Archive for the ‘Jetsunma’ Category

Community Prayer Accumulations

Friday, June 11th, 2010
Yangthang Rinpoche, a senior lama in the Palyul Lineage, of which KPC is a part, has suggested accumulating the following recitations:
  • To promote Jetsunma’s health and long life, and to encourage her to remain, he has advised the Medicine Buddha Mantra:  Tayatha Om Bekadze Bekadze Maha Bekadze Radza Samungate Swaha.
  • To remove obstacles for KPC and to pacify negativity, he has advised the Heart Sutra (Prajnaparamita) Mantra: Om Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha, and the recitation of the sutra itself.

Here is the text of the Heart Sutra (Prajnaparamita):

THE SUTRA OF THE HEART OF TRANSCENDENT KNOWLEDGE
(Prajnaparamita)

Thus have I heard.
Once the Blessed One was dwelling in Rajagriha at Vulture Peak mountain, together with a great gathering of the sangha of monks and a great gathering of the sangha of bodhisattvas. At that time the Blessed One entered the samadhi that expresses the dharma called “profound illumination,” and at the same time noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, while practicing the profound prajñaparamita, saw in this way: he saw the five
skandhas to be empty of nature. Then, through the power of the Buddha, venerable Shariputra said to noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, “How should a son or daughter of noble family train, who wishes
to practice the profound prajñaparamita?”
Addressed in this way, noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, said to venerable Shariputra, “O Shariputra, a son or daughter of noble family who wishes to practice the profound prajñaparamita should see in this way: seeing the five skandhas to be empty of nature. Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness. Thus, Shariputra, all dharmas are emptiness. There are no characteristics. There is no birth and no cessation. There is no impurity and no purity. There is no decrease and no increase. Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no
mind; no appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas; no eye dhatu up to no mind dhatu, no dhatu of dharmas, no mind consciousness dhatu; no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no nonattainment. Therefore, Shariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no attainment, they abide by means of prajñaparamita. Since there is no obscuration of mind, there is no fear. They transcend falsity and attain complete nirvana. All the buddhas of the three times, by means of prajñaparamita, fully awaken to unsurpassable, true, complete enlightenment. Therefore, the great mantra of prajñaparamita, the mantra of great insight, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequaled mantra, the mantra that calms all suffering should be known as truth, since there is no deception. The prajñaparamita mantra is said in this way:
OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA
Thus, Shariputra, the bodhisattva mahasattva should train in the profound prajñaparamita.”

Then the Blessed One arose from that samadhi and praised noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, saying, “Good, good, O son of noble family; thus it is, O son of noble family, thus it is. One should practice the profound prajñaparamita just as you have taught and all the Tathagatas will rejoice.” When the Blessed One had said this, venerable Shariputra and noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, that whole assembly and the world with its gods, humans, asuras and gandharvas rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.

KPC Thanks Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje!

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Lama Dondrup Dorje 1Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje

We can tell the story now:  KPC thanks Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje (Peter Yeung) of the Pathgate Institute in the United Kingdom for the generous donation that enabled us to meet the challenge of our recent financial crisis.

Lama Dondrup Dorje is the Principal of the Pathgate Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Founder of the Palyul Nyingma Buddhist Association in the United Kingdom, Greece, and Australia.  He was the donor who offered the challenge grant that doubled the proceeds of our second evening webathon on April 28, then made up the difference between our fund-raising results and our goal.

For those who just came in, KPC had a surprise at the end of April:  the note on our mortgage-backed line of credit was called by the bank—with five days notice.  (You can catch up on that story here.)

Lama Dondrup Dorje and HHPRLama Dondrup’s generous response to the plight of KPC was rooted in his devotion to the late Holiness Penor Rinpoche, 11th Throne Holder of the Palyul Lineage, by whom he was entrusted with the charge of the largest Palyul ordained sangha in Europe.  He has always maintained his only mission in life is to promote and preserve the Dharma activities of his Root Guru, Penor Rinpoche.  For more information about the donation, click here.

Penor Rinpoche is also the Root Guru of KPC Spiritual Director Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo; he enthroned her as a Lineage Holder in 1988 and consecrated the center she had established as the first seat of Palyul in the Western Hemisphere.  She has gathered the largest Palyul ordained sangha in the Western Hemisphere.

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo and the sangha at KPC are indebted to Lama Dondrup Dorje.  May he see the fruit of his generosity in this very life!

Money Raised! Transfer in Progress!

Friday, April 30th, 2010

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Y-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are happy to report that we have been able to raise the entire amount of the note being called by our bank:  $250,000.  (The blogger is almost too stunned to be able to type in that amount!)

Coincidentally, our attorneys were able to arrange a two-week extension, or “forbearance” period, yesterday.  It will take up to seven days for funds being transferred from overseas to arrive in the KPC account.

As you may know, through our Tuesday and Wednesday evening webcast telethons, we raised a total of $205,126.  A lot of people made this possible! We had worldwide support–with donations ranging from $5 to $10,000.

Then, at the end, a donor came forward with the offer to cover whatever we were not able to raise to meet the amount due. That donor wishes to remain anonymous.

In addition, His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche, 12th Throne Holder of the Palyul Lineage, offered a loan of $50,000, in support of the work of Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo at KPC.  Fortunately, we did not have to accept his offer because of the generous stop-gap donation.  (But we understand that the business manager for His Holiness stayed up all night in case the funds needed to be wired!)

We are thrilled and grateful beyond belief!  We thank our Precious Guru, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, for her blessing and for providing our connection with the precious Palyul Lineage.  We thank our Lineage Masters, whose loving support during this crisis was incalculable, and, of course, we thank the generous donors who made this outcome possible! E Ma Ho!

Happy New Year!

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Happy New Year!

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February 14 began Losar, the Tibetan New Year, the Year of the Tiger. Look forward to a year with a heart, because this Losar falls on our Western Valentine’s Day!

So open your heart to the opportunity in front of you! Losar inaugurates a period of 15 days during which spiritual potency is considered to be multiplied 100,000 times.

We hope that the virtual practices below will help you make use of this auspicious period. Share your love and make it grow!

Amitaba Practice

Long Life Prayer for Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo

Virtual Circumambulation

All Together Now: Meditate and Pray Along with Jetsunma!

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Jetsunma at DVSimultaneously, the world prays together . . . once in a Blue Moon?  Well, “yes” to the Blue Moon part.  But not just once–let’s do it daily!

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo (not content with a 24 Hour Prayer Vigil in one location) is aiming for world prayer! She starts tonight, December 31, at 7 p.m. (EST: GMT -5), with a simple Amitabha meditation and mantra recitation.  She invites the world to join her in the very same meditation and prayer at the same time. (You’ll be in your home; she’ll be in hers.  But you’ll be coming from the same place!)

Blue MoonTonight will see a “Blue Moon,” the second full moon in December. But even more significant, on the Tibetan calendar, a partial eclipse of the moon marks this day as an auspicious one for practice.  According to Buddhist tradition, today we can consider the effect of our actions to be multiplied 1000 times.  Let’s use this day to join forces for good!

If you have been following Jetsunma on “twitter,” you know that on Monday she transmitted a simple, complete meditation on Amitabha, the Buddha of Limitless Light. She called it “a VERY short condensed method, taken from Nam Cho.”  The practice should take about 15 minutes.

Amitabha_with_blue_backgroundThe Nam Cho, or “Space Treasures,” is the cycle of practices revealed by Terton Migyur Dorje in the 17th century.  These practices are used extensively in the Palyul Lineage, to which KPC belongs, and in other Nyingma Lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism as well.

In the future, Jetsunma hopes to add a live audio/visual component to this daily pray-along.  But for now, know that the merit of joining one’s mind in prayer with the Lama is immense!


You can find the Amitabha practice here.


Ngondro Retreat in Australia

Friday, November 20th, 2009

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We received this message from our members in Australia:

With Jetsunma’s blessings, six Australian retreatants attended a three-day Ngondro retreat in Canberra, Australia, in early November.  Ngondro is Preliminary Practice for Vajrayana Buddhists, the first stage of committed practice on the path to enlightenment.  Retreatants came from Melbourne, Brisbane, and Canberra.

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We were fortunate in being able to have the retreat in Sakya Lama Choedak Rinpoche’s Centre on the outskirts of Canberra. Canberra is the capital of Australia and is surrounded by beautiful bush land–and lots of kangaroos! We had good weather and a full schedule from 7:00 in the morning until 9:30 at night, with breaks in between.

Practicing Ngondro at 2009 Ngondro Retreat

The retreat focused on the practice of Ngondro (Refuge and Bodhicitta) and the opening practices of the New York Palyul Retreat. We also listened extensively to Jetsunma’s teachings on Refuge and Bodhicitta.  We started and finished the retreat with a Tsog offering.  We were very grateful to have the blessings of the Lama for this retreat.

A KPC group Ngondro practice has not happened for many years in Australia and we hope this retreat is the beginning of new growth and beneficial change. Even a local kangaroo who was inspired to do at least one prostration!

LocalProstrating Roo


A Holy Visit

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Having His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche on the throne at KPC reminded us all of his predecessor–and our mutual teacher–His Holiness Penor Rinpoche.  (Karma Kuchen Rinpoche was raised as his heart son.)

HHKKR with picture of HHPR

That is Penor Rinpoche’s picture behind him, with the light beautifully reflecting as if from his heart.  In fact, seeing Karma Kuchen Rinpoche on the throne felt like being with Penor Rinpoche as a young man.  As Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, KPC Spiritual Director, remarked, His Holiness seemed to have “mixed his mind with that of Penor Rinpoche.”

monks with long hornsHis Holiness offered four empowerments:  Guru Rinpoche (or Precious Teacher), Vajrakilaya (wrathful remover of spiritual obstacles), Dorje Phagmo (the feminine mind of enlightenment), and Amitayus (Buddha of Long Life).  Here two Palyul monks, accomplished musicians, blow the long horns to signal the point at which the empowerment is transferred to those present.

People approached the throne to receive the blessings and empowerment substances.

HHKKR ppl approach throne 2009

Jetsunma was able to visit extensively with His Holiness.  Here they are, preparing to sit down for a long discussion.

HHKKR and JAL at KPC 2009

HHKKR with crystal stupa 1His Holiness was very pleased with a gift that Jetsunma brought:  an empowered miniature stupa with a crystal  bhumpa .  The crystal contained a precious relic, carefully sealed inside.

When His Holiness asked to see the relic, Ani Dawa, who had sealed the stupa herself, started to tell him that it wasn’t possible.

“It’s permanently sealed . . .” she started to explain, then, seeing that it had yielded immediately to his hand, she trailed off,

“ . . . or not.”

HHKKR with crystal stupa 2

His Holiness easily and securely re-assembled the stupa once he had looked inside.

The incident reminded observers of a story told about his predecessor, Penor Rinpoche, as a child.  He is said to have dropped an ancient, sacred vajra (a ritual instrument) and broken it.  Appalled, he quickly applied saliva to stick the parts together again—and successfully mended it!

Speaking of young people, they also came to visit.  Elizabeth and Riley were running a bake sale for the benefit of the Garuda Aviary, to which they are devoted.  They offered the first cupcake (it was the first one–right, girls?) to His Holiness, who seemed very pleased.

HHKKR with cupcakes

Not to be left out of the gift action, photographer Manny Garcia presented a portrait he had crafted of His Holiness.  (One of Manny’s photos of then-candidate Barak Obama became the basis for the famous “Hope” poster.  Now THIS would make a great poster, wouldn’t  it, Manny?)

HHKKR receives photo from Manny Garcia

HHKKR visit with Manny organizing photo shootAt the end of the empowerments, Manny herded everyone outside for a group photo with His Holiness.

HHKKR visit Ani gets the jokeOf course, some people don’t need to be herded!  We’ve watched Ani Dolma (a former  U.S. Army major, now retired) organize a crowd!  Here she seems bemused by the goings on.  (TEN HUT!)

Finally, everyone was ready, and pictures were snapped.  We particularly like this shot:  look carefully at His Holiness, making the peace sign—and young Robin, in front of him, unconsciously but perfectly framing his gesture with her exuberant arms!  May we always act in such harmony with our teachers!

HHKKR 2009 large image

A Holy Arrival

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

We rejoice in the arrival of His Holiness Karma Kuchen Rinpoche, the head of the Palyul lineage, at Kunzang Palyul Choling.  Yesterday was a joyous day.  Here are some photos that captured the event.

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It started with chalk drawings of the eight auspicious symbols.  This is a traditional part of a greeting for a Rinpoche.

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As His Holiness arrived, we tossed flower petals

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We also made smoke offerings of cedar

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Jetsunma and Ani Sonam awaiting the arrival of His Holiness Karma Kuchen

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Welcome Holiness!

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Sangha offering katas to His Holiness Karma Kuchen

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Jetsunma giving a blessing to a small visitor

At Guru Rinpoche’s Feet

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
kunzangviewinggrstatuebendigostupsept20091Recently, following Ani Kunzang’s visit to Australia, Lungtog, Kunzang and Wangmo took the opportunity to circumnambulate a 13 foot (4 metre) high consecrated statue of Guru Rinpoche blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The statue is the first statue to be be built as part of the first stage of The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion being built in Bendigo, Victoria under the direction of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The statue of Guru Rinpoche, resplendantly covered in gold leaf, will no doubt remove obstacles of all kinds including obstacles to the completion of the Stupa. During our visit we prayed for the long life and good health of our kind root teacher and all sentient beings. As well as circumnambulating Guru Rinpoche we also practised Guru Yoga together at the base of Guru Rinpoche and during that time, for a moment, the rain and wind ceased. Here is a picture of Ani Kunzang gazing up at the statue of Guru Rinpoche. the statue is housed in temporary accommodation while the rest of the Stupa is being built.

Kunzang Palyul Choling (KPC) Australia

KPC Australia covers all states in Australia where Jetsunma’s students or those connected to Jetsunma and the Palyul lineage live. There are currently students in Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, the Northern Territory and Victoria. KPC Australia is a virtual network of students committed to strengthening Jetsunma’s compassionate Dharma activity in Australia, including her music and her teachings. We have recently distributed Jetsunma’s ‘Prayer to be Reborn in Dewachen’ to all pallliative care centres in Australia and have plans to send it to other places as well.  We are currently planning a Ngondro retreat for November which will bring students from four states and Territories together in Canberra. We  support the visit of Palyul Lama’s to Australia, including our lineage holders and maintain links with the other Palyul centres in Australia.  We are small but we have big ideas and with the right motivation we pray that activities in Australia can benefit others in myriad ways.

Pseudotumor Cerebri

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

In commemoration of the 21st anniversary of the enthronement of Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo on September 24, we are presenting testimonials from Jetsunma’s students about her impact on their lives. This story is from Ani Sangye Drolma.

In April, 2007, I found myself back in the hospital for the second round of pneumonia in two months. I was in the middle of being treated for Wegener’s granulomatosis and numerous complications, and was in pretty sorry shape. During the last two days in the hospital, I developed a strange neck tightness. At home it grew worse. My vision started to deteriorate. An opthalmologist diagnosed swollen optic nerves (papilledema) and ordered a brain MRI. He sent me home to see if it resolved itself.

Two days later, I awoke and while still in that half-asleep daze, I felt myself slipping away, dying. Suddenly, a voice inside me shouted something like, “You can’t die! Jetsunma didn’t say it was okay!” Whatever that was, it was enough to startle me to my senses. I forced myself to wake up all the way. I could tell that something was off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I had an odd sense of apprehension and—completely unlike me when I’m sick—I was afraid to be alone. I called a friend to come over, and she lined up helpers for the day. I felt a little silly asking for people to come sit with me while I figured out what was happening. Meanwhile, I got a message to Jetsunma, asking for her blessing and prayers.

By midday, I grew increasingly nauseous, the headache worsened, and I began vomiting with incredible force. My friends later said it sounded like an exorcism! I took an ambulance to the ER. Because the MRI had not shown a tumor, the diagnosis was elevated intracranial pressure (aka pseudotumor cerebri). As the pressure inside the skull rises, its inability to expand forces the pressure into the eyes and brain. It’s excruciating.

The only way to lower the pressure is to do a spinal puncture immediately. If it’s delayed, blindness and death are inevitable. But there was a catch : Due to blood clots the prior year, I was still on an injectable blood thinner that made spinal punctures impossible (it causes bleeding in the spinal canal, leading to paralysis). My doctor was terrified, but urged me to do the puncture to at least stay alive. My vision was deteriorating by the minute. I called Jetsunma’s attendant.

As I explained the whole thing, I could hear Jetsunma in the background asking for all the details. “What’s the name of the blood thinner? What do they want to do? When?” After a few minutes of exchanging information through her attendant, Jetsunma got on the phone and said, “Ani, you’re in some big trouble here. I want you to follow my instructions exactly. Do everything I say and you’ll be alright.” She continued, “You must accumulate 100 7-Line Prayers right away. Make sure you do 100. Tell your doctors to give you a high dose of vitamin K, in whatever form is most easily assimilated. That’s the important thing, that it be easily assimilated. After you have the vitamin K, wait 12 hours. If you still need the spinal tap at that point, it will be safe to do it. No sooner than 12 hours.”

I couldn’t believe my good fortune, to have my own precious Lama give me personal instructions to save my life. My primary care doctor walked in and asked what I had decided to do. I told her what I wanted—the vitamin K, 12 hours. The interesting thing is, vitamin K has no known effect on that blood thinner. The doctor and I both knew that, both knew it didn’t make sense. But I didn’t care. Jetsunma knows things way beyond what science does.

Ani Megan arrived and helped me count off 100 7-Line Prayers in between vomiting. The ER doctor refused to give me the vitamin K because it didn’t make sense to him. After 6 more hours of going downhill, they saw I wasn’t going to change my mind and they didn’t want a corpse on their hands. They assigned me to a doctor who gave me the vitamin K. I was admitted and waited out the next 12 agonizing hours. Ani Megan stayed with me all night, enduring endless projectile vomiting and a bad drug reaction to boot.

When the guy came to take me for the spinal puncture a very odd calm swept over me. I stopped vomiting for the first time in 2 days. As they inserted the needle into my spine, I heard a loud “Psssst!” like letting the air out of a tire. The doctor said that was not typical. My cerebrospinal pressure was the highest they had ever seen. They couldn’t believe I was still alive. Incredibly, I felt almost no pain during the procedure and was completely calm.

I later learned Jetsunma had rearranged her practice that day around the spinal tap, so she could be with me. I felt Jetsunma’s presence in the room. Ani Megan said she did, too.

Within 6 weeks, my vision returned to its present state—a little bizarre, but good vision. I suffered no paralysis. I’ll never know how that vitamin K worked, or how Jetsunma came up with it. What I do know is that she has the Wisdom Mind, and I had the great fortune to receive her amazing stream of blessings.

Ani Sangye Drolma