A Tribute to the Wisdom Beings

Some time ago I became friends with a man who was part of my early introduction to Buddhism and was one of the major influences that lead me to undertake my retreat in Tibet in 2007.  Recently, after the Kyegu earthquake, he accompanied our Rinpoche, the spiritual director of the Kyegu monastery, on a 4 day trip, of which just one day was spent in the ruins of the town and monastery providing some solace to the shattered inhabitants.  The emotional impact on my friend was enormous.

During this time, his mother had a massive stroke, leaving her incapable of moving, feeding herself or talking.  I will pass you across to him----

"Totally dependent and in high care in hospital. I said to Tony last Friday that i was going to call on many pushy Wisdom Beings to give her body a reminder of what she used to know. These Wisdom Beings showed up later that day as poor Mum had an epileptic seizure while a doctor was visiting her. A few days later she is walking and talking. Apparently it rewired many lost functions. So thank you all for helping her along."

So how to explain this?  Why even bother to try?  It is surely enough to know that there are mysteries beyond our ken, and beyond that of so many more learned people.  Just the possibility of Wisdom Beings, who care about all sentient beings, can serve as an inspiration to us to also care about all others and find the happiness that comes with loving kindness and compassion.

Yours in Dharma and wonder,

Vajramate

The Gift of a Dying Person

This Sunday was my 71st birthday and I spent an enjoyable lunch and afternoon with my wife, daughter and son-in-law.  A few hours later my daughter left a message to say my aunt, her great-aunt, had died at the age of 99 after a serious fall when she had fractured her skull and broken her neck.  Over the last few days she had stopped communicating and drifted into death.  I had not seen her for about 15 years, as she lives on the other side of the continent and we were never very close.  But she was my daughter's favourite and she used to visit my aunt every year or so.

My aunt was the last survivor of 4 sisters and one brother, killed at El Alamein in WWII.  Although the 2nd eldest, she was the rock of the family and I felt she was particularly hard on my mother, the youngest, and even harder on me when I was a teenager.  As I got older, I saw it differently and developed a grudging admiration for her being such a tough, outspoken, self sufficient old bird.  After all, it took a broken neck before she would finally give in to Death!

So on Sunday night I went into Powa and Bardo prayers.  I now realise what a beautiful gift my Aunt has given me as she died.  In the reading I did on Bardo Prayers I slowly became aware that we all have the opportunity to contact those who have been before, no matter how long ago.

Completing this blog 3 months later:  This realisation is enough on its own to be sufficient for this blog.  It is inherent in the Buddhist teachings that we are all connected eternally in our various manifiestations through samsara.  So at any time, through meditiation and contemplation, we can still relate to those who've been before - and - why not - to those yet to come?

May whatever merit there in in these ramblings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Yours in Dharma,

Vajramate.

Kyegu Monastery in Ruins after Chinese Earthquake

The monastery where I did my retreat (and at the head of this blog) was at the epicentre of the earthquake this week.  8 monks have died and over 1,500 of the local population of about 80,000.

Please go to http://www.kbi.com.au/ to see the photos being taken by the monks.  Be prepared to be shocked - they present the reality in all its rawness and compassion.  At the present moment our Rinpoche, the Spiritual Director of the monastery, is coordinating the monks in their search and rescue, cremation and setting up of 4 kitchens.  He is in touch by email and mobile.
The three monks pictured above live here in Sydney, together with Rinpoche, and all have family in the town. My wife and I have visited those families and had meals with them, so this tragedy is particularly harrowing for us.

   Please pray for all the people of the area.

Om mani pema hum.

Vajramate.

Understanding Sleep in the Practice of Mahayana Buddhism

For years I have been reading passages that exhort practitioners not to waste time sleeping. While this might be achievable when undertaking a long retreat, I wondered how practical this advice was in our day-to-day world.
Then I came across this passage in Nagarjuna’s “Letter to a Friend”, written to a king of the time, indicating the possibility of a slightly different interpretation of this instruction.

“O Knowledgeable One, recite all day
And in the first and last watch of the night.
Then in between these two sleep mindfully
So that your slumbers are not spent in vain.”

To me this seemed to be saying that if one goes to sleep in a dharmic frame of mind, the sleep will continue in that vein, and not be wasted.

I raised this with my Rinpoche and he confirmed that this was a reasonable interpretation for our way of life. He then went on to remind me how, during my extended, solitary retreat, after a short time I was quite often not clear whether I was asleep, dreaming or awake. This state of being is a direct result of being in isolation, when the familiar daily routines are abandoned, and the “sleeping” time becomes an integral part of the practice.

So the message I have taken from this is that it is important to create some reminder of dharmic practice immediately before dropping off to sleep. I try to spend at least 10 minutes reading from one of my favourite texts and then recite the Vajrasattva 100-syllable mantra as I am falling asleep. I can’t guarantee how effective this is, but I’ll just keep following the Mahayana principle that aspirational activity will in time transform to become an integral part of being on the path.

My favourite texts right now are Letter to a Friend, Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, the text from HH the Dalai Lama’s teaching on Awakening the Mind (Based on Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhicitta) and HE Chogye Trichen’s Commentary on Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen’s Parting from the Four Attachments. Open any of these at any page, whatever you read will be totally relevant.

Thus ends this post. May whatever virtue or merit that derives from this posting be for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Yours until next time, Vajramate.