On voices from the wilderness: “where we go from here…”
We recently lost two very important Kagyu Rinpoches, Karma Chagme, the head of the Nyedo Kagyu and direct lineal descendent of the great mahasiddha Rāga Asya , the very emanation of Amitabha himself, and Kyabje Choje Akong Rinpoche, a great social activist, dharma teacher. Along side Trungpa Rinpoche, Akong Rinpoche as one of the most important Kagyu Rinpoches in how he helped to plant the seeds of dharma in the West, but also create nurture Samye Ling and the system of Samye Dzongs throughout the UK, Scotland, Ireland, Europe and Africa. He was also vital in helping to local the young 17th Karmapa. As a lineage we have also recently lost Kyabje Traleg Rinpoche, Kyabje Tenga Rinpoche, and still feel the loss of Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche.
As long as His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa is with us, no matter where he resides, I feel that we are in good hands, and as a student of His Eminence Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche, I feel that as long as his activities continue then the dharma will not only flourish but increase in concentration and power. May their lives be long and may they completely destroy our ego-clinging through the power of their skillful means! May their activities increase the depth and wisdom of the Kagyu lineage!
This said, there are some who express concern about where we as Karma Kagyu are going in the West, and I would like to throw my two cents into the ethereal debate. Rather than make this a global argument, metaphorically as well as actually, maybe we should just focus on the Kagyu in America. I do not presume to know much at all about this subject, and even more than that, I have no real qualifications to weigh-in on such a topic, but nevertheless, as one who has deep love for our lineage I am occasionally concerned about how we may be structuring ourselves here in the U.S.
As Karma Kagyu I feel that we can do more than we are doing. We obviously benefit from the hard work and extreme diligence and patience of the masters of the early era: the late Kalu Rinpoche, the late Trungpa Rinpoche, ven. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, Bardor Tulku, Ponlop Rinpoche, Lama Norlha, Lama Lordro, Lama Tsingtsang, Lama Rinchen, Lama Dorje, and of course, their guide His Holiness the Gyalwang 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rikpe Dorje. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Through these teachers we have the benefit of some very solid infrastructures for the study and practice of the dharma- we have a great number of translators, translation committees, places for extended as well as short retreat as well as the beginning of a sangha which while still young and tender might hopefully grow into a single unified family of victorious ones. Yet right now the sangha may be our weakest link.
America is a unique place in that across the board we like to think of ourselves on the collective level as a unified group that share similar values, and yet we also very easily cleave along a variety of lines that include ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, race and political views. The obvious benefit is that there is the potential for most anyone to find a niche within the American experience. The fundamental flaw is that we are only part of the group until we don’t want to be, until our desire-lines of identity pull us into our sub-groups. When we separate from the collective in this way, the American experience becomes very static and disjointed. Likewise, when we try to singularly drop our histories, the various layers of culture that have helped to shape us as people, in favor of the collective identity, we lose the richness and the brilliance that we bring to the entire American organism. There is something about the fundamental tension between the more idealized identity as Americans (which is a construction) and our identity as a member of a variety of sub-groups (also ultimately a construction) that allows us to question the values of both sides of our being that can allow us to grow into dynamic citizens. That said, there is nothing preventing us from remaining stagnant within our identity on either side, either a stalwart “American” or member of a sub-group that doesn’t want to be part of the collective . When this happens unity, connection and communication becomes impossible.
Similarly, the essential flaw that we as American Karma Kagyu face is the idea that we actually think that know what we are doing. We feel that we are correct in projecting a particular meta-view upon ourselves as followers of the wisdom lineage of the Karma Kagyu, and that this view has to be expressed in a particular unified way. We assume that we must all adhere to the values as a group that were most recently innovated by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye in 18th century Tibet, who while being an amazing genius and autodidact, has been used (perhaps unintentionally) to create a blanket meta-identity that may have been taken to the extreme. At times I feel that ultimately this lack of balance has led many who feel connected to a wide variety of sub-groups to feel left out and as a result, not integrated into the larger view of what we may be as a lineage. As if the notion of a unified Karma Kagyu lineage, or any lineage, has ever existed until the “modern” era.
I think that it is worth throwing into the mix that the lines of all four major schools of Tantric Buddhism might be more a product of modern academia than anything else. It might even be that we have all contaminated one another through the cross-pollination of inter-lineage growth in the past than our projections and assumptions allow us to believe. Our identities are more blended that we might like. An example of this can be demonstrated by His Holiness Sakya Trizin when he recently gave the empowerment of Dudjom Lingpa’s Three Wrathful Ones in New York City.
I think that it was Trungpa Rinpoche who called the Kagyu lineage the ‘mishap lineage’, which I will loosely interpret to mean that at its best our lineage just happens; it is not the product of strategic planning. Why is this? Well, perhaps we are not the product of controlled strategic planning either; our mind/heart matrix of thought/emotion is a system of constant mishaps, all sorts of stuff arises, sometimes we can clearly rest in what arises, other times we get carried away by our hallucinations. But one thing is certain, problems arise once we try to force a structure upon the way things should be.
In this way, I tend to wonder if we may have made the fundamental error of leaning too much upon the 18th/19th century classicism of monastic Karma Kagyu as a model for the entirety of American Karma Kagyu (the vast majority of whom are lay) in the 21st century. It sounds kind of absurd actually when I see it written out like that, and I don’t think that it is too much of a stretch to suggest that if this is the case, then perhaps we lose some of our credibility and accessibility with those who resonate with the sub-groups that feel at odds with the way the dharma is presented. How are young people with little interest in India or Tibet, let alone their history, and who have little money to travel to India to feel connected? What about some curious souls from the South Bronx, Brownsville, Oakland, Compton, or even large swathes of Suburbia who want to better understand their relationship to their experience of suffering to connect?
The dynamic energy of engaged being as is inherently expressed by a wide variety of groups of all imaginable ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, race and other points of orientation doesn’t seem to be held by the container of this kind of singular classical Tibetan approach. Perhaps it is paternalism or some type of chauvinism, and perhaps it isn’t- lord knows the internet is full of such debates, and my point here is not to cast blame upon anyone other than our limited view. That said, I tend to feel that what matters most here is that the essential tension between “self-identity” as a member of any particular group in relation to the experience of gaining certainty in our not having any particular “self” as taught through the dharma is being lost to an increasing number of Americans. These sparks of tension allow the power of tantric Buddhism to blow up our ideas of who we think we are and how we tend to conceive of the world around and within ourselves. To ‘inadvertently’ create the assumption that one can only experience this through assuming that we all need to be conversant in 18th/19th century Tibetan classical Buddhist thought only serves to disempower the vast majority of sentient beings in the United States. It allows few people to come and be held as they expolre the sparky nature of what it means to familiarize oneself with the view. Perhaps Europe is different, or Central and South America, and Aftrica, but I suspect not.
The way that much of the Karma Kagyu lineage is being presented these days in the United States appears to be more of a preservation of monasticism and the imposition of this structure upon the inner lives of the sangha, rather than a skilled blending, meeting people where the are, and creating the container that allows the safety and intimacy necessary to challenging the assumptions of who and what we are, and what the whole field of appearance might be.
The result is that it is not uncommon to find that there are many gorgeous Karma Kagyu dharma dharma centers, stunning in beauty and immaculate in appearance, real museum quality reproductions of what one might have found in Tibet before the Chinese holocaust. Yet, it is also possible to feel the cold clinical nature of many of these places. In looking even closer, it is easy to see how tender and fragmented the sanghas appear. This makes me feel sad. After all, it is sangha that is vital for the continuation of the practice of dharma. When I visit places that resemble these perfect visions of what dharma is supposed to look like visually, I think of Drukpa Kunley, Milarepa, Phadampa Sangye and Shabkar with great tenderness (and humor) and take delight in my meager identity as a so-called Repa. These teachers (myself completely excluded) were vital commentators, alternatives and voices in the wilderness that dharma cannot be owned, trapped in books, and is not only to be delivered through the medium of classicism which often runs the risk of becoming overly dusty and theoretical. There is a lot of wisdom in their path, and many teachings in their relationship with the institutions that presented dharma in a particular kind of way.
What we seem to fail to realize, or perhaps disassociate from, is that the Karma Kagyu lineage is best when it is a blended practice of fierce engaged practice activity mixed with the subtlety and discipline that one finds in Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. Just as we need the sun and the moon for there to be balance on Earth, perhaps we need both the paths of Rechungpa and Gampopa as symbols of who we are, who we might wish to become, and from which point we wish to engage the dharma. We need to look at where we become too comfortable and lazy and bring our whole experience as people into our practice. Good dharma practice has nothing to do with beautiful dharma centers, rich coffers, and exquisite elegance. In fact, the best practice arises from confronting the entire hallucination of this “self” and the world around us. We are often well served to this end in challenging our assumptions of how our dharma centers should appear, notice when our devotion becomes the habit obsession rather than a mixture of connection and gratitude, and when in trying to be “good”, how we accidentally cause great harm to those we tell ourselves we are committed to benefiting.
Ultimately, everything that has been created by our foreparents within the Karma Kagyu in America is wonderful, and we should rejoice in the amazing progress. It really is amazing what has come into being. And yet, we might be getting a bit lazy and myopic and I pray that we can make things a bit more messy and sparky and dynamic for everyone who might be attracted to this vibrant and wonderful lineage. I pray that our dharma teachers can strike a rich and engaged balance for their students! I pray that our lineage can hold the experience of every person from every walk of life who approaches us! I pray that we face mishaps every day and that the sparks of tension within our experience of being cause endless dakas and dakinis to bless us!
On real time Buddhist pastoral care and the experience of loss when a lama dies
The past week has been a tough one for the Kagyu lineage. Recently the great Karma Chagme Rinpoche passed away in New Delhi, and one of the first trailblazers of dharma in the West, Akong Rinpoche, along with two travel companions was murdered in Eastern Tibet. Needless to say, these two important lamas impacted the lives of many, many, people who practice dharma, and in the case of Akong Rinpoche many Tibetans who passed through the schools and hospitals that he was instrumental in building in Tibet.
I had the wonderful pleasure of receiving the transmission of Rāga Asya’s (the 1st Karma Chagme) The Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen in New York City when he was traveling through the United States in 1998/99. Both Karma Chagme Rinpoche as well as his son Sangtrul Rinpoche took turns teaching the text line by line- it was an extraordinary privilege to be there for such a transmission. Years later, in 2005, I visited Karma Chagme at his monastery in Pharping where I was fortunate enough to receive Namchö Amitabha from him, which in a way was like receiving it from Amitabha himself. His Holiness, the Gyalwang Karmapa’s letter of condolence regarding Karma Chagme’s death can be seen here.
I never had the pleasure of meeting Akong Rinpoche, although I did visit Samye Ling during the summer of 1995. Samye Ling was (and continues to be) a vital center for the preservation and teaching of the Kagyu lineage. You can read His Holiness’ statement of condolence regarding Akong Rinpoche’s death here.
Without a doubt, my limited relationship to these masters pales in comparison to the stories of others, especially those who were direct disciples of these two great teachers, yet I thought that I would share the way in which I came to develop my own personal relationship with them. Even if all we have seen is a photo of them, or read a text or teaching by them and not actually met them then we still have a connection with them. In fact, physical proximity is not necessarily very important if you can hold the connection between yourself and a lama within your heart. After all, where is the lama? Where is the lama’s mind? Is there an edge, or separation, that keeps us away from constantly being able to experience the wakeful luminosity of the lama?
There is a real sense of loss with the passing of these two Rinpoches that has stuck with me in a way that I am trying to better understand. I rejoice in all of their activities and pray that their activities continue to flourish, and yet I am very aware of the temporary break in the immediate benefit that these teachers manifest. Ultimately, it is okay to feel sad and upset, these feelings -all thoughts/feelings that arise in fact- are okay. If we can hold whatever arises as pure appearance, as the arising of thought as-the-lama then there is no loss of intimate connection with the lama, no separation and no real loss other than the physical lama.
I was very moved to learn of the visit that His Holiness Karmapa and His Eminence Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche made to Karma Chagme before his death. An account of that visit can be seen here. As a hospice chaplain, I felt that His Holiness and His Eminence were modelling a sense of spiritual care that I could identify with. I find that there was a profound teaching in seeing two great masters going to be with another great master as he approached the end of life. I saw a reflection of them in the work I do. In my case it is one ordinary person going to be with other ordinary people who are in the process of dying or who have just died, yet the level of intimacy and connection that can occur between two people under these circumstances is much more profound than we often give credit. What’s more, that level of caring, a natural compassionate resolve, in which two very busy lamas take time to visit one who is dying is something that we can all learn to blend into our own busy lives. Perhaps we can also start to drop the enduring experience of ordinariness too, but that should be the topic of another blog post.
Death is often seen as a passing, as a separation, and as an ending. Trying to see it otherwise, or trying to allow myself see death more clearly for what it is, is one of the things that keeps me refreshed and motivated in the work I do. I also feel that there is a link to the way we see death, the way we relate to it, and the way that we see our own minds; the way that we relate to everything that appears. A mind full of fear of death is a mind plagued by duality and is therefore unable to rest in the natural vastness of it’s essential nature with ease. As we begin to familiarize ourselves with the mind as deathless, as expansive luminosity, then we simultaneously seem to develop more equanimity around what death may be. As a relative expression of death Karma Chagme’s death seems to reveal the power of his realization as he sat in thugdam for several days. Akong Rinpoche’s death reminds me of many things, it was “ordinary” in a way that Milarepa’s death appeared. It was also sudden and violent, two things that we often shy away from as practitioners of dharma- two things we often try to avoid. There is a lot in this, a lot in dying in a manner that most Buddhists seem to want to shy away from. Most of the time I think we see our deaths as knowable and slightly intentional in that we generally want to be prepared for it as it comes. We cannot always do that; death is unavoidable. Death is inevitable. It comes when it does.
As a lineage, we have lost two very important and influential masters. The question now very well may be; “where do we go from here”? At times like this, when experiencing moments of sadness and loss, it is nice to be told what we should do. Yet this is the critical moment in which perhaps we can benefit the most in taking some quiet moments to reflect upon and review all that these masters have given us. If we can spend time cultivating gratitude for each instruction, each display of teaching, each kind supportive glance, and bolster within ourselves the resolve to continue to practice what they have given us with the intent of resting in the display of appearance as no different than the lama, then we have touched upon something wonderfully profound. If we can continue with what we committed to ourselves to and bring all that arises with loss onto the path rather than shut down, hibernate in a feeling of shock, and let all certainty fade, then we are practicing the ultimate guru yoga.
If we can do this it seems that many questions and fears naturally dissipate. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we become naturally happy and that life turns around, but that we continue to remain in union with the essence of the lama, always open to their blessings, always part of their lineage. This can lead to certainty in the dharma and the realizations that dawn from an engaged dharma practice. This experience of certainty helps aide us in developing natural ease in our experience of mind so that we have definitive understanding, the experience of natural knowing or resting in the nature of our minds. In this way, no matter where we happen to live, no matter what cultural mores we follow, or no matter what language we speak, no matter what gender or sexual orientation, no matter if we practice in a fancy dharma center, or a scrappy one, or our simple homes, we take a seat amongst Tilo, Naro, Marpa, Milarepa, the incomparable physician of Dakpo and everyone who passed the enduring nectar of dharma from vessel to vessel throughout time.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all students of Karma Chagme Rinpoche and Akong Rinpoche, may your practice deepen and may their activities continue throughout time and space! May we all finally gain certainty in resting in the experience of lama-as-experience! Gewo!
on making offerings to those who have passed: bearing witness to september 11th
It is not uncommon when I am working in the hospital for people to ask me why it is that they suffer. Why, for example, is their loved one dying? Why is their medical treatment not working as well as they would like? Why they have been put in this terrible position? How could any of this be possible?
These are all personal september 11ths. They are intense moments of tragedy and fear, of worlds (and lives) imploding, of being touched in a way in which life will never be the same.
I was speaking with a friend recently about September 11th- she shared with me the fact that for her, the worst thing about September 11th was the sense of fear and uncertainty. Of course, the massive loss of life and the ripples of pain that were caused on that day is tragic and truly difficult to fathom, yet there is something of importance and meaning in my friend’s admission. September 11th created a sense of vulnerability and profound uncertainty. This uncertainty, and it’s attendant vulnerability, was so palpable and new that it seems to remain a confounding symbol of the fear, the shock, and the seemingly unreal nature of what occurred on that day.
Just as I cannot provide an answer to a patient who asks me why their cancer has metastasized, why a newborn baby dies, or why God created the depression or psychosis that a patient may experience and suffer from, I am not sure that we will ever know what September 11th means in an absolute and definitive way. The meaning of such difficult and painful experiences seem to change as we do. Indeed, perhaps the meaning is different from moment to moment- it may be that an absolute meaning is convenient in that it lets us off the hook from continuing to feel, and interact with, what arises.
In this spirit, I feel that spending a moment to consider what September 11th means for us right now can be of value. How does it sit with us now? How do we sit with it? What has our process of getting here been like? Can we let ourselves sit with whatever comes up, with whatever feelings arise?
I would like to offer a prayer to Amitabha, written by the wonderful Karma Chagme (a 17th century Kagyu and Nyingma Buddhist master), for all of those who passed away on that terrible day, as well as for all of those who passed away afterwards, suffered afterwards, and to all who have suffered during the two wars that arose following September 11th. May they not be forgotten, may we remain witness to their stories, may their suffering be pacified, and may they experience expansive wholeness. May it be auspicious!
Prayer for Rebirth in Sukhavati – The Blissful Land of Amitabha Buddha
E ma Ho!
In the direction of the setting sun, beyond a multitude of innumerable worlds, slightly raised, is the perfectly pure realm of Sukhavati, a land of the noble beings. Although invisible to our fleshy eyes, Sukhavati can appear clearly within our mind. There resides the Subduer and Victorious One of Measureless Light, Amitabha, ruby red and with blazing radiance.
He is adorned with the ushnisha top knot on his head, the chakra wheels on his feet, and all the 32 signs of perfection and the 80 minor marks. He has a single face, two arms in the mudra of equanimity, holding an alms bowl, and wears the three dharma robes. He sits in vajra posture on a thousand petalled lotus and moon disc, with a bodhi tree to his back. From afar, he looks to us with eyes of compassion.
To his right is the Bodhisattva, Avalokiteshvara, white in colour, his left hand holding a white lotus. To his left is the Bodhisattva Vajrapani, blue in colour, his left hand holding a lotus marked with a vajra. They both extend their right hands towards us in the mudra of bestowing refuge.
These three main deities appear like Mount Meru, the king of mountains.
Radiant, pouring forth splendour and illuminating, – they dwell accompanied by their retinue of a thousand billion bodhisattva monks, all of whom are of golden colour, adorned with the marks and signs, wearing the three dharma robes, and of great resplendence. With devotion – free of discernment between near and far, – and through the 3 doors we prostrate with utmost respect.
From the right hand of the Dharmakaya Amitabha, of Limitless Radiance, Lord of the Buddha family, emanate light rays becoming Avalokiteshvara, and with a billion more emanations of the mighty Avalokiteshvara. From the left hand, emanate light rays that become Tara with a further billion emanations of Tara. From his heart, light radiates out manifesting as Padmasambhava together with a billion other emanations of Orgyen. We prostrate to you, Dharmakaya Measureless Light.
With the eyes of Buddha and throughout the six periods of the day and night, he constantly regards all sentient beings with love. His enlightened mind is ever aware of whatever thoughts and ideas arise in the minds of all sentient beings. He forever hears clearly and distinctly, whatever words are spoken by all sentient beings. We prostrate to the all-knowing Amitabha.
It is said that, – except for those who have abandoned the dharma, or committed the deeds of immediate retribution, – all who have faith in You and make wishing prayers to be born in Sukhavati; their prayers will be fulfilled: you will come to us in the bardo, and guide us into this land. We prostrate to you – the guide Amitabha.
To you whose life spans countless kalpas, who resides here without passing beyond suffering; to you we pray with one pointed respect, as is said that, apart from specific karmic ripening, and with the averting of all kinds of untimely death, so our life may last one hundred years. We prostrate to protector Amitayus.
It is said to join the palms with faith on hearing the name of Amitabha and about Dewachen is of greater merit than offering countless three thousandfold universes pervaded with jewels as gifts. And so with respect we prostrate to Amitabha, Measureless Light.
All who hear the name of Amitabha and develop true faith from the depths of their heart, just once, will never leave the path to enlightenment. We prostrate to the protector Amitabha of Measureless Light.
From the time of hearing the name of Buddha Amitabha until obtaining Enlightenment, we are freed of lower rebirths, only taking birth in a good family and having pure conduct in all lives to come. We prostrate to Amitabha, Boundless Light of bliss.
Our bodies and all our possessions, together with our roots of virtue, whatever offerings that are actually present or conceived in mind including the auspicious substances, the eight auspicious signs, the seven precious objects, all offerings within all time: billions of the three thousand fold universes with the central mountain, four continents, the sun and moon, the wealth of gods, nagas and humans – all this arising in our mind – and by offering to you, Amitabha, may we benefit through the power of your compassion.
We lay open and confess all the non-virtuous deeds which have been committed from beginningless time up to now, by ourselves – by all sentient beings, headed by our fathers and mothers. Through time without beginning, we and all beings, especially our mothers and fathers, now acknowledge and regret our wrongs:
We regret and confess the three physical non-virtuous actions, those of killing, stealing and impure conduct.
We acknowledge and confess the four verbal non-virtuous actions: lying, slandering, harsh words, and loose talk.
We confess with remorse the three non-virtuous actions of mind: covetousness, malice, and erroneous views.
We confess with regret committing and accumulating the five immeasurably evil deeds of killing our father, our mother, our teacher, an arhat, and intending to harm the body of a Victorious One.
We admit and confess the evil deeds similar to these immeasurably evil deeds: killing a fully ordained monk or a novice, causing a nun to fall, destroying a statue, stupa or temple, and the like.
We openly confess the evil acts of abandoning the dharma, like abandoning the three supports: the Three Jewels, temples, and the Holy Scriptures, blaspheming and such similar deeds.
We confess with deep regret all these extremely negative and meaningless actions like abusing bodhisattvas – an evil greater than killing all sentient beings of the three world spheres.
We confess with remorse, all previous disbelief on hearing of the benefits that virtue produces, and how evil deeds bring one the intense sufferings of hell,– this making liberation so difficult to attain, and so is worse than the five immeasurably evil deeds.
We confess and lay bare all falls and infringements of the discipline of individual liberation including the five kinds of faults: the four root downfalls, the thirteen remainder downfalls, the transgressions, the defeats, the individually confessed damages, and the faults.
We openly declare with sorrow all the transgressions against the developing of bodhicitta: the four negative dharmas and the fifty eight downfalls.
We confess with deep remorse spoiling the samaya of the secret mantra: transgressions of the 14 root downfalls and the 8 branch vows.
We admit and confess the non-virtuous deeds gathered by not requesting vows, impure conduct, taking intoxicants and the like, indeed all harmful actions which I was not aware of and unable to voice.
We regret and confess any and all of the transgressions and downfalls of the vows of refuge, empowerments and so on that we received, – with or without knowing how to keep the respective samaya commitments.
Since confession without regret will not fully purify, we confess our previous harmful deeds with deep remorse and shame, with the fear as if our bodies were filled with poison. By not keeping to our vows from now on, there will be no purification. So, even at the cost of our life, we must now determine to refrain from all further non-virtuous actions. Through the blessings of the Sugata Amitabha and all his heirs, may our mind streams be completely cleansed.
When hearing about others who have accomplished wholesome acts, may we abandon all unwholesome thoughts of jealousy and rejoice in their virtuous deeds with heartfelt joy, so accumulating merit equalling theirs, as it is said.
For this reason, let us rejoice in whatever virtuous deeds are accomplished by both realised and ordinary beings.
We also may rejoice in the vast activity accomplished by developing the mind of supreme and unsurpassed enlightenment for the benefit of all.
Let us rejoice in abandoning the ten unwholesome deeds and performing the ten wholesome acts: protecting others’ lives; making offerings; keeping our vows; speaking the truth, reconciling adversaries; speaking calmly, gently and sincerely; maintaining meaningful conversations; reducing desires; developing loving kindness with compassion; and practising the Dharma with understanding – in all these virtuous acts we rejoice.
Let us exhort all the perfect Buddhas, dwelling in all the myriads of worlds of the ten directions, to quickly and extensively turn the wheel of dharma right away. Please hear our prayers through the power of your perception.
We entreat all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, holders of the dharma, and spiritual friends who are planning to enter nirvana, to remain here and not pass beyond suffering.
May we appropriately dedicate all virtue of the three times to be of benefit to all sentient beings.
May all of us quickly obtain unsurpassable enlightenment and stir the three realms of samsara from their depth.
May these virtuous actions quickly ripen for us and so pacify the eighteen causes of untimely death in this life.
May our bodies be free from illness and blossoming with the vitality of youth.
May our material wealth ever increase as the Ganges in the monsoon.
May we practise the sacred dharma free from the dangers of demons or enemies.
May all wishes in accordance with the dharma be fulfilled.
May we accomplish great benefits for the Doctrine and for beings.
May we make this human existence meaningful.
At the moment when we, and all who have connections with us, pass beyond this life, may emanations of Buddha Amitabha surrounded by his sangha monks actually appear before us.
On seeing him, may our minds be happy and joyful, – free from the sufferings of death.
Through their miraculous powers, may the eight bodhisattva brothers appear in the sky to guide us and show the path to Dewachen.
The torment in the lower realms is unbearable; the happiness and joy of gods and humans is impermanent – may our minds develop a fear of this. May we be concerned about the enduring nature of beginningless samsara.
If we are born as humans again, still countless are our experiences of birth, old age, sickness and death.
In this difficult and degenerating time when obstacles abound, the happiness of humans and gods is like eating poisonous food, may we abandon even our tiniest desires.
Relatives, food, wealth and friends are but like a dream, impermanent – illusory. May we be free from even the slightest of desire and clinging.
May we recognize countries, places and dwellings as unreal – like a ghost town in a dream.
May we escape from the ocean of samsara – like convicts released from prison without even a backward glance – and attain to the pure realm of Dewachen.
May we cut all ties of attachment and desire, and like a vulture released from a net, may we traverse innumerable universes to the West and at once reach the pure realm of Dewachen.
May we see the face of Amitabha Buddha and, in his presence there, purify all our veils.
May we take miraculous birth within the heart of a lotus blossom, the supreme of the four modes.
So may we instantly attain a perfect form complete with all the marks and signs.
Those, who have doubt of being born there, will remain five hundred years, happy and joyfully contented within the unopened blossom, still hearing the words of the Buddha though not seeing his face. May we be free from this uncertainty. May the lotus flower open so that we see the face of Amitabha as we are born.
Through the force of our virtue and refined powers, may we emanate inconceivable clouds of offerings through the palms of our hands as offerings to the Buddha and those attending.
May the Tathagata at that moment place his right hand on our heads and bestow prophecy of enlightenment.
On listening to the profound and expansive Dharma, may our minds ripen and so be liberated.
May the principal bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani, bless and guide us.
With every day, as myriad buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions come to make offerings and behold Amitabha and his pure realm, so may we at that time offer reverence to them and attain the nectar of the dharma.
Through our infinite miraculous powers, may we in the morning go to the sphere of True Happiness, to the Glorious Land, to the realms of Perfected Activity and Abundant Array. On offering profusely to the Buddhas Akshobya, Ratnasambhava, Amoghasiddhi, Vairocana and more, may we request empowerments, blessings and vows. Then may we return effortlessly to Sukhavati in the evening.
May we travel to the Potala, Alakavati, Kurava, Orgyen and the billion fold pure realms of Avalokiteshvara, Tara, Vajrapani, Padmasambhava and the billions of pure emanations. Once there, may we make oceans of offerings and request empowerments and profound essential instructions. So may we return swiftly and freely to our own places within Sukhavati.
May we guard, protect and impart blessings to our previous friends, monks, students and others, clearly seeing them with our celestial eye. May we thus, at their time of death, lead them to this land.
A single day within Sukhavati continues for the complete Fortunate Aeon in which we reside. May we remain in Sukhavati constant and free of dying for countless aeons. From Maitreya through to Möpa, may we see all the Buddhas of this Fortunate Aeon, as they appear in our world.
With magical powers, may we proceed there, make offerings to the buddhas and listening to the noble dharma. Finally, may we return unhindered to the pure land of Sukhavati.
May we be reborn in this especially sublime pure land of Sukhavati that manifests all the qualities of the buddha realms of myriads of buddhas.
May we be reborn in this gentle, peaceful land of bliss, where the ground is of jewel, even like the palm of one’s hand, vast, spacious, radiant and sparkling with light rays, cushioning pressure and then returning level.
May we be reborn in this wondrous land where wish fulfilling trees are arrayed with numerous gems, with leaves of finest silk and fruits as jewel ornaments. On them appear flocks of birds, harmoniously intoning and proclaiming the sounds of the profound and expansive dharma.
May we be reborn in this most astonishing of lands where the many rivers are of scented water with the eight pure qualities as is the water of nectar in the bathing pools. The surrounding stairs and ornaments are adorned with the seven kinds of jewels. Fragrant lotus blossoms bearing fruit are radiating innumerable light rays, the tips of which are adorned with emanations of the Buddha.
May we be reborn in this Land of Great Bliss, where talk of the eight adverse conditions or hell is never heard. Where no form of suffering is experienced, be it the three or five emotional poisons, physical or mental disease, enemies, poverty, discord, and the like.
May we be reborn in this land of boundless pure qualities where, not having lower forms or births from a womb, all are born from lotus flowers. All bodies are of golden colour and equally endowed with the excellent marks and signs, like the ushnisha, and so on; all possessing the five precognitions and the five clairvoyances.
May we be reborn in this realm of all arising bliss and joy; where bejewelled celestial palaces appear of themselves; where enjoyments effortlessly arise at their very thought, and all ones needs are spontaneously fulfilled; where cherishing a self and differences of you or I no longer exist. All wishes arise as offering clouds from the palms of one’s hand, and everyone practices in accordance to the dharma of the unsurpassable Mahayana.
Fragrant breezes bring great showers of flowers, and heaps of offering clouds of pleasing forms, sounds, fragrances, tastes and touches – all that one may enjoy arises from the trees, rivers and lotus flowers. With concepts free of femininity, hosts of goddesses appear. These offering goddesses of various forms forever present offerings.
Jewel palaces arise through ones mere wish to rest; and on wishing to sleep, there appear magnificent jewel thrones adorned with various cushions and pillows of delicate silk, surrounded with birds and wish fulfilling trees, rivers, music, and more. At ones wish, the sound of Dharma resounds; when one no longer wishes to hear, there is silence. As for the soothing bathing pools and streams, they become hot or cold to ones wishes. May we be reborn in this realm of accomplishing all wishes.
The perfect buddha Amitabha will remain in this pure land for myriads of aeons, before passing into Nirvana. May we serve him until then. On passing into peace his teaching will remain for aeons as numerous as the grains of sand in two Ganges rivers. At that time may we uphold the noble dharma, not being separated from his regent Avalokiteshvara.
As the sun of the dharma sets in the West, so will manifest the dawn of the enlightenment of Avalokiteshvara. Renowned as “the Buddha, the utterly sublime sovereign, glorious and radiant”, may we behold him, make offerings and listen to the noble dharma.
For the sixty-six trillions of myriad aeons that he manifests, may we continue to serve and venerate him; and ever mindful, may we maintain the holy dharma.
After his passing into nirvana, his teaching will remain for thrice six billions of myriad aeons. For all this time, may we maintain the dharma and be inseparable from Vajrapani. With life span and teaching equalling Avalokiteshvara, so shall Vajrapani become the buddha “The utterly stable Tathagata, Sovereign with arrays of precious good qualities”. May we present our offerings and serve this Buddha continuously by upholding all the noble dharma.
When one’s life is over, at that moment may we obtain unsurpassed perfect Enlightenment in this pure land or in another pure realm.
On the attainment of perfect Buddhahood and in the same way as Amitayus, may all beings be ripened and liberated through the hearing of our name. With limitless skill and countless emanations, may we guide sentient beings, spontaneously accomplishing their welfare.
The life span of the buddha, his virtue and qualities, his pristine awareness, his splendour are infinite. So is it said that whoever recalls the names – Amitabha Dharmakaya of Boundless Brilliance, Immeasurable Radiance, or Amitayus Lord of Immeasurable Life and Primordial Wisdom – will be protected from all dangers of fire, water, poisons, weapons, harmful and demonic forces, and more besides, the only exception being fully ripened previous karma.
We prostrate and beseech you by name, protect us from all fear and suffering and grant your blessing of abundance and auspiciousness.
Through the blessing of attaining to the three bodies of the Buddha, through the blessing of the truth of unchanging dharmata, and through the blessing of the unceasing aspirations of the sangha, may all our prayers be also accomplished.
We prostrate to the Three Jewels. Teyata Pentsan Driya Awa Bhodhanaye Soha.
We prostrate to the three jewels. Namo Manjushriye. Namo Sushriye. Namo Utama Shriye Soha.
This prayer was composed by the renowned buddhist teacher Karma Chagme. Since this original composition was drawn from the sutras of the Buddha Sakyamuni, no transmission for reading this prayer is required.
[This rough translation to English of this magnificent prayer is offered as a basis for others to read, take to heart, copy and distribute with their glorious intention to benefit others; and specifically that all – wishing to make connections to buddha Amitabha and aspiring to be reborn in Sukhavati – may make the efforts to gather the 4 causes and so reap the experience and joy of rebirth in this wondrous land of bliss. With apologies for imperfections! Karma Zhisil Drayang.]
on Namcho Amitabha, Karma Chakme and the protector Shingkyong: a possible protector of chaplains…
Yesterday I performed the Namcho Amitabha sadhana for the practice of the pure land of Dewachen for a friend whose father and brother are close to death, and to honor a number of people who have recently passed away.
Earlier in the week six patients who I worked with as a chaplain died, and I also dedicated the performance of this sadhana, and the offering of all the appropriate tormas for them as well.
The body of this text was revealed and composed by the first Karma Chakme, Raga Asey (1613-1678) and includes prayers by the terton Mingyur Dorje (1645-1667). It includes a longevity practice associated with Hayagriva and Amitabha by Nedo Sanje, an Amitabha tsok composed by the 14th Gyalwa Karmapa, and a selection of prayers, offerings, and supplications to Shingkyong and his consort: protectors of the practice of the pure land of Dewachen.
I was lucky enough to receive the transmission for this practice from the present 7th Karma Chakme (Karma Tenzin Trinley Kunchab Pal Zangpo, b. 1926) himself at his recently completed monastery in Pharphing, Nepal in 2008. Half way through the lung (reading transmission) he paused to enthusiastically say, “I wrote this, I wrote this!”.
It was a great honor to have had the chance to recieve this practice directly from the reincarnation of its originator. Perhaps it was the result of meeting Rinpoche in 2001 when he was giving the blessings of the transmission of Raga Asey’s The Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen: The Direct instructions of the Compassionate One, a seminal text written by the first Karma Chakme Rinpoche.
The dharma lineage of Karma Chakme is pithy, inspiring, and bare bones; it is essential in that it is oriented towards the essence, essence dharma, and not so much concerned with the trappings of form and institution. It is bare bones in that it is a root lineage, it is all that you need.
I have found much guidance in how Raga Asey modelled his path; there is so much beauty in his simplicity, his deep practice and his sense of personal empowerment creates life within me. This personal empowerment in particular reflects his heartfelt conviction in his innate buddha qualities, the essential spaciousness of his mind, and the presence of connection to his lineage, both physical and non. Raga Asey’s writings are a balm for me; a soothing reassurance that it’s all okay. Things are fine- they are what they are; rich and luminous (they are apparent) and they are empty of essence; no different in reality from anything else that occurs/appears.
Raga Asey was a great mahasiddha of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages, I pray that he inspires us in the west to take our seats and claim our own natural liberation and nurture its growth with sensitivity and creativity!
Namcho Amitabha is a wonderful practice. The intimate blessings of Amitabha feel woven throughout the text, as does the purity and power of practice demonstrated by Raga Asey, the 14th Karmapa Thegchock Dorje, as well as the prodigious Mingyur Dorje.
Personally, I felt happy to offer this practice to the patients whose lives I recently became part of in the hospital as they came to the end of their respective lives. As I made offerings to Amitabha I also offered my own tenderness, caring and concern for those whom I was performing this practice. As visualized ambrosial nectar descended from Amitabha to myself, and those whose presence I was holding in my mind, I felt that they were bathed with soothing awakening, heightened awareness, and self-empowerment.
The recitation of Amitabha’s mantra became their armor; melting any hinderance to rebirth with full clarity of mind; dissolving any lingering anger, hatred, jealousy and weariness; warming and massaging their hearts that compassion may arise with ease and joy.
As I performed the long-life practice, I offered the blessing of longevity of Hayagriva to everyone present, my patron and her daughter, and all of their family, as well as that of all the family and friends who I came to meet as we gathered around their dying loved ones.
During the practice of making offerings and supplications to Shingkyong and his consort the power of Namcho Amitabha practice became evident.
As Shingkyong approaches, his body black, and his face that of a black lion, he rushes forward upon an enraged black stallion armed in one hand with a banner, and red tormas in the other that he hurls at his enemies. Approaching with symmetrical wrathful power is his consort Dzakadza, red in color, upon a red demonic steed; she wields a trident and a human heart. Their power is both burning and haunting. Any and all distractions; the inner blockages of fear and attachment, lingering worry, ill-will, and impotence are completely destroyed. Through the commitment of Shingkyong and his retinue, the efficacy of Amitabha’s vow to benefit all beings in the buddha-realm of Sukhavati (Dewachen) is bolstered and becomes even more magnificent. You can read more about this vow as it is explained in the Sukavativhuya sutra here.
Indeed the commitment of Shingkyong and his retinue around the activity of transitioning from this life to the next, and perhaps by extension the commitment to those who aid others in their own transition from this life to the next, is clearly described within this practice. They will clear all obstacles that make the journey treacherous, bring those stuck in the background all the way to the fore: Dewachen. They will ride with, and accompany them with their terrible retinue.
The text is explicit in how all obstructions will be destroyed, that all who get in the way will be slain, their hearts removed, and their abodes destroyed by fire; that all spirits and ghosts, all who torment, will be subjugated, and that all curses and black magic will be reversed. Indeed when performing this part of the practice I can really feel their powerful presence!
As the session closed, I found myself feeling connected to Amitabha and confident that benefit was created for everyone who I was practicing on behalf of. They were protected in their transition from this life to the next, and seeds of auspiciousness were planted for their experience during the bardo and for the journey ahead of them…
Additionally, I have become very curious about how Shingkyong and Dzakadza and their retinue of bamros relate to chaplains. I feel connected to them, and I feel their ever-present watchful eye, and when skies darken, perhaps it is they who come to dispel fear, doubt and tentativeness in all we do.
May they guide us as we serve others!
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Ganachakra 