Changchub

La satisfaction dans le samsara

2011-11-18T04:47:00.001-08:00

Śantideva, un très grand érudit du 8e siècle, a fameusement dit que tout bonheur provient du fait de se soucier du bien-être des autres, et que toute souffrance provient du fait de se soucier que de soi-même. Pour prendre une exemple élevée et admirable, le Bouddha atteignit l'Éveil parce qu'il œuvrait pour le bien des autres. Peut-être plus concrètement, nous pouvons même voir au niveau ordinaire que les qualités telles se sentir bien dans sa peau, être entourés de famille et d'amis sûrs, et vivre à l'abri des tromperies, naissent de notre intérêt à l'égard du bonheur des autres. Par contre, s'il n'y a qu'égocentrisme, nous voyons même les bonnes circonstances de façon négative. C'est comme dit le Dalaï Lama:

«Si chacun de nous se mettait du fond du cœur à cultiver le souhait d'aider les autres et même l'ensemble des êtres, nous gagnerions alors une solide sentiment de confiance qui mettrait notre esprit dans un état d'aise. Lorsque notre esprit jouit de ce genre de tranquillité, le monde entier pourrait bien se tourner contre nous et devenir hostile que cela n'affecterait pas notre calme mental. À l'inverse, quand notre esprit est agité et perturbé ou que nous affichons de la malveillance à l'égard d'autres êtres, même s'ils n'ont aucune mauvaise intention à notre endroit, notre propre attitude nous les fera sentir négatifs et sévères à notre égard. Ceci est le reflet de notre attitude intérieur, de nos sentiments intimes, et de notre manière de ressentir. C'est pour cette raison que nous vivrons constamment dans la peur, la contrariété, l'anxiété et l'instabilité.»

Dommage, donc, que nous passons notre temps à nous soucier de nous-même. Du coup, nous ne sommes ni omniscients, ni libérés de souffrance. Nous n'arrêtons pas de nourrir un moi éphémère; il est un dicton qui nous rappelle que «Depuis ma naissance, j'ai mangé un montant de nourriture égal au mont Meru (dans la cosmologie bouddhiste, ce dernier est haut d'au moins 1,184,000 km), j'ai bu de l'eau en quantité égale à l'océan (qui est large de 2,220,000 km), et toujours je ne suis pas satisfait.»

Namkhai Norbu

2011-11-07T07:05:00.000-08:00

Back in September, I had the great pleasure of attending Chögyal Namkhai Norbu's teachings in Paris, even if I could only be away from my family for one out of the three days. I had been waiting for these teachings with a degree of excitement that had me check my desire and attachment, for the subject matter of the entire event was of supreme interest to me. Not only was Namkhai Norbu teaching on Dzogchen practice and bestowing transmissions, but there were concurrent demonstrations of vajra dance, an encyclopedic exposition of the Dzogchen system, and yantra yoga classes.

All of these were excellent. I was not able to glean the profound techniques of the vajra dance, but it was lovely to watch for the brief period I could, and I understand that it requires a clear meditation practice that flows with the movement. Yantra yoga has interested me for some time, so it was with great joy that I attended Zhenya Rud's class on that subject. It was an introductory level practicum, since attendees were small in number and therefore placed together. Zhenya focused on breathing techniques, which differ from those of the Indian yogic traditions (e.g., Hatha yoga), and the opening of the chest, something most all of us can use, especially if we hold jobs or occupations which require us to continually or repeatedly close up the fronts of our bodies.

I was delighted to find out partway through the day that Philippe Cornu would be giving a seminar on the topic of Dzogchen. For those who don't know him, Cornu is a French Buddhologist, president of the Université Bouddhique Européenne, and the author of the definitive French language dictionary of Buddhist terms along with a dozen or so other major works. His presentation was lively, intelligent and incredibly informative (if a little highbrow), a wonderful exposition of his obviously vast knowledge of all things Buddhist. The attendant discussion that took place among the two dozen or so of us was stimulating, and although it needed tempering by Cornu to remain within the realm of what could be rationally discussed within the two allotted hours, it breathed life into my Buddhist study, which has tended to be a little lonely since I moved to France.

Most amazing of all were the teachings of Namkhai Norbu himself. Here is a teacher with a stage presence worthy of a king; a deep, seemingly bottomless well of diamond-like wisdom; and a gentle kind of glow that emanates from his warm smile, blessing even the most nonchalant of interlocutors. Since I don't know how better to put the experience of his teachings into words, I invite you to take it in yourself via webcast over the next few days, by visiting http://shangshunginstitute.net/webcast/video.php at the times listed below.

CHÖGYAL NAMKHAI NORBU

11-17 November 2011 - TENERIFE RETREAT:

Ati Yoga retreat of Rigdzin jangchub Dorje’s terma "Nyangyud Khorva Dongtruk” (Tib. Snyan-rgyud ‘khor-ba dong-sprug).

Tenerife Spain- GMT (+0) - OPEN WEBCAST

11th Nov.5-7pm. Teaching start.
12th Nov.10-12am. Teaching of transmission of Guru Yoga.
13th Nov.10-12am. After Guru Yoga altogether, teaching of “Nyangyud Khorva Dongtruk”.
14th Nov.10-12am. After Guru Yoga altogether, teaching of “Nyangyud Khorva Dongtruk”.
15th Nov.10-12am. After Guru Yoga altogether, teaching of “Nyangyud Khorva Dongtruk”.
16th Nov.10-12am. After Guru Yoga altogether, teaching of “Nyangyud Khorva Dongtruk”. 4-7pm. Gana Puja and so on.
17th Nov.10-12am. Giving some advice for daily practices and some tridlungs. We finish our retreat with Ati Guru Yoga practice altogether.

Dalaï Lama Toulouse 2011, Partie 4

2011-10-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

Dans les religions hindou et jainiste, il y a une croyance en atman, une notion du soi permanent, indépendant et absolu. On croit que l'atman est dans sa vraie nature en relation avec brahman, le pouvoir pur, suprème et absolu de l'univers entier. Mais dans le bouddhisme, on réfute cette idée. Il n'y a pas de soi indépendant et absolu.

Pas indépendant, parce que si on parle d'un soi qui est l'esprit, et bien on trouve qu'il dépend du corps. Si on parle d'un soi qui est le corps, il dépend à son tour de l'esprit. Même cet ensemble corps-esprit n'existe pas indépendamment d'autres phénomènes. Si on cherche le soi - où est-il? - on ne le trouve pas en un endroit, mais seulement en relation avec d'autres phénomènes.

Ce sont les rouages de ce qu'on appèle pratityasamutpada, la coproduction conditionnée, ou la loi de la causalité. Tout phénomène est produit en dépendance d'autres phénomènes, en dépendance de causes et de conditions. C'est le fonctionnement de toute chose, des phénomènes mentales comme les non-mentales. Big Ben continue son tic-toc avec une énergie énorme, provenant de causes et de conditions, de coproduction conditionnée.

Le système du cerveau est pareil, bien que plus subtil et d'un niveau plus profond: Nos cinq sens physiques (ou sphères sensorielles) forment chacun un niveau mental de conscience: la conscience visuelle; la conscience auditoire; la conscience olfactive; la conscience gustative; et la conscience tactile. Nous avons un sixième sens, le pouvoir de la pensée, le sens mental, duquel survient la conscience mentale. Donc, il y a le sens (e.g., le pouvoir ou le potentiel de la vue), l'objet sensoriel (e.g., l'objet visuel), et la conscience sensorielle (e.g., la conscience visuelle). Ce dernier survient au moment de l'interaction entre sens et objet, mais peut aussi ne pas survenir, pendant le sommeil par exemple, quand on n'a pas la conscience visuelle de l'arrière de nos paupières.

On peut très bien observer ce qui est présent en ce moment au niveau sensoriel, tout simplement. Le mental peut rajouter des pensées par-dessus pour penser par exemple au futur, et ça serait alors la conscience mentale en vigueur. Un jour lors des enseignements, juste avant la pause à midi, Sa Sainteté nous a donné l'instruction d'observer la différence entre la conscience gustative et la conscience mentale. L'exercice consistait à choisir un conscience sensorielle et de mener une enquête la-dessus, d'être présent non seulement avec la conscience sensorielle mais avec la conscience mentale, pour pouvoir bien comprendre l'évènement. On n'acquiert pas de certitude sans que la conscience mentale y soit.

Big Ben et tous les objets non-mentales forment le niveau grossier des phénomènes; le mental et le fonctionnement du cerveau comme on vient de voir sont bien plus subtils. Au moment de la mort, le niveau physique cesse: cerveau, cœur, respiration. C'est la mort clinique. Mais le corps peut très bien rester frais, comme dans la vidéo qui suit. La seul explication est qu'un niveau très subtil de l'esprit reste dans le corps. Il y a des recherches en cours de réalisation, pour pouvoir mieux comprendre.

Les niveaux grossiers d'esprit, comme les sensations liées au physique, se développent à partir des niveaux subtils; les niveaux subtils, à partir des niveaux encore plus subtils. Un exemple de niveau très subtil d'esprit est le sommeil profond, où les éléments mentales ne se manifestent pas.

Dalai Lama Toulouse 2011, Part Three

2011-10-04T05:27:00.000-07:00

Here is more of what I heard of His Holiness' excellent teachings.

There is always both appearance and reality; the whole purpose of education is to reduce the gap between perceived appearance and reality. The tantrayāna, or vehicle of the text, is seen by some to stray far from its origins - the teachings of the Buddha - and even to have been created by demons. But there are both a conventional meaning and an ultimate meaning of the teachings, which correspond respectively to the appearance of things, and the reality of things.

The Sanskrit tradition is very literal, and makes use of logic. Sanskrit texts are the backbone of the entire Buddhist tradition, and without them, something essential would be missing. Śakyamuni's first - and most concrete - turning of the wheel of the dharma, at the deer park in Sarnath (near Varanasi), centred on the Four Noble Truths, which correspond to the conventional meaning, and which henceforth became the basis of all forms of Buddhism.

The second time the Buddha turned the wheel of the dharma, he did not teach to everyone indiscriminately. His concern here was with the notion of pervasive emptiness, which is so easily misunderstood and requires a certain amount of insight and/or training to comprehend.

The third turning was to teach the tantrayāna approach to consciousness: using the clear light of wisdom or the nature of the pureness of mind to attain wakefulness for all beings. Imagine that the Buddha had started here with the ultimate meaning of the teaching, or given it to someone with no background knowledge: what kind of a practice would emerge for this person? I am guessing it would resemble a new-age melting pot of bliss-seeking, without regard for the quality or purpose of bliss in a wider context. This sort of practice certainly does exist today, but its ultimate value is questionable.

Between Hindu tantrayāna and Buddhist tantrayāna there are many similarities; for example, among the two traditions there are common deities, and the common notion of kundalini energy. In fact, Buddhist tantrayāna has been criticized as being the same thing as Hindu tantrayāna, not improving on or adding to the ancient system, simply touting it as Buddhism's own. One of the main differences between them, though, is the development of bodhicitta, which serves to put Buddhist tantrayāna in a league of its own.

Le But

2011-10-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

Vous devriez aussi réaliser ceci: que vous atteignez la bouddhéité ou non, votre but reste le même: aider les autres êtres. Que vous vous trouviez dans les cieux ou en enfer, votre but est d'aider les autres. Peu importe le temps que cela vous prendra.

Sa Sainteté le XIVe Dalaï Lama (2000),
Identifier la nature de la souffrance.
Dans Les étapes de la méditation;
Commentaire de Sa Sainteté sur le texte
de Kamalashîla (pp. 70-71).
Guy Trédaniel Éditeur: Paris.

Dalai Lama Toulouse 2011, Part 2

2011-10-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

Fortunate to have attended Chögyal Namkhai Norbu's wonderful teachings in Paris last weekend, and keeping up with sundry dharma activities in real life, I am sorry that my posting here has been so sparse. Such is the way of a modern layperson's life, especially one that involves small children: so many things arise and fall away in a day that the mind loses at least some of its tracks at least some of the time. The dharma is ever-present, though I do forget to write about it here on the Internet.

The Dalai Lama spoke to us in Toulouse of prayer, its main function of giving hope, and its meaningfulness only in light of a clear understanding of the system of which it is born. There are multiple excellent reasons for which prayer is important, for which it is very good for us to pray, but it is no good to do so without the right amount of background information and comprehensive knowledge.

This seems very important to my situation as "teacher" (for no matter which title I find for myself it is exaggeration and requires quotation marks, reminding me that I was named as such by one of my own teachers even though I was not ready), in that those who come for meditation sessions here generally have very little background in Tibetan Buddhism, apart from having read a few popular books. In this case, then, I have two options, depending mostly on who attends: explain as much of the background as I can, or leave out the prayers and prostrations.

Although it has crossed my mind and been suggested to me more than once, I cannot separate meditation from Buddhism and hold secular mindfulness sessions. I am Buddhist, and to me the two come as an inseparable package deal. So, I have the altar, and sessions are held in the altar room, where the ambience is decidedly Tibetan, and decidedly Buddhist. I can, however, do opening prayers, make offerings and do prostrations before people show up for sessions, and say closing prayers silently to myself, if needed. I haven't yet omitted anything during sessions, but I can, when those present are new and/or not themselves Buddhist.

His Holiness urges today's Buddhist to be a good 21st century Buddhist, one who is full of knowledge about everything. He says an open mind is essential. This is to say that we must remain open to revising our way of thinking, and on this Path, we cannot very well do otherwise, can we? If we are closed to possibility, there is no way we can learn anything or understand how phenomena work, not to mention the mind. We may not let new information in even if it goes along with our preconceived notions, if we close our minds. This is also to say that even if the holy scriptures hold something to be true, and over the millennia millions of Buddhists have held it to be true, if it is satisfactorily proven to be untrue, we have to accept that. Constant re-questioning, re-investigation and re-vision is what will show us the way to the truth.

Dalai Lama Toulouse 2011, Part 1

2011-08-20T05:45:00.000-07:00

There were 7,500 of us in attendance at His Holiness' teachings in Toulouse. The topic was Stages of Meditation, based on the second treatise of Kamalaśīla's text, the Bhāvanākrama. The Dalai Lama told us that this text is dear to his heart, since it was written by a Tibetan, in Tibet, and he'd chosen to teach it to us for that reason.

Beautiful Toulouse is a six-hour drive (not including any stops) from my home, and with my two small children I was able to attend only the first two days of talks during His Holiness' visit. The third and last day, he gave a public talk that was broadcast live on some very large screens outside the Zenith where all of the events took place, since many, many more than the Zenith's 7500 capacity had wanted tickets. All talks were broadcast live on the Internet for the benefit of those who couldn't be there.

I felt reconnected with the greater sangha as soon as I checked into my hotel, which was very close to the Zenith and temporarily housed many other attendees. I quite enjoyed being in the long lineup to get into the teachings themselves, which shouldn't be surprising; I generally do. But now especially, living in a rather non-Buddhist part of the country, just about scrambling to gather a small sangha together, this time I felt the little void fill in. At the lunch breaks over the two days, I had some particularly fulfilling - though too short - experiences of connection.

At 76 years old, His Holiness looks well, and much less fatigued than three years ago in Nantes, although he appears to find increasing difficulty standing up and sitting down. He taught in English for the most part, but when it came to more serious aspects of Buddhist philosophy, he used Tibetan, saying, "I think that now my English is not sufficient." The amazing Matthieu Ricard translated it all into French, and there were others translating into other languages via headphones for the multilingual audience. I myself benefited very much from both the English His Holiness used and the French translations Matthieu Ricard provided.

The first thing that struck me was the fact that the Dalai Lama's teachings always begin with an extensive introduction to Buddhism in general, and a broad history of Tibetan Buddhism in particular. I recognized that in my own meditations sessions, I should do more of that, so as to establish a firm basis and a way to contextualize the spiritual work we are now doing. I have tried to do the introductory thing, but since history is neither my passion nor my forte, I've left a lot of it out. When it comes down to it, though, recounting history is a lot like telling stories, and these particular stories are both fascinating and touching. The great masters in Buddhist history led inspiring lives. I have since learned about differentiated units of shedra teachings by correspondence, including one on Buddhist history, which I would like to take, if time permits.

His Holiness spoke of social and religious harmony as not just essential, but as a very real possibility, citing India as an example of a place where many traditions - all the traditions of the world - peacefully coexist. He insisted on openness, and on the importance of respecting, understanding, and learning from traditions other than our own. There were, incidentally, six or seven Catholic monks on the stage, along with the several dozen monks from various Buddhist schools. To the Dalai Lama, these are all, equally, spiritual brothers and sisters. It is also very important, he noted at the public talk on Monday, to respect those who do not believe.

when we go deeper

2010-11-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

Behind the hardness there is fear
And if you touch the heart of the fear
You find sadness
And if you touch the sadness
You find the vast blue sky

--Rick Frost

irreducible openness

2010-08-19T13:07:00.001-07:00

On the long and fruitless drive to the Temple des Mille Bouddhas yesterday (the fruitlessness being a story in itself) I put on a great mixed CD my partner had years ago compiled and named Irréductible Gaulois. As I was mostly focused on my driving, I heard the following lyrics out of all context (from what I have since learned was Sinsémilia's Je préfère cent fois):

Pour être en sécurité
Il faut fermer son coeur à clef

(If you want to live in security
Put your heart under lock and key)

Immediately I disagreed. Thankfully, it was a long drive, my kids were sleeping in the back seat, and I was on my way to the temple (though I didn't end up there) on this Guru Rinpoché day, meaning my mind was already turned toward the dharma. These conditions led to the ability to properly reflect on just why I disagreed, a luxury I don't often come across these days.

There are things that we're scared of, from which we want to keep safe by locking up our heart. They can be heartbreak or another form of personal devastation, news of terrorism or disease or disaster, or even our own demons like envy or anger or selfish grasping. In the case of the song, though I wasn't really listening to it, I assumed we were talking about the dangers of falling in love, of opening so completely to one person that if that basket were to drop, all our emotional eggs would be broken.

What I understood the author to be saying was that to be free from the possibility of our basket of eggs dropping, we need to close off from the possibility itself. We need to prevent ourselves from falling in love, or from the heart-opening situation at hand. Of course, opening our hearts brings risk; I think everyone would agree on that, and most people are willing to take some degree of risk.* However, I think that if we can manage to fully open, to see things as they are in reality, there simply is no risk. If we are wide open to the possibility of the basket of eggs dropping, it will bring no harm when and if it happens. I would even say that security is openness itself, the epitome of which is characterized by stainless awareness of the absolute reality of phenomena.

There is a vast difference between ordinary love and metta, or sublime, ultimate loving kindness. While the love we may have for our partner or friend is ordinarily tangled up with attachment (not to say that this is a terrible thing by any means!), loving kindness emerges from a consciousness free from any idea of self. Free from any idea of other, for that matter. It is the wish for all beings, without exception and without discrimination, to attain happiness. It has nothing to say about how enjoyable it is to spend time with a certain person, how much someone has contributed to our own happiness, or how much we stand to gain from making someone happy. It makes no difference if that someone is a good or bad person, or a spider, or a whale, or a god. And let's not forget that when we talk of all sentient beings, we include ourself, even if (and precisely because) the self/other distinction is not made on an absolute level.

Can we open our hearts to this degree? That is the challenge Buddhist practitioners face. It's no small task, but it is one of our main goals. I believe that when such lovingkindness is perfected, we have reached enlightenment, and have equally perfected our understanding of reality. The self/other distinction falls away, as do all other erroneous, dualistic perceptions, and we can see the interdependence of phenomena very clearly. We are open as wide as wide can be; anything can happen, and we accept all possibilities unconditionally. Things simply appear as they are, all while having no inherent qualities of their own nor any enduring independent existence. Emaho!

There are dangers to the heart, yes. They do show up when we put our hearts on the line, and can even terrify us into closing off. When we think about it, we can see that these menaces are just projections of what could be, and are nothing at all in the present moment. On an absolute level (which we can realize if we truly open ourselves to it), even if the risk comes to fruition and we experience devastating heartbreak, this does not exist. It appears before us, but it is empty of true existence. Just the thought of it is comforting in times of distress, and grounding in times of excitement.

By the way, I made it to the temple today.
_________________________________________

* The song lyrics - which actually go as follows - are indeed a good example of this relative line of thought:

Si pour être en sécurité
Il faut fermer son coeur à clef
J'préfère cent fois me faire plomber
Comme un oiseau en liberté
Plutôt que de vivre planqué
Comme, comme, comme le cafard sous un évier

(If wanting to live in security
Means putting your heart under lock and key
I'd a hundred times rather get shot down
Like a bird flying free
Than live a sheltered life
Like, like, like the cockroach under the sink)

Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché Centennial

2010-08-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

What a profound blessing it was to take part in Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoché's first teaching event in the West! This was the centennial celebration of Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoché, Yangsi Rinpoché's predecessor, who was born 100 years ago. As you know, I was looking so forward to this event that I nearly conjured up obstacles to attending. Thankfully, none arose.

Yangsi Rinpoché gave teachings on taking refuge, bodhicitta, and the four noble truths. He conferred the refuge and bodhisattva vows, as well as a Sakyamuni Buddha empowerment. We did two tantric visualization practices: that of Sakyamuni, and that of Dilgo Khyentse.

Yangsi Rinpoché just turned 17, and I get the feeling he is teaching more out of a combined sense of duty or moral obligation and compassion than a feeling of readiness on his part. He has been highly solicited; people everywhere have made offerings and requests for teachings, even at his very young age, because of their devotion to Khyentse Rinpoché and their connection to him. Yangsi Rinpoché made it clear that he feels devoid of Khyentse Rinpoché's qualities. But he was born with his mind, and I am sure these qualities will develop and fully ripen in time.

The teachings he offered us were simply formulated, and I gained quite a few take-home messages from them. In particular, I learned about the Seven Branch Prayer to Guru Rinpoché, about the meaning and practical utility of each line. I also retained a quote from Shantideva, who said that all happiness comes from wishing others happiness, while all suffering comes from wishing happiness for only ourselves. Another piece of the teachings that struck a chord for me was when Yangsi Rinpoché said to really rejoice in having taken the bodhisattva vow, a much more valuable thing to have been given than a castle or the World Cup, because not only does the vow benefit oneself, but all sentient beings. Its value is beyond comparison. I was really grateful for these and other insights.

The highlight of the retreat was a guru yoga practice, which took the entire last day. The Aurora of Blessings (what a beautiful name!) sadhana, composed by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoché himself, brought us an opportunity to strengthen the ties we had to him and emulate him to whatever extent we could. All of this in the presence of his reincarnation, Yangsi Rinpoché, who is not other than himself. It is no more likely that I should come across this chance than that of plucking a star out of the sky.

I knew and felt the preciousness of this opportunity, and yet on that day, I had very limited view and found it difficult. The morning was long and there was much I didn't understand. There was repetition in the three languages (Tibetan, French, English) for every prayer and visualization instruction. There were many prayers from a booklet I didn't have, and like many others, didn't know I could have. In the afternoon, there were very long sitting periods on the very hard floor in addition to the morning's issues. There were seemingly endless mantra meditations with mantras that were difficult to pronounce and even more difficult to memorize, adding discomfort to discomfort. On that day I deeply felt the tendency to reject and even hate discomfort. I deeply felt my attachment to ease, and anger at the lack of it.

I saw during the course of the teachings that I have a very long way to go, not that I wasn't already acutely aware of the fact. My attentiveness is apparently dull even given the kind of space a retreat like this offers. I was not present enough at the time to perceive the immensity of the gift I was receiving. Beforehand, yes, and afterward, yes, but not at the time when it mattered the most. I was happy that my family made their sacrifices to get me there, and appreciative of Rinpoché's time and that of all the people who contributed to the event's organization, but at times I was more focused on my own discomfort - mostly psychological - than on the celebration and blessing surrounding me. It ended up penetrating my skin, and I received it in a matter of days, but I wonder if this dull quality of mine would have permitted it even to do that had I stayed in retreat.

I had thoughts of doubt along with my intense desires and aversions. Not doubt in the dharma itself, but in my own capacity to persevere on the path. Those long mantra recitations were hard. By the end of 1½ hours I had long since returned my rudraksha mala (the Nyingma mala of renunciation - how pompous!) to its idle position on my left wrist, and I'm sure my eyes darted around the room as much as my mind went around the sphere of ridiculous, vagabond cognitive activity. I changed position many times, "meditating" mostly with my arms hugging my knees.

When the second consecutive mantra recitation began, I wanted nothing more than for it to end. I paid no more attention than a passing listen to the lama's instruction to experience the presence of Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoché as if he were actually there, let alone the many details of his appearance. I held his image in my heart for surely no longer than a few minutes. I was sincere in my wish to practice, and while Rinpoché's image was with me I felt true devotion. I just couldn't do it for longer. I have a long way to go.

Where was the peace I sometimes found in my personal meditations? Did I forget it at home, at my altar? I had brought my cushion; why was it so uncomfortable here? This was aversion at its best: When would it STOP?! Yangsi Rinpoché had earlier quoted Shantideva, saying that all suffering comes from wanting happiness for only oneself. Indeed, it does. So what to do in moments like these, when that is our only desire? How do we just get over ourselves?

The blessings are worth the difficulty. I faced head-on the samsaric grasping and rejecting, attachment and aversion. This sadhana consists of the words of the guru himself, Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoché. These are the very instructions, the map to ultimate happiness, which Yangsi Rinpoché made clear, is so much more valuable than worldly pleasures. What I didn't understand at the time, I take now as a simple blessing. The experience has brought me to a place, in the days since the teachings ended, where I can weather storms of negativity and flurries of excitement with equanimity. I have seen what this mind is, and now I know what it can do. I hope to persevere in making Dilgo Khyentse and Yangsi Rinpoché's aspirations bear fruit. May I and all beings, by the tremendous merit of this event, be liberated in the expanse of the dharma.

Sarva Mangalam.

humility

2010-06-15T05:54:00.000-07:00

Humility is a state of questioning... you are simply in a place of openness and receptivity. You don't know and don't pretend to know what is going to happen next.

Laraine Herring (2007). Humility. In Writing Begins With the Breath: Embodying Your Authentic Voice (pp. 27-28). Massachusetts: Shambhala.

la vraie nature de l'esprit

2010-06-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

On peut se demander, qu'est-ce que l'esprit? Souvent notre réponse est que l'esprit est ce qui se passe dans la tête - les idées, les pensées, peut-être aussi les émotions, positives ou négatives. L'enseignement bouddhiste est que toutes ces choses sont les qualités de l'esprit, et non sa nature. L'esprit a donc deux aspects: ses qualités qui s'expriment, et sa nature. La nature de l'esprit ressemble au soleil, alors que les qualités sont comme les rayons du soleil. Ce ne sont pas tout à fait les mêmes.

La nature de l'esprit est très difficile à décrire. On fait parfois l'expérience de cette nature alors que les qualités de l'esprit cessent - les pensées, idées, etc. se calment. Alors on voit que derrière tout ça il y a une sorte d'ouverture paisible, de l'espace. Cet espace n'est pas le vide, mais une ouverture cognitive, totalement consciente, paisiblement vigilante. Cet espace est toujours là, même quand les pensées sont sauvages et vagabondent, mais on ne le perçoit pas.

Les qualités de l'esprit sont très éphémères. Ils vont et viennent, apparaissent et disparaissent. On peut facilement se rendre compte que l'esprit ne cesse pas quand ces qualités disparaissent. Il reste bien quelque chose quand on a déjà terminé de penser à ce qu'on va faire a manger ce soir, et on n'a pas encore eu l'idée de donner un coup de téléphone. Pendant la méditation, quand tout cela, toutes les qualités de l'esprit, se calment, la nature de l'esprit est toujours là. Il est même très clair.

Attention, ce n'est pas l'égo. Ce n'est pas "moi". "Je" n'existe pas, et on peut s'en rendre compte en le cherchant. La vraie nature de l'esprit est la nature de tout phénomène. En contactant cette nature on entre en contact avec tout phénomène dans sa vérité absolue (la vacuité d'existence propre).

La nature de l'esprit, c'est la conscience pure. C'est ce qui est simplement conscient, sans embellissement, une simple présence éveillée. C'est, comme dit Mathieu Ricard, «ce qui dans la colère voit la colère sans être la colère ni s'y laisser entraîner» (2008). C'est une conscience non-conceptuelle, et donc pure et non-erronée.

Depuis cette conscience pure surgissent les pensées, et dans la conscience pure elles se dissolvent. En fait, on peut constater que tout phénomène surgit et se dissout dans la conscience pure. L'esprit est comme l'océan vaste et profonde, et ses qualités sont comme les vagues qui occupent qu'une toute petite surface sur l'océan, sans être autre que l'océan.

On peut considérer l'espace comme le fondement en lequel s'organisent tous les autres éléments, et à partir duquel se manifestent à la fois notre monde temporel familier et notre monde sacré éveillé. (Wangyal Rinpoché, 2002)

Il faut apprendre à reconnaître notre vraie nature, et à y demeurer. Ce n'est pas évident. On a peut-être tendance a se dire, «ce n'est pas cela, c'est trop simple et trop ordinaire.» Pour cette raison, on a du mal a reconnaître la nature de l'esprit. Il faut accepter que ça n'a rien d'exceptionnel, que la conscience pure est en effet la conscience simple. Et il faut apprendre a ne pas rechercher la prochaine pensée.

Ainsi, on se repose dans la nature de l'esprit.

________________________________________

Ricard, Mathieu (2008). L'art de la méditation (p. 129). Paris: NiL éditions.

Wangyal, Tenzin Rinpoché (2002). Les sons tibétains qui guérissent: Sept pratiques guidées pour écarter les obstacles, faire s'épanouir les qualités et découvrir votre sagesse inhérante (p. 29). Saint-Cannat.: Claire Lumière.

mathieu ricard on the ego

2010-04-14T02:01:00.001-07:00

Notre identification à l'ego est fondamentalement dysfonctionnelle, car elle est en porte-à-faux avec la réalité. Nous attribuons en effet à cet ego des qualités de permanence, de singularité et d'autonomie, alors que la réalité est tout au contraire changeante, multiple et interdépendente. L'égo fragmente le monde et fige une fois pour toutes la division qu'il établit entre «moi» et «autrui», «mien» et «non-mien». Fondé sur une méprise, il est constamment menacé par la réalité, ce qui entretient en nous un profond sentiment d'insécurité. Conscient de sa vulnérabilité, nous tentons par tous les moyens de le protéger et de le renforcer, éprouvant de l'aversion pour tout ce qui le menace, et de l'attirance pour tout ce qui le sustente, et de ces pulsions d'attraction et de répulsion naissent une foule d'émotions conflictuelles.

-Ricard, 2008 (p.124)

Translation:
Our identification with the ego is fundamentally dysfunctional, for it goes against reality. In essence, we apply to the ego qualities of permanence, singularity and autonomy, while reality is the opposite: changing, multiple and interdependent. The ego fragments the world and solidifies the division it has established between "me" and "other", "mine" and "not-mine". Founded on error, the ego is constantly threatened by reality, which leads us to a profound feeling of insecurity. Conscious of its vulnerability, we attempt to protect and reinforce it by all means possible, feeling aversion for all that threatens it and attraction to all that sustains it, and from these impulses of attraction and aversion, legions of conflicting emotions are born.

__________________________________________

Ricard, M. (2008). L'art de la Méditation. Paris: NiL éditions.

haiku

2010-03-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

My friends Izak and Angela sent me a copy of their book, recently published under the name of Go To the Pine: Poetry in Japanese Style (Bouwer & Sumegi, 2009). You can read the synopsis and learn a bit about my friends here, at BuschekBooks. It is a beautiful book, and it inspired me to write the following. I have no idea if I've followed all the rules of haiku; for proper poetry I suggest you see my friends' book. "Go to the pine" - which comes from the Japanese saying translated as "Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine" - applies well here!

Hats off and many thanks, Izak and Angela. Your poetry is wonderful.

Here is mine:

bright afternoon moon
proud above cemetery
her light not her own

father-in-law's corpse
rotting and teeming below
his life not his own

from my mother's womb
to chasing and nursing kids
body not my own

from life to life
vagabond thoughts or stillness
mind's great perfection

dharma seeds

2009-12-18T12:47:00.000-08:00

My dear friend and teacher Lama Lhanang recently came to visit for a few days. I am blessed to have taken in many important teachings just by virtue of the lama's presence here, both from his energy and his example. As if those weren't enough, he gave a personal teaching in our home, on the subject of relationships, a topic on which he had given a weekend retreat in Ottawa in October. There were five attendees; not a bad turnout in fact.

I think we all took something substantial away from the teaching. I, for one, took mostly this: Three things should take the foreground in any relationship, be it parent/child, teacher/student, work relationships, partners or friends, and three things should be avoided. Communication, trust and appreciation are to be emphasized, while jealousy, complaining and arguing are to be avoided. In the course of his stay Lama Lhanang also advised partners to do yoga together, and meditation, and that sort of thing. We will likely do more playing soccer together, since yoga and meditation don't suit my partner's fancy...

We had a wonderful few days while the lama was here. Life just seems easy in his presence; all of these spontaneous manifestations appear as dharmakaya. Partly, he was very helpful, with the kids and with chores like dinner and dishes (which he should not have been doing), as well as spiritually with his many teachings. But mostly, he just gives off that kind of vibe. I was so moved by his visit, I can't even begin to tell you how happy it made me to welcome him to this country for the first time.

He told me he came to plant dharma seeds. He left me an instruction to teach meditation myself and to see through the nurturing of the seeds. I intend to carry out this instruction, but I need to begin slowly, because it is going to take a whole lot of confidence-building, some language perfection, a little bit of financial investment, and some marketing. Still, this is an incredibly exciting prospect. Here is one good reason, articulated by Jon Kabat-Zinn in Healing Emotions (p. 114) to nurture these seeds I've been given:

We are driven by the mind, by thought, by expectations, by fear, by wanting to get somewhere else. If you always want to be some place else, then you are never actually where you are, and therefore not fully alive. Nor are you capable of dealing with the pressures and difficulties that arise if your mind is inattentive and is half not here. In stressful or threatening situations, your reactions will be highly conditioned and automatic. The deeper levels of intelligence and wisdom that come from clear and full seeing will not be available to you because of this foggy cloud in the mind.

How better to help humanity than to teach meditation, the way to those deeper levels?

the unmoving senses like planets and stars reflected in a lake, from Tsoknyi Rinpoche

2009-06-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

All your senses are open. Your ears are not blocked, nor are your eyes closed; you have feeling in all the pores of your body, and the thoughts in your mind are not blocked either. Nothing is obstructed. You are not looking right and left, fidgeting about trying to listen to this and that. "While keeping my ears open like Tsoknyi Rinpoche told me, should I now listen carefully to every single sound that comes along?" No, that is not what's meant. You do not have to listen deliberately or intently, and yet all senses are simply wide open...

In other words, leave all the senses very open and alive, not necessarily reaching out toward objects, but simply aware. Our lineage masters all agreed that you do not have to be deliberately aware of things. Rather, just allow them to be reflected, to appear by themselves. When you look at the placid surface of a clear, quiet lake at night, the planets and stars just appear there. They present themselves, and when the surface is very serene and quiet, you can see them very clearly. It's the same way with our senses when they are left wide open.

- from Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Maintenance (Quintessential Dzogchen pp. 224-225)

moonshadows

2009-06-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning at the Zen dojo I have been attending, the teacher gave a brief talk that included a few poignant metaphors. He was saying that in the normal progression of our meditation practice we can become discouraged, thinking that the mind is not improving or even worsening, when many thoughts arise. We might characterize these thoughts as bad, or as reflecting our inability to meditate properly and make progress. This metaphor struck the chord of the appropriate response perfectly:

L'intensité de l'ombre des pins dépend de la clarté de la lune / The intensity of the pine trees' shadows depends on the brightness of the moon.

emptiness of mind

2009-05-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

The mind is not truly existent. Nothing is truly existent -- all phenomena are empty -- but as Tulku Urgyen Rinpoché points out, the mind is a special kind of phenomenon, empty in a different way (Buddha Nowhere Else, Quintessential Dzogchen p. 165).

Phenomena such as material objects, like tables and bodies, and phenomena such as mental objects, like thoughts and ideas, are empty in the sense of impermanence: they arise as a relative conglomeration of other phenomena, and then they pass. For a time there is an appearing substance that we name and grasp at, a thing we call "table" or "idea", before the thing metamorphoses into something else. The truth of phenomenal emptiness is that there is no period during which change is not taking place. Objects are either in the process of arising or in the process of passing away. Angela once told me that we can not in good faith call a table a "table", but should use nothing but verbs, calling it "tabling". Phenomena are just that unstable.

Mind, which I intend to mean not the objects of mind but the subject or that which does the thinking, is not like that; mind is no-thing. The emptiness of the mind is not in its impermanence but in its no-thing-ness. As much as we can observe the arising and passing away of a thought, and as much as we can know of the arising and passing away of seemingly stable mountains or planets, we can not say the same for the mind. There is no substance whatsoever, not even temporarily appearing, that we call "mind".

Is the mind then permanent? In a sense, it is permanent. It is, as I have been posting about lately, primordially pure and not dependent on causes and conditions. It is and has always been since beginningless time clear and brilliant, cognizant and aware, untainted by any samsaric arisings, indestructible: "Its original nature is the dharmakaya of all buddhas" (Tulku Urgyen Rinpoché, p. 165). But I don't think we can really say it is permanent, since it doesn't truly exist. Relatively speaking, we do assume or infer that the mind exists, and upon analysis, we can see it as primordially pure, but on an absolute level there is nothing to be found, nothing of which permanence can be an aspect.

why we're not all buddhas

2009-04-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

Buddha nature is the nature of every sentient being in the universe. We hear this basic tenet a lot in Buddhist teachings, but described in a certain way it hits home very clearly for me. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoché, in a chapter of Quintessential Dzogchen entitled Shamatha & Vipashyana, points out as usual that there is not a tiny speck of difference, be it in size or in colour or in strength, between the buddha nature of a microscopic insect and the buddha nature of a fully enlightened buddha. Rinpoché then answers the question of the difference between the two: while a buddha recognizes his or her emptiness nature, the cognizant aspect of a sentient being's mind grasps onto phenomena -- including his or her own mind -- as real (p. 158). We all experience worldly phenomena in spite of its inherent emptiness, but we non-buddhas, in spite of our mind's aspect of emptiness, grasp onto phenomena with our mind's aspect of cognizance. The buddha's mind is also comprised of the two aspects of emptiness and cognizance, but without cognizance grasping like this.

great perfection

2009-04-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

The Great Perfection does not require analysis nor cultivation. Rather, it is merely a matter of recognizing, as your own nature, this very wakefulness of natural knowing that is self-existing and spontaneously present throughout samsara and nirvana.

-Shakya Shri Jnana, The Vital Essence
in Quintessential Dzogchen, p. 31

dharmata

2009-04-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

I'd like to go back to Quintessential Dzogchen, the book that is providing me both with material for many hours' worth of reflection, and with a freshness to my meditation practice. Through the trains of thought taken since my first post about this book, I think I lost sight of -- or at least properly due focus on -- the fundamental principle taught by the Dzogchen masters. I would like to reiterate it here, so that it can gel in my manner of thinking: The mind is primordially pure.

What does it mean to say that the mind is primordially pure? It does not mean pure as opposed to impure, in the sense of being cleansed, or naturally beautiful and good. It means that from time immemorial, the true nature of mind has been independent of cause and condition, and as Angela says, "never affected by the conceptualizations and elaborations that create problems for us."

Dzogchen practice consists, after a first recognition of this true nature of mind, in simply remembering. It is the practice of the direct perception of dharmata (the basic nature of reality; the "unformed and unconditioned nature of things which can be realized in personal experience" according to the glossary at Blazing Splendor). No dramatic conceptualizations, no philosophy, no questioning. All we have to do is remember that the mind is primordially pure, in essence empty and unaffected by all that appears to be going on, and to rest in that state.

zen, spring, and newish beginnings

2009-04-11T04:35:00.000-07:00

I made the decision last week to end my Tibetan yoga apprenticeship and instead take on additional meditation practice, this time under Zen tutelage. I continue to meditate every day, but this morning began what I hope to be a weekly practice with a Zen sangha here in town. The decision has been a long time coming because of my attachment to Tibetan Buddhism and all things Tibetan. I attended Tibetan yoga classes for about six months, and although I benefited quite a lot from them, they were no replacement for meditation practice with a sangha.

I studied Zen a little bit as part of my Eastern Religions minor. That was a long time ago, and most of the details have dissolved from my memory into the ether. I realize now that in the years since then, I've been holding on to a few details and a bundle of preconceptions about Zen without ever having practiced Zen or known any Zen practitioners. Over at 108 Days [the Remix], there are at least two people who identify as Zen Buddhists, and in the past few weeks I've come to have a different approach to Zen, much because of them. I'm very grateful for that.

Where I live, there is neither Tibetan nor Theravadan sangha. If there had been either, I probably wouldn't have been at the dojo this morning. I love the complementarity of Theravadan meditation to my personality: I am somewhat ritualistic, their approach involves very little ritual and few implements; I usually approach things from an intellectual standpoint, they prioritize the meditative experience without a lot of philosophy. I have some experience with Theravada, having known practitioners and attended teachings in the past.

My studies over the past decade or so, though, have largely been in the Tibetan tradition. There is a Tibetan (Kagyu) temple about an hour away from here (Temple des Mille Bouddhas), and a branch group affiliated with the temple practices about a half hour away. But getting even that far on a regular basis is complicated for me. I have been to the temple twice, and may well go back, but certainly not weekly.

Today at the dojo, I was surprised and impressed for a number of reasons. First of all, no one was there but the teacher and one other practitioner. There is a sesshin on this weekend in Lyon, the teacher told me, and most of the sangha are there. I was quite happy to have my first experience of the dojo today, when the teacher had plenty of time to answer my questions and discuss his school of Buddhism (Soto Zen) in comparison to others. Second, there is quite an extensive ritual to follow before and after sitting, involving plenty of gasho, or bowing with the hands in prayer position. We bowed to the room, to the Buddha, to the zafu, and to the wall (the third surprise). I was taught that if the need to move ever arose during meditation, a bow was in order both before and after moving, to excuse oneself in a sense for disturbing the peace. Third, we meditated facing the wall, quite close to it in fact. The zabutons were all flush against the wall, which puts the meditators' eyes about 50cm away. The altar was near the middle of the room.

The teacher corrected my posture. In Tibetan Buddhism (and as far as I know, in Theravadan Buddhism), teachers give tips about posture, and maybe even talks about posture, but it is not the focus of meditation. In Zen, as I was taught today, correct posture is a major focus for meditation. Posture is enlightenment. I probably made many mistakes during the rituals at the beginning and at the end of the session, despite having just been told how to proceed, but my posture is the only thing the teacher thought necessary to correct.

The mind's events during meditation are not to be paid much mind, if I understand correctly. The attention can rest on the breath or on the posture, and thoughts can come and go but not be followed. There should be no fixation on a goal of any kind; there should be just sitting (or just walking). This is not very different from meditation as I know it, apart from the stronger emphasis on posture and the weaker emphasis on mind-emptying. Of course, as with any Buddhist practice, the core experience is that of the moment, that of resting in what is here, now.

When I got home, I got on with some work I had to do on my bike. I've been riding it more now that spring is here and it was in need of a tuneup. I also had a few things to install. I tightened the brakes, pumped the tires, put in a water bottle cage and installed a child's seat for my daughter. It wasn't until I was partway into this work that the title of Robert Pirsig's ingenious novel came to mind, and I realized I was living the experience of Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance as my mind merged with the work and the ritual of the work. If you haven't yet, I highly recommend reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It became my favourite book instantly when I read it 15 years ago, and it remains near if not at the very top of my list of favourites, to this day.

I'm very happy with the decision I made. It feels good to meditate with others, and I'm glad to be learning about Zen from an experiential perspective. I have missed the sangha dearly, and although my affection for the Palyul sangha members I know in Ottawa is still very strong, it's not only their personal friendship or our personal connections that I miss, it's the spiritual community that we form together. That wider notion of sangha includes the Zen community I have found here, as well as all other practitioners in all schools around the world, and I am so happy to be an active part of it again.

compassion and pride

2009-04-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I asked my teachers some questions about the Dzogchen concept of mind. I have been processing their answers in my slow and methodical way. Lama Lhanang Rinpoché, my friend and teacher whom I accompanied to Tibet in 2006 and to whom I am very grateful, gave me the following response. I have come to properly face it only in time.

Everything comes from emptiness and emptiness comes from everything, but we exist in this world because of karma.

We are living in a dream world because all the past is already a dream, and all the future is dreaming. At this moment we continue to be dreaming. Everything is empty and right now we continue dreaming after we wake from this world.

When we wake, then we are buddhas. Meanwhile, we have to deal with the reality of cause and effect until we reach enlightenment.

But don't worry too much. Be a good person and live in the moment, enjoy every moment. Be good to yourself and others.

Develop wisdom and compassion and work with your pride and jealousy and your inner problems, creating peace every moment. That is the best way.

At first, I missed a big part of the point, which Lama Lhanang often makes. "Develop wisdom and compassion... work with your pride..." When complex questions arise (and mine are still unresolved, still arising), it's important not to tend to the extreme of attachment to concepts. Maybe there is an answer, but it's probably not one that can be properly expressed in words. It's certainly not one that is inherently, absolutely true and real: even emptiness is empty, when it comes down to it. So let the conceptualizations go, allow them to dissolve at least sometimes, work with your pride and develop compassion.

I understand the development of compassion to mean that whatever arises should be approached with gentleness and acceptance and the sincere wish to benefit. I think compassion, while comprising our true nature on the ultimate level, could use some deepening in our behaviours and mental patterns in a relative sense.

This teaching has stayed with me today, but it was difficult to continue putting it into practice through certain events. I think I did well, but I have some concerns that the stressful events of daily life will push the teaching to the back of my mind when it is so very important. In an effort to prevent that from happening, I would like to include some metta practices on my path, perhaps introducing a weekly tonglen practice.

Mind and Life XVIII

2009-04-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

Today began the eighteenth Mind and Life Conference, entitled Attention, Memory and the Mind: A Synergy of Psychological, Neuroscientific, and Contemplative Perspectives. If you know me, you may know how exciting this conference is for me in general, and you may have an inkling that this particular one is just my cup of tea. Here are this year's participants, who gathered this morning at His Holiness' residence in Dharamsala:

Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness, the XIV Dalai Lama
David E. Meyer, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan
B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D., President, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies
Anne Treisman, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Princeton University
Rupert Gethin, Ph.D., Director of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, University of Bristol, UK
Adele Diamond, Ph.D., Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Amishi Jha, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
Clifford Saron, Ph.D., Assistant Research Scientist, Center for Mind and Brain, UC Davis
Elizabeth Phelps, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, New York University
Shaun Gallagher, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, University of Central Florida

Interpreters:

Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., President of the Institute of Tibetan Classics in Montreal
B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D., President of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies

You can read more about Mind and Life XVIII here.

A message from Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche

2009-04-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

ETA (Apr. 5): I have resolved the links at the end of the message, which were not working for me. I don't know which site was originally linked to for His Holiness' biography, but I have linked to both the Palyul site and the Dzogchen Lineage site, the latter of which is taken directly from the former.
__________________________________________

I found the following message at Blazing Splendor and thought I would post it here for those who might be interested. You may appreciate the detailed suggestions for practice, or the links at the end of the message. (There is a discrepancy with the Palyul press release regarding the time of death.)

Dear Precious Sangha,

We just heard the news that our lineage master, His Holiness Drubwang Pema Norbu (Penor) Rinpoche, has reached his parinirvana on March 27th, 2009 at 3:30 pm (Karnataka, South India Time) or 3:00 am Pacific Time USA.

H. H. Penor Rinpoche was born in 1932 and was recognized by Khenpo Ngawang Palzang and the Fifth Dzogchen Rinpoche as the Third Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche, the Eleventh Throneholder of Palyul Monastery and throughout his 77 years completed many vast and profound Dharma activities. From 1992 to 2003, H.H. Penor Rinpoche served as the Supreme Head of the Nyingma School. He is one of the great Dzogchen Lineage Masters for us.

This may come as sad news to some because it seems that he has left this world, but actually he is never separate from us. He always lives in the heart of our faith. According to Dzogchen Tantras, when a great enlightened teacher passes into parinirvana students have an extraordinary moment to receive blessings from this teacher by making supplications and offerings, as well as making profound personal commitments and aspirations. This is an especially powerful time to request teachings and blessings while praying that more emanations of this master manifest in this world to benefit all beings.

Therefore, I request all International Dzogchen Sanghas to gather their local communities together and do the following practices and ceremonies:

1. Offer Flowers, Lights, and Water: In front of a photo of H.H. Penor Rinpoche, offer beautiful flowers, luminous lights, and clear, clean water.

2. Offer Tsok Pujas (Feast Offerings): Specifically you can do the Rigdzin Dupa or Yumka Tsok, or simply recite the concise feast offering from The Buddha Path.

3. Recite Guru Padmasambhava Mantra: Recite the following mantra 100,000 times or as much as possible:

Om Ah Hung Badzra Guru Padma Siddhi Hung

4. Read and discuss H.H. Penor Rinpoche’s amazing Life Story.

5. Request teachings and blessings: Pray to H.H. Penor Rinpoche for your personal answers, blessings, and empowerment.

6. Make Profound and Sincere Commitments: Make a commitment to do positive things such as teach Dharma and practice, while committing not to do negative things. You can say, “Please Your Holiness Penor Rinpoche, bless me. For the true happiness of all beings, I hearby commit that I will do good things such as ...[your positive activities] and avoid doing bad things such as...[your negative activities]. Please holy enlightened master Penor Rinpoche, please bless me that I may accomplish my aspirations for the true happiness of all beings.”

Right after the parinirvana of great enlightened beings, whatever virtuous aspirations and commitments you make will swiftly be fulfilled.

7. Make Aspirations Pray:
“May I keep His Holiness Penor Rinpoche’s advice and teachings in the depth of my heart.
May I sincerely follow the Dzogchen path of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche.
May I fulfill the great aspirations of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche.
May I faithfully recognize that Penor Rinpoche is always in my heart.”

By the power of Penor Rinpoche’s aspirations, may the Dzogchen Lineage increase and may the world have peace and happiness forever.

This message is from Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche’s longing faith and devotion.

Penor Rinpoche’s Biography and Other Links:

Biography: Here is the Palyul site's biography about Pema Norbu Rinpoche (or see the Dzogchen Lineage site).

Gather friends and watch Movies and Videos about Penor Rinopoche: There are many videos available online that reveal his amazing activities. The Compassionate World is an hour-long documentary that wonderfully illustrates his amazing dharma activities. It is found in four parts on YouTube:

The Compassionate World: Part One

The Compassionate World: Part Two

The Compassionate World: Part Three

The Compassionate World: Part Four

There is also an official YouTube channel devoted to Penor Rinpoche:
http://www.youtube.com/palyul

thugdam of his holiness penor rinpoché

2009-03-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

[From http://news.palyul.org/?p=15]

The 11th Throneholder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, entered the final stage of meditation at 8:20 PM on Friday, March 27, 2009, at the Palyul Namdroling Monastery in Bylakuppe, South India.

Earlier, at noon, His Holiness received offerings from many of the highest Nyingma Lamas, Tulkus and dignitaries who had assembled to pay homage to him. Rinpoche left Columbia Asia Hospital at 3:30 PM with a Indian police escort arranged with the assistance of the Bhutanese government. He reached Palyul Namdroling at 6:40 PM and remained on his bed at the residence. Tulkus, Khenpos and lamas did aspiration prayers together with His Holiness until 8:20 PM. At that time Rinpoche looked around and then closed his eyes and went into meditation.

Prayers continued for 5 minutes and then everyone remained in silence for the next two hours. His Holiness’ meditation continues today, and is expected to continue for the next several days. When His Holiness releases his body from meditation, there will be an official acknowledgement of the final passing, allowing everyone to pay their respects according to tradition...

how and why

2009-03-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

I hope I understand the issues I raised recently a little bit better after some e-discussion with Angela. I will give the explanation a try here. I seem to have posed three questions in particular: 1) Why does the primordially pure mind manifest? 2) Why does the primordially pure mind manifest in this way? 3) How does the primordially pure mind manifest?

The mind manifests because it is not only primordially pure but also cognizant. These are the two qualities of mind that I had learned about in Quintessential Dzogchen so far (primordial purity and cognizance/awareness). I was going to post next about the quality of cognizance, though I touched on it briefly in my first post about this book, but I got sidetracked and focused too much on the single quality (out of three, apparently) of purity. I have a detail-oriented mind, to a clear fault. So, I think the answer is simply that mind, which is empty but not non-existent, appears because it has this quality of cognizance.

The mind manifests in this way because of karma. Each of us has his or her own way of seeing the world, in the human realm or otherwise, and this is according to the principle of cause and effect. Over our countless past lifetimes, we have accumulated karma that ripens in the present and future (a manner of speaking, since time is not linear), and this is why we see and hear the things we do.

I am still working on Question 3. I have gleaned that there is in fact a mechanism for the manifestation of mind, and the mechanism is the third quality of mind, which is that of energy or reflectiveness. I don't know much (read: anything) about this quality yet.

Angela also pointed out that, "As you say, it is just like that - but to truly understand 'just like that' - that is the practice."

108 Days

2009-03-08T04:46:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I committed to practising daily sitting meditation for 108 days. I have actually been disciplined about meditating every day since we got back from Canada in mid-January, but this makes it a bit more official. I've joined a group of people in their commitment (I'm four days behind the rest of them), which can be followed or joined at this website.

faith, and why

2009-03-05T01:13:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, which I accidentally published long before finishing, I have been processing the concepts in Quintessential Dzogchen even more slowly and deliberately. It might take me a while to formulate and articulate it all here. For now, I want to go back to two items from the last post and make a note about the thoughts I've had around them in the past few days.

This is the first time I've actually written about Dzogchen, and for me, it is through writing that I come to the clearest understanding of anything. Writing the last post made me wonder if throughout the many teachings I have heard and read about Dzogchen I had been accepting things on blind faith. After all, what proof is there that the mind-essence is in fact primordially pure? There is logic to the concept of the emptiness of mind, but none that I can see to its so-called primordial purity. I have not had the pointing-out instruction from a lama (apart from readings, but I don't see them as having led me to realization), nor do I think I can say that I have truly connected with this absolute purity. Scientific research on the mind, as I mentioned, can not begin to answer this type of question. So how can I state that the mind's true essence is actually pure, that each one of us sentient beings has the exact same buddha nature that Shakyamuni and Samantabhadra did?

For me, this draws out the distinction between blind faith and plain old faith. If I remember correctly, the term for "faith" in Tibetan is synonymous with "confidence", which to me is a better way to refer to the particular kind of faith I have. It took me many years to come to the confidence, in the teachings and in myself, to take official refuge in the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha. I waited until I trusted both the doctrine and the path of the dharma enough, and until I trusted that I myself could follow the path for the rest of my life, before I made any commitments. I do have faith, then, but it is based on study and reflection. The point of faith of which I'm speaking here -- the primordial purity of mind -- belongs for me to the category of confidence in the teachings. I have gained a lot of confidence over the years in Buddhist philosophy and particularly in Dzogchen, having verified some of its tenets to my satisfaction. Therefore, I have confidence in the wisdom of Buddhist philosophers and those who have purportedly come to know the absolute nature of mind.

Another question that has come up upon reflection in the last few days is that of why the primordially pure, empty-in-essence mind manifests itself in the ways it does. Why do we see and hear the things we do? What is the mechanism that leads the "ground" of all being, so much like empty space itself, to be expressed as human tribulations (for us humans)? If I am in absolute reality not truly existent, and neither are any other beings or any of the perceptions I or they have, how on earth, and why, has mind come up with it all? And how, why, in this way?

It's a bit of a sticking point still, but when by way of answer my mind went to the place where "it's just like that," I felt a kind of resting, concept-free realization. Why posit a mechanism if there is none? I don't know what the Dzogchen perspective is on this, so I will be asking my teachers. But I do feel that it's just like that.

Things I've Learned from Quintessential Dzogchen

2009-03-02T02:15:00.000-08:00

I have been reading Quintessential Dzogchen: Confusion Dawns As Wisdom, a book of teachings compiled to make clear and accessible the Dzogchen path to anyone familiar with Buddhism, and specifically with the Vajrayana school. It is highly readable, and I am finding myself greatly inspired by the dharma once again through its medium. Many of the teachings and instructions come from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoché, and these are interspersed with guidance from other well-known contemporary masters as well as songs and poems by some of the ancients of Tibet. I've found this book not only epochally diverse and yet entirely relevant today, but also replete with a wealth of wisdom in regards to the colossally enigmatic thing we call the mind.

What is the mind? This is the question that seems to define my life, and so this type of research truly fascinates me. I studied the minds of children in university, conducting the research necessary to write a thesis on a narrow slice of the topic (specifically, preschool-age children's understanding of intention as it relates to their theory of mind and inhibitory control). It was an incredibly rewarding experience to do so, but nevertheless, the answers I felt I found -- which were slim pickings -- only generated and begged hundreds more questions. I've also been a Buddhist practitioner for going on a decade now, which to me involves a lot of mind-probing. But like my academic studies of Buddhism, my personal practice has brought a lot of satisfaction without answering the question.

Of course, there is no answer. I have trusted this as long as I can remember. My background in Western psychology does not allow me to say that I have proven there is no answer, since proof of something not existing is simply not scientifically possible, but I have poked and prodded and sought and questioned enough to satisfy myself that what I have heard is true: Mind is empty of true existence. There is no substance, no colour or taste or texture to mind. It cannot be found to arise in, abide in, or go to any particular place. And yet the mind exists: Though we cannot find it upon analysis, it certainly expresses itself as thoughts and perceptions, memories, hopes and fears, pleasures and displeasures. Quintessential Dzogchen reminds us that these are the two facets of the mind according to the pinnacle of the Vajrayana teachings: emptiness and cognizance. The mind is neither nonexistent nor truly existent. It is empty, and yet it appears as that which is aware.

The mind's essence -- as opposed to its expression -- is primordially pure, is identical to buddha nature, and this is one of the key points of Dzogchen, elaborated upon in this book. The difference between samsara and nirvana, between sentient beings and buddhas, is simply in the recognition of the primordial purity of our mind-essence. We can be introduced to the nature of mind by a guru, but we are not generally aware of it until it has been thus pointed out to us. Thereafter, we can train in seeing our mind-essence more often and for more prolonged periods, and eventually on a constant basis, at which point we have attained buddhahood. According to Shakya Shri Jnana,

"Primordial purity means that the basic nature of awareness belongs to neither samsara nor nirvana, and therefore its identity is primordially pure. No type of virtuous karmic cause and effect improves this primordial purity, nor does any type of unvirtuous karmic cause and effect worsen it... This primordially pure identity of awareness can be neither improved nor harmed by anything whatsoever." (p. 32)

When I read this passage, I found it to be very radical. In essence, it is pointing to the mind as something stable, unborn and undying as buddhahood itself, which is quite the opposite of the Buddhist conception of impermanence when applied to the mind. But the middle way is just that, and after reflection I think I better understand what these words point to. On the relative level, in which the mind expresses itself in its various manifestations, there is no stability. Thoughts and memories and plans and ideas are fleeting and impermanent, and our buddha nature is obscured by all kinds of karmic imprints. But on the level of absolute truth, verified experientially throughout millennia, mind is none other than the Great Perfection itself, untainted and unobscured.

tulku urgyen yangsi rinpoché at his enthronement ceremony

2008-12-14T11:39:00.000-08:00

shifting policies

2008-11-05T04:02:00.001-08:00

The fourteenth Dalai Lama has come to the end of a long haul, insisting on a middle way policy that advocated for some measure of autonomy without demanding full independence. It hasn't worked, though. After seven rounds of talks between the Tibetan kashag (government-in-exile) and Chinese officials, nothing has budged. Tibet remains occupied and oppressed.

Some meetings are set to happen among 300 Tibetan delegates before the next round of talks with China. Having read this article, it seems possible that Tibet soon begin demanding independence, still insisting on a nonviolent approach, in deference to the wider exiled community's wishes. The Dalai Lama has in essence given up on the middle way policy, which has gotten his people exactly nowhere. Says Rigzin, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, "We are not saying that the (middle path) policy is bad, but it's one where China's decision is a major factor and that's why it hasn't been successful."

The Dalai Lama says he still believes in the Chinese people, but he has lost hope that the Chinese government will make concessions of any kind. Most recently, China has refused dialogue with the kashag on the pretense that the they have not fulfilled China's conditions, but this is not true. China has quite a history of such pretenses: It has maintained for years, for example, that the Dalai Lama demands complete independence, which thus far he has absolutely not. Now, China just may have pushed him to do so.

Some of the world's great powers are behind the Tibetan cause. Last Wednesday, the UK publicly stated that the Dalai Lama and his government have in fact met the demands set for true dialogue to happen with China. And then on Thursday, the US asked China to review its stance on Tibet "... to examine policies that have created tensions due to their effect on Tibetan culture, religion and livelihoods," (Gordon Duguid) and to allow journalists greater access to Tibet so that the world may be better informed of what is really happening there.

I don't follow a lot of politics, but I know that the occupation of Tibet is not unique, that this kind of thing happens everywhere all the time. But this seems a propitious time for a real change to take place for the Tibetan people, which is not often the case. I cannot help but note that Tibetans have been striving in a spiritual way, building their stores of merit by generating good karma, over fourteen centuries and through some very deep struggles. I believe it has not been in vain.

progress

2008-10-28T05:12:00.000-07:00

For the past 14 months, since my daughter was born, my daily meditation has moved to the evening. If I had no other priorities, I would prefer to keep it in the morning, because I find my mind much clearer then. It's also easier to be disciplined in the morning, when there is less chance of exhaustion from the day's events creeping in to disturb any positive intentions. My main concern is that the evening is less conducive to progress because of these things.

There are days when I really question whether or not I am advancing on my spiritual path. Of course, the path isn't all about sitting on the cushion, and family life offers up a lot of opportunity for practice. But the cushion is where I can really find silence, and I feel that is really important to progress.

Progress is a hard word to define, though. Some of the Buddhist masters I have read answer the question of "How can I judge my progress on the path?" simply: "By asking yourself, 'Am I becoming more adept at letting go?'" I think so. Life with kids means a lot of changes, all the time. Anicca (impermanence) is a much more obvious part of daily life than when kids aren't part of the picture, and as a parent I have really learned to let go with a little less resistance. I'm not saying I'm exactly great at letting go, but I think I'm better, and I'm surprised to find that the skill of letting go of worldly things like a rigid plan, once acquired, is not too hard to apply to letting go of things like negative emotions. I guess it's hard enough to get to the point of letting go of worldly things. I wish this were some kind of frontier that could be reached, without danger of slipping back across, but it is not. It waxes and wanes. Based on what - External circumstances? Internal factors like neurotransmitters and hormones and chakras? Diligence in practice?

Others say you can check in on your own progress by asking yourself, "Am I becoming more gentle?" and I find this is a good way to characterize progress. But for me there are a few more details to be clarified. What if last week I was gentle with myself and others, but the stress of this week means I am more agressive than I have been in a while? What if this has also happened on a scale of years rather than weeks, such that the intensity of my newly assumed status of (sleep-deprived) mother presents challenges that sometimes make me emotionally reactive? If I actually become less gentle now than I was at some nice point in the past, can I still say I am progressing? Is the meditation practice I maintain in the face of all this even beneficial?

If I ask myself the question, 'Am I becoming more alive?' I unhesitatingly answer that I am. Is this because of my practice? Is this because of family life? And anyway, what does it mean to be more or less alive? If it is to rejoice more strongly in worldly things like babies and families, is it not an obstacle to the pursuit of enlightenment, nirvana, the cessation of samsara? Well, I don't think so. I live in samsara, with all the defilements that accompany life here. As I have mentioned before, I feel that my relationship with my daughter has already helped tremendously in terms of the development of compassion, which is crucial to this pursuit. I cannot even imagine the multitude of things I will learn from her in the future. If being more alive means being more conscious, more present in many moments, then this is obviously also crucial and beneficial.

I think that in effect, I haven't a lot of choice but to be exactly what I am. My body/mind construct is what it is because of a whole lot of karmic history. My diligence or lack thereof on the cushion in the evening, my progress or lack of it, my stable or unstable mind - all of these are already decided. The choice I do have is in my response to these things. I can keep the motivation and dedicate myself to progress on the noble path, and in time it will come to fruition. This is what I can choose, and so, I do. Sarva mangalam.

tibetan yoga

2008-10-07T03:53:00.000-07:00

As of three weeks ago, I've been enrolled in a yoga course that's like nothing I've practised before. I thought it would be familiar to me, since it's Tibetan-inspired yoga, which conjured images of meditation, deity yoga, and hatha yoga asanas (postures) that I know from years of practice back in Canada. But this is different, and it is wonderful.

Until now, I've been wary and skeptical of anything to do with the wishy-washy notion of chakras, those non-physical energy centres along the body's central channel. I don't like things I don't understand, I can't prove, I can't grasp with my senses. I also don't like things that come with a new-agey froufrou image of middle-aged white women in breezy white clothes and white turbans smiling and talking as if they'd just replenished their stash of weed. That was how I saw the chakras, possibly because they were introduced to me by my mom and her entourage when I was a hypercynical teenager. (My mom isn't anything like the image I've just described, but those adolescent eyes can really tweak things.) Somehow, I have been opening up to the idea of chakras over the past few months, and the chakra work in this course has been - dare I say - convincing.

It's not all about chakras. There is a lot of meditation and visualization, but these are focused on the circulation of energy inside and outside the body rather than on deities and buddhafields as I'm used to. There are also plenty of stretches and asanas that somewhat resemble those of the hatha tradition I know. The main difference here is in the approach to the asanas and in the breath work associated with them.

There are aspects of Tibetan yoga that are brand new to me, and some have even seemed bizarre through the first couple of sessions. But I know for sure that the practice makes my body feel good, and my mind, too, and this kind of purification is the point of yoga (at least for me at this time). I am really grateful to those who create the conditions for me going: my parents, who provided a good dose of oomph by giving me the tuition for my birthday; Marie, for taking Nayeli for a few hours and putting her to bed without nursing (which can be tough); and Nayeli, for saying bye-bye early and going to bed without nursing.

emptiness and good times

2008-10-03T03:52:00.000-07:00

Amid all the wonderful and amazing things that are happening for me at the moment, there is a truth I have been happy to gloss over. Over the past ten years or so, I have learned so much theory about the emptiness nature of all things, and there is not one bit of it that doesn't make perfect logical sense. It's relatively easy to search for and find the emptiness nature of things, at least on an intellectual level, when things are not going well. But when it comes to putting theory into practice while I'm enjoying the beautiful things in life, it just doesn't happen so spontaneously.

It's easy to indulge in chocolate and flowers and beautiful music and beautiful babies without questioning. I tend to think it's a shame that some religious people turn to prayer and practice only when things are at a low, as if someone were keeping track and were going to be mad that the person always takes and never gives. I think we all know that's not true. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think those out there who believe in God, truly, believe in a non-judgemental, all-forgiving being who couldn't care less whether or not they were fervent practitioners or just trying to get saved in a pinch. But it is a shame that we so easily forget the truth of the world as long as things are going our way.

Nothing is stable. Nothing has a self. Everything is empty. These are the things I have learned and the bases of my faith. The most recent teachings I took in, from the Dalai Lama in Nantes, were largely about emptiness. You know, there was not very much new information for me in the teachings, but I find it so important to be reminded of my general ignorance of the truth by having someone explain it all over again, in a way that makes perfect sense and doesn't just have me blindly believing in some doctrine.

It's pretty simple, really, if you want it to be: There are two levels of reality, one of which is appearance, the other of which is emptiness, and there is no difference whatsoever between appearance and emptiness. So, just as something appears to our senses (like a teacup for example) and that appearance is true, it also has no reality of its own, no independent, unchanging self-nature. And that is also true. This is what Buddhists call the middle way, since it negates neither existence nor nonexistence. Things exist. But things are empty.

If you doubt or don't agree that things are empty, consider the existence of anything you want (like a teacup). Has it always existed and is it going to last forever? If not (and it's probably not), are there some conditions for its coming together and passing away? Is it in the same state right now as it was ten years ago or even as it will be this evening, when the dishes are done? Consider what physical science has taught us, too. When we break it down under a microscope, there are tinier and tinier pieces of teacup, pieces of molecules, pieces of atoms and nuclei, but those pieces have no actual, physical substance. And quantum physics has shown us that particles do their thing only in relation to other particles, and that particles doing their thing are simply a reflection of their environment.

The thing that was new to me, the gem of knowledge that I gleaned from His Holiness' teachings, is referred to as the emptiness of emptiness. In the most densely true passage I've come across in my studies, Nagarjuna says:

Whatever is dependently co-arisen
That is explained to be emptiness.
That, being a dependent designation,
Is itself the middle way.

I love how "that" in the third line is ambiguous, referring to either that which is dependently co-arisen (arisen in response to many, many causes and conditions coming together at the same time), or to that which is explained to be emptiness. Either appearance or emptiness. It doesn't matter which one "that" refers to, since the point here is that they are exactly the same thing. These words - "emptiness", "dependent", "that" - are just designations, just words. They appear as such, but they are empty.

In this way, Nagarjuna shows that emptiness is not itself any more true than appearance, that in fact they are one and the same thing. And it's true, when you think about it, that we could never really know the first thing about how things (like teacups) are empty if there were no empty things (like teacups) appearing before us. It would be good if it were so easy to see the emptiness nature of that which appears before us.

At times we search for emptiness nature and we trust or know it's there, just like (as Angela would say) we know there is a roof over our heads even when our eyes are closed. During particularly enlightened moments, we know it directly and very well. But it's not easy to even begin the search when delights like local chocolate are laid out in front of us and we intend to enjoy them. Nothing wrong with enjoying them! But eventually, the truth will be known (like today, for instance, there are no more delicious desserts in my kitchen!), so perhaps it's in our best interest to familiarize ourselves with it before falling into disappointment and regret. I think it's a huge part of the path.

And that's what I learned in Nantes. Thanks for bearing with me. Sarva mangalam!

chöd by ani chöying dolma

2008-10-02T10:39:00.000-07:00

Ani Chöying Dolma is going to be in Besançon in March, and Élaine just called to see if she could get me a ticket! Of course! Here she is performing a piece of the hauntingly beautiful Chöd ritual.

I saw a performance of Chöd (cutting through) at a nunnery we visited in Tibet. The lama who brought us asked the remaining nuns kindly for a performance, and they were very happy to oblige. I don't think I've ever been as moved by anything in my life, and I am fairly easily moved. These nuns were really struggling in the upkeep of their abode, beyond what we can possibly conceive of as a struggle with our spoiled Western minds. Yet their faith and dedication were so clear and so strong that they persevered steadfastly in spite of all the hope they had lost and all the fear they had taken on.

equinox

2008-09-22T03:51:00.000-07:00

equanimity

This afternoon saw the occurence of the autumnal equinox, one of two brief moments of the year during which the centre of the sun aligns itself directly above the equator (the supposed middle of the Earth), and when day and night are commonly believed to be of equal length. Some even say that an egg will balance on its pointier end on this day, while during the rest of the year it won't.

To me, it's a day for contemplating the equality of things and the middle way, for understanding what centredness is and trying to become centred. I like these words - middle, equal, centre, balance - and I try to make what they signify a big part of the way I live my life.

the jackal and the third noble truth, part two

2008-08-16T03:50:00.000-07:00

Nonviolence is one of the foundations on which Buddhism is built. There is a current movement called Nonviolent Communication being followed by many monks and nuns in their monasteries and nunneries. Apparently, the movement is making a positive difference in the way that problems are solved in these communities.

First, an overview of the Four Noble Truths:

Life is suffering
Suffering has a cause
Suffering also (and therefore) has a cessation
The path to the cessation of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path

As always in Buddhism, there is a lot of symbolism involved in Nonviolent Communication. In this particular teaching, Ajahn Sumedho describes the symbolic nature of the jackal, which is a lot like a coyote. The jackal is the beastly aspect of our minds, savage and unruly, which always looks for a place to lay blame. Sometimes, when negative things happen, our inner tyrant wants to place blame on ourself, but for the most part, the jackal points a finger outward.

When we sit in meditation, or just listening in silence (Sumedho is big on the sound of silence), we can find respite from the jackal. When there is silence in our body/mind construct, the cessation of this blaming mind has been actualized, because in silence, the jackal actually ceases. This is the cessation of suffering. This is the third noble truth, in daily life, in practice. It is not so very far away, not so unfathomably futuristic as we might imagine it to be.

I found this teaching very encouraging. I am also planning to do some research into the Nonviolent Communication movement once things settle back down on our return. I am fascinated by the notion and would really like to know more...

the jackal and the third noble truth

2008-08-15T03:49:00.000-07:00

On August 5th, we were at the chalet, and I was celebrating not only my mom's birthday, and my old best friend Erika's birthday, but also Chökhor Düchen, which is one of the four great festivals of Tibetan Buddhism. It's when we celebrate the first turning of the wheel of the dharma, or the first time the Buddha taught after attaining enlightenment.

There are often community celebrations and such merit-lending events as teachings and dharma activity for the Düchens, since the positive and negative effects of our actions on these days are said to count ten millionfold. I'm never sure about this insane multiplication of karmic results, but I do believe in doing good things. This year, I did a morning meditation, karma yoga, and some dharma reading in preparation for the teachings I'll be attending this coming week, but I also listened to a Theravada teaching by Ajahn Sumedho, which I've had on mp3 for a number of years (thanks, Trish). Ajahn Sumedho is a disciple of Ajahn Chah in the Thai Forest tradition, and is abbott of Amaravati Monastery in England.

There are two reasons I hadn't listened to this teaching yet. First, Trish gave me so many other teachings, notably from Ajahn Amaro, and judging by the titles, the others seemed more relevant than this one whenever I had time to listen. Second, the recordings for Ajahn Sumedho were not clearly done, and there is a lot of static in the foreground, so you really need to listen to them with headphones. If you want a copy of this or any of the teachings I have, though, just let me know and I'll e-mail or burn them for you.

The following post will be about the teaching itself, but I'm going to timestamp it so that you can read it while I'm away. Happy end of the summer, everyone.

France-Tibet Relations of the Day

2008-08-13T03:48:00.000-07:00

Sarkozy is not going to meet with the Dalai Lama while he's in France, but his wife is. What?!

The following is excerpted from an article written by Tenzin Sangmo, published on Phayul this morning:

Contradicting opinions arose in Sarkozy's own UMP Party when Lionel Luca, a lawmaker slammed the government of 'self-censorship' for its decision to exclude the press from today's Senate meeting.

"Our country must surely be occupied by Chinese troops because we are so afraid of displeasing (China)," he told France Inter Radio.

attachment

2008-08-09T03:47:00.000-07:00

Now that Nayeli is on the mend, I have to own up to my recent reflections. I'm not an overly anxious person and am usually able to reason myself out of any arising anxiety, even when it comes to my daughter. On Thursday, when Nayeli was at her worst ever, burning up, not keeping any food down, and having a hard time breathing, I still knew it was nothing to worry about. But I broke down anyway, because it got me thinking about the connection Nayeli and I have in this life, and how at some point it will have to end.

This is not a morbid thought, at least not the way I see it. I will die, and Nayeli will die; those are the facts of life. It is, however, a very sad thing, because of the way we have attached ourselves to each other and because we depend on each other so much. That is the nature of human existence, and is indeed the nature of all existence. Everything depends on everything else. I would not have this life at all were it not for a multitude of co-incidental circumstances.

I don't think that the answer to the suffering inherent in the human condition is in detaching myself from those I love or even in not becoming attached in the first place. I am human, in all my dynamic human aspects, and anger and attachment consequently arise. The suffering goes deeper than that.

What is it that makes me think, given the interdependence of all things, that Nayeli (or myself) is more valuable than anything else in the world? I can't help feeling that way, but it is so illogical. Nayeli would not even exist were it not for a whole other set of co-incidental circumstances. Those circumstances themselves must therefore be valuable. And how did the circumstances arise? From their own sets of circumstances.

Many months ago, I asked my teacher, Angela, for some advice about attachment to dharma practice, and received the following response:

It is very difficult to generate motivation for anything that we do, including practice, that is unmixed with attachment and self concern. In fact, those brief moments in which one's mind is purely dedicated to the welfare of others, are moments of enlightenment. Usually we are only able to experience this pure motivation with regard to someone that we love greatly and to whom we are totally attached - like one's child or spouse. When that loving mind lets go of the attachment to self, and therefore to other, and when that mind is dedicated in the same way to all beings, then one is fully actualizing Buddhanature.

Is it harder to let go of the attachment to self, and therefore to other, when one has such intimate relationships as that of mother-child? I actually think it's easier. If Nayeli is sick, I will do anything to help her get better. Anything. She is far more valuable than I am, in the illogical sense of a mother's love. I let go instinctively and spontaneously of attachment to self. That in itself is an incredible relief, since so much suffering comes from the thought, "but what about me?" And following Angela's reasoning, letting go of self is letting go of other. Each gets mixed up in the pool of interdependence when I realize the not-two-ness of it all.

I think this is all fairly easy during pregnancy, when not-two-ness is obvious. But a mother fully devotes herself to her child's welfare most easily when the child is sick or dying (Nayeli is not dying, but I'm quite sure of that statement). So, if I can dedicate that compassion toward all sentient beings, without partiality, I am experiencing enlightenment. That is the tricky part: using my attachments, so tightly woven into my human nature, as keys to liberation.

France and Tibet (and Canada)

2008-06-23T03:44:00.000-07:00

The Independence Torch has reached France, and the Rangzen Flame has been passed on. Tibetans and Tibet supporters took to the streets of Paris yesterday in celebration as much as in protest.

There are Tibetan flags all over the south of France, too - we were there this past week and a month ago - and it is refreshing to find compatriots for one nation dear to my heart in another country dear to my heart, the latter in which I happen to live. I wonder - and can you please tell me? - is it the same in Canada, yet another nation dear to my heart? Are Tibetan supporters coming out of the woodwork with their flags and their protests and their TV and radio specials?

I highly recommend taking a look at the three photos and the news story about Paris here.

wishes for saga dawa düchen

2008-06-17T03:44:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Saga Dawa Düchen, one of the four great festivals in the Tibetan tradition. This is the day we celebrate the enlightenment and parinirvana (death of an enlightened one - the final death for that being) of the Buddha of our time, Shakyamuni. We are going away tomorrow, so I am celebrating today.

Shakyamuni Buddha's story is inspiring in a very realistic way. He attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, in India, and thereafter took on disciples and taught all those who were interested in releasing themselves from suffering. Through propagation and millennia, we have been blessed with many, many teachings to improve our lives and the lives of others, and to help us on our paths to awakening. This is an amazing opportunity, and as humans we are very lucky to have it.

I just completed a special sadhana called Cloudbanks of Merit, and I would like to leave you with the following wish in the form of a dedication prayer. If you would like, you can read the Tibetan syllables out loud for added authenticity.

CHANGCHUB SEM CHOG RINPOCHE
The precious bodhicitta (the awakened mind)

MA KYE PA NAM KYE GYUR CHIG
If unborn, may it arise

KYE PA NAM PA MED PA DANG
If generated, may it never diminish

GONG NEI GONG DU PHEL WAR SHOG
And may it remain ever-increasing!

happy birthday your holiness!

2008-06-06T03:46:00.000-07:00

Not that you're going to read this, but how does it feel to be 73?

Norway's Secret Diplomacy

2008-06-05T03:43:00.000-07:00

The Foreign Ministry of Norway is apparently making arduous efforts to bring resolution to the China-Tibet issue. They have been conducting "secret diplomacy" for years, bringing Chinese and Tibetan officials together and attempting to bring about peace. China is demanding that it all remain secret, no doubt to save face as it publicly repudiates the idea of Tibetan independence. You can read the article I read here.

upcoming dharma events in ottawa

2008-05-28T03:42:00.000-07:00

I've gotten wind of a few Buddhist teachings coming up in Ottawa, so please spread the word, go, learn, and enjoy.

1) The Palyul Dhonyag Shedrub Ling Dharma Centre is holding its first official practice and meditation session this Sunday, June 1, 2-4 p.m. at 1516 Laperriere Ave. "On this day of beginnings, we will practice to quiet our minds, renew our Refuge and Bodhisattva vows, pray that all obstacles be removed, and make offerings to all the beings of the universe."

2) Ajahn Brahm, abbott of Bodhinyana monastery in Australia, will be giving a public talk and meditation at the University of Ottawa on June 30th, and offering a youth event at the Tu An Pagoda on July 1st. He is also giving plenty of talks in Toronto around this time. See details here. You can also listen to some of the Ajahn's teachings here. (This information comes from the first person referred to in my last post... my old friend Jason. Thanks, Jay.)

3) Geshe Sherap has arrived in Ottawa for a six-week stay, and he is proposing a wonderful program of talks, a discussion group and a three-week course. Details are included right here because I can't quite figure out how to link to them. (Thanks, Sarla.)

Wisdom and Compassion

Geshe Sherap is a gifted Tibetan lama who will be in Ottawa to share his knowledge of wisdom and compassion. He graduated from Ganden Monastery with the highest degree of Geshe Lharampa. He is currently the resident teacher at the Land of Compassion Buddha Center in Los Angeles, and has taught at Namgyal Monastery (Ithaca, New York) and at Drepung Monastery (India). Fluent in English, Geshe Sherap will give a series of lectures and lead a discussion group from May 29th to June 20th, 2008.

PUBLIC TALKS

The Four Seals of Buddhist Doctrine

Date: Thursday, May 29th, 2008

Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Location: Bronson Community Centre (Room 212), 211 Bronson Ave.

The Three Principal Aspects of the Buddhist Path

Date: Sunday, June 1st

Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Location: Bronson Community Centre (Room 212), 211 Bronson Ave.

COURSE

Life of Compassion: A Commentary on the Bodhisattva Way of Life

Dates: Wednesdays, June 4^th, June 11^th, June 18^th

Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Location: Ottawa Shambhala Meditation Centre, 984 Wellington street West

(Recommended book: "The Way of the Bodhisattva" by Shantideva) Preregistration is recommended.

DISCUSSION GROUP (preregistration recommended)

The Ultimate Truth of the Buddha:

Four Tenets
Establishing Ultimate View
Introduction to Debates

Dates: Sundays, June 8th, June 15th

Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Location: Bronson Community Centre (Room 212), 211 Bronson Ave.

(Recommended book: "Knowing, Naming & Negation" Translated, Annotated and Introduced by Anne Carolyn Klein, Snow Lion Publications)

Admission is by Dana, a "gift freely and joyfully given".

For more information or to register for the course or discussion group, please contact

Louis Sanscartier at (613) 276-4652 or echo@videotron.ca

great news

2008-05-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

I have some wonderful news for the people in Ottawa who are either Buddhist practitioners or simply interested in knowing more about Buddhism. The Palyul sangha (my friends, teachers, and spiritual companions) has opened a new dharma centre called Palyul Dhonyag Shedrub Ling, "an island (ling) where we study (shed) and practice (drub) both the gentle gradual sutra (dho) way and the intense tantric mantra (nyag) way to enlightenment."

It's not far from the downtown core, and it has been set up with the most generous and virtuous of intentions, as I have witnessed via impressive and inspiring e-mail chains. They are starting out with a program "beginning at the beginning," as Angela, the Palyul sangha's resident teacher, says. Some of you may know (or know of) the amazing Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso from his annual visits to Ottawa; he will be consecrating the centre very soon, and visiting Ottawa more often from now on to teach and guide. Please check out the website-in-the-making if you're interested, and spread the word to those who you think may benefit. Sarva mangalam!

the transparency post needs qualifying

2008-05-10T03:40:00.000-07:00

I hope I didn't give the impression that I am even somewhat okay with China's position on Tibet. I feel a very real kind of allegiance to the Tibetan cause, and if there is something I can do to help Tibet gain some measure of autonomy from Chinese occupation, I do it. I believe that this is a nation of people whose way of life merits a deep respect, even a veneration. My experience in Tibet really made it clear that if ever there was such a thing as real transparency, it is in the faces of Tibetans. From my trip-of-a-lifetime month in Tibet, there is no doubt in my mind that the average Tibetan is present and genuine in every motion of his or her day. They are a sunny, clear and equanimous people living in a sunny, clear yet volatile climate, and their way of life is an inspiration to many of us, even if we have never been to their homeland.

I am also aware that much of China was once occupied by the fierce Tibetans. As crazy as it seems today, most of the second half of the seventh century saw a strong Tibetan empire that included the Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang, and Hotan provinces of today's China.

Comme quoi, everything changes. It is not for no reason that things are happening as they are. But I will repeat, I am pro-Tibetan independence (of some form) and I think it's very important to continue exerting pressure on the Chinese government. I think there is hope that it will own its mistreatment of Tibetans, beginning with the human race. The antelope may disappear, and much as I wish it would not*, I can not hold out such a stretch of wishful thinking.

*When I was a kid, my friends and I each had a favourite animal, kind of a totem. I thought everyone did, or at least should, have a particular animal they felt a kinship with. (Go figure, mine is the turtle - with whom I have NOTHING in common!) When I asked my Mom what her animal was, she said the gazelle... which made me do some research... thanks for being so strange, Mom... During a long bus ride in Tibet, I actually caught sight of a graceful and beautiful antelope (of which the gazelle is one type - not sure if this was one), one member of an endangered species. I immediately thought of my Mom and asked a fellow traveler to take a photo, but it didn't turn out. I took a photo a month later of a taxidermal arctic gazelle in a museum in the Yukon Territory, and I gave that to my Mom instead.

transparency issue

2008-05-07T03:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, time to cut a bit of slack. This article talks about how China is still publishing headlines to the effect that the Dalai Lama is public enemy number one, even after the governments met for talks with a relatively propitious outcome. It says, "it is a common tactic of China's to maintain a hardline public face at the same time as offering talks." I wonder, though, does this lack of transparency - while blatantly wrong - necessarily ensure the continuation of the heinous crimes the Chinese government is committing in Tibet? Isn't it possible that the reconciliation of China's public and private faces is just a matter of time? Is it not at least possible, maybe even forgivable, that China continue to grumble a bit in its newspapers while working out a better plan?

I think you all know where I stand on this. I am not really into politics, but this issue is close to my heart. My closest (though not proximal) friend is Chinese, I studied Mandarin for a year in university, I went to China (and Tibet) two years ago, and I am a big fan of many cultural things Chinese. I am also a Tibetan Buddhist, and I feel a very strong connection not only to the religion, but also to the land and the people of Tibet, for whatever reason. Like so many people shocked by the media's coverage of the Tibetan issue since March 10, I would very much like for Tibet to gain some form of independence. But unlike the extremists, I can't see the issue in black and white.

good news

2008-05-05T03:39:00.000-07:00

The Chinese government met recently in Shenzhen with envoys of the Tibetan government-in-exile, for the first time in a year. The envoys included Lodi Gyari, special envoy of the Dalai Lama, whom we hosted in Ottawa in 2004 as part of the events surrounding His Holiness' visit. Apparently the three-day meeting went acceptably well, and the Tibetans (who didn't hold high expectations) are pleased that the Chinese are open to continuing dialogue. Of course, there is skepticism that they are only looking to temporarily preserve their international dignity in view of the upcoming Games, but I say, good news is good news.

You can read more here.

Mathieu Ricard

2008-04-26T03:38:00.000-07:00

Mathieu Ricard

The talk last night was really great, on many levels. More people than I could have expected to attend, for such a small city as this, attended and showed great enthusiasm for Mathieu Ricard's treatment of many aspects of Buddhist philosophy and practice. I was very impressed with the public turnout, which I would guess numbered around 1,000, but I didn't come across any practice group I could join.

He talked beautifully about many things, including impermanence, compassion, no-self-ness, and a whirlwind tour of the results of several scientific studies showing the enormous cognitive benefits of meditation. Marie was particularly impressed with these studies, and although I won't go into why, they come to her in a very timely manner.

There wasn't a huge amount of talk about the environment, but as Ricard pointed out many times, we need to be the change we want to see in the world. If we want our planet to thrive, we have to start with ourselves. He also mentioned the importance of bearing in mind every living being's right to exist and be happy, which is very relevant to resolving environmental issues.

There were a few things that struck a chord with me. I really liked Ricard's description of the luminous nature of mind, which is a concept you hear a lot about in Tibetan Buddhism, at least. He said that it's not as if we could see the mind glowing when we put it in a dark room, but that the mind is what illuminates the world for us. The mind sheds light, so to speak, on the objects of our perception, and like light, the mind is not necessarily changed by what it illuminates. Light can illuminate mud puddles and garbage heaps, and it does not become dirty. The mind can show us our emotional defilements, and it does not become defiled.

Ricard said the same thing, stated somewhat differently, in an example in which one gets carried away by a state of (insert negative emotion here). In this case, one (possibly barring one with a disorder of some kind) can always find the awareness that one is experiencing the emotion. And that fact alone proves that we are not equivalent to our emotions, since we can observe them. The part of us that can watch an emotion (or any type of event) come over us, and then fade away, is the true, luminous nature of mind.

While these snippets of dharma/truth are not new to me, it's always so very good to be reminded. In fact, my whole path at the moment is remembering these things all day, every day.

It's a New Year

2008-01-01T02:00:00.000-08:00

White Tara, Alys Muckart's yidam

om tare tuttare ture soha

Two weeks ago today my friend Alys Muckart died. As I mentioned before, Alys worked very hard at the Civic Hospital in Ottawa until her retirement last year, and gave generously of her time to all things Tibetan, notably as president of the Ottawa chapter of the Canada Tibet Committee. I will remember her dearly for her irreplaceable organizational skill and her steadfast devotion to the humanitarian cause.

Only days after Alys' diagnosis of brain cancer, I found a lump in my breast. A month ago, my doctor named it a fibroid and asked me to keep a close eye on it. Naturally, I was a bit scared. With its progression, she decided to send me for ultrasound testing soon, but in accordance with our respective studies since last month, neither she nor I are any longer worried that it may be cancer. It is most likely a plugged milk duct, which, while incurable, is comparatively inoffensive.

The diagnosis and rapid progression of the tumour found in Alys' brain were a staggering reminder of impermanence, and they have left Alys' family and friends reeling in shock. May we take this slap in the face as an opportunity to come to grips with our own ephemeral nature. May we realize that anything can happen, anywhere and any time, and thus live fully in every moment with clear awareness and joy.

Alys, may you be free.

Dalai Lama and Alys Continued

2007-11-09T01:58:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken by Martin Beaulieu, a photographer from Montreal, on October 28th. It is such a wonderful and beautiful thing for Alys to have been able to meet and be blessed by His Holiness. I am very moved that he made the special effort to visit with her.

Alys is back home now with her sister, who has come from Scotland to be by her side. She is able to receive visitors, and several of my friends are doing phowa practice and/or simple mantra recitations with her while others just sit and act as supports for her through this difficult time.

Dalai Lama and Alys

2007-10-29T01:57:00.000-07:00

(From Angela:) "A quick note to let you know that yesterday, along with her three siblings, Alys was granted a brief audience with HH the Dalai Lama who gave her a special blessing that I am sure will remain with her for comfort and courage."

Dalai Lama

2007-10-28T01:56:00.000-07:00

His Holiness is in Ottawa giving a public talk today. He is going to meet with our prime minister while he's in town. It's looking positive that he will also be personally blessing my friend Alys, who is in the hospital with a brain tumour. Sarva mangalam!

kalachakra

2007-06-26T01:49:00.000-07:00

This past weekend began the tantric Kalachakra initiation by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche in New York. Some of my friends from Ottawa are attending, and I would surely have gone with them if I'd not moved to France and been too pregnant to fly. As my friend Andréa put it, this is quite a psychedelic event, and a very powerful teaching to take in.

Kalachakra literally means 'Wheel of Time'. Kalachakra is a Buddha figure, representing the whole of time, as well as a system of thought and practice within Vajrayana Buddhism. Here is an image of Kalachakra and his consort, Vishvamata.

This is another image, with details noted.

The system called Kalachakra centres on the concepts of beginningless time and of cycles, such as the cycles of the body, cycles of the cosmos, and so on. The outer Kalachakra teachings relate to the world or the universe; the inner teachings relate to the body; and the secret teachings are the instructions for tantric Kalachakra mandala practice. It is thus a teaching on the interrelationship between body, mind, and world.

Day One of the initiation consists of preparation ceremonies. Days Two to the end (may be two to five or more days) are empowerment days. After the all-important refuge and bodhisattva and tantric vows, the empowerment of the Kalachakra Tantra begins. Very generally, this consists of visualizations of the self as various enlightened forms, and entering the mandala of Kalachakra, in which one performs purification and awakens potential for bodhicitta, the enlightened mind. This is an image of the mandala of Kalachakra, with its walls and doors and chambers.

The benefits of Kalachakra practice are many. Through correct understanding and diligent practice, one purifies and cleanses oneself. But this is not the ultimate goal. We seek to benefit all sentient beings. We use the energy of such practices as this as fuel for developing compassion toward all, and dedicate the priceless merit to the happiness of all.

His Holiness Penor Rinpoche is the eleventh throneholder of Palyul lineage, and head of Namdroling monastery in South India and its more than four hundred branch monasteries. He was also Supreme Head of the Nyingmapa school (of which Palyul is only a part) until he retired in 2003. In addition to special events like the Kalachakra, he offers month-long retreats at Palyul Ling Retreat Centre in upstate New York every year.