your India trip and your experience of Lakulish Yoga you could attend or participate in the Yogasan Championships and also take in the 3 week Certificate Yoga Training Course being offered at Swami Rajarshi Muni's Malav Ashram from January 30 -February 20th. For details on the training go to http://www.lifemission.org/ and under "New" click on item # 5 " "Overseas Students Annual Yoga Certificate Training Program"

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 5 replies

What will the holidays bring?

2007-12-08T17:32:33Z

What will the holidays bring? While you might be looking forward to visiting with family, stress and conflict maybe often a part of the mix. The latest research on stress shows that short term stress is actually good for your immune system. I guess that confirms the old saying, "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Conflict can help you clarify your values, to stand up for what you believe in. Stress can be energizing, can help you accomplish what you need to in the world...but how much stress? how much conflict? Long-term stress is what makes us sick. So how do you know when to put on the brakes, to stop saying "yes" to extraneous commitments, to stop engaging in unnecessary conflict (not that that is an option necessarily one wishes to attract just by mentioning it (no-no-no).... So, harmony may very well be part of your (my) journey as we want to invite harmonious and smooth spiritual growth?

These aren't new questions, they have been asked for centuries. As the end of 2007 approaches, you may be taking stock, looking at what has transpired and what is to come, defining new samkalpas (resolutions) and perspectives, and reflecting on the meaning of inner and outer peace.

I for myself will be going to a retreat to get away from it all, be at ease and get new inspirations. Good company matters a lot for they increase immunity and hence spiritual well-being.

May we all develop the beautiful quality of patience within.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

Fun Buddhists in Italy?

2007-12-03T07:35:57Z

Ciao.

Wondering if anyone has connections to Buddhists in Italy. I am living here in Naples and I love it, but I do very much miss chanting and discussing things with other like minded individuals. Any websites or folks you can point me to would be great!

Thanks so much.

Blessings,
SW

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 5 replies

Deconstruction and Romance

2007-11-24T04:11:14Z

My mind has a tendency to look at things and deconstruct them...a model on TV is not a person, she is some anorexic glory hound...a old guy walking across the street is not a person, he is some ornery old coot.

I catch my mind doing this over and over again.

The artist's eye brings some relief....there is beauty behind every form, every idea, everything. I believe that, even if I can't always see it.

It is a romantic passion for life's beauty, in all things and all situations.

How do we overcome that calculating, judgmental, annoying mind?

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

spiritual mates/partners

2007-11-24T03:40:05Z

Hello, sangha.
I am curious about your thoughts on a couple of things:

How important is it to date/ marry a like-minded spiritual partner?
At what point should a non-spiritual relationship be discontinued?
How does your Buddhism practice affect/effect your intimate relationships?

I am struggling with a decision and would like some other views.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 22 replies

Rohatsu

2007-11-20T20:01:44Z

Anyone doing a retreat for Rohatsu?

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Movie - The Life of Buddha

2007-11-19T17:16:38Z

Have you guys heard about this?
Just heard about it, nothing specific...

The Life of Buddha

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439865/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_of_Buddha

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Buddhism and biking

2007-11-12T03:04:04Z

Hey peeps,

I did this really fun bike ride with about a hundred Buddhists, called the Buddhist Biking Pilgrimage, a 145 mile journey from temple to temple.
If this appeals to you, check out DharmaWheels.org.

Although the annual pilgrimage has already happened, we do shorter training rides every month.

TT

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 7 replies

WHILE BHUDA WAS SLEEPING.

2007-11-11T13:17:25Z

his hot breath
conjured cosmic lizards
that picked my brain
as Ice cream men that rode the moon
like trucks dinging the jingle
blind circus monkeys corked Bhuda
With donkey tails
rubbed his ass
flossed his anus
as my karmic enigma
came into question
was I a hemorrhoid in Bhuda’s
ass or a cheesy wipe
running around in cycles
that could not attain enlightenment
like if I licked his ass
would the cosmic machinery
cease to flux
thwart my essence
stylishly face to face
spinning blissfully
ending erosions scars
impeccably around catastrophic
pathways of jungle radio music
crumbling labyrinths
where my mind
hysterectomies fail
inside uhaul monasteries
repenting repeating revolving
legless Hiroshima bombs
blackened by bad directions

will he wake
with one palm pressed
to replace lobotomy
with eggshells
I can craft together
forward on planar winds
for fueled rockets
destined to plunge
a clog in my pearly toilet
of dreams to be
simple decoration
on a wall of prayers
tantric nameless desires
spiraling lust less virgin forests
I can explore fresh air
breathing stellar voids
soothing paradise into
blue oceans brightly
red hot delightful waves
flipping under toe until
toads leap up with joy
splitting stars into billions
of angelic blossoms
that heal wretchedness

maybe if I rub his belly my luck will change.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Vajrasattva, Psychological Stability and Balance, and some Humor as it turns out

2007-11-11T02:28:22Z

Hi Everyone.

Namaste. This is in response to several posts, specifically on BJWHF.

I qualify as a BJWHF-ista because last night I saw Beach Blanket Bingo ( circa 1964 ) on video rental.

I also qualify as a carpet-bombing dharma emailer because my Vajrasattva and Dudjom Terma transmission emails went out to upwards of thirty thousand people on bunches of listservs in the last few weeks.

This is in response to Ghoti, Swarm, and Angel.

Much to my surprise, Ghoti finds Vajrasattva consistently funny. I did 250,000 long Vajrasattva and the mantra never made me laugh once. Maybe I'm missing something. I do know that Vajrasattva can purify the causes of frustration, confusion, and really severe or long term emotional suffering. ( No specific guarantees made for any one individual. ) So in a way it makes sense that it leaves one in good humor.

No one on this listserv mentioned mantra therapy to Angel. So I am, once more with feeling, flogging the Vajrasattva mantra, which follows in this post. Angel, the best "prayers for strength" are those you give yourself. And they're called mantras. Vajrasattva, the Buddha of Purification, is one of the most important for Buddhist yogis ( and yoginis ) at all levels.

This illustrates what is to me an important point: if you want to have fun, you have to keep your life clean. Basically, fun is the opposite of throwing ourselves in to bad situations such as alcoholic car crashes and so forth. So to me, as an outwardly boring kinda Buddhist spiritual doctor, "fun" means driving sober to someplace fun and not getting into a car accident. I think this is a straightforward approach. It works on all levels. And anyway, Guru Sakyamuni was always promoting mindfulness and introspection, was he not?

Swarm is of course dead wrong when he says to Angel "Don't worry about screw ups". Of course this is nonsense. Screw ups can be fatal, so it is better to worry about them beforehand and prevent really bad things from happening. By staying sober and so forth.

I can give some general advice on healing and upleveling awareness. It's mostly hard work, there's a vast array of possible paths to take, and mostly you should take the high road(s). Also please note that sometimes a qualified therapist ( or several ) may be required for acute or chronic conditions. This is another way in which Swarm is wrong. If you're concerned about yourself, particularly where there are alcoholic blackouts, Get Real Help ASAP. Personal help.

Sighhhhh. Well, someone's gotta know how these dharmas work. Someone among all the people who associate with the Dharma. . . and who also go online. . . and talk with people in these venues.

Yeah, I can make a lot of basic recommendations, starting with sobriety, personal counseling, and Vajrasattva recitation. I think these three are good for a start. Doesn't seem like quite the locale for discussing mantra therapy for emotional problems, but there it is. The question has been put forward as a request for help. I have responded as a peace-and-fun loving vajrayana professional. To me, dharma is serious fun! ( I'm a nondualist, you see. . . )

May this Vajrasattva mantra practice be of help to many now and ever more people from this time forward! You are your own refuge. Be a light unto yourselves, and check out "Beach Blanket Bingo." Plus "Dancing in the Moonlight" on youtube.

Sarva mangalam. Siddhi rastu!

K T
inner medical tantrika and dagger priest

"Here we have a lot of fun, putting trouble on the run,
Here you find the old and the young,
Dancing the night away-y-y. . . "
Rod Stewart

"You can't dance and stay uptight it's a supernatural delight,
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight. ."
King Harvest

On "Dzogchen Waking Life", Ghoti says

Re: VAJRASATTVA KARMA MANTRA, with teaching and references ( repost )
Fri, October 26, 2007 - 1:15 AM
This Mantra Always makes me laugh.
:D

On "Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun". Angel says

"And no I'm not looking for sympathy, because I know that it's my own fault. No I'm not bleeding heart about being down, because I'm incredibly happy. Those moments are still relatively few and far in-between, but when they come they remind me of my own weakness, and it's discouraging when I'm in a time in my life when discipline is very important to me. I'm trying to swear off cigarettes, I'm trying to be faithful, I'm trying to succeed.

So I ask for prayers of strength, that despite a faultering nature I can stay the course this time. I pray for the ability to look forward at the potential to succeed at these things, and not dwell on the HUNDREDS of times I've already failed.

I'm throwing my arms up to the universe today and asking for assistance, to draw this line in the sand and claim myself, to be ruled by nothing.

And I write this, because the more eyes that pass over it the more accountable I am...

And I wouldn't mind a tip or two, some kind advise from someone that's been there, if that isn't too much to ask.

Namaste ( Angel )"

Swarm to Angel:
"Don't worry about screw ups. Don't worry about success. No promises. No giving anything up; Just practice and pay attention. No wrong, no right, no excuses. Just what are you doing right now? Practice. Pay attention."

VAJRASATTVA KARMA MANTRA, with teaching and references ( repost by KT across the universe )
repost from tribe: teaching yoga

Namaste. Om svasti.

I have uploaded a Sanskrit language text image for Vajrasattva mantra recitation at my tribe home ( "k t" ).

If you do not know about Sanskrit or Buddhist Sanskrit practices, an excellent book is
"Sacred Calligraphy of the East" by John Stevens.

There are online resources for Buddhist mantra in Sanskrit, including
<visiblemantra.org/>

Anyway, here is a short, casual teaching on Vajrasattva. I know, I know, it is woefully incomplete. But to actually study this teaching one needs a complete empowerment, a lot of practice, and real instruction from an authentic tantric Buddhist guru, such as commonly come from Tibet and teach in different parts of the West.

This is quite doable. I have received sixty full Vajrasattva empowerments in all different schools. I have not been to India.

Scroll down quite a bit further for several pages of classical tantric teaching. Somebody has to know how this stuff works. Back in India, this is known as "yoga", specifically "guhyamantra yoga".

As one of my many many teachers from Asia once said,
"In the final analysis, all talk is worthless. It is only the exact practice that gives a result."
He also said,
"Dharma eliminates the karma." ( You know, Dharrrrmahhh Heeeleeemeenaaates teee karrrrmmaahhh. )

All my relations! May this benefit all!

K T

Translation of the VAJRASATTVA KARMA MANTRA
( Diamond Being Action Recitation Which Is All-Accomplishing )

". . . Identical to Vajrasattva, the supreme siddhis ( powers ) are perfected in him; he attains the blissful pure land, supreme wisdom becomes his display, and he is an exemplar to gods and men; he is empowered in body speech and mind and whatever he imagines is actualized."
- - from the Thirty First Chapter of the Guhyagarbha tantra, The Chapter on Direct Perception of Vajrasattva

This mantra is quintessential to the foundational practices of Buddhist tantra ( i.e. mystical yoga ), and also is broadly and extensively used at the highest levels of Tantra, up to and including Mahamudra / Great Seal and Atiyoga/ Great Perfection.

The following text and teaching is most sacred.

Vajrasattva is the quintessence of ( all ) the Hundred Families of Buddhist tantra. It is a universal key to all the esoteric Buddhist tantric traditions of India, Tibet, China, and Japan. Vajrasattva practice distinguishes Inner Mahayana / Great Vehicle Buddhism from Outer Mahayana / Great Vehicle Buddhism, for in the latter it is either not found or very hidden.

Vajra has the sense of "indestructible, infinite, immovable, all-encompassing, timeless", ultimate awareness ( jnana ) and skillful means ( prajna ). As one of the Buddha Families it refers either to the Buddha Family of the East, or to the All Encompassing Six Families, i.e. Vajrasattva, the Five Buddha Families plus Vajrasattva.

As a ritual scepter vajra also has the sense of ultimate nobility and royal power, and the union of the Five Buddha Families and the great sacred circles ( mandala ). There are many different kinds of vajra scepters, with one, three, five, or nine prongs, and the vajra is usually part of other tantric implements such as the knife handle and bell handle. It is not realistic to practice Buddhist tantra without both a good vajra scepter and vajra bell: these are required and to be used as part of the tantric commitments.

From a practical perspective, Vajrasattva is one of the most important methods in Buddhist tantra for healing and purification on all levels of Body speech and Mind. ( Of course, no promises can be made for any specific medical condition. ) This includes purification of the practitioner to effectively practice tantra, and also to purify continuing minor infractions and even severely dangerous transgressions of the tantric commitments, which would otherwise be worse than fatal. It also includes psychic heat yoga ( Tibetan: tummo ) and in the Great Perfection full transmission, includes the quintessential precepts of Breakthrough ( dzogchen trekcho mannakde ) for direct liberation of awareness into primordial freedom and purity.

Vajrasattva is also an "All Accomplishing" ( Sanskrit: sarva siddhi ) mantra, as you can see in the translation that follows. Thus, Vajrasattva accomplishes the outer sacred circle magical activities of Purification ( Vajra Family ) , Enrichment ( Ratna Family ), Magnetization ( Padma Family ), and Eliminating Negativity and Obstacles ( Karma Family ). It also accomplishes the primary Great Work of Buddhahood ( Buddha Family or alternatively the Six Great Families, the Five plus Vajrasattva.

The most basic forms of Vajrasattva recitation are these
1) OM VAJRASATTVA AH
2) OM VAJRASATTVA HUM

There is also a basic wrathful form of Vajrasattva known as Vajrapani ( Scepter in Hand ). If one has any major Vajrasattva empowerment, this includes Vajrapani, for which the basic mantra is
HUM VAJRA PHAT
There are also variations of Vajrapani mantra, as Vajrapani is one of the principal angelic guardians ( dharmapalas ) of all the schools of Buddhist tantra across Asia, and also the Shaolin School of Ch'an Buddhist Kung-fu.

There are many images and forms of Vajrasattva, both peaceful and wrathful, and both with and without consort. The consort is for example Vajragarvi ( peaceful ) or Diptacakra ( wrathful consort of Vajrakilaya-Vajrasattva ).

Typically, the Peaceful Vajrasattva is brilliant shimmering transparent clear-white, holding a vajra ( diamond scepter ) in the right hand at the heart, and holding a ghanta ( diamond bell ) in the left hand at the left waist ( bowl up ). This peaceful Vajrasattva may then appear in union with the peaceful consort, or in the heart center of the Ultimate Wrathful Vajrasattva known as Vajrakilaya ( Diamond Dagger ).

As a ritual practice, the seed syllable ( bij mantra ) may be either HUM or AH, and there are other variants as well. The deity is visualized as oneself / an ideal being, atop one's head, and in different forms. So for example, a woman may well see herself as a female Vajrasattva, or as "Reversed Vajrasattva", i.e. as Vajragarvi in tantric union with the masculine aspect Vajrasattva.

Vajrasattva is the source deity of the Great Kalacakra mandala ( sacred circle ), and also the source deity of the Great Perfection ( Atiyoga or "dzogchen" teachings of primordial purity, the most profound, essential, and powerful awareness-yogas of the Early Translation ( Nyingma ) school.

For example, the first human teacher of Atiyoga was Joyous Vajra ( Tibetan : Garab Dorje ), a direct emanation of Vajrasattva. According to the Great Perfection / Atiyoga tradition sourced through Garb Dorje, there are six million four hundred thousand verses of teaching of Vajrasattva and the Great Perfection, of which a worthwhile fraction have been transmitted down to the present day. See for example the following
1) "The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation" ( i.e. the Gyurme Dorje translation and commentary ISBN-10: 0143104942 )
2) "Wellsprings of the Great Perfection", Erik Kunsang
3) many online texts, such as those available from Keith Dowman at
<www.keithdowman.net/dzogchen/>
These include
3a) Direct Perception of Vajrasattva ( The text that gave King Dza his enlightenment vision )
3b) The Exalted Spaciousness of Vajrasattva ( Garab Dorje's Source of all Dzogchen Precepts ).

Also, every key empowerment of Great Perfection Break Through ( dzogchen trekcho ), such as the renowned Patrul Rinbochay Tsik Sum Ne Dek ( Striking the Essence in Three Words ) includes the Vajrasattva Hundred Syllable mantra as a key practice. Finally, a greatly wrathful Vajrasattva practice is one of the Three Roots ( primary deity yoga practices of the Nyingma school ), either as Vajrakilaya or as Mahasri Heruka ( the wrathful Samantabhadra-Vajrasattva ).

In addition to the Tibetan Book of the Dead, a crucial and comprehensive teaching with many Great Perfection mantras including Vajrasattva as a primary practice , there is also a rare transmission of Guru Padmasambhava as Vajrasattva. This is the Red ( Padma ) Vajrasattva, which would look superficially similar to other Vajrasattva practices but which has a very different structure and orientation. It is a quintessential restricted practice and requires a specific Red Vajrasattva empowerment. Apart from this, all major Nyingma Great Perfection transmissions, such as Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsogyel, Tara, Vajrakilaya, Troma, Bardo, etc. include a full Vajrasattva.

In the New Schools of Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana ( i.e. the Sarma, including Gelugpa, Sakya, and Kagyu ), the ultimate Buddha realization is embodied in the Dharmakaya ( Primordial Dimension ) Vajradhara ( Diamond Bearer ). This Buddha Vajradhara is the fully realized Vajrasattva, just as Vajrasattva is the ( sambhogakaya / angelic ) Buddha of the Tantric Path. They are two aspects of the same ultimate teaching, which is known as Mahamudra, the Great Seal.

So for example the great renunciate yogi Milarepa, who was Vajra Family in the Five Buddha, accomplished Buddhahood as Vajradhara. Accomplishing the deity Kalacakra-Vajrasattva also brings one to the level of Vajradhara. ( Accomplishing the deity Yamantaka or Hevajra brings one to this same level. There are many tantric paths to universal awareness. This is known as polytheism. )

There are also many variants of the Hundred syllable mantra, as for Tara Karma Mantra, Mahakala Karma Mantra, Yamantaka Karma Mantra the different Heruka Karma Mantra and so forth. I know directly from having received all these transmissions and the corresponding texts. Thus the Hundred Syllable mantra, like the Hindu Gayatri mantra, serves as a core for many or most other practices.

There are also different extensions to this mantra, including that for "Purifying the Six Realms", and other versions. Most of these are sealed by the oath of tantric secrecy, which must be upheld by all initiates. The many variants of the basic mantra can be summarized in these categories:

a) with and without the optional ending seed syllables HUM and PHAT;

b) with different ordering of phrases, such as SUTOSNYO, SUPOSNYO, and ANURAKTO BE BHAVA;

c) via substitutions of different deities ( angels ) in place of Vajrasattva ( N.B.: not a simple substitution );

d) using basic substitutions for different Buddha families ( i.e. replacing each instance of VAJRA with PADMA to focus more on Lotus Family deities such as Avalokita, Hayagriva, etc. );

e) using the Tibetanization of the original Sanskrit recitation, by substituting for example BENZA for VAJRA. This is also effective as mantra. There is a close Chinese variant of the Tibetan form which is in use by four or five million practitioners.

These different permutations and combinations are all classical and valid, not mistakes in the various publications or traditions you may encounter. Nevertheless, the basic form accomplishes all aspects of spiritual purification and realization.

It is typical for committed practitioners of Buddhatantra to complete a commitment of 100,000 recitations of this long Vajrasattva mantra as a basic daily purification ( 21 x daily or 100x daily ) and as a preliminary to major empowerments and to complete many deity practice sessions ( usually 3x per session to mend mistakes ). Some people do basic Vajrasattva purification practice each full moon, others do extensive retreat entirely focused on this deity, such as for Red Vajrasattva.

Once the basic 100,000 long recitations have been completed, it is possible to go further and perform basic mandala activities ( enrichment, etc. ) or perhaps psychic heat practice or Great Perfection practice ( at some point ). Typically the advanced practices will not even begin to work without completing the long recitations first. I have completed 250,000 long Vajrasattva recitations and intend to do more. It is said that in Tibet good tantric practitioners of different schools quite commonly completed 200,000 long recitations, so this is a major practice for basically every serious tantric yogi.

An excellent text on Vajrasattva in New School Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana is
"The Tantric Path of Purification: The Yoga Method of Heruka Vajrasattva"
by Lama Thubten Yeshe, ISBN-10: 0861710207
This specific mantra authorization ( as well as the one given here ) is included in essentially all major New School Tantric empowerments, such as Kalacakra, Cakrasamvara, Hevajra, Vajrayogini, Yamantaka, Milarepa, Mahakala and so forth. However, the Heruka forms also vary between deity yoga lineages, and the Nyingma versions of Vajra Heruka vary as well.

This translation is partially based on that of the great Nyingma scholar / Dzogchen master Khetsun Sangpo Rinbochay, and also that of the great Dzogchen master Terton Sogyal Tulku Rinbochay. Khetsun Sangpo has provided an excellent commentary which brilliantly summarizes Vajrasattva practice and all the esoteric preliminary practices from the standpoint of the Old School ( Nyingma ) tradition: see
"Tantric Practice in Nying-ma"
by Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, ISBN-10: 0937938149

Because Vajrasattva is so important in all schools and all levels of Buddhist tantra, it is quite helpful to have both these books.

The Sanskrit phonetic text following is broken out on a phrase by phrase basis without punctuation. The English interpretation follows between each phrase.

I have provided some clarification and elucidation, mostly within the parenthesized parts.

Translation follows:

> > > Begin Translation > > >

Om vajrasattva samayam anupalaya
Om Vajrasattva ( Diamond Being )! Protect the sacred commitment.

Vajrasattva tvenopatistha
Vajrasattva abide in me.

dridho me bhava
Make me firm.

sutosnyo me bhava
Grant me complete satisfaction.

suposnyo me bhava
Fulfill me ( increase the positive within me ).

anurakto me bhava
Make me compassionate ( or: be loving towards me ).

sarva siddhim me prayaccha
Grant me all siddhi ( powers and attainments, both relative and transcendent ).

sarva-karma su ca me chittam sriyam kuru
Manifest for me all ( noble ) actions. Make my mind wholly virtuous.

"hum"
"hum" ( the bijmantra, the essential vibratory wave-particle of Vajrasattva )

"ha ha ha ha"
"ha ha ha ha" ( the Four Joys, Four Immeasurables, Four Levels of Tantric Empowerment, the Four Dimensions of Sacred Being - Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya, Svabhavivakaya )

"ho"
"ho" ( exclamation of joy at accomplishing these sets of four )

bhagavan sarva-tathagata-vajra
Transcendent Lord who embodies ( or: who is together with ) all the Indestructible Realized Buddhas !

ma me munca
Do not abandon me.

vajri bhava maha-samaya-sattva
Make me indivisible, Great and All Encompassing Pledge Being ( great angel of angels ).

"ah"
"ah" ( release into vast primordial pure wisdom-dimension beyond all limitations and obscurations )

(optional : hum phat! )
(hum phat!) Hum here means manifest great diamond power! Phat! has the sense of strike / cut through all confusion, grasping and negativity! I.e. by prajnopaya, the Union of Wisdom and Skillful Means.

< < < End Translation < < <

Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu.

In partial fulfillment of my received responsibilities as vajrayana guru, this was set down one as casual chatter by the inner medical tantrika and dagger priest K T, who is of the Vajrasattva ( Sixth of the Fivefold ) family.

AHHH AHHH

Tistha vajra! Samaya ho!

posted by: K T

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Bringing Out The Goofy

2007-11-09T16:50:52Z

this thread seems tailor made for the tribe

Wondering what all you good folks thought about
the relationship between humor and the path?

Thinking about things like Norman Cousins:

Here is a link about his talk about positive emotions and health:

http://www.bobrosenbaum.com/nctalks_dnld.html

and Patch Adams:

http://www.patchadams.org/campaign/

also, you know, Sensei Bernard Glassman took up "clowning practice"

there is that old saying, a sad saint is a sad saint indeed...

+++

I am definitely convinced about the power of humor and the need for humor and joy. But beyond that,

what about the sheer goofy??

is that just silliness? or is it a doorway in to a realm where we can detach from ourself by laughing at ourselves, inculcate some humility by
breaking the seriousness, etc.????

What about play? and recreation?

I know that St. Theresa of Avila did use the term "recreation" in discussing the importance of balance on the path.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Bay Area Buddhism resource

2007-11-05T04:51:39Z

If you're in the bay area and looking for a Buddhist center or sangha, check out this site:

http://bayareabuddhism.blogspot.com

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

Chocolate Bliss Buddhism

2007-11-05T00:29:27Z

from the Greyston Bakery

(a project of the Zen Community of NY)

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/223/story_22392_1.html

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 2 replies

Buddhist Jokes!!

2007-11-03T05:05:46Z

Hi everyone,

I write for 'Uncle John's Bathroom Reader' and thought I would try to put together a page of Buddhist jokes (that even the non-Buddhists would get). I have two so far:

Q: What did the Buddhist monk say to the hot dog vendor?
A: "Make me one with everything."

Q: Why couldn't the Buddhist monk vacuum out his corners?
A: Because he had no attachments.

Anyone know any more?

-Jay-

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 59 replies

Zen for Primates

2007-10-28T16:31:13Z

Zuigan Calls Himself "Master" by Nobody

http://www.notezen.com/Articles/koan9.htm

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Discipline

2007-10-16T04:50:44Z

Addictive personality, Poor Impulse Control, General Lushiness, these things have been insults and compliments to me throughout my entire life. Generally this hasn't bothered me, because I figured out at a very early age that every passing second was the incarnate potential of the best moment of my life. I've never been nieve in that respect so I'ver remained mostly unapologetic for treating the moment like that.

However, it overshadows some pretty deeply rooted character flaws of mine. When you are the guy that blacks out and starts a fight with a football team at a party, that's what your known as, not the guy that spends the entire next day imploding on himself because he's sworn a million times that he wouldn't get that way again, not the guy that wears grooves in his Mala Beads praying to forgive *himself* because he swore off violence years ago.

And no I'm not looking for sympathy, because I know that it's my own fault. No I'm not bleeding heart about being down, because I'm incredibly happy. Those moments are still relatively few and far in-between, but when they come they remind me of my own weakness, and it's discouraging when I'm in a time in my life when discipline is very important to me. I'm trying to swear off cigarettes, I'm trying to be faithful, I'm trying to succeed.

So I ask for prayers of strength, that despite a faultering nature I can stay the course this time. I pray for the ability to look forward at the potential to succeed at these things, and not dwell on the HUNDREDS of times I've already failed.

I'm throwing my arms up to the universe today and asking for assistance, to draw this line in the sand and claim myself, to be ruled by nothing.

And I write this, because the more eyes that pass over it the more accountable I am...

And I wouldn't mind a tip or two, some kind advise from someone that's been there, if that isn't too much to ask.

Namaste

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 11 replies

Seattle Area Enlightenment Intensive

2007-10-11T03:56:58Z

What are Enlightenment Intensives? They are a spiritual practice for persons of any faith, and they don’t require a guru. Enlightenment Intensives historically have produced a great amount of personal breakthroughs, a better ability to relate to self and others, and most importantly Enlightenment Experiences.

Why Attend and What will I gain? The foremost reason is to attain an “Enlightenment Experience,” also known as satori, “contact with God,” or Union with Truth. While not everyone has this experience in an Enlightenment Intensive, nearly everyone gains incredible self discovery and insight. Enlightenment looks different for each person. People who attend Enlightenment Intensives have described experiencing:

Greater clarity and excitement about their life; not just mental clarity, but the ability to put life into action with much more ease and consistency
Deeper, closer connection with others
A clear path to truth and how to live in alignment with their core self daily
Purification and an opportunity to explore the nature of reality
Greater self-confidence and authenticity of self
A renewed passion for life and an awareness of being fully alive
Compassionate listening and communication, in which they can articulate their own truth and hear that of another
Release from egoistic, mental burdens of the past, and opening of a light and clear heart
Deeper trust in their own intuition and life path

The setting? A beautiful waterfront and wooded Camp Burton located on Vashon Island, near Seattle, WA. The retreat is fully residential, starting with an introductory evening, followed by 3 days of intensive dyadic contemplation. There are walks and a specific schedule of contemplations done in tandem with a dyad partner. During this retreat the meals will be gourmet vegetarian, the staff will be impeccable and are highly trained.
Co-Mastered by: Deanne Cousins and Wayne Carter
Date: February 15th-18th, 2008
Cost: Enlightenment Intensive, including meals and lodging $300.00
Referral Program: Refer a friend and you receive $25 cash, when they pay. You can refer as many friends as you like.
Location: Camp Burton, Vashon Island, Washington
Contact: Wayne Carter
Email: wayne@unionwithtruth.com
Phone: 425.760.2918
WWW.UNIONWITHTRUTH.COM

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Wisdom

2007-10-09T20:52:12Z

How do you feel that Buddhism has helped you gain wisdom?

How has that benefited your life?

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Got Self?

2007-10-04T15:09:46Z

You're invited to join a new tribe called "Self or No-Self, or...."

http://tribes.tribe.net/selfnoself

We are hoping this will serve as a forum for discussion of all concepts of "self and other," as a central issue common to Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and other religions, and to philosophy and science, as well.

All viewpoints are welcome.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Support the Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Burma .. Two Actions You Can Take

2007-10-04T08:52:36Z

Buddhist Peace Fellowship Action Alert/News
Two Actions You Can Take to Support the Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Burma

For the last week, thousands of Burmese monks have marched against the repressive Burmese military regime in cities across that nation. They have recently been joined by Buddhist nuns and Burmese citizens. This is the largest public demonstration against the junta in nearly 20 years. Over the past couple of days, the situation is getting more tense as the Myanmar military junta has warned that it is prepared to crack down on the monks at the heart of the protest.

The situation in Burma requires our urgent attention. Your support for the monks and nuns will make a big difference to the people of Burma (Myanmar).

Here are two actions you can take now:

1) Our friends at the Buddhist Channel have initiated a global petition to garner support for the Holy Sangha. Please go to the petition online here http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,4945,0,0,1,0 and follow the instructions given. This page also includes address information for the Myanmar (Burmese) Embassy in a number of countries.

2) Light a candle and place it in your window every night this week, along with a sign in support of the nonviolent protest. Click here to visit our website where you can download a sign that reads "The World is Watching -- Free Burma!"
http://www.bpf.org/html/whats_now/2007/burma_peace.html

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 3 replies

Burma

2007-09-30T22:09:26Z

re-post from another board

Help GE pressure China to end violence in Burma

Dear friends,

The brutal attacks on Burma's peaceful monks and

protesters are worsening -- but in response, a

massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar

of global public opinion is being heard in

hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese

embassies, people round the world wearing the

monks' color red, and on the internet-- where over

two hundred thousand people signed our petition in

just 72 hours!

We're pulling out all the stops to make sure our

call is heard - launching a major global and Asian

ad campaign on Tuesday targeting Burma's powerful

ally China, delivering the petition to senior

officials, and using radio to broadcast our

petition and encouragement directly to the people

of Burma in their homes. In every case, we need to

deliver a petition that has a massive number of

signers behind it to be effective – can we make it

1 MILLION signatures this week? If each of us sign

the petition at the link below and forward this

email to at least 20 friends, we'll reach our

target:

www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/r.php

People power can tip the balance.Already, there

are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some

soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The

brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly

moved his family out of the country – he must fear

his rule may crumble.

The Burmese people are showing incredible courage

in the face of horror. The fate of many brave and

good people is in our hands. We must help them –

and we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign

the petition (if you haven't already) and forward

this email to at least 20 friends right now.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena

and the Avaaz Team

PS – if you would like to join in the massive wave

of demonstrations happening around the world at

Burmese and Chinese embassies, scroll down our

petition page for details of times and events.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

ARUNACHALA RETREAT & PILGRIMAGE INDIA 2007

2007-09-28T04:52:34Z

An invitation …
SACRED PILGRIMAGE to INDIA - November 2007

Beloved friends,

India has been such a sanctuary for me for many decades. Often on returning home with goodies and gratitude for the journeys in the mystery of Mother India, friends have exclaimed wow ! Can we come too ? So this year I would like to extend an invitation to you all to join us in a sacred pilgrimage. This is not so much an organised tour, more like a friend making it easy for you to enjoy the GRACE OF ARUNACHALA .

From November 7th until 17th we will enjoy daily satsangs and bhajan gatherings with the many wonderful beings who live in the environs of the holy hill and explorations of the ashrams and caves where RAMANA himself lived silently in the blessings of being at home in the source of all creation. A good place to be quiet !

Following this program of Welcome to Arunachala is a 10 day meditation retreat happening in silence with satsang and optional yoga chigung massage and bhajan sessions. Since this residential retreat is fully catered with delicious vegetarian meals at a beautiful centre, bookings are required

During our retreat, 18--28 th november, the peak of the mountain Arunachala is set alight on the full moon night as thousands of pilgrims do "pradakshina" walking around the mountain in a sacred ritual honouring the burning of the past in this awakening of the FIRE of the SPIRIT !

ARUNACHALA

is an invitation to discover the inner fire,

to find the PEACE in the core of all being.

This ARUNACHALA RETREAT

is an invitation to rest

in your own sweet heart !

in gratitude, maha laxmi & friends

Reply to birgit.lenger@gmx.at for confirmation of your participation & further information

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Sad News

2007-09-18T17:15:46Z

Sad News

Someone in my friends network here on Tribe Net is experiencing some real problems.

Her son has now been missing for seven days.

Here is the news article:

http://boards.courttv.com/showthread.php?s=4224a720d737d5fdc0475258fd04b73a&threadid=310444

And here is her profile page:

http://people.tribe.net/artistpriestess

Please send her and her son some good vibes.

Thanks,

Jon

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 5 replies

Buddhism & Sexuality - September 7-9 in Portland, OR at the Maitripa Institute with Professor Jose Cabezon

2007-09-07T08:30:52Z

(My apologies if I have offended anyone by posting this "serious" content on the "just have fun" tribe. If it makes any difference, Jose is a very fun buddhist!)

ProfessorJose Cabezon, Dalai Lama Professor of Religious Studies University of California, Santa Barbara, will give a Public Talk & Weekend Workshop on this intriguing topic. For more information please see www.maitripa.org

The Maitripa Institute also offers a four year program in Advanced Tibetan Buddhist Studies, classes for part-time students, extension programs, and public teachings and meditations with Larampa Geshe Yangsi Rinpoche.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Major Teachings and Empowerments on August 24 - 29, 2007 by His Holiness

2007-08-19T12:38:36Z

SHAR CHOG NGON GA'I LING
Buddhist Dharma Center of Manifesting Joy
www.BuddhistDharma.net

IS HONORED TO PRESENT

HIS HOLINESS ORGYEN KUSUM LINGPA

August 24 - 29th, 2007

His Holiness Orgyen Kusum Lingpa is a pre-eminent Dzogchen teacher
and Nyingma lineage holder. He is an authentic treasure revealer.
His title, Kusum Lingpa means "Treasure Revealer of the Three Kayas."
Concerning his life's work, His Holiness said recently: "Much earlier
in my life, I made a pilgrimage to Samye. There, due to the good
karma and auspicious coincidence in conjunction with the needs of
these times, I saw all my past and future lives. I recalled all the
teachings I had received directly from Guru Padmasambhava when I was
his disciple, and I saw all the hardships and difficulties of the
time in which I am now living. This made it possible for me to reveal
these teachings which are of particular benefit to everyone, in this
time of terrible suffering."

Join us for this exceptional visit by one of the greatest living
treasure revealer of the innermost esoteric yoga of Primordial
Awareness (Tibetan: Dzogchen Pema Nyingtik). Each of these three
transmissions can be of extraordinary value in transforming
consciousness, developing inner guidance, developing authentic inner
spiritual life, and most especially learning the classical Buddhist
deity yogas of liberating ones mind, body and spirit.

VAJRAKILAYA EMPOWERMENT - Friday, Aug 24th (6PM - 8PM)

The practice of Vajrakilaya blazes at the very heart of the ancient
Vajrayana traditions of Tibet. The wrathful Heruka Vajrakilaya is a
Deity who embodies the enlightened activities of all the Buddhas,
manifesting in an intensly wrathful yet compassionate form in order
to subjugate the delusion and negativity that can arise as obstacles
to the practice of Dharma.

In fact, the practice of Vajrakilaya is famous in Tibetan Buddhism as
an exceptionally powerful method to remove obstacles, destroy the
forces hostile to compassion, and purify the spiritual pollution so
prevalent in this age. Vajrakilaya practice is extremely powerful in
removing outer, inner and secret obstacles on the Dharma path and is
said to bring swift ordinary and extraordinary spiritual
accomplishments. It can also avert misfortunes such as war, disease
and famine. The practice of this deity makes it very easy to progress
on the path, since all obstacles are naturally dispelled and one can
achieve the supreme siddhi without any fault.

In summary, the practice of Vajrakilaya reigns supreme amongst
Meditational Deities. Practitioners of Vajrayana should all receive
this most excellent empowement.

AMITABHA EMPOWERMENT and PHOWA TRANSMISSION
Saturday, Aug 25th (10AM - 12PM)

Phowa is the profound path to Buddhahood without meditation, where
the student learns how to transfer his or her consciousness directly
to the pure land at the time of death without having to go through
the experiences of the intermediate state or fall into any one of
the six realms of samsara. This is a skillful method through which
anyone with faith may swiftly be liberated.

Through this Empowerment, the seeds are planted in the students mind
streams so they may practice conscious dying at the time of death,
through their faith and devotion in the Lama and the practice of
P'howa one may be able to bypass rebirth and go to the pure land of
Amitabha, the Buddha of Limitless Light.

SHI-TRO EMPOWERMENT - Saturday, Aug 25th (2:30PM - 4:30PM)

This empowerment into the Mandala of the 42 Peaceful and 58 Wrathful
Enlightened Deities grant blessings beyond expression. It introduces
us to the display of the peaceful and wrathful energies of the
enlightened mind as they appear to beings in the intermediate state,
or Bardo, between death and the next rebirth.

This empowerment will truly be a priceless opportunity to affirm our
connection with the enlightened Deities, to purify damaged or
impaired samaya and strengthen our spiritual connection. It is
recommended for all students who wish to progress along the path of
secret mantra and purify their defilements and negative karma of
body, speech, and mind. The Shi-tro Empowerment is highly suggested
for all who attend the Bardo teachings.

EXTENSIVE BARDO TEACHINGS - Sunday - Wednesday
Aug 26th - 29th (10 AM - 12 PM and 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM)

Join us for 4 days of extensive teachings on the Six Bardos, or
intermediate states, including the Bardo of Birth, the Bardo of
Dreaming, the Bardo of Meditation, the Bardo of Dying, the Bardo of
Dharmata, and the Bardo of Becoming. Each of these six bardos
presents us with opportunities for recognizing the true nature of our
mind and being liberated from the duality of
self-clinging and subject-object grasping.

Receiving these teachings from a living master who has direct
realization of this is a rare and priceless gift. Through these
instructions, there is opportunity for finding enlightenment when
encountering these bardos, rather than being overwhelmed by them or
frightened by the appearances of the dying state and so forth. This
is a precious opportunity to prepare ourselves for that moment of
death we will all have to face, and to make a connection with a Vajra
Dharma Master who can guide us along the path of liberation.

Please reserve seating in advance since space is limited.
Contact: Anthony (425.772.3488) or Denise (425.772.3317)
Email: DorjeTar@...

Suggested Donation: $30/Empowerment and $10/Teaching
(No one turned away)

Location: 1111 Harvard Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122 (Harvard & Seneca
St.)
(Park free in "U-Park" lot after 6 PM Aug 24 and all day 25th -
26th. Register parking space.)

*Your donations / offerings will go toward expenses related to the
Dharma events and hosting His Holiness, the Lamas and translators.

Driving Instructions:

Seattle First Baptist Church is located in Seattle's First Hill
Neighborhood at 1111 Harvard Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122.

The Buddhist Dharma Center has reserved the parking lot for Friday
Aug 24th starting at 6 PM and all day Saturday and Sunday August
25th - 26th. The parking is located adjacent to the rear of the
church in the U-Park lot. Attendees may ONLY park in this location
for free from Friday evening ? Sunday during the Teachings and
Empowerments. Donations may be made to defray parking costs are
greatly appreciated.(There are handicap entrances on the Harvard and
Boylston sides of the building.)

Directions to: Seattle First Baptist Church:

Coming South on I-5: Take the UNION ST. exit- EXIT 165B. Stay
STRAIGHT to go onto UNION ST. Turn RIGHT onto 7TH AVE. 0.1 mi. Turn
RIGHT onto PIKE ST. Go 0.5 mi. Turn RIGHT onto HARVARD AVE. go 1.5
blocks to the Church. Turn RIGHT onto SENECA ST., there is a parking
lot to the west side/BOLYSTON AVE. of the Church.

Coming North on I-5: take the MADISON ST. EXIT and turn RIGHT on
MADISON ST. go 0.2 mi. Turn LEFT onto BOYLSTON go 0.1 mi. Turn RIGHT
onto SENECA AVE. go 1 block. Turn RIGHT onto HARVARD. The Church is
on the corner of HARVARD and SENECA. The parking lot is just behind
the Church on BOYLSTON AVE.

What to Bring:
We have lots of chairs but not many cushions. Bring your favorite
sitting cushions.

Accomodations nearby for out-of-town attendees:
The Buddhist Dharma Center has limited sleeping space and would need
special approval and reservations in advance. Please bring your own
sleeping bag.

Hotels and Motels nearby:
Reserved for Dharma Sangha Members is the Inn at Virginia Mason. This
is the sister property of the Baroness Hotel below. Please call (800)
283-6453 for reservations. Mention you are with the "Tibetan
Teachings" or "Group Number 18" to get special rates.
Website: www.innatvirginiamason.com/innWelcome.html

Nearby, the most affordable lodging may be at the Baroness Hotel.
They mostly cater to those visiting the nearby medical facilities.
For reservations please contact us at 1-800-283-6453.
Website: www.baronesshotel.com/index.htm

The nearest hotel is the Silver Cloud which is one block away from
the event location. Reservations: 800.590.1801.
Website: www.silvercloud.com/broadway.htm

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Anyone in the LA area up for Living Dharma Satsang?

2007-08-18T11:22:38Z

I just posted an event listing for a group that I’m hosting in my home. We meet on Sunday afternoons starting at 2 pm.

The facilitator relates everything to Buddhist Dharma, but this work is not based strictly on Buddhism. The main meditation technique we use is bringing awareness out of the head down to the heart, with Vipassana-style awareness of body sensations in the heart area.

Check out the “Integrative Awakening” section on my profile for more info.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Any New Kadampa Tradition members out there?

2007-08-15T13:20:43Z

If anyone here is a member of the New Kadampa Tradition would you consider joining the NKT tribe?

http://tribes.tribe.net/kadampa

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

8-18: Fun Himalayan Fest with Thangka painting, prayer flag making, food, dance, music, and more

2007-08-06T03:06:03Z

ABC-Profiled Performer, Asian Art Museum Artist Headline Festival
Entertainment with a message from Leaders in Tibetan cultural preservation

Singer and dancer Tsering Wangmo and artist Ang Tsherin Sherpa , who will headline the 2nd West Marin Himalayan Festival at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center on Saturday August 18th from 11-5pm, share more than their passion for their chosen art forms, both are internationally-recognized leaders at the forefront of the effort to preserve Tibet's cultural heritage.

Seen on ABC’s “Profiles in Excellence” last year Tsering Wangmo, a co-founder of Chaksam-Pa, the world’s premiere musical group preserving Tibetan culture, is one of only 60 masters of the Tibetan performance arts. She was among those selected to study in the Tibetan Music, Dance and Drama Society founded in Dharamsala, India in 1959 by the Dalai Lama in response to China’s occupation of Tibet and use of Tibetan storytelling and operas to spread propaganda. Wangmo has performed around the world and with notables including David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Ray Davies (the Kinks), Ziggy Marley and Phillip Glass. To view the ABC profile please go to: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8588103701784969838&pr=goog-sl <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8588103701784969838&pr=goog-sl>

Ang Tsherin Sherpa, a renowned third generation Thangka (sacred banners) painter who has shown in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco twice and whose painting “Green Tara” is owned by actor Richard Gere, will provide an all-day demonstration of this sacred art form with hourly art talks. He has had murals commissioned by Monasteries, has been shown and collected internationally and teaches in Marin and other parts of the Bay Area. He and his father Urgen Dorje are working to preserve the tradition of Thangka painting and plan to open a school to train people of all ages and backgrounds in Thangka painting in Nepal, where Dorje is based. Commenting on his work Sherpa says, ”The strict tradition of Thangka painting teaches one how to view oneself as a channel through which all the deities manifest. There’s room for self-expression in Thangka painting but the actual practice is to eliminate the self clinging to ego.” ¬

The visual arts component of the Festival has expanded substantially with the all-day Thangka demonstration as well as a entire gallery devoted to a show by Fairfax-based Nepali contemporary painter, Sunila Bajracharya. Her work has been collected and shown internationally including at the 10th Asia Biennial Bangladesh, 5th International Art Exhibition at Gallery Dikmayer in Berlin, and as part of a special online exhibition of the International Museum of Women. Attendees will be able to meet Bajracharya at the Festival where she will be on hand to answer questions and discuss her work.

Additional performances include traditional Tibetan music and dance from the children’s performance group of the Tibetan Association of Northern California who are saving these traditions for the coming generations.
Vandhana Dance Company will perform North Indian Kathak dance featuring Megan Black who trained under Smt. Kumudini Lakhia, one of the foremost Kathak exponents in India today. Michael Davis, who has been seen on All India Television and at the Center for World Music in Madras, will perform Carnatic bamboo flute, a South Indian tradition accompanied by Douglas Vurek, who studied with South Indian percussion legend Palghat Mani Iyer on mridangam. Additional performers to be announced.

Event attendees are welcome to create their own Tibetan art in the Prayer Flag making activity. There will also be kid-oriented activities and a children¹s playroom available. There are also 3 playgrounds on our campus
outside the event area. Authentic meals, snacks and beverages will be available including mouth-watering traditional handmade Tibetan Momos (dumplings) and more food to be announced. The Festival offers the best of Himalayan vendors who have traveled from up to 2 hours away creating an exciting outdoor shopping experience where unique clothing, jewelry, carpets, art, household items, books and more can be found.

After drawing 400 attendees in it¹s inaugural year, the 2nd West Marin Himalayan Festival expects to draw substantially more to enjoy a dynamic outdoor family-friendly festival in the beautiful San Geronimo Valley
setting on this Saturday, August 18th from 11-5pm. Tickets will be: Adults $8-15 sliding scale; Kids 3 and up $5; Families of 4 plus $25. Coproducers: San Geronimo Valley Community Center & the Himalaya Resource Center. Partial proceeds will benefit Himalayan Organizations of the Bay Area. The other portion will support the Community Center’s programs including the emergency food pantry, teen center, and services for families.

The San Geronimo Valley Community Center is located at 6350 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. 9 miles west of San Rafael in Marin. There is extensive parking in the area and the Community Center is a Stage bus stop. Visit www.sgvcc.org <http://www.sgvcc.org> <http://www.sgvcc.org <http://www.sgvcc.org> > or call 415-488-8888 for more information

Directions: From US 101, take the Central San Rafael Exit and turn West onto 3rd Street. Follow 3rd street west through San Rafael and turn Right onto Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Follow Sir Francis Drake Blvd. through the towns of San Anselmo and Fairfax. We are approximately 5 miles west of Fairfax. Pass
the San Geronimo Valley Golf Course and keep going for another 1/4 mile. Turn into the 1st parking lot on your right. (Look out for the Community Center Marquee). (Under 1 hour from SF, Berkeley; Under 40 minutes from Petaluma, Bolinas.)

Closest Lodgings: Valley Inn (415) 488-0105. Camping: Samuel P. Taylor State Park 415-488-9897. From the east, we are en route to Point Reyes National Seashore.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

any PDXers here who go to Dharma Rain?

2007-08-06T02:09:20Z

It's been a long time since I've practiced with a sangha, and frankly my life lately has been out of kilter. I need a disciplined atmosphere to get back into my sitting practice.

It'd just be nice to know someone who goes to give me a little more encouragement to get back on the zafu.

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 0 replies

Ahimsa dance

2007-07-30T09:04:37Z

Ahimsa
I really like this idea of really focusing on not harming anyone. Make this your first goal. We talk a lot about developing compassion towards all beings, great! but how can you do that well if you don't know that you are stepping on people and/or just causing problems with your actions. So really meditate on how you've harmed someone recently or routinely, and what you could change to really harm the least amount of beings possible. Thank you.

of course we can never be free from harming others, as long as we need food, we are taking it from sources that kill beings in the process, and just simply walking around or using paper products, for example, injures homes and their residents. so lets try as much as possible to reduce the impact, as well as work strongly for the benefit of others, because its funner that way for everybody.

Also, sometimes its good to remind myself what the point of all this buddhist stuff is. It's not some individual attainment, some siddhi, some light body, some achievement or title. The goal and purpose of Buddhism is quite simply....everlasting happiness.
Ah Ho! =)

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 3 replies

Timothy Leary's cute quotes

2007-07-26T10:05:03Z

Yo I was watching an interview of Timothy Leary on youtube and towards the end he said:

At 53:50
"I travel the country a lot from Florida to Seatle and I'd like to share with you my opinion of america today,
there are 30, about forty million americans out there,
most of them young but not all young,
who are -and I want to be scientific here, who are reasonably enlightened, they are not buddhist yet,
but they're basicly fair minded they understand multiple reality, they understand that
the fuction of the light is to evolve to change, they are ready to change."

And then he closes with:
"turn on, tune in and take charge"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_yQUefNZM4

hows that?

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply

Buddhist RPG

2007-07-26T00:01:24Z

http://badgods.com/buddhistrpg.html

lol...

peace
-cpr

posted in Buddhists Just Wanna Have Fun - 1 reply