Month: May 2021

Essential Advice for Solitary Meditation Practice Part 1

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

Direct Instructions on practice explained in a manner easy to understand called Extracting the Very Essence of Accomplishment.

I go for refuge and bow with devotion at the feet of my incomparably kind, glorious sublime lama.
Grant your blessings to my followers and me that the profound path’s flawless realization arises swiftly in our mindstreams, and that we may then reach the unassailable state in this very life.

In this text I present essential advice for solitary meditation practice in an easily accessible way. My words will place direct instructions for the practice of the innermost secret Great Perfection in the palm of the hands of fortunate individuals. Their previous lifetimes’ positive aspirations and pure karmic propensity have led them to feel heartfelt trust in the teaching of the profound, secret Great Perfection, and in the lama who reveals it; and they wish to take their practice to completion. For them, this text will provide an open gate to the path of Great Perfection.

This can be understood through three general topics:
1. Preparation
How to purify your mindstream: direct your mind toward the teachings after having severed all ties of attachment.
* 2. Main Practice
How to directly cultivate the experience of Great Perfection: resolve any misconceptions regarding the view, meditation and conduct.
* 3. Post-meditation
How to keep your vows and samayas, and how to include all activities of this life within the dharma.

First, the Preparation

Now I will say a little about the first topic. That which is called mind — this so very vivid awareness — appears from the very beginning at the same time as Buddha Always Noble, (Kuntu Zangpo).

Nevertheless, Buddha Always Noble knew this awareness as his own. Alas! Sentient beings endlessly wander in samsara because they do not recognize this, taking rebirth in countless forms of the six types of beings. Everything they have done has been meaningless.

Now, one time out of hundreds you have obtained a human form. If you do not do what you can now to avoid rebirth in the lower realms, your place of rebirth might be unknown, but wherever it might be among the six classes of beings, suffering will be its only sure feature.

It is not enough to have just obtained this human form. You must at once practice the authentic Buddhist path since the time of your death is unpredictable. Furthermore, at death you should have no regrets and should not be ashamed of yourself, like Jetsun Milarepa.

In my, Milarepa’s religious tradition,
We live so as not to be ashamed with ourselves.

When entering the Buddhist path, it is not sufficient to be a person who only adopts the outer appearance of a person on the path. Cut all entanglements to desirable things and to this life’s affairs. When you enter the gate to Buddhist practice without having cut these ties, you will lack determination, but not attachment to homeland, wealth, possessions, lovers, spouses, friends, relatives and so forth. Your attitude of attachment becomes an underlying cause; the objects of your attachment, catalysts. When these meet, negative forces1 will create obstacles. You will once again become an ordinary worldly person, and will turn away from creating positive karma.

The Actual Purification of One’s Mindstream

The common practices are the four thoughts that turn the mind away from samsara. The uncommon practices are taking refuge, generating bodhichitta, purifying obscurations and gathering the accumulations of merit and wisdom. Exert yourself according to each of their commentaries until experiences arise. Especially, embrace guru yoga as the vital essence of practice, and practice diligently. If you do not, your meditation will grow slowly, and even if it grows a little, obstacles will arise and genuine realization will not manifest in your mindstream. Therefore, forcefully pray with uncontrived devotion. At some time the realization of wisdom mind will be transmitted to your mindstream, and an extraordinary realization that can not be expressed by words will definitely arise from within yourself.

As it has been said by Lama Shang Rinpoche:
To nurture stillness,
To nurture spiritual experiences,
To nurture samadhi and other spiritual states—
These are common.
But by the strength of your devotion,
For realization to arise from within
Due to the lama’s blessings—
This is rare.

Therefore, for the ultimate truth of the Great Perfection to appear in your mind is dependent upon the preliminary practices. This is what Drigungpa meant when he said:
Other spiritual teachings regard the main practice as being profound.We regard the preliminary practice as being profound.
It is just as he said.

Wisdom Nectar: Dudjom Rinpoche’s Heart Advice
by Dudjom RInpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje
translated by Ron Garry

* 2. Main Practice  Scheduled for June 4th
* 3. Post-meditation Scheduled for June 11th

Supports for Practice

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

If you have somewhere to live, it might be a good idea to make yourself a shrine, and although it need not be elaborate, always include a statue of the Buddha Shakyamuni.

As Nagarjuna mentioned in his Letter to a Friend, even a wooden image of the Tathagata should be considered to be the Tathagata himself. Longchenpa agreed. He said that all images of the Buddha should be thought of as manifestations of the Buddha. Just the fact that a statue has been made in the form of the Buddha means it is automatically blessed by him, and therefore precious and not to be mistaken for an inanimate object.

Often, though, vajrayana students fill their shrines with images of vajrayana deities and omit the Buddha altogether, which makes it hard to tell whether they are Buddhist at all.

While you practise ngöndro, it might help to include a representation of the field of merit specific to your practise in the form of a thangka, a painting or a line drawing. And remember that the purpose of a shrine is as a support for your practise, a reminder of the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha, and a reminder of mindfulness.

Shrines should be inspiring and clean, not like a mantelpiece piled high with don’t-know-what-to-do-with garbage.

Photos of lamas can be inspiring, but remember not to flaunt them like some kind of plaque or certificate as a way of boasting about your connections.

Buddha himself said that in the future he will appear as writing on a page, so we should always wash our hands before handling sacred texts.

We should also always show the greatest respect for representations of the Buddha wherever they may be, near or far, up or down, and one excellent method is to discipline ourselves to be mindful about not stepping over holy objects such as dharma texts and monks’ robes.

It is a habit Indian musicians formed millennia ago. They revere and pay homage to their instruments as a matter of course, and would never think of stepping over them.

Dharma texts these days are often photocopied rather shoddily. Nevertheless, the words that appear on those grubby pages have the power to liberate us from delusion, and by making the effort not to step on or over a text in itself accumulates a great deal of merit.

As a result, the next time you read a dharma text, you will find you are able to understand the words of the Buddha even more clearly. And so, when you dedicate the merit of your activities towards the enlightenment of all sentient beings, always add, “May all dharma practitioners never tread on their dharma books.” It may require a bit of reconditioning, but is a good habit to adopt.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse – Not for Happiness – A Guide to the So-Called Preliminary Practises – Shambhala Publications

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is the eldest son of Thinley Norbu, and the grandson of Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje. Rinpoche has teachers from all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism and is a follower and champion of the Rimé (non-sectarian) movement. He considers Dilgo Khyentse as his main guru. He is also the primary custodian of the teachings of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo.

Tseyang Khatrod, the Union of Long-Life and Wealth-Gathering Practices

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

               It is said that one winter, a long time ago, Guru Rinpoche travelled to a land in Tibet where people were suffering from poverty. Their king requested Guru Rinpoche to do a Dzambhala practice to free them from sufferings. Guru Rinpoche miraculously manifested himself as Orgyen Khandro Norlha and he become Lama Norlha, the lama of all Dzambhalas. Through his blessing, the land started to become wealthy and people never even heard the name of poverty again. That is why this Lama Norlha practice is usually requested by kings to eliminate obstacles of the land, attract and gather people, wealth and food, and to bring good luck.

               Guru Rinpoche gave specific instructions for the creation of treasure vases to assist with the healing of the environment and the restoration of vital energy for the many beings and realms during these degenerate times. Before Guru Rinpoche left Tibet, he concealed Lama Norlha’s practice texts in different places and asked the dakinis and protectors to safeguard them until tertöns recovered them and passed them to their disciples.

               The Vajrayana Foundation Annual Summer Retreat  May 19  – June 20, 2021 will begin with the practice of Tseyang Khatrod, the union of long-life and wealth-gathering practices through May 26th. 

               The Tsokye Tuktik cycle of practices were revealed from the profound expanse wisdom mind of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche, Guru Rinpoche’s regent in our time. Tsokye Tuktik has the most extraordinary blessings of all Ladrup (Lama accomplishment) practices. The warm breath of the dakinis has not faded from it; there has been no chance for damaged samaya to interfere with it; it has extremely fresh wisdom blessings, and the flow of the river of its lineage blessings is uninterrupted.

               The Tsokye Tuktik cycle contains outer, inner, secret, and innermost secret accomplishment practices of the Lama, Guru Rinpoche. The secret accomplishment practice of Tsokye Tuktik is a longevity practice with Guru Rinpoche in union with Mandarava, and we will practice it with the inner accomplishment practice, Orgyen Khandro Norlha, Guru Rinpoche in the form of a wealth deity.

               For more information, registration to receive the live streaming links visit Vajrayana Foundation. All donations support the streaming of dharma programs and help support the ongoing expenses of Pema Osel Ling. If you are not able to offer at one of the suggested levels, please contact office@vajrayana.org ~ no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

*Please Note: Dates and Times are Approximate & Subject to Change*