Be Gentle with Your Self

“Afflictions arise?  Be gentle with yourself.  Like a mother to her 2-year-old child.” – Lama Zopa

Hail Mary, full of grace

Our Lord is with thee

Blessed are thou among women

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God

Pray for us sinners

Now and at the hour of our death

Amen.

萬福瑪利亞、妳有充分的善意

我們的主陪著妳

在婦女中、妳是神聖者

妳的子宮產生的果位是神聖者、耶穌

聖母瑪利亞、天主之母

為我們罪人祈禱

現在與我們死亡的時刻、阿門

MBA: My Battle with Afflictions

The ground shook beneath me, I lost my balance:  

Demon Mara appeared to challenge me.

He wounded me, but I wounded him back:  

Blood on my trainee Manjushri light sabre.

‘I may have severed a few limbs of afflictions,

Yet, the Demon is alive, regenerating 

New limbs for his next attack.  I shall destroy

This Demon of Self-Cherishing:  he will not live!’

Demon Mara laughed like the mockingbird,  

‘You thought you could terminate her, 

The Girl Who Loved Too Much,

It was only a flesh wound, you know.’

Bloody and torn, trembling she laid, 

Her Manjushri light sabre beyond her reach.

She cried: ‘Lama, my Lama! Why?’  

The sun fired the desert sand like gold.  

Crazy Elephant Mind

Rope        Hook        Pillar

The untamed mind is like “a crazy elephant” that wrecks havoc in its living environment – like a 2-year-old gone wild – when he doesn’t get his ice cream.  

The crazy elephant mind can be manipulated and subdued with skillful means:  

ROPE – “the rope of mindfulness” that is tied to the

HOOK – “the hook of introspection” which is secured to the

PILLAR – “the pillar of Dharma” that is the foundation of all good works.

Study Lama Tsong Khapa’s Lam Rim Chen Mo – The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path of Enlightenment.  The peacock training for all engaging bodhisattvas out there.

Dharma S&M for the benefit of all SSBs.  Learn to use the three gadgets, rope, hook, pillar.

Water Bowl Offerings: 14-Step Instruction「水供十四步驟 」

Offering water bowls is a powerful practice for purifying obstacles and accumulating merits for a happy life, creating the causes to study and practice well the dharma.

Practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism have a happy daily morning ritual of “Offering Water Bowls” to speed one’s dharma practice along the path to E.

藏傳佛教徒、早上佛前供水的進行、供水的步驟、亦是想累積「六加行十萬杯水供修行之一」有興趣加入供水行列的人、歡迎與我們聯絡 FPMT Taiwan 經續法林 02-2577-0333 。

2015 © Photos courtesy of Ms Wu Ching-Mei at FPMT Taipei 經續法林

“If you can offer water bowls without spilling a drop, that is very auspicious,” says Geshe Lama Konchog.    

每天、若能於供水時心專注於上、而不使水溢出、已圓寂「袞卻格西 」曾開示提到「一心不亂」專注做供水亦是修定 。

Lama Zopa Rinpoche suggests:  “100,000 offerings of water bowls for 10 years without stop.  Very auspicious.”  

臺北經續法林奉行「梭巴仁波切」的指示：「每天、作百供水行之數十年、從不間斷 」。

Praise to 21 Taras

Mother Tara.  Buddha who obtained enlightenment in a woman’s body.  Protector of all SSBs.

Born from the teardrops of Buddha Avalokiteshvara.  Promised to help all who seek her help.

Good Read:  “A Commentary on Praises to the Twenty-One Taras”

Download English prayer:  “Praise to 21 Taras”

May all be happy.    May all be strong.    May all be safe.    And live with ease.

Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha

Shantideva’s Dedication Prayer

From Chapter 10 – “Dedication” in Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life is HH the Dalai Lama’s favourite prayer, and one I love the best of all.

“Healing Anger:  The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective”, by The Dalai Lama, translated by Thupten Jinpa (Snow Lion, 1997).

In the book, HH shows how the power of patience and tolerance can help us overcome anger and hatred.  He bases his discussion on A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, the classic work on the activities of Bodhisattvas – those who aspire to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all SSBs – suffering sentient beings.

By Shantideva

May all beings everywhere

Plagued by sufferings of body and mind

Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy

By virtue of my merits.

In Praise of Dependent Origination

1.    He who speaks on the basis of seeing, this makes him a knower and teacher unexcelled, I bow to you, O Conqueror, you who saw dependent origination and taught it.

2.    Whatever degenerations there are in the world, the root of all these is ignorance; you taught that it is dependent origination, the seeing which will undo this ignorance.

3.   So how can an intelligent person not comprehend that this path of dependent origination is the essential point of your teaching?