Moon Cools

In this degeneration age

The loudmouth people

Are looking in strapping good health.

By pushing and shoving

They appear to get whatever they want.

Which is how they bring about

Everyone’s destruction

When they eventually self-destruct.

“May their actions not push

And shove them

Into the hells of their own making”,

Tara of the nine peaceful qualities prays.

But as unspeakable bliss then

Ripples through the crystal white

Moon of her body,

Tears of sorrow also run down her cheeks.

Even though blissful

Knowledge most often brings the pain of

Knowing that those who lack in it

            Are indeed doomed to suffer

Imaginary, yes:

Yet no less cruelly

But then,

Everything is.

Moon rays

So cooling.

C Choyin Dorje 2014

The Vajra Armor Mantra

Even today, many of vajrayana teachings of Indo-Tibetan origin are shrouded in an aura of mystery, especially if they come with extravagant names attached, such as the ‘vajra armor mantra’ system.  Magical mysteries and their highly esteemed tours in exploration of the ‘unknown’ and/or ‘unknowable’, however, seldom produce anything tangible beyond flights of fancy – which is the exact opposite of what any good teacher aims to induce or share. 

The gurus of old were not interested in spiritual training removed from reality, and neither are today’s teachers like Acharya Dawa Chhodak Rinpoche, affectionally called Lama Dawa by most of his dharma friends, who since 2003 has opened the outer, inner, secret and most secret aspects of this powerful practice to some, as well as publically taught the different outer levels of the system in 5-day seminars, in the US, Mexico and now also India.  Which is why we are addressing the subject in this blog posting.  Lama Dawa is going to visit Goa this coming January 2015 and will also teach two level I vajra armor retreats while being here.  

In his Terma text on the vajra armor mantra, Dudjom Lingpa states that, ‘There are many stories about the transmission of this mantra and many descriptions of its benefits.  I do not wish to repeat them here [at great length and instead simply say]… Considering this mantra profound, Guru Padmasambhava chose it from 100,000 healing mantras concealing it as a treasure in the rock ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for the benefit of sentient beings.”

Therefore, the motivation for entering the vajra armor training and practicing according to its methodology is the same as for engaging in any other Tibetan Buddhist practices of the diamond path: to be of benefit to all beings including oneself.  Besides, the size of the benefit is anything but negligible: it is as vast as the scope of the tantric approach itself.  The quote below from Padmasambhava is hinting at this.  Even should your interest in the practice at the outset solely be guided by ideas of ‘self-improvement’ or ‘self-healing’, you will still indirectly benefit others with it, through an automatic spillover effect once you really start putting into practice what you have learned.  In a way, ‘self-benefit’ and ‘benefitting others’ are artificial distinctions.  The mind creates them and then clings to them.

In more specific terms, the vajra armor mantra (dorje gotrab in Tibetan) is considered a potent tool for promoting healing in the most far-reaching sense of the word, which implies ‘making whole’ or ‘enlightening’ what has been fragmented and deluded.  Since Padmasambhava first brought the 30-syllable mantra to Tibet, tantric adepts and physicians from the Land of Snows have applied it as an effective method for treating diseases, purifying negative energies and protection from misfortune. 

Padmasambhava outlines the potential and benefit of the mantra and mentions at what point in history its practice will become almost a necessecity, namely, …”When beings engage in the ten non-virtues, causing warfare and committing vast evil, their rampant destructiveness will contaminate the mother elements and give spirit entities the opportunity to become even more powerful.  As a result, the seasons will lose their balance, the crops will fail, weather patterns will bring disaster, diseases will multiply and even the best remedies will have no longer any effect.”

“Food and herbal medicine will diminish in potency, requiring stronger dosages… at that time this mantra, which shall be known as the Vajra Armor, or ‘Ngak-Bum Dorje Go-Drab’ – the ‘One Mantra That Is the Source of the 100,000 Methods’ – will be needed to save beings from this immense suffering.  If you trust in the power of this mantra unreservedly and totally, and furthermore, if you receive the transmission from a true lineage holder and practice it according to the promises given at the time of transmission, then this mantra will cure disease, protect from and prevent illness and calamity.  It will also restore balance to the environment, and most importantly, annihilate the underlying cause of all suffering – hatred, grasping and ignorance.”

For further reading go to: http://www.lamadawa.com/vajra-armor.html

This Song of Freedom

Freedom is sharp

The curved blade that cuts

Head off my neck

And lets more heart blood spout

In the manner of a fountain

Freedom is tender

            With my arms around you

As if they were feathers

            For the love of the world

I cannot see a separate thing

Freedom is boring

            Going to the toilet

To shit and piss

            Every morning looking in the mirror

Searching for pimples on the nose

Freedom is fire

            I hammer the blazing steel of the thoughts

That shackle me, mine and everything

            Only to have the acid of fear corrode

All that I ever grabbed and held

           

Freedom is delicate

The dewdrop that falls
From the leaf above

            Makes the web tremble

And the spider rope down to the next

             

Freedom is despair

            No food before us

With all the good people in chains

            While our leaders spit roast our hearts

At their tables of plenty

Freedom is desire

Never getting

Enough of it

When everything

Is always there

Freedom is sentimental

            These tears stain your pillow with

My being so very special

            As my is head remains stuck in the mud

I cannot walk through walls into cloud land as I would

Freedom is straight and narrow

            Deadlines 

Timelines

Fault lines –

            To bring about many a cleansing disaster

Freedom is simply free

            No quality but its own

And there is stillness,

            Leaves unfolding in spring

Tumble to rot in November

Essentially

Even stupor is freedom

So is clinging and so is hate
Unbeknownst to them

Knowing thus definitely freedom is

Naturally self-affirming

Projecting more gossamer

Subtly trembling luminous truths

I can drink my tea

I can sip my wine

Every once in a while

I can look up in the sky

The thought doesn’t even arise

That anyone will ever not partake

In this heart of freedom

Forever beating

The only question is:

Does appreciation

Require a separate 'ONE' to be there

To appreciate

Thanking Tarthang Tulku

For conveying the freedom given together with Time Space and Knowledge

copyright  Choyin Dorje 2014

Impressions from the 2014 Sri Lanka Pilgrimage with Lama Dawa - Anuradhapura

The up-coming visit in January 2015 will be Lama Dawa's third tour to Goa.  The first had been mostly passed as a private holiday, as in 2013 Lama needed to rebuild his strength; with a 3-day excursion to the caves of Ajanta and Ellora added at the end.  In 2014 Lama gave  a few teachings and empowerments both publicly and privately, and completed his sojourn with a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka, taking some of his long-time students from India with him. This time, in 2015 he will share his precious Vajra Armor lineage in two 5-

day retreats,as well as giving two public teachings and empowerments on the 21-Tara practice and the Medicine Buddha sadhana.  Looking at the emerging continuity we could say that there is at least the appearance of a steady momentum, slowly building up - as to what the development will be: we will see.  

Of course, we have fond memories of his previous stays, and want to share some of them.  

Inspiration to write today's blog came to me this morning when I read a short FB notice by "Adarsha Photography" with a picture on the Bodhi tree at Anuradhapura, one of the ancient cities of central Sri Lanka.  I remembered, that together with Lama we had visited that tree on the last day there.  We only stayed for a few hours, but then, how much time does it really

take to plant a seed?

As the article in Adharsha's page said, "Emperor Ashoka had placed so much importance on the Buddha Dharma going to Sri Lanka that he sent his two children, (Prince turned monk) Arhat Mahendra and (Princess turned nun) Bikshuni Sanghamitta, to the island nation, to propagate the teachings. He even sent a cutting of the original Bodhi tree of Bodhgaya, under which the Buddha attainted enlightenment, when

Sanghamitta went to Sri Lanka. The cutting was gifted by Princess Sanghamitta to King Tessa, who welcomed it with the most elaborate ceremony and planted it in the ancient city of Anuradhapura in 288 BC. The tree known as the Jaya Sri Mahabodhi is now over 2,300 years old. The present Bodhi trees of Sarnath and the Mahabodhi stupa in Bodhgaya are cuttings of this tree."

And the Lonely Planet Sri Lanka adds, "The sacred Bodhi trees the oldest historically

authenticated tree in the world.  It has been tended by an uninterrupted succession of guardians for over 2000 years, even during the periods of Indian occupation.  There is not one but many Bodhi trees here.  The oldest and holiest stands on the top platform.  The steps leading up to the platform are very old, but the golden railing around it is quite modern. The railing and other structures around it are festooned with prayer flags."

When I shared some of my photos earlier in the year, my friend Bob from Odiyan in northern California remarked that Tarthang Tulku had been permitted to take a cutting from the same tree to be planted at the newly opened Nyingma Institute in Sarnath.  So it seems, this tree is very much contributing to spreading the dharma throughout the world.  

We came there just before the gates were closed for the daily lunch break, and our dropping in felt more like a quick touching base rather than a full fledged visit.  But as always on these occasion, Lama was very inwardly focused.  

There is no doubt that we will see more of this tree, and its fruit in many forms in the future.