Embedded Files
You can use the links (in the blue-shaded box) to jump to specific sections within the Dharma resources page. Or just scroll down to browse the offerings.
You can use the links (in the blue-shaded box) to jump to specific sections within the Dharma resources page. Or just scroll down to browse the offerings.
MIND TRAINING (LOJONG) and Tonglen resources
MIND TRAINING (LOJONG) and Tonglen resources
Click on headings below to expand and read each section / click on heading again to condense the section.
MIND TRAINING (LOJONG) introduction
I. INTRODUCTION OF TONGLEN PRACTICE
Lojong, (lo, "mind" or "intellect" and jong, "training" or "application") means mind training and refers to the mahayana teaching of mind training in seven points, which was handed down from Dharmakirti and Atisha. Part of this mind training is the relative bodhicitta meditation called tonglen, or sending and taking (tong, "sending" and len, "taking" or "receiving"). The slogans deal with actual meditation practice and postmeditation extension to one's entire life.
II. RECOMMENDED STUDY
A. Handout: "Seven Points of Mind Training" and "Instructions on Tonglen Practice" by Judy Lief.
INSTRUCTIONS ON TONGLEN PRACTICE, a talk by Judy Lief
INSTRUCTIONS ON TONGLEN PRACTICE
1979 Vajradhatu Seminary
May 5, 1979
Mrs. Judy Lief
I'd like to give some brief instructions on the practice of tonglen, sending and taking, which will be introduced as regular practice during this sitting period. It will be practiced for one-half hour every day at approximately five o'clock. It probably will be introduced as well in dharmadhatus and centers as part of an intensive sitting practice.
I'm sure all of you are familiar at this point with the basic slogan on tonglen. "Sending and taking should be practiced alternately. This alternation should be placed on the medium of the breath." This is a very brief description of the entire practice. The practice will be initiated with one gong, a large gong. At this point, the first step is to check your posture, straighten yourself, and basically just prepare yourself to shift from shamatha into tonglen practice. Since this practice is for a relatively brief period of time, you should take special care to have good posture throughout.
The next step, which is very brief, a momentary thing, is to have a sudden reminder or flash, a sense of clarity, goodness, basic stillness of mind. This is very abrupt and very rapid, a matter of a few seconds, just a sense of quality of mind at rest.
The practice itself begins with the inbreath since the practice begins with yourself. What you breathe in is the quality of blackness, hotness and heaviness. The beginning of the practice--for the first 10 minutes or so-- should be developing a general feeling, which is visually expressed as black and white or, in terms of temperature, hot and cool, or a basic feeling of heaviness and lightness. These are what we're working with.
So with your inbreath, you begin to breathe in--in a very thorough manner--the qualities of black, hot, and heavy. With the outbreath, you breathe out what is white, cool, and light. This is very important in terms of setting up the environment and the atmosphere of the practice. So when you breathe in, you should breathe in thoroughly and actually have a sense of receiving all of this into your system. When you breathe out, you should have a sense of giving away, thoroughly and completely, and even have a sense that this whiteness that you are giving out is being received by some body or other out there.
One point about this practice is that you should actually have a sense of total body. It's not just sort of going out on the breath in a very narrow way, but it's a sense of the whole body giving out its lightness and taking on blackness -- from top to bottom--through all the pores, in and out. The image of an air conditioning system has been used; you're air conditioning the room by taking in the room's hotness. So it's very deliberate, very heavy.
After you've set up this general quality of feeling, then you can go on to particular themes --ideas of someone you particularly hate, for instance. You might breathe that hatred in and breathe out some attachment to this or that. Make use of particular themes or situations that are close at hand, something that happened today or some particularly inspiring or irksome fact of your existence. The point about this section, which is drawing on situations and ideas and concepts, is that the particular self-involved situation you begin with should be very quickly expanded to include other people around you and other sentient beings.
For instance, you might start out with an aggressive sense of something; you might begin with your own aggression, breathing in the quality of your aggression. Then you expand that to the other people involved in the situation, and then, very rapidly there should be a sense of taking on the aggression generally of all sentient beings. Then you breathe out gentleness and whatever seems good--any kindness you could grasp on to. So you breathe in and out, and you expand very quickly. Don't just fixate on one particular situation for the whole practice.
If the practice starts to get confusing or slightly conceptual, or if some difficulty comes up, you can use the fresh start approach that you are now familiar with in your shamatha practice. You can just return again to that flash of clarity or stillness, and then reestablish the feeling in terms of the more abstract qualities of black and heavy, light and fresh. Then you build up to the next particular detailed situation.
So the whole quality of this practice is developing a general feeling and maintaining that feeling throughout any particular thoughts that come up. It should be balanced--with a sense of breathing in thoroughly and also letting go, giving away thoroughly, a quality of balance--not clinging to either end of the practice.
This practice of tonglen should be done every day. [It] should only be done in formal group practice during the specific periods set aside for it. It shouldn't be something you just casually go in and out of at whim. You should confine it to this period. Thirty minutes a day (here at seminary). In terms of postmeditation, the advice that the Vajracarya gave was to memorize the slogans and to apply them as situations--cause them to arise in your mind.
So let me just review the main steps, and then we can try it out. It's somewhat an historic occasion actually, the first formal mahayana practice introduced to the sangha anywhere. When you hear the gong, there's a brief flash; then you begin with the in-breath and the general feeling tone for the first ten minutes or so. The rest of the time, it's much looser: you deal with situations and relationships and whatever comes up. It's fine to be somewhat deliberate and heavy about it.
Basically, the practice has an almost relentless quality. There's no particular gap in the process; you just keep on with it. When you start losing it, you just take a fresh start and build it up again. So let's give it a try.
At the very end, there will be a series of gongs. When you hear the first gong, you should stop the practice at that point. Basically, it's just a period of transition back to shamatha. So the main thing is that at the very first gong at the end of the practice, you just drop tonglen and allow a brief transition into straight shamatha.
THE SEVEN POINTS OF MIND TRAINING by Atisha - a list of the 59 slogans, organized within the 7 points
THE SEVEN POINTS OF MIND TRAINING
by Atisha
POINT ONE: Preliminaries which are a basis for dharma practice.
1. First, train in the preliminaries.
POINT TWO: The main practice, which is training in bodhicitta.
Absolute bodhicitta
2. All dharmas should be regarded as dreams.
3. Contemplate the nature of unborn insight.
4. Self-liberate the antidotes.
5. Rest in the nature of alaya.
6. In the postmeditation experience, one should become a child of illusion.
Relative bodhicitta
7. Giving and taking should be practiced alternately. That alternation should be put on the medium of the breath.
8. Three objects, three poisons and three virtuous seeds.
9. Train with these sayings in all activities:
May I receive all evils; may my virtues go to others.
Gain and victory to others; loss and blame to myself.
10. The sequence of exchange begins with oneself.
POINT THREE: Transformation of bad circumstances into the way of enlightenment.
11. When the world is filled with evil, all mishaps should be transformed into the path of bodhi.
12. Drive all blames into oneself,
13. Be grateful to everyone.
14. Seeing the confusion as the four kayas is supreme shunyata protection.
15. Four applications are the best skillful means (method).
The four applications are:
(1) Accumulation of merit.
(2) Laying down of your evil actions.
(3) Feeding the ghosts.
(4) Asking the dharmapalas to help you in your practice.
16. In order to inspire unexpected bad circumstances onto the path, whatever you meet should be joined immediately with meditation.
POINT FOUR: Showing the utilization of practice in one's whole life.
17. The synopsis of the essence instruction is contained in the five strengths.
The five strengths are:
(1) A strong attitude: you are determined to maintain twofold bodhicitta.
(2) Familiarization: bodhicitta has become familiar ground in whatever you do.
(3) Seed of virtue: your body, speech and mind are all dedicated to propagating bodhicitta in yourself.
(4) Revulsion with samsara: whenever any ego-centered thought occurs, realize that "It is because of ego clinging that I wander in samsara. Therefore, I must try to tame ego as much as I can."
(5) Aspiration: your aspiration is to single-handedly save all sentient beings, to always remember twofold bodhicitta, and to apply bodhicitta in spite of chaos or obstacles.
18. The instruction for how to die in mahayana is the five strengths, therefore, one should practice them.
POINT FIVE: Evaluation of mind training.
19. All dharma agrees at one point.
20. Of the two, hold the principal witness.
21. Always rely on just a happy frame of mind.
22. You are well-trained if you can practice even when distracted.
POINT SIX: Ethics of mind training.
23. Practice the three basic principles.
The three basic principles are:
(1) Keeping the hinayana and mahayana disciplines.
(2) Refraining from outrageous action.
(3) Developing patience.
24. Change your attitude and relax as it is.
25. Do not proclaim about injured limbs.
26. Do not ponder others' weak points.
27. Work through the greater defilements first.
28. Give up any possibilities of fruition.
29. Refrain from poisonous food.
30. Don't be predictable and guileless.
31. Do not disparage people.
32. Don't wait in ambush.
33. Don't bring things to a painful point.
34. Don't transfer the cow's load to the ox.
35. Don't sharpen your competitiveness.
36. Don't act with a twist.
37. Don't bring down gods into demons.
38. Don't seek others' pain as the limbs of one's own happiness.
POINT SEVEN: Guidelines of mind training.
39. All activities should be done with one attitude.
40. All suppression of perversion should be done with one attitude.
41. Two activities: one at the beginning, one at the end.
42. Whichever of the two occurs, it should be resolved into patience.
43. Observe these two-- even at the risk of your life.
44. Practice the three difficulties.
The three difficulties are:
(1) To realize the point at which you are tricked by your own emotions or kleshas.
(2) To reverse or exorcise the kleshas, or your basic emotionalism.
(3) To cut the continuity of that emotionalism.
45. Practice the three leading points of cause.
The three leading points of cause are:
(1) The necessity of a teacher.
(2) The need to train your mind.
(3) The need for an economic base for practice.
46. Practice the three minds that won't diminish.
The three minds are:
(1) Devotion to your spiritual friend.
(2) A delightful attitude towards lojong.
(3) our conduct--the hinayana and mahayana vows that you have taken.
47. One should have the three inseparables. Body, speech and mind should be inseparable from lojong.
48. Train impartially in all areas. Always do this thoroughly, pervading everywhere.
49. Always meditate especially on your sore points.
50. You should not depend on external conditions.
51. This time, practice the main point.
52. Don't misinterpret.
53. Don't fluctuate.
54. Train wholeheartedly.
55. You should liberate yourself by examining and studying.
56. Don't wallow in self-pity.
57. Don't be jealous.
58. Don't act with fickleness.
59. Don't expect more.
MIND TRAINING (LOJONG) Resources Part 1 - books, articles, websites & blog posts
Lojong Sources
Articles in Buddhist periodicals:
The Why and How of Lojong, or Mind Training, by Judy Lief
http://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-meditate-judy-lief-on-mind-training/
Train Your Mind: Lojong Commentary, by Judy Lief
https://tricycle.org/article/lojong-slogans/
Note, the Tricycle series above is also available at the link below as a pdf.
“Working with the Slogans of Atisha. A practical guide to leading a compassionate life”. Judith L. Lief.
https://judylief.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/atisha-slogans-for-tablet-v2.pdf
How Lojong awakens your heart, Pema Chodron
http://www.lionsroar.com/dont-give-up/
A useful little book on tonglen
Tonglen: The Path of Transformation, Pema Chodron, from Kalapa Media
https://pemachodronfoundation.org/product/tonglen-book/
Books on lojong:
Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness by Chogyam Trungpa, translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee.
The Great Path of Awakening by Jamgon Kongtrul, translated by Ken McLeod
Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of the Seven-Point Mind Training by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group,
The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion through Training the Mind by Traleg Rinpoche
The Benevolent Mind, a Manual in Mind Training by Traleg Rinpoche
Mind Training, Ringu Tulku, Shambhala Publications, 2007
The Intelligent Heart: A Guide to the Compassionate Life by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron
Always Maintain a Joyful Mind by Pema Chodron
Heart of the Dharma: Mind Training for Beginners, by Thrangu Rinpoche
The Power of Mind by Khenpo Lodro Thaye
A reader’s guide to books on mind training, with some brief history of lojong as well.
https://www.shambhala.com/lojong-mind-training/
Websites and posts
A talk by His Eminence the Third Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Karma Lodrö Chökyi Senge, Instructions on The Seven Points of Mind Training by Lord Atisha,
Presented at the Shambhala Center in Berkeley, California, 1988.
http://www.dharmadownload.net/pages/english/Natsok/0010_Teaching_English/Teaching_English_0030.htm
Ken McLeod translated of one of the first English translations on lojong, The Great Path of Awakening by Jamgon Kongtrul the Great (1813-1899).
His website has a useful tool which includes the full collection of slogans, which you can go through sequentially, or follow links to related slogans, or just jump around.
https://unfetteredmind.org/mindtraining/2.php
He also has made a series of posts commenting on each of the 7 points of Mind training. The 7 points are the framework within which the lojong slogans are presented.
http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2022/10/point-1-groundwork.html
http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2022/10/point-2-practice.html
http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2022/11/point-3-living-practice.html
http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2022/12/point-4-condensing-practice.html
http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2023/01/point-5-mastery.html
http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2023/03/point-6-connection.html
http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2023/03/point-7-guidelines.html
Rigpawiki's list of the 7 points and the 59 slogans.
http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Seven_Points_of_Mind_Training
Slogan reminders and supports
7 Points of Mind Training - Slogan Cards and related books from Pema Chodron
https://pemachodronfoundation.org/product/lojong-slogan-cards/
https://pemachodronfoundation.org/product/compassion-cards/
https://pemachodronfoundation.org/product/the-compassion-book/
https://www.shambhala.com/pema-chodron-s-compassion-cards.html
compiled by Cynthia.
MIND TRAINING (LOJONG) Resources Part 2 - Several sources compiled for each slogan
Below is a site that gives links to pdf documents on each of the lojong slogans with commentaries by various teachers.
It includes commentaries from:
“Training the Mind & Cultivating Loving-Kindness” by Chogyam Trungpa
“Enlightened Courage”, by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
“From Start Where You Are : A Guide to Compassionate Living” by Pema Chodron
“The Great Path of Awakening” by Jamgon Kongtrul, translated by Ken McLeod .Commentary on the slogans.
“The Seven-Point Mind Training”, by B. Alan Wallace.
Brian Beresford, 1977, 1996. Excerpted from “Advice from a Spiritual Friend”.
Note from Hamish:
I have found it a very useful site. However beware/use at your own risk.
I got this link quite a few years ago (2006ish) and it seems to have been updated. I don’t know who it is done by, but it seems like it might have something to do with the Oregon State University. So far I haven’t found any problems with it. At the bottom there is a link to a “slogans zip”, which downloads the entire set of PDF files of each slogan with their various commentaries. I have not found any problems with this either, but of course use it at your own risk.
Lojong slogan #9 says:
"Use sayings to train with in all forms of activity" or "In all activities, train with slogans"
Examples of traditional sayings for this are shown below. (click here to display) Or, make up your own!
From Chogyam Trungpa RInpoche's Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness:
"May I receive all evils, may my virtue go to others"
"Profit and victory to others, loss and defeat to myself"
Expanded versions, from the end notes:
"May their evil deeds ripen in me. May all my virtue without exception ripen in them. "
"I offer all my profit and gain to sentient beings, those honorable ones; I will take on all loss and defeat."
"May all the evil deeds and suffering of sentient beings ripen in me; and all my virtue and happiness ripen in sentient beings."
From Jamgon Kongtrul's The Great Path of Awakening, quoting Shantideva:
"While their evil ripens in me, May all my virtue ripen in them."
1. By thinking of all sentient beings
As more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel
For accomplishing the highest aim,
I will always hold them dear.
2. Whenever I’m in the company of others,
I will regard myself as the lowest among all,
And from the depths of my heart
Cherish others as supreme.
3. In my every action, I will watch my mind,
And the moment destructive emotions arise,
I will confront them strongly and avert them,
Since they will hurt both me and others.
4. Whenever I see ill-natured beings,
Or those overwhelmed by heavy misdeeds or suffering,
I will cherish them as something rare,
As though I’d found a priceless treasure.
5. Whenever someone out of envy
Does me wrong by attacking or belittling me,
I will take defeat upon myself,
And give the victory to others.
6. Even when someone I have helped,
Or in whom I have placed great hopes
Mistreats me very unjustly,
I will view that person as a true spiritual teacher.
7. In brief, directly or indirectly,
I will offer help and happiness to all my mothers,
And secretly take upon myself
All their hurt and suffering.
8. I will learn to keep all these practices
Untainted by thoughts of the eight worldly concerns.
May I recognize all things as like illusions,
And, without attachment, gain freedom from bondage.
Rigpa Translations. Revised 2012.
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/geshe-langri-thangpa/eight-verses-training-mind
From A View on Buddhism, discussion of Tonglen - Taking & Giving
Equalizing Self and Other, from "The Way of the Bodhisattva" by Shantideva
The following passage is taken from The Nectar of Manjushrī’s Speech, by Kunzang Pelden. It
explains stanzas 90 to 98 of chapter 8, giving the metaphysical basis for the meditation on
equality of self and other, and thus the whole practice of compassion according to Mahāyāna
Buddhism. At the same time it throws interesting light on the teachings on reincarnation and
karma (subjects frequently misunderstood), and shows how these are in agreement with the view
that neither persons nor things possess an essential core that is solid and unchanging.
Two things are to be practiced on the level of relative bodhichitta: meditation on the equality of
self and other, and meditation on the exchange of self and other. Without training in the former,
the latter is impossible. This is why Shāntideva says that we should first meditate strenuously on
equality of self and other; for without it, a perfectly pure altruistic attitude cannot arise.
All beings, ourselves included, are in exactly the same predicament of wanting to be happy and
not wanting to suffer. For this reason we must vigorously train in ways to develop the intention
to protect others as much as ourselves, creating happiness and dispelling suffering. We may think
that this is impossible, but it isn’t.
Although they have no ultimate grounds for doing so, all beings think in terms of “I” and
“mine.” Because of this, they have a conception of “other,” fixated on as something alien—
although this too has no basis in reality. Aside from being merely mental imputations, “I” and
“other” are totally unreal. They are both illusory. Moreover, when the nonexistence of “I” is
realized, the notion of “other” also disappears, for the simple reason that “other” is only posited
in relation to the thought of “I.” Just as it is impossible to cut the sky in two with a knife, when
the space-like quality of egolessness is realized, it is no longer possible to make a separation
between “I” and “other,” and there arises an attitude of wanting to protect others as oneself and
of taking them as one’s own. As it is said, “Whoever casts aside the ordinary, trivial view of self,
will discover the profound meaning of great Selfhood.”140 Thus, for the realization of the equality
of “I” and “other,” it is essential to grasp that “I” and “other” are merely labels without any basis
in reality. This vital point of egolessness is difficult to understand, difficult even for a person of
high intelligence. Thus, as the teachings say, it is of great importance that egolessness be clearly
demonstrated and assimilated.
[91] The way to reflect upon equality is as follows. We can distinguish the various parts of our
bodies: hands, feet, head, inner organs, and so on. Nevertheless, in a moment of danger, we
protect them all, not wanting any of them to be hurt, considering that they all form a single body.
We think, “This is my body,” and we cling to it and protect it as a whole, regarding it as a single
entity. In the same way, the whole aggregate of beings in the six realms, who in their different
joys and sorrows are all like us in wanting to be happy and not wanting to suffer, should be
identified as a single entity, our “I.” We should protect them from suffering in just the same way
as we now protect ourselves.
Suppose we were to ask someone how many bodies he had. “What are you talking about?” he
would reply. “I have nothing but this one body!” “Well,” we continue, “are there many bodies
that you should take care of?” “No,” he will say, “I take care only of this one body of mine.”
This is what he may say, but the fact is that when he talks about “his body,” he is doing no more
than applying a name to a collection of different items. The word body does not at all refer to a
single indivisible whole. In other words, there is no reason why the name body should be
attached here [to these items] and why it is inappropriate to attach it elsewhere. The word body is
fastened, without ultimate justification, to what is merely a heap of component items. It is the
mind that says “my body,” and it is on the basis of this idea of a single entity that it is possible to
impute the notions of “I,” “mine,” and all the rest. To claim, moreover, that it is reasonable to
attach the name “I” to “this aggregate,” and not to “another aggregate,” is quite unfounded.
Consequently, it is taught that the name “I” can be applied to the whole collection of suffering
beings. It is possible for the mind to think, “They are myself.” And if, having identified them in
this way, it habituates itself to such an orientation, the idea of “I” with regard to other sentient
beings will in fact arise, with the result that one will come to care for them as much as one now
cares for oneself.
[92] But how is it possible for such an attitude to arise, given that others do not feel my pain, and
I do not feel theirs? The meaning of the root text may be interpreted as meaning that, while these
sufferings of mine have no effect upon the bodies of other living beings, they are nevertheless
the sufferings of my “I.” They are unbearable to me because I cling to them as mine. [93]
Although the pains of others do not actually befall me, because I am a Bodhisattva and consider
others as myself, their pains are mine as well, and are therefore unbearable to me.
How is it that when suffering comes to me, the pain affects only myself and leaves others
untouched? In my present incarnation, just as from beginningless time until now, my mind
entered amid the generative substances of my parents as they came together. Subsequently, there
came into being what I now identify as “my body.” And it is precisely because I seize on it as
myself that I am unable to tolerate its being injured. But within suffering itself, there is no
separation between “my suffering” and “another’s suffering.” Therefore, although another’s pain
does not actually afflict me now, if that other is identified as “I” or “mine,” his or her suffering
becomes unbearable to me also.141 Maitriyogin, the disciple of the Lord Atīsha, did indeed feel
the suffering of other beings as his own.142 This was the experience of one who had attained the
Bodhisattva grounds of realization. However, even on the level of ordinary people, we can take
the example of a mother who would rather die than that her dear child should fall sick. Because
she identifies with her baby, the child’s suffering is actually unbearable for her. Other people
who do not identify with the child are for this very reason unaffected by its pain. If they did
identify with it, the child’s suffering would be intolerable for them as well.
Moreover, a long period of habituation is not necessary for this kind of experience to occur. Take
the example of a horse that is being put up for sale. Right up to the moment when the deal is
struck, if the horse lacks grass or water, or if it is ill, or if it has any other discomfort—all this
will be unbearable for its owner, while it will not at all affect the client. But as soon as the
transaction takes place, it is the buyer who will be unable to stand the horse’s suffering, while the
seller will be completely indifferent. Within the horse itself, there is no basis whatever for the
distinction “this man’s horse” or “that man’s horse.” It is identified as being this man’s or that
man’s according to how it is labeled by thought.
In the same way, there is not the slightest reason for saying that the notion of “I” must be applied
to me and not to another. “I” and “other” are no more than a matter of conceptual labeling. The
“I” of myself is “other” for someone else, and what is “other” for myself is “I” for another. The
notions of “here” and “there” are simply points of view, designated by the mind in dependence
on each other. There is no such thing as an absolute “here” or an absolute “there.” In just the
same way, there is no absolute “I” and no absolute “other.” It is just a matter of imputation. And
so, on account of this crucial point, the Dharma teaches that when “I” is ascribed to others,
namely, sentient beings, the attitude of accepting and taking them as one’s own will naturally
arise.
This is how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas claim sentient beings as their own selves in the way
explained above, so that even the slightest pain of others is for them as if their entire body were
on fire. And they do not have the slightest hesitation in doing so, just as when the Buddha
claimed as his own the swan that Devadatta had shot down with an arrow.143 Similarly, Machig
144 said that in the centuries after her, perverted practitioners of chod would with violent means
subjugate the wealth-gods, ghosts, and demons, whom she had taken with the crook of her
compassion—meaning by this that she had taken these gods and spirits to herself as beings
whom she cherished.
As we have said, taking sentient beings as one’s own does not require lengthy training. For
example, if you tell someone that you will give him an old horse, no sooner are the words out of
your mouth than the other person has already appropriated the horse and cannot bear it if the
horse is in distress. Still it might be thought that, because one has drifted into such bad mental
habits, the thought of taking others as oneself will never arise. But the Lord Buddha has said that
in all the world, he never saw anything easier to educate than the mind itself, once it is set on the
right path and steps are taken to subjugate it. On the other hand, he also said that there is nothing
more difficult to govern than an untrained mind. Therefore, if we do not let our minds stray onto
wrong paths but train them, it is perfectly possible to bring them into submission. Conversely, if
we fail to subdue our minds, it will be impossible for us to overcome anything else. This is why
the teachings say that we should strive to subdue our minds.
[94] Shāntideva’s justification for the necessity of eliminating suffering is presented in the form
of a probative argument.145 His thesis is that he will eliminate all the sufferings of others, that is,
the sufferings that will not bring them any ultimate benefit. His reason is that their suffering does
them no good and, by way of example, he says that he will remove it just as he removes his own
discomforts of hunger, thirst, and so on. By a similar procedure, he says that he will benefit
others and make them happy, because they are living beings, and, once again by way of example,
he will do this in the same way that he attends to the comfort of his own body. [95] Since there is
not the slightest difference between ourselves and others (in that all want to be happy), what
reason could we possibly have for not working for the happiness of others? It does not make
sense that we should work only in our own interest. [96] In the same way, there is not the
slightest difference between ourselves and others in that no one wants to experience suffering.
Therefore what reason do we have for failing to protect others from suffering? It does not make
sense that we should strive only to protect ourselves.
[97] Now suppose someone were to object saying, “Yes, I am affected by my own suffering, and
therefore I have to protect myself. But when suffering happens to someone else, nothing at that
moment is actually hurting me, therefore another’s suffering is not something I have to protect
myself from.” But major and obvious sufferings (from the sufferings of the next life in the hell
realms to the pains that will come tomorrow or next month), or the more subtle kinds of suffering
occurring from moment to moment—all such discomforts, great or small (due to lack of food,
clothing, or whatever), are located in the future. They are not actually harming us in the present
moment. If these future pains are not tormenting us now, what do we have to protect ourselves
from? It makes no sense to do so. [98] But we may think that these sufferings are not the same as
those of other beings. For even though such sufferings are not affecting us now, we protect
ourselves nevertheless because we will experience them in the future. But to cling, on the gross
level, to the aggregates of this life and the next life as constituting a single entity, and to cling
also, on the subtle level, to the aggregates of one instant and the next as being the same thing, is
a mistaken conception, nothing more. When we reflect about our present and future lives in the
light of such arguments, [we can see that] the entity that dies and passes out of life is not the
same as that which is born in the succeeding existence. Conversely, that which takes birth in the
next life, wherever that may be, is not the same thing as that which has perished in the previous
existence.
The length of time spent in the human world is the result of past karma. When this is exhausted,
as the final moment of the human consciousness ends, it creates the immediate cause [of the new
life], while the karma that brings about birth in a hell realm, or whatever, constitutes the
cooperative cause. Wherever people are subsequently born, whether in hell or elsewhere, they
have at death a human body, whereas at birth, they will have the body of a hell being and so on.
In other words, the previous consciousness now terminated is that of a human, while at the
moment of the later birth, the consciousness is that of a hell being. The two are thus distinct.
When the mind and body of a human come to an end, the mind and body of the following life
come into being. It is not that there is a movement or transmigration of something from a former
to a subsequent state. As it is said:
Like recitation, flame, and looking glass,
Or seal or lens, seed, sound, astringent taste,
The aggregates continue in their seamless course,
Yet nothing is transferred, and this the wise should know.
When, for example, one uses a lamp to light another lamp, the later flame cannot be lit without
dependence on the first; but at the same time, the first flame does not pass into the second one.
If the earlier entity is terminated, however, and the later one arises in such a way that the two are
quite separate, it will be objected that, in that case, the effect of former actions is necessarily lost,
while (in the course of the subsequent existence) karmic effects will be encountered that have not
been accumulated. But this is not so. Phenomenal appearances—which arise ineluctably through
the interdependence of causal conditions—cannot withstand analysis,146 they lie beyond the scope
of both the eternalist and nihilist positions. The assertion that karmic effects are not lost is a
special feature of the Buddhist teachings. It lies within the exclusive purview of an omniscient
mind, and it is thus to be accepted through reliance on the word of the Conqueror.
As it is said:
What arises in dependence on another
Is not at all that thing itself—
But neither is it something else:
There is no break, there is no permanence.147
All we have are relatively imputed terms. While being neither identical nor different, [earlier and
later moments of consciousness] appear. Consciousness manifests in different ways according to
karma, whether good or bad. But in itself, it consists of moments of mere knowing, clear and
cognizant, arising uninterruptedly in like kind.148 The notions of permanence or discontinuity149 do
not apply to it. Thus the results of karma are not lost, and one never encounters karmic effects
that have not been accumulated.
If, on a more subtle level, one considers the momentary nature of phenomena, everything in the
outer or inner sphere consists of point-instants. The earlier moment ceases and the later one
supervenes so that the one is distinct from the other. Likewise, when the karma for remaining in
the human state provides the circumstances, and the final moment of consciousness [in that state]
provides the cause, the following moment of consciousness comes to birth and arises in like
kind. But the two moments are separate.
From The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva
Translated by Padmakara Translation Group
Additional resources related to The Way of the Bodhisattva can be found at this link:
https://www.shambhala.com/way-of-the-bodhisattva-resource-page/
Paramitas resource list (click here to display list)
Compiled by Hamish
Paramitas in Books
Trungpa Rinpoche, Chögyam. (1972) “The Bodhisattva Path” In “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” (pp 167-184). Boston: Shambhala Pubs
Trungpa, Chögyam. (2013) Volume II, The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. The Bodhisattva Path and Wisdom and Compassion. Shambhala Publications, Boston & Boulder. Paramitas at Part Six: Bodhisattva Activity.
Chödrön, Pema. 2002. Comfortable With Uncertainty. Boston: Shambhala Pubs. Six Ways of Compassionate Living, etc. pp 129-142.
Hanh, Thich Nhat. (1998). “The Six Paramitas”. In The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching (pp 180-199). Berkeley, California: Parallax Press.
Mipham Rinpoche, The Sakyong. (2003). Paramitas. In Turning the Mind Into an Ally. (pp 199-212). New York, NY: Riverhead Books.
Ray, Reginald. (2000). The Six Paramitas. In Indestructible Truth, (p 336-347). Boston: Shambhala Pubs.
Thrangu Rinpoche, Khenchen. (2002) (Jules B. Levenson Trans.) The Six Transcendent Actions. In Essential Practice. (pp 171-185). Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion.
Trungpa Rinpoche, Chögyam. Halifax, NS Seminary Transcripts. Kalapa Publications, Halifax, NS.
1975 Hinayana Mahayana Seminary Transcripts. Paramita Practice (pp 263-276).
1976 Seminary Transcripts Chapters 13-17
1980 Hinayana Mahayana Seminary Transcripts.
1982 Hinayana Mahayana Seminary Transcripts.
Books on the classic text
“The Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life”
by Shantideva (aka The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra or Bodhicaryāvatāra)
(This is an explanation of the paramitas and their practice).
The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyavatara by Shantideva, the Padmakara Translation Group (Translator). Publisher: Shambhala 2006. Also Shambhala (June 10, 2003) & Shambhala Dragon Editions (February 1997).
A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night: A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Shambhala Dragon Editions) by Dalai Lama, et al (April 1994)
A Guide to a Bodhisattva's Way of Life, by Shantideva, translated by Stephen Batchelor, Snow Lion Publications.
A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life: (Bodhicaryavatara) by Shantideva, Vesna A. Wallace (Translator), B. Alan Wallace (Translator)
LOVING KINDNESS / MAITRI resources
LOVING KINDNESS / MAITRI resources
The Four Limitless Ones
May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May they be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May they not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
May they dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice.
Cultivating Bodhichitta Resource List - Loving-kindness (Maitri) and the Four Limitless Ones
Compiled by Hamish McLaren. (click on title to display the document)
Cultivating Bodhichitta Resources
Books, Video, Audio, and Texts
Focusing on loving-kindness and the Four Limitless Ones
(Not including Paramitas and the practice of Tonglen as these are covered elsewhere)
Bodhichitta: awakened heart, mind of enlightenment
Maitri/Metta: loving kindness, friendliness
Maitri Bhavana: loving kindness meditation
Karuna: compassion, compassionate action
The Four Limitless Ones Chant
May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May they be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May they not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
May they dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice.
Each line of this chant refers to one of the four limitless qualities: the first, loving-kindness; the second, compassion; the third, rejoicing; and the fourth, equanimity. I sometimes prefer to change the word they to we. This change emphasizes that we aspire to experience the benefit of these four qualities ourselves, along with other beings. (Pema Chodron, The Places that Scare You, Appendix, page 169)
The Four Limitless Ones in English, Sanskrit and Tibetan:
Love/Loving Kindness (maitri/champa)
Compassion (karuna/nyingje)
Joy/Sympathetic joy (mudita/gawa)
Equanimity (upeksha/tang-nyom)
Table of Contents
Metta-Maitri Books, etc. 2
Web Resources 3
Things to keep in mind 6
Metta-Maitri Books, etc.
Four Limitless Ones (Aka: Four Immeasurables) and the Theravada Four Brahmaviharas
Trungpa, Chögyam. (2013) Volume II, The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. The Bodhisattva Path and Wisdom and Compassion. Shambhala Publications, Boston & Boulder. The Four Brahmaviharas, and The Four Limitless Ones, (pp 72-76). See also Appendix 7 pp 453-4.
Sakyong Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche. (1997). Rousing Bodhichitta. Kalapa Media. “The Six Quintessential Instructions” (pp 11-15) & The Four Immeasurables” (17-27) (Based on a mahayana assembly given at Karmê Chöling, October 31-November 2, 1997.) Vajradhatu Publications, Halifax. 2001.
Chödron, Pema. 2001. “The Places That Scare You. A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times”. Shambhala Publications, Boston & Boulder. Including chapters: 6. Four Limitless Qualities, 7. Loving- Kindness, 8. Compassion, & 9. Tonglen.
Chödron, Pema. 2010.Comfortable with Uncertainty. 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion. Shambhala Publications, Boston & Boulder. Including chapters: 34. Cultivating the Four Limitless Qualities, 35. The Practice of Loving-Kindness. 36. Cultivating Compassion, 37. The Practice of Compassion.
Mcleod, Ken. 2001. “The Four Immeasurables” (pp 243-312) in Wake Up To Your Life, HarperOne, Harper Collins
Thich Nhat Hanh. The Four Immeasurable Minds. The Heart of The Buddha’s Teachings, Parallax Press Berkeley, California. pp 157-163.
Thich Nhat Hanh. 1997. Four Immeasurable Minds and related teachings. Teachings on Love. Parallax Press Berkeley, California.
Seminary Transcripts. Hinayana Mahayana
The Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche
1978 TALK ELEVEN: Awakening Our Enlightened Genes (pp 97-103).
Discusses the hinayana four brahmaviharas and the mahayana four limitless ones
1978 TALK NINETEEN: Summary of Mahayana
1980 TALK SEVENTEEN: Paramita Practice: Meditation and Prajna
(The actions of the four limitless ones)
1985 His Eminence Jamgon Kongtrul, Rinpoche: Relative and Absolute Bodhicitta
The Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche
2000, Book 2. The Four Immeasurables, p. 136-7, and Appendix: p. 160.
Web Resources
Video
A Public Talk on the Four Immeasurables | Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche 23.25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBO2LOUe7G0
YouTube video but only audio
Pema Chodron - The practise of Maitri - Loving kindness. 46:36 Jul 17, 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRhkrQFbERs Explanation and guided meditation. Guided meditation at 28:10. 'Spiritual practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better', teaches Pema Chodron. 'It is', she says, 'about befriending who we are already'.
Pema Chodron - Becoming limitless. 45:10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRTBaQMtLi4 Introduces the bodhichitta practices of maitri and karuna. Guided meditation at 28:10. (The same as the one above.)
Pema Chodron - Guided Meditation - Cultivating Unconditional Friendliness through Meditation 45:28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmthYcJ2FCA Guided meditation, 18:00 second session emphasis on gentleness and unlimited friendliness to whatever arises. 26:00 explanation of quality of discipline in techniques within gentleness and friendliness, Meditation starts 32:00.
Audio
Episode 57: Four Limitless Aspirations. Dharma Glimpses with Judy Lief. (audio podcast)
Text
Translations of the Metta Sutta
Metta Sutta Nalanda Translation Committee. (Aka Unlimited Friendliness – The Maitri Bhavana Sutra of the Buddha)
https://www.nalandatranslation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Metta_Sutta.pdf
The Karaniya Metta Sutta / Buddha's Discourse On Loving-kindness
https://www.spiritrock.org/file/CDL5-retreat2-reading2-metta-sutta.pdf
Articles
Note: For on-line periodicals like Lion’s Roar or Tricycle, one or two articles may be opened per month, after that one may need to subscribe or wait till the next month to read.
Pema Chodron. A Bodhicitta Practice. Pema Chodron offers a method for generating love and compassion for all human beings. http://www.lionsroar.com/a-bodhicitta-practice/
In Buddhism, loving-kindness (maitri) is the first of the Four Immeasurables, or Limitless Ones, which are Buddhist virtues and meditation practices to cultivate each one. Most commonly translated as love or loving-kindness, maitri also means loving-kindness to oneself and is the foundation of the four virtues, which are:
Loving Kindness
Compassion
Sympathetic Joy
Equanimity
Pema Chodron. Maitri and How to Make Friends with Yourself
Jul 11, 2016 — Meditation master Pema Chodron explains maitri and how to be gentle with ourselves when we're struggling with our practice. https://tricycle.org/article/pema-chodron-maitri/
Web Site. Pema. MAITRI. http://www.pemachodron.org (under “Teachings”)
https://pemachodronfoundation.org/articles/
Bodhicitta: The Excellence of Awakened Heart
The mind of enlightenment, called bodhichitta, is always available, in pain as well as in joy. Pema Chodron lays out how to cultivate this soft spot of bravery and kindness. https://www.lionsroar.com/resting-completely/
Good Medicine for This World
Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron and novelist Alice Walker on how tonglen meditation practice opens our heart, expands our vision, and plants the seeds of love in our lives. From an evening of discussion at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts Theater. https://www.lionsroar.com/good-medicine-for-this-world/
“From Seed to Bloom” BY SAKYONG MIPHAM RINPOCHE, JANUARY 1, 2007.
Explains six traditional contemplations for developing awakened heart. The six quintessential instructions on how to generate bodhichitta https://www.lionsroar.com/from-seed-to-bloom/
Stay with the Soft Spot of Bodhichitta BY PEMA CHÖDRÖN, MAY 1, 2004
Pema Chödrön on how to awaken bodhichitta—enlightened heart and mind—the essence of all Buddhist practice.
https://www.lionsroar.com/stay-with-the-soft-spot-of-bodhichitta/
Kindness to Ourselves and Others. Judy Lief.
https://www.lionsroar.com/kindness-to-ourselves-and-others/
How to Do Metta BY JACK KORNFIELD, NOVEMBER 15, 2022
Jack Kornfield on beginning this time-honored, heart-opening practice.
https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-do-metta-january-2014/ (need subscription)
Meditation On Lovingkindness By Jack Kornfield. NOVEMBER 2, 2016 https://jackkornfield.com/meditation-on-lovingkindness/
Loving Kindness Meditation - Jack Kornfield.
Audio https://jackkornfield.com/loving-kindness-meditation/
A Wind Through the Heart
A Conversation with Alice Walker and Sharon Salzberg on Loving Kindness in a Painful World http://math.buffalo.edu/~sww/walker/wind-thru-heart.html
Start with a Flower
Alice Walker & Sharon Salzberg “In speaking about metta practice, or loving-kindness practice....”
https://www.lionsroar.com/start-with-a-flower/
++++++++++++++
Things to keep in mind
Three Fold Purity (khorsum yangdak/khorsum nampar takpa)
1) No actor
2) No acted upon (object)
3) No action
“The three purities are the nonexistence of the actor, the action, and the object of the action. That is, there is no "you" as actor, there is no action, and there is no one to be acted upon.”
“…there is no you, no other, and no project.”
The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. Volume 2. The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion, Page 93, Threefold Purity.
Additional sources on threefold purity:
Hinayana-Mahayana Seminary transcripts 1974, 1975 & 1996.
Dissolve Your Fixation On Yourself, by PEMA CHÖDRÖN
The Threefold Purity
“To begin with, just give up any expectations of yourself. That’s a simple good instruction for how to do Buddhist meditation.”
https://www.lionsroar.com/the-threefold-purity/
Also
Never Forget Spiritual Materialism
Ego’s relentless quest to co-opt everything in its desperate attempts to confirm its deluded sense of existence, even extends all things related to spiritual practices; so in turn we need to be relentlessly vigilant to catch that and gently let it go with kindness and compassion.
See the first chapter “Spiritual Materialism” in the book “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism”, by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. The “introduction” can help too. And in the same book the chapter “Development of Ego”.
Bodhicitta practices
Compiled by Hamish McLaren. (click on title to display the document)
The Four Limitless Ones Chant
May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May they be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May they not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
May they dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice.
Each line of this chant refers to one of the four limitless qualities: the first, loving-kindness; the second, compassion; the third, rejoicing; and the fourth, equanimity. I sometimes prefer to change the word they to we. This change emphasizes that we aspire to experience the benefit of these four qualities ourselves, along with other beings. (Appendix, page 169. TPTSY)
Love (maitri/champa)
Compassion (karuna/nyingje)
Joy (mudita/gawa)
Equanimity (upeksha/tang-nyom)
The Three-Step Aspiration
May I enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May you enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
May all beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
You can use this same three-step process to awaken compassion, the ability to rejoice, and equanimity. As always, it is fine to use your own words. (Appendix page 173. TPTSY)
“The Places That Scare You. A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times”. Pema Chödron Shambhala, Boston 2001. Chapters: Four Limitless Qualities, pp 50-53. Loving Kindness, pp 54-63
See also
Trungpa, Chögyam. (2013) Volume II, The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. The Bodhisattva Path and Wisdom and Compassion. The Four Brahmaviharas, and The Four Limitless Ones, (pp 72-76)
Loving-Kindness Practice
The practice of loving-kindness traditionally uses the first line of the Four Limitless Ones chant, "May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness."
1. Awaken loving-kindness for yourself. "May I enjoy happiness and the root of happiness," or put this aspiration in your own words.
2. Awaken loving-kindness for someone for whom you feel sincere goodwill and tenderness. "May (name) enjoy happiness and the root of happiness," or choose your own words.
3. Awaken loving-kindness for a friend, again saying the friend's name and expressing the aspiration for his or her happiness, using the same words.
4. Awaken loving-kindness for someone about whom you feel neutral or indifferent. (Use the same words.)
5. Awaken loving-kindness for someone you find difficult or offensive. (Use the same words.)
6. Let the loving-kindness grow big enough to include all the beings in the five steps above. (This step is called "dissolving the barriers.") Say, "May I, my beloved, my friend, the neutral person, the difficult person, all together enjoy happiness and the root of happiness."
7. Extend loving-kindness toward all beings throughout the universe. You can start close to home and widen the circle more and more. "May all beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness."
“The Places That Scare You. A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times”. Pema Chödron Shambhala, Boston 2001. Appendix, page 170
Compassion Practice
The compassion practice begins with the second line of the chant, "May we be free from suffering and the root of suffering," and then follows a seven-step process similar to that of the loving-kindness practice.
1. Awaken compassion toward yourself: "May I be free from suffering and the root of suffering," or put this aspiration in your own words.
2. Awaken compassion for a person (or animal) for whom you already feel spontaneous compassion: "May (name) be free from suffering and the root of suffering," or choose your own words.
3. Awaken compassion for a friend. (Use the same words.)
4. Awaken compassion for someone about whom you feel neutral. (Use the same words.)
5. Awaken compassion for someone you find difficult. (Use the same words.)
6. Awaken compassion for all five of the beings above. (Use the same words.)
7. Awaken compassion for all beings throughout the universe,
starting close to home and extending out further and further: "May all beings be free of suffering and the root of suffering."
You may also awaken the ability to rejoice and the capacity for equanimity by going through the seven steps as before. You can use your own words or you can use the third line of the Four Limitless Ones chant for rejoicing ("May I and all others never be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering"). You can use the fourth line of the chant for equanimity ("May I and others dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice").
“The Places That Scare You. A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times”. Pema Chödron Shambhala, Boston 2001. Appendix, pages 171-172.
6 Quintessential Instructions on Cultivating Bodhichitta
The Ground of Equanimity
1. Regard All Sentient Beings as Our Mother
2. Think of the Kindness of Others
3. Repay the Kindness of Others
4. Develop Loving-Kindness
5 Have Compassion
6. Develop Conviction
From “Rousing Bodhichitta” by The Sakyong, Mipham Rinpoche. Chapter Six Quintessential Instructions on Cultivating Bodhichitta (pp11-16)
Also has The Four Immeasurables page 22-. Loving Kindness, page 24. Compassion, page 25. Joy, page 26. Equanimity, page 26. A sourcebook on the practice of generating loving-kindness based on the mahayana assembly given at Karmê Chöling, fall 1997.
See also:
Trungpa, Chögyam. (2013). Volume II, The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. The Bodhisattva Path and Wisdom and Compassion. The Four Brahmaviharas, and The Four Limitless Ones, (pp 72-76)
Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. 1978 SEMINARY TRANSCRIPTS. Talk 11 Awakening Our Enlightened Genes ( pp 97-103). Discusses the hinayana four brahmaviharas and the mahayana four limitless ones.
The Four Immeasurables and the Six Paramitas, by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
Wake Up To Your Life by Ken McLeod. Chapter 7 The Four Immeasurables (pp243-301)
Thich Nhat Hanh. The Heart of The Buddha’s Teachings. Chapter Twenty-Two-The Four Immeasurable Minds, pp 157-163.
BARDO PRAYER RESOURCES
BARDO PRAYER RESOURCES
Prayers for the bardo, set of 3 to open and close a session (Click here to view the prayers. )
There is a tradition in Buddhism to continue practice during the 49 days following a person's passing, with a particular emphasis on each 7th day. In this section are 3 prayers we have done to open and close the practice sessions for Katy. The other prayers varied each week. Those are posted below as links or in their entirety, in the sections below labeled "Bardo Prayers, via Links", "Inspiration Prayers from the Tibetan Book of the Dead" and "The Brief Mahayana Sutra of the Great Blissful Buddhafield"
These are posted for anyone who would like to read or practice them on their own. 2025
SUKHAVATI SUPPLICATION
E MA HO!
Wondrous Buddha Amitabha,
On his right, Lord of Great Compassion
On his left, Bodhisattva Attainer of Great Power,
Surrounded by your retinue of buddhas and bodhisattvas--
In this buddha field known as Sukhavati
Of wondrous, boundless joy and happiness
May we be born, as soon as we depart from this life,
Not taking other births in between,
And see the face of Amitabha.
May all the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions
Grant their blessings so that this aspiration
May be accomplished without obstruction.
TAD YATHĀ PAÑCHANDRIYA AVABODHANI SVĀHĀ
as translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee
Prayer to Buddha Amitābha1
by the Fifteenth Karmapa, Khakhyab Dorje
O dharmakāya Amitābha, embodiment of all the buddhas,
And protector Avalokiteśvara, manifestation of compassion,
To these ultimate and supreme sources of refuge, I pray!
May I and all beings, my previous mothers, as infinite as space,
Face no unfavourable conditions, only ever-increasing positivity.
May we be free from misdeeds and have the eight qualities and ten virtues;
And, in our future lives, may we travel to the pure realm of Great Bliss!
Bless us, so that having attained buddhahood in that physical form,
We may become a guide who leads beings from extremes,
And gain strength and power just like yours.
Supplicate like this with a one-pointed mind, and recite:
ཨོཾ་ཨ་མི་དྷེ་ཝ་ཧྲཱིཿ
om ami dhewa hrih
om amitābha hrīh
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/fifteenth-karmapa/amitabha-prayer
Impartial Aspiration Prayer
All you sentient beings I have a good or bad connection with,
As soon as you have left this confused dimension,
May you be born in the West, in Sukhavati
And once you're born there, complete the bhumis and the paths.
Composed by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, August 29, 1999.
Translated and arranged by Jim and Birgit Scott. Translation copyright 2012, Jim and Birgit Scott
With music:
https://www.ktgrinpoche.org/songs/dedication-merit
Bardo prayers, via links (Click to view)
Here are links where you can find several of the chants we have used in the weekly practices for the 49 day period.
Prayer for this Life, the Next and the Bardos, by Khenpo Ngawang Palzang
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/khenchen-ngawang-palzang/prayer-this-life-next-bardo
Crucial advice, Longchenpa
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/longchen-rabjam/complete-set-instructions
Lamp aspiration prayer, 14th Karmapa
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/fourteenth-karmapa/lamp-aspiration-prayer
Sukhāvatī Aspiration by Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/mipham/sukhavati-aspiration
A Prayer of Aspiration towards Sukhāvatī, by Kathok Situ Chökyi Gyatso
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/katok-situ-chokyi-gyatso/sukhavati-aspiration
Sukhāvatī Aspiration, by Situ Pema Nyinjé Wangpo
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/situ-pema-nyinje-wangpo/sukhavati-aspiration
King of prayers (Zangcho Monlam)
E Callahan translation
The King of Aspiration Prayers, the Aspiration for Noble Excellent Conduct
Inspiration prayers from the Tibetan Book of the Dead (click to view)
Inspiration Prayers
"These "inspiration prayers" are taken from the collection of terma texts connected with Bardo Thotral. They are all mentioned as devotional exercises in the Bardo Thotral itself, and several verses from them are quoted as part of the instructions to the dead person. The word which is often translated simply as prayer means literally "wish-path" (Tibetan, smon-lam). It is not a request to an external deity, but a method of purifying and directing the mind. It acts as inspiration by arousing the mind's inherent desire for good, which attracts the fulfillment of its aim."
From the Tibetan Book of the Dead, as translated by Francesca Fremantle and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Six root verses on the six bardos
We used ponlop Rinpoche translation, a link for this version is on the page below, labeled “PDF of teaching text”
https://www.bodhicittasangha.org/six-bardos-karma-lingpa/
A version from Lotsawa House below is similar to the translation by Fremantle and Trungpa.
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/karma-lingpa/root-verses-six-bardos
Inspiration-Prayer for Deliverance from the Dangerous Pathway of the Bardo
From Francesca Freemantle and Chogyam Trungpa, The Tibetan Book of of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo
The Bardo Prayer which Protects from Fear
When the journey of my life has reached its end
and since no relatives go with me from this world
I wander in the bardo state alone,
may the peaceful and wrathful buddhas send out the power of their compassion
and clear away the dense darkness of ignorance.
When parted from beloved friends, wandering alone,
my own projections’ empty forms appear,
may the buddhas send out the power of their compassion
so that the bardo’s terrors do not come.
When the five luminous lights of wisdom shine,
fearlessly may I recognize myself;
when the forms of the peaceful and wrathful ones appear,
fearless and confident may I recognise the bardo.
When I suffer through the power of evil karma,
may the peaceful and wrathful buddhas clear away suffering;
when the sound of dharmata roars like a thousand thunders,
may it be transformed into the sound of mahayana teaching.
When I follow my karma, without a refuge,
may the peaceful and wrathful buddhas be my refuge;
when I suffer the karma of unconscious tendencies,
may the samadhi of bliss and luminosity arise.
At the moment of spontaneous birth in the bardo of becoming,
may the false teachings of the tempters not arise;
when I arrive wherever I wish by supernatural power,
may the illusory terrors of evil karma not arise.
When savage beasts of prey are roaring,
may it become the sound of dharma, the six syllables;
when I am chased by snow, rain, wind, and darkness,
may I receive the clear, divine eye of wisdom.
May all sentient beings of the same realm in the bardo,
free from jealousy, be born in a higher state;
when great thirst and hunger are caused by passions,
may the pain of thirst and hunger, heat and cold, not arise.
When I see my future parents in union,
may I see the peaceful and wrathful buddhas with their consorts;
with the power to choose my birthplace, for the good of others,
may I receive a perfect body adorned with auspicious signs.
Obtaining for myself a perfect human body,
may all who see and hear me at once be liberated;
may I not follow all my evil karma,
but follow and increase what merit I may have.
Wherever I am born, at that very place,
may I meet the yidam of this life face to face;
knowing now to walk and talk as soon as I am born,
may I attain the power of non-forgetfulness and remembrance of past lives.
In all the stages of learning, high, middle, and low,
may I understand just by hearing, thinking and seeing;
wherever I am born, may the land be blessed,
so that all sentient beings may be happy.
O peaceful and wrathful buddhas, may I and others
become like you yourselves, just as you are,
with your forms and your auspicious marks,
your retinues, your long life and your realms.
Samantabhadra, the peaceful and wrathful ones, infinite compassion,
the power of the truth of the pure dharmata,
and followers of tantra in one-pointed meditation:
may their blessings fulfill this inspiration-prayer.
From Francesca Freemantle and Chogyam Trungpa, The Tibetan Book of of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo
The Brief Mahayana Sutra of the Great Blissful Buddhafield (click to view)
The Brief Mahayana Sutra of the Great Blissful Buddhafield
Hri
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
No one exists who is not sublime
The names of samsara and the six realms do not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
By the emanating of sublime wisdom light
The names of day and night do not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
Fully decorated with all kinds of jewels
The names of earth and stone do not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
There is the fragrance of the incense of Vairotsana
The name of worldly air does not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
Fully decorated with enlightenment trees
The names of grass, trees or forests do not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
Eating the food of samadhi
The name of worldly food does not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
All is dwelling in great equanimity
The names of lower realms or precipices do not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
The Dharma king himself is there
The names of worldly kings and ministers do not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
The water of amrita possessing the eight qualities flows
The name of worldly water does not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
The fire of clear, supreme wisdom burns
The name of worldly fire does not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
In the Buddhafield of Infinite Appearance
All who take birth are miraculously born
The names of birth and living do not exist
May we be born in the pureland of Infinite Appearance
This prayer was spoken by Dharmakaya Infinite Appearance himself. It is called the Description of the Great Blissful Buddhafield of the Mahayana tradition.
Whoever writes this prayer in gold will be born for one hundred thousand kalpas in the Great Blissful Buddhafield
Whoever writes this prayer in silver will be born for one thousand kalpas in the Great Blissful Buddhafield
Whoever writes this prayer in vermillion will be born for one hundred kalpas in the Great Blissful Buddhafield
It is said that it is the nectar of Dharma, the essence of absolute truth. It is the king of confession. It will purify the sins of killing a hundred human beings, a hundred horses, a hundred snakes, a hundred dogs, a hundred cows, a hundred fish, a hundred pigs, a hundred calves, and so on. It also purifies the sins of breaking oaths, poisoning, tricking, breaking vows, killing teachers and the ten non-virtuous actions. Whatever you have done, by writing this or praying this, it will be purified. If sinful persons read this prayer thrice, there is no doubt they will be reborn in the Great Blissful Buddhafield. When you die, if you let someone read this prayer three times near your body and put the prayer book on your head, you will undoubtedly be born in the Great Blissful Buddhafield. Whoever reads, writes or keeps this prayer will not have illness or untimely death. Their wishes will be fulfilled and they will have prosperity.
Translated by Bhakha Tulku Pema Tenzin and Pat Roddy
Words from Garchen Rinpoche
from 11/112024 session. Thanks to Kathryn and Donna. (Click here to expand the reading. )
I will share with you what you need to hear, but perhaps not what you want to hear. As a serious practitioner you are encouraged to rejoice at this opportunity to purify this karma. Be happy! Realization is close if you will simply and wholeheartedly apply your training. This karma has arisen and now this is your opportunity to purify and to see the emptiness of all that appears. Be free! Remain a child of illusion.
“The extent of your realization will be known when you encounter difficult circumstances. You will not know the extent of your realization when things go well.”
When you find yourself in a troublesome situation, when you are in great pain, when an intense emotion arises, only then will you know where you are at with practice.
This is what Khenpo Munsel taught me in prison.
~ Garchen Rinpoche
In This World
To me in this world
there are only two types of beings:
my benefactors of love
and my benefactors of patience.
The majority are my benefactors of love;
they are very kind and help me.
Some try to cause harm and create obstacles; these are my benefactors of patience.
The kindness of each benefactor is equal,
and thus my love for them is equal.
Maybe my benefactors of patience
are even kinder to me, as they allow me
to practice the perfection of patience.
I am thus very grateful to all those
who do not like me and make me tame my anger.
At the same time, I feel great compassion for their sorrow, but as they allow me to practice patience
and my anger and jealousy to gradually diminish, they are my teachers.
Thus, in the end,
when I attain enlightenment and all my anger and jealousy are no more, it is due to their kindness.
For this reason, I love them greatly.
~ Garchen Rinpoche
“If we only practice love & protect it with patience, everything else will be accomplished.”
~ H.E. Garchen Rinpoche
Love is the only cause of happiness.
It’s nature is all pervasive like space.
Love is the sunlight of the mind.
~ H.E. Garchen Rinpoche
Don’t Be Bothered by Others, Pay Attention to Your Own Mind
Don't be bothered with what others do, do not criticize or judge them for their dualistic thoughts and actions; just pay attention to your own mind and nothing else. Once you have become completely liberated you will be able to help others become liberated. When you are liberated you become like a lake of warm water, naturally melting all the ice-blocks you touch. So don't scrutinize what others say or do, just let them be, love them, be kind, and focus on your own liberation first. We are unable to let go of dualistic thoughts that label and judge because, although we might be smart, our love is limited, it isn't yet immeasurable.
~ H.E. Garchen Rinpoche
At Ease with Uncertainty, by Pir Elias
Elias Amidon is the spiritual director (Pir) of the Sufi Way.
Offered by John Sennhauser 11/62024 (click here to view the reading)
At Ease with Uncertainty
Here at this moment in America, we’re worried. The election could turn out badly, and then what will happen? Through the crack of that uncertainty all sorts of fears squeeze through, telling their threatening stories. Democracy is at stake! Decency is at stake! Justice, fairness, compassion are at stake!
They are, and they always have been. We’ve been through this before, and we’ve seen the disastrous results of bad choices throughout human history, choices propelled by fear, pride and greed. So now, for us, it’s the American election — it could go badly, or it may not. Either way we’re faced with uncertainty.
Our personal lives swim in the same river of uncertainty, moment to moment. We could have a stroke and die later today. A friend could be hit by a car. The project we’ve been working on could fail. Warfare between nations could erupt. We simply don’t know what will happen next.
So how can we be with this? Is there any way we can be at ease with uncertainty?
There is, and it’s a way that’s both easy and that takes constant practice. It’s not something we can accomplish once and for all, yet it’s easy because it’s already here, present to us, and doesn’t require us to make it real. It’s already real.
One way to describe this practice is that it’s a matter of becoming familiar and friendly with “the still point of the turning world” (T.S. Eliot). The still point (though it’s not actually a point) is where we begin, in this moment and this one and this. Initially — as I imagine you already know — we become familiar with it by sitting quietly and looking deeply into the beginning of the moment. Of course, there’s nothing to see there — it’s a silent, non-locatable quality of simple beingness, and yet there’s an energy there too, a becomingness inseparable from being.
To arrive at the place where you begin is simply to arrive to presence without you, without the story of you, without your memories and thoughts and identity. It’s a “place” both humble and majestic. But however we might describe it, the key is to become familiar with this place of quiet spaciousness directly, without any descriptions. Simply open to this placeless place where you begin, where the moment itself begins, and relax there, for a moment.
As you know, there are many ways to describe this move — for thousands of years it’s been the job of spiritual traditions to encourage us to open into this place of peace within us, in one way or another — this place where everything starts.
It’s not a place we can stay in very long, at least it doesn’t seem to be for most of us. The turning world calls us out, and it sweeps our lives and feelings along with it. But when we touch this place we are calmed, and the uncertainties of the big turning world, and the uncertainties we face in our private lives, for a while don’t have quite the same traction on us. Of course, at some point we lose the ease we’ve been given, and once again we may feel anxious about what might happen next. But we have this medicine now, we’re familiar with it and can touch this place where we begin whenever we feel anxious or out of rhythm.
A Zen master referred to these brief touches of the still point, the place where we begin, as “the bounce.” We sit quietly and open ourselves for a moment to pure presence, touching the egoless still point, and then we bounce back into the world’s turning and its uncertainties, steadier now from that illumination, at ease, less subject to fear and better able to respond to what is with love and creativity. And then, when the world becomes too much for us, we “bounce” — or return back — to remembering the still point, the primordial radiance where we begin. After a while this bounce happens naturally, without effort or conscious intent. You feel yourself getting out of balance and there’s an inner correction that happens by itself. Now the still point isn’t something that you have to find — it’s here — and the bounce happens almost instantly.
It’s a playful image, this bouncing, and yet it points to something many of us experience as we try to integrate our nascent spiritual realization with our concerns for the precarious world. Of course, our resilience to “bounce” from the uncertainties of the turning world to the peace of the still point doesn’t prevent things from turning out badly, but it does allow us to be present to what comes with a greater degree of ease and understanding, and not add to the general anxiety of our times.
TRUE PRACTICE, from Shunryu Suzuki
'You think that you can only establish true practice after you attain enlightenment, but it is not so. True practice is established in delusion, in frustration. If you make some mistake, that is where to establish your practice. There is no other place for you to establish your practice.
We talk about enlightenment, but in its true sense perfect enlightenment is beyond our understanding, beyond our experience. Even in our imperfect practice enlightenment is there. We just don’t know it.
So the point is to find the true meaning of practice before we attain enlightenment. Wherever you are, enlightenment is there. If you stand up right where you are, that is enlightenment.'
Thanks to Beverly for providing this quote during discussion of the Mindfulness of Life chapter of the Profound Treasury of Dharma. 10/31/2024
From the Dedication in “For the Benefit of All Beings: A Commentary on “The Way of the Bodhisattva" by the Dalai Lama. He said:
I would like to say a few words concerning the Tibetan cause. As a Buddhist monk, I do not find any difficulty in being involved in this national struggle, because it is related to the Buddhadharma and is not merely a political question. Without freedom, the Buddha’s teachings cannot be practiced and preserved. The last thirty years have proved this. A free Tibet is therefore very important for the preservation of these teachings, especially since Buddhism has been practiced in Tibet in a very complete form. Helping this cause will indirectly serve Buddhadharma. Some of you here are actively defending the rights of Tibetans. I very much appreciate this and ask you to continue your support. I would like to thank you deeply on behalf of all those who live under constant fear and threat and in the name of more than one million Tibetans who have disappeared as a result of this tragedy.
offered by Margaret
From 10/10/2023 session, with thanks to Gerry Haase for sharing this quote from Padmasambhava and commentary by Phakchok Rinpoche.
On this occasion, I would like to remind you of Guru Rinpoche’s profound teaching, from the Gradual Path of Secret Mantra (Sang-Ngak Lamrim):
"As an antidote to attachment, cultivate compassion; as an antidote to aversion, cultivate loving-kindness; as an antidote to ignorance, cultivate bodhicitta."
Compassion is the best antidote to attachment, because when you have genuine compassion, you have no selfish desires. Loving-kindness is the antidote to aversion, because when you wish others to have happiness, you have no ill-will or enmity. Bodhicitta is the antidote to ignorance, because it is the realization of the empty nature of mind. Please remember this and practice accordingly.
source: https://samyeinstitute.org/guru-rinpoche-day/checking-our-capacity/?
For more info about loving kindness, compassion and bodhicitta, there is a section about those topics below, you can use the link below to jump to that section, or scroll down.
https://sites.google.com/view/ukraine-tonglen/dharma-resources#h.d3gq755rb4gq
Quote shared by Sascha on March 18, 2023
"Let the flower of compassion blossom in the rich soil of maitri, and water it with the good water of equanimity in the cool, refreshing shade of joy" - Longchenpa
Charnel ground
This subject came up in a session in February 2023, and may be discussed further. Here is one resource, a talk from John Rockwell about the topic.
https://johnrockwell.ca/2021/02/09/grandmothers-soup-the-charnel-ground-of-birth-life-and-death/
Notes on view and conduct, from Guru Rinpoche and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Related to our discussion of ultimate and relative truth (click here to open/view the teaching notes) 2023
Guru Rinpoche said,
Do not lose the view in the conduct
If you lose the view in the conduct, you will never have the chance to be liberated.
Do not lose the conduct in the view.
If you lose the conduct in the view, you stray into black diffusion.
…
It is through the view that one is liberated. If you lose the view in the conduct, you will never have the opportunity to be free. If you lose the conduct in the view, then you ignore the difference between good and evil. It’s very important to keep view and conduct distinct. Please discriminate carefully between these two!
Guru Rinpoche also said,
"Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour."
Don't confuse one with the other. When training in the view, you can be as unbiased, as impartial, as vast, immense, and unlimited as the sky. Your behavior, on the other hand, should be as careful as possible in discriminating what is beneficial or harmful, what is good or evil. One can combine the view and conduct, but don't mix them or lose one in the other. That is very important.
'View like the sky' means that nothing is held onto in any way whatsoever. You are not stuck anywhere at all. In other words, there is no discrimination as to what to accept and what to reject; no line is drawn separating one thing from the other. 'Conduct as fine as barley flour' means that there is good and evil, and one needs to differentiate between the two. Give up negative deeds; practice the Dharma. In your behavior, in your conduct, it is necessary to accept and reject.
~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, As it Is Volume II, pp.80-81
Invocation, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, January 2023 (click here to view this offering, read on the 1/10 session by Joseph Parent)
Invocation
Dewdrop, lamp, phantom, rainbow, oasis,
Such is my life and the lives of others –
I surrender to this truth.
To the one who spoke this truth,
The Prince of the Shakyas
I offer my adoration.
To all those who take this truth to heart,
I offer my allegiance.
With determination, I remind myself:
No emotion, just peace,
No ignorance, just awareness,
No anxiety, just serenity,
No weakness, just strength,
No fear, just tranquillity.
With this attitude and free from doubt,
I alone will liberate the world’s living creatures,
Plants, water and atmosphere.
Appearances are deceptive, I shall mistrust them.
Nothingness is just a point of view, I shall not get entangled in it.
Living beings are, by nature, stainless, I shall treasure that stainlessness.
Reality is the bait, I shall not be lured into conformity.
Only in darkness can I see light,
Only in mud can I find a lotus,
Only in defilements can I see Buddha.
Humbly, without a trace of hypocrisy,
I solemnly promise all living beings
That from this day forward,
I will never abandon you.
Wherever you are, may I always be beside you.
Past is now, future is now,
Now is an illusion,
Illusion is luminous.
Such boundlessness is mind:
Other than mind, there is no Buddha.
I beseech you, O Mind!
May I be free from death, old age and sickness.
May I be free from ideas and opinions,
May I be free from time,
May I be free from space,
And may I free all others from their limitations.
Written in response to a number of requests, on the last day of the tumultuous year of 2022, by one on whose five aggregates the label ‘Khyentse Norbu’ has been adhered.
https://khyentsefoundation.org/invocation-words-of-wisdom-13/
SONG BY THRANGU RINPOCHE (September 20, 2001)
Upon hearing of the destruction of the World Trade Center, this wish for negativity to subside was written with pure intention by Thrangu Rinpoche. May virtuous goodness increase .
https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/song-by-thrangu-rinpoche/
Meditations from “Coming Back to Life” ~ by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown
Basic to most spiritual traditions is the recognition that [we are not] separate, isolated entities, but integral and organic parts of the same web of life. We can open to the pain of the world in confidence that it can neither shatter nor isolate us, for we are not objects that can break. We are resilient patterns within a vaster web of knowing.
Because we have been conditioned to view ourselves as separate, competitive and thus fragile entities, we need to relearn this kind of resilience. One way is to practice simple openness, as in this exercise of Breathing Through, adapted from an ancient Buddhist meditation for developing compassion.
MEDITATIONS FOR THE GREAT TURNING
Closing your eyes, focus attention on your breathing. Don't breathe any special way, slow or long. Just watch the breathing as it opens, in and out. Note the accompanying sensations at the upper lip, in the chest or abdomen. Stay passive and alert, like a cat by a mouse hole ....
As you watch the breath, note that it happens by itself, without your will… without your deciding each time to inhale or exhale ... It's as though you're being breathed — being breathed by life ... Just as everyone in this room, in this city, in this planet now, is being breathed by life, sustained in a vast living breathing web…
Now visualize your breath as a stream or ribbon of air. See it flow up through your nose, down through your windpipe and into your lungs. Now from your lungs, take it through your heart. Picture it flowing through your heart and out to reconnect with the larger web of life. Let the breath-stream, as it passes through you and through your heart, appear as one loop within that vast web, connecting you with it.
Now open your awareness to the suffering that is present in the world. Drop for now all defenses and open to your knowledge of that suffering. Let it come as concretely as you can ... images of your fellow-beings in pain and need, in fear and isolation, in prisons, hospitals, tenements, refugee camps .... No need to strain for these images; they are present to you by virtue of our interbeing. Relax and just let them surface ... the vast and countless hardships of our fellow humans, and of our animal brothers and sisters as well, as they swim the seas and fly the air of this planet ....
Now breathe in the pain like granules on the stream of air, up through your nose, down through your trachea, lungs and heart — and out again into the world net .... You are asked to do nothing for now, but let it pass through your heart .... Be sure that stream flows through and on again; don't hang on to the pain. Surrender it for now to the healing resources of life's vast web ....
With Shantideva, the Buddhist saint, we can say, “Let all sorrows ripen in me. We help them ripen by passing them through our hearts, making good rich compost out of all that grief, so we can learn from enhancing our larger, collective knowing ....
COMING BACK TO LIFE
If no images or feelings arise and there is only blankness, gray and numb, breathe that through also. That numbness is a very real part of our world ....
And if what surfaces is not the pain of other beings so much as your own personal suffering, breathe that through, too. Your own anguish is an integral part of the grief of our world, and arises with it ....
Should you feel an ache in the chest, a pressure in the rib cage, as if the heart would break, that is all right. Your heart is not an object that can break .... But if it were, they say the heart that breaks open can hold the whole universe. Your heart is that large. Trust it. Keep breathing ....
Breathing through, once we learn it, becomes useful in daily life in the many situations that confront us with painful information. By breathing through the bad news, rather than bracing ourselves against it, we can let it strengthen our sense of belonging in the larger web of being. It helps us remain alert and open, whether reading the news, receiving criticism or simply being present to a person who is suffering.
For activists and those dealing most directly with the problems of our time, the practice helps prevent burnout. It reminds us that both our pain and our power arise from our interconnectedness, and offers a healing measure of humility. For when we accept our world’s pain as the price of our caring, it naturally flows into action, without drama or self-righteousness.
WAR ALL PERVASIVE Can we take to heart a world of loss and terror?
Douglas Penick on war and tonglen practice
Buddhism, Nonviolence, and the Moral Quandary of Ukraine June 24, 2022
How does Buddhism make sense of war? In the abstract, the teachings are straightforward. But according to Bhikkhu Bodhi, if we find ourselves supporting those who are fighting back in Ukraine, then we have to ask some hard questions—and maybe accept some uncomfortable truths.
https://www.lionsroar.com/buddhism-nonviolence-and-the-moral-quandary-of-ukraine/
SADHANA OF MAHAMUDRA (SOMM) resources
SADHANA OF MAHAMUDRA (SOMM) resources
About Sadhana of Mahamudra - historical comments from the Chronicles site
https://www.chronicleproject.com/historical-comments-on-the-sadhana-of-mahamudra/
Journey to Taktsang 57 Years Ago
The Sadhana of Mahamudra was completed at Taktsang in Bhutan on September 6, 1968. The video at the link below includes photos and comments by the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa RInpoche regarding Taktsang and receiving the sadhana. Chögyam Trungpa’s comments are excerpted from the Sadhana of Mahamudra seminar, Boulder, Colorado, 1975.
https://www.chronicleproject.com/journey-to-taktsang/
The site below includes background about the sadhana, and a talk by John Baker.
A brief guide to names and terms in the Sadhana of Mahamudra, by Hamish Maclaren (click here to display the guide)
The chart below on "5 Buddha families" is referenced in the guide.
There are additional sources for further information on the sadhana at the end of this guide.
3/23/2023
Beginners guide to some of the names and terms you will read in the Sadhana of Mahamudra.
Rough draft (23rd March 2023)
Table of Contents
Background. 1
Overview of the Sadhana components. 3
Key Names and terms. 4
Alphabetical Glossary. 7
NYINGMA LINEAGE (Ancient School). 19
KAGYÜ LINEAGE ("Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission"). 21
ON-LINE RESOURCES. 23
Background
In the 1960s while living in the United Kingdom (Britain) Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was struggling with how to bring the complete Buddhist dharma teachings to the West, including vajrayana, in a way they could be understood, realized and passed on. He describes some of the challenges in the preamble of the sadhana, starting with “This is the darkest hour of the dark ages….”
And also in the sadhana, for example:
“And the river of materialism has burst its banks.
The materialistic outlook dominates everywhere
And the mind is intoxicated with worldly concerns.”
(page 17)
Keep in mind the Sadhana is called “THE SADHANA OF MAHAMUDRA Which Quells the Mighty Warring of the Three Lords of Materialism and Brings Realization of the Ocean of Siddhas of The Practice Lineages”.
At the beginning of the “The Sadhana of Mahamudra Sourcebook” Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche says
“The subject that we are going to discuss is the inspiration that developed in me from being exposed simultaneously to both Western spiritual materialism and to the wisdom of the traditional Buddhist approach to reality.
The Sadhana of Mahamudra was written in Tibetan by myself, personally, and has been translated into the English language. The basic vision of the sadhana is based on two main principles, the principle of space and the principle of energy. Space here refers to the ati principle, the ninth and highest yana of buddhist tantra. The energy principle, or mahamudra, is the second level of tantra; it is also a high level of experience. So we are trying to bring space and energy together; we are trying to bring about some kind of understanding and realization in the world.”
At the invitation of the queen of Bhutan, Trungpa Rinpoche journeyed to Bhutan in 1968. He went to do a retreat in the cave of Taktsang (in Bhutan) where Guru Rinpoche had manifested as the wrathful Dorje Trolo before entering Tibet, in the 8th century.
“Towards the end of our retreat, The Sadhana of Mahamudra arose in Rinpoche’s mind, and the main part of it was written down very quickly, in one or two days. Several more days were spent in refining and polishing. We began translating it into English almost immediately,…”
Note: Chögyam Trungpa received both the Karma Pakshi and Dorje Trolö empowerments prior to entering retreat at Taktsang and “These two gurus, visualized as yidams or vajrayana nontheistic deities, are combined as one central figure in The Sadhana of Mahamudra, thus unifying the energies of their respective lineages, the Kagyü and the Nyingma.”
Overview of the Sadhana components
Note: There are instructions for the practice in italics at various points in the Sadhana. So it is a very good idea to read those.
The sadhana has the traditional components of a vajrayana Buddhist sadhana. It starts by taking refuge and the Bodhisattva aspiration. Then it creates the mandala/visualization “The spontaneous mahamudra mandala is now created…” (page 7) which uses a lot of terms and names that might be new to the those first starting the Sadhana, so below is some further explanation of those.
Then bottom of page 11 is the Supplication, which includes praise of the teachers’ qualities and acknowledgement of our predicament, the “Four Dharmas of Gampopa", etc. Page 17 “identification with the guru”. Then, page 19, Offering. Page 21, Supplication.
Then page 23, the triple HUMs, the progressive merging oneself with the visualization, and receive the simple and ultimate abhisheka.
Then what might be called further supplication and celebratory verses.
Page 23 Final auspicious verses
Then a dedication of merit is added.
Key Names and terms
A BRIEF FURTHER EXPLANATION of some of the names and terms found in the Sadhana of Mahamudra.
Mahamudra (Chakgya chenpo). The great seal, great symbol. The highest teachings of the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism. The path to realizing the "mind as it is" (Tb: sems nyid), “suchness”, awareness-emptiness”. Symbol of what? Symbol of itself. (See toward the end of this document “KAGYÜ LINEAGE ("Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission").
HUM is what is called a seed syllable, in this case they are the basic energy of a being or a teaching before any physical manifestation. AH and PHAT are also seed syllables. “The seed syllables corresponding to the trikaya are: a white oṃ (enlightened body), a red āḥ (enlightened speech) and a blue hūṃ (enlightened mind)”. Wikipedia
Three lords of materialism (title and pp 6 & 16)
The Three Lords are:
The Lord of Form, who rules the world of physical materialism.
The Lord of Speech, who rules the realm of psychological materialism.
The Lord of Mind, who is the ruler of the world of spiritual materialism.
See the book “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism”, by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (The Introduction, starts page 3.)
See also “Meet The Three Lords of Materialism” https://www.lionsroar.com/meet-the-three-lords-of-materialism/
Great teachers mentioned in the Sadhana of Mahamudra in bold
Padmasambhava. (circa 8th – 9th centuries). Aka: Dorje Trolo (the wrathful aspect of Padmasambhava/Guru Rinpoche), Padmakara, Padma Thotreng. Guru Rinpoche, Senge Dradrog, Shakya Senge, Loden Chokse and many other names. (Great Wrathful One (page 11) is Dorje Trolo). He is considered to be the main person to bring the Vajrayana Buddhist teachings to Tibet, having been invited by King Trisong Detsen (r. 755–797/804) on the recommendation of Śāntarakṣita (725–788) to help tame the local spirits/demons and impress the Tibetans with his magical and ritual powers, and thus to support the construction of the Samye Monastery. King Trisong Detsen became one of his main students, as was the king’s wife Yeshe Tsogyal. He had Twenty-five main students and many other students. He has eight manifestations, one of them being Dorje Trolo.
See list of Nyingma Lineage (Ancient School) below.
The Sadhana of Mahamudra mentions several Karmapas
See the full “List of Karmapa”s under the “Kagyü Lineage” near the end of this document. Karmapas are the heads of the Karma Kagyü, the largest sub-school of the Kagyü which is one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. They are considered a manifestation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.
Tüsum Khyenpa (or Düsum Khyenpa) (1110–1193). 1st Karmapa. His name means "knower of the three times" [past, present and future]. Student of Gampopa (1079-1153), Milarepa's most important student, who integrated Atiśa's Kadam teachings and Tilopa's Mahamudra teaching to establish the Kagyü lineage. He was also a student of Rechungpa, the "moon-like", disciple of Milarepa, also instructed him, principally in the Six Yogas of Naropa. He is described on page 11 of the Sadhana.
Karma Pakshi (1204–1283). 2nd Karmapa. “You have subdued the viciousness of the Mongol emperor”, page 21. He spent time in China in response to an invitation from Kublai Khan. He spent time at the court of Möngke Khan and later his brother Kublai Khan, who both became his patrons, perhaps students. He also had a least two Nyingma (Dzogchen) teachers. “His teacher, Pomdrakpa, had received the full Kagyü transmission from Drogon Rechen, the first Karmapa's spiritual heir. Pomdrakpa realized, through certain very clear visions, that the child in his charge was the reincarnation of Düsum Khyenpa, as indicated in the letter given to Drogon Rechen.” Wikipedia. He “spent much of the first half of his life in meditation retreat. He also visited and restored the monasteries established by the first Karmapa and is famous for having introduced to the Tibetan people communal chanting of the “Om mani padme hung” mantra of compassion” and of Avalokiteśvara. Wikipedia. Detailed description of Karma Pakshi in the Sadhana from page 9 on. See “List of Karmapas” and the “Kagyü Lineage” towards the end of this document.
Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339). 3rd Karmapa. Rangjung Dorje also visited China, where the emperor Toghon Temur became his disciple. Born to a Nyingma family, Rangjung Dorje was a lineage-holder in both the Kagyü and the Nyingma (Dzogchen) traditions. He was also a disciple of Nyingma Kumaradza, as was Longchenpa. Detailed description of Rangjung Dorje in the Sadhana from page 11-12.
Mikyö Dorje (1507–1554). 8th Karmapa. “left numerous Buddhist writings on Gongchik commentary Madhyamaka, Abhidharma, Tantric and Mahamudra texts, poetry (verses of profound wisdom) and even linguistics. He introduced special guru yoga in four sessions, which is the basis for Karma Kagyü teaching” Wikipedia. Detailed description of Mikyö Dorje in the Sadhana from page 11 on.
Also mentioned in the Sadhana are:
Amitaba (Amitābha) (page 11). He is a Buddha. Buddha Lochana (Locana) and Buddha Mamaki are female Buddhas (page 8). (See 5 Buddhas chart).
And “light in five different colors, which are the five buddhas” (page 10). “five wisdoms and the five buddhas” (page 6). (For colors for the corresponding colors White, Blue, Yellow/gold, Red and Green, see chart below).
Five Buddhas: Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Vairocana, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi
Aka: Five Tathāgatas or Five Wisdom Tathāgatas, the Five Great Buddhas, the Five Dhyani Buddhas and the Five Jinas (Sanskrit for "conqueror" or "victor"). (See 5 Buddhas chart).
Five Female Buddhas: (Dharma)dhatvishvari aka (Akasa)Datvishvari, Lochana (Locanā), Mamaki, Pandara (Pandaravasini), Green Tara. (See 5 Buddhas chart).
Alphabetical Glossary
Abhisheka (wang). (p 11). Empowerment. Often a fairly elaborate ceremony used to empower students with or to begin a particular practice.
Amitaba or Amitābha (a Buddha, page 11). Buddha Lochana and Buddha Mamaki are female Buddhas (page 8). (See 5 Buddhas Chart).
Amrita (dütsi Tb) (p 11). Blessed food or drink. Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is used in many Tibetan buddhist practices and ceremonies.
Ati (aka: MahaAti, Dzogchen). Great Perfection. See Dzogchen in this list. See Nyingma Lineage below.
Black crown (p 11). Worn by the Karmapas in the Black Crown ceremony. “The Karmapas are the holders of the Black Crown (Wylie: Zhwa-nag) and are thus sometimes known as "the Black Hat Lamas". This crown … is traditionally said to have been woven by the dakinis from their hair and given to the Karmapa in recognition of his spiritual realization. (Wikipedia). One theory is that it was first seen above the head of Karmapa by an emperor of China. The physical crown displayed by the Karmapas was offered to Deshin Shekpa, 5th Karmapa Lama by the Yongle Emperor of China as a material representation of the spiritual one.
Bhikshu robes (p 11). Bhikshu is an ordained Buddhist monk, bhikṣuṇī is an ordained Buddhist nun. It literally means "beggar" or "one who lives by alms".
Bhumi (Sa). Grounds/stages of realization. Progressive stages on the bodhisattva path. These are the stages from the first realization of nonduality/enlightenment (1st Bhumi) before becoming a Buddha. There are ten bhumis of the bodhisattva path, with the eleventh being buddhahood, and thirteen in the Tantrayana; the Dzogchen teachings sometimes speak of sixteen bhumis. The Tibetan word “sa” can mean earth, ground, stage; the same Sa as in Sakyong. These are increasing refinements or realization and each have their own Paramita (transcendent action). At the 7th Bhumi you can choose whether or not to take rebirth.
11 Bhumis
1. All joyful extremely joyful (raptu gawa, pramudita) (7 limbs)
2. Spotless one (trima mega, Vimala)
3. Luminous one/illuminating (ö jepa, prabhakari)
4. Radiating light (ö trowa, arcismati)
5. Hard to accomplish/difficult to accomplish (shintu jangkawa, sudurjaya)
6. Complete achievement/experiencing reality (ngöntu gyurpa, abhimukhi)
7. Gone long way/far gone (ringtu songwa, durangama)
8. Unmovable/not moving (mi yowa, acala) (10 powers)
9. Good knowledge/good intellect (legpe lotrö, sadhumati)
10. Dharma cloud/cloud of dharma (chökyi trin, dharmamegha)
11. No more learning (küntu-ö). Always luminous. Buddhahood
(10 bhumis, p 109, 165, MOF)
(Some traditions use 13 Bhumis or 16 Bhumis)
These are related to the 5 Paths of Mahayana (lam nga)
1. Path of Accumulation. (Tsog lam.) (Skt. sambhara-marga) (merit/sönan, prajñā/knowledge, virtue/gewa).
2. Path of Preparation (Unification or Joining, Application) (Jor lam)(Skt. sambhara-marga). 4 stages: heat, peak, forbearance, supreme of the mundane qualities.
3. Path of Seeing (Thong lam)(Skt. darsana-marga) (1st Bhumi)
4. Path of Meditation (Gom lam)(Skt. bhavana-marga) (2nd -10th Bhumis)
5. Path of No More Learning (Milop lam) (Skt. ashaiksa-marga) Buddhahood
Bodhicitta (Bodhichitta/changchup kyi sem). Awakened mind/heart or the thought of awakening. It is the mind (citta/chitta) that is aimed at/aspirating to awakening (bodhi), with wisdom and compassion specifically for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is one of the defining qualities of the Mahayana path.
Bodhisattva (Changchup Sempa Tb.). A person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Buddhas (Sanggye). A fully and completely realized being. One who has completed all the Paths and Bhumis, (see Nirvana below). See Five Buddhas and see Five Female Buddhas below. They include Buddha Lochana and Buddha Mamaki, female Buddhas, page 8) (See Bhumis above and also 5 Buddhas Chart).
Buddhanature (deshik) (Aka: tathagatagarbha [(deshek nyinpo/dewar shek-pe nyingpo] or sugatagarbha [teshin nyingpo/teshin-shekpa]). The seed, embryo, essence of Buddhahood. “The 19th/20th-century Nyingma scholar, Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal, sees the buddha-nature as ultimate truth,[130] nirvana, which is constituted of profundity, primordial peace and radiance: Buddha-nature is immaculate. It is profound, serene, unfabricated suchness, an uncompounded expanse of luminosity; nonarising, unceasing, primordial peace, spontaneously present nirvana.” Wikipedia
Charnel ground (p 9). An above-ground site for the putrefaction of bodies, generally human, where formerly living tissue is left to decompose uncovered.
Chötens (Chortens) (p 9). Tibetan word for Stupa, often a round or square religious multi layered structure, containing relics. They sometimes have rooms inside with statues and paintings and areas for meditation practices.
Consciousnesses. See Eight kinds of consciousness.
Crazy wisdom (yeshe chölwa) (p 12, 19, 26). “refers to unconventional, outrageous, unexpected, or unpredictable behavior linked to religious or spiritual pursuits.” “divine madness is unconventional, outrageous, unexpected, or unpredictable behavior that is considered to be a manifestation of spiritual accomplishment.” Wikipedia. However I believe it has been suggested (possible by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche) that Crazy Wisdom before the advance bhumis (stages of enlightenment, see above) is just crazy, no wisdom.
Dakinis (p 8, 9 & 11) (Khandro Tib). “Sky goer” “can refer to both what can be best described as fierce-looking female embodiments of enlightened energy and to human women with a certain amount of spiritual development, both of which can help Tantric initiates attaining enlightenment.” Wikipedia
Devotion (bhakti/mögü) (p 5, 12, 18, 25). The italic note on pages 18-19 of the Sadhana discusses this. Critical in the Mahamudra tradition.
See “Cutting through Spiritual Materialism”, the Chapter “Surrendering” and “Myth of Freedom”, Section VII “Devotion”. Both books by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, published by Shambhala Publications.
Dharma (Cho/chö) (p 14, 13, 17, 18, 21). In this case the Buddhist teachings. Dharmas can also refer to any phenomena or the components of our world and mind.
Dharmachakra (chos kyi 'khor lo)(p 11). Literally the wheel of dharma, it is a symbol that is widely used in the Buddhist tradition (and others). Often with eight spokes that sometimes stick out beyond the wheel.
Dharmapalas (chos-skyong or chö kyong). Dharma protectors. These are protectors of the Buddhist teachings, so are often depicted in wrathful form in various colors and varying numbers of heads, eyes, arms, and legs, and various types of ornaments, accoutrements and weapons. “dharmapalas and dakinis” (p 12). See also Mahakala and Mahakali.
Dharmaraja (Chogyal) (p 11). Dharma king. The Tibetan King Trisong Detsen (c. 755–797/804) and the Indian Ashoka Maharaja (c. 304 – 232 BCE), are examples. Note: Chakravartin is a Universal Monarch.
Dorje. Vajra (Skt). “nine-pointed dorje” (p 10). 'Thunderbolt' or Indestructible. It is a ritual object and a Vajra/Dorje and bell are used in many Vajrayana practices. It is typically about four or five inches long, but can be much bigger. Wikipedia describes it as “The vajra is made up of several parts. In the center is a sphere which represents Sunyata,[17] the primordial nature of the universe, the underlying unity of all things. Emerging from the sphere are two eight petaled lotus flowers” then coming out of that, at each end, several arched prongs (makara) that meet either at the top or bottom of the vajra “The five-pronged vajra (with four makara, plus a central prong) is the most commonly seen vajra.” Although they can have many more points. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajra
Dorje Trolo (p 7, 14, 20, 25). Wrathful form of Padmasambhava, see “Nyingma Lineage” below.
Dualistic thoughts (p 8, 20). Ego’s way of thinking about (and perceiving) reality, self and other, good and bad, etc. “good, bad, happy sad all thoughts vanish into emptiness like an imprint of a bird in the sky” (page 18). See also the chapter “The Development of Ego”, in the book “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” by Chögyam Trungpa.
Dzogchen. Great Perfection/Great Completion. (dzog is perfection/completion, chen is great). Aka Dzogpa Chenpo, Maha Ati, Ati Yoga, Mahasandhi. It is a very advanced vajrayana practice of the Nyingma school of Tibetan buddhism. Includes: Semde ('Mind Series'), the Longdé ('Space Series') and the Menngagde ('Instruction Series') (somewhat aka Nyingthik/Nyingtig) which is divided into trekchö (cutting through) and tögel (direct approach); for example the Vima Nyingtig teachings from Vimalamitra and the Khandro Nyingtig teachings from Padmasambhava. See also “Nyingma Lineage” below.
Eight kinds of consciousness. (p 8).
8 Consciousnesses
1-6 Consciousness/sense perceptions of: Sound, Sight, Smell, Taste, Touch & Mind.
7 Defiled consciousness/Subconscious (nyom-yid) Instigator of klesha. Sense of duality.
8 Alaya vijnana (Künshi). Storehouse consciousness.
Emptiness (shunyata/tongpanyi). This refers to empty of any intrinsic existence, empty as in no permanent, independent, solid self or anything else. Sometimes called ultimate truth. Considered the Buddha’s unique discovery. “And here is the sun of wisdom and shunyata” (p 8), “Bliss and emptiness” (p 17). “Whatever is seen with the eyes is vividly unreal in emptiness, yet there is still form”, “Whatever is heard with the ears is the echo of emptiness, yet real:”, “all thoughts vanish into emptiness like the imprint of a bird in the sky” (p 18). “are felt in great joy and emptiness” (p 23). The Heart Sutra (Prajñāpāramitā (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutra) is perhaps the best known sutra on emptiness and in many Buddhist contexts it is chanted daily.
Part of that Sutra includes “Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas; no eye dhatu up to no mind dhatu, no dhatu of dharmas, no mind consciousness dhatu; no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death, no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no nonattainment…” Translated into English by the Nalanda Translation Committee.
Note: Dhatu (constituent part, ingredient, element) here refers to the Eighteen Dhātus, the six sense organs/gates/doors, the objects of those senses and the corresponding sense consciousnesses. See “Eight kinds of consciousness” in this list.]
five different colors, which are the five buddhas” (page 10). “five wisdoms and the five buddhas.” (Page 6). See below and also 5 Buddhas Chart for corresponding colors (White, Blue, Yellow/gold, Red and Green).
Five Buddhas: Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Vairocana, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi.
Aka: Five Tathāgatas or Five Wisdom Tathāgatas, the Five Great Buddhas, the Five Dhyani Buddhas and the Five Jinas (Sanskrit for "conqueror" or "victor"). (See 5 Buddhas Chart)
Five Female Buddhas: (Dharma)dhatvishvari aka: (Akasa)Datvishvari, Lochana (Locanā), Mamaki, Pandara (Pandaravasini), Green Tara. (See 5 Buddhas Chart).
Five Buddha Families (Buddhas)
Buddha (Vairocana), (White)
Vajra (Aksobhya/Vajrasattva), (Blue)
Ratna (Ratnasambhava), (Yellow)
Padma (Amitabha), (Red)
Karma (Amoghasiddhi) (Green)
(CTSM p224)
Five wisdoms (page 7 & 23) and Five poisons (page 23)
See also chart of Five Buddhas.
Five poisons: Passion, Aggression, Ignorance/ignoring, Pride, and Jealousy.
3 Kleshas. Poisons (nyönmong)
Passion (Kama/Raga)
Aggression (pratiga/dvesha/zhe-dang)
Ignorance (moha/timuk)
(5 kleshas, add pride & envy/jealousy)
(6 Root kleshas, add pride, doubt & opinion/view.)
See also chart of Five Buddhas.
Five Wisdoms (Jnana/yeshe)
Wisdom of All Pervading Space /wisdom of dharmadhatu.
Mirror like wisdom.
Wisdom of Equanimity/Equality.
Discriminating Awareness wisdom/ wisdom of discernment.
Wisdom of All Accomplishing Action.
(CTSM p224)
See also chart of Five Buddhas.
Great Wrathful One (page 11). That is Dorje Trolo, the wrathful manifestation of Padmasambhava/Guru Rinpoche. See Padmasambhava below and also “Nyingma Lineage” below.
Heruka (khrag 'thung) (p 10, 19). “the name of a category of wrathful deities(yidams), enlightened beings in Vajrayana Buddhism that adopt a fierce countenance to benefit sentient beings. In East Asia, these are called Wisdom Kings. Herukas represent the embodiment of indivisible bliss and emptiness. They appear as Iṣṭha-devatā (Tibetan: Wylie: yi dam) or meditational deities for tantric sādhanā, usually placed in a mandala and often appearing in Yab-Yum.” Wikipedia. Yab-yum is “a male deity in union with his female consort”.
Hinayana (thekpa chung). Lesser vehicle. One of the three great yanas/vehicles, or groups of teachings, within Tibetan Buddhism. (Composed of the Tripiṭaka (three baskets): Sutra -Buddha’s early teachings, Abhidharma (chö ngönpa) discourse in those sutras, and the Vinaya, the monastic rules.) See “Tibetan Buddhist Path” in this list.
HUM is what is called a seed syllable, in this case they are the basic energy of a being or a teaching before any physical manifestation. In this sadhana that includes HUM, AH and PHAT. “The seed syllables corresponding to the trikaya are: a white oṃ (enlightened body), a red āḥ (enlightened speech) and a blue hūṃ (enlightened mind)”. Wikipedia.
Karma Pakshi (p 7, 10, 11, 21, 25). 2nd Karmapa. “You have subdued the viciousness of the Mongol emperor”, page 21. He spent time in China in response to an invitation from Kublai Khan. He spent time at the court of Möngke Khan and later his brother Kublai Khan, who both became his patrons, perhaps students. He also had a least two Nyingma (Dzogchen) teachers. “His teacher, Pomdrakpa, had received the full Kagyü transmission from Drogon Rechen, the first Karmapa's spiritual heir. Pomdrakpa realized, through certain very clear visions, that the child in his charge was the reincarnation of Düsum Khyenpa, as indicated in the letter given to Drogon Rechen.” Wikipedia. He “spent much of the first half of his life in meditation retreat. He also visited and restored the monasteries established by the first Karmapa and is famous for having introduced to the Tibetan people communal chanting of the “Om mani padme hung” mantra of compassion” and of Avalokiteśvara (Wikipedia). Detailed description of Karma Pakshi in the Sadhana from page 9 on. See “List of Karmapas” and the “Kagyü Lineage” towards the end of this document..
KAGYÜ LINEAGE ("Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission"). See “Kagyü Lineage” toward the end of this document.
Kaya. See Trikaya
Kleshas (nyönmong). See Five Poisons above. Passion, Aggression, Ignorance/ignoring, Pride, and Jealousy.
Maha ati (p 6). (see Dzogchen). The highest teaching of the Nyingma Lineage (Ancient School). One of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Aka: Dzogchen, "Great Perfection", Dzogpa Chenpo, Ati Yoga, Mahasandhi), See also “Tibetan Buddhist Path” below and see “Nyingma Lineage” toward the end of this document.
Mahakalas (nag po chen po ) (p 10) (See also Mahakali). A dharma protector (dharmapala). Wikipedia says “According to Shaktisamgama Tantra, the spouse of Mahākālī is extremely frightening. Mahākāla has four arms, three eyes and is of the brilliance of 10 million black fires of dissolution, dwells in the midst of eight cremation grounds (śmaśāna). He is adorned with eight human skulls, seated on five corpses, holds a trident (triśūla), a drum, a sword, and a scythe in his hands.” Wikipedia. Although often red, he can have different colors and numbers of eyes, arms, legs, and types of ornaments, accoutrements, weapons and retinue. Most Tibetan Buddhist shrine rooms will have a Mahakala shrine somewhere towards the back or side. See also Dharmapalas.
Mahakalis. “Protecting mahakalis” (p 9). Good, but very scary and dangerous looking female beings who protect the teachings, practitioners, place of practice, etc. Often with a necklace of severed heads, holds various sharp weapons and can have numerous heads, eyes, arms and legs and types of ornaments, accoutrements and weapons. Male is Mahakala. They are both Dharmapalas. Most Tibetan Buddhist shrine rooms will have a Mahakala shrine somewhere towards the back or side. See also Dharmapalas.
Mahamudra (Chakgya chenpo). The great seal, great symbol. The highest teachings of the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism. The path to realizing the "mind as it is" (Tb: sems nyid), “suchness”, awareness-emptiness”. (See toward the end of this document “KAGYÜ LINEAGE ("Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission"). See “Myth of Freedom”, Section VIII “Tantra”, Mahamudra Upadesa, page 157. By Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, published by Shambhala Publication
Mahayana (thekpa chenpo). Great vehicle. One of the three great yanas/vehicles, or groups of teachings, within Tibetan Buddhism. It includes: Emptiness (shunyata/tongpanyi), compassion (karuna/nyingje [noble heart]), and buddhanature (deshik). (Aka: tathagatagarbha [(deshek nyinpo/dewar shek-pe nyingpo] or sugatagarbha [teshin nyingpo/teshin-shekpa]). See Tibetan Buddhist Path in this list.
Mandala (kyilkhor) (p 20). A geometric configuration of symbols, and or deities (non-theistic). See “Myth of Freedom”, Section VIII “Tantra”, Mandala page 152. By Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, published by Shambhala Publication
Manjushri (p 6) (aka Mañjuśrī is Mañjughoṣa). Bodhisattva associated with wisdom. Considered a fully enlightened Buddha. “Mañjuśrī is depicted as a male bodhisattva wielding a flaming sword in his right hand, representing the realization of transcendent wisdom which cuts down ignorance and duality. Also holds scripture supported by the padma (lotus) held in his left hand, which is a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra, representing his attainment of ultimate realization from the blossoming of wisdom.” Wikipedia in part. He “manifests in a number of different Tantric forms. Yamāntaka (meaning 'terminator of Yama i.e. Death') is the wrathful manifestation of Mañjuśrī, popular within the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism”. Wikipedia
Mantra (ngak). Mind protection. Sacred repeated words, sounds or phrases. Sometimes all or part seed syllables. Perhaps the most famous is Avalokitesvara’s “Om Mani Padme Hum”.
Mikyo Dorje (1507–1554) (p 5, 7, 11, 19, 22, 24). 8th Karmapa. “left numerous Buddhist writings on Gongchik commentary Madhyamaka, Abhidharma, Tantric and Mahamudra texts, poetry (verses of profound wisdom) and even linguistics. He introduced special guru yoga in four sessions, which is the basis for Karma Kagyü teaching.” Wikipedia. Detailed description in the Sadhana from page 11 on. See “List of Karmapas” and also “Kagyü Lineage” toward the end of this document.
Mudra (chakgya). Symbolic or ritual gestures used in many vajrayana practices.
Ngagpa. An is an ordained non-monastic practitioner of Dzogchen and Tantra; as in Ngagpa Rigdzin Kumaradza (1266-1343) seminal instructor for both Longchen Rabjampa and the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje. “Traditionally, many Nyingma ngakpas wear uncut hair and white robes and these are sometimes called ‘the white-robed and uncut-hair group’” Wikipedia.
Nirvana. The state of enlightenment (bodhi/changchup), awakenment, free from samsara. In Tibetan Buddhism enlightenment/awakenment can be seen at realization of the inseparability of samsara and nirvana. Samsara and nirvana (p 9, 12) Samsara (khorwa) is the dualistic, therefore unenlightened, state of cyclical birth, aging, sickness and death, with all of its accompanying pain and suffering (duhkha/dug ngal). Sometimes referred to as “The vicious cycle of transmigratory existence”. In Tibetan Buddhism there are 10 (or 12 or 15) stages, called Bhumis (Tb. Sa), from the first realization of nonduality/enlightenment (1st Bhumi) before becoming a Buddha. The Tibetan word “sa” can mean earth, ground, stage.
Nonmeditation (p 7) (abhāvanā, Tb. gom med). The fourth of the Four Yogas of Mahamudra. “The state of not holding to either an object of meditation nor to a meditator. Nothing further needs to be 'meditated upon' or 'cultivated' at this stage.” (Wikipedia). The other three stages are One-pointedness, Simplicity, and One taste.
NYINGMA LINEAGE (Ancient School). See Nyingma Lineage (Ancient School) toward the end of this document.
Padmasambhava. (circa 8th – 9th centuries). Aka: Dorje Trolo (the wrathful aspect of Padmasambhava/Guru Rinpoche), Padmakara, Padma Thotreng. Guru Rinpoche, Senge Dradrog, Shakya Senge, Loden Chokse and many other names (Great Wrathful One (page 11) is Dorje Trolo). He is considered to be the main person to bring the Vajrayana Buddhist teachings to Tibet, having been invited by King Trisong Detsen (r. 755–797/804) on the recommendation of Śāntarakṣita (725–788) to help tame the local spirits/demons and impress the Tibetans with his magical and ritual powers, and thus to support the construction of the Samye Monastery. King Trisong Detsen became one of his main students, as was the king’s wife Yeshe Tsogyal. He had Twenty-five main students and many other students. He has eight manifestations, one being Dorje Trolo. See Nyingma Lineage toward the end of this document.
Paramita (parchen? or pharol-tu-chinpa). Transcendent action, perfections, “Going beyond”(CTR 1982). They do not become Transcendent until the 6th, Wisdom, is accomplished. Mahayana is sometimes called paramitayana. Sometimes translated as "that which has gone beyond/to the other shore". They also relate to the 10 bhumis/stages of the Bodhisattva’s path.
6 Paramitas (pāramitā/parchen or pharol-tu-chinpa [1974, p138])
1. Generosity (Dana/jinpa) (
2. Discipline (Shila/tsültrim)
3. Patience (Kshanti/zöpa)
4. Joyful Exertion (Virya/tsöndru)
5. Meditation (Dhyana/samten)
6. Wisdom/Knowledge (Prajñā /sherap)
(7-10 paramitas: Skillful means (upaya/thap), Inspiration (pranidhana/mönlam), Power (bala/top), Wisdom (jñāna/yeshe).
“These virtues are called "the six paramitas," because "param" means "other side" or "shore," "other side of the river," and "ita" means "arrived." "Paramita" means "arriving at the other side or shore," which indicates that the activities of the bodhisattva must have the vision, the understanding which transcends the centralized notions of ego.” (page 170).
CTSM pp170-184. MOF, pp106-110. TMIA, Ch 21)
Phurba (p 10). A ritual three sided knife or dagger.
Pon or Bön. “The sacred mantra has strayed into Pon” (page 5). This is the indigenous animist and shamanic belief system of Tibet, that existed before Buddhism came to Tibet in the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (569–649? 650), and Bön continues to be part of the culture this day.
Prajna (sherap). Knowledge. Often optimistically wrongly translated as Wisdom (jnana/yeshe).
Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) (p 7, 11,15, 19, 22, 25). 3rd Karmapa. Rangjung Dorje also visited China, where the emperor Toghon Temur became his disciple. Born to a Nyingma family, Rangjung Dorje was a lineage-holder in both the Kagyü and the Nyingma (Dzogchen) schools/lineages. He was also a disciple of Nyingma Kumaradza, as was Longchenpa. Detailed description in the Sadhana from page 11-12. See “List of Karmapas” and also “KAGYÜ LINEAGE ("Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission)” toward the end of this document.
Realms. See Three Worlds
Rudra. “corpse of the rudra of ego” (p 9). Rudra in Tibetan Buddhism usually refers to a very advanced demon, formerly a human monk who became a very dangerous and destructive ego maniac.
Samantabhadra (Tibetan: Kuntu Zangpo/Kuntuzangpo/Güntu Sangpo). (Tib. ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་, Kuntu Zangpo; Wyl. kun tu bzang po). The All-Good (p 12). Primordial Buddha. Wikipedia says Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche following the Nyingmapa Dzogchen tradition qualifies the nature and essence of Samantabhadra as follows:
Samantabhadra is not subject to limits of time, place, or physical conditions. Samantabhadra is not a colored being with two eyes, etc. Samantabhadra is the unity of awareness and emptiness, the unity of appearances and emptiness, the nature of mind, natural clarity with unceasing compassion - that is Samantabhadra from the very beginning.
See NYINGMA LINEAGE (Ancient School) below. Note: There is also a Samantabhadra (Bodhisattva) one of the eight main bodhisattva attendants of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Samsara and nirvana (p 9, 12). Samsara (khorwa) is the dualistic, therefore unenlightened, state of cyclical birth, aging, sickness and death, with all of its accompanying pain and suffering (duhkha). Sometimes referred to as “The vicious cycle of transmigratory existence”. Nirvana is the state of enlightenment, free from samsara. See the “Nirvana” listing.
Sangha (gendün). The community of Buddhist practitioners.
Seed syllable. See HUM above.
Shunyata. See “Emptiness (shunyata/tongpanyi)” in this list.
Siddhas. “embodiment of all the siddhas”(page 5). Siddhi (ngödrup) means accomplishment. In Buddhism they are highly accomplished Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Skandhas (phung-po). Heaps or piles, “five aggregates”.
5 Skandhas (phung-po)
1. Ignorance/Form (nama/rupa)
2. Feeling (vedana/tsowa)
3. Perception (samaja/du-she)
4. Concept (samskara/du-je kyi le)
5. Consciousness (vijnana/nampar shepa)
(CTSM chapters: The Development of Ego p121 and The Six Realms p 138. P 19 MOF. GoA.)
5 Skandhas (More detail)
1) Form. Four Causal Forms: four elements; Eleven Resultant Forms: five sense powers, five sense objects, mental consciousness; Mental Consciousness Forms: revelatory and nonrevelatory.
2) Feeling. Experience of pain, pleasure, neutral.
3) Discrimination. Apprehending objects, sequence.
4) Formation. Similarity and nonsimilarity; Fifty-one mental factors [samskaras].
5) Consciousness. Eight consciousnesses. 6 Realms.
Sutra (do). Hinayana, mahayana texts based on a dialogue between the Buddha and a disciple, elaborating a topic of dharma. See Tibetan Buddhist Path below.
Taktsang. (p 12, 20, 26). Taktsang a cave in the side of a cliff, in a remote part of Bhutan, where Guru Rinpoche had manifested as the wrathful Dorje Trolo before entering Tibet, in the 8th century. Also where Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche received and wrote the Sadhana of Mahamudra in 1968.
Tantra (gyü). (p 5). Continuity. A synonym for vajrayana, one of the three great yanas/vehicles, or groups of teachings, within Tibetan Buddhism. It also may refer to vajrayana texts or practices. See Tibetan Buddhist Path in this section below.
Tathagata (teshin nyingpo/teshin-shekpa). "thus-gone". Another word for buddha. “Thus come” or “thus gone” are epithets for a buddha. See Five Buddhas above.
Terma (Tibetan spelling “gter ma”). Refers to hidden teachings. These can be hidden in caves, trees, rocks, mountains, water, sky, etc. even in the mind (called göm terma). The finder of terma is called a tertön. It is often written in dakini script, a non-human type of code or writing that only a tertön can decipher. Particularly Padmasambhava, but also his consort Yeshe Tsogyal and some other of his principal students hid religious texts, ritual objects, relics, etc, to be discovered when conditions were ripe for their contents. Particularly prevalent in the Nyingma lineage which has two types of teachings/lineages: an oral “kama” lineage and a revealed “terma” lineage. Also Nagarjuna’s [c. 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)] discovery or rediscovery of the last part of the "Prajnaparamita Sutra” could be seen as terma. You could perhaps/maybe see the 10 Commandments as a Jewish or Christian version of this, or in the Arthurian legends of the sword in the stone or the Lady of the Lake, etc.
Three lords of materialism (title and pp 6 & 16)
The Three Lords are:
The Lord of Form, who rules the world of physical materialism.
The Lord of Speech, who rules the realm of psychological materialism.
The Lord of Mind, who is the ruler of the world of spiritual materialism.
See the book “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism”, by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (The Introduction, starts page 3.)
See also “Meet The Three Lords of Materialism” https://www.lionsroar.com/meet-the-three-lords-of-materialism/
Three times. (pp 4, 8 & 18). Past, Present, Future.
Three worlds (pp 10 & 11)
3 Realms of Samsãra (khorwa):
1. The Desire Realm (kamadhātu/dökham). Includes the 6 Realms (lokas): Hell, Hungry ghosts (Preta), Animal, Human, Jealous gods (Asura), gods (Deva).
2. The Form Realm (rupadhātu/suk kham)
Four levels of samten: samten tangpo, samten nyipa, samten sumpa, samten shipa.
3. The Formless Realm (arupadhātu/sukme kham)
Limitless space, Limitless consciousness, Nothingness, Peak of Existence.
(CTSM).
Tibetan Buddhist Path
3 Yanas. 3 vehicles. Overall categories:
Hinayana (thekpa chung). Lesser vehicle. Composed of the Tripiṭaka (three baskets): Sutra -the Buddha’s early teachings, Abhidharma (chö ngönpa) discourse in those sutras, and the Vinaya, the monastic rules).
Mahayana (thekpa chenpo). Great vehicle. Emptiness (shunyata/tongpanyi), compassion (karuna/nyingje [noble heart]), and buddhanature (deshik) (aka: tathagatagarbha [(deshek nyinpo/dewar shek-pe nyingpo] or sugatagarbha [teshin nyingpo/teshin-shekpa]).
Vajrayana (dorje-thekpa, aka mantrayana/ngag-luk & tantrayana). Indestructible vehicle. Based in Mahayana and includes practices that make use of mantras, mudras, mandalas and visualization of non-theistic deities and Buddhas.
Note: Yana (Tb. thekpa) means “Vehicle”, in this case a vehicle that carries the practitioner along the path to liberation.
Tibetan Buddhist Path
9 Yanas. More detailed categories.
Hinayana: 1 Shravaka (nyenthö) hearers. 2 Pratyekabuddha (rang-sang-gye), individual realizers. Mahayana: 3 Bodhisattva. Vajrayana: 4 Kriya tantra/kriyayoga-yana. 5 Charya tantra/upayoga-yana. 6 Yoga-tantra/yoga-yana. 7 Mother/maha yoga-yana. 8 Father/anuyoga-yana. 9 Nondual tantra/ati yoga-yana. Realization of Mahamudra or Realization of Dzogchen.
Trikaya. (p 5 & 23)
3 Kayas (kaya/ku/). Body. These correspond to the mind, speech, and body of an enlightened buddha.
1 Dharmakaya (chöku). Achievement of the highest dharma. Mind. The realm is dharmadhatu [chönyi/chöying], Vajradhatu (dorje ying) is the one behind/above/deeper/more basic than that).
2 Sambhogakaya (lonku). Body of complete joy. Speech.
3 Nirmanakaya (tülku). Body of emanation. Body.
(P 231, CTSM,) (4th Kaya is Svabhavikakaya, is the inseparability/combination of all three).
Three in One: A Buddhist Trinity https://www.lionsroar.com/three-in-one-a-buddhist-trinity/
Tusum Khyenpa (Tüsum Khyenpa or Düsum Khyenpa) (1110–1193). Means "knower of the three times" [past, present and future]. (p 11, 13, 19, 25). 1st Karmapa. Student of Gampopa (1079-1153), Milarepa's most important student, who integrated Atiśa's Kadam teachings and Tilopa's Mahamudra teaching to establish the Kagyü lineage. He was also a student of Rechungpa, the "moon-like", disciple of Milarepa, who also instructed him, principally in the Six Yogas of Naropa. He is described on page 11 of the Sadhana. See “List of Karmapas” and also “Kagyü Lineage” toward the end of this document.
Vairochana. See 5 Buddhas Chart.
Vajrasattva. See 5 Buddhas Chart.
Vajrayana. Indestructible vehicle. One of the three great yanas/vehicles, or groups of teachings, within Tibetan Buddhism. It also may refer to vajrayana texts or practices. See “Tibetan Buddhist Path” above.
Wisdoms. See Five Wisdoms (jnana/yeshe).
Worlds. See Three Worlds.
Yana (Tb. thekpa). Means “Vehicle”, in this case the vehicle that carries the practitioner along the path to liberation. In the Tibetan system there are three main yanas: Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana; but these are sometimes further dived into nine yanas. See “Tibetan Buddhist Path”.
Vidyadhara (rigdzin). In author of the Sadhana’s name as his title. It means “awareness holder”, “wisdom-holder” and “knowledge holder”. A person having great knowledge (vidya) and realization of mantras and other vajrayana practices and teachings.
Yidams (p 10, 21, 25). Meditational non-theistic deities. They represent various aspects of enlightened mind. Yidams can be peaceful or wrathful, or neither peaceful nor wrathful. Used as outer and or self visualization in some Vajrayana practices. In this Sadhana, the yidam is Dorje Trolo. Other examples of yidams include Vajrayogini, Cakrasaṃvara, Kalachakra and many others.
Yogis (known as Ngakpas and Naljorpas in Tibet). (p 9). Practitioners of tantra, often implying a significant level of achievement.
NYINGMA LINEAGE (Ancient School).
One of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism
Highest teachings are Dzogchen, "Great Perfection”. Aka Dzogpa Chenpo, Maha Ati, Ati Yoga, Mahasandhi.
Samantabhadra (Tibetan: Kuntu Zangpo/Kuntuzangpo/Güntu Sangpo. (Tib. ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་, Kuntu Zangpo; Wyl. kun tu bzang po). “All good”. Primordial Buddha. Embodiment of the Dharmakāya.
Vajrasattva and Vajrapāni (Buddhas)
Garab Dorje (c. 665). (Aka Prahevajra or Pramodavajra in Sanskrit). Received all the Tantras, scriptures and oral instructions of Dzogchen directly from Vajrasattva and Vajrapāni.
Mañjuśrīmitra (d. 740 CE) (Tibetan: Jampalshenyen). He became the main student of Garab Dorje and a teacher of Dzogchen. He was the person who divided the Dzogchen teachings into three series of Semde, Longdé and Manngagde. He transmitted the Dzogchen teachings to Sri Singha.
Sri Singha (Sanskrit: Śrī Siṃha). Was the teacher of Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, and Vairotsana. He was a principal student and dharma-son of Mañjuśrīmitra in the Dzogchen lineage, and is credited by the Nyingma school with introducing Dzogchen to Tibet.
Jñānasūtra. A disciple of Sri Singha. He was a spiritual brother of Vimalamitra.
Vimalamitra. He was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist monk. His teachers were Buddhaguhya, Jñānasūtra and Śrī Siṃha. He was one of the eight teachers of the great Indian adept Guru Padmasambhava.
Padmasambhava (circa 8th – 9th centuries). He also received teachings directly from Shri Singha and Garab Dorje. Aka: Dorje Trolo (the wrathful aspect of Padmasambhava/Guru Rinpoche), Padmakara, Padma Thotreng. Guru Rinpoche, Senge Dradrog, Shakya Senge, Loden Chokse and many other names. (Great Wrathful One (page 11) is Dorje Trolo).
He is considered the main person to bring the Vajrayana Buddhist teachings to Tibet, having been invited by King Trisong Detsen (about 755–797/804) on the recommendation of Śāntarakṣita (725–788) to help tame the local spirits/demons and impress the Tibetans with his magical and ritual powers, and thus to support the construction of the Samye Monastery. King Trisong Detsen became one of his main students, as was the king’s wife Yeshe Tsogyal. He had twenty-five main students and many other students. He has eight manifestations, one being Dorje Trolo.
King Trisong Detsen (r. 755–797/804). King of Tibet. Student of Padmasambhava.
Śāntarakṣita (725–788).
Yeshe Tsogyal (c. 757 or 777 – 817 CE). Queen of King Trisong Detsen and consort of Padmasambhava.
Mandarava (8th Cent). Student of Padmasambhava.
Plus others of the 25 main disciples of Padmasambhava.
Ngagpa Rigdzin Kumaradza (1266-1343) Kumārarāja, Kumārāja and Kumaraja (Sanskrit). Rigdzin Kumaradza is acclaimed as the seminal instructor for both Longchen Rabjampa and the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje. Note: Ngagpa is an is an ordained non-monastic practitioner of Dzogchen and Tantra. Rigdzin is Tibetan word for Vidyadhara which means “awareness holder”, “wisdom-holder” and “knowledge holder”.
Longchenpa (1308–1364). Aka Longchen Rabjam Drimé Özer. Abbot of Samye, Longchenpa accompanied Kumaradza and his disciples for two years, during which time he received all of Rigdzin Kumaradza's transmissions (mainly focusing on the Vima Nyingthig and the Khandro Nyingthig).
Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798). The promulgator of the Longchen Nyingthig, the Heart Essence teachings of Longchenpa. Jigme Lingpa was a reincarnation of two important masters, Vimalamitra and King Trisong Detsen.
And many great teachers up to the present day.
See more in Dzogchen in Alphabetic list in this document.
See “The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History” by Dudjom Rinpoche, aka Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje (10 June 1904 – 17 January 1987). It is quite big, sometimes in two volumes, a very complete, and a very useful reference.
There is also “The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Books 1 to 10: Foundations of the Buddhist” by Choying Tobden Dorje (Author), Ngawang Zangpo (Translator), Lama Tharchin (Contributor). I am not familiar with this one.
KAGYÜ LINEAGE ("Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission").
One of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Highest teachings are Mahamudra, aka Chakgya Chenpo, the great seal, the great symbol.
Vajradhara (Tib. Dorje Chang). Primordial Buddha, the Dharmakaya Buddha.
Tilopa (988-1069). Indian yogi who experienced the original transmission of the Mahamudra from Vajradhara.
Naropa (956-1040). Perfected the methods of accelerated enlightenment described in his Six Yogas of Naropa. [Also Maitrīpāda (c. 1007–1085), aka Maitreyanātha, Advayavajra, and, to Tibetans, Maitrīpa, he was also a student of Shavaripa, one of the 84 Mahasiddhas. Also Niguma, she was aka Yogini Vimalashri, or Vajradhara Niguma, or Jñana (wisdom) Dakini Adorned with Bone (ornaments), or The Sister]. And Kukkuripa also a teacher of Marpa and student of Naropa).
Marpa (1012–1097). Aka Marpa Lotsawa. The first Tibetan in the lineage, who translated the Vajrayana and Mahamudra texts into Old Tibetan.
Milarepa (1040–1123). Poet and master who overcame Marpa's reluctance to teach him and nonetheless attained enlightenment in a single lifetime.
Gampopa (1079-1153). Milarepa's most important student, who integrated Atiśa's Kadam teachings and Tilopa's Mahamudra teaching to establish the Kagyü lineage.
Tüsum Khyenpa (or Düsum Khyenpa) (1110–1193). 1st Karmapa.
And many great teachers up to the present day.
List of Karmapas. The heads of the Karma Kagyü, the largest sub-school of the Kagyü which is one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. They are considered a manifestation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara).
1. Tüsum Khyenpa (or Düsum Khyenpa) (1110–1193)
2. Karma Pakshi (1204–1283)
3. Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339)
4. Rolpe Dorje (1340–1383)
5. Deshin Shekpa 1384–1415)
6. Thongwa Dönden (1416–1453)
7. Chödrak Gyatso (1454–1506)
8. Mikyö Dorje (1507–1554)
9. Wangchuk Dorje (1556–1603)
10. Chöying Dorje (1604–1674)
11. Yeshe Dorje (1676–1702)
12. Changchub Dorje (1703–1732)
13. Dudul Dorje (1733–1797)
14. Thekchok Dorje (1798–1868)
15. Khakyab Dorje (1871–1922)
16. Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (1924–1981)
17. Ogyen Trinley Dorje (b. 1985) or Trinley Thaye Dorje (b. 1983)
Recommended are also:
The Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s books
The Life of Marpa the Translator
Illusion's Game. The Life and Teaching of Naropa
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism there is a Chapter: The Guru where he talks about Marpa, Naropa, Kukuripa. & Milarepa.
And of course The Rain of Wisdom. The Essence of the Ocean of True Meaning. The Vajra Songs of The Kagyü Gurus.
Also
There is also a book called “The Great Kagyü Masters; The Golden Lineage Treasury” by Huckenpahler (Editor), Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen (Translator). and “A Garland Of Gold: The Early Kagyü Masters In India And Tibet” by Jampa Thaye. Plus several on “The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa” and many more books on individual lineage holders.
ON-LINE RESOURCES
“The Story of the Sadhana of Mahamudra” at https://www.shambhala.com/story-sadhana-mahamudra/
“On the Sadhana of Mahamudra” at https://www.chronicleproject.com/about-the-sadhana-of-mahamudra/
“Historical Comments on The Sadhana of Mahamudra” by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. September 5, 2018 at https://www.chronicleproject.com/historical-comments-on-the-sadhana-of-mahamudra/
Sādhana of Mahamudra search on The Chronicles https://www.chronicleproject.com/tag/sadhana-of-mahamudra
“Sādhana of Mahamudra Sourcebook” by Chögyam Trungpa; looks like this might now be “Devotion & Crazy Wisdom: Teachings on the Sadhana of Mahamudra” from Kalapa Media https://www.kalapamedia.org https://www.kalapamedia.org/SearchResults.asp?Search=Sadhana+of+Mahamudra
Nālandā Translation Committee. https://www.nalandatranslation.org
Various publications of, or related to, the Sadhana of Mahamudra https://www.nalandatranslation.org/product-category/sadhana-of-mahamudra/
Any complaints or suggestions about this beginners guide email Hamish Maclaren at maclaren@earthink.net
5 Buddha families chart
Referenced in guide to Sadhana of Mahamudra
by Hamish McLaren
The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma
The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma
Beginning in August 2023, we are devoting one day a week to the study of "The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma" which is a compilation from transcripts of teachings by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche at programs known as Vajradhatu Seminary, held between 1973 and 1986. For more about the Profound Treasury series please see the Details section at this link, which provides an overview of the series and each of the 3 volumes. https://www.shambhala.com/profoundtreasury.html
Our study is beginning with volume one, "The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma: The Path of Individual Liberation"
The video below begins with Judy Lief, editor of the Profound Treasury series, speaking on the origins of the series as part of a broader panel discussion called "Saints, Scholars, and Provocateurs: Chogyam Trungpa and Buddhism in the Twenty-First Century"
Teachings by CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA RINPOCHE and SAKYONG MIPHAM RINPOCHE (online video and audio)
Teachings by CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA RINPOCHE and SAKYONG MIPHAM RINPOCHE (online video and audio)
Chogyam Trungpa Digital Library at Naropa University. The Library (Video and audio recordings). Grouped by theme, year, and series. https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/the-library/browse/
The Chronicles of Chögyam Trungpa. CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA TEACHINGS. Video and audio. Some of these are also in the Digital Library. https://www.chronicleproject.com/category/teachings/chogyam-trungpa-teachings/
CLOSED CAPTIONED TEACHINGS:
TrungpaRinpoche YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@TrungpaRinpoche
(His talks at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9E73315F4E29314F)
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@SakyongMiphamRinpoche
(His talks at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8685C1B3D437AFC8)
Almost all of the videos on both those channels have closed captions in English and Spanish and often several more languages.
Click on the CC to the right of center at the bottom of the video to show the closed captions.
To choose from the available languages, click on the cogged wheel to the right of that CC, then click on “Substitles/CC”.
There are also links to some of about ten Shambhala YouTube Channels in Various Languages.
Mindfulness initiatives in Ukraine
Mindfulness initiatives in Ukraine
2023 May, Mindfulness initiatives in Ukraine
A mindfulness practitioner from Ukraine shares his experience of living in a war zone, and how his meditation practice experience both contributed to his own ability to cope, and enabled him to help others.
https://tricycle.org/article/mindfulness-ukraine-war/
The article also references some initiatives and resources being offered within Ukraine, links for those are also below.
https://www.compassionandwisdom.org/blog/2023/3/14/compassion-and-wisdom-in-ukraine-1-year-on
https://www.compassionandwisdom.org/blog/2022/4/14/compassion-and-wisdom-in-ukraine
2022 Mindfulness initiatives in Ukraine
This article references 3 organizations working with mindfulness to help Ukrainians who are coping with ongoing challenges resulting from the war. The websites for these organizations are also listed below.
https://www.siyglobal.com/resilience-mindfulness-skills-in-ukraine/
https://www.momentsofrefuge-ukraine.com/
Talks to Compassion for Ukraine group (videos and podcasts)
Talks to Compassion for Ukraine group (videos and podcasts)
Sources and Quotes for Talk by John Rockwell, Compassion for Ukraine, on August 2, 2022 (click here to view sources)
View John Rockwell’s talk from Monday, August 1st, 2022 here: https://vimeo.com/736172476
Smile at Fear—the whole book is great, but particularly relevant are:
Chapters 1-5, pp. 3-33, based on Warriorship in the Three Yanas, RMDC, 1978
Chapters 9-11, pp. 55-73. based on 1979 Shambhala Training Directors Talks
1983 Hinayana Mahayana Transcripts, pp. 54-55
Mind training also consists of exchanging yourself for others. You begin to relate with other people’s
pleasure and pain. You take their pleasure and pain into yourself, and you offer your pain and pleasure
to others; you begin to send that out. This is just like field training, actually. In Tibetan, it is called
tonglen practice. Tong means “sending out,” “letting go,” and len means “taking in.” So sending out and
taking in is the first field-training. It is like soldiers learning how to puncture a bag full of sand:
regarding that as the enemy, they yell, “Hooooh!” [Vidyadhara makes slashing motion with fan] as they
pierce that bag of sand with their bayonets. Or, for that matter, they learn to shoot at targets . . .
Collected Works, Vol. 2, “Noble Heart,” pp. 589-90
When we know how to be, our hearts are softened, and compassion naturally comes along with that. We
learn how to cry, how to smile, and how to experience other people's wounds. We also begin to
appreciate joy and pleasure. Perhaps we haven't ever really explored pain and pleasure in our whole
lives. When our hearts are softened and we feel pain, it is excruciating. And when we experience
pleasure, it is wonderful. Compassion means exploring pain and pleasure properly, thoroughly,
completely. The Sanskrit word for compassion is karuna, which means "noble heart." It is not just a
matter of feeling sorry for someone: when we experience noble heart, we are able to have a good time,
and we are able to identify with others' pain and pleasure.
Meditation in Action, p. 16
All his hidden fears and temptations and desires, the last lash of Ego, came to him in the form of Mara,
the Evil One. First Mara sent his beautiful daughters to seduce him, but without success. Then came the
fierce troops of Mara, the last tactic of the Ego. But Buddha had already achieved the state of Maitri,
loving-kindness. In other words he was not just compassionate in the sense of looking down on Mara as
stupid—for Mara was his own projection—but he had achieved the non-resisting state, the state of non-
violence, where he identified himself with Mara. In the Scriptures it says that each arrow of Mara
became a rain of flowers falling down on him. So finally the Ego surrendered and he achieved the
Awakened State of mind.
1979 Hinayana Mahayana Transcripts, pp. 110-111, Training the Mind, p. 88
S: You said that if you happened to find yourself in the central headquarters where they push the buttons
that, you know, poof the planet, you would do whatever you had to do in order to prevent such a thing.
V: I would kill the person who was going to push the button for the bomb. I would kill him right away,
without any hesitation. I would take delight in it! [Laughter] But that situation is slightly different. In
one case you are dealing with the threshold of the power of society altogether; in the other you are
talking about how we can collectively smooth out this world, so that it could become an enlightened
society. In some sense we are talking about that: creating an enlightened society requires general
cultivation of that nature. But if there were no choice, if somebody was going to do something bad, I
would kill him. It would be a delightful thing to do.
Video talks
2024
Recordings of lojong slogan study sessions
Tonglen, 1/29 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCbU1AOxDao
2023
Joseph Parent talks on Working with emotions
talk 5 https://youtu.be/AOjZKUeHx6o
Roger Guest: Hearing the World as your Alarm Clock - September 2, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93chTy6jCKY
2022 (formerly on home page)
Roger Guest: Spiritual Hygiene in Times of War and Beyond - June 30th, 2022
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8VBFIlyR5Y&list=PLf78NiNuY3B70f5WDwRwGqC5PzuwoXu7A&index=12
Sarah Coleman Co-emergent Wisdom
Click here for a guided meditation and talk by Dale Asrael. June 30, 2022
A short talk, guided meditation and discussion with Judith Simmer Brown, recorded June 30, 2022
Shambhala Online repository of videos:
https://shambhalaonline.org/compassion-for-ukraine-daily-tonglen-gathering/
Compassion for Ukraine & Beyond podcasts:
Vegan Aharonian March 28, 2022:
https://ny.shambhala.org/2022/03/28/vegan-aharonian-holding-your-seat-in-the-face-of-aggression-podcast-266/
or
Holding Your Seat in the Face of Aggression
Steve Clorfeine and Jenny Bates June 5, 2022:
or
From Aggression to Violence: Finding Another Way
Döns, mamos and protector principle -- resources for anyone who is curious to know more...
Döns, mamos and protector principle -- resources for anyone who is curious to know more...
The following sections provide a variety of sources for more information on these topics, including some upcoming live talks during this year's "dön season", and several links to articles written in response to inquiries in the past, as documented in the Shambhala Times and the Chronicles.
The "don season" refers to a period of 10 days beginning on the 11th day prior to the Lunar New Day. The last day before the new year is referred to as a "neutral day."
During the don season days, end-of-year practices are one way to prepare for a positive transition into the New Year. The year end practices focus on protector chants as a way to help overcome obstacles in our life, community and world.
The last day before the new year, the “neutral day,” traditionally is a time to clean our home and shrine and prepare for celebration of the new year.
In 2024, don season practices are January 30th-February 9th, and the neutral day is Feb 9th. Note that articles from past years will refer to different dates -- the Tibetan calendar is a lunar calendar, so the date of the new year changes year to year in relation to the solar calendar.
Year end protector practices 2024
From Jan 30-Feb 8, Shambhala Online offers a series of talks on topics related to protection principle, protector chants, and the mamo chants. The talks are followed by group recitations of the protector, mamo, and closing chants. By donation.
During the last 11 days of the [lunar] year, these end-of-year practices are offered to lay the ground for a positive transition into the New Year. The first 10 of these days are a time for intensive practice, focused on protector chants as a way to help overcome obstacles in our life, community and world.
https://shambhala.org/event/688984-year-of-the-wood-dragon-end-of-year-practices-all-sessions/
Additional sources on protector principle, mamos and dön season...
Nalanda Translation committee
Dorje Loppon Lodro Dorje
https://shambhalatimes.org/2013/02/05/averting-the-negativity-of-the-old-year/
https://www.chronicleproject.com/on-the-mamos-the-dharmapala-principle-and-mahakali-vetali/
Russell Rodgers
https://shambhalatimes.org/2017/02/01/doing-mamo-practice/
Andrew Sacamano
https://shambhalatimes.org/2014/02/22/obstacles-and-antidotes/
Susan Chapman
https://shambhalatimes.org/2013/02/07/protecting-relationships-during-don-season/
a recording from Mark Nowakowski:
https://www.chronicleproject.com/mark-nowakowski-on-dons-mamos-and-the-don-days/
References in books and periodicals:
Digging deeper, into the print world, I found a note about these 2 sources courtesy Cara Thornley. Some people may have these books.
If I can find a copy of Sun article it will be added.
Reggie Ray
An article on "The Importance of Believing in Unseen Beings" in the Shambhala Sun - January 2001. This was adapted from the first two
Chapters of Indestructible Truth which includes a chart (on page 36) of categories and examples of Unseen Beings which was very helpful.
Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown
A discussion of Mamos in Dakini's Warm Breath, beginning p. 57
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse