Culmination

The retreat is now basically over. I had a good experience and learned quite a bit. Now I have to face the real world. Some part of what I experienced here will no doubt stay with me as I slowly make progress. :)

Departing for Enlightenment

Hello, gentle readers. I'm leaving tomorrow for a trip around the northeast. I'll be visiting relatives and also participating in a 9-day retreat at Kagyu Thubten Choling monastery. I am very excited about it. It will be mostly silent, except for dedicated talk times, which will be a fascinating experience, I'm sure. The focus of the retreat is mahamudra, which, as far as I know now, prior to the retreat, is a system of deep meditation. As it is a retreat, there will be no contact with the outside world, and so needless to say, I won't be blogging during the retreat. So, I bid you adieu, for now.

More photos from the same hike

Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel. (so I've been told.)

Some Photos From Today's Hike

The top photo is a junco taking a short bath in a pool of water in the rock. Also got a couple great pictures of a deer munching some leaves. The squirrel was pretty neat too. Be sure to click on the images to see the large versions.

An oppurtunity

I'm passing on an oppurtunity to participate in the million mani project. If any of my readers wishes to participate, just say "Om mani padme hum" as many times as you care to. (Even once.) Then post the number you've recited (and the recitations can be silent) to the comments section, and I'll pass along the total numbers, so that we all may benefit! This mantra is the mantra of Chenrezi, the boddhisattva of compassion, and is the most popular mantra in Tibet. It embodies the aspiration to free all beings from suffering. The deadline is June 15.



Message from: Linda Jordan KSC-NH coordinator

Dear friends,

In an exciting development, KTC Monastery is sponsoring this year's
Saka Dawa million mani project. Several of the affiliated centers
have contacted us to let us know they are participating, and I am
hoping to hear from the others, either for our weekly progress update
or on June 15, when we tally up our total for the whole month.

Our tradition is to send a progress report each Sunday during Saka
Dawa. Students affiliated with a particular center will report their
numbers to that center, and the center will forward the total to us.
Students not affiliated with a center are welcome to email us
directly. We have every hope of being inundated with emails!

For details and background, please visit our website at
www.nhkagyu.org . In brief, everyone is encouraged to recite the
mantra of Chenrezi, om mani peme hung, as many times as possible
between now and the end of Saka Dawa, June 15. We will put all our
numbers together on June 15 and hope to reach a total of a million.
Mantras may be done as part of formal practice as well as during any
ordinary activity, with or without mindfulness. They may be counted
with traditional prayer beads, by timing your recitation (especially
useful when driving), or using any other method you can think of.

Mantra recitation is very beneficial at any time, but especially
during the holy month of Saka Dawa, when the effects of all our
actions are magnified, and our Dharma practice earns extra merit.

Each participant is said to earn the full merit of the entire
community recitation, no matter how large or small the individual
contribution. So even if you only have time to do a few mani's,
please don't be shy about reporting them.

We look forward to hearing from you.

"Let us trust the mantra, let us allow the body to attend to its work
and the mind to its reflections leading to result, but at the same
time let us recite the mantra om mani peme hung, without even being
attentive. We will purify many karmic veils and finally attain
awakening." Kalu Rinpoche teaching at Samye Ling, Scotland, 1983

"Perseverance will allow one to achieve supreme enlightenment."
--Ornament of Mahayana Sutra

Loch Ness

Loch Ness Article


Is this convincing? Not really, but fun to watch anyway!

Mother cardinal

A cool image of Jesus

I found this cool picture of Jesus done in the style of Tibetan thangkas. I can't attribute it properly since I found it on a cached webpage via a Google search. I couldn't find the image on the webpage itself.

I think it's important to be teachable and see the wisdom in all traditions. I found myself drifting into a bit of sectarian closed-mindedness the other day, while reading Thich Nhat Hanh, and being dismissive of it since he's a Zen Buddhist and not a Tibetan Buddhist. But the more I reflected on what he had to say, the more I found it to be true. Moreover, once I saw the truth of his words, it actually gave me a lot of peace, calm and equanimity.

In short, and somewhat subconsciously, after studying the four thoughts that turn the mind to the dharma, I came to the conclusion that all aspects of human experience are suffering. It was almost like I didn't give myself permission to enjoy things, because I "knew" that they were tainted by suffering. In fact, Buddha taught that pure experience is possible. It is possible to attain the cessation of suffering. Now I had known this, but phrased this way, it seemed to me that all of my experiences would be suffering up until the attainment of enlightenment, at which point the suffering would cease. Thich Nhat Hanh very simply said that everything is not suffering and asked the reader to please enjoy the sunset and other experiences. I think that pure experiences are possible for ordinary people, and that the closer we get to Buddhahood, the more we progress down the path, the more often those pure experiences will manifest.

An eye-opening article

I can't believe the following article. It boggles my mind.
Too much time online

Cardinal and grackle

Goldfinch!

I snapped these pictures in my backyard earlier today.

Cool article

This is a great article which I received in my inbox right after writing the previous post about science's relation to Buddhism.

Article

Mysterious Consciousness

[Forgive the sententious tone of the following post. I take myself too seriously sometimes.]

A sense of permanent unchanging entities is a deep subconscious bias that, I'm pretty sure, all humans have. There is an inherent idea that situations are stable, and when, through the natural force of impermanence, situations transform and dissolve, we often have a sense of regret and suffering. This occurs at all levels from trivial to profound. An alcoholic suffers from the idea that the alcoholic buzz is a state that can be perpetuated ad infinitum, and we suffer when a loved one dies because our concept of their perpetuity is shattered. So what is the root of this bias toward perceiving things as permanent and unchanging? According to one level, that's the whole origin of this world of samsara that we wander in. The mistaken perception of an unchanging "I" starts the whole thing in motion, and soon we are surrounded in a cloud of karmic illusion. Yet, on another level, there ought to be a more scientific explanation of why we have this strong sense of self. An appealing explanation a la Dawkins is that a sense of self is extremely useful when it comes to passing along genes. After all, we are the progeny of those who have successfully passed on their genes, implying those genes probably select for traits which best assist those genes in being passed along further. Thus, it's good to have a sense of self that one cherishes and defends, so that one's genes survive. So at one level, a deep and basic component of our behavior is simply a side effect of an iterative mathematical process.
I believe these two explanations are completely consistent myself, and I even think that the laws of physics themselves may be products of our karma. The universe appears a certain way to us as a function of our collective karma, and that includes the laws of physics. But why, if there is a more conventional explanation, should one believe the Buddhist explanation at all? To me the bare fact of our experienced consciousness is so mysterious that it cries out for something besides the conventional laws of physics. Also, the gene explanation, like any scientific explanation, only goes so far. The laws of deduction are inherently limited. A chain of implications is only a bridge between two unknowns, but doesn't tell you how to deduce the truth of the fundamental ingredients. Furthermore, the idea of elementary causation can only go so far. To say that one thing causes another is a huge simplification, since in any event a number of causes and conditions come in to play. It's more like the entire universe at any given moment is what causes the next moment, although even this is not right since quantum theory implies that physics is only deterministic at a probabilistic level. (And also, relativity says that there's no such thing as having one instant of time across the entire universe.) Thus scientific explanation is inherently limited, but still valid within its scope.

Tweaking my site

Hi all. As you can see I'm tweaking my site's design. I wanted something more soothing than the harsh white on black that I had previously. Since it will show up differently depending on your computer, please let me know about readability issues. Is this easier to read? More pleasant. Can I change anything to make it better? (Well obviously I can, but are there specific suggestions?)

A Comparison [Poem]

In the morning, I cling desperately to sleep,
but am propelled, against my will, into wakefulness.
Images of forceful separation manifesting in my dream.

When my time has come, I cling desperately to this life,
but am propelled, against my will, across the threshold,
into the unknown.

A spin of the prayer wheel

HO!
Mesmerised by the sheer variety of perceptions,
which are like the illusory reflections
of the moon in water,
Beings wander endlessly astray
in samsara's vicious cycle.
In order that they may find comfort and ease
in the all -pervading luminosity
of the true nature of their minds,
I generate the immeasurable love,
compassion, joy and equanimity
of the awakened mind,
the heart of bodhicitta.

nyingma buddhism - jikmé lingpa - 18th century

I spun the prayer wheel at worldprayers.org, and this prayer came up. I rather like it.

An old poem I wrote

I discovered this poem while cleaning out my desk. I wrote it while in grad school some years ago. In fact I discovered quite a few poems, even some early drafts of poems I had rewritten extensively. Anyway here it is. (I've refrained from editing it, even though I think it needs editing.


Twenty billion discoveries and dismissals of a single fact, discovered.
Though facts are like clouds, uncountable,
Are weakly collected in these words.
If you ask Why? many times the question can always be repeated.

We fly slower than light through time.
Our minds wade through increasing entropy.
Movie frames that increase in information.

They fly faster than light backward through our time.
Their energy is the impetus for our creation
As we are for their's.

Or: time sits in Time.
The universe begins and shoots backwards as well as forwards.
As soon at it was created, it always was.

Buddhism and Vegetarianism

I was asked the following question:

Why aren't those Tibetan Buddhists who eat meat concerned about the issue of participating in the death of a sentient being?

They are concerned, but the thought is that eating meat from an animal that has already been killed is not nearly as bad as killing it yourself. Thus it is strictly forbidden to kill an animal yourself, or to directly cause an animal to be killed. For example, by pointing to a lobster and asking that they cook it for you. Of course, by buying meat and supporting the system that continues to kill beings, you are accumulating negative karma. The practical reality is, though, that the amount that Buddhists are contributing to the maintenance of the current world system of food distribution is vanishingly small. If the situation were different, for example if a monk is trapped on an island with a small handful of other people, and the monk encourages the others to kill animals for him to eat, that would be a highly nonvirtuous act.

I asked Lama Inge this very question, and she said don't delude yourself into thinking that being a vegetarian is a pristine virtuous state. Consider all of the insects and other animals that are killed during farming, and consider the mistreatment of the farm workers, often in third world countries. Basically, we do what we can. If we are able to make a change to save the lives of some sentient beings, we do it, but if it is beyond our capability at this point, rather than throwing in the towel, we simply do our best. Many people have severe physical difficulties with vegetarianism. Not everybody's body is equipped to handle it. The Dalai Lama himself has been advised by his doctors that he has to eat some meat, otherwise he gets jaundice. What he said is that we should celebrate and have joy for those of us who can maintain a vegetarian diet. Think "Good for them! I'm glad they can do it!"

Personally, I try to be as vegetarian as possible, but am open to eating meat if circumstances merit. I recall a specific instance when I was visiting someone's house, and they offered me some food, I think it was chicken, and I ate it because I felt it was better to be polite and harmonious with the people around me. I don't feel that my eating it contributed in any substantial way to the harming of sentient beings since the animal was already dead.

My weekend with the Lamas

More lama dancing, including, one night, lama line dancing! I also snapped a shot of this bee fly which seemed very attracted to me as I was watching the festivities.

I took refuge again, this time with Lama Norlha Rinpoche. My dharma name is Dondrup Gawa, which means Joyfully Accomplishing Aims. That's a good name I think!

Lama Dancing

Here's a couple snapshots of today's lama dancing ceremony. These are traditional after three year retreats, and help to pacify negative karma attached to a region, as well as the negative karma of the participants and the observers. As Lama Norlha Rinpoche explains, the region where we live has a lot of residual negative karma left over from the civil war, and he wanted to help heal this by bringing this dancing ceremony to us. Very cool.