A Taste of Freedom

May Tara bless these birds and protect them from fear and all kinds of suffering.

When we set animals' lives free, it's imperative to pray for them, not for ourselves.

Khmer Children from Phanom Penh

Cambodia

I came to Phanom Penh unexpectedly. We rented a car from the Cambodian-Thai border. White clouds with a touch of rainbow over green rice fields is a lovely sight which reminds me of the expression 'vast expanse,'natural condition of our mind.

Seeing beggars everywhere, I couldn't help feeling sad. Wishing the Foundation could do something for the people here, particularly children who seem to lack opportunities to go to school.

Vajrayana Buddhism was here long time ago. The noble dharma of Mother Tara had been here from Haripunchai. May the people here get a chance to hear this precious teaching again! May Mother Tara protect and bless them!

Chod Practice at Tokden Monastery

In June this year we went to make an offering, on behalf of the Foundation, to the three-year retreatants at Dzogchen college, Tokden Monastery in Ngawa. The monks recited a chod text for us. It was an inspirational sight and a truly special experience. The pictures show dharmaru 'hand drum' and kangtong 'trumpet made of human thigh bone', two important instruments for this practice.

The Chinese name of Ngawa is Aba. It is located in southern Amdo in present-day Sichuan Province. Every three years 10 new monks from various places in Tibet come to stay in a retreat here. For more information on this monastery, see Yontan's blog.

Cutting Through Fear and Attachment

Chod,
This word carries great meaning.
Cutting through fear and attachment,
Body offering,
To beings who suffer in the six realms.

But more than anything else,
Chod is the practice to understand oneself,
To realize the primordial nature of mind...

Yontan took this picture before I recited a chod text on the second day of my retreat. The title of the text is "Body Offering, the Dakini's Laughters that Can Be Heard from Far Away". This text is written by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche. Shardza Rinpoche achieved rainbow body in 1935. His lineage, which is Bon was transmitted through Hungchen Rinpoche and also through Lhasray (Lhase) Rinpoche (Hungchen Rinpoche's son). Together with Yontan, I received the transmission of this text from Lhasray Rinpoche when he came to Thailand in December 2006.

Me and My Retreat House

I was thinking that while in retreat we needed to cook a lot of food. But as it turned out my mother gave me so much food that we had to cook very little. I felt grateful that I could have such a great place for retreat. Thank you so much to everyone involved, particularly Prachum and the workers under his supervision for the building work, Soraj and Areerat for taking care of the Foundation and Khadiravana, mother for her love and care I could feel in all kinds of materials and food she prepared for me, and Yontan for keeping my company always.

First Retreat at Khadiravana

This evening Worawanna, Nuch and Kosin came to see me in my office and we talked about my prostration experience again. It's so nice to share this with them. I see myself in their eyes - when I was about their age, I looked up to my teacher Dr. John Blofeld with gratitude and I treasured the wisdom he shared with me through his experiences. No one knew that 20 some years later that student would build a retreat center with so many projects.

I'm traveling to Khadiravana tomorrow and will start my first retreat on my birthday there from tomorrow evening till Monday morning (Sep 20-24). There won't be updates in this blog till Monday night. Anyone who may visit this page at this time can share the retreat spirit by reciting thousands of the compassion mantra, no matter whether it is Tara's mantra (Om tare tuttare ture soha) or Chenrezig's mantra (Om mani padme hung) and dedicate the merit to countless beings who have once been our parents.

A Thought on Meditation

"We often have a great desire to have a good meditation, to be very fresh and very clear, and then we are upset if we have bad meditation which is sleepy and unclear and full of thoughts. To find ourselves worring about our meditation is a sign that we don't know how to meditate."

James Low, Commentary of "Being Right Here: A Dzogchen Treasure Text of Nuden Dorje Entitled The Mirror of Clear Meaning, Snow Lion Publications, 2004.

Dharmapalas

Dharmapalas are protectors of the Buddhist teaching. Many times people have a wrong attitude due to ignorance and selfishness. They pray to dharmapalas simply because they want to get rich and succeed in the world. They hardly realize that dharmapalas' duties are to guard the teaching and look after practitioners. Dharmapalas themselves are enlightened deities. They are not the same as worldly gods. They will never do harm to any being. They are beyond desires and emotions we face in our daily lives.

Life is Fragile

ชีวิตช่างเปราะบาง
ดูมด แมลง
มีสุขเพียงน้อยนิด
แล้วชีวิตก็สิ้นไป

มนุษย์มิได้แตกต่าง
ยามเมื่อเรือบินตก
ในคืนสงัดร้าง
ลางชีวิตดับสิ้นสูญ

ในบาร์โดอันหนาวเหน็บ
ผู้ท่องไปไร้ญาติมิตร
เฝ้าโหยหาคนสนิท
แต่ชีวิตปลิดสิ้นสูญ

มีเพียงความดีที่ค้ำจุน
เป็นดังฝนชโลมใจ
มีเพียงพระในหัวใจ
ที่น้อมนำให้ไปดี

เขียนในโอกาสที่เครื่องบินตกที่ภูเก็ตในวันฟ้าหม่น วันอาทิตย์ที่ 16 กันยายน 2550

Life is so fragile.
Look at ants, insects—
What little happiness they have
And then their lives end.

Humans are no different.
When the plane crashes
On an abandoned night,
Some lives are lost.

In the cold Bardo
the migrants, having no friends,
try to find them,
but their lives are wasted.

Only good action is there
Like a shower of rain,
Only the Buddha in the heart
That leads one to good life.

I wrote this poem upon hearing the news of the plane crash in Phuket on the sad day of 16 September 2007.

Translation: Soraj Hongaladarom

A Song on Samsara

How foolish to spend your lifetime without meaning,
When a precious human body is so rare a gift.
How ridiculous to cling to prison-like cities and remain there.
How laughable to fight and quarrel with your wives and relatives,
Who do but visit you.
How senseless to cherish sweet and tender words
Which are but empty echoes in a dream.
How silly to disregard one’s life by fighting foes
Who are but frail flowers.

From Milarepa Movie

Letter to a Friend

When there is disappointment in life, it's all right to be vulnerable, to be weak in the eys of others. Weep and weep till there are no more tears, as if a mother loses her only child. When tears dry out, we must learn to smile again. Suffering brings pain as well as mental strength. When the mind is calm and life seems to be back to normal, contemplate on what happens and rejoice that all sufferings in the world are combined into us.