Yesterday we celebrated the 49th day since the passing of KPC nun Ani Thubten Palchen.  As we come to the end of the Losar period commemorating the season of the Buddha’s miracles, we take this opportunity to draw your attention once again to this auspicious story.  The full details as we know them follow:

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, born in Brooklyn and raised without formal religious training, was recognized and enthroned in 1988 by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, head of the Palyul Lineage in the Nyingma School of Vajrayana.  Jetsunma established Kunzang Palyul Choling, the first Palyul Dharma Center in the USA.  There she gathered one of the largest Vajrayana monastic communities in the West, and has overseen the spiritual development of hundreds of devoted students.

Among the very first of Jetsunma’s students to be ordained in 1988 was Ani Thubten Palchen, formerly known as Jeanne Hogue. Ani Palchen passed away on January 8 of this year, after complications from heart surgery.  She was 80 years old.
On the night that Ani Palchen died, Jetsunma was notified at the very moment of her passing, and she immediately began to perform the practice of P’howa for Ani-la. In Vajrayana Buddhism, P’howa is a most precious and very precise practice of the transference of consciousness at the time of death. Accomplished Masters such as Jetsunma are able to perform this practice of transference not only for themselves at the time of their own death, but also for sentient beings in order to guide them through the bardo, the state of consciousness after death, to liberation. This was the good fortune of Ani Palchen.  Because Palchen had been a devoted student and virtuous nun for over 20 years, Jetsunma, through the force of her own accomplishment, was able to liberate Ani Palchen from the Bardo to the realm of Great Bliss.

We in Jetsunma’s spiritual community have heard such miraculous stories before, and have largely kept them private.  But this story, to our joy, continues with miraculous signs that can be understood and appreciated by all.  Ani Palchen’s body was kept in the hospital for six days before it was sent to the crematorium. Once the body was released, Jetsunma asked that three nuns go to Ani-la’s body and prepare it for the cremation.  Jetsunma gave specific instructions for dressing the body, and preparing it with incense and flowers in order to show due respect for Ani-la’s virtuous life and ordination.

When the three nuns arrived at the crematorium, they were surprised to find that there was no foul odor in the room, as they had anticipated. In fact, one crematorium staff member even commented that the scent in the room was “quite refreshing.”  The same staff member also commented that this phenomenon was unusual, as there had been no embalming of the body, and there were even open wounds from an unfinished surgery and some skin grafting. Only refrigeration had been used to preserve the remains.  In addition, Ani Palchen’s skin was noted to have a natural tone and color — seven days after her death!  She looked as though she were simply quietly sleeping.

These phenomena are considered very significant signs at the time of death, indicating that one has in fact been liberated from cyclic existence into the pure realms.

The signs were reported to His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche, who responded “I know her from retreat! This is good! This is VERY, VERY good!”  His Holiness is the 12th Palyul Throne Holder, successor to His Holiness Penor Rinpoche.

The message conveying this response from Karma Kuchen Rinpoche was delivered by Nawang Paljor, a close student to His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, who passed into nirvana in March 2009.  Paljor concurred that it was wonderful for Western practitioners to see such results of devotion with their own eyes, adding, “Especially in Nyingma, faith and devotion are emphasized, and even lay people show these accomplished signs from their practice.  Now for Westerners, it’s very good that they can see with their own eyes this proof of their faith, and perhaps more Westerners will be drawn to Dharma.”

We share this extraordinary story to demonstrate that under the guidance of a truly accomplished master carrying the strength and potency of a pure Lineage of realization, an ordinary nun with sincere devotion was able to achieve liberation with visible signs of accomplishment.  Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, a modern Western woman who carries the pure Lineage of Palyul, has shown that accomplishment is possible for Western students.  If we, like Ani Palchen, cultivate virtue and  have sincere faith and devotion toward a pure, realized Teacher such as Jetsunma, then that Teacher can be the door to glorious liberation.

Happy New Year!

A number of years ago, a KPC student was chatting with Ani Palchen about ways to promote “Adopt-an-Acre.”  That was a campaign, now completed, for securing the land on which the Maryland stupas are situated.

Ani Palchen thought a moment, then just tossed off the cartoon below. (On scrap paper!)  If you remember the work of cartoonist Jules Pfeiffer, you will recognize Palchen’s cartoon as an homage! Of course, before taking robes, she was a dancer–perhaps in the mold of Pfeiffer’s figure, as imitated below.

As you may be aware, our beloved Ani Thubten Palchen passed from this life on Friday, January 8.  We will remember her spirited laughter in the Mani Jewel Giftstore at KPC, where she was frequently the first person to greet visitors to the temple.

Ani Palchen was a trailblazer, ordained as a Buddhist nun in the Vajrayana (Tibetan) tradition in 1988 long before most Americans were aware of such a path.  She was among the first group of 20 Westerners ordained by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, a blessing he granted during his visit to confer the Rinchen Terzod—another ground-breaking occurrence, the first transmission of these treasures in the USA.

Many remember her gaiety and her kindness, not realizing that she was also an artist and, most important, a devoted practitioner.  Here is the final artistic work of her life, a poem she wrote, just a few short weeks before her death.

Golden warmth

Crimson heart

Within my chalice

I lie wrapped in

Guru and consort

My home

Within my bodyhome

Impermanent

No ground but love.

by Thubten Palchen

December 31 was another dark and stormy night—this time with ice and freezing rain! But 29 people still braved the elements for the KPC New Year’s Eve Celebration.

The celebration started 11 years ago, as the sangha looked for a more meaningful way than the usual champagne-and-noisemaker party to celebrate the New Year.   Instead of the traditional “Happy New Year!” at midnight, we decided to make our first speech of the New Year virtuous, by reciting the Refuge and Bodhisattva vows.

At 10 p.m. each New Year’s Eve, we gather for Shower of Blessings practice, with tsog, the food offering ceremony.

This year Gonpo served as the umdze, or chant leader.

And Ani Hesper served as the Chopon, making the offerings on behalf of all present.

The practice ended in time for 15 minutes of quiet contemplation before midnight.  People used the time to set their intention for the New Year.

Then at midnight, we all recited the Refuge and Bodhisattva  vows, renewing our commitment to accomplishing the path for the benefit of all beings.  Most people present were renewing vows they had already taken with a qualified Lama.  For a few newcomers, the vows were spoken with the intention of doing the same thing as soon as possible.

Then it was time to make offerings of light at the altars to help anchor our intentions.  KT helped people light their candles.

Then people placed their candles on the altar that best signified their intention.

Gail placed hers at the Tara altar. Tara embodies the feminine mind of enlightenment, and this altar depicts her 21 aspects.

Linda placed hers at the Kapala altar.  Inside this shrine is one of the most revered relics of the Palyul Lineage, a fragment of the skull of Genyenma Ahkon Lhamo, who helped found the Palyul Monastery in the 17^th century.  Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo is recognized as her reincarnation.

Then cards were distributed to the sangha with a picture of the relic, a gift from Jetsunma.  The circle on the card shows where the syllable “Ah” can be seen.  It is a naturally occurring phenomenon!  When Genyenma Ahkon Lhamo died, at her cremation, the skullcap shot out of the funerary stupa and flew out of sight in the sky.  (In the case of highly accomplished practitioners, events like this  are often reported at such times.)  The skullcap, called kapala in Sanscrit, was subsequently found at the foot of the throne of her brother, Kunzang Sherab, first throne holder of the Palyul Lineage.  You can find the full story of its coming to be enshrined at KPC here.

Some people had never actually seen the self-generated “Ah.”

At the end of the practice, everyone gathered to share the tsog offerings and each other’s company.

We may have stayed up late, but we all felt the pleasure of spiritual renewal as the New Year began.

This is a story of Macho Kindness:  tough guys with tough machines and soft  hearts, who came to the aid of some helpless birds, the temple, and each other.

It was a dark and stormy night—all over the East Coast on Friday, December 18, 2009.

At KPC in Poolesville, MD, it was snowing up a storm when we heard an engine idling outside in the driveway.  Upon investigation, we found a four-wheel-drive truck with a snowplow on the front and a trailer on the back.  (No picture:  it was a dark and stormy night!)

The driver was glad to see someone.  He had come to repair the generator for the Garuda Aviary and had never been there.   In the dark, he couldn’t figure out where to go.

Now, it happens that he had been asked to repair it some time before, but, for various reasons, hadn’t  been able to get to it.  On that stormy night, he was responding to an urgent plea to see what he could do.  (If we were to lose power in the storm, it would mean probable death by freezing for the birds. And he knew that.) Trouble was—he couldn’t see.  We showed him where the lane went down the hill, and figured that the snow wasn’t deep enough yet to cause any trouble for a truck like that.

Sure enough, he went down and after a while came back, with the news that he didn’t have to haul the generator away, after all—just needed to install a new battery.  He had one at home, he said, and would be right back with it.  And so he was.

Good thing the power didn’t go out that night!  Because it turned out that he wasn’t able to fix it on the spot after all.  He did wind up hauling it out that night on his trailer, taking it home, where he worked on it all the next day.

We didn’t know that at the time, however.  We only found that out when, late the NEXT afternoon, he showed up again with the truck, the trailer, and the generator.  By that time, we will remind you,  we already had fifteen inches of snow.  In fact, we had just been rejoicing about the arrival of our neighbor, with his Bobcat, to plow the driveway and parking lot.

It was still light when we looked outside and realized that the generator guy and the neighbor in the Bobcat were putting their heads together.  We wondered about that .  . . and next time we looked, we saw the generator guy’s truck stuck in the lane coming up the hill from the aviary.  He was shoveling frantically, so we grabbed a shovel and hurried down . . . only to find that our neighbor was there too.  We really wish we had a picture of him surveying the scene:  there was his Bobcat, at the bottom of the lane, in front of the aviary.

Now, this neighbor is an expert with the Bobcat.  We pay him to clear the drive, and he is kind enough to work it in even though he spends long hours clearing roads in a storm like this.  On this occasion, he was just on his way home from a day of plowing the Beltway, all the way to Route 50 and back.  But it was a steep hill, low visibility, and an unpaved lane.  (NOT an area we expected him to plow!)  His machine had tires rather than tracks.  And somehow it had slipped all the way down the hill . . . .  We were just glad to see him, the Bobcat, and the aviary all in one piece.

“All the way to Route 50,” he muttered, “and I wipe out across the street from home!”

So, we all dug, and scraped, and jumped out of the way as the truck freed itself and gunned its way back up to the driveway.  Then everything became clear.  The two guys had been trying to open up the lane enough to get the truck, with the trailer and the generator, down to where it was needed.  And they were still determined to get that generator down there.  Now that the truck was out of the lane, they could drag the trailer down by . . . man power, and install the generator.  And that’s what they did.  In the dark.

And that’s why the parking lot still hadn’t been cleared by Sunday morning.

The rest of the story has pictures.  Here’s what the Bobcat looked like on Sunday.

On Monday morning, our neighbor arrived with his tractor and a crew.

They had a plan, involving the tractor, and chains . . . .

And of course shovels.

It took some maneuvering . . . and some manpower . . .

But it worked!  Our neighbor is pretty happy about it!

The Bobcat is free at last!

It’s time to go now.  We ask our neighbor if it’s okay to use his picture, and he says yes—just not his name.  We ask him if he went down the hill in the storm on Saturday because he knew what it would mean for the birds if the power went out.  “So,” we accused him, “you were being kind, right?”

He looked down at his boots and smiled.  “N-a-a-w . . . !” he said.

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Here is a link to the teaching broadcast from KPC on Sunday, December 20, 2009.  The teaching was originally given by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, KPC Spiritual Director, at the temple in Poolesville, on February 24, 1991.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/3288895

Sunshine on snow:  snowshine!  In the picture below, the sun illuminates the snowbound Dharma Wheel on the roof.  Those figures flanking the wheel  are deer.  This traditional image represents the Buddha’s first teaching, the first “Turning of the Wheel of Dharma,” in the Deer Park.

This view across the lawn had a whole different look the day after the storm.  The wind is calmer, and the prayer flags are more gently disseminating the prayers on the wind.

Inside the temple, we were pretty short-staffed for a Sunday!  Broadcasting the 2 p.m. teaching, Ani Aileen had to play multiple roles:  techie, umdze (chant leader for opening and closing prayers), and announcer.  She’s NOT used to being on the user end of a microphone.  Gyatrul Rinpoche gave her the name “Ani NBC” years ago, when her job on the NBC news crew was, as some have put it, “putting lapel mikes on presidents.”

Everybody else is outside, trying to clear enough snow for sangha and visitors to get in.  What about that snow plow that arrived the previous evening, you say?  Well . . . there’s a  story about that!  (Watch for the next blog post for the whole story.)  For now, let’s just say that, as of Sunday afternoon, the driveway was clear, but not the parking lot. In other words, people can get in, but they can’t stay!  The picture below shows what happened to the snow plow, our neighbor’s Bobcat:  stuck!

Pete is a KPC volunteer who lives not far from the temple.  He’s trying to open up a path down to the aviary, where the Bobcat is stuck.

But the snow blower is jammed up!  So he has to go for help.

Fortunately, he did not arrive alone:  Ani Dawa and Ani Dolma picked him up in an SUV.  They’ve been shuttling volunteers around to sites where they’re needed today.

Ani Dolma has experience with machinery.  She’s going to take a look at the snow blower.

While he’s waiting, Pete picks up a shovel and works on the front walk.

He’s already done a lot of snow clearing today, and there’s more to come, once the blower is up and running again.  He deserves a break today!

Meanwhile, the parking lot hasn’t been plowed yet, and the residents’ cars need to be dug out.  Gonpo is surveying the scene.

Why did we park so CLOSE to each other?  Must have seemed like a good idea at the time!

A couple of carloads of visitors arrives–and, yes, they get stuck.  Hello!  We’ll be a little later than we thought!  (Gonpo and Pete helped them free their vehicles.)

But the kids loved the snow, and Mama got a few good shots in.

Here they all are:  see picture below.

On another front:  our feathered friends, the birds.  They’re hip to the system, and KNOW that those cans aren’t full of trash!  (We store birdseed in them.)

And the tree above the cans is usually full of birds!

Finally, we went inside, where we found the kids getting warm and eating a snack.

We checked back with Ani Aileen in the Dharma Room.  At the end of the broadcast teaching, she’s making an offering for receiving the teaching, first as always.

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