Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen's topics - tribe.net

Boabom & Seamm Jasani

2009-12-26T08:06:48Z

Does anybody knows anything about Boabom and/or Seamm Jasani, I just got a book called "The Secret Art of Seamm Jasani : 58 Movements for Eternal Youth from Ancient Tibet" by Asanaro.
I am very, very interested on this topic, any light?
Thank you!

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 19 replies

Confession

2009-12-19T13:59:05Z

A View of Confession: As Myth, as a Meditation, and as a Means of Moving On

(an edited excerpt from oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, summer 2009. Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche presented teachings from the A-Tri dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Bon Buddhism during Ligmincha Institute’s 2009 Summer Retreat. In this excerpt Rinpoche explains the practice of confession (admitting your misdeeds), one of the practices that comprise the A-Tri Ngondro or preliminary practices.)

If you are to engage in the practice of confession in a way that is natural, authentic, and therefore life changing, it must make sense to you personally. In the Tibetan spiritual traditions all forms of negative physical actions, negative speech, and negative thoughts are considered misdeeds, as are addictions like smoking and alcohol abuse. The role of confession is to help you to transform and overcome these negative habits.

For example, we may have problems with anger and say hurtful things as a result. In order to change our habits and particularly to overcome our addictions, first we need to be conscious that these are misdeeds. Additionally, we must be conscious of them in a very immediate and direct way, more than intellectually. It is very important to be aware of our negative actions, speech, and thought. This does not mean feeling pressured to confess or else we will go to hell. If we feel pressured to confess our misdeeds when we are not truly aware of them, then that is not likely to do us much good. But becoming aware of our misdeeds is a good thing.

Take a look at all the positive changes that you’ve made in your life, when you were headed in the right direction of healing or of having a positive, healthy lifestyle. Most of those changes probably came about not because you felt bad or guilty, but because you became fully aware of what wasn’t right. When you can become fully aware that one of your actions of body, speech, or mind is truly not right, there is strength in the authenticity of that awareness. And from that place of strength, you are able to make changes.

The point that I’m making here, especially for those who have some discomfort about the practice of confession, is that we need to clarify our view of confession. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with being aware of your misdeeds. That is the only way that you are going to be able to make some changes, right? But having the right kind of awareness is important. As you contemplate your misdeeds you might not feel so good, and that is okay when it helps to motivate you to change. But if contemplating them makes you feel depressed, then there is something subtly wrong with the way you are aware of them.

It is possible that you do not have enough support for making a change. It is important to know the antidotes to your negative emotions, to believe in the potential for healing, and to trust in the refuge tree. Clearly, when you have a real, true wish to change and you have the right supports, then when you face one of your misdeeds you will think to yourself, “Yes! I’m going to do it, I will make changes.”

From a commonsense point of view, sometimes we don’t seek help for addictions when we need it. We may think, “Why do I have to ask anybody? I know what I’m doing.” Somehow, we are unwilling to turn to anybody for help. For sure, there is a very strong ego there. The ego is the one who developed that addiction in the first place, the ego is the one who successfully maintains it, and clearly the ego is the one who has the hardest time changing it. It is the ego, too, who is the one who is not willing to ask for anyone’s help when help is needed.

The inability to change often boils down to a lack of trust. It may be that you haven’t changed a negative habit because you don’t have a clear sense of trust in your ability, your potentiality, your inner power, your inner space, your inner awareness. Maybe you don’t have enough trust in the refuge tree, or the sangha, the teacher, friends, or family. You can say, “Well, I consulted with my therapist, and I went to the retreat, and I even Googled it, and nothing helped me to overcome this problem.” Many people think in this way. If that is the case for you, maybe it is not that you didn’t look for a solution, but rather that you didn’t trust. You are still in the place of doubt. If you could have had trust in even one of these supports, there might have been a true connection and something might have changed.

In the dharma, taking refuge begins with trust. And taking refuge—inviting the refuge tree as your witness—is the first of the four powers of confession. The second power of confession is to bring forth your misdeed and confess it. Then third, you naturally feel strong regret and remorse and make a vow not to repeat the misdeed. Fourth, you apply the antidote; for example, if you have acted in anger, then in your practice of confession you cultivate love, which is the antidote to anger. Each of these four points is essential to the confession practice.

Creating a place of refuge is not something that is done externally. Rather, you visualize the enlightened beings in front of you and bring them into your pure awareness. These images represent your inner truth and inner essence. The experience of refuge is very confidential and personal. Unless you truly feel this intimate connection, the visualization will not support you. Without enough support and trust in the enlightened beings and enlightened qualities, or in the sangha, friends, or family, then it can be very difficult to change no matter how much you think you want to.

After connecting with the experience of refuge, you must commit to change. If you don’t make a firm commitment, such as “I will not do this for one week” or, “I will never do this again,” you are likely to return rapidly to your negative habits. There will be nothing to prevent you from repeating your misdeeds. Just thinking “I don’t want to do it anymore” is not strong enough.

Ask yourself: “What are the consequences if I don’t change and the benefits if I do change?” Pay more attention to the results of your actions. Maybe you would not change for yourself, but you would change for others, for your partner, your family, your community, or the world. Maybe it is not always, “I need to change for me.” Can you see how overcoming your anger can benefit other people’s lives? What are the negative consequences for those you love if you don’t change? These may be good enough reasons to make a change.

The best way to approach confession is to lay out all your misdeeds in front of you and invite the refuge tree as your witness. The refuge tree is the outer manifestation of the clearest aspect of your self. It is your self. With this clear self-awareness of your misdeeds, you work with the four powers, and there is no way that you cannot purify your negative actions, negative speech, and negative thought. You can transform anything, purify anything.

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Message from Menri Lopon

2009-12-08T12:31:03Z

Dear Friends and Disciples,

In this world filled with distractions and material wealth, in terms of a meaningful human life, people wish to enjoy happiness and hope that it will last. However, in this century, the world has seen tremendous changes, as we all know clearly. In the histories of the past, in this world, mankind has endured unbearable suffering because of wars, etc. These are stories belonging to the past. However, now in the present world, science has shown great progress and it has become easier for people to live together. But in the everyday conditions, owing to the economic changes affecting our world, numerous people are losing their jobs; in certain countries, people are suffering from starvation; in others there are wars; and still in others people suffer greatly from their government. Because of this situation, people are getting increasingly terrified. In particular, these days, terrible dangers such as the global warming and harm caused to the four elements affect us profoundly and there is nothing beneficial that we can do. This situation should be for us an example illustrating impermanence.

Whatever hardships and suffering arise, you should meditate on patience, compassion, impermanence, etc. This is the best method to apply your mind to. In particular, during the auspicious dates, in terms of food, it will bring you great virtues if you eat white offerings or vegetarian food. Similarly, you should pray for the peace and happiness of the world, and if you can exert yourself to your own practice, this will bring important benefit to both you and others. For example, you should recite the Three Essence Mantras, the Essence Mantra of Long Life, the Essence Mantra of Jamma, etc.

On December the 16th, this is the anniversary of the nirvana of the Buddha Tönpa Shenrab Miwo. Thus, it would be good if on this day, you could perform your own practice and in particular recite many times the Mantra Om Matri Muye Sale Du.

I also send you my best wishes and greetings for the anniversary of the birth of Jesus on the 25th.

For the new year of 2010, I wish you all a good health, prosperity in your activities and I make aspiration prayers so that all your wishes may be spontaneously accomplished. Moreover, I sincerely pray that all illnesses, starvation and wars in the world having become pacified, all sentient beings may be endowed with the good fortune of enjoying happiness.

Menri Lopon Trinley Nyima Rinpoche

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9/09 Menri Lopon Newsletter

2009-10-02T21:23:42Z

Newsletter from Menri Lopon
September 2009

My dear friends,
I hope that you are all very well and in good health. For a long time I have been unable to send you a message. This is because I have been quite busy. From September 19th through September 25th we, at Menri Monastery, have been fasting during the celebration
According to the body, one has to limit one's eating and drinking. In particular, one has to avoid all wrong activities, such as killing, sexual behaviors, etc. According to speech, one has to avoid rude words, meaningless speech, etc. And according to mind, one should give up both harmful and poisonous thoughts. Every monk will follow all of these disciplines more seriously during dKa' thub. This practice is held every year in the 8th month of the Tibetan Lunar Calendar.
The following dates provided are the auspicious days of the coming months:
During these days, if you practice meditation, provide offerings, or engage in kind actions, the merit of these actions will be increased by one-hundred times. Furthermore, during these days, if you choose to consume no alcohol or meat and release animals or fish into the wilderness as a dedication to all sentient beings, the merit of these actions will also be multiplied by one-hundred times.
November 2nd is Mucho dhem drug. Mucho dhem drug descended from the Demi-god Realm to Olmo Lungring. On this day at Menri Monastery we celebrate a very great Puja. From September 28th through October 5th we are doing a One-hundred-thousand Offerings Cake, or Bhum tsok. This is dedicated to all sentient beings in the hope that they may find peace. During this time you may pray, in particular, to Sidpa Gyalmo and Yeshe Walmo. Also, from October 19th through November16th we will have special dialectical debates and examinations in the field of Logic.
In the United States we have received governmental permission to begin a non-profit organization focusing on Bon spiritual welfare. The center's name is Khung dzong wo-sel-ling. I will provide the website below so that, in the future, you all may check my personal schedule. The website is currently under construction:
www.khyungdzo ngwl.org
In conclusion, at the end of October I will be giving teachings in Europe. I hope to see some of you there.
Many, many bTa-shi-rde-legs to you all. I hope to see you very soon.
Menri Lopon Trinley Nyima Rinpoche

A note from the KWL Board:

Dear students and friends of Menri Lopon,
We are happy to announce that Dzogchen Wodsel Ling is now KHYUNGDZONG WODSEL LING and we have 501(c)3 non-profit status in the United States. All U.S. donations are tax deductible.
Our new website at KhyungdzongWL.org is up and running. From there you can donate to the monks at Menri, and to the Tsaga Medical Clinic via PayPal or check. Follow the link to the shop and support Lopon and the monks by buying t-shirts, mugs and other items we have for sale via Café Press. Items are still being added, so check back often. Follow another link to CD Baby and buy or download, Lopon's 2005 CD Melody of Blue Cuckoo.
Construction of the Dolpo Tsaga Medical Clinic is under way. Photos are posted on our Facebook group page (Khyungdzong Wodsel Ling). New photos showing the progress of the building are expected soon. Our Facebook group was recently updated to reflect our new name and website. Join us!
If you are in the U.S. and have donated money to either DWL or KWL since May '09, you will receive a receipt for tax purposes at the end of the year. Thank you for your continued support.
2010 Tour: We are also happy to announce that Menri Lopon will return to the U.S. and Canada next year. Topics have not yet been decided, but contact information for each city is posted to the website.
4/6-4/12 - Cleveland (tentative) 4/13-4/19 - Pittsburgh 4/20-4/26 - Houston 4/27-5/3 - Los Angeles 5/4-5/11 - Berkeley & San Francisco 5/25-5/31 - Vancouver BC, Canada 6/1-6/7 - Charlottesville
Thank you,  The KWL Board

email: blaczuro@gmail.com

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Heart Advice - Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

2009-09-18T03:00:37Z

"HEART ADVICE" – excerpts from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's book "Healing With Form, Energy and Light"

Everyone in samsara has problems. That is the nature of samsara. Practice will not make anyone problem-free as long as one is in samsara, despite what many Westerners seem to believe. People often ask me if people who always abide in the natural state get ill. Even people who abide continuously in this state – if they have a body! – will become ill if they live long enough. The rent still has to be paid, the car needs gas, food must be bought, relationships have difficulties, and finally the body dies.

Though practice will not remove all the difficulties of a life, it will lead the practitioner to better ways to deal with problems. This is a much bigger statement than it sounds, because in the practices the emphasis is on how to be rather than on the problem. Most people don't know how to be with a problem and often don't have a good method of working with difficulties. Instead, they have the pervasive idea that problems have substantial causes and that the resolution of problems lies there. In psychotherapy it's common to think that problems begin at a certain point in life as a result of certain situations, and that the particular time and situation must be dealt with in order to remove the problems. This may be so for particular problems, but suffering begins long before childhood, long before birth. No matter how perfect the childhood, everyone will still have problems.

As practitioners, we are taught to think about the gift of the precious human body. We have been born in places where the dharma is taught, at a time when teachers are accessible and where transmission is obtainable. We live where there is the political freedom to follow our spiritual paths. Our living conditions are good and we have the leisure to practice.

What we often lack is the recognition of the gifts we have already received. Sometimes we remember how good our lives are when we are brushed by tragedy, but then, caught up again in our normal lives, we forget. We are driven away from gratitude and appreciation by dark and negative forces, by habitual dissatisfaction and constant stimulation. When others have more than us, we feel envy, but in a world where so many people have less than us, we often don't recognize how fortunate we are.

The teachings often focus on view, meditation, and behavior. What this means is that the way we see determines how we feel and think. And how we feel and think determines how we act. When we look from a dualistic viewpoint, we see an imperfect world and we live as troubled, imperfect beings in that imperfect world. When we see the world in its perfection, just as it is, we are buddhas, living in a pure land, surrounded by other buddhas.

Until we have pure vision and realize the perfection of the world and the beings in it, it is helpful if we can accept the imperfections of the world as a natural part of life, as the material with which we can work. When we turn away from any aspect of the world, we turn away from parts of ourselves. By opening to the world and accepting it as it is, we open to deeper dimensions of our own being. Complete acceptance is the end of hope and fear, the end of fantasies of the past and future. It is living entirely in the present, in what actually is.

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Menri Monastery - videos

2009-08-08T16:45:49Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WWURq-gdJM&feature=channel

The first of three videos of a Geshe ceremony at Menri Monastery in India. Menri is the main center of the Bon in exile. You will see the Menri Trizin and Menri Lopon among many others.

There is also a very active nuns community at Menri.

Please enjoy!

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Some new Bon materials (free)

2009-07-24T20:25:39Z

Here is a preview of the Bon webpage I'm building. Hope somebody finds it useful.

Warm Regards,
Ryan

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/An%20exploratory%20study%20of%20the%20effects%20of%20practicing%20Tibetan%20dream%20yoga%20four%20foundations%20on%20waking%20life%20awareness%20and%20dreams.pdf
An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Practicing Tibetan Dream Yoga Four foundations on Waking Life Awareness and Dreams
Barbara S. Stefik’s doctoral dissertation Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, 2000

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Achard-Dzogchen.pdf
The Tibetan Tradition of the Great Perfection
An article by Jean-Luc Achard

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/ACollectionOfStudiesOnBon.pdf
A Collection of Studies on the Tibetan Bon Tradition
By various authors.

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/bon_terma_hist.pdf
Unearthing Bon Treasures: A Study of Tibetan Sources on the Earlier Years in the
Life of Gshen-Chen Klu-Dga'
Dan Martin

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/A-tri.pdf

Bonpo Studies: The A Khrid System of Meditation (1)
Part 1 of an article by Per Kvearne

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/A-tri%202.pdf
Bonpo Studies: The A Khrid System of Meditation (1)
Part 1 of an article by Per Kvearne

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/bdud%20rtsi.pdf
The Tantra "A Vessel of Bdud Rtsi," a Bon Text
An article by Michael Walter

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/An%20exploratory%20study%20of%20the%20effects%20of%20practicing%20Tibetan%20dream%20yoga%20four%20foundations%20on%20waking%20life%20awareness%20and%20dreams.pdf
An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Practicing Tibetan Dream Yoga Four foundations on Waking Life Awareness and Dreams
Barbara S. Stefik’s doctoral dissertation Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, 2000

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/canon-of-bonpo.pdf
Canon of the Bonpos Part 2: Index of the Canon

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Dorje%20Lingpa%20and%20His%20Rediscovery-Karmay.pdf
Dorje Lingpa and His Rediscovery of the “Gold Needle” in Bhutan
An article by Samten G. Karmay

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Kundrol.pdf
Kun grol grags pa and the revelation of the Secret Treasury of the Sky Dancers on Channels and Winds an inquiry into the development of the New Bon tradition in Eighteenth century Tibet
Aby Jean-Luc Achard

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Aspects%20of%20the%20Origin%20of%20the%20Buddhist%20Tradition%20in%20Tibet.pdf
Aspects of the Origin of the Buddhist Tradition in Tibet
An article by Per Kvaerne

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/The%20mirrorwork%20of%20Tibetan%20religious%20historians%20A%20comparison%20.PDF
The Mirrorwork of Tibetan Religios Histoians: A comparison of Buddhist and Bon Historiography
Zeff Bjerken's doctoral dissertation University of Michigan 2001

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/The%20life%20of%20a%20Bonpo%20luminary%20-%20Sainthood%2C%20partisanship%20and%20literary%20representation%20in%20a%2020th%20century%20Tibetan%20biography.pdf
The life of a Bonpo luminary: Sainthood, Partisanship and Literary Representation in a 20th Century Tibetan Biography
william M. Gorvine's doctoral dissertation University of Virginia 2006

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/The%20role%20of%20fear%2C%20horror%20and%20the%20threat%20of%20death%20in%20ultimate.PDF
Transgressive Compassion: The Role of Fear, Horror and the Threat of Death in Ultimate
Lucy Annette Jones' doctoral dissertation Rice University 1998. The gcod of the Bon tradition and Georges Bataille are compared. It contains a translation of _gcod gdams rin chen phreng ba_

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/trulkhor.pdf
Magical Movements ('phrul 'khor): Ancient Yogic Practices in the Bon Religion and Contemporary Medical Perspectives
Marco Alejandro Chaoul's doctoral dissertation Rice University 2006

OFF-SITE RESOURCES:
http://buddhisttorrents.blogspot.com/2008/11/bon-po-hidden-treasures-jean-luc-achard.html

http://buddhisttorrents.blogspot.com/2009/04/unbounded-wholeness-dzogchen-bon-and.html

http://buddhisttorrents.blogspot.com/2009/02/spirit-mediums-sacred-mountains-and.html

http://buddhisttorrents.blogspot.com/2008/11/tibetan-yogas-of-dream-and-sleep-tenzin.html

http://buddhisttorrents.blogspot.comhttp://buddhisttorrents.blogspot.com/2009/02/great-perfection-samten-g-karmay.html/2008/11/wonders-of-natural-mind-new-edition.html

http://buddhisttorrents.blogspot.com/2008/09/in-search-of-zhang-zhung.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/46043686/Shardza_Tashi_Gyaltsen_-_Heart_Drops_of_Dharmakaya.pdf

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8300157/Bonpo-Dzogchen-Teachings

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8301464/Selections-From-the-Bonpo-Book-of-Death

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8302056/The-Oral-Tradition-From-ZhangZhung

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

ANTIQUE THANKGA OF GURU RIMPOCHE FOR SALE TO RAISE MONEY FOR MY TRIP

2009-07-23T23:21:38Z

Please look on my site, the story (below in my articles) and an images are there. Blessings and Love, Mary

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Sherab Chamma Mantra

2009-07-19T00:37:06Z

Tashi delek,

Hi this is my first post. I thought I would share the Sherab Chamma Mantra since I saw it was asked for in a thread from 2007 with no responses in that thread to the request.

Tenzin

OM MA WA MA TE MA HI MO HA E MA HO MA YE RU PA YE TA DHU DHU SO HA

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Holding One's Experience in the Spacious Embrace of Awareness

2009-06-25T00:16:50Z

"HOLDING ONE'S EXPERIENCE IN THE SPACIOUS EMBRACE OF AWARENESS" - an edited excerpt from oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, April 2001

We've been focusing during this retreat on the six realms: the hell, hungry ghost, animal, human, demigod, and god realms. These are the different realms of existence in which beings can take rebirth. We've seen that we also experience each of these realms in our daily lives through the doorways of the negative emotions that are associated with each realm. Those negative emotions are hatred, greed, doubt, jealousy, pride, and lethargic pleasure.

You can clearly say, "I am in the human realm, I am a human being." Nevertheless, at various times in your life, or even at various times of day, you go through experiences that have characteristics of each of the six realms of existence. Different experiences in your life – in combination with conditions such as age, sickness, relationships and many other factors – can cause the qualities of each of these different realms to manifest in us. There are times when you might manifest strongly the greed of the hungry ghost realm, or other times when it's more the hatred and anger of the hell realm, or times when the doubt of the animal realm is dominant, or maybe it's the pride of the demigod realm, or at other times your experience is more the lethargic pleasure characteristic of the god realm.

Generally in Buddhism, these emotions are considered completely negative, but if you look at your life you'll see that from a conventional perspective we do need to be connected to these emotions. So, what is the best way for us to pass through these various realms of experience as they arise normally from day to day? The best way is when we're equipped with awareness. Without awareness, we so often get trapped by our experience, don't we?

We are born into samsara, and as part of that deal we go through different crises in our lives — that just comes with the territory. As each crisis arises, there is a certain degree to which we have to go through that difficult experience. The only question is: How can we keep it from getting worse? It is through our ability to accept our experience, rather than making it worse by reproducing the karma that created it. And meditation practice improves our ability to simply accept our experience. Practice does this by helping us to develop a strong ground of awareness. A strong ground means that the particular experience does not shake you. You do not lose your awareness in the midst of the experience.

So for example, during a particular experience you may become aware of feeling sad. It can be a deep sadness, but there is a place in you that can hold that sadness, much like when a mother gently holds a crying baby in her arms. She creates a very safe place for the baby to cry. Your base, your essence, your awareness, that is like a mother, and your emotion is like a baby.

Regarding this sadness you are experiencing, there is a bigger space, a more open space of awareness, in which the sadness is contained. Simply holding the sadness in that space of awareness would have very much the same effect as a good session of psychotherapy, where the karma of that experience simply exhausts itself. But instead, we oftentimes reproduce the karma of that experience by reacting habitually to it and as a result, then set up the conditions for it to continue further into the future. However, when you don't reproduce the karma, then that karma simply finishes. It is similar to your having a no-interest bank account, and every time you spend from it the balance drops until one day it gets down to zero and then it's finished. It's good to have a no-interest karmic account. If you have a high-interest karmic account, no matter how much you purify you are still accumulating.

So, let's say you're having a session of meditation and suddenly, Bam! A thought jumps up and you remember a particular person, and then you remember something else as a result, and then maybe your greed arises, "I want this, I need that," and another story jumps up. You are still sitting there and the thoughts and emotions are going on, getting more and more detailed, to the point where you just cannot sit anymore. That is the bad way to relate to those experiences; that's how their karma gets reproduced, isn't it? And in real life you would then go out and act on that karma.

The good way, though, is when you are sitting and contemplating and suddenly you see a thought, and the experience of the thought is weaker than the space that contains it. So, the thought comes; the thought goes. You are very big and your thoughts are very small. The experience comes and goes. The space is very big. The awareness is very big. The emotion comes and goes. You are very big in the sense of awareness and can hold whatever arises. So, whether we're connected to the dharma or not, we all go through crises, don't we? And it's clear what kind of person does well in those crisis situations, isn't it? It's the ones who have a big space of awareness and are able to hang on and not drop everything in the midst of the crisis. They know that eventually time will heal. Their awareness is open and unshaken through it all.

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Transcending Fear - Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

2009-05-21T13:28:01Z

"TRANSCENDING FEAR" – NOW ON LIGMINCHA WEB SITE: RECORDING OF APRIL 22 LIVE VIDEO TEACHINGS OF TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE

On April 22, 2009, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche gave a free public talk in Charlottesville, Va., broadcast by live streaming video to audiences worldwide. Rinpoche drew on ancient Tibetan wisdom as he explained how you can transcend fear and live with more open awareness even during times of threat or uncertainty.

To view this 90-minute talk, visit: https://www.ligmincha.org/retreats/live-internet-teachings5.html

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Approaching Death Free of Attachment

2009-04-15T19:08:46Z

"APPROACHING DEATH FREE OF ATTACHMENT" – an edited excerpt from oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche during the bardo retreat, July 2000:

This retreat is a wonderful opportunity for us to have (Lopon) Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche here, especially for those of you who don't know him. Yongdzin Rinpoche is the principal teacher of the Bon Buddhist tradition, and for me personally, he has been my root master and the person who cared for me when I was growing up. This morning I was making a little pancake for breakfast for him, and he said, "Oh, this is what I used to make for you!" When I was ten years old I didn't know how to cook, so he made me that pancake a number of times. Now thirty years later, he could say, "This is what you learned from me!" [laughter] I have been very fortunate, and we all are so fortunate that I can now share my teacher like this with you.

There are so many different ways we can approach learning the dharma. When we approach the bardo teachings in Lopon's scholarly way, very carefully going through all the details of the ancient texts, I know what must go through new people's minds! Please have patience. Understand as much as you can of the details. Try to get as much as possible. But as I said this morning, don't worry about what you don't get. Listen and try to understand, and what you don't understand, don't worry about. This is the place to work with what you do understand, what you do connect with, what you do feel. And what you don't understand, don't walk too much in that area.

Speaking a bit more on what Lopon said today, we are cultivating devotion, inspiration and connection, and if you didn't want to do that, you wouldn't be here. It is your wanting that brings you here – wanting to engage with the practice, and ultimately, hopefully, the wanting and wishing and desiring will be the basis of your illumination. Illumination comes from there. In the West sometimes people misunderstand this. Especially in the `60s and `70s, spiritual pursuits often seemed to be more about "Don't work, be happy, have no attachment, do whatever comes to mind." This is not what the teachings are saying. The teachings encourage us to be responsible. Whatever happens to you, the consequences are based on your actions.

For example, love is at the foundation of all spiritual traditions. We all seek and want to be loved. But there is a degree to which love can be painful, if it is based too much on attachment and too little on loving-kindness. At the same time, there may be some people in your life with whom you would prefer not to engage too much in this lifetime. It is okay to feel this way about someone. Just be sure not to engage with them in a negative way. These are examples of the kind of detachment that is helpful in preparing for one's own death.

You may know someone who is in the process of dying, or who is experiencing sickness or old age. In each of these cases, one of the most difficult internal things people face before they die – the external difficulties would be the sickness itself, the medical treatments, the pain, etc. - is that they don't want to give up. That is the most common form of suffering. People don't want to give up their body, their loved ones, their identity. They don't want to give up their wealth, or anything else they are familiar with. They don't know what will happen if they let these things go. What really happens? It is very hard to know, but for sure one is going to lose everything when one dies. Those close to one who has died feel sad for one year, two years, and then later, people forget.

The most difficult thing people face at death is their own grasping mind. It seems silly to talk about attachment to a fancy dress, but you never know what a person might be attached to as they die. I may be attached to the idea that I made so much money, it is all there in my savings account, but now I can't use it. I have a beautiful house, beautiful things, but now I cannot use these things. I have so many good friends and I didn't spend enough time with them. All these feelings are based on intense and serious attachment, which is hard to step back from. The moment you step back from it, it hurts.

We have the question of how one can help dying people. The teachings at this retreat give part of the answer: Never create a situation that contributes to a dying person's sense of attachment. That is the lesson here. Avoid being someone to whom the dying person feels attached, and avoid creating a situation that reminds the person of things that evoke attachment. Does that make sense?

As the person approaches death, when you engage in conversation with them you can get a sense of where the person is. Of course you don't want to say outright, "Come on, be detached. It is okay for me to be attached, but you are the one who is leaving!" Of course you don't want to go with that. Instead, you can try to loosen up the conversation so it is lighter and more spacious. The mind should not be holding on, not only at the moment of death but also at the time of any departure, such as going on a long journey, or even going to sleep. Your state of mind right before you fall asleep has a strong effect on the quality of your dreams. And your state of mind before death has a strong effect on your experiences in the bardo, or on your experiences in your next life to come.

During any major transition it is important to have a sense of lightness and spaciousness. At those times one should not cultivate heavy and dark experiences. So, lighter and spacious – that explains everything.

http://www.ligmincha.org

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Giant Phurba of Creation?

2009-04-07T17:22:27Z

Hi-
I have a question and thought maybe someone here might be able to help.

I was on a shamanic journey last weekend, and one of things I saw was the Mother Tree of Life underground in the earth.
It was huge and glowed, and began to grow in size, spinning and contracting its limbs and roots.

Eventually, it was bigger than the earth, and became a giant spinning phurba in space.
The phurba spun and attracted fragments of meteors, etc. to it, until it had rings like Saturn. It continued until many fragments surrounded it, eventually compressing and contracting, and becoming the earth, still spinning, secretly housing a giant phurba inside it.

I told someone about this, and they mentioned that there is a Himalayan story of such a phurba.

Does anyone know where I can learn more about this? Or maybe you know something about it yourself?

Thanks!

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Prayer wheel

2009-03-16T16:28:21Z

Hi all,

I have recieved a prayer wheel in a dream, i did not know what it was. i found one at a store the next day and i bought it right away. i was always interested in shamanism (still am) and i always had the idea i had to turn my prayer wheel counter-clockwise. after a research about prayer wheels i found out that the Bön religion turns it's prayer wheels counter-clockwise, and also that Bön is shamanic from nature.
my questions are; why is the prayer wheel turned counter-clockwise? and what is the difference in prayer wheel from normal Buddhism and Bön? a normal prayer wheel has scriptures in them so if you turn them they pass along as if you can read them.. is it normal to swing a normal prayer wheel counter-clockwise?

thanks in advance!
Daray

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

From Menri - Bon Mother Monastery in India

2009-02-25T03:57:59Z

Tibetan New Year 2009 at the Yungdrung Bön Monastery of Menri

According to the Tibetan lunar calendar, the name of the coming year is the Earth-Ox year and it begins on February 25th, 2009.
In the Bön tradition, the 1st month of each Tibetan year is considered a holy month, and is called Bum-Gyur Da-Wa.
During this holy month (in 2009, February 25 - March 26), all prayers and practices are multiplied 100,000 times.

Feb. 21, 22, 23 dGu-gTor Chen-Mo - End of year ritual for averting evil before the New Year starts.

February 24 gNam-sTong - New Moon. Preparations for Lo-Sar.

February 25 Lo-Sar - 1st day of the New Year. Early morning, an Auspicious Greeting Ceremony takes place: the first food offering (Tshogs) of the New Year is by the Abbot of Menri to all the senior lamas, monks, nuns, children, and villagers. Then, villagers bring their first tea and food of the New Year to the Abbot to wish him a Happy New Year.

Feb. 25, 26, 27 Lo-Sar - Traditional Tibetan New Year festival and parties.
New Year festival parties.

February 27 bSang-gSol - Incense fumigation ritual and universal prayer offerings, following the Bön tradition.

February 28, March 1 653rd birth anniversary of Nyame Sherab Gyaltsen, First Abbot and founder of Menri Monastery in Tibet.
“Flower Offering” ceremony to the 1000 Buddhas.

March 4 Gathering ceremony and prayers by all villagers of the Bönpo settlement.

March 8 'Cham - traditional Bön masked dance festival.

March 10, 11 Birth anniversary of Lord Tonpa Shenrab, founder of the Bön religion.

March 11 Full Moon “Flower Offering” ceremony to the 1000 Buddhas.

March 17, 18 Ma-rGyud Tshogs-mChod - Mother Tantra ritual chanted following the Shen lineage tradition.

March 19 to 25 Retreat of sMar-Ba'i Seng-Ge “Lion of Speech” wisdom deity. Prayers, invocations, chanting, Tshogs and butter lamp offerings performed by all monk students of the Bön Dialectic School.

March 26 New Moon sMar-Ba'i Seng-Ge “Lion of Speech” wisdom deity initiation performed by the Abbot of Menri to all the monks, nuns, children, and villagers.

Our thoughts and prayers are always with you.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Integrating Real-Life Issues Into Meditation Practice

2009-02-25T03:03:26Z

"INTEGRATING REAL-LIFE ISSUES INTO MEDITATION PRACTICE" – an edited
excerpt from oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche,
July 2007

Many times I see that practitioners of the dharma are not touching
their day-to-day lives with their meditation practice. That's a
problem. Great benefit can come from working with the situations in
your life during practice. Without closely examining yourself and
your specific life issues while meditating, your practice will only
be of partial benefit.

Keeping separate one's worldly life and one's practice life is a
weakness in the way the dharma is often approached, particularly in
the West. As a result, when people come to a retreat and engage with
the teachings and practices, they feel very good, but then afterward
when they go back into their lives, they feel completely
disconnected; it's as if they experience extra pain when going back
into normal life because of the degree of disconnectedness between
their practice and their life. One important reason for this
disconnectedness is that those real issues they face in their daily
life are totally denied while they are at the teachings and while
doing the practices here on retreat. They have the idea while they
are here that they have no problems. "Just feel the energy." But
you see, this idea is created in the mind. And, one creates such
ideas so skillfully here on retreat that it becomes easy to shut down
or shut out one's ordinary day-to-day problems. But in actuality,
the problems are not totally shut down; they are still there, and
when you go back into your life it can be very intense to face them
all again in full.

I think that it's a real blessing for us to be able to bring our
worldly life with us when we enter a retreat. The retreat provides
support for internal reflection and for looking closely with real
clarity at yourself and at the conflicts in your life. When you look
closely within yourself, at first you'll feel that it is unpleasant
to think about or feel these real issues. You may in fact say, "One
reason that I came to retreat is to not think about that." But, like
I said, that is not really smart. There are a lot of supports here.
I am not talking about the support you might feel from discussing
your problems with others. I am suggesting another kind of support
that comes from internal reflection and working directly with the
purifying and transformative practices that we are learning, along
with feeling the support of the blessings that we all have here. It
is a much more powerful and effective approach than simply talking
about your issues. For the most part, we know we've talked enough
about our problems, haven't we? We have exhausted many people
talking about our problems.

So, for a moment let's not talk about a problem, and instead
internally reflect on that conflict, reflecting closely, and feeling
it. The idea is to bring the conflict up into consciousness,
bringing it into your body, into your breath, and into your mind.
Bringing it up in this way on the cushion, you can experience it most
coarsely in the body, can't you? And then, you experience it more
subtly as a sense of breath, a sense of prana. From there, you can
then work with that prana through the practices of tsa lung and the
nine breathings of purification and with the practices of tummo and
actually release that prana through your practice. And, if you work
in that very direct and concrete way, then you will feel that
something is shifting and changing.

You see, you relate to the everyday world around and within you as
being you, as being who you are, as being your self. This mistaken
view, this mistaken sense of identity, is the creator of that
relative world of yours. Reflecting on this, the idea is to change
qualities of that experience by going closer to its source, working
with it more at the level of prana. You are feeling and connecting
with it on an energetic level without judging it; and then, using the
proper techniques, clearing that energy or prana. Each time you
practice clearing that prana, your practice takes you closer to a
space that is naturally clear and open. [Rinpoche exhales fully.]
At that moment, you experience a custom-designed, unique medicine
only for you. You never want to miss out on that experience.
Everything in the practice that you did before that moment is simply
for the purpose of getting you to that point. So, at that point in
practice, don't then think: [Rinpoche exhales] "Okay, finished! Now,
dedication…" That's not what you want to do.

Instead, with the help of these practices, once you get to that
opening in what seemed so solidly an issue, recognize that space as
clearly as possible, and then familiarize yourself with it as much as
possible so that the state becomes very familiar. If you
continuously cultivate these kinds of experiences through bringing
real issues to practice, I guarantee that you will react differently
upon returning to the world from your retreat. It will be a much
different experience for you than the one that I often joke about,
where one finds that when the retreat ends and one gets into one's
car to return home, simply inhaling the familiar smell of the car's
interior brings all of their samsara back in full. That is called
the experience of "samsaric car prana." [Laughter] You open your car
door and that prana immediately brings your whole samsaric existence
to you in exactly the same form that you had left it.

It is wonderful to integrate practice in this way where you actually
have two things going on simultaneously in your practice: One, you
are working with the real issues in your life; and two, you are doing
so within the space of a beautiful dharma practice. If you don't
bring the practice to your life as we are doing here, in the end you
are the one suffering by pretending to have no problems while you are
here in the gompa. Because in reality, the same problematic person
that lives in the world is also right here in the gompa; it's simply
that he or she is just not active. Some people have told me that
when they have been practicing as we have been doing here on retreat,
integrating the self who has real life issues with the practitioner
who's doing the practice, they've seen how much this integration has
helped them in going back into their life because they clearly feel
the connection. So, it takes some mindfulness, but be sure not to
fall into the trap of disconnecting your practice from your life.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

2/28-3/1/09 in NYC: Younge Khachab Rinpoche teaches Simhamukha, Tumm o

2009-02-02T16:46:54Z

Rime Shedrub Ling New York City Welcomes Younge Khachab Rinpoche

Sinhamukha Empowerment, Sinhamukha Tummo Completion Stage Practice and
Dzogchen Teachings

Saturday February 28th, Sunday March1st (Sunday *Restricted* to those
who attend on Saturday)

February 28th:
First Session 10am: Simhamukha Ripening Empowerment and Tsog
Second Session: 2pm: Creation and Completion Method of Liberation
Instruction for Simhamukha practice

March 1st:
First Session 10am: ( *Restricted* Must have attended Saturday)
Simhamukha Tummo Bliss of Inner Heat
Second Session 2pm: Recognizing the Primordial Dzogchen Clear Light
through Tantra

NEW REGISTRATION: Pre-register $100 at the door for both days.
$150 at the door.
No one will be turned away for lack of funds. For those with financial
difficulties, please pre-register early for volunteering, karma yoga
opportunities.

Write Celestialwindow@yahoo.com for pre-registration and payment.

Location: Kundrolling
151 west30th Street, Suite 403 on the fourth floor
between 6th and 7th avenues

Also please note Rinpoche's 2009 teaching schedule in New York City:
Dzogchen teachings to be announced for:

May 1st, 2nd, 3rd

August 7th, 8th, 9th

October 2nd, 3rd, 4th

Mark your calendars!

Younge Khachab Rinpoche is the Younge (Yonge) family lineage holder, a
treasure–revealer and a true nonsectarian scholar and Dzogchen yogi.
He is the 7th recorded incarnation of the Khachab Rinpoche Tulku who
was known for his accomplishment of Yamantaka and his healing siddhis.
Rinpoche makes his home in the United States, and he is one of the
most qualified lineage masters alive, holding both the titles of Geshe
and Khenpo. He is known for his accessibility, youthful humor and
brilliant discourses.
For more information about Rinpoche and his teachings:
website: RimeShedrubling.org

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Bon Dzogchen Teachings Now on YouTube!

2009-01-20T02:17:52Z

Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche recently recorded and posted to YouTube
a series of dzogchen teachings known as the Fivefold Teachings of
Dawa Gyaltsen. These teachings are now available through
www.ligmincha.org -- on the home page, click on the first "Headlines"
item to access the links.

Rinpoche has mentioned he wants everyone to know that he has invested
some effort into making these teachings available online, and
therefore, he asks that if you find these teachings personally
valuable, please take the initiative to let other people who are
likely to be interested know about these teachings, either directly
or through other email lists you subscribe to.

These heart-essence teachings are remarkable in part because someone
of Rinpoche's capacity is making them available to such a wide
audience, and also because they offer such a direct introduction to
the nature of mind. In the few days since these recordings were
posted, they have received accolades from people worldwide, many of
whom are receiving their first introduction to Rinpoche's teachings
through these videos. For example:

"The Fivefold teaching is the best Dzogchen/Mahamoudra teaching I
ever heard. I am very much impressed by the way Rimpoche is teaching
…. Your students are very lucky." - Jeanory

"Profound and life changing teaching. People who stumble upon this
are truly blessed..." - OneOracle

"Rinpoche - Beautiful and profound teachings! We are so fortunate to
have you here in the West. May the dharma flourish!" - cmallison143

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THESE TEACHINGS RINPOCHE . I live in
northern Alaska and have no access to teachers here. So to receive
teachings from you through You Tube makes me VERY HAPPY . Again THANK
YOU VERY MUCH." -manateeak

"This is an invaluable lesson. Detailed strong awareness is the most
healing thing one can obtain. Short and clear, very good guidance!" -
briach

About the Teachings

In this eight-part series of dzogchen teachings, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal
Rinpoche explains the essence of a heart teaching by Dawa Gyaltsen,
an eighth century meditation master from the Bon Buddhist tradition
of Tibet. These teachings are designed to guide one directly to the
root of one's self, to the clear and blissful experience that is the
true nature of mind.

For More Information

To learn more about Tenzin Rinpoche and Tibetan Bon Buddhism, visit
Ligmincha.org. You can receive advance updates about Rinpoche's live
Internet teachings, recorded teachings and in-person retreats by
subscribing to Ligmincha's free monthly e-newsletter, Voice of Clear
Light. To subscribe, send a blank email to:
LigminchaInstitutesubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Best wishes in Bon,
Mary Ellen and Polly

Mary Ellen McCourt and Polly Turner
Co-directors of Communications
Ligmincha Institute

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

From the Bon Foundation

2009-01-15T03:18:30Z

Dear Friends of Bon,

As you know, along with helping the children, monks, and nuns of Menri, the Bon Foundation holds the preservation of Bon culture as a high priority. You may be aware that several years ago we embarked on the Bon Scanning Project in which we facilitated at Menri the scanning of the Bon Kanjur and the Bon Katen, and have, since then, functioned as the sole distributor of these sacred texts which now exist in digital form. Our success in selling them to libraries and students has resulted in much-needed financial support for the new Tibetan Yungdrung Bon Library in Dolanji. On behalf of the Bon Foundation, Mary Lanier and Khedup Gyatso continue to expand the Menri scanning and preservation program with the help and consultation of Gene Smith -- an extremely learned Tibetologist known for his mission to save Tibetan culture by discovering, digitizing, and distributing Tibetan texts and literature to institutions and students the world over.

As a special New Year's treat, I am taking the opportunity to share information about the remarkable Gene Smith through the preview of Digital Dharma, a documentary film about Gene that provides a little idea of the miraculous work he is doing to save Tibetan culture. (www.digitaldharma.com) Back in the early 1960s when H.H. Menri Trizin (then Sangye Tenzin) arrived in Delhi after a "long walk" from Lhasa, Gene Smith, (then the Asian Representative of the United States Library of Congress), persuaded the new refugees, Sangye Tenzin, Tenzin Namdak, Samten Karmay, and the young Khedup Gyatso to reproduce books from the printing blocks they had brought with them on the backs of mules. This led to a life long friendship and the beginning of the cultural preservation project that continues to this day.

After you view the Trailer, take special note of the Selected Interview clips where you'll hear Geshe Samdup (clip#1) talking about the Bon and Menri and His Holiness (clip#2) recounting his long association with Gene Smith and the preservation of Bon literature.

I'll let you know when the film is completed, but meanwhile, enjoy the good news about Tibetan Cultural Preservation and if you are interested in owning a CD set of the 179-volume Bon Kanjur, go to our website, www.bonfoundation.org.

On behalf of the officers and the board of the Bon Foundation, I wish you all the best for 2009.

Yours in Bon,
Karan Shelley, President

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

New Years Greetings from Menri Monastery

2009-01-01T00:55:28Z

JANUARY 1st, 2009 - Prayers for Universal Peace and Happiness - Yungdrung Bon Monastery of Menri

Happy New Year 2009 to all !!

Many warm greetings and Tashi Delek from the Redna Menling nuns, and the Menri Monastery lamas, monks and children.

On January the 1st, 2009, a special yearly event will take place at the Yungdrung Bon Monastery of Menri.

Early morning, on this New Year's Day, His Holiness Menri Trizin Abbot, the geshes and senior meditation monks, the Dialectic School monk students, the nuns, the boys from the Bon Children Welfare Centre, the girls and boys from the Bon Children Home, and our Tibetan people from the Dolanji Camp shall all gather on the hillside overlooking the valley and the monastery, by the prayer flags and Bonpo family arrow poles.

They will recite powerful universal prayers for peace and happiness for all the sentient beings in all the existing worlds (these prayers were composed by the Zhang-Zhung masters, many thousands of years ago.)

We shall all pray for the health and wealth of all our friends and benefactors who have helped us so kindly.

May these prayers bring energy and success in all their activities, fulfill all their wishes, and develop universal compassion, happiness, love and peace.

During this ceremony we shall make plentiful offerings to the worldly deities, to the local gods and the Nagas of all the existing worlds for universal peace and happiness and for the good success of the coming New Year 2009.

As sound offerings, we shall play music, blow conch shells and long Tibetan trumpets (dungchen), and beat drums, cymbals and Bonpo flat bells.

We shall offer barley and wheat dough cake sculptures (tor-ma), together with wonderful offerings of delicacies like sweets, pure butter, cheese and milk, roasted barley (tsampa), popped barley, popped wheat and corn, puffed rice: ten thousand white ones and one thousand black ones.

We shall make offerings of fine nectars: gold liqueur (serkyem: a precious medicinal tea in which a gold ingot is steeped) and turquoise liqueur (yukyem: a precious medicinal beer in which a big virgin turquoise gem is steeped), silver and jewels nectars, tea, wine, whiskey, Tibetan beer (chang) and many more, and we shall multiply all their amounts by prayer, visualization and meditation.

On an open fire, we shall make aromatic offerings, burning incense, scented juniper branches and medicinal herbs, and all of us gathered will joyfully throw printed paper fliers (lungta) above the fire, in the hot rising air.

New prayer flags will be stretched across the hillside.

There will be a happy tea party with tasty Indian sweets (the ball-shaped ‘ladu’) offered to everyone attending the ceremony, followed by a New Year meal.

Thank you so much for supporting our Monastery of Menri and helping to preserve the Bon culture and religion. You will be in our thoughts during these universal prayers !

With many Tashi Delek to you all,
Menri Abbot

Menri Bon Monastery, P.O. Kotla Panjola, Oachghat, near Solan, Sirmour District, 173223, (H.P.), INDIA

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Our Connection to the Teachings

2008-12-16T12:39:31Z

"THE RICHNESS OF OUR CONNECTION TO THE TEACHINGS" – an edited excerpt
from the transcript of oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal
Rinpoche during the 2000 ngondro retreat at the Serenity Ridge
Retreat Center.

Traditionally, one of the first things expounded on in the teachings
is how very precious this life is. You don't need anything else to
be rich; just having this precious life is the most richness one can
ever have. One should recognize this. The teachings emphasize the
preciousness of having a human body, and the preciousness of certain
other conditions as well, such as being born in a central location –
meaning, a location where you find the teachings, the dharma, the
essence. The importance of being born at the right time, in the
right space, in the right situation is all explained in the texts in
great detail, at great length. From really understanding the
importance of this, you realize it: you realize that life is
precious. Human life is precious. The opportunity given to us right
now is precious. We have in these teachings such a positive place to
focus our lives, to think, to reflect, and to put our dedicated
effort. This opportunity – the fact that we are able to do this, to
have this experience – is wonderful. It's good to reflect in this
way. This kind of opportunity doesn't happen often.

So, the teachings emphasize that out of all of the possible life
situations that one could be born into, it's a very rare opportunity
to have all together in one's life the conditions of a healthy human
body, an interest in the dharma, an interest in a specific entrance
into the dharma, then to find the dharma, find a teacher, find
profound teachings – not only find them, but find a connection to
them, and then from that connection, to find developing within us a
genuine confidence and trust in the essence of these teachings. It's
really very special. It's good to realize this unique opportunity
that we have, and to feel gratitude.

For more information www.ligmincha.org

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Invocation of Yeshe Walmo

2008-12-03T15:18:58Z

Invocation of Yeshe Walmo

MA DU SUM SANGYE KA KYONG THU MO CHHE
Powerful mother who protects the teachings of the Buddhas of the three times

MA CHHOK SIPE GYAL MO YING KI YUM
Sipe Gyalmo mother of all throughout space and time

KUN DOK THINK NAK NAM KHE ZHI DANG CHEN
Color azure like the clear sky

KU LA MAJA DZEPI THUL PA SOL
The body adorned with beautiful peacock feathers

CHHAG YE NAM CHAK RAL DRI DRA SOG CHOD
The iron sword held in the right hand cuts the life of adverse forces

YON PE TSE BUM SHEN GI TSE SOG SING
The lifeforce-vase in the left hand gives life to all beings

YESHE WALMO KHOR DANG CHE PA LA
Yeshe Walmo and retinue

DUD CHI MI ZEDGYEN TSOK DHI BUL GYI
I offer you an unceasing stream of nectar and jewels

YOUNG DRUNG BON GYI TEN PA NYING PO SUNG
Protect the doctrine of the eternal Yung Drung Bon

DRUP SHEN DAG GYI THU PUNG DONG DROG DZOD
Please give us practitioners’ strength of energy and body

DAG CHAK PON LOP KHOR DANG CHE PA YI
To all of us masters and disciples

ME THUN KYEN DANG BAR CHHEDMA LUI KUN
May all afflicted conditions, obstacles and obscurations

KHA LONG YING SU THAM CHED ZHI WAR DZOD
Be liberated into the vastness of space.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

oops. no moderator

2008-12-03T08:23:04Z

looks like our moderator left the building. anyone want to step up? - I'm not particularly knowlwdgeable about this topic.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 22 replies

Brand new forum dedicated to Bön

2008-12-01T09:18:52Z

http://yungdrung-rignga-ling.forums-free.com/

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 3 replies

Q & A with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

2008-11-12T23:40:45Z

"HEART TO HEART" – Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche responds to a student's
question

Q: Some people spend most of their lives avoiding negative
situations. From the way we have been discussing practice, I was
wondering: Are negative situations always supposed to be embraced as
opportunities for us to transform ourselves?

TWR: The teachings present many ways to approach challenging
situations, but you have to see which way is best for you at any
given moment. One way is to embrace the situation; another way is to
run away from it.

There is a joke in Tibet: A yogi was practicing patience, and someone
comes in and asks, "What are you doing?"

"I'm practicing patience."

Bam – the man slaps the yogi, and then he asks him again: "What are
you practicing?"

"Patience."

Bam – the person slaps the yogi again and then asks again.

This time, the yogi loses patience. You see, it is a question of
whether you can keep on practicing patience in a particular
situation, or whether at some point it is better to take action.
Taking action can include simply leaving the situation.

There are different ways to deal with any negative situation, and any
of those ways may be a good way as long as it is right for you at
that very moment. Do not think one way is inherently proper and
another way is inherently wrong. It depends on the circumstances.

The tantric view clearly says that every negative situation can be
transformed into the path. Yes, that is true. But the question is,
are you able to do that? When you are coming from a relatively
strong place in yourself, you can transform. Let's say I am clearly
feeling agitated and I feel strong enough, then I can turn this
agitation into a humorous and productive experience through
laughter. In this case it can be very easy to transform that
agitation. If I am not feeling very strong, however, then that
agitation may go on for a few hours longer without changing its shape
and form at all. If I am in an even weaker position, the agitation
might destroy my entire afternoon. So it depends on my own capacity,
not on the emotion itself. It is not about what I need to do to deal
with emotion; it is more about who is the one who is experiencing
this emotion at that time, and what am I able to do with the
emotion. That is really what counts.

Is it possible to transform a negative situation into the path?
Absolutely. Taking things further, from the point of view of
dzogchen you don't even need to transform. When you leave it as it
is, it is self-transformed, it is self-liberated. You recognize that
the experience has the ability to liberate by itself. In the
dzogchen view no one is contributing to that negative situation and
supporting it to stay.

Another way to think about it is this: When you are in a bad mood,
how many things - informally and unconsciously and annoyingly and
subtly and secretly - do you do to support that agitation? Think
about it. Can you think of the things you think, feel or do? Now,
imagine if you don't participate in those ways. That anger or that
bad mood will not be able to survive. It just can't survive if you
do not support it as much as you do.

Think about a simple blissful experience that's arisen in
meditation. How long did it last? Then ask this question: Why was
it so short? Or, why was it shorter than you wanted it to be?
Simple: The experience did not have much support.

What kind of support are we talking about? In the practice we talked
about giving attention to three things: our physical posture, our
breathing, and our focus of mind. These three can be used to support
either positive or negative experiences, but we most often use them
to support our negative experiences. Our focus toward darkness tends
to be much stronger than our focus toward luminosity. When something
goes wrong, we have learned to focus right on it. We have learned
that very well. But when something good happens, we have not learned
to focus on that goodness.

Look at the news we see on television or in the newspaper. Look at
the media's enthusiasm for negative events. Look at the excitement
that is generated and the effort expended to try to find more
interesting stories about a negative event that occurred in the
world. So much intensity is focused there, but we don't have that
kind of focus when something good happens. We tend to blame the
media for that strong focus on the negative. Yes, it is true: They
are actively pursuing negative news. On the other hand, though, who
is watching? We are, along with the rest of the world, and our media
simply follows after the stories that people want to watch. So both
sides are responsible there.

If you find yourself feeling depressed by a negative situation, you
perceive fewer choices for what to do about it than if you were in a
more positive mood. And when you are angry, it feels like you have
very few choices at all. We talked about criminals in a maximum-
security prison who have murdered others as a result of a moment of
anger. In their anger they committed their crime as if they had no
other choice. If there were other options available to them at that
moment, then they needed more time to actually notice those options,
and to reflect on the possible consequences of each option before
deciding how to act. But there was no time. The power and intensity
of their situation was so strong that they were driven forcefully in
one direction with all other options cut off from them. We know that
when no other options are there, you will do what you are driven to
do. But the meditation practices that we have provide a model and
method for you to train to be able to see other options.

So, rule number one, the simplest rule, for when you find yourself
facing a negative situation is to do nothing. If you are going to
learn one rule, then it would be don't do anything with your body,
don't do anything with your speech, don't do anything with your mind.

When you can become familiar with one simple rule that you can apply
in difficult situations, it just might change your entire life. Make
that rule very important to you. For a very high yogi in a negative
situation, action would be unnecessary. He would simply connect with
the root of the negativity. That level of focus might not be
possible for the person in a maximum-security prison. But in either
case negative action itself can be stopped by giving space for
reflection, right? That is what many disciplines are concerned
with.

The simple rule about no physical action would be good training for
those who ended up in prison because of their actions. Most of us
don't have to worry about physically hurting someone, but it can be
beneficial for us to focus on our actions of speech. Rule number one
for me when I am angry is to shut up; simply engage in silence, in
deep meditation – maybe not even deep meditation, just go like this:
[Rinpoche places his hand over his mouth].

And our speech is easier to control than our thoughts, which are very
hard to control. It is a good thing that people don't know your
mind! [Laughter] At least you have some protection there! We can
see how often speech creates a problem, but if others knew what you
were thinking, then that could lead to a big mess. The world is
protected by the condition that we do not know each other's
thoughts! We only know what we've agreed on, written up, and signed,
but not what we've each been thinking. Just imagine if that boundary
were not there; it would be a big mess, wouldn't it?

So we practitioners can exercise our ability to control our speech.
As you develop in your practice you will find many places where you
can focus your awareness. Whatever stage you are at, you will find
easier, more manageable areas of focus to help you transform your
life.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Space & Light

2008-10-21T19:20:18Z

"BRINGING SPACE AND LIGHT BACK INTO YOUR LIFE" - an edited excerpt
from oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche during the
2006 summer retreat at Ligmincha Institute's Serenity Ridge retreat
center.

If someone asks you at any given moment "How is life?" you will
clearly have an answer. You may say, "Life is great!" Or you may
feel that you're not quite where you want to be, so you say, "It's
okay, I'm hanging in there." Or you may have been feeling low enough
to sigh, "I'm dragging."

Think of all the different voices you have used over the years to
respond to the question, "How is life?" What do those voices all
have in common? For sure, they are all certain of the energetic
reality of your life situation. Whether or not you are at a
relatively good point in your life, that conditional reality you find
yourself in at any given time has such weightiness to it.
Energetically, it feels so solidly real that it seems it will take
more than your sounding a couple of Tibetan seed syllables for it to
dissolve within the space of your meditation practice, right?

But what is real, ultimately? Our conventional reality, which is
very much external and material, seems to have the greatest impact on
our lives. What we experience internally is less familiar.

The deeper reality, though, is that all matter has a quality of space
and light. Every body has a quality of space and light, every emotion
has a quality of space and light, and every state of mind, too, has a
quality of space and light. Basically, everything from the
environment to the subtlest state of mind has this quality of space
and light. And for many reasons you can lose your connection to this
quality. For example, you may not see so much space and light in
your home environment when you feel it is very messy, or if you have
piles of laundry needing to be washed. Energetically you may not
feel that spaciousness or light in your workplace.

The only way to be successful in your work is to bring space and
light back into the workplace. The only way to have some sense of
success and happiness in family relationships is to bring that space
and light back into the family.

Basically, when we are on the path, practicing meditation, we are
becoming more conscious and aware of our own obstacles, both
externally and internally. We are trying to change our experience of
our home, our workplace, our body and our self — the karmic
conditioned self that feels incomplete, that stores a lot of things
that we don't need to store. As we try to change our experience, we
can clearly see what we want to change, but the process for actually
getting that change to happen and to take root in our lives is not
that clear. So, we try to clarify this process.

In the Sherap Chamma practice, for instance, we work to transform our
ordinary limited perspective into a more spacious and luminous one
through our connecting as deeply as possible to the enlightened
qualities of the visualized form of the goddess. When you visualize
Sherap Chamma, the Wisdom Loving Mother, don't think so much
about, "Is she real? Does she exist?" Rather, begin with a focus on
what qualities she represents, what ornaments she is adorned with and
what they signify, and how many of these qualities are missing in
your life. In other words, first simply try to connect. Then later
you can wonder about whether she is real or not. You see, when you
ask, "Is she real?" you are asking as if you are certain that you
yourself are real, or that your problem is real. All the while, she
must be doing her dakini laughter and thinking, "Look at this guy!"

Especially when you say, "Even my friends don't know how truly real
my problem is. Even my therapist doesn't know." [Everyone laughs.]
When we step back and take a good look at our finding so much reality
in our problems, and at the same time finding so little reality in
enlightened beings - that's a very good reason for anybody to laugh!

One way or another, then, we are trying to bring the qualities of
spaciousness and light back into all these places within our
lives. "Well yes, I really want to bring some space and light into
my working life." We can all agree with that. So, how do we do
this? For sure it is much easier than you think - as long as you
approach it in the right way, in the right place, at the right time,
and with the right means. For sure it is easier than you think. But
often, without being aware of the proper skillful means, we just try
to force things to change, applying too much effort, thinking more
effort is good. This kind of forceful effort is not good.

Rather than continuing to apply more and more of this coarse kind of
effort to what is not working in your life, try using your energy in
a different, more skillful way. Try bringing space and light into
the workplace, into your personal life, into your view, your
experiences of what you see, your sense objects, the objects of your
thoughts. Bring space and light to each moment of perception; bring
space and light into how you take things in, how you process
experience, so that your experience can benefit you and not limit
you, condition you, or block you. If there is some sense of space
and light in your life, you will be able to experience a sense of
freedom and flow.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Tibetan-Yoga mailing-list

2008-09-02T17:46:13Z

Hello,

Just letting you know about a new mailing list:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tibetan-Yoga/

This is a private mailing-list where it is possible to discuss the topic of Tibetan-yoga in more depth than in a public forum. Strictly speaking it is not limited to just Tibetan practice, and dialogue about Indian, Newar, and Central-Asian variants is encouraged.

We also welcome discussion of how these methods relate to better-known methods like Hatha-yoga and Kundalini practices.

Subjects of interest would include:

Tummo (candali): The yoga of inner-fire. The Buddhist/Bon equivalent of kundalini-yoga

Trulkhor (yantra): A sophisticated methodology similar to Hatha-yoga

Tsalung (nadi-vayu) Employing the prana and energy-channels of the body

Kumnye (abhyanga-mardana): Application of ointments and massage

Lojung: Body-training in the broad sense (including yoga)

Dream and Sleep Yoga
_______________________________________________________________

Generally speaking, to join you will need to be a practitioner of some form of Tibetan yoga.

However, exceptions to this rule may be made if you have a background or special knowledge that would allow you to make an important contribution to the group.

Special circumstance will be considered (for example, if one has a serious health concern, compassion might dictate that one be allowed to join in order to learn more about traditions which might be of help).

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Anyone speak Tibetan?

2008-09-02T17:42:20Z

Does anybody know the script for the words "Warrior" and "Healer"?

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

Adapting to Change

2008-07-08T14:16:27Z

http://www.newdimensions.org/cafe.php

Scroll down the page for a 13 minute excerpt from an interview with Bon master Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Tibetan Sound Healing

2008-07-08T14:13:09Z

https://www.ligmincha.org/about-rinpoche/tibetan-sound-healing-video-teachings-by-tenzin-wangyal-rinpoche.html

Free video presentations with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Calm Abiding

2008-06-29T15:08:27Z

An edited excerpt from teachings on the zhine practice by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Leon, Mexico, April 2006:

I’m going to speak a little bit on zhine. As we all know, zhine means calm abiding; zhi means calm or peaceful; ne means abiding. Calm abiding. Let’s reflect a little bit on what it means to not be calm, even though we are experts at it. Our mind is like a wild, untamed horse that has been in the mountains many years, a horse that no one has tamed or has ridden. If your mind is engaged in something you are worried about, you don’t need any help to think about it again and again. We may feel like we want to change our focus, but we are not able to do it. We immediately focus back on what we are worried about, too often, too long, without reason, and in the wrong time and place. So reflect a little bit about how difficult it is to keep the mind upon the right focus. A moment of calmness is very difficult.

When focusing the mind on some object, the level of force, attention, and focus that we bring will help to overcome that immediate flow of distraction. It takes time but it’s possible.

In the modern world people talk about how much time people spend in front of the television. Shocking, right? This is the same thing. How much time do we spend involved in unnecessary thoughts of the past and future? So much time, so much time. This is a very unhealthy habit. So we know that by following the past, planning the future, and changing the present we are able to create a lot of disturbance in our mind. So the discipline of the mind here is to not do that. Just sit for a moment. Try to be aware of the five-point posture of your body. Be aware of your gaze. Be aware of the three-point discipline of the mind. Do not follow the past, plan the future, or change the present – just completely and peacefully rest in this moment.

What you are supposed to do and what you are able to do are two different things. We are saying “don’t think.” We are not saying you will not think. We are saying “don’t plan.” We are not saying that you will not plan. Basically, everything we are saying to do, we know you are not going to be able to do. So some degree of contradiction is always there in the practice. And that is why it’s called practice, because you have to practice it in order to be able to do it.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

a posting from the "pescan" tribe.

2008-06-12T00:54:22Z

Sorry for my long leave in this tribe, been out of the country but most of all been pretty much caight up with the recent happenings in Tibet. I do liason for a suppport group in the Philippines thru "Circle of Friends" ...see: www.webspawner.com/users/sacredriver
And is currently involve in a new support group called "Seattle Friends of Tibet" ...email: SeatlleFoT@gmail.com

If there is something you can do to help no matter how small about this issue, like spread awareness in your local area, it would be a big help for all those Tibetans inside Tibet right now. Chinese officials have closed out this area and have shipped out the last remaining foreigners which would mean that they can continue what they have been doing since ...torture, mass arrest, violating humans rights on these minority. The whole world is simply feed up with Chinese brutal treatment on this buddhist nation.
for true news about Tibet, go to ... phayul.com

Do whater ever you can and if somebody wants to moderate this group in the meantime, I would welcome it also. I have been a good boy since the new year, like sticking to a vetan vegetarian diet, not vegan vegetarian but I am still a pescano inside.

Glad to see you guys still within this tribe, take it easy you all.

"Our solidarity and prayers to the Tibetan resistance against Chinese illegal occupation of their country. China Out of Tibet!"

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

Refuge: A Heart Relation

2008-06-11T01:47:07Z

"REFUGE: A HEART RELATION" – excerpt from an edited transcript of
oral teachings giving by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

In order to connect in any significant way with the teachings you
receive, it is essential to understand the notion of refuge. When we
say the refuge prayer, we are taking refuge in the lama, yidam, and
khandro, or dakini.

When we talk about the teachings as being sacred, what does "sacred"
mean? Sacred describes the relationship we have to the teachings.
Sacred means you are not just collecting information and learning
specific techniques and doing the practices because you enjoy them or
because they are new, different or esoteric. You need to ask
yourself: Do I have a heart connection to the master, to the yidam,
to the dakini? Or is this just one more workshop I am attending among
many? If it is just one of those workshops that you will attend, pay
your fee, get some information, pick up a few photocopies or books,
and then are ready to go back home, then I think the real sense of
benefit of these teachings is diminished. This doesn't mean you will
not learn something. You will learn some information and will be able
to do some practice, and that might benefit you. But your relation to
these teachings will be shallow. The depth of your relationship to
the buddhadharma depends so much on understanding the connection to
the sacred.

When you enter a temple or a church, what do you do? When you face a
sacred image, how do you relate? You don't walk into a temple in the
same way that you walk into a museum. Of course you can enjoy the
beauty of the art, but there is a difference. When you see a sacred
image you definitely have a different attitude, a different
relationship, a different experience. You've got to be open to having
a different experience, for that's the only way that you can enter
into that space and have access to that world. This same kind of
relationship is important as a foundation for meditation practice.

I want to say to the new people, it takes time for the depth of
understanding and connection to develop. It is always a question of
being patient. If the older students look back a few years to how it
was hearing the teachings for the first time, you may recall that it
didn't make complete sense to you. It may have been confusing and
overwhelming. Once things start to make sense, students often tell
me, "Oh, you are teaching much better now." [Rinpoche and students
laugh.] And I say, "Well, thank you." They tell me I'm speaking more
clearly and so on. They don't suspect it's also that they are
listening better. When you have more understanding and more
experiences of the base, things change. In time you learn. Please
consider taking this retreat not just as another workshop. Of course,
you can. And people do. But it is my responsibility to guide you in a
different direction here. If you can find and enter the sacred
relationship, then the full benefit of the teachings will be there.

Generally speaking, there is a very natural tendency for people to
accumulate more and more learning. Their focus is not on how to
relate or connect but simply on accumulating more information and
techniques. But how you relate, connect, and experience is the real
basis of your development. Information can take you in the right
direction or it can take you in the wrong direction, but when your
heart is open through refuge and devotion, when the right attitude is
there, every question is answered.

I emphasize this principle of the foundation of practice because
sometimes I notice that people want to learn techniques. I am fine
with that, so I usually explain the technique. Then, I realize
something very important is missing. As a teacher I feel responsible
to at least explain what is missing. Explaining is what teachers do.
These teachings come from a tradition of thousands of years, and to
truly connect with them, one needs a very specific sacred attitude
toward them. If it were not for these ways and attitudes, the
teachings would be lost, they would not have been preserved.

So we say the guru yoga and refuge prayers to open our hearts to the
sources of the teachings. When we open in that way, we are preparing
in the right way, and the practices have much more power and benefit
for us.

REFUGE PRAYER

Chen den tse wai lama nam la chab su chi
Tob den ngag gyi yidam lha la chab su chi
Nu den sang wai khandro ma la chab su chi
Lama yidam khandro sum la chab su chi

I take refuge in my knowledgeable root lama.
I take refuge in the powerful tantric yidam.
I take refuge in the potent secret khandro.
I take refuge in all three: lama, yidam, and khandro.

Taking refuge is important to develop this sense of trust in the
lama, yidam and dakini. The lama, or master, is the one who gives you
transmission and instructions. The yidam is the source from which the
teachings come. The khandro, or dakini, is the one who serves as a
very active support in the practice. We open our hearts through
taking refuge. It is very simple. Refuge is basically the sense of
trust.

So, we go for refuge in the lama, yidam and khandro, also known as
the master, deity and dakini. In order for you to practice the right
way, you need to understand these three. If you do not know these
three and only know the technique, it will not work. That is very
important to understand: They are a very important part of practice.

We visualize the lama in the form of Tapihritsa. The image of
Tapihritsa is very peaceful with a spacious quality. Tapihritsa
represents not only the master, but the union of all the lineage
masters. Feel that connection and cultivate devotion.

The yidam is a deity, a tantric deity. A yidam is not like a human
spirit or a spirit of nature, rather it is enlightened consciousness,
an enlightened being. It is the place from which these teachings
arise, the place to which one should relate, the place where one
finds genuine understanding of the practice.

Basically you imagine or visualize the yidam as a fully enlightened,
powerful being. Visualization is a way to the experience. Through
visualizing we are able to feel the presence of the yidam. It is not
just visualization for its own sake, but through the visualization we
feel and even become the yidam. The purpose of this is to gain a
sense of protection.

When our mind is occupied by the presence of the yidam, the mind is
blessed. When we feel the presence of the yidam in the body, the body
is blessed. When we experience the presence of the yidam in the room,
the room is blessed. When we imagine the presence of the yidam in the
land, the land is blessed.

Dakini refers to the one specifically connected with your practice.
She appears as a beautiful goddess, but she is a quality or a force
that moves within to help you in your practice. Try to understand her
more in that aspect. She is the one who will help you mature in the
practice. Imagine the goddess and pray to her, asking for her help
and support. Feel her presence there. Imagine throughout the practice
the feeling that she is there.

Even without visualizing her form you can experience her motherly,
protecting and helping quality within you. Or, you can visualize her
form, her color, and her implements. Some people love to relate to a
detailed image.

So, we can receive the blessings of the lama to open our hearts,
cultivate devotion, and connect to the teachings. We can receive the
blessings of the yidam as a transformation or protection for the
body. We can receive the blessings of the dakini to support the
process of the practice. Therefore, we want to begin our practice
with connecting with the lama, yidam and dakini, and then come from
the right place within. It is important to connect to the master, to
the yidam, and to the dakini, because these are the sources of the
teachings, and we want to come from the right place, a deep, warm
place, and be in full relation to these sacred places.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Sharing a Recent Soul Retrieval Group Session....

2008-02-29T01:31:00Z

I lead a Pre-Columbian Amazon / Tibetan 'Middle World' Shamanic Journey for a group of 19 people this past Sunday evening. I took the men on a Pre-Columbian journey to reclaim their female side, and I took the women to an ancient magnetic field at an ancient Tibetan site to receive their vision. I invited Mitsuoshi Saito who aligned his visions in a Tibetan Temple and he chanted Sacred Tibetan Chants throughout the entire Journey. Brad Smith aligned his visions to enter Nature to bring forth the Sacred Sounds of Mother Earth's plant, animal and avian spirits through his Native Flute.

I took the men to an origin space near northern Guatemala, from 900,000 years ago, in which i have dream walked many times. I lead this journey journey at this time, because in 2008 it is the opening of the 3rd and Final Gate of the Collective 2012 healing energy called THE HARMONICS. or the Pole Shift. I lead 'Vision' for a large group of Healers at the 2nd Gate which was world wide, known as the Harmonic Concordance / Lunar Eclipse of Nov. 2003 and the First Gate of the Harmonic Convergence began this opened energy on the Eclipses of 1987.

One of my journeyer's shared thher expereince ....

My Tibetan-Amazon Shamanic Journey : During the purification journey I walk into the opening of the Cave and I immediately saw the Jaguar and the Tiger (who are two of my animal guides). I am very happy to see them. I remove my clothes and walk down the steps into the pool. The water is a light green emerald color and it seems to be naturally lit, as if its own essence shines. I breathe in the water and let it cleanse me, when I breathe the water out it takes toxins and stress from my body. After a while the drumming slows down and I walk back up the steps. Tiger and Jaguar dry me off and I put on a long cloth dress thing, a headband with reddish beads, and a belt with the same kind of beads.

It becomes time for the second of the three journeys: The soul retrieval journey. I dig in the dirt, but decide there is nothing there for me tonight. I place some tobacco leaves on the floor. They smell really good. I turn and give some juicy steaks to my guides. I sit next to them and we just enjoy each other’s company until it is time for the primary journey.

The Middle world journey: Jaguar, Tiger and I walk to the front of the cave. We walk down a path. I notice I am wearing something different. I can’t see what I’m wearing very well, but there are things jangling, without making noise, on my ankles, hips, wrists, arms, and shoulders. I feel feathers on my head. We walk to the edge of a river and I step onto a wooden boat. It seemed flat, but not flat. Jaguar jumps on and sits in front of me, Tiger jumps on and sits behind me. We move down the river and come upon a beach to the right. We get out and I have the impression of one of the other journey participants with a Bear. Jaguar, Tiger and I walk to the back of the beach, then through some trees/vegetation into a clearing. There is dense forest/vegetation around the clearing. Beyond the back side of the clearing there is a tall and dark shape on the horizon, like a mountain, but I can’t see the details. It is not close enough to put a shadow on me.

We walk to the middle of the clearing. I lay down, Jaguar and Tiger lay down next to me. The ground feels a little rocky, not soft like beach sand, but it is comfortable. I watch the sun go down and then wait for the moon to come up. The moon is full when she comes up. I look at her and ask her to send me a vision. Immediately I see streaks of light across the sky. They seem far away, at least as far away as the moon. I sit up and a light come through the top of my head into my body. Then I see light connecting me to the trees and to everything around me. I see the same light connecting other beings (trees, animals, everything) to each other. The light fades and I hear the trees talking. It sounds like they are whispering, and I don’t understand the language they are using. But I can hear them!

I get up and we go to the back of the clearing. We walk through the vegetation and in front of us are some stone steps. The stones are smaller than my brain thinks they should be in this area; the stones seem dark and crumbly. They remind me of mossy stones from Ireland. I think “This can’t be right, I’m getting Irish stones mixed in my journey”, so we turn around and go back to the clearing.

It is now time to head back. We go to the beach and I see another journey participant with a Great Blue Heron-like bird.

I was so comfortable and warm in the journey that when we came back my body had a hard time adjusting to the temperature of the room.
Sat, January 19, 2008 - 2:07 PM - permalink - 0 Comments

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Happy Losar

2008-02-07T16:37:46Z

Tashi Delek!

http://www.timescall.com/multimedia/20070222_Losar/

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

On the Nature of the Path and Being in the World

2008-02-07T12:58:02Z

"ON THE NATURE OF THE PATH AND BEING IN THE WORLD"
- excerpts from "Tibetan Sound Healing" by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

The heart of the spiritual path is the longing to know and to be your
true and authentic self. This has been the motivation of thousands
who have gone before you and will come after you. According to the
highest teachings in the Tibetan Bon Buddhist tradition, the true
self that we long for is primordially pure. Each one of us, just as
we are, is primordially pure. Of course when you hear that, you may
think that it sounds like a great principle or philosophy, but you
may not particularly feel that way right now. For your whole life,
you have been flooded with images and messages that you are not pure,
and it is easy for you to believe that you are not. Nevertheless,
according to the teachings, your true nature is pure. That is who
you really are.

***

What is the distinction between an enlightened and an ordinary
action? An enlightened action is not predetermined. You walk forth
with internal bliss, and the positive quality spontaneously manifests
for whoever needs it. That is called enlightened because it does not
have any particular design or purpose. It manifests only when a need
arises. It is not like the example that I gave previously of the
woman driving on the highway, who was planning to love her mother for
the weekend. Her action would not be enlightened, because she had a
very particular person in mind. She might have yelled when someone
cut her off in traffic, even as she was planning not to yell at her
mother. Of course, she ended up yelling at both the person driving
in front of her and her mother. There is no enlightened quality in
that. When there is an enlightened quality, this burning bliss is
simply available; it is ready to come out. For an enlightened being,
there is no need to manifest a quality. The circumstances are the
only reason that it comes out. If there is a need for that quality
to come out in order to help another person, it comes out.

So what is enlightened quality? What is the most enlightened way of
doing business? How can we be with each other in a more enlightened
way? I think it is very simple. It is our experience; it is a sense
of openness; we are not excluding but are including. Openness is
wisdom, and wisdom must be present for any form of action to be
compassionate. To the degree that wisdom and compassion are present,
an action is more enlightened. If a relationship has wisdom and
compassion, it is a more enlightened relationship.

http://www.ligmincha.org/

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Chulen

2008-01-27T06:00:11Z

Hello. I have a supply of chulen from Chatral Rinpoche's personal doctor, made for and blessed by Rinpoche himself. They are made according to a terma on Black Manjushri revealed by Ju Mipham. Please write me at urgyenrangdrol@gmail.com for more information.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Khachab Rinpoche: Portland Retreat Feb. 20th

2008-01-13T09:17:58Z

Winter Teachings in Portland, Oregon
Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism:
Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen
The purpose of this event is to establish a Portland Sangha (community) where Khachab Rinpoche can return regularly to deepen the teachings for his students. We are honored to host Rinpoche for the first time in Portland. Your participation is appreciated and will ensure his return to take us further into the profound teachings.

Friday, Feb 22nd
Public Talk at New Renaissance Bookstore
7-8:30pm, $12 - NOTE: the cost for the Public Talk is separate from the weekend retreat and must be paid through New Renaissance Bookstore.

In this introductory public talk, Younge Khachab Rinpoche will speak on the fundamental concepts in Tibetan Buddhism: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. The session will provide an excellent base for development along any of these paths. Register at newrenbooks.com or call 503-224-4929

Saturday, Feb 23 and Sunday Feb 24
Weekend Retreat at the beautifully restored new location of The Crystal Temple
4525 N. Richmond Ave. in North Portland, very close to Hwy 30 and the St. John's bridge, 2.5 miles from I-5 and Interstate. See www.crystaltemple.org for facility details.

On the Weekend Retreat Rinpoche will greatly expand on the topics introduced in the Friday Public Talk, based on the abilities of students in attendance.

Weekend Retreat - $35 per session\$120 for all four sessions. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. To register with Paypal visit www.blacksamba.com/retreats.htm - You may also call 503-754-7731 or email primordialknowledge@gmail.com.

Schedule for Sat\Sun: 9am-12noon - Morning Session, 12noon-2pm - Lunch Break –
2pm-5pm - Afternoon Session

Rime Shedrub Ling is a non-sectarian and non-political center of traditional Tibetan Buddhism, studying the great masters of all lineages—Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug—under the spiritual direction of Younge Khachab Rinpoche. Our main focus is on Dzogchen meditation and teachings.

Younge Khachab Rinpoche is considered to be a highly qualified Tantra and Dzogchen teacher. His training has incorporated the view and meditations of the four main schools He believes in the transmission of the uncompromised, pure teachings of the oral and textual lineages. He represents the Rime philosophical tradition, established in part by Jamgon Kongtrul, incorporating the best the four schools in Tibetan Buddhism have to offer.

Younge Khachab Rinpoche is acknowledged as a traditional master of the Mahamudra and Dzogchen practices. He received all signs of accomplishment in the Six Yogas of Naropa, particularly Tsa Lung and Dream Yoga. He is fully able to transmit all stages of the Vajrayana path. He is known in India and Nepal for his vast knowledge of the Rime tradition.

Younge Khachab Rinpoche is also Terton, a “terma” revealer (hidden treasures of precious teaching) and is currently having these texts translated.

Sponsored by NW supporters of Rime Shedrub Ling. This event is not affiliated with any teacher or center other than Khachab Rinpoche and Rime Shedrub Ling. Visit rimeshedrubling.org for more.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Handling corporate and individual corruption

2007-12-11T19:20:29Z

I am finding with greater frequency that many Americans are willing to stab each other in the back and lie in order to secure their position in the corporate workplace. I have found it next to impossible to find a corporate job where someone does not eventually want my job or my paycheck for themselves, and is willing to do whatever it takes to destroy my reputation.

How does one handle this, as a Buddhist? I need to be able to live and generate an income.

Thank you.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 6 replies

Lakulish Yogasan Championships 2008: Feb. 22; 23; & 24th, - City of Surat, Gujarat State, India

2007-12-10T12:14:36Z

For details and application forms, please refer to: http://www.lifemission.org/ and under "New" go to item #4 and click on "World Open Yogasan Championships".

Please note, to optimize your India trip and your experience of Lakulish Yoga you could attend or participate in the Yogasan Championships and also take in the 3 week Certificate Yoga Training Course being offered at Swami Rajarshi Muni's Malav Ashram from January 30 -February 20th. For details on the training go to http://www.lifemission.org/ and under "New" click on item # 5 " "Overseas Students Annual Yoga Certificate Training Program"

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

6 Month Dzogchen Lineage Internship

2007-11-26T09:12:05Z

Dzogchen Lineage Internship

A Six Month Intensive Private Dharma Training Retreat

Dates: From July 4, 2008 to January 4, 2009

at Dzogchen Retreat Center, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Conducted by His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche

* * *

We invite all those who are interested in Buddhism to attend this Dzogchen Lineage internship program. This program is led by His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. It starts on July 4, 2008 and continues to January 4, 2009, and will be conducted at the sacred retreat land in Eugene, Oregon, USA.

This Dharma Training Retreat will be an intensive course of study in the view, meditation and conduct of the Buddhist Sutras and Tantras. The course will be conducted in English, yet its structure and content will be according to the traditional teachings of India's Shri Nalanda University, as inherited and transmitted by Tibet's Dzogchen Shri Singha Five Sciences University. This great tradition integrates scholastic methods with personal instruction and meditation techniques. This allows students to progress swiftly from a logical understanding of the Dharma to unwavering realization of the Dharma.

For thousands of years, these methods of training have led many Buddhist practitioners to attain the supreme result of enlightenment and become holders of the Dzogchen Lineage. This retreat will be a rare and precious opportunity for Western students to study and train in the methods of the Dzogchen Lineage.

The intensive and comprehensive approach to the teachings used in this retreat is specifically intended to help students become Tutors, Guides, & Teachers of the Dharma, and Dzogchen Lineage Holders. It will enable students to joyfully help others, teach Dharma and create world peace.

Admission to the retreat will be through an application process, with applications being reviewed by the retreat registration committee prior to acceptance. Registration is limited to the first twenty-five accepted applicants, so please register early. We invite people who wish to support the retreat by donations or volunteer labor to contact us. This type of support is necessary and greatly appreciated.

* * *

His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche was born in Tibet. He has been recognized as the reincarnation of enlightened Tibetan master Gedun Chopel, who is the emanation of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of the Buddha's Wisdom. He began training in Buddhism at the age of five at the Dzogchen Monastery. He received the transmissions and teachings of the Sutras, Tantras and Shastras from forty-two Buddhist masters.

Rinpoche studied and taught for ten years at the Dzogchen Shri Singha Five Sciences University the five major sciences of Fine Arts, Medicine, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Buddhism, as well as the five minor sciences of Poetics, Synonymy, Prosody, Drama, and Astrology. For seven years he meditated in the Siltrom Mountain caves in the Holy Dzogchen area of Tibet.

Rinpoche is the thirty-third holder of the Dzogchen lineage, lama of Dzogchen Monastery, a Professor of the Dzogchen Shri Singha University, Spiritual Leader of Dzogchen Shri Singha International, Founder of the Dzogchen Shri Singha Dharma Centers. He has written more than thirty books on the five major sciences. He currently teaches Dharma and gives practice training to thousands of students, in more than forty countries around the world.

* * *

We invite you to Study and Practice the Dzogchen Lineage Internship Program

The following authentic Buddhist texts, together with their commentaries, will be studied and practiced at this internship program:

View Core Text:
Ornament of the Middle Way, by Shantarakshita
Supplemental Texts:
Entering the Middle Way, by Chandrakirti;
Discriminating the Middle Way from Extremes, by Maitreya

Meditation Core Text:
Words of My Perfect Teacher, by Patrul Rinpoche
Supplemental Texts:
Guide to Words of My Perfect Teacher, by Khenpo Ngakchung;
The White Path of Liberation, by H.H. Dzogchen Pema Rigdzin;
Realizing Phenomena as Buddha, by Rongzom Mahapandita

Conduct Core Text:
Entering the Path of the Bodhisattva, by Shantideva
Supplemental Texts:
Thirty-Seven Practices of the Bodhisattva, by Togmey Zangpo;
Ascertaining the Three Vows, by Ngari Panchen, Pema Wangyi Gyalpo

Additional Text:
Three Cycles of Relaxation of Dzogchen, by Longchen Rabjam

Organized by Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation USA and Dzogchen Shri Singha International Organizations

For More Information and Registration Materials, please visit the Dzogchen Lineage Website:

www.dzogchenlineage.org/internship
or contact internship@dzogchenlineage.org
USA tel: (1) 702-343-5833

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

On Letting Go and Travelling Light

2007-11-03T15:57:56Z

The experience you have before death – your state of mind before
dying – is considered to be of great importance in Tibetan culture.
Actually, your state of mind prior to any departure you make in life
is important. Each departure you make should be clear, healthy and
pleasant, because ultimately what remains in its wake is the image of
that departure. As death approaches, it is very important that your
mind be oriented as much as possible toward your meditation practice,
not really thinking about anything other than your practice, your
innermost support.

In the process of dying, all your familiar relationships have to be
left behind: your children, your friends, your house, your identity,
your entire world. It's a journey that you make alone.

As you take this journey by yourself, however, whatever truths exist
deep within you – whatever you have authentically touched and are
deeply familiar with – these are your own. The authentic knowledge
and understanding that come about through your connection to the
teachings and through your experience gained in practice, these are
of real value because they carry you through even the great departure
of death.

Generally, you can clearly see two things in older people who are in
the process of dying: They are very unfamiliar with where they're
going, and they are all too familiar with the conditional world they
are leaving. It's always hard to go toward what you don't know.
It's also hard to leave what you're very familiar with. When
combined, these two factors can become greatly magnified, right?

In Buddhism the emphasis is on nonattachment: not to be attached –
especially not to be attached when you are dying. "Okay, so I will
not be attached," you may think to yourself. However, despite all
your best intentions you quickly recognize that you are, indeed,
attached. How can you start to develop an attitude of nonattachment
toward conditioned phenomena arising within your life? You can
contemplate the truth that all phenomena are by nature illusory, they
are projections. And, they are impermanent.

When you consider these truths, then of course, cognitively it makes
sense not to be attached. But really, how often in your daily life
do you find these philosophical reasons making sense in the face of
all that arises? Well, that depends on the depth of your
understanding of these reasons. It also depends on your life
experience – for example, perhaps you have found yourself struggling
to accomplish something and then realized in the midst of it, "Well,
there's really not much to it, is there? It's fine, actually, if I
don't accomplish this goal, because even if I were to accomplish it,
it's not really going to change me. It may appear to change me, but
in reality, it doesn't." In those instances you are beginning to
realize the illusory nature of what previously seemed so solid in
your life.

Recognizing the illusory nature of phenomena is a powerful way to cut
one's attachment to this life. Recognizing the impermanence of
phenomena is another powerful antidote. You long to hold on forever
to that which you find valuable, right? But you're not going to live
forever, are you? We hear ourselves saying, "I want that so bad that
I'll struggle my whole life just to get it." But, really, once you
have it, how long will you then be able to hold onto it? Not that
long, right? It might be 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, but
not long, really. This is the truth – that you cannot hold on to
anything longer than that.

Within the practice, then, we reflect on these principles and apply
them to the very things that we hold onto in our lives, and through
practice comes a genuine sense of letting go, of forgiveness. As we
continue to investigate these means, we gain an even deeper
understanding, which allows us to let go even more. When you truly
experience these qualities, these principles, in relation to what
arises in life, you come to feel that you will naturally be able to
let go in the process of dying.

So, there are a lot of aspects to explore about the nature of
ourselves and phenomena: deeper and deeper aspects of truth and their
interplay with each other. Dream yoga practice is very closely tied
with this interrelationship. Through dream yoga you can recognize
during a lucid dream: "This is a dream." What does that mean? It
means: It's not real. And what does that mean? It means, Don't worry
about it. If you don't worry about it, suddenly you can rest,
relax. If you look closely at where all your suffering, pain and
confusion are coming from, they arise on the basis of your
misperceiving events, phenomena, yourself, as being real, as existing
inherently, and on the strong sense of grasping that ultimately
develops. Whenever you're convinced that something is real and you
fail to recognize it as illusory, dreamlike or impermanent, that is
when you suffer.

So, how we face the moment of death depends on how much understanding
and knowledge we've gained within our lifetime of this illusory,
dreamlike nature of ourselves and appearances; how clearly we have
glimpsed these truths directly through our own practice and
experience; and how deeply this understanding takes root in ourselves.

(This excerpt is from "Dream Yoga: The Practice of Lucid Dreaming as a
Path to Enlightenment," a two-CD set of audio recordings by Tenzin
Wangyal Rinpoche. These recordings are an audio
companion to Rinpoche's bestselling book from Snow Lion
Publications, "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep."

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

Tsalung Trulkhor - from Shambhala Sun

2007-09-14T09:33:57Z

Trulkhor: The Magical Movement of Tibet
by M. Alejandro Chaou

Trulkhor, or “ magical wheel” or “ magical movement,” is a distinctive Tibetan practice of physical yoga in which breath and mental concentration are integrated with particular body movements. In contrast to Indian styles of yoga in which the practitioner aims to hold a pose with the body still and the breath flowing naturally, in trulkhor the practitioner holds the breath still while the body moves in such a way as to guide the breath, which in turn guides the mind.

Tibetan religious traditions have employed trulkhor as part of their spiritual training since at least the tenth century. Although trulkhor is found in all five Tibetan spiritual traditions, it is most prevalent in the Kagyu, Nyingma, and Bon schools. While trulkhor may have been practiced much earlier and preserved only as an oral tradition, written texts point to the practice of trulkhor by famed yogis of the eleventh through thirteenth centuries such as Marpa, Naropa, and Drugyalwa Yungdrung, among others.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, who teaches trulkhor through his Ligmincha Institute, says, “Trulkhor is a wonderful daily practice, especially to control and handle the stress of our modern life in society. It has the power to balance the energies of mind and body and it also helps enormously to support one’s meditation practices.” Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, who teaches trulkhor under the Sanskrit name of yantra yoga through his Dzogchen community, describes the practices as a tool to understand one’s own true nature more clearly.

Within trulkhor there are practices that work specifically with the energetic or subtle body. This is composed of channels (Sanskrit: nadis), vital breath currents (prana), and essential spheres (bindus), providing the landscape where the mind and the physical body connect with each other. The Bön Mother Tantra, among other tantric texts, explains that the mind rides on the vital breath (or energy) currents like a rider on a horse, and the two travel together through the pathways of the channels. As the breath circulating in the channels becomes more balanced, the channels become increasingly pliable, allowing the vital breath currents to find their own comfortably smooth rhythm.

Put simply, our physical body, energy, and mind are said to be the three doors through which one can practice and eventually realize enlightenment. Therefore, trulkhor can be understood as movements that guide the energy linking the mind with the gross and subtle bodies. This brings internal or even mystical experiences and transformation in the practitioner. Also, with the help of movements that guide the mind and vital breath currents into different areas, the practice brings the possibility of healing the body-energy-mind system, which is the model of good health in Tibetan medicine.

Until recently, Westerners were focused on receiving Tibetan teachings that develop the mind, but in the last five years there has been a growing interest in Tibetan physical yogas. While traditionally these practices were taught and practiced only after the student had undergone many years of meditation training, some Tibetan masters now teach it more openly, like many other meditative practices, yet with the appropriate supervision. Other teachers maintain the secrecy of the higher trulkhor practices.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche has based much of the trulkhor practice he teaches on the ancient Mother Tantra. You can find a very good explanation of these teachings in his book "Healing with Form, Energy and Light." Ligmincha Institute offers training specifically on trulkhor that consists of four five-day retreats over a two-year period. Over the last five years, Ligmincha Institute has been collaborating with the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to design and implement a Tibetan Yoga program for cancer patients, utilizing the tsa lung trulkhor from the Bön tradition. Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche follows the trulkhor of Vairochana’s Union of Sun and Moon, on which he has written a commentary that will soon be published in English. Other teachers who teach Tibetan physical practices in the West include Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, who teaches both public and advanced practices, and Lama Norlha of Kagyu Thubten Choling monastery, where trulkhor is taught only as part of the three-year retreat.

These physical yogas from Tibet have come to the West, as most Buddhist teachings have, through the needs of students. Feeling that mind practices lacked the “embodiment” aspect, many felt the need of physical movement with a spiritual component. Unaware of the existence of Tibetan yoga, or unable to meet the strict requirements for receiving the practices, they turned to hatha yoga or other Indian yogas. Now that many trulkhor practices are available to Western students, it seems that the magical wheel is turning.

M. Alejandro Chaoul, Ph.D., is a mind-body intervention specialist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He is a senior student and instructor at Ligmincha Institute. http://www.ligmincha.org/

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

question

2007-09-11T22:14:43Z

I am a 13 Star Nation collective Shaman and a recent gift was given to a center that I visited. It is the dark God image of Kala painting, [like Kali with multiple hands with swords but the male version] the object in which this Kala was painted on - is an actual skull of the crown of the Head of a Himalayan teacher from 300 years ago. Can anyone share their knowledge of this? Since I am a completed initiated Shamanka of the Death initiations from masters and natures Spirit, I put the skull on top my head and received a vision. I saw a circle of martial artist type spiritual men, standing in a circle around this elegantly painted sacred object doing a dance as a formal ritual of their responsibility to protect their people/clan. Mary

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

Shining From the Inside Out

2007-08-09T20:50:29Z

"SHINING FROM THE INSIDE OUT" – AN EXCERPT FROM "TIBETAN SOUND
HEALING" BY TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE:

We can always have good ideas about what we are going to do, but
manifesting them is harder. When, through the practice of the Five
Warrior Syllables, we find the courage to manifest, we feel so
different. There is a sense of being sealed or confirmed. In our
Western material world, this approach is very important. We value
real action and positive change. We are not content to recite a
mantra, thinking that in the next lifetime we will have some
benefit. We want to see the changes faster than that. If you want
to see the changes faster, you have to open internally; you have to
bring the enlightened quality to life and feel it energetically.
Then you have to manifest it.

***

People often have no idea why they cannot bring about their good
intentions, and conclude with a negative statement about their own
defects and weaknesses. Or they feel they are a victim of others or
of circumstances. The bottom line is that if the inner work is not
done, the manifestation will not be there. Thinking alone does not
work. You have to open, feel, connect, cultivate, and then allow
something to manifest. If deep inside you are not open, if you
really don't feel those positive qualities, or don't even realize
those qualities exist in you, then how can you expect that positive
qualities will manifest? If you are having a difficult relationship
with your parents, and you are not opening and connecting with any
positive qualities within yourself, how can you expect something
positive to come out at the holiday dinner table? It doesn't work.
Inner work needs to be done before you arrive at the table.

***

"Tibetan Sound Healing," by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and edited by
Marcy Vaughn, is available online at Ligmincha's Tibet Shop. The cost
is $19.95. For order information, please go to:
http://www.ligminchastore.org/detail.asp?productid=331

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Let there be light

2007-08-02T03:14:38Z

http://www.lamathunderbolt.com/index.htm

http://www.lamathunderbolt.com/about.htm

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

sky gazing as a practice...

2007-07-28T20:40:37Z

I am extremely curious to know of anyones expieriences with sky gazing as related to bon..??
open forum..

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 3 replies

"Tibetan Sound Healing" - Book excerpts and conversation with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

2007-07-04T12:44:43Z

"FINDING FREEDOM THROUGH A CHANGE IN FOCUS"
– excerpts from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's book "Tibetan Sound Healing"

There is a considerable amount of power related to where we focus our
attention. Every time we dislike something and struggle with a
situation, a person, our own health, or even our own identity, we
focus on the negative. The experience is negative. We often
continue in this way instead of finding another solution. We are
trapped. "Why am I feeling this?" "Why is this person doing this?"
We continue on and on. What's the point of repeating these
thoughts? If we are saying a mantra, we repeat it to accumulate the
positive result of the mantra. There is power in the accumulation.
But repeating, "Why am I always doing this?" or "Why is this person
always acting like this?" is not only asking the wrong questions, but
continues to solidify a sense of problem, especially when we repeat
them more than three times! Repeating the same question over and
over is the result of the restlessness of no awareness and no
solution. When we ask the same question again and again, we will
find the wrong answer. Even if the question is a good one, if we are
asking it from the wrong space, the result will not be good. In this
practice of the Five Warrior Syllables, we are focusing on the space
or focusing on the energy or focusing on one of the Four Immeasurable
qualities. Focus on anything except the tired, negative pathway of
your repetition of a problem. If you are able to do that, then
positive changes are possible. A very common problem is not
recognizing that we need to change our focus altogether.

Perhaps you have heard this familiar advice: "Let go. Just let go."
There is wisdom in it. But perhaps you have not completely
discovered that wisdom. When we say, "Let go," we usually focus on
what is going rather than what is revealed when you let something
go. By always focusing on the object or problem, the wisdom is not
discovered; it is overlooked, and therefore it remains obscured.

So we come back to simply being. What could it mean to be? Don't
think about a problem for the moment. Don't occupy yourself for this
moment. Just get out of the familiar system of worry altogether.
Breathe. Feel whatever is in this moment. If the sky is clear and
the sun is shining, the only way to have a complete experience of
this is if the mind is clear. Otherwise, no matter how beautiful the
weather is, our internal experience is cloudy. You sit in the park
on a beautiful, clear day with a completely cloudy mind. You are
sitting on your karmic cushion, the very familiar, all too
comfortable, habitual cushion of your habitual thoughts.

***

It is quite useful to think of the Four Immeasurables as doorways
inward to our deepest essence and also as doorways outward through
which we express virtue and goodness in the world. Through them we
enter the center of our being, the union of openness and awareness.
They support us to recognize and rest in the nature of being. This
is the wisdom aspect. It is wisdom that cuts suffering. I often
describe wisdom as openness. Openness is the sword that cuts
ignorance, the root of suffering. Through the openness of our being,
through the inseparable state of openness and awareness, we
spontaneously express the qualities of enlightened energy in the
world.

Are you happier when you rest in the inseparable state of space and
awareness? Absolutely! You will be happier if you abide in this
way. You connect with presence, potential, flow. You experience
fewer blocks. Most of us would agree that joy is connected with the
experience of freedom. The ultimate sense of freedom is a mind
unbound by conditions. Most of us do not experience our mind unbound
by conditions, or we do not recognize this open state. We usually
only recognize freedom when a block we have experienced releases.
The experience of feeling free is wonderful, because the flow that
was previously blocked is now cleared.

Every time someone blocks your flow you suffer. The beauty of life
is in the flow. I am using the word flow to refer to the inseparable
state of emptiness and clarity. A traditional word used to describe
the experience of the inseparable state is bliss. When openness and
awareness are there, we experience bliss; from this bliss, all
positive qualities spontaneously manifest. This is referred to as
spontaneous perfection: perfection that is already there.

"Tibetan Sound Healing," by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and edited by
Marcy Vaughn, is available online at Ligmincha's Tibet Shop. The cost
is $19.95. For order information, please go to
www.ligminchastore.org and click on "search by category or
description" and then click on "New items." Or, go directly to:
http://www.ligminchastore.org/detail.asp?productid=331

**************************

A CONVERSATION WITH TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE ABOUT HIS BOOK "TIBETAN
SOUND HEALING"

Voice of Clear Light: Would you recommend any preliminary practices
to help us move beyond the mere conceptual understanding of "Just be"
and into an actual sense of resting in the space of being?

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: The nine breathings of purification and tsa
lung are wonderful supports. But simply taking deep breaths, simply
being in nature, simply doing something that you really, really love
to do, these are all good methods for getting closer to yourself. A
student recently told me that what he really loved to do was to watch
the birds as he would feed them. It's true that for some, a simple
activity like feeding the birds brings them very close to being. So
when you find yourself in a particular situation that brings you very
close to the space of being, then stop for a moment and see if you
feel the openness of that space more as a quality that resides within
you, rather than associating it with the external activity of feeding
the birds, for example. Just rest there and recognize that the
spacious quality is also present in the absence of action. With
practice you'll see that you can bring that presence into many other
kinds of activities.

VOCL: You speak of a deep trust that arises naturally in one's self
with this practice of the Five Warrior Syllables. In what ways might
this sense of trust unfold within one's life off the meditation
cushion?

Rinpoche: For example, you might be thinking, "I don't have
confidence in finding a love relationship." Often people want to
find a nice looking guy or a nice looking woman with certain
qualities and not others. And then all they see is the failure of
not finding such a person. I am offering a different orientation
with this practice, one in which you look back within yourself and go
to your source, your root, your base, your nature, and you feel a
connection to that. Connect to that, abide in that and ripen that
connection. And through that you develop a familiarity with your
base, a confidence and certainty in that base. From there this
confidence manifests outward. It manifests in the way you feel about
yourself; it manifests in the way you gesture; it manifests in the
way you speak; it manifests in the way you hold yourself and in the
way you hold others. Resting there, you'll naturally attract people
in a completely new sense. Can you see that? You are no longer
dependent on a certain outcome, on something outside you to be
complete. And because you're not dependent on the outcome or on
something external, everything is available there.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Chöd Tribe

2007-06-27T17:19:31Z

New 'round here I started a Chöd Tribe if anyone's interested.

http://tribes.tribe.net/chodtribe

Cheers

Barry

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Ghosts

2007-06-19T20:35:48Z

Hi

I need dome help , i found out my house is haunted

It is positive beings but it still feel uncomfortable .. im having nightmares and such

What is a proper way to fix it? thanks

Guillaume

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 8 replies

IRC chat

2007-06-04T03:47:08Z

I am wondering if any of you folks use a particular irc channel or know of any good ones? I am considering opening one at irc://deoxy.org/ called #madyoga, in other words; irc://deoxy.org/madyoga. I will open this room whenever online and welcome any of you to do the same so that it can stay open and grow.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

TENZIN WANGYAL TEACHINGS

2007-06-02T22:12:26Z

Sorry for the late notice ...

Unbounded Wholeness
And the Power of Sound

A Public Talk by TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE

Friday, May 4, 2007: 7:30 p.m.

Location: 830 Bancroft, Berkeley, CA

In this evening talk, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will talk about his two newest books, Unbounded Wholeness: Dzogchen, Bon, and the Logic of the Nonconceptual; and Tibetan Sound Healing.

Unbounded Wholeness, a tr anslation and commentary of an 8th century text attributed to Lishe Daring, explores the nature of open awareness which is the core of all Dzogchen practice. It addresses the question of validation or authentication of the ultimate and the challenge of speaking about a wholeness that is everywhere while maintaining the value of dualistic language. It speaks of “(t)he mythic and poetic spaces in which meaning is simply present, without being establishing through reasoning… Within this context, readers are invited to be wildly curious about the place of dualistic language and the possibility of authenticity outside or in spite of it.”

Tibetan Sound Healing is the topic of Rinpoche’s weekend teaching of May 5-6, in which he continues the teaching of the Five Warrior Seed Syll! ables, sounds which conquer the obstructing energies of our body, speech and mind. This practice utilizes the transformative capacity of sound to open the inner pathways through which the undifferentiated vastness of absolute consciousness flows into the concrete manifestations of everyday life.

These two books represent the breadth of the Bön tradition, representing the richness and depth of philosophical and intellectual inquiry as well as the practical possibilities of experiential transformation.

The cost is $20. Pre-registration is not necessary.

Sacred Syllables
The Healing Power of Sound in the Tibetan
Bön Buddhist Tradition

Taught by TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE

Saturday, May 5, 2007: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 6, 2007: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Location: 830 Bancroft, Berkeley, CA

!
Since ancient times sound has been an integral part of many spiritual traditions of healing and spiritual awareness. In the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition sound practices help us balance the five elements which support our health and wellbeing, energetically open and purify our chakras, and on the highest levels bring us to self-realization.

During this weekend Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will continue the teaching of the Five Warrior Seed Syllables, sounds which conquer the obstructing energies of our body, speech and mind. This practice utilizes the transformative capacity of sound to open the inner pathways through which the undifferentiated vastness ! of absolute consciousness flows into the concrete manifestations of everyday life.

The teachings will continue in November when Rinpoche will present the Five-Fold Practice of Dawa Gyaltsen, a master of the Oral Transmission of Zhang Zhung, a Bön Dzogchen lineage. These pith instructions guide us through the concrete entanglements of our everyday lives into the realization of their true essence as the inseparable state of clarity and emptiness experienced as great bliss.

While in the practice of sacred sound we begin with open consciousness and move into specific forms and actions, in the second practice we begin with our daily struggles and discover the great bliss. Together these practices teach us to flow effortlessly from unbounded awareness into daily life without losing our connection to our true natures. Students who have engaged these practices feel their immediate beneficial impact on their lives.

All levels of practitioner are warmly welcomed. It is not necessary to have attended any previous teaching.

Pre-registration is recommended.
Cost: If received by April 1: $145; $115 for students and low income
After April 1: $165; $125 f! or students and low income
No Saturday or Sunday drop-in

To pre-register, send a check or money order to Laura Shekerjian, 1500 Holly St., Berkeley, CA 94703. For further info: laurashek96@sbcglobal.net, 510-849-2373. You can also check our website at http://home.comcast.net/~clearway/Bon/BayArea/Events.html. Join our mailing list by sending an e-mail to BonBayArea-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

The third scheduled weekend is November 16-18, 2007.

Location: 830 Bancroft, Berkeley, CA, at Sixth Street. It is ½ mile from N. Berkeley BART. From I-80 exit University Avenue. At the first light, Sixth St., turn right. Bancroft is 3 blocks down. The facility is on the southeast corner. Please do not park on Sixth or Seventh Streets unless it is in front of commercial properties. There is a parking lot on the other side of University, on Fourth St. The facility is carpeted and has chairs, but you will need to bring cushions for floor seating.

TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE is a master of the Dzogchen tradition of Tibet, a Bön lineage holder and a highly respected and beloved teacher to students throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe. Fluent in English, he is known for his clear, lucid and insightful teaching style and his ability to make Tibetan practices easily accessible to his Western students. He is the director of Ligmincha Institute, founded in 1992 in order to preserve and introduce to the West the religious teachings and arts of the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition. He is also the author of five books: The Wonders of the Natural Mind; The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep; Healing with Form, Energy and Light; Unbounded Wholeness: Dzogchen, Bon, and the Logic of the Nonconceptual; and Tibetan Sound Healing.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

ONE WORLD,ONE DREAM, FREE TIBET 2008

2007-05-23T04:51:31Z

(04-25) 13:10 PDT BEIJING, China (AP) --
www.studentsforafreetibet.org/
www.sanfranciscogate.com

China detained four Americans, including two from California, on Mount Everest Wednesday after they called for independence for Tibet and protested the Beijing Olympics, an activist group said.

Students for a Free Tibet said three Americans were taken away after holding up a banner at a base camp on the Tibetan side of the mountain that said "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008."

The fourth person detained by Chinese authorities was filming the protest, said the group's executive director Lhadon Tethong.

"One World, One Dream" is the slogan of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The activists, who included a Tibetan-American, were protesting China's bid to take the Olympic torch to the top of the world's tallest mountain on the border between Tibet and Nepal.

The International Olympic Committee plans to announce the route for the Olympic torch relay on Thursday.

"The Chinese government hopes to use the 2008 Olympic Games to conceal the brutality of its occupation of Tibet," Tethong said from the Nepalese capital, Katmandu.

Taking the torch up Mount Everest is seen by some as way for Beijing to underscore its claims to Tibet, the Himalayan region that China occupied in 1951 and continues to rule with a heavy hand.

One of the protesters, reached by cell phone, said they had been well treated but did not know how long they would be held.

"We were questioned separately by police and they took our passports away," said Kierstan Westby of Boulder, Colo.

She said they displayed the banner for about 30 minutes before local authorities took them away. "We are hoping they take us to the border and let us go."

Later calls to Westby's phone were answered by a message saying it was out of service.

Tethong identified the other three as Shannon Service and Laurel Mac Sutherlin of the San Francisco Bay area and Tenzin Dorjee of New York.

She said more than 70 Chinese climbers were in the base camp preparing for a trial climb to see if it is possible to take a torch to the top of the 29,035-foot mountain.

"The International Olympic Committee has no business promoting the Chinese government's political agenda by allowing the torch to be run through Tibet," Tethong said.

Hein Verbruggen, head of the IOC Coordination Commission overseeing the Beijing Games, tried to stay above the fray.

"We don't want to be, as the IOC, involved in any political issues," Verbruggen said. "It's not our task. We are here for organizing the Games."

Tethong said Students for a Free Tibet has 650 chapters in more than 30 countries and has about 20,000 members.

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson said pr

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

psy biosis gatherings((((>>>>>>>>

2007-04-23T08:07:45Z

OM hara shiva namah,
there is to be an intentional gathering set for mid-summer in the forests of the big sur region..
the intention is the demonstration of community led sustainable REAL LEAVE NO TRACE, ethics, and the manifestation of the common healing evolution through the active meditation, no-mind of the new ancient tribal ritual.
solar, passive water systems, communinity kitchen serving macrobiotic raw cuisine, two outdoor stages somwhere under the stars in the big sur region...
I am asking any digital shamans, artists, and creative forward thinking beings.. feel free to bring to the table ideas
we are currently looking for land, bio-fuel run generators's,, and more psy trance digital shamans, and ambient digital shamans who feel nspired to conspire to inspire,
so far confirmed....
heart of mind kitchen ...
digital tsugendron... cascadia.. hard driven dark forest trance

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

the emergence of new radiant heart

2007-04-17T04:03:22Z

www.energeticawareness.com

presentations originating from pure awareness, providing energetic information for the activation of rememberance, embodiment and unification, while delivering one's unfoldment towards evolved wholeness

deliverances of a creative language of energetic awareness are presented here upon the wave of creation's invitation that arises within us to abide within the unifying force

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Shamanistic Medicine

2007-04-13T18:40:34Z

Where in the world can i learn Bon Medicine?

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 10 replies

Nature of Mind

2007-04-09T22:22:10Z

ON FINDING YOURSELF IN THE NATURE OF MIND
– an edited excerpt from oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Winter 2002

In order to directly experience the nature of mind, during dzogchen
practice we try to create certain conditions within the body, speech
and mind. We use postures or movements of the physical body,
practices of the breath, and the concentration and focus of awareness
of the mind.

It is not as if the nature of mind is a separate object, a separate
place where you as a subject can take a bus, train or a plane to. It
is not like that - there is no place to go, no place to search for
the nature of mind. Nor is the nature of mind a form with a
particular shape or color that you can experience. If you are
searching for your nature in those ways, you will not find anything.
That is guaranteed. We are so conditioned to always be expecting to
see some THING. It is very, very difficult for us to rid ourselves
of the mind of ours that has expectations.

If you go out to find a job, you go with the expectation of finding
one that pays well, say. That expectation helps guide your search
toward finding the right job for you. In looking for the nature of
mind, though, it makes no sense to look with the expectation that you
will see something, because there is nothing to see.

Now you may be thinking, "There's nothing to see? Well, that's a
little discouraging." Maybe you are curious about what this means.
You are beginning to realize that you cannot experience the nature of
mind in the same way you can experience your dreams, your thoughts,
your feelings, or any kind of form. The nature of mind will not be
seen in any of those ways. It is possible that during meditation,
sometimes you will see various colors or shapes that are signs or
qualities of some experience of, or connection to, the nature of
mind, but even these are not the nature of mind.

The introduction to the nature of mind is essentially about creating
the right causes and conditions - that's really what it is. In the
same way that by placing a mirror in different locations you find
that your view changes, so too by putting your body in the right
position, your breath in the right position, and your mind in the
right position, you are able to simply find your self in that place.
But when you find your self in that place, it is not that you are
seeing something, it is only that you are being. The moment you
think that you are seeing your nature, you are actually not. You
see, one of the subtlest obstacles to resting in the nature of mind
is not being able to get rid of the seer, the one who sees. Until
you get rid of the observer, the perceiver, the subject, the nature
remains hidden.

So, you don't create or force the experience of the nature of mind;
rather, you can put the proper conditions together for finding your
self there. It would be a good idea to look at all that we
experience in our lives in that same way - understanding that we
can't always achieve the results we want by forcing them, but we can
instead try to set up the proper conditions for those results to
arise naturally. Often we ignore the advantages of setting up the
proper conditions and just struggle to force the result into
manifestation.

For example, you want to be happy. So what do you do sometimes? You
just try to force yourself to be happy, even though in a relative
sense you are simply in the wrong place to support being happy.
Let's say you are somebody who has a knack for electronics, who is
fascinated working all day long on computers and has so much
knowledge about how they work, and yet you may not be able to cook
even a cup of tea for yourself. Now, if you were put into the
position of being a chef at a restaurant, then that would definitely
be the wrong place for you to be happy. So, you don't realize you
are in the wrong place, the wrong time, the wrong situation, and all
you know is that you want to be happy. The location makes you
suffer, the situation makes you suffer, the timing makes you suffer,
and yet you simply push yourself to be happy. You just cook
furiously, and the customers continually are dissatisfied, and
eventually the restaurant has to go out of business. That forcing of
the situation would obviously be the wrong approach. What should you
do instead? Focus your effort on changing the place, changing the
timing, changing the circumstances to make them the right ones for
being happy. If you do find the right conditions, then you'll be
naturally happy. You create the causes for natural happiness rather
than futilely struggling to force the result.

Many times in our lives we get stuck simply because we don't know we
are trying to force a result that is not supported by our
circumstances. We may only be repeating to ourselves, "I want to be
happy, I want to be happy, I want to be happy." The added tension
created by trying to force your happiness actually tends to worsen
your situation. It actually creates the opposite effect, digging you
deeper into that unfortunate situation. Do you see how that kind of
narrow, result-oriented focus can be a kind of a secret obstacle for
us at times?

This is especially true regarding the practices of the nature of
mind. So, what is the introduction to the nature of mind? You
understand that it is not the same as my saying "Look at this cup"
(Rinpoche holds up a teacup). Rather, there are exercises, practices
and techniques that all create a space where there is a greater
chance to have experience. None of those techniques you learn are
the nature of mind. None of those practices are the nature of mind.
They are a very skillful means. In one important sense the only time
you will have an experience of the nature of mind is when you are not
practicing. But you must begin with the practice and then during the
session you forget the practice. How can you forget the practice?
When you come to the place where there is nothing at all you could
call effort, that is the moment when you find yourself in the nature
of mind: free from your thoughts, feelings, emotions and conditions,
abiding in the space of infinite potential, in which there is a cause
for the perfection of every experience that could arise. There is a
sense of nothing lacking, because everything is perfected. The sense
of longing, lacking, missing, not having enough - none of those
experiences are there. On the contrary, there is the sense of being
complete, perfected, whole; and you find your self.

So, regarding the introduction to the nature of mind, the important
point here is not to get too attached to the techniques or methods,
but to work with them so you can create the right position of the
body, the right breathing, the right focus of the mind. If you are
able to bring together the right conditions of body, energy and mind,
then there is no way not to experience your nature. As we always
say, there is no power or force that could possibly stop the result
when all the causes and conditions are together. The same is true
with regard to being happy. If all the causes and conditions for
your being happy are together there, you will naturally be happy, and
there is no force at all that can stop you from being happy and make
you suffer. Likewise, if those causes and conditions are not there,
if the causes and conditions are the wrong ones, then there is no
force that can make you feel good. That is why the whole notion of
cause and effect, or the law of karma, is so important in the dharma.

So, we must develop those causes and conditions that support the
experience of the nature of mind without being too attached to the
techniques or practices. This does not mean you don't learn how to
do the practices precisely; you do learn them - very precisely.
However, it's just like an old man who walks from one place to
another with the help of a walking stick: His goal is to arrive at
the new location, not simply to become attached to the walking stick,
right? We also know that if the old man tries to walk there without
the stick, for sure he will not reach his goal. Therefore, when
walking to the new location he makes sure he has a firm grasp of the
sturdy stick that supports him. Once he reaches his destination, the
walking stick is no longer important to him. The practices, the
techniques, are exactly like that. The methods are exactly like
that. They never lose their potential to be of benefit when the need
arises, but just don't get attached to them. Is that clear?

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

What Is Bon? - from a teaching

2007-03-15T04:41:20Z

What Is Bon?

From a teaching by Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche, Yeru Bon Center, Los Angeles, January 2000

Tonpa Shenrab and Buddhahood

Bön is known as a native religion of Tibet. It was founded and taught by Buddha Tonpa Shenrab who completely achieved Buddhahood himself and practiced this teaching. He left the message behind so that even today we have a chance to practice it. So we also can follow the pathway which he has shown us to achieve liberation or Buddhahood, our own state of purity.

According to our individual understanding and knowledge capacity, Buddha Tonpa Shenrab has taught nine levels or vehicles or stages of the Bön teaching, the so- called “Nine Ways of Bön.” So, these nine ways of Bön at the very beginning were being taught in Olmo Lungring, which is a spiritual or enlightened state of the world where the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab has taken a birthplace. He was born there in Olmo Lungring. Geographically it has not been identified or discovered so far, and I think it will not be discovered or reached by the physical eye and physical body in this life or any life. But that does not mean that it is not existing there. There is a spiritual world where everything-- each and every object-- is pure. Each and every being's knowledge is complete and totally full of wisdom and of compassion and love. That state can only be reached by those who have achieved those qualities. So in order for us to reach that state or be in that world is why we are trying to practice. We are trying to involve ourselves in practice to achieve Buddhahood.

The state of Buddahood is nothing special as to independent form. There is no independent form that you will achieve or you will obtain, but there are some ways to identify the state. There are ways to achieve those qualities: by practicing, by searching your own state of mind, and by realizing those very qualities as your own state of mind.

Compassion and Love

Buddha's qualities of compassion and wisdom are always within us, but the only thing is that we are not enough able to see them with our human eye or our deluded human thought. In order to see the naked form of the pure state of mind or the state of Buddhahood, we need to see from a "wisdom eye". We need a base of compassion and love for our behavior. We need a deeper knowledge and wisdom -- much deeper than we have now.

So that is why in the very basic teachings of the Bön we find compassion and love. Buddha Tonpa Shenrab has practiced teaching in the same way. He has left the message to us. In Olmo Lungring there is a state of purity so the gradual way of teaching was not simply focused on those people and on those beings, but also it is being focused on the sentient beings of this age like us. We people have different levels of understanding. Even though the Buddha or the teacher speaks one word with a particular meaning, individuals who have different capacities will have different ways of understanding.

That is the reason to teach the “Nine Ways” or “Nine Levels”. Each level is focused to try to purify our inner state -- to try to show our inner eye, to realize with our inner wisdom eye -- trying to live the cornerstone of our practice, those qualities of compassion and love. But how much we understand -- that is depending upon the individual.

Nine Ways of Bon

The nine ways are divided into three major subjects. They are sutra, tantra, and dzogchen, the highest teaching. The sutra method of the teaching is more focused on the physical level of the practice. Of course there are many moralities related with your mind and your inner wisdom, but mainly the Sutra method is focused on physical training. The aim is the same, but the corrections are on the physical level.

Tantra is more connected through the channels, to the chakras, to the more esoteric point of view – more visions, more deities – more transformation

And, dzogchen is more related with our mind. Dzogchen is explaining more the quality of the nature of the mind – energy of the mind – manifestation aspect of the mind, that is, quality of the mind. So we talk about the mind even when we are totally strongly grasping and attached on ourselves. We call ourselves “I”, but we are not quite sure what “I” is. We have not quite yet understood who we are and in what form we are thinking about ourselves as “I”.

The Self and “I”

I am not quite sure you have understood, but we have a strong reaction to “I” and the perception of catching and holding toward “I”, because if someone says very good words and praises us in public we will react. We will smile, we will be happy, we will be charming. And if someone says mistakenly, or maybe purposefully, or maybe if they use some negative words towards us, we may react very badly. We change the color of our face -- our cheeks become very red like an apple, a fresh apple, or a tomato.

And our physical inner energy is busy and takes form in the actions of the physical body. In that way you react and you show it – you manifest that reaction without saying a single word, but we can look to people’s faces to see whether that reaction is positive or negative. It is not necessary to mention by your words, so that is some kind of inner sign of ourselves how much we are sort of grasping the “I” or self. Whether you identified it or not, there is a sense of feeling, sense of grasping that you consider yourself as very caring and loving, but still no matter how much you love and care yourself still you are far from yourself. Do you understand what I mean? Does it make any sense or not?

Importance of Practice

To see clearly and completely these qualities, practice is important. That is the purpose of the practice of the Bön teaching from the very beginning level until the very highest level of the teaching. They are all related and their aim is the same, realizing our true nature. All sutra, tantra and dzogchen teachings aim to achieve our true self: Buddhahood -- to generate, to manifest the true state of mind through rigpa or awareness of yourself.

But there are different methods or means to purify your obstructions and obscurations. Obstacles are a result of the negative karma that we have cultivated long ago. Not necessarily in this life only. We are not understanding ourselves and we are not remembering ourselves how many times we have been born. We are coming and going, we are coming and going, but still we are not achieving that certain state because of lack of practice and our lack of knowledge. So that is why we have a different state of understanding.

For more, please visit http://yeruboncenter.net

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

Dope and Bon

2007-03-04T12:53:46Z

Hey what's th scoop with regards the bhang, dhatura, amanitas, soma, and so on with regards to Bon? Are they ever used or recommended? And don't some medicine pills have opium?

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 3 replies

Tibetan Sound Healing with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

2007-02-05T14:56:12Z

We are very pleased to announce the availability of "Tibetan Sound
Healing," the latest book by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and edited by
Marcy Vaughn. This book is based on the Five Warrior Syllables, and
includes a CD of Tenzin Rinpoche leading the Five Warrior Syllable
practice.

Hardcover book, 104 pages; CD, 1 ¼ hours
Price: $19.95
Available through Ligmincha Online Store:
http://www.ligminchastore.org/detail.asp?productid=331

From the introduction:
"It is my sincere desire that this simple and elegant practice of the
Five Warrior Syllables, which is based on the highest teachings of
the Tibetan Bon Buddhist tradition of which I am a lineage holder,
will benefit many beings in the West. Please receive it with my
blessing, and bring it into your life. Let it support you to become
kind and strong and clear and awake." -Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Description from the publisher:
One of the world's oldest unbroken spiritual traditions is the Bon
Buddhist tradition of Tibet. This wisdom path has survived, thanks to
the efforts of a handful of dedicated lamas such as Bon lineage
holder Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Now, with "Tibetan Sound Healing,"
you can connect to the ancient sacred sounds of the Bon practice -
and through them, activate the healing potential of your natural mind.

The Bon healing tradition invokes the Five Warrior Syllables - "seed"
sounds that bring us to the essential nature of mind and release the
boundless creativity and positive qualities that are fundamental to
it. Through the medicine of sound, you can clear obstacles of your
body, your energy and emotions, and the subtle sacred dimensions of
your being. In this integrated book-and-CD learning program, Tenzin
Wangyal Rinpoche gives you the tools to access wisdom and compassion
and use the vibration of sacred sound to cultivate the healing power
within your body's subtle channels.

The spiritual heritage of the Bon is rich with methods to guide all
beings on the path to liberation. With "Tibetan Sound Healing," you
are invited to learn from a master of this ancient lineage - and
discover the power of sacred sound to purify your body, connect with
your inherent perfection and completeness, and awaken spiritual
virtue.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

What would you ask about Dream Yoga?

2007-02-04T23:39:27Z

If you were writing a radio interview for Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, author of the Tibetan Yogas of Dream & Sleep, what would you want to ask him ?

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 9 replies

The Practice of Sherab Chamma with Ponlop Rinpoche

2007-01-08T16:03:43Z

The Practice of Sherab Chamma
The Loving Goddess of Wisdom

Friday, September 29, 2006, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
Dzogchen Community Center, 2748 Adeline St., #D, Berkeley

In the practice of Sherab Chamma, the great goddess of loving wisdom in the Bön Buddhist tradition, we learn to transform the physical, energetic and mental dimensions of our beings into the radiantly luminous space of the goddess. Through visualization and mantra we invoke the external manifestation of the goddess as the source of infinite blessings and support, and seek to recognize our own nature as the vast loving wisdom consciousness of the great mother.

We can use this practice for the healing of blocks and obstacles of body, speech and mind and to realize our own true natures.

All levels of practitioner are warmly welcomed.

Appointments can be made for private interviews or divinations with Ponlop Rinpoche on Thursday or Friday, September 28-29 during the day. To schedule an appointment or receive more information about the teachings, please contact Laura Shekerjian, 510-849-2373, laurashek96@sbcglobal.net. Visit our website at: http://home.comcast.net/~clearway/Bon/BayArea/Events.html

Ponlob Thinley Nyima Rinpoche is the successor of Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche as the Ponlop or head teacher of Menri monastery in Dolanji, India. Born into the Yangton family in a remote region of Dolpo in Western Nepal, he traces his ancestry back to Yangton Sherab Gyaltsen, a famous Dzogchen and tantric master of the eleventh century. Rinpoche received his Geshe degree in 1989 and became the Ponlop of the monastery in 1992. He travels around the world bringing the richness of the Bön tradition to all his many students through his engaging presence and deep learning.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

a thought, a prayer, a vision

2006-11-10T21:32:52Z

Hi,
ever consider each person and animal, each consciousness having happiness. Perhaps then there are 10,000 other people having a similar thought or prayer? Then there may be sevral hundred other people hoping that those who pray are answered? Even dozens of other beings praying that the prayers of those who pray for those who wish for happiness are fulfilled. That they find satisfaction and balance in their existence. Seeing all in happiness.

peace
fox

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Soul Retrieval Teaching

2006-11-09T15:23:56Z

Soul Retrieval: A Practice of Balance and Wholeness According to the Bon Tradition; Taught by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

In the Bon tradition of Tibet, as in shamanic practices of other traditions, our health and well-being depend on the internal balance of elemental energies and their harmonious relationship to the external environment.

In this evening talk, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will discuss the meaning of soul loss and offer simple practices that one can do to address the fundamental imbalances that interfere with the exuberance of a fully-engaged life. These practices are accessible to everyone and with continued practice can have a profound effect on our lives.

Time: May 5, 2006, 7:00-9:00pm

Location: El Cerrito Veteran's Memorial, 6401 Stockton, El Cerrito, CA

Contact: Laura Shekerjian email (510)849-2373

http://home.comcast.net/~clearway/Bon/BayArea/Events.html

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

New website for spiritual seekers to podcast, share videos, photos and inspiration

2006-11-04T20:10:55Z

I have created a website to support a spiritual community that embraces all traditions and paths. You can upload photos, audio files, create playlists / podcasts, write poetry, add a blog and share inspiration. I'm working on getting some quality content added. If you have anything you'd like to contribute, please visit:

http://www.upadesha.com

Happy enlightenment!

Sean

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism by Vajranatha

2006-10-17T05:39:31Z

Ancient Tibetan Bonpo Shamanism by Vajranatha

The roots of Tibetan culture lie deep in the archaic soil of Northern and Central Asian shamanism. This is also true today when most Tibetans are practicing Buddhists-- their Buddhism being a religious culture deriving from ancient and medieval India. In Tibet, however, this Indian Buddhism has been amalgamated with the ancient indigenous shamanism and pagan animism of that country, thus giving Tibetan Buddhism its unique and especially colorful character. The principal function of the shaman is the healing of the illnesses that afflict the members of his or her tribe, and so one can rightly say that ancient Tibetan religious culture centered around the practices of healing. The therapeutic expert or professional in this regard was the Bonpo shaman-healer who treated and cured not only the diseases of the physical body, but more especially the illnesses of the soul, in order to bring the psyche of the afflicted individual back from fragmentation and alienation into wholeness and well-being. Furthermore, the shaman served the clan or tribe not only as a healer, but equally as a guide for the human soul on its journey beyond the present life through the perilous Bardo into its next rebirth. The shaman was able to function as a healer and a guide of souls pre-eminently because of his or her mastery of alternate states of consciousness, "the archaic states of ecstasy", so that one could voluntarily enter the Otherworld of the spirits, a non-ordinary reality parallel to our familiar world of the senses and its conventional reality. The shaman could thus enter into and explore the landscapes of the mind, the collective unconscious psyche, and return thence with treasures of knowledge and power in order to benefit humanity.

As a spiritual and psycho-therapeutic technique, shamanism goes back to the very origin of the human race which itself is lost in the dim mists of time. The presence of the shaman is already well-attested in European cave paintings belonging to the Paleaolithic era. Archaic traditions found among primitive tribes throughout the world claim for shamanism a celestial or extra-terrestial origin, and thus another principal function of the shaman over the course of countless millennia, besides healing and guiding the dead, was to maintain this direct communication between humanity here below on the surface of the earth with the heaven worlds above. In terms of human evolution in primeval times, the shaman was the first culture hero, bringing humanity out of the nighttime darkness of a purely animal existence into the daylight of true human consciousness. The shaman was the first of all humans to speak with and walk with the Gods. In the pursuit of this knowledge, the shaman ascended into the heavens and descended into the underworld where one encountered certain archetypal figures, both gods and ancestors, who initiate the individual into a death-and-rebirth transformation of one's total being, and confer upon one the wisdom and the power to aid and protect and guide humanity, relieving its ills and suffering.

But the shaman belongs not only to the heavens, but equally to the earth. The shaman's religion is a pagan religion of nature where the human being is seen as a part of nature and not as something existing in opposition to it. The purpose that is taught here is to live in harmony with the natural environment on a very personal and intimate level, as did early humanity generally in the days before our now omnipresent urban-industrial civilization spread across the face of the earth like a corrosive cancer. Thus, besides healing, yet another primordial function of the shaman was insuring the ecological balance by way of inter-species communication. Through ritual magic and clairvoyant knowledge, the shaman could ensure success in the hunt for the tribe, that they might survive to live another season, but no species would be hunted in excess or to the point of extinction. And with regard to the hunt, he negotiated a covenant between his own people and the spirits of the hunted species.

Generally, in the context of shamanic culture, illness or disease was seen as arising from a disharmony or break in the natural order and in the moral order of the world, as well as from an imbalance in and weakening of the personal energy field of the human individual. The energies within the individual and those outside oneself in the natural environment must be brought into balance and into harmonious interaction. This balance and harmony existed primordially, from the time of the beginning, but has been interrupted and shattered by the thoughtless and sinful actions of mankind. To rediscover and re-establish this lost primordial harmony, all obsessive and negative thinking which serves to block the free flow of the energy within the individual must be dissolved. In this way, the individual can come into the realization of his full innate potentiality, manifesting his energy in the world about him without disrupting the natural order of things.

But it is especially due to the destruction of the natural environment by human groups and by individual human beings that diseases have come into manifestation in our world. Humanity is not alone in this world. This planet earth, itself a living organism in its totality, is surrounded by and suffused throughout with an aura of energy that is like an atmosphere or ocean. Nature spirits live in this dimension of the energy of our planet, like fish living in the waters of the sea. Disturbed and offended by the thoughtless destructive actions of mankind, such as the ploughing up the earth, the cutting down of the forests, the damming of streams and rivers, the polluting of lakes, and so on, they inflict illness upon an erring mankind as a terrible retribution. Since these nature spirits are energy beings, they can directly effect the energy of the individual and that individual's immune system which is correlated with one's personal energy field. In such a case, it was then necessary to call in an expert healer or shaman in order to re-establish the primordial harmony existing between humanity and nature, thereby effecting a cure and a healing.

This ancient Tibetan shamanism and animism, the pre-Buddhist spiritual and religious culture of Tibet, was known as Bon, and a practitioner of these shamanic techniques of ecstasy and ritual magic, the methods of working with energy, was known as a Bonpo. Bonpo is still the designation for a shaman in many tribal regions of the Himalayas. But increasingly, over the centuries, the ecstatic shaman has been replaced by the priestly Lama or ritual expert, and so later Bonpos in Central Tibet also came to fill a role more ritualistic than ecstatic. There exists a parallel here to what occurried in ancient India where the Rishis or ecstatics of the early Vedic period, who communed directly with the celestial gods during ecstatic flights into the heavens, were later replaced by Brahman priests, experts in the performing of rituals and sacrifices in order to invoke the powers of the gods and ensure their cooperation for human benefit and prosperity.

Originally the word Bonpo meant someone who invoked the gods and summoned the spirits. Thus a Bonpo was an expert in the use of mantra and magical evocation. Mantra or ngak (sngags) is sound and sound is energy. Mantra is the primordial sound that calls the forms of all things into being out of the infinite potentiality of empty space which is the basis of everything. Sound or word has a creative power. But this term Bonpo in ancient times appeared to cover a number of different types of practitioner, whether shaman, magician, or priest. Here there seems to be a strong parallel of the role of the Bonpo in ancient Tibet with that of the Druid in ancient pre-Christian Europe. Just as the Druidic order was divided into the three functions of the Bards, the Vates, and the Druids, who were singers, soothsayers, and magicians respectively, so the ancient pre-Buddhist kingdom of Tibet was said to be protected by the Drung (sgrung) who were bards and singers of epics, the Deu (lde'u) who were soothsayers and diviners, and the Bonpo (bon-po) who were priests and magicians. Another archaic term closely related to Bonpo was Shen or Shenpo (gshen-po), and this term may have originally designated the shaman practitioner in particular. The Shen system of practice was transmitted through family lineages, especially in Western and Northern Tibet, then known as the country of Zhang-zhung, so that Shen also came to designate a particular ancient clan or tribe.

The first shaman, the archetypal shaman, so to speak, who brought the knowledge of shamanizing from the heaven worlds above to a nascent humanity living on the surface of the earth, appears to have been originally known in the Tibetan tradition as Shenrab Miwoche (gShen-rab mi-bo-che), a title meaning "the great supreme human shaman". Of course, in the traditions of the later monastically organized Yungdrung Bon and in the extant Bonpo texts from at least the eighth century of our era, Shenrab Miwoche is represented as being much more than an archetypal shaman; he is a fully enlightened Buddha, comparable in every way to Shakyamuni Buddha who appeared in Northern India in the sixth century before our era. Tonpa Shenrab descended from the heavens, specifically, from the heaven-world of Sidpa Yesang (srid-pa ye-sangs), in the form of an azure colored cuckoo bird, the herald of spring. This occurred some 18,000 years ago, according to the traditional Bonpo reckoning. He thereupon incarnated as a human being in the country of Olmo Lung-ring which surrounded the holy nine-storeyed cosmic mountain of Yungdrung Gutsek (g.yung-drung dgu-brtseg) in Tazik or Central Asia. In this mysterious land at the center of the world, which was in later Indo-Iranian tradition identified with Shambhala, he combatted and overcame the evil schemes and machinations of the black magician and incarnate demon-prince Khyabpa Lag-ring. Then he instructed humanity, not only in the spiritual path to enlightenment and liberation from Samsara, but in the various techniques of ecstasy in order to communicate with other worlds and invoke the positive energies of the gods (lha gsol-ba), and also in the rites of exorcism (sel-ba) whereby human beings might free themselves from demonic influences (gdon) and the various diseases caused by demons and other hostile spirits.

The history of the development of Bon may be divided into three phases:
1. Primitive Bon more or less corresponds to the archaic shamanism and paganism of ancient Northern and Central Asia. This shamanism is still practiced in its original and unreformed version is remote areas of the Himalayas, as well as on the borders of Tibet and China.
2. Yungdrung Bon or Old Bon (bon rnying-ma) was the high religious culture of the ancient kingdom of Zhang-zhung which centered around Gangchen Tise or Mount Kailas in Western Tibet. This kingdom, which possessed its own culture and language and writing, maintained an independent existence long before the rise of civilization in Central Tibet in the seventh century with the coming of Indian Buddhism to that country. In the next century, the Zhang-zhung kingdom was incorporated into the newly expanding Tibetan empire established by the Yarlung dynasty of Central Tibet, and the Zhang-zhung culture ceased to have an independent existence. However, the teachings of Yungdrung Bon did not solely originate in Zhang-zhung, but were said to have been brought from Tazik, that is, Iranian speaking Central Asia, to Zhang-zhung in Western and Northern Tibet by a number of mysterious white-robbed sages long before the political events of the seventh and eighth centuries. Besides shamanism, healing, magical rites of exorcism, astrology, and divination (these practices belong to the four lower or Causal Ways among the Nine Ways of Bon), Yungdrung Bon contained the higher spiritual teachings and practices of Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen. Moreover, due to the spiritual influence of Yungdrung Bon and later Indian Buddhism, many animistic practices have been reformed and the practice of blood sacrifice more or less eliminated in Tibet, although it is still practiced on occasion by the Jhangkri shamans of Nepal. In Yungdrung Bon, Shenrab Miwoche is portrayed as a perfectly enlightened Buddha who is the source of the philosophical, psychological, and ethical teachings of Sutra, the profound methods of psychological transformation and psychic development of Tantra, and the ultimate mystical and gnostic enlightenment of Dzogchen. Yungdrung Bon continues to flourish even today in many parts of Tibet and among Tibetan refugees in exile in India and Nepal.
3. New Bon (bon gsar-ma) was a deliberate and conscious amalgamation of the Bon of Zhang-zhung with the Buddhism of Indian origin, especially as this spiritual tradition was represented by the Nyingmapa school in Tibet. New Bon greatly revered the luminous figure of Guru Padmasambhava, the Tantric master from the Indo-Iranian country of Uddiyana, who first established the Nyingmapa tradition in Tibet in the eighth century of our era. And like the Nyingmapas, the the New Bon greatly relied upon Termas (gter-ma) or rediscovered "hidden treasure texts", recovered over the centuries by various Buddhist and Bonpo masters and visionaries. These Termas had been concealed in the distant past by illuminated masters of the esoteric tradition, such as Padmasambhava and Dranpa Namkha, because the times were not yet ripe for their revelation and dissemination among the Tibetans, and they were rediscovered in later centuries. In the reformed Bon, one finds a monastic system, philosophy colleges, and a scholastic tradition and curriculum fully comparable to that found in the other schools of Tibetan Buddhism, especially the Nyingmapas. On the other side of the matter, many ancient Bonpo rituals and practices have been accepted into the Buddhist schools of Indian origin in Tibet and, in particular, as the cult of the Guardian spirits, the old pagan pre-Buddhist deities of Tibet who are now the protectors of the Dharma.

Furthermore, shamanism continues to be practiced in Tibet in its archaic form and such a practitioner is generally known as a Pawo (dpa'-bo) or Lhapa. This social function is clearly distinguished from that of the Lama or priest. A Lama is usually, although not always, a monk, whether he is nowadays a Buddhist or a Bonpo. In general, a Lama relates to the higher divine reality as a supplicant, communicating with that dimension through the medium of prayer, meditation, and the performing of offering rituals called pujas. In addition, there exists another kind of practitioner, the Ngakpa (sngags-pa) or Tantric magician and exorcist. Whereas the Lama or priest prays and petitions the higher spiritual order, the Tantrika or magician, by virtue of his magical power and his mastery of mantras, or spells and invocations, commands the spirits to obey his will and to do his bidding. The Pawo or shaman, on the other hand, is characterized by ecstasy, the entering into an altered state of consciousness, in order to have direct personal contact with the spirit world. But in Tibet, the methods of these three types of practitioners of healing-- the Pawo or shaman, the Ngakpa or magician, and Lama or priest-- are not necessarily exclusive. Many Ngakpas, although usually married men and not monks, are called Lamas because they also perform pujas or offering ceremonies, as well as shamanic exorcisms and other magical rituals. In addition, they may be accomplished scholars and teachers, having large followings among both monks and lay-people alike, and are not just simple village sorcerers. They may be either Buddhist or Bonpo in terms of their religion, although nowadays the majority of Ngakpas belong to the Nyingmapa school. Moreover, the most Pawo shamans in Tibet, although their shamanic techniques are of a different origin, now identify themselves as Buddhists in terms of their religious affiliation.

In general, the Pawo is characterized by spirit possession. After entering into an altered state of consciousness or trance induced through drumming and chanting, his or her consciousness principle known as the Namshe (rnam-shes) is projected out of the physical body through the aperture at the top of the skull into one of the three symbolic mirrors arranged on the shamanic altar. These three mirrors represent the gateways to the other worlds of the Lha (the celestial spirits), of the Tsen (the earth and mountain spirits), and of the Lu (the subterranean water spirits), respectively. These three types of spirit correspond to the three zones -- sky, earth, and underworld-- into which the world was divided in the ancient Bonpo shamanic cosmology. The shaman has direct access to these three worlds and their inhabitants by means of an altered state of consciousness. At the moment when one's Namshe leaves the physical body, one's guardian spirit or spirit-guide, also called a Pawo, enters one's now vacated inert body and thereupon speaks through the shaman as a medium. This spirit-guide responds to questions and can diagnose the cause of the illness in question, usually that being some offended spirit. Then he recommends a procedure for effecting a cure and this usually includes the performance of a healing ritual (gto) in order to restore a harmonious balance of energies between the afflicted individual and his natural environment. In this way, a healing or a reharmonization is realized.

With the establishment of Buddhism, together with its monastic system, as the official religion of Tibet in the eleventh century and thereafter, certain among these Pawo shamans came to be employed by the larger monasteries, and even later by the Tibetan government, as oracles. Such an oracle is known as a Lhapa or Sungma (srung-ma). The most famous among these oracles is the State Oracle attached to Nechung monastery, and he is usually possessed by the spirit Pehar, who is said to have been originally a deity of Turkish origin. The State Oracle continues to function in exile at Dharamsala in India, the seat of HH the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile.

The Ngakpa, on the other hand, as a Tantrika and an exorcist, is rarely possessed by the spirits. Rather, the Ngakpa is able, by way of certain meditations and other psychic techniques, to enter into an altered state where one's consciousness or Namshe leaves the physical body in a subtle mind-made body (yid-lus) and enters into the dimensions of the Otherworld, where one searches for fragments of the soul of the afflicted person which has been stolen by deceitful spirits or imprisoned there by a black magician. A patient suffering from soul-sickness or loss of soul is characterized by inertia, weakness, depression, and loss of interest in one's surroundings and everyday affairs. If the La (bla) or the soul, this being a subtle energy field that serves as the vehicle for the individual's emotional life, is not recovered and restored to wholeness in the patient within a sufficient period of months, there exists the possibility of physical death. The Ngagpa may also perform a ritual procedure for this purpose known as La-guk (bla 'gug), "recalling the soul". The Ngakpa, by virtue of his power to enter the Otherworld and return with treasures of knowledge and power, is able to diagnose the causes of diseases and prescribe a variety of methods for effecting cures.

These same practitioners among both the Buddhists and the Bonpos have also been responsible for the rediscovery of Termas or "hidden treasure texts" which have contributed so much to the spiritual heritage of Tibet. Because the Tibetan people were thought not yet ready to receive these teachings, or else there was an actual danger of persecution, these Terma texts were concealed in ancient times at various remote places in Tibet by certain illuminated masters of the past, principally Padmasambhava. Then they were rediscovered many centuries later by Tertons (gter-ston) who were the reincarnations of the original disciples of those ancient masters. Some of these Termas were found as actual physical objects and texts (sa-gter), others came through visions (dag-snang) and auditions (snyan-rgyud), and yet others were channelled directly through divine inspiration and automatic writing and therefore constitute "mind treasures" (dgongs-gter). Not the least among these Terma texts is the famous Bardo Thodol (bar-do thos-grol), now widely known in the West as the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

The Lama, whether Buddhist or Bonpo, is also profoundly engaged in healing practice. Many Lamas have been specifically trained in the practice of Tibetan medicine at a monastic college. Moreover, the most common ritual performed by Tibetan Lamas at the popular level is the tse-wang (tshe-dbang) or "long life empowerment", a kind of psychic healing that invokes and channels healing energy into the participants in the ceremony, whether they are ill or not. In many ways, the Lama and the Ngagpa have usurped in Tibetan society the archaic function of the shaman, and after the introduction of Buddhism into Tibet, many cultural figures such as Guru Padmasambhava and the famous yogi Milarepa, have been assimilated to the archetype of the First Shaman. Thus it came about that the archaic shamanic techniques of the Palaeolithic have now been absorbed into the high spiritual and intellectual culture of both Buddhism and Bon in Tibet. This may be seen, for example, in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, where the Lama or the Ngakpa functions as as a psychopomp or guide for the perilous journey of the individual soul through the Bardo experience leading to a new rebirth. Or again, with the practice of the Chod rite, using visualization, as well as chanting and dancing to the accompaniment of the shaman's drum, the practitioner gains mastery over the spirits through offering to them the flesh of one's own body. In many ways this Chod ritual recapitulates the initiatory experience of shamanic initiation, with its motifs of dismemberment and resurrection. The practice of the Chod is said to be particularly effective in preventing the spread of plagues and infectious diseases. Both of these traditional Tibetan practices, the Bardo rituals and the Chod rite, represent a journey from fragmentation to psychic wholeness.

Thus, in Tibetan culture, we find a harmonious integration of the archaic techniques of altered states of consciousness deriving from a primordial North Asian shamanism with the highly sophisticated psychic sciences of Buddhism and Bon. Now that we are on the threshold of the twenty-first century, our urban-industrial technology and rampant unrestrained commercialism threaten to devastate our natural environment world-wide, imperiling the very survival of the human race on this planet. It is this author's belief that the ancient wisdom and profound psychic sciences of Tibet, which emphasize living in a harmonious relationship with the natural environment, as well as with other human beings, will have a profound contribution to make to evolving a new type of global civilization that is both humane and wise.

Copyright © 1989 by John Myrdhin Reynolds
Vidyadhara Institute, Berkeley, California

Go to http://www.vajranatha.com/

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

TIBETAN DREAM PRACTICE

2006-10-16T18:22:19Z

Namkhai Nobu: The Cycle of Day and Night,
Tibetan Text on the Dzogchen.
Translated by John Reynolds.

The Practice of the NIGHT {The Bardo of Becoming}

There are two practices, the first is done in the evening just before falling asleep; the second is done in the morning just when one awakens. When one is asleep, the senses are dormant. Therefore the individual must practice just before falling asleep, so that all their senses are present. Relax all the senses into a state of contemplation. Do not allow the senses to enter in a conditioned state, just let things be as they are without becoming charged up in any way. The individual must integrate his practice of concentration with his sleep.

What does concentrated meditation or Dhyana mean? When we fixate sharply with great attention on an object and then slowly relax our attention, we enter the space of 'calming the mind'. Calming the mind may first have to mastered for years in order to see the effective results of this practice. When we work with the movements of thoughts, it means meditating in this way. In this practice of the night, there exists at least a minimum of attention and holding one's mind here. Then we must integrate this concentration with our sleep as one, so that we fall asleep with the presence of concentration.

How do we do this?

Just before falling asleep, visualize a white small round bed [thig-le] of five-colored rainbow light in the space between our eyebrows, the third eye chakra. This is visualized clearly about the size of a pea. In the Dzogchen, the practice is never to bring 'white' light into another chakra except the HEART because a white tiny sphere of light is visualized gives the senses too much presence and one may not be able to fall asleep with over stimulation to keeping the mental body awake in a sensory way. We visualize the rainbow color in the forehead center because this gives automatic control over all our vital energies known as prana [rlung or the accumulation of bringing all the charka's into one point to exit the waking into the dreaming realms].

If it is difficult to hold the rainbow pea size sphere here, then make adjustments by dulling the brilliance down so not to over stimulate visualization. Neither should visualization be under or over stimulating, and one may have to begin a long practice just to master what works for the individual because any visualization that keeps one awake instead of being in-between time is validation that adjustments should be made. The sphere should resemble the egg, rather than perfectly round like a pea because the universe is egg shaped rather than perfectly round and we want to make sure that we are attuned with nature rather than our own needs of what we perceive.

If we master this first, an alert relaxation comes and our awareness will not become polluted by incursive thought(s) and the natural 'Clear' Light appears. Focusing or concentrating or fixating on a single object in mediation leaves no room for extraneous thoughts to arise. Our thoughts bring us away from the center of your being back into the waking dream. We should not try to block these thoughts, but quite the opposite, but if we are not fully present within our bodies [mind, body, emotion and spirit body] we are in a state of mind distraction. If we remain alert and relaxed sufficiently in the present, sleep will come easily. This means we have to integrate this pure presence [rig-pa] in both our waking and sleeping life both as a practice. Then we can enter the Clear Light.

When we go to bed, thoughts continue to arise because the mind continues to function. Only by bringing down mental activity in the day, thinking less, writing less, talking less - we can access these states much easier, if easier is what you seek in practice. If you accept that nothing is easy until mastered, then you may go about the abundance of talking more, writing more, thinking more and then focus with more and a longer duration during the actual practice before sleep. Both ways find the balance and both ways suites the individual depending upon one's unique mind, body or emotional gifts or strengths.

So to begin the practice the goal is to seek bare awareness with respect to whatever arises in the mind.

"The process of falling asleep [gnyid log] is itself the cause of our being, able to enter into the 'clarity' of the real condition of existence."

The functioning of all our senses of our material self [body and mind] finds itself absorbed entirely into the Dharmadhata. Until we have fallen asleep entirely, we can find ourselves present in 'that' state of contemplation or meditation. When we fall asleep we become disengaged from the karmic traces of our material body, the karmic traces of vision, and the karmic traces of our mind functioning or mental body. These karmic traces, during the waking state, manifest as our material body, the external appearances which we perceive, and the functioning of our minds, respectively.

Why do we speak of being disengaged?

Example, if the solid walls of a room present material limitations, we cannot pass freely through them. But when we are present in the state of Rigpa, then we are not conditioned by the material body, the thinking mind or material world. When we are present in this state, there is a way to overcome these 'limitations' and we find ourselves in the real condition of existence, not the phantom realities of the mind, beliefs and judgments carried over with us in our dreams. We cannot pass freely through them, but we are present in the state in which we enter our dreams, there is a way to overcome this multitude of limitations and we enter the real condition of existence.

How is this?

From falling asleep right up to the moment when we begin to dream, there is no functioning of the mind and we find ourselves in the presence of the real condition of the universe or existence. In this we will experience to a certain degree a merging with what is call the Clear Light, the black void in-between waking and dreaming, in-between sleeping and waking, in-between existence and non existence.

When we reach this state, this being the case, we will be able with no effort to experience lucid dreams and controlling their content. This is only the first of 8 doors or gates of dreaming. At the moment of Death, we will then be able to die with complete presence and awareness. When we enter this BARDO all the apparitions which appear will simply arise as the manifestation of spontaneous self-perfection or in the unified in complete harmony.

Falling asleep is an analogous process of dying, and so attaining mastery over the dream state, are the waking and dreaming practices to dying, symbolically such as facing daily personal fears and addressing and actions within them, or the night dreaming of moving out of paranormal or phantom dreaming into a unified karma less state. All dreaming under this category is from two states, one: personal karma on a daily level or our waking thoughts and actions; cycle karma on specific time-space such as 4, 8, 21, 28 38, 42, 56, 64, 72 years old dreaming cycle karma. The Second: moving out of personal mind into true existence dreaming that lay beyond lucidity or the collective.

Thus a practitioner because of a lifetime of practice in BARDO will be in a much better condition or position and will have developed a greater clarity of personal karma and find a constant need for adjusting, the ordinary dreamer or lucid dreamer finds themselves in the death [pain or fear] experiences while still incarnated.

Because of one's greater clarity in the Bardo, the practioner has the capacity to understand his/her personal condition, hidden fears of what is happening from a perspective and perception of fullness or wholeness of self observation form the second attention developed. They will not be helplessly and blindly driven hither and yon by the winds of his/her personal karma. This awareness will only come about if one is aware and present while in the Bardo in both the waking and night dreaming merged. This is analogous to lucid dreaming and so we can use the dream state to realize 'this' and then practice its capacity as a daily practice, instead of focusing solely on the dream or dreaming itself.

SIDPA BARDO

The next phase is the onset of dreaming. The dream state is analogous to the Sidpa Bardo because it represents the onset of the personal rebirth process. This is why healing is such an important aspect of dreaming of personal mental issues, hindrances, emotional issues and physical issues and if these are not personally addressed as consistently as the dreaming practices of bardo one remains on the karmic wheel and dreaming remains limited without a perspective with clarity. When we are aware someday that we have found our self in the Bardo, there are many things in which we can do to better our situation. As in the case with the dream state, in the Bardo we are not conditioned by the material body, or material things, and yet all the senses faculties function. Thus, a practitioner, because of their practice of Bardo during a lifetime, if this is your lifetime to enter the Bardo, will be in a much better position and will have developed far greater clarity than the individual who finds themselves in states of extra-ordinary dreaming which are still the lower levels including lucidity, which stems from personal chaos of life experiences that have chords of attachments to personal fear.

When we find ourselves in this state of the natural Clear Light, discursive thoughts which create distractions do not arise. Negative thoughts begin to cease, infinite solutions are daily mindful thoughts rather than problematic ones for the mind. In this state or our state of presence is absorbed into its Mother which is the natural Clear Light and we find ourselves present in the state of Dharmaata, the real condition of existence. It is like an only Son meeting his Mother after a long separation.

Thus we speak of the 'Son Clear Light' which is 'the practice' during one's lifetime and the "Mother Clear Light" which is 'true existence in experiencing' including the moment of Death.

What we are looking for here is the principle of the reintegration of Energy. As a result of the natural Mother Clear Light practice, in the period subsequent to contemplation and in this case, it is the dream state which is meant, we begin to experience real 'awareness' in dreams rather than our self and our dreams even in states of lucidity. Therefore, with this practice of the Clear Light, we do not need any other special dream practices or even yoga. If one is less than twenty years experienced at this level of dreaming, then yoga on a daily or weekly level, along with healing fears, healing all four bodies would need to begin here for states of self clarity and awareness.

There are two ways to look at overcoming personal illusions [khrul-pa].

First is through recognizing dreams to be just dreams, even if the classifications are called lucid, astral, or self informative for karma and healing. We thus slowly become aware of the illus ional nature of even our dreams and dreaming.

Second, we are no longer a slave of dreams and sleep. While sleeping, we tend to be conditioned by dreams through the same exact factors of our daily life. If you struggle at work, school, family mildly or severely, these show up in your mirrored dream states. We become more conscious of the illusory nature of everything in our personal daily life. So by means of this practice, dreaming becomes a way to discover the true self and true knowledge and this becomes a way to develop the manifestation of our Dimension and our Primordial awareness [sku-dang-ye-shes].

THE MORNING PRACTICE.

When awakening from sleep what do we do here?

When we awaken in the early morning from sleep, a primal awareness arises which is uncorrected by the mind and which is present in its own condition. Then we usually enter again into the functioning of our mind and senses of the waking dream and which is present in our own personal condition finding the self reborn into a new body, just like a dead person finds himself in a new awareness after death. However, if on the other hand, we remain in this natural state of pure presence without any distraction and without any constructed meditation, nor drugs, nor alcohol, psychedelics, medication, nor anything that continues illusion, then we find ourselves quietly present or activity present in our own inherent nature, undisturbed by any self destructive thoughts or self doubt able to respond to our natural environment. This doesn't mean we are in a state of pure perfection, it means we respond to life naturally, we are sad we cry, we are angry we share, we are happy we laugh and immediately no attention is given to its attachment and we immediately begin to balance and harmonize ourselves in its natural cycle. The person in this state cannot be distracted nor make excuses for the natural states of life, creation, energy or destruction which continually cycles, one adheres to flowing or moving with what is presented both within and outward in constant fluctuation with harmony as its natural process. This natural or Secret Guru state so to speak is in a Primordial State of mind and emotion, spirit and physical, the two polarities of the elements.

Thus when we awaken in the morning, we look with bare attention finding ourselves in a sate of presence to see what might be there. However, in this moment of being present, if we condition ourselves to think of anything outside our self, such as a first thought, what time is it, or where do I need to be today, or a host of other mind functioning that overtakes our being, we do not find anything at all recognizable or confirmable.

We find the mind immediately in a state of distraction again upon waking repeating the cycle of being asleep or in a state of attachment in the daily or waking dream.

This in this naked or primordial self of primal awareness, which arises upon awaking in the morning and which does not find anything confirmable is self liberating as a daily morning practice for dreaming with the true existence. The reason for this is that even if we believe that we are very present in a state of awareness, we still are in a kind of drowsiness or sleepiness which may remain. To deal with this, we should not resort to some kind of strategy, using the mind, thinking that we first must do this or do that. Rather, just in being present there is found an antecedents condition which is directing us towards a state of presence in which there is increasing clarity. This is also a way to refresh our contemplation in general on a daily level. It is termed: self originated primal awareness".

Thus upon awakening in the morning, a non-ual primal awareness arises and as it arises, it liberates itself by itself, our mind and thinking must be gotten out of the way. At that moment, finding ourselves beyond our usual Karma or karmic vision of an 'objective or thinking world' we practice at transcending all dualistic thought, a "Primal Awareness of No discursiveness" and it becomes clearly manifested if you make a commitment to practicing it.

Since in this state, we cannot remain in a state of 'judgment' of life or actions by self or others as good or bad, dualistic, the level of subjective and objective or subject and object, transforms with practice into primordial awareness of 'clarity or unity in pleasurable sensation' without the mind or body and it becomes clearly manifest.

Thereupon, rises the primal awareness or everything is seen in the self clearly the emerging illusions one is holding simultaneously as the practice deepens.

Then, since a primal awareness of quality [ji snyed ye-shes] which knows each thing in existence on a personal level is in its individuality, slowly it becomes manifest in its entirety, the inherent nature of the Trikaya or the three dimensions of our 'true existence [sku gsum] becomes supremely manifest.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

The elements

2006-10-11T12:28:24Z

THE ELEMENTS AND OUR WELL-BEING

an excerpt from "Healing With Form, Energy, and Light"
by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Study of and practice with the elements is meant to positively affect
our well-being by giving us the tools to bring the elements into the
balance that underlies health and wholeness in any dimension of
experience. It does not take great intuition to know when we are in
or out of balance. We all know these experiences. They fall along a
continuum from the most disturbed imbalance – psychosis or serious
illness – to perfect balance, which occurs only when we can abide in
the nature of mind, the buddha-nature. In our daily lives we are
somewhere in between, moving from being more in balance to being more
out of balance, and back again.

The idea of balancing elemental energies can be usefully applied to
any human function, quality, or activity: health, relationship,
spiritual practice, psychological make-up, emotional state, physical
environment, and so on. Using imbalance of the elements as a primary
metaphor, we can understand illness and unhappiness as well as
obstructions on all levels of spiritual practice. Balancing the
elements then becomes a metaphor for healing, for the development of
positive qualities and capacities, and for the elimination of
negative qualities. If one element dominates, we need to cultivate
its opposite. If we are dominated by fire, for example, then we try
to activate water or earth, or vice versa. If earth is dominant – we
are dull, sleepy, heavy – then we activate air or fire. And if air
dominates us – we are flighty, nervous, with a short attention span –
then we activate earth or water. There are many obvious examples of
balancing in everyday life: If a fever becomes life-threatening, we
may be told to soak in cold water; if we become too cold, we apply
warmth; and if we're dehydrated, we drink water.

By nature, all conceptualizations are symbolic and the five elements
are symbols of great depth and long tradition. Beyond metaphor,
however, the five elements are energies that can be worked with
directly by the practitioner through physical actions, energetic
movement, and the flow of awareness.

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

Haitian Vodou rituals

2006-09-01T00:25:57Z

Of probable interest here...

"The Divine Horsemen" by Maya Deren (1947)
www.ubu.com/film/deren.html

May be viewed with the free VLC Media player (download) –
www.download.com/VLC-Media...34878.html

Other interesting, avant-garde films worth noting... (all free to download) --
www.ubu.com/film/index.html

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Sacred Syllables

2006-08-27T19:55:26Z

Sacred Syllables:
The Healing Power of Sound in the Tibetan
Bön Buddhist Tradition

Taught by
TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE

Friday, November 17, 2006
Public Talk on Sacred Sound, 7:00: p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, November 18-19, 2006
Five Warrior Seed Syllables, 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Location: 830 Bancroft, Berkeley, CA

Since ancient times sound has been an integral part of many spiritual traditions of healing and spiritual awareness. In the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition sound practices help us balance the five elements which support our health and wellbeing, energetically open and purify our chakras, and on the highest levels bring us to self-realization.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will teach on sound practice over three weekends. In the first two weekends he will present the powerful practice of the Five Warrior Seed Syllables, sounds which conquer the obstructing energies of our body, speech and mind. This practice utilizes the transformative capacity of sound to open the inner pathways through which the undifferentiated vastness of absolute consciousness flows into the concrete manifestations of everyday life.

On the third weekend, Rinpoche will present the Five-Fold Practice of Dawa Gyaltsen, a master of the Bön dzogchen lineage, the Oral Transmission of Zhang Zhung. These pith instructions guide us through the concrete entanglements of our everyday lives into the realization of their true essence as the inseparable state of clarity and emptiness experienced as great bliss.

In the first practice we begin with open consciousness and move into specific forms while in the second practice we begin with our daily struggles and discover the great bliss. Together these practices teach us to flow effortlessly from unbounded awareness into daily life without losing our connection to our true natures. Students who have engaged these practices feel their immediate beneficial impact on their lives.

All levels of practitioner are warmly welcomed.

Pre-registration is recommended:
Cost (does not include Friday):
If received by October 15: $140, $110 students and low income
Cost after October 15 (does not include Friday):
$165, $125 students and low income
No Saturday or Sunday drop-in

No pre-registration is necessary for the Friday public talk. Cost: $20

To pre-register, send a check or money order to Laura Shekerjian, 1500 Holly St., Berkeley, CA 94703. Cancellations made less than a week before the teachings will be subject to a $25 fee. For further info: laurashek96@sbcglobal.net, 510-849-2373. You can also check our website at http://home.comcast.net/~clearway/Bon/BayArea/Events.html. Join our mailing list by sending an e-mail to BonBayArea-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

The second and third scheduled weekends are May 4-6, 2007 and November 16-18, 2007. Location TBA.

Location: 830 Bancroft, Berkeley, CA, at the corner of Sixth Street. It is 1/2 mile from N. Berkeley BART. From I-80, exit University Avenue. At the first light, Sixth St., turn right. Bancroft is 3 blocks down. The facility is on the southeast corner. Please do not park on Sixth or Seventh Streets unless it is in front of commercial properties. There is a parking lot on the other side of University, on Fourth St. The facility is carpeted and has chairs, but you will need to bring cushions for floor seating.

TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE is a master of the Dzogchen tradition of Tibet, a Bön lineage holder and a highly respected and beloved teacher to students throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe. Fluent in English, he is known for his clear, lucid and insightful teaching style and his ability to make Tibetan practices easily accessible to his Western students. He is the director of Ligmincha Institute, founded in 1992 in order to preserve and introduce to the West the religious teachings and arts of the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition. He is also the author of three books: The Wonders of the Natural Mind, The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep and Healing with Form, Energy and Light. Dzogchen Wodsel Ling Newsletter
June 2006

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

get to know your local buddhist deities bioregional buddhism

2006-08-04T04:20:02Z

so i was reading i think in a couple of books that the original deities of tibet, where like animist dieties else where around the world and like the neighbouring animist nations of tibet, spirits of the land, sky, waters, forces of nature, phenomena, cycles, particular places, animals, ect... some of these deities are still tied to lakes and mountian tops ect... vajrakila is still associated with the thunder bolt and the purba the anceint shamanic healing tool of pre buddhist nepal, tibet and india...
i have also heard of certian buddhist tulkus, holding nature retreats and like Guru Rinpoche, communing local nature spirits and converting them to serve the dharma. i find this very interesting as a bioregionalist. when we are woring with particular dieties in meditation we are actualy working with the spirits or dieties or the natural intelligence and buddha nature of forces of nature and actual places in tibet. so we are importing or out sourceing deities from otherr countries just like our other resources and turning our backs on the local dieties here? lol! i am being totaly serious.
once i foudn the history of tibetian dieties in buddhism, though i know for many americans they are just symbolic metaphors, to many tibetians they are not they are living beings, tied to the bioregions of tibet, the spirit of the lands of tibet. i think that is wonderrfull that they have that they can look at the landscape and see buddha nature, see living intelligence in the mountains and streams pray to them ask for assistance from them leave offerings to them and include them in their preception of self.
it would be wonderfull if their was an esoterric order of ecobuddhists around the world communing with the local dieties and spirits of place and requesting that they serve the dharma.
is any one ever planning
posted by: the land

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 14 replies

Free Monthly Bon Newsletter

2006-06-07T19:18:11Z

Dzogchen Wodsel Ling Newsletter
January 27, 2006

My Dear Friends,

This is the February message. In January I could not write a message since I was very busy. In the Tibetan calendar this is the last month of the year. Most Himalayan people are preparing for the New Year, though in some parts of the Himalayas the New Year has already been celebrated. In the Bön tradition we believe that Buddha Tonpa Shenrab was born in this last month of the year on the 15th. There are many different ways of celebrating the birthday of Buddha Tonpa Sherab.

This month of the Tibetan New Year was established long ago when the Mongolians occupied Tibet. For the New Year the Tibetans are cleaning their homes and houses and make everything look new and beautiful. During January in Menri Monastery His Holiness taught the monks how to dance with masks during the coming ceremonies. After New Year we will show the dances for the local people and the general public during one whole day. Before New Year there is so much work to be done that there is not much time to eat. In the past in Tibet there was not even enough time to wash one’s body or hair, but the real reason was probably that the water was so cold.

At that time cleaning everything meant also to start a new life. All the work started in the old year had to be finished before New Year because otherwise it would never be finished.

During the month of February on the 26th, the 27th and the 28th, (of the Tibetan calendar) during the last three days, we have phurba, pujas and other rituals to prevent any of the old year’s negative influences from continuing into the New Year. Before starting the New Year we have to make sure that there are no obstacles for the New Year to be a peaceful one. The 28th of February is the 29th of the last month in the Tibetan calendar. On this day we are also doing the mask dances. And we let down the old big prayer flag in front of the temple. After the dances we throw the tsampa (barley flour) in the air, so that all negativities are overcome. This year the Tibetan calendar does not have the additional 30th day. In the night of the 29th the children do not sleep much, they are playing. They also help make nice decorations for inside and outside the house.

On the 1st day of the New Year the people come very early to the temple to see His Holiness, Ponlop and other high Lamas. Everybody tries to be the first one, so some people come during the night.

There are eight auspicious days in February -- the 8th, the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, the 22nd, and the 29th of the Tibetan calendar. The 28th day is missing.

Many Tashi Delek

Menri Lopon

email: rhondablack@cybermesa.com

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

The Secret

2006-06-02T15:20:15Z

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8958231188734018006&q=secret

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply

ONE -the movie

2006-05-29T16:15:32Z

www.onethemovie.org/trailer1.html

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

Intersection -- A New Tribe

2006-05-11T20:19:19Z

There are many parallels and intersections between Hinduism and Buddhism. This tribe has started of the acknowledgement of similarities, as well as differences between these two traditions. In a society and historical time where so many cultures are all coming to meet one another at the dinner table, many practioners may feel drawn to different aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism. This tribe has been created in honor of both traditions as a space where discussion can occur respectfully and freely about these spiritual philosophies, as well as what its like to draw one's practice from these two different paths. Feel free to bring up teachers and sources of inspiration to you in Buddhism (all its forms....Tibetan, Zen...), Yoga, Martial Arts, Ayurveda, Rumi, Hafiz, Kabir, Shamanic practices, modern day teachers such as Eckhart Tolle and David Deida, science of Siegal and Goleman, Zen Therapy, Transpersonal Psychology, Somatic Psychology, Carl Jung. Where do we all draw from and how does it all fit together???? Let's meet at the intersection....

http://tribes.tribe.net/theintersection

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Mike crowley on entheogenic buddhism

2006-05-01T07:49:48Z

check it out its a speach done at a recent conferance, very interesting stuff.
http://earthrites.org/saturday%20mp3s/mike%20crowley.mp3

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

New Tribe - SF Bay Area Buddhism and Meditation

2006-04-21T21:34:29Z

Hey Folks,

I have started a tribe called "SF Bay Area Buddhism and Meditation". When wanting to post about NoCal-specific Buddhist events, I noticed that there was a gap beteen the "SF Yoga" tribe, on the one hand, and all the (location non-specific) Buddhism and meditation tribes on the other.

The blurb I wrote for the tribe description says, "A tribe for discussion of the deep Buddhist and meditation scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. Feel free to post or ask about a teacher or center, to announce upcoming events, to ask for rides and sitting partners, etc. Posting about Bay Area-specific topics of interest to Buddhist oriented people (i.e. things happening with Transpersonal Psychology, Hinduism and Taoism, yoga and martial arts, Eckhart Tolle and Rumi, that sort of thing) welcome also, but a main focus on Buddhism and on Buddhist practice is the intention. ¡Vive le Buddhisme et le trésor triple!"

I invite anyone who lives or spends time in Northern California and with an interest in The Buddha Way to join this new tribe. It's public, so you can just sign yerself right up - http://tribes.tribe.net/sfbaybuddhism

Adam

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

lhaman and lhamos

2006-03-22T06:15:22Z

hey i have been rather fascinated by the god-men and god-women of tibet. i have read larry peters book on tibetian and nepalese shamansim as well as holger kalweit on the subject. has any one had experinces forst hand with these practices? or studied much on the subject?

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Sleep Yoga and the Practice of Clear Light

2006-02-08T23:05:03Z

Sleep Yoga and the Practice of Clear Light; Taught by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche offers the second of two weekend teachings from the Mother Tantra (Ma Gyud), the highest tantra i n the Bön tradition, on the practices of dream yoga and sleep yoga, and their relationship to death.

Rinpoche will explain what clear-light is and how one can recognize it during sleep. Once recognized as one’s own essence, further practice of the yoga positively transforms all emotions and conditions. While the dream practice prepares the practitioner to awaken in the near-death bardo, the sleep yoga prepares one to awaken in the clear-light bardo, as well as in life, right now. Rinpoche will give simple practices that can be immediately applied by the practitioner. There is no prerequisite for this teaching.

Time: May 6-7, 2006, 9:30am-5:30pm

Location: El Cerrito Veteran's Memorial, 6401 Stockton, El Cerrito, CA

Contact: Laura Shekerjian email (510)849-2373

http://home.comcast.net/~clearway/Bon/BayArea/Events.html

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Introduction to Trul Khor: The Yoga of the Bon Tradition

2006-01-29T06:49:22Z

Hey, if any of you want to experience more of bon and live in the SF Bay Area here's a chance.
If you go, it would be great to get feedback on here so I can see people's feelings about this teacher and practice.

Introduction to Trul Khor: The Yoga of the Bon Tradition

Taught by Laura Shekerjian<br>

Tsa Lung Trul Khor, or "channels, vital breath and magical movements" is the physical yoga of the Bon tradition and works with the balance of body, breath and mind. Harmonizing the vital breath and guiding its flow through the physical and energetic dimensions of our being is a powerful practice which can clear longstanding physical, energetic and mental obstacles and facilitate the spontaneous arising of clear awareness both in meditation and everyday life. It is a wonderful support for all practitioners, not just those with a particular interest in the physical yogas.

Part 1: Feb. 11-12, 2006 9am-4pm, 9am-1pm
Part 2: Jun. 3-4, 2006 9am-4pm, 9am-1pm

Also visit our website for more detailed information about Bay Area Bon events:<br>

http://home.comcast.net/~clearway/Bon/BayArea/Events.html

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 2 replies

calling for a Free Tibet action

2006-01-06T02:14:09Z

Dear friends,

It's time to rise up and help to end the occupation of Tibet.

Help to save the vanishing Tibetan people and culture.

Today's global communications made possible for us to be heard from many people around the world. We can reach others who can help to free Tibet - Chinese government officials, local government officials responsible for Chinese relations, the United Nations and other international organizations, activists around the world - with just sending an email.

Be aware of any China-related events in your area and take action. Show the people in your community that China is not a free and democratic country, as the Chinese government is trying to show us, but a Nazi dictatorship conducting a genocide in Tibet.

Go to the local Chinese embassy or consulate and tell the Chinese officials to end the occupation in Tibet. Use any possible event, with non-violent action, to show that China is not welcome anywhere until Tibet is free.

Boycott "made in China" products. Don't buy anything that has been made in China. Chinese economy depends heavily on foreign markets. You can help your local economy by buying products made in your country. As you do so, others will follow you and soon enough it will become a massive movement.

Become a Free Tibet activist. Educate yourself, your friends, and the people in your community about the true situation in Tibet. Read news from Tibet, available in the internet, and inform local media. Organize movie screenings, put out posters and flyers, raise awareness by any non-violent means about the struggle of the Tibetan people.

For those of you who can travel the world: the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 are the perfect occasion for action. The whole world will be watching China and we can show them what is really going on in Tibet and China.

Be creative and use any non-violent means to raise awareness and pressure the Chinese government to free Tibet.

links:
www.savetibet.org
www.studentsforafreetibet.org
www.tibet.net
www.boycottmadeinchina.org
www.2008-freetibet.org

F R E E T I B E T !

F R E E T I B E T !

F R E E T I B E T !

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

Good link...

2005-07-06T03:35:18Z

I found an interesting page that is really worth looking at in regard to this tribe.

http://www.berzinarchives.com/comparison_buddhist_traditions/bon_tibetan_buddhism.html

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 0 replies

elements

2005-06-20T00:52:02Z

I have been reading the book 'Healing with Form, Energy and Light - The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra, and Dzogchen' by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and was wonering if anyone can tell me the reason behind each of the elements corresponding to a particular direction within the Bon tradition?

Thanks...
Pete...

posted in Bon pre-Buddhist shamanism & Dzogchen - 1 reply