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In this episode, I am joined by Lopon Yudron Wangmo, American teacher of Tibetan Buddhism and author of several books including her recent “Clearing the Way to Awakening”. Lopon Yudron Wangmo offers an analysis of the shortcomings of today's Buddhist literature, details the writing process for “Clearing the Way to Awakening”, and reveals the stylistic and language choices she made to better reach the average reader. Lopon Yudron Wangmo describes the power of the ngondro preliminary practices of Tibetan Buddhism and explains the techniques of mantra recitation, prostrations, mandala offerings, bodhicitta generation, tummo, śamata, and more. Lopon Yudron Wangmo extols the benefits of turning away from worldly life and towards religion, reports the fruits of her own practice such as profound peace and joy, warns about the danger of following a guru without first testing him, and advises on how to work with the supernatural dimension of Buddhism. … Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep303-clearing-the-way-to-awakening-lopon-yudron-wangmo Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast'. … Topics include: 00:00 - Intro 01:04 - Clearing the Way to Awakening 01:52 - The problem with today's Buddhist literature 03:20 - Sublime topics 04:22 - Style considerations for today's reading level 06:03 - Learning to write more simply for the average reader 07:18 - Patrul Rinpoche and avoiding imitation 08:30 - What is awakening? 09:09 - Local context in Buddhist cultures 10:34 - Buddha's description of his awakening 12:37 - Working with the supernatural dimension of Buddhism 14:25 - The ālaya vijñāna and the unconscious mind 17:34 - Buddha nature vs being driven and unconscious 18:57 - Gradualist vs subitist awakening 20:22 - The role of ngondro and the power of visualisation 22:51 - The power of recitation 24:05 - The power of prostrations 26:17 - The power of maṇḍala offerings 28:13 - Why esoteric practices are not appropriate for most people 30:00 - The secrets to completing your ngondro 32:27 - The importance of motivation 33:15 - The anti-climax of realising the nature of mind 35:33 - Tummo and śamata 36:50 - Origin of the ngondro system + Theravada critique 39:17 - Taking refuge 40:30 - Generating bodhicitta and practicing the four immeasurables 41:12 - Vajrasattva and purification practice 42:21 - Merit making and guru yoga 44:06 - If you don't like it, don't practice it 45:04 - Yudron asks for Steve's opinion 46:58 - Choose your Buddhism 48:23 - Disillusionment with saṃsāra and choosing Buddhism later in life 50:03 - The power of choice and acquired ADHD 51:43 - Get on it 52:38 - The power of disillusionment and renunciation 55:07 - The peace and joy of turning away from the world 57:41 - The suffering of loneliness and the fruits of practice 01:00:09 - The mechanism of spiritual contentment 01:02:04 - Yudron on the importance of disclosing attainments 01:03:28 - Spiritual saints 01:04:13 - Political lamas and checking out gurus 01:05:32 - Personal relationship with the guru 01:07:13 - We're all devoted to something 01:09:09 - Pitfalls of ngondro: anxiety, OCD, depression, and PTSD 01:14:06 - Yudron's struggles with depression and anxiety 01:19:34 - Boomer Buddhists 01:20:04 - Preliminary or foundational? 01:22:06 - Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo's advice about retreat 01:23:38 - Congratulated by Vajrasattva and the ontology of deities 01:26:45 - Spontaneous feelings of love To find out more about Lopon Yudron Wangmo, visit: - https://www.yudronwangmo.com/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - https://www.guruviking.com Music ‘Deva Dasi' by Steve James
The Great Tantra of Vajrasattva is a Root Tantra of the Space Section first translated into Tibetan in the 8th Century by Vairochana Rakshita, a famous translator during the early period of Buddhism in Tibet. This tantra is one of a handful of the earliest translations of Ati Yoga teachings into the Tibetan language, where they were preserved long after the originals disappeared in India, possibly during the Islamic invasions. Vairochana did not attribute these Ati Yoga source texts to himself, but rather to Garab Dorje, who was revered as a full emanation of Vajrasattva in human form. Vairochana's translations stand on their own as jewels of Wisdom, the core teaching being always the same: the luminous, natural, non-dual mind of Great Perfection itself. Compiled by Yeshe Donden (Roger Calverley) integrating various contemporary English translations. With thanks to Roger for permission to read from this newly published work: "The Gospel of Garab Dorje" which can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0B3NBFF86?ref_=mr_referred_us_au_au Music: Bing Satellites - 'Mirage' - https://bingsatellites.bandcamp.com/ Rahjta Ren - "Pause" - (with thanks to Raj for his gift of music) https://soundcloud.com/rahjta-ren Ambient Pads in E Major - Vishal Bhojane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwyPafq4iwg&t=72s&ab_channel=VishalBhojane
There is a way to purify negative karma! Phew. Buddha taught the Four Powers of Purification as a method to purify the negative karma we've created in the past. The powers of purification act together or alone. For example, as soon as we have even a moment of regret for some harm we've done, we start to purify that karma. This practice illuminates Buddhism's most essential tenet: that we can profoundly change change. How to purify negative karma through the 4 powers: 1. Regret 2. Reliance 3. Remedy 4. Resolve The Power of Regret The first power is healthy regret. This type of regret stands in contrast to guilt. Guilt is anger towards oneself. It makes us feel bad about ourselves. Regret, however, understands we acted out of delusions like anger, jealousy, pride, or greed, but our nature remains pure and good. A mind of regret wants to be free of these delusions like getting poisons out of ourselves. Regret makes us naturally desire not to repeat that action and the harm we caused. The Power of Reliance To understand the power of reliance, imagine that making a mistake is like falling down on the ground. Just as we depend on the ground to stand up again, when we cause harm, we can purify it only by depending on the two types of beings we harmed: the Buddha (who is a wise guide, like a doctor) and ordinary living beings. First, we rely on the Buddha by following his teachings to become better. If you're not a Buddhist, you can still do something similar. You could renew your commitment to follow the advice of someone you admire, or dedicate yourself again to good things you want to do. You can practice reliance in the meditation on the four powers by asking a higher power for help, like praying to Jesus or asking Buddha for help to purify. Second, we rely on other living being by developing compassion and love for them. 3. The Power of Remedy This refers to the power of applying remedies. In this step, we need to do something positive to counteract the negative energy we created, JoAnn Fox shares a traditional method for applying remedies by reciting the mantra of Vajrasattva, Buddha of Purification (see the mantra below.) If you feel comfortable about visualizing an enlightened being, you can visualize a figure such as Buddha or Vajrasattva above your head. You can visualize Buddha as you've seen him depicted or as a being made of golden light. Vajrasattva is a being of white light. While reciting the mantra, imagine light flowing down from the holy being at your crown. The light flows down and fills your entire body purifying all your negative karma and delusions. If you do not feel comfortable visualizing such a being, imagine a sphere of light above your head, thinking that it represents all enlightened qualities like love and compassion. Visualize light flowing down from the sphere and filling you (as above). The short mantra of Vajrasattva Om Vajra Sattva Hum The power of resolve (sometimes called the power of promise) involves a promise to try to refrain from a harmful action in the future. If you're trying to purify a specific negative action, it can be especially meaningful to refrain from an action that is similar to that original harmful action. For example, if you're trying to purify stealing, you can promise to refrain from stealing in the future. Alternatively, you can decide to act in more positive ways, such as being more generous or promising to donate to a charity. “First, if all the causes and conditions for something to occur come together and there is nothing opposing its arising, the effect is certain to occur. For example, if a barley seed (the cause) is planted, the conditions of moisture, warmth, sunlight, and nutrients come together, and opposing conditions such as frozen ground, disease, and being trampled by animals, don't oppose it, a barley plant is certain to grow. Similarly, if you have the karmic seeds of anger and that anger is not opposed by your practice of patience, understanding of emptiness, or a vow or commitment not to get angry, when you meet with someone (the external condition) who says or does something you experience as harmful, your karmic urge will drive you to get angry.” --Je Tsongkhapa O foolish one! What is the use of wearing matted hair? What is the use of your wearing a garment made of antelope skin? In you, there is a forest (of moral defilements); you clean yourself only externally. Verse 394
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered teachings and advice to a group of Vajrasattva retreaters at Kopan Monastery on April 7, 8, and 9, 2023. In his final teaching from this series, Rinpoche discussed how to develop one's mind in Dharma, the necessity of practising the lamrim and concludes by offering the oral transmission of The Essential Nectar. This was one of the last teaching events Rinpoche offered before showing the aspect of passing away on April 13, 2023.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered teachings and advice to a group of Vajrasattva retreaters at Kopan Monastery on April 7, 8, and 9, 2023. In his second teaching from this series, on April 8, Rinpoche discussed the benefits of purification practice, the necessity of pleasing and receiving the blessings of the guru, the importance of meditating on death and impermanence, and continues offering the oral transmission of The Essential Nectar. This was one of the last teaching events Rinpoche offered before showing the aspect of passing away on April 13, 2023.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered teachings and advice to a group of Vajrasattva retreaters at Kopan Monastery on April 7, 8, and 9, 2023. In his first teaching from this series, Rinpoche overviewed some of the many benefits of purification practice and began offering the lung of The Essential Nectar. This was one of the last teaching events Rinpoche offered before showing the aspect of passing away on April 13, 2023.
Venerable Robina Courtin is known for her clear teaching, explaining the Buddhist approach to thinking and acting in terms we can understand. Through examples that are relevant to our lives, she presents multiple ways we can put these ideas into practice. Venerable Robina explains the beneficial actions of body, speech and mind we can adopt, and actions to avoid. She gives us ways to create positive new habits benefiting ourselves and those around us, and how to slowly - completely - rid ourselves of harmful, ancient, negative ones. Q: I struggle to give loving kindness & forgiveness to my mum who lives with mental health challenges & anger what practice should I develop? (3:43) Q: Knowing I have not demonstrated compassion in these moments what can I do to reduce my agitation & karmic imprint and forgive myself for not being able to not react (12:46) Venerable Robina leading a short Vajrasattva purification practice: • Venerable Robina Courtin Leads A Shor... Teachings on Vajrasattva and the four opponent powers: • There's no karma that can't be purified! Q: My sister has been listening to your teachings on YouTube not being a Buddhist and being curious what would you suggest she should do to start a Buddhist practice (21:50) Q: How important is meditation in our daily practice, what recommendations do you have for a lay person's daily practice? (25:18) Q: Can Buddhism be learnt from books? Or should you have a teacher? How do you you find right teacher for you? (28:18) Q: I'm a performer and have been so inspired by Tina Turner- as an artist I always think that Art Practice is also a spiritual pursuit - (even though that may not be in the Sutras!) Tina practiced the mantra Nam Myho Renge Kyo' from the Ringchen practice. I looked this up but could not find the Lotus Sutra in the fpmt website- but found it on the Rigpa website. However because of my Gelugpa lineage I don't feel as connected- and a bit guilty looking elsewhere… (29:45) Q: When you go into meditation and you think it is not successful (because there are so many thoughts coming up)... (34:03) The real purpose of mediation is to become more familiar with your mind (48:00) We do need relaxation; however, this meditation is not for relaxation - it is about ALERTNESS! (51:48) Q: [Regret about not spending time on the cushion doing practice - But I do argue with my ego throughout my day] (54:29) Q: Do we have to wait 9 months for Lama Zopa's rebirth? (58:49) Q: Are we at a point where there can be a female reincarnation? (1:01:43) Q: How to maintain enthusiasm when obstacles arise and how to embrace it when the obstacles are gone! (1:03:50) Q: What to do when I'm in the classroom (as the teacher) and there is conflict and confrontation and I have to make a decision in the moment (1:08:31) "the deepest most subtle attachment of all and the hardest to recognise" - Worry about what people think (1:10:15) Q: My brother is a programmer and we were recently talking about AI. He told me that Google is experimenting with storing data on atoms. He tells me he believes they are making headway. If this happens AI will probably develop full consciousness. I thought about King of Prayers, on every atom is a Buddha field. Under these circumstances do you think from a Buddhist perspective that a conscience could enter an AI? It seems like a silly question but people really fear this. (1:12:17) A short meditation on the breath with introduction to the posture (1:16:18)
Venerable Robina Courtin is known for her clear teaching, explaining the Buddhist approach to thinking and acting in terms we can understand. Through examples that are relevant to our lives, she presents multiple ways we can put these ideas into practice. Venerable Robina explains the beneficial actions of body, speech and mind we can adopt, and actions to avoid. She gives us ways to create positive new habits benefiting ourselves and those around us, and how to slowly - completely - rid ourselves of harmful, ancient, negative ones. Stolen Time: One Woman's Inspiring Story As An Innocent Condemned To Death, Sunny Jacobs: https://bit.ly/StolenTime_SunnyJacobs Q: I am caregiving for my father and my dog. I feel resentful for the demands that are placed on me. What can I do to keep going? (2:53) On "blessing the speech" practice (15:06) You can view Venerable Robina leading this practice here: • Express Meditation with Ven. Robina C... Q: I just heard it yesterday, that we can listen to the Teachings in 3 ways -- being a full pot so nothing goes in, being a dirty pot -- so all got polluted, or being a licking pot -- so it goes in and then it goes out again. I think on different days I can be any of those really :) (22:31) Q: In the evening I am determined to wake up early and meditate and practice and in the morning I slept again. (25:26) Q: My 21 year old daughter has a strong tendency toward anxiety and will often catastrophise and overthinks the future, causing her a lot of additional stresses. Alongside this, her anxiety extends to social situations as well.Do you have any advice… (31:43) Q: Would it be skilful to try and practise and master two traditions/lineages? I am currently mainly a practitioner of Soto Zen however am also inclined towards esoteric practises such as those in Vajrayana. (38:05) Q: I'm curious about the way 'Western' Buddhists should practice vs 'Eastern' Buddhists. From my reading, it seems Lama Yeshe didn't think westerners need to do all the intense rituals whilst Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches very intense rituals for everyone (41:50) Q: How to work with my sister who drinks alcohol (and gets drunk) in the house we share together (48:49) Q: What guidance / recommendations do you have for daily practice? Is there essential daily rituals/ practice for a lay person? (57:42) Q: Can purification practice "lessen the load" of previous karmic imprints? (1:00:09) Q: Why does our mind ‘push-back' so intensely if we get too involved with it? (1:03:21) It doesn't occur to us to consciously say positive thoughts to counteract our negative thought habit (1:10:33) Q: I'm finding it difficult to deal with my internal feelings towards the reactions from others to my illness / disability / , and the loss of friendships etc . I'm finding this hard. What can I do ? Because it causes me to want to withdraw as it takes so much energy -as I struggle just to manage. (1:12:36) Q: Ven Robina, I'm doing a daily Vajrasattva purification practice most evenings with the four Rs. My ability to visualise Vajrasattva over my head is poor. Any ideas on how to build that visualisation skill? (1:22:10) Q: I'm a support person for a man with a degenerative disease. He knows I have a Buddhist practice and we often chat about Buddhism and he asks questions. I'm not a teacher and I don't want to evangelise so can you give me any ideas about resources I could point him towards or use together when I'm spending time with him? (1:22:35) Q: What to do about the climate change situation? (1:24:58) Q: I am a casual emergency relief teacher. In my capacity as a relief teacher I see many secondary students feeling the burning effects of digital media , because they are so overexposed to it,— ie:- many student' s stay on their games on their screens during class, They refuse to stop when asked. How can I give them some hope and enthusiasm? (How can I not get depressed!!? ) (1:29:46)
We've spent many sessions on refuge and bodhicitta, compassion. For this episode, let's get into something that I wrote about in Step 11 in The 12-Step Buddhist (AtriaBeyond Words 2018), in reference to the practice of Vajrasattva for purification. We'll cover the building blocks of practice, continuing w/ pt. 3, more on Dedication of Merits. New shows on Fridays. Tune in for practices integrated with words and sounds on this and all the shows! All are welcome. Send questions to info@compassionaterecovery.us This is the path of bodhisattvas, yogis and Buddhists in recovery. "You can judge me, but please take what's in my hand." Compassionate Recovery: Mindful Healing for Trauma and Addictions The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Theme by Clay Giberson Also available wherever you get your podcasts, such as iTunes, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio and Google Podcasts
A reading for meditation of Garab Dorje's primary teaching, "The Spaciousness of Vajrasattva" (Dorje Sempa Namkha Che) - translated by Yeshe Donden (Roger Calverley). With thanks to Roger for permission to read from this newly published work: "The Gospel of Garab Dorje." Garab Dorje (c. 665) was the first human to receive the complete direct transmission teachings of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen from Vajrasattva. Garab Dorje then became the teacher of Dzogchen ("Great Perfection", also called Ati Yoga) teachings according to Tibetan Buddhist and Nyingma school traditions. According to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, Garab Dorje transmitted the complete empowerments of Dzogchen to Manjushrimitra, who was regarded as his chief disciple. Padmasambhava is also known to have received the transmission of the Dzogchen tantras directly from Garab Dorje.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche began a refuge ceremony on December 25, 2022 from the fifty-third lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery by explaining the importance of relying on Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. By protecting our karma we are able to be free from samsara.Before the refuge ceremony begins (at 13:33), Rinpoche explained the Lesser Vehicle refuge and also Mahayana refuge and shared the motivation for taking refuge.While guiding those in attendance in prostrations, Rinpoche discussed the significance of holding one's hands in the mudra of prostration at the crown of the head, throat, and heart, explaining that this purifies the negative karmas collected with body, speech, and mind from beginningless rebirths and creates the cause to achieve Buddha's holy body, speech, and mind. Rinpoche also discussed what to visualize when doing prostrations and the benefits of this practice.Rinpoche then offered refuge and lay vows.Please note, the video recording stops just before Rinpoche begins a jenang ritual of Vajrasattva.
The Buddha said that we get exactly the same merit from making an offering, no matter how tiny, to a statue or painting of the Buddha as we would from making an offering to the actual Buddha. How can we maximize our offerings to be of most benefit? Rinpoche says that even if we have nothing more than a clean bowl in which to offer water—we can visualize this offering as nectar, since a buddha actually sees nectar, and in this way we collect unbelievable merit. Rinpoche also discusses how to offer a mandala—by precisely visualizing each item in it, we get the merit of having actually offered whatever it is we visualized, not what we actually offered, which may just be a small pile of grain or sand. By doing purification with Vajrasattva and collecting merits with mandala offerings, gradually we will be able to change our mind, which once seemed impossible to change, from selfishness into bodhicitta. The teaching for this episode was recorded on September 15, 2017, at Light of the Path Retreat, United States.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued his https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche-for-coronavirus/#video-teachings (video teachings on thought transformation) from Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore in August and September. Here is a summary of the teaching offered on September 7, 2022: The most important Dharma, Rinpoche teaches us, is compassion. If you are becoming kinder and more compassionate, this means you are practicing Dharma. Rinpoche discusses the importance of taking vows. Our virtue is much more extensive after having taken vows than if we have not taken any. This is also true for the non-virtues: it is heavier negative karma for someone ordained to commit a trivial misdeed than for a lay person to indulge in the ten non-virtues. This is why it is so heavy when people who hold bodhisattva vows, and even more so, tantric vows, commit misdeeds. We should take and receive vows to receive a human rebirth again because there is no cause for a higher rebirth other than practicing ethics. We create great merit even by keeping even one precept. By taking vows, one's virtue increases continuously—even while sleeping, and by not having vows and committing non-virtue, one's negative karma increases continuously. Because of this, we need to purify our negative karma to stop it from increasing every day. Rinpoche offers the lung of the Vajrasattva long and short mantras (1:31:17), to help us with our practice or purification. During Rinpoche's September 3 teaching (https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/thought-transformation-teachings-134-in-your-life-as-a-couple-practice-good-heart/ (#134 In Your Life as a Couple, Practice Good Heart)), Rinpoche offered the lung for Lama Tsongkhapa's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TadXCaGNxiU&t=4424s (Utilizing Suffering in the Path to Enlightenment). In this teaching, Rinpoche began translating and offering commentary on this important thought transformation teaching by Lama Tsongkhapa at 1:40:14.
Buddha taught us how to purify obstacles, obscurations, negative karma, even disease, through Vajrasattva meditation, visualization and mantras.Chant along the 100-syllable Sanskrit mantra, here beautifully chanted by Hrishikesh Sonar, with the meditative images of Vajrasattva. Visualize all of your negativities, obstacles and diseases purified by glorious white light.Listening or chanting are both beneficial. For chant along:OṃVajrasattva samayam anupālayaVajrasattva tvenopatiṣṭhadṛḍho me bhavasutoṣyo me bhavasupoṣyo me bhavaanurakto me bhavasarva siddhiṃ me prayacchasarva karma sucha me chittaṃ śreyaḥ kuruhūṃha ha ha ha hoḥbhagavan sarva tathāgata vajra mā me muñchavajrī bhava mahā samaya sattva āḥSupport the show
Why is wrathful Buddha Vajrakilaya, described by Garchen Rinpoche as "the mind of great love?" Can such a ferocious embodiment of Enlightenment really calm the mind and tame our obstacles, both external and internal? Why is Vajrakilaya — also called Vajrakumara — considered the activity of all the Buddhas? Come along with us now as we get to know this wrathful emanation of Vajrasattva, the embodiment of the activity of all the Buddhas. After our brief introduction, listen or chant along with the Sanskrit version of his mantra — famous for accomplishing the Enlightened activities and overcoming all of our obstacles. (Subtitled in multiple languages.) An informative 10-minute documentary video followed by a chant-along with Hrishikesh Sonar chanting this lovely mantra in Sanskrit. Sanskrit Mantra Om Vajra Kili Kilaya Sarva Vighnam Vam Hum Pey #Vajrakilaya #Vajrayana #BuddhaWeekly #Buddhism #Buddhist #BuddhistMantra #Mantra Support the show
Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave this teaching to students attending the three-month Vajrasattva retreat at Kopan Monastery in Nepal on April 28, 2022.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave this teaching to students attending the three-month Vajrasattva retreat at Kopan Monastery in Nepal on April 27, 2022. Here's a summary of Rinpoche's teaching. If you want to know the truth of the world, the truth of yourself, and if you want to be free from the oceans of samsaric suffering, then you have to know the root cause of suffering, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains. You need to meet the correct teachings and that depends on merit. And you have to have faith and make correction prayers and dedications. Otherwise, it's difficult. You could meet Buddhism but fall into eternalism or nihilism. Rinpoche offers the retreatants a brief history of how the first month-long Kopan Course began (14:37 in the video). There have been fifty-two courses since this first course in 1971. Generating bodhicitta when listening to the teachings is unbelievable. So we listen to the teachings for all sentient beings—not only to free them from samsara and bring them to nirvana—but for ultimate happiness, the total cessation of obscurations and the completion of realizations. Rinpoche leads the group in offering coffee and cake, including the Clouds of Offering Mantra (48:08 in the video). Rinpoche continues the teaching, saying that it is so important to understand what the I is. All problems go away when we understand this, Rinpoche assures us. But when we believe in the hallucinated appearance of the I, so many problems arise. Abandoning nonvirtue is the source of happiness for us. Rinpoche explains the four parts of completing the action of killing (1:17:12 in the video), discusses the purification practice utilizing the four powers (1:43:19 in the video), and offers some stories of those who have committed the heavy negative karma of killing and how they purified these mistakes. -- We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche's video. Find links to more resources, including the transcript: https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/abandoning-nonvirtue-is-a-source-of-happiness-for-you
“Your coming here to do Vajrasattva, wow, that's really what you need,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche told the students attending the three-month Vajrasattva retreat at Kopan Monastery in Nepal on April 26, 2022. In this teaching, Rinpoche discusses how our ignorance leads to attachment and anger, which make us miserable. By attending courses, studying, and meditating, we can come to understand how our our minds hallucinate. The more we understand about emptiness and how things truly exist, the happier we become. In addition, developing our compassion and living in service to others gives us the greatest happiness. Rinpoche offers three ways to meditate on emptiness and provides commentary for each (starting at 1:38:40 in the video): 1. Meditate that everything is a hallucination. 2. Meditate that everything is merely imputed. 3. Meditate that everything is empty. We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche's videos. Find links to more resources, including the transcript: https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/by-doing-vajrasattva-you-are-doing-exactly-what-you-need-to-do/
Our minds are wrapped up in hallucination, Lama Zopa Rinpoche says in this highly charged teaching recorded on March 30, 2022. Speaking to students attending the three-month Vajrasattva retreat at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, Rinpoche says we must use the wisdom of Buddha's teachings to see the truth, to recognize all the hallucinations we are wrapped up in. The world has so much suffering due to this ignorance. So it is very important to understand how we hallucinate, Rinpoche explains. The teachings of the Buddha show us this, and that is why they are so important. At the end of the teaching, Rinpoche offers the oral transmission of the Vajrasattva mantra (1:30:05) and the oral transmission of Dorje Khadro fire puja practice (1:42:50) to the students in attendance. Find links to resources for this teaching: https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/why-buddhism-is-so-important/
There is a way to purify negative karma! Phew. Buddha taught the Four Powers of Purification. The first power is healthy regret. This type of regret stands in contrast to guilt. Healthy regrets teaches us that we should try to not be angry or unkind to ourselves when we experience regret. Regret makes us naturally desire not to repeat that action and the harm we caused. The second power of purification is applying remedies. In this episode, JoAnn Fox shares a traditional method for applying remedies, reciting the mantra of Vajrasattva, Buddha of Purification (see the mantra below.) The third is the power of promise, in which we promise to try to refrain from that harmful action in the future. Finally, the power of reliance is to ask for help to a higher power; for some this could be praying to Jesus or it could be asking the objects of Buddhist refuge (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) for help. The powers of purification act together or alone. For example, as soon as we regret some harm we have done we start to purify that karma. This practice illuminates Buddhism's most essential tenet, we can change...Profoundly change. How to purify negative karma through the 4 powers: Regret Applying Remedies Promise Reliance The short mantra of Vajrasattva, For purification Om Vajra Sattva Hum Just as kusa grass cuts the hand That wrongly grasps it, So the renunciant life, if wrongly grasped, Drags one down to hell. (311) A lax act, corrupt practice, Or chaste life lived dubiously Doesn't bear much fruit. (312)* With steady effort One should do what is to be done Because the lax renunciant stirs up Even more dust. (313)* A foul deed is best not done— The foul deed torments one later. A good deed is best done— For, having done it, one has no regret. (314) -Buddha, The Dhammapada References and Links Buddha.The Dhammapada. Translated by Gil Fronsdale. (Kindle). Shambala, Boston and London, 2011, pp. 77 (Link) Buddha (1986).The Dhammapada: Verses and Stories. Translated by Daw Mya Tin, M.A. (Website). Edited by Editorial Committee, Burma Tipitaka Association Rangoon. Courtesy .of Nibbana.com. For free distribution only, as a gift of dhamma. https://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=314 Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, by Je Tsongkhapa, Volume 1. (Kindle). Pages 251-253. Translated by the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Joshua Cutler, Editor-in-Chief, and Guy Newlan, Editor.
Dharma talk given by Lama Matthew Palden Gocha, April 24, 2022. Music by Barefoot Bran Music.
***Join us for a solar eclipse Vajrasattva practice, April 29 at 7pm EDT in the CSP Courtyard. Become a member https://www.gradualpath.com/courtyard*** With the very auspicious Jupiter-Neptune conjunction in Pisces on April 12 - a magical and mystical energy occurring only every 165 years - and book ended by a solar eclipse at the end of the month, I thought it would be a great opportunity to sit down with my friend, polymath, artist, astrologer and sound healer George H Lewis to discuss his astrology forecast, the paradigm shift and transition to the Aquarian age, and the relationship between cosmos and psyche. GEORGE LEWIS is a New York based artist, polymath, astrologer, and sound healer committed to raising consciousness. His paintings have been exhibited around the world, and his books include The Boy and the King (2019) and Arthur and Bun Bun (2018). George is the founder of Jupiter Rising, a retreat center for holistic healing and conscious living in the Catskills, New York. More on George Lewis at: https://www.georgehlewis.com and https://www.jupiterinpisces.com/ *** CONTEMPLATIVE STUDIES PROGRAM Courses, Community and Buddhist Pilgrimage https://www.gradualpath.com/ 25% off all courses with coupon code WISDOMKEEPER Dr Miles Neale | https://www.milesneale.com On Social Media: Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/milesneale/ Soundcloud | https://soundcloud.com/milesneale
This week, Sah welcomes Moun D'Simone. Moun is a spiritual teacher, mentor, and meditation guide. She is everyone's Spiritual Godmother, known for her big sister's warmth and real-talk style. Deeply rooted in Tibetan Buddhism, contemplative psychotherapy, and Hatha Yoga, Moun's tangible and no-BS methods remind us our stories matter, and we are all innately compassionate badass people.Find Moun on Instagram @MounDSimone and at moundsimone.com.MODERN DAKINI 2.0 special course: do at your own pace, worksheets + tools and teachings for a visionary life, use code: FREEDOM for 20% off.www.moundsimone.com/modern-dakini THE PRACTICE CLUB STORE: pre-recorded talks, audio courses, meditations, and free practices with me! www.moundsimone.com/the-practice-club-store SAVE THE DATE: August 10-14th in-person retreat at Kripalu Center: A Revelation: a Tantric Buddhist meets an artistic embodied approach, to the revelation of the honest, raw woman, with my dear Alexandra Roxo. Live on their website soon.In this episode, Sah and Moun discuss...All about the 3 month silent Vajrasattva purification retreat Moun is about to embark uponThe full WHY in making the decision to do this and how it benefits all beingsWhat feelings and fears are coming up in preparation for the retreatMoun's intentions and the level of trust that is requiredThe recognition that control in our lives is an illusionHow everything in life can be a portal for liberationEgo death and how all of our destinies is to become a Buddhaand more....✨✨✨Join Sah for a transformative, immersive Sah Method Spiritual Dance retreat in 2022!Spiritually Sassy: An Immersive 5-Day Sah Method Dance Retreat at Omega Institute in upstate New York, June 19-24: https://bit.ly/3pTHY5tSpiritual Dance: An Immersive 8-Day Sah Method Retreat in Mykonos, Greece, October 8-15: https://travelgems.com/tour-item/spiritual-dance-an-immersive-sah-method-retreat/ ✨✨✨Thank you to our partner The Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Become a certified health coach to transform your relationship with food and health, live your dreams, earn while you learn, and embark on a new future.Receive $2,000 off when you pay in full (or $1,500 off payment plans) by following Sah's referral link here, or mention Sah's name when you sign up.✨✨✨Get more Sah in your life:
This week, Sah leads you through a Vajrasattva Purification practice. Get ready to learn one of the most revered purification practices in Tantric Buddhism. Known as “the great purifier.” This practice is like chicken soup for your mind, body, and heart... a loving remedy that can treat many spiritual ailments. Get your Mala Beads if you have them. The mantra is: Om Vajrasattva Hum.In this episode, Sah discusses...Vajrasattva - the bodhisattva of purification Purifying our negative karma and developing our enlightened qualitiesHow to break out of a perpetual state of suffering and dramaThe path of liberationBecoming a blessings factoryHow to clear mental delusions and see every situation through a multiplicity of perspectivesand more....✨✨✨Looking for a hit of daily spiritual inspiration to get you going in the morning?Want to integrate bite-sized daily practices in your spiritual routine but not sure where to start?Looking for the perfect gift for a spiritually curious friend or family member?With “5-minute daily meditations,” my new page-a-day calendar for 2022, you can start each day with an inspiring dose of my uniquely sassy spiritual food-for-thought and pocket-sized practices! This “year of growth, authenticity, and introspection” is the perfect complement to your daily routine, whether you're a spiritual newbie or an experienced practitioner! And as a listener of the Spiritually Sassy Show, I'm offering an exclusive 10% off your purchase of the 5-minute meditations calendar at workman.com with the code MEDITATE (valid through 1/31/22).Set yourself up for spiritual success with these quick yet profound daily practices. Over the course of a year, you'll be amazed at the transformations you experience! ✨✨✨Get more Sah in your life:
Why do many Buddhists consider purification practice to be the ultimate meditative practice? Why do Tibetan Buddhists consider Buddha Vajrasattva practice to be the most perfect and complete of purification practices? Do I need special instruction to practice this most profound purification and healing practice? We answer these questions and more in this presentation. Then, take a visualized meditative journey of body, speech and mind with our editor Lee Kane as he describes a simple purification visualization and ends with 108 repetitions of the profound 100-syllable mantra of Vajrasattva. CONTENTS 00:00 Introduction 01:00 The Goal in Buddhism of Purification of the Five Aggregates 01:11 Shakyamuni Buddha battles Mara under the Bodhi Tree (animation) 02:31 Buddha's example of purification 02:49 Methods of purification including Vajrasattva Practice, the ultimate purification 03:28 Sound Psychological Concept of Buddhist Purification 05:13 The 100-syllable mantra introduction 05:53 Vajrasattva is a complete practice in itself 06:32 Why is it so powerful? 07:19 How do we know it works? 08:27 How to pronounce mantra in Sanskrit 3 times (non-musical) (see mantra below) 10:21 Detailed meaning/translation of mantra from Lati Rinpoche 13:03 “Mechanics of Vajrasattva Practice” a How-to 14:03 The Four Opponent Powers: Dependence, Regret, Remedy, and Restraint 15:13 VISUALIZATION BEGINS (Painting by Thomas Edwards art and animations) 19:53 Seven non-musical repetitions of Vajrasattva 100-Syllable MantraMANTRA in Sanskrit (pronunciation guide at 08:27)OM VAJRASATTVA SAMAYA MANUPALAYA VAJRASATTVA TVENOPATISHTHA DRIDHO ME BHAVA SUTOSHYO ME BHAVA SUPOSHYO ME BHAVA ANURAKTO ME BHAVA SARVA SIDDHIM ME PRAYACCHA SARVA KARMA SU CHAME CHITTAM SHRIYAM KURU HUM HA HA HA HA HO BHAGAVAN SARVA TATHAGATA VAJRA MA ME MUNCHA VAJRA BHAVA MAHA SAMAYA SATTVA AH HUM PHAT!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/BuddhaWeekly)
At the beginning of this video, which was recorded on September 25, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, Rinpoche talks about doing a tsog offering practice at Boudha Stupa and the benefits of making offerings to stupas. He explains how offering tsog to stupas makes you achieve all the realizations; offering medicine to stupas stops diseases; and offering grains to stupas stops famine in the world. Rinpoche also discusses how important it is to consecrate stupas, including the benefit of eliminating war. From his room at Kopan Monastery, Rinpoche then leads an offering practice to Boudha Stupa accompanied by many senior Sangha members. You can follow along with the offering practice (beginning at 6:43) by reading the transcript, which includes the text of the practice. Rinpoche also provides commentary on verses from Liberation Upon Hearing: The History of the Great Jarung Kashar Stupa by Padmasambhava on the benefits of making offerings to Boudha Stupa, which include the following: Making requests to the stupa Whoever supplicates it will spontaneously accomplish the benefit of self and others. The benefits of offering water Whoever offers drinking water to it will be born free of thirst and disease. The benefits of offering flowers Whoever offers flowers will completely attain the freedoms and advantages. The benefits of offering light Whoever offers butter lamps will see the manifest faces of the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions. Whoever offers grain oil lamps will be clarified of all obscurations of ignorance. Whoever offers the fire for butter lamps will radiate the light rays of the Dharma throughout the ten directions. The benefits of offering perfume Whoever offers scented water will be freed from depression and all suffering. The benefits of offering food and drink Whoever offers food and drink will be sustained by the sustenance of samādhi. The benefits of offering music Whoever offers music will proclaim the melodious sound of Dharma throughout the ten directions. Whoever offers cymbals will attain profound and perfect courage. Whoever offers bells large and small will attain clear and melodious speech, and the voice of Brahmā. The benefits of offering the five precious jewels (pearls, turquoise, lapis lazuli, gold, coral) Whoever offers maṇḍalas of the five precious jewels will be free of poverty and attain an inexhaustible sky treasury. Before doing the dedications, Rinpoche acknowledges that what is missing from his commentary is the benefits of offering the seven king's objects, the eight auspicious signs, and the seven royal things. Rinpoche concludes the teaching with the instruction that these offerings "should be done after the seven-limb practice. Do the Thirty-Five Buddhas, Vajrasattva, the seven limbs, then a short mandala, then a lamrim prayer, then after, dedication to complete the practice." -- We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche's video and reading the full transcript of Rinpoche's teaching: https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/making-offerings-to-boudha-stupa/
At the beginning of this video, which was recorded on September 25, 2021, at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, Rinpoche talks about doing a tsog offering practice at Boudha Stupa and the benefits of making offerings to stupas. He explains how offering tsog to stupas makes you achieve all the realizations; offering medicine to stupas stops diseases; and offering grains to stupas stops famine in the world. Rinpoche also discusses how important it is to consecrate stupas, including the benefit of eliminating war. From his room at Kopan Monastery, Rinpoche then leads an offering practice to Boudha Stupa accompanied by many senior Sangha members. You can follow along with the offering practice (beginning at 6:43) by reading the transcript, which includes the text of the practice. Rinpoche also provides commentary on verses from Liberation Upon Hearing: The History of the Great Jarung Kashar Stupa by Padmasambhava on the benefits of making offerings to Boudha Stupa, which include the following: Making requests to the stupa Whoever supplicates it will spontaneously accomplish the benefit of self and others. The benefits of offering water Whoever offers drinking water to it will be born free of thirst and disease. The benefits of offering flowers Whoever offers flowers will completely attain the freedoms and advantages. The benefits of offering light Whoever offers butter lamps will see the manifest faces of the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions. Whoever offers grain oil lamps will be clarified of all obscurations of ignorance. Whoever offers the fire for butter lamps will radiate the light rays of the Dharma throughout the ten directions. The benefits of offering perfume Whoever offers scented water will be freed from depression and all suffering. The benefits of offering food and drink Whoever offers food and drink will be sustained by the sustenance of samādhi. The benefits of offering music Whoever offers music will proclaim the melodious sound of Dharma throughout the ten directions. Whoever offers cymbals will attain profound and perfect courage. Whoever offers bells large and small will attain clear and melodious speech, and the voice of Brahmā. The benefits of offering the five precious jewels (pearls, turquoise, lapis lazuli, gold, coral) Whoever offers maṇḍalas of the five precious jewels will be free of poverty and attain an inexhaustible sky treasury. Before doing the dedications, Rinpoche acknowledges that what is missing from his commentary is the benefits of offering the seven king's objects, the eight auspicious signs, and the seven royal things. Rinpoche concludes the teaching with the instruction that these offerings "should be done after the seven-limb practice. Do the Thirty-Five Buddhas, Vajrasattva, the seven limbs, then a short mandala, then a lamrim prayer, then after, dedication to complete the practice." -- We invite you to go deeper into the topics presented here, plus many others, by watching Rinpoche's video and reading the full transcript of Rinpoche's teaching: https://fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/making-offerings-to-boudha-stupa/
Karunavajra gives a talk at the about Vajrasattva, and how he can help and inspire us in these times of transition. Vajrasattva is a beautiful Buddha figure embodying essential Dharma truths. He symbolises the teaching that we are in possession of enormous riches and we don't realise it. Given at Birmingham Buddhist Centre for Dharma Day, July 2021. *** Follow our Dharmabytes podcast. Bite-size Dharma twice a week! Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Subscribe using these RSS feeds or search for Free Buddhist Audio or Dharmabytes in your favourite podcast service! FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud
Venerable Robina Courtin continues teaching about the Buddhist approach to developing compassion. WHY ENDLESS COMPASSION? Sometimes it feels like the world's problems are demanding so much of our attention that our compassion reserves will run dry. How can we develop strong, resilient compassion that allows us to help others? Venerable Robina says: “You don't harm others even slightly if you love, have compassion, generosity, forgiveness - it's not possible. It's the delusions that cause us pain and cause us to harm others. So when we deeply understand that, it's like we've got compassion for ourselves. That's what qualifies us to have compassion for others - and that doesn't just mean the victims, it means the people who do the harm. This is a really tough level of compassion but we can not have it until we know ourselves, until we know what causes us pain.” Course notes: https://bit.ly/EndlessCompassionNotes Sunny Jacob's book: https://bit.ly/StolenTime_SunnyJacobs Namgyalma mantra to put on your car, to bless all the beings as you drive: https://shop.fpmt.org/Namgyalma-Mantra-Car-Sticker-PDF_p_3294.html His Holiness Dalai Lama Avalokiteshvara Initiation, May 2020: Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUWH3PIjZQ8 Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti-L1BdhLw4 *** Q: If the Miami building was to fall, is it the karma of the people or the karma of the building? (0:49) Q: Is all the negativity in our minds the result of karma? (3:39) Q: If reincarnation is the only way we exist, why is there more of everything now? (9:06) Q: What is the antidote to attachment? [to being approved of] (12:09) Q: Still grieving, what to do? (16:14) Q: Is reframing our karmic appearances practicing Emptiness, and does practicing Emptiness help us realise Emptiness.. So, is realising Emptiness a process? Can we cultivate Emptiness in the same way we cultivate compassion? (17:25) Q: I have lost everything I have loved in my life and I have lost my health. Can I find peace or a happy place in this horrible time in my life, if yes how? (22:06) Q: What is initiation? (26:59) On taking Refuge (33:44) Refuge commitments and vows (47:04) Q: if you kill a mosquito after taking a vow, is it worse than if you haven't taken the vow? (57:37) Q: I had to kill the rats in our roof as they were running rampant, destroying stuff. Can we do Vajrasattva practice to repent and also renew my vow again? (1:02:34) Q: After today we just retake the vows every morning 1st thing open our eyes? (1:04:13) Q: So many insects get squished when we drive a car. If we know animals die when we drive a car should we not drive a car? (1:04:49) Q: I would like to take the empowerment. However I am wondering how to reconcile the past faith in God. I am wondering if I can still have the faith in saints and God as well as taking Buddha as my empowerment? (1:11:00) Q: Is there a line between killing due to dislike/disgust as opposed to killing for the wellbeing of other beings? For example, I recently had a flea infestation in my apartment. I'm allergic to flea bites and it was causing my foster cat a lot of distress. I chose not to flea bomb due to toxins that would affect the cat however I used diatomaceous earth which is non-toxic for myself and the cat however kills fleas by dehydration. In this situation what is the best course of action? (1:17:18)
Venerable Robina Courtin continues teaching about the Buddhist approach to developing compassion. WHY ENDLESS COMPASSION? Sometimes it feels like the world's problems are demanding so much of our attention that our compassion reserves will run dry. How can we develop strong, resilient compassion that allows us to help others? Venerable Robina says: “You don't harm others even slightly if you love, have compassion, generosity, forgiveness - it's not possible. It's the delusions that cause us pain and cause us to harm others. So when we deeply understand that, it's like we've got compassion for ourselves. That's what qualifies us to have compassion for others - and that doesn't just mean the victims, it means the people who do the harm. This is a really tough level of compassion but we can not have it until we know ourselves, until we know what causes us pain.” Course notes: https://bit.ly/EndlessCompassionNotes *** What drives *our* actions that harm others? (7:07) It is the very *having* of anger is where the suffering is (10:45) When we can see this within ourselves... (15:00) Anger is a mental breakdown [klesha = affliction = mental illness] (24:24) The Four Noble Truths (28:15) Compassion for ourselves (30:06) Look at "deserving". What does "deserving" have to with anger and attachment? (34:48) What is attachment? (47:35) Q: Can I change my anger into compassion and *then* take action? (56:20) Q: Does "survivor guilt" come from compassion? (57:34) Q: If “junior school” is being ethical and not harming, and “university” is the compassion wing, is “high school?” working on our own minds? (1:01:48) Q: What is the difference between the anger of the man who kicks his dog and Roger the meditators experience where Rinpoche said "the dirt has to come out" (1:04:15) Q: Apparent randomness of events and karma (1:06:17) Q: All of these things that are happening - good or bad - our job as practitioners is to bring it all into the path? (1:12:21) Q: Does purification practice like Vajrasattva get rid of the seed of transmute it? (1:14:04)
With a magician-like quality, Jnanavaca introduces us to the pure white Vajrasatva with a talk ranging from Carl Sagan to childhood magic sets, rainbow men in the sky to the moment of death; Jnanavaca offers a vision of reality that transcends time and space. From the talk Vajrasatva, Time, Space & Rainbows, part of the series The Symbolic World of the Five Buddha Mandala given at London Buddhist Centre’s Winter Retreat 2019. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud
Vajrasattva is associated with purity and with the time of death. Aryajaya helps us to engage more deeply with the meaning and symbolism of Vajrasattva. Talk given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2017. *** Help keep FBA free for everyone! Become a supporter today. Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast - bite-size pieces of Dharma inspiration, two times a week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud
Here Sangharakshita orientates us to Vajrasattva, the primordial Buddha of Innate Purity. He introduces the Vajrasattva practice as part of the four indispensable preparatory practices (mula-yogas) of the Vajrayana devotee. From the talk entitled The Four Foundation Yogas of the Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, part of the series An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, 1968. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud
Dhammadinna explores the various meanings of purity associated with Vajrasattva, including the aspect of innocence as well as authentic, unadulterated consciousness. From the talk entitled Reflections On Vajrasattva - Purity, Confession and Death given as part of the Vajrasattva Festival Day at the London Buddhist Centre, 2010. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud
Excerpts from the text "The Golden Letters" translated by John Myrdhin Reynolds. The lineage of Dzogchen, unbroken to the present day, is traced from the dharmakaya Samantabhadra (‘Kuntuzangpo' in Tibetan) to the sambhogakaya, represented by the five buddha families and Vajrasattva, and then to the first human master Garab Dorje. It then passed to Mañjushrimitra. At the time of his parinirvana, Garab Dorje ascended into the sky and dissolved into rainbow light. At this, Mañjushrimitra cried out in despair and distress, and made a very beautiful plea: “What will become of us now that you are passing away? You are the light of the world…” Whereupon Garab Dorje was moved, and his hand reappeared, in which was a small golden casket, the size of a thumbnail, containing the teaching of Hitting the Essence in Three Words, which he let fall into the hand of Mañjushrimitra. As soon as he received it, his mind became the same as the wisdom mind of his master Garab Dorje.
You are welcome to join us on Zoom every Monday night at 7:30pm Melbourne, Australia time (AEST/AEDT) as we engage with this Vajrasattva Practice!! Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81983188531?pwd=Uk1KLzBuYTcrMndWTTR0RjRjcWVPdz09 Meeting ID: 819 8318 8531 Passcode: 362338 *** Venerable Robina Courtin (https://www.robinacourtin.com) leads a short (22 minute) Vajrasattva practice including the Four Opponent Powers and the the 100 syllable Vajrasattva Mantra. You can do this practice at the end of each day just by playing the audio and following the instruction. How good is that? Begin by taking refuge, play through the audio following the visualisation and instruction and perform your own dedication after the audio ends with "be delighted, totally rejoice!!". You can also read Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche's advice on Vajrasattva practice.
In this talk Dharmasri helps us discover confession using extracts from pujas such as those from the Sutra of Golden Light and the Vajrasattva puja. Exploring what confession is and is not with an emphasis on self metta and the feeling of liberation that comes from having all of ourselves witnessed by others. From the talk Confession: Refining Our Ethical Sensitivities given at the Croydon Buddhist Centre in May 2016 as part of the series on Transforming Self and World through the Sevenfold Puja. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud
Buddhist Vajrasattva's Mantra complete teaching in English and Tibetan. A PDF version is available at www.vajrawisdom.org in the events area. Enjoy!
A story from Kalimpong Sangharakshita shares a story from Kalimpong about being woken up in the middle of the night to a very strange occurrence – he saw a dear friend who had passed several years earlier standing in a deep pit next to his bed. His response was to chant the Vajrasattva Mantra. Excerpted from the talk Between Twin Sala Trees, part of the series Incidents from the Pali Canon, 1983. This lecture is a series of reflections based around the Buddha's Parinirvana ('death'), stressing the importance of impermanence and explaining episodes recorded in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo will teach how to practice Vajrasattva, the purification Buddha, whose meditation and mantra remove obstacles that prevent us from realizing the profound nature of reality as it is. Vajrasattva practice makes our innate compassion, loving-kindness, and wisdom shine brightly so we can be of benefit to all living beings. "To meditate on Vajrasattva is the same as to meditate upon all the Buddhas. His hundred-syllable mantra is the quintessence of all mantras." - Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo will teach how to practice Vajrasattva, the purification Buddha, whose meditation and mantra remove obstacles that prevent us from realizing the profound nature of reality as it is. Vajrasattva practice makes our innate compassion, loving-kindness, and wisdom shine brightly so we can be of benefit to all living beings. "To meditate on Vajrasattva is the same as to meditate upon all the Buddhas. His hundred-syllable mantra is the quintessence of all mantras." - Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo will teach how to practice Vajrasattva, the purification Buddha, whose meditation and mantra remove obstacles that prevent us from realizing the profound nature of reality as it is. Vajrasattva practice makes our innate compassion, loving-kindness, and wisdom shine brightly so we can be of benefit to all living beings. "To meditate on Vajrasattva is the same as to meditate upon all the Buddhas. His hundred-syllable mantra is the quintessence of all mantras." - Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo will teach how to practice Vajrasattva, the purification Buddha, whose meditation and mantra remove obstacles that prevent us from realizing the profound nature of reality as it is. Vajrasattva practice makes our innate compassion, loving-kindness, and wisdom shine brightly so we can be of benefit to all living beings. "To meditate on Vajrasattva is the same as to meditate upon all the Buddhas. His hundred-syllable mantra is the quintessence of all mantras." - Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo offered instructions on the Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro) from The Profound and Secret Heart Essence of the Dakinis: The Chariot of Liberation, a treasure teaching revealed by Traktung (Heruka) Dudjom Dorje, also known as Dudjom Lingpa. Refuge and bodhicitta with prostrations, Vajrasattva, mandala offering and guru yoga are essential practices on the profound path of Vajrayana Buddhism and lay the foundation for Creation and Completion Stage and Great Perfection (Dzogchen) practices. Many great masters maintain a daily Ngöndro practice during their entire lives recognizing it as the heart essence of wisdom and compassion in Buddhism. Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo offered instructions on the Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro) from The Profound and Secret Heart Essence of the Dakinis: The Chariot of Liberation, a treasure teaching revealed by Traktung (Heruka) Dudjom Dorje, also known as Dudjom Lingpa. Refuge and bodhicitta with prostrations, Vajrasattva, mandala offering and guru yoga are essential practices on the profound path of Vajrayana Buddhism and lay the foundation for Creation and Completion Stage and Great Perfection (Dzogchen) practices. Many great masters maintain a daily Ngöndro practice during their entire lives recognizing it as the heart essence of wisdom and compassion in Buddhism. Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo offered instructions on the Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro) from The Profound and Secret Heart Essence of the Dakinis: The Chariot of Liberation, a treasure teaching revealed by Traktung (Heruka) Dudjom Dorje, also known as Dudjom Lingpa. Refuge and bodhicitta with prostrations, Vajrasattva, mandala offering and guru yoga are essential practices on the profound path of Vajrayana Buddhism and lay the foundation for Creation and Completion Stage and Great Perfection (Dzogchen) practices. Many great masters maintain a daily Ngöndro practice during their entire lives recognizing it as the heart essence of wisdom and compassion in Buddhism. Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Vajrasattva Meditation Retreat Teachings on how to practice purification via the meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva. This practice is the third inner preliminary that allows us to purify past negative actions, obscurations, and habitual tendencies that are the main obstacles to growing and developing along the spiritual path to enlightenment. It is very important to diminish our obscurations because they prevent us from experiencing and realizing the profound nature of reality. And they prevent us from manifesting true compassion, loving kindness, and wisdom to benefit all beings. To purify our negative actions completely, we rely on the four powers that are part of the Vajrasattva practice. The Buddha taught many methods of purification, but the best method is to meditate on Vajrasattva. Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo offered instructions on the Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro) from The Profound and Secret Heart Essence of the Dakinis: The Chariot of Liberation, a treasure teaching revealed by Traktung (Heruka) Dudjom Dorje, also known as Dudjom Lingpa. Refuge and bodhicitta with prostrations, Vajrasattva, mandala offering and guru yoga are essential practices on the profound path of Vajrayana Buddhism and lay the foundation for Creation and Completion Stage and Great Perfection (Dzogchen) practices. Many great masters maintain a daily Ngöndro practice during their entire lives recognizing it as the heart essence of wisdom and compassion in Buddhism. Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo offered instructions on the Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro) from The Profound and Secret Heart Essence of the Dakinis: The Chariot of Liberation, a treasure teaching revealed by Traktung (Heruka) Dudjom Dorje, also known as Dudjom Lingpa. Refuge and bodhicitta with prostrations, Vajrasattva, mandala offering and guru yoga are essential practices on the profound path of Vajrayana Buddhism and lay the foundation for Creation and Completion Stage and Great Perfection (Dzogchen) practices. Many great masters maintain a daily Ngöndro practice during their entire lives recognizing it as the heart essence of wisdom and compassion in Buddhism. Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Vajrasattva Meditation Retreat Teachings on how to practice purification via the meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva. This practice is the third inner preliminary that allows us to purify past negative actions, obscurations, and habitual tendencies that are the main obstacles to growing and developing along the spiritual path to enlightenment. It is very important to diminish our obscurations because they prevent us from experiencing and realizing the profound nature of reality. And they prevent us from manifesting true compassion, loving kindness, and wisdom to benefit all beings. To purify our negative actions completely, we rely on the four powers that are part of the Vajrasattva practice. The Buddha taught many methods of purification, but the best method is to meditate on Vajrasattva. Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Vajrasattva Meditation Retreat Teachings on how to practice purification via the meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva. This practice is the third inner preliminary that allows us to purify past negative actions, obscurations, and habitual tendencies that are the main obstacles to growing and developing along the spiritual path to enlightenment. It is very important to diminish our obscurations because they prevent us from experiencing and realizing the profound nature of reality. And they prevent us from manifesting true compassion, loving kindness, and wisdom to benefit all beings. To purify our negative actions completely, we rely on the four powers that are part of the Vajrasattva practice. The Buddha taught many methods of purification, but the best method is to meditate on Vajrasattva. Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Vajrasattva Meditation Retreat Teachings on how to practice purification via the meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva. This practice is the third inner preliminary that allows us to purify past negative actions, obscurations, and habitual tendencies that are the main obstacles to growing and developing along the spiritual path to enlightenment. It is very important to diminish our obscurations because they prevent us from experiencing and realizing the profound nature of reality. And they prevent us from manifesting true compassion, loving kindness, and wisdom to benefit all beings. To purify our negative actions completely, we rely on the four powers that are part of the Vajrasattva practice. The Buddha taught many methods of purification, but the best method is to meditate on Vajrasattva. Please visit our website to learn more about Khenpo Sherab Sangpo, his teachings and for practice texts. This episode can be seen on Youtube.
Aryajaya tells the story of The Myth of the Return Journey from the Lotus Sutra in illustrating the meaning and symbolism of Vajrasattva who is associated with purity and the time of death. From the talk entitled Vajrasattva given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2019. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud
There’s no other way to do this perfect work for others, so therefore one must actualize the steps of the path to enlightenment; to do that one must purify the obstacles, the negative karmas, obscurations, so therefore then one must do Vajrasattva practice which is the most powerful one by which any negative karma can … Continue reading The Benefits of Purification →
The world that appears to us depends upon our mind: our mental habits, our views and beliefs. In this episode, Buddhist Teacher, JoAnn Fox, talks about how to purify our mind and specifically how to purify our negative karma. We can create a new mind and a new world by purifying negative karma and taking positive actions toward creating the life we really want. Karma means action. Actions that caused harm to others in the past create our present painful feelings and experiences. We can purify the negative karma we’ve created in the past through the following purification meditation, which also involves a special mindfulness practice in daily life. Meditation to Purifying Negative Karma has four parts: Power of regret (sometimes translated as the power of release). Generate the strong wish to purify a specific action in the past causing you suffering, that is perpetuating your current way of being that you wish to change. Power of reliance: Pray for help to any holy being you feel connected to or simply pray, thinking “please help me to purify this.” Power of opponent force: means we do something to oppose the negative karmic. In this meditation, you can simply perform the following visualization as an opponent force. You can also recite the mantra of purification before the visualization. The short mantra of Vajrasattva is “Om Vajrasattva hum.” You might recite this many times, a few times, or 100 times using a mala (Buddhist rosary). Then visualize a holy being of light comes to the crown of your head. This holy beings sends out liquid light, which enters your crown. The purifying light travels down your central channel, pushing the negative karma down and out of your body. Power of Promise: Make a promise to yourself to refrain from a certain negative or unhelpful behavior for a specific amount of time (a day or a week). Whoever recovers from doing evil By doing something wholesome Illuminates the world Like the moon set free from a cloud. (172) Whoever replaces an evil deed With what is wholesome Illuminates the world Like the moon set free from a cloud. (173)* —Buddha, The Dhammapada References Buddha.The Dhammapada. Translated by Gil Fronsdale. Shambala, Boston and London, 2011, pp. 43. Yeshe, Thupten. Introduction to Tantra. (Audiobook). Wisdom Publications, Somerville, 2014.
Sangharakshita gives us today's FBA Dharmabyte - an introduction to Jamyang Khyentse Rimpoche, one of the foremost Tibetan Buddhist teachers of his time. Although a Nyingma master, Jamyang Khyentse was a chief exponent of the Rime movement, which brought together the different Tibetan schools to create a more unified tradition. Sangharakshita met him in 1957 and received several initiations from him. Due to Jamyang Khyentse’s spiritual eminence and the significance of these initiations, Sangharakshita regards him as his ‘root guru’. Excerpted from the talk entitled My Eight Main Teachers in which Sangharakshita describes Triratna’s 'lineage' in a fascinating series of memories and stories. Talk given in the USA, 1990. *** Subscribe to our Free Buddhist Audio podcast - a full Dharma talk every week! Follow our blog for news and new Dharma FBA on Twitter FBA on Facebook FBA on Soundcloud
On the evening of Urgyen Sangharakshita's funeral and burial, after the departure of most of the 1,200 guests, those who remained gathered together to perform a special, final sevenfold puja and close an extraordinary day. Padmavajra led the devotional ritual, specifically dedicated to Padmasambhava. In this extract we hear Surata reading verses to Vajrasattva known as 'The Confounder of Hell', followed by a rousing version of the Great Guru of Tibet's mantra. Voices were uplifted and many offerings made: to say a last farewell with heartfelt thanks to the founder of the Triratna Buddhist Community. Recorded on Saturday the 10th of November 2018, at Adhisthana. Find out more at [www.thebuddhistcentre.com/sangharakshita](www.thebuddhistcentre.com/sangharakshita)
As we deal with the many successes and challenges of life, Sluyter guides us in understanding the benefits of natural meditation and shares that tuning into our inner luminous silence is actually what we are at our deepest core level. He says that love is a lack of otherness and reminds us that fear and love cannot occupy the same place at the same time. Tags: Dean Sluyter, dharma, silence, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, luminous silence, emptiness, fear, addiction, anxiety, anger, Miles Davis, Rupert Spira, fear and hope, fear and love, karma yoga, grief, prisons, Vajrasattva practice, Aikido, silly walks, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Meditation, Buddhism, Death and Dying
As we deal with the many successes and challenges of life, Sluyter guides us in understanding the benefits of natural meditation and shares that tuning into our inner luminous silence is actually what we are at our deepest core level. He says that love is a lack of otherness and reminds us that fear and love cannot occupy the same place at the same time. Tags: Dean Sluyter, dharma, silence, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, luminous silence, emptiness, fear, addiction, anxiety, anger, Miles Davis, Rupert Spira, fear and hope, fear and love, karma yoga, grief, prisons, Vajrasattva practice, Aikido, silly walks, Personal Transformation, Self Help, Meditation, Buddhism, Death and Dying
Our FBA Dharmabyte today is called Our Pure Nature by Aryajaya. From the talk entitled Vajrasattva who is associated with Purity and with the time of death. Aryajaya helps us to engage more deeply with the meaning and symbolism of Vajrasattva.
Episode 5: In the final episode of this mini-series, Harvey walks us through the actual experience of doing Vajrasattva practice: what we imagine happening, the verses we recite, and the states of mind we aspire to cultivate. You can download the Dawn Mountain prayer book here: https://dawnmountain.org/prayers/ (You’ll find the Vajrasattva practice starting on p. […]
Episode 4: This two-part teaching (with episode 5 as the second part) was so good we had to include it! In this session, Harvey teaches about the value and function of Vajrasattva practice. As part of that teaching, he reflects on how important it is for Western students to distinguish between healthy contrition and neurotic […]
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, by Sangharakshita, is an introduction to what is likely the most important of the four mula-yogas, the indispensable preparatory practices of the Vajrayana devotee. and#8220;Vajrasattva: Purificationand#8221; is an excerpt from The Four Foundation Yogas of the Tibetan Buddhist Tantra, given in 1968 as part of the series An Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism.
The 100-syllable mantra to Vajrasattva, the Buddhist Bodhisattva figure associated with purifying the heart and mind in the development of wosdom and compassion. Recorded at the 2015 Pan-American Triratna Buddhist Order Convention in Mexico. #mantra #Buddhist #Buddhism #bodhisattva #Vajrasattva #chanting #chant #ritual
Alan guides a meditation on the empty fluctuation of appearances arising in open space. In the commentary that follows, he muses about the instant that the breath ceases in the fourth dhyana as being--from the perspective of that meditator--the last trace of having a body. Similarly, the daytime dreaming practice of the impure illusory body leads to an emptying of the body and mind until only awareness and space remain. At that point one is prepared for the practice of the pure illusory body, which begins with perceiving the empty nature your own guru as Vajrasattva. You then perceive the entire world of illusory appearances as being empty of inherent nature and primordially pure, which is good preparation for liberation in the bardo that follows death. To conclude, Alan answers questions about merging mind and space and the role of humor in dharma practice. Meditation starts at 0:40
Alan guides a meditation on the empty fluctuation of appearances arising in open space. In the commentary that follows, he muses about the instant that the breath ceases in the fourth dhyana as being--from the perspective of that meditator--the last trace of having a body. Similarly, the daytime dreaming practice of the impure illusory body leads to an emptying of the body and mind until only awareness and space remain. At that point one is prepared for the practice of the pure illusory body, which begins with perceiving the empty nature your own guru as Vajrasattva. You then perceive the entire world of illusory appearances as being empty of inherent nature and primordially pure, which is good preparation for liberation in the bardo that follows death. To conclude, Alan answers questions about merging mind and space and the role of humor in dharma practice. Meditation starts at 0:40
This excerpt is from a Vajrasattva purification retreat with Lama Padma Gyatso in March of 2014.
In this week’s FBA Podcast we hear another take on a famous Bodhisattva: “Vajrasattva: Not About Purity” by Jnanavaca given on Vajrasattva Festival Day at London Buddhist Centre on June 2009.
Todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte, takes us further into the archetypal realm of the Buddhaand#8217;s and Bodhisattvas. Here Sangharakshita introduces us to and#8220;Vajrasattva – The Aspect of Purityand#8221;. This is an excerpt from the talk and#8220;The Bodhisattva Hierarchyand#8221; by Sangharakshita given in 1969.
People always talk about "soul," but few know exactly what the soul is, or its purpose. In fact, Jesus said we do not have it yet. Learn about how to acquire a soul and why is is needed. This lecture discusses Vajrasattva, Kabbalah, spiritual psychology, and many core symbols of Greek Mythology, such as Psyche, Zeus, Hephaestus, Athena, Danae, Perseus, Medusa, Pegasus, and much more.
Our FBA Podcast today is a wonderfully entertaining talk on Perfect Vision titled: “Welsh Bats, A Vajrasattva Drugs Mule and Spanish Insight.” Here Vajrin tells a story of a wide ranging journey, including his early days at the Bristol Buddhist Centre in Long Ashton; his time as a junior doctor working in Africa; travels through India and Tibet; a visit to an Everest base camp and finally to ordination at a retreat centre high in the Spanish sierras. Along the way he manages to acquire a splendid Vajrasattva rupa and overcoming considerable obstacles, brings it home, thereby establishing a life-long association with this powerful bodhisattva of purification.
Om Vajrasattva Hum 108 Chants
Om Vajrasattva Hum 108 Chants
In this week’s FBA Podcast “Reflections on Vajrasattva: Purity, Confession and Death,” Dhammadinna shares her thoughts on Vajrasattva. His purity is not any sort of purity that can be attained – he is beyond space and beyond time. He is a very positive, profound, beautiful figure encouraging us to turn towards our innate purity, our Vajrasattva nature, so that we can wake up to the fact that in our deepest nature we’ve never been impure. This talk was given as part of the Vajrasattva Festival Day at the London Buddhist Centre on Sunday 13th February 2010.
Following a silent meditation session, Alan addressed a wide range of questions from students:Post-retreat advice regarding refuge, ethics, and the importance of spiritual friends • Can I drink one or two beers without affecting my meditation? • How to adapt yourself to wake naturally at 3AM • How to use meditation on a physical, visual object as a calming technique • Can bodhisattvas or arhats suffer? • Discussion of alternate pronunciations of Padmasambhava’s mantra and the Vajrasattva mantra • What do Buddha statues’ hand gestures mean? • Why are the three types of ethics not taught much in the West?
Episode 009 - the 12-Step Buddhist Podcast: Vajrasattva - a Purification Meditation Website: http://the12stepbuddhist.com Format: 128kbps MP3 Time: 23:07 Highlights: Thanks to jazz pianist Clay Giberson for the show intro Meditation from A Guide to the Deities of the Tantra (Meeting the Buddhas)">A Guide to the Deities of the Tantra by Vessantara Upcoming retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs Jan. 8-10th, 2010 Webcasts, Workshops, Study Groups
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