The transmission of the Kriyayoga Tantra, part of the esoteric Buddhist teachings that came directly from India to China. The transmission took a while. At the end his lama gave him all the ritual objects, crowns, tangkhas, vajras, bells, mandalas, his kashira (robe), and at that point Kukai became a vajra master. Of all these objects nothing was more sacred than the anointment, the transmission of the secret teacher-to-disciple teachings of the ancient Kriyayoga.
Enlightenment is like awakening from sleep. The thinking mind creates all the perceptions and phenomena of daily life, just as whatever you experience at night is created by sleep. When awakening from sleep, the dream disappears, likewise nothing remains of this present confusion when the distorted experience and thinking are completely cleared away.
The word root guru has a sacred meaning, that my teachers define in a very specific way: the person who not only tries, but succeeds in bringing about a complete change in your mind to such an extend that the grip of duality is loosened and that the nature of mind is totally laid bare in its naked state and can be accessed whenever remembered for the rest of your life. Perhaps the meditator only finds out many years later who the primary guru was.
In The Heart of Lo Gekar, the ancient story is re-imagined from a woman’s point of view. In the hours after the battle ends, our heroine senses something more than conquest. She senses that the battle is not yet over. We follow her up the mountain trail where we see her find the demon’s heart, cast aside yet still beating, on the mountainside where the gompa will eventually rise.
Padmasambhava however used it as a place of practicing Vajrakilaya, and if you have the right karma, you will see some relevant images in the cave walls. There are also various rock formations which have Buddhist, Hindu and in some cases Kirat, mythology attached to them, such as the two rocks just inside the cave door, which are meant to be the the body and head of a demon decapitated by Padmasambhava.
I noticed two yogis were being held in high esteem. Since we were eating in the same tent, I had occasion to talk to them. I also noticed during the Drubchen that as everyone was chanting, doing mudras and so on, Drüpon Lama Karma and the other yogi just stared into space unmoving for hours on end. As I spoke to Drüpon Lama Karma, I realized he was a Dzogchen yogi who had done many years of retreat.
In 2016 I was fortunate enough to visit several power places of Padmasambhava, spending some weeks in retreat at one, and doing meditation and puja at others. I will share some of my experiences in the hope of encouraging others to visit these holy sites which confer blessings even though one lacks faith or even interest.
When people with a Western critical-minded education hear that the Lotus-Born master of Uddiyana not only appeared from within a lotus flower in Lake Dhanakosha, without… Read More »BUDDHAFIELD OF AWAKENED MIND
How is death experienced on a personal level? What can we do? Is there a set of methods we can familiarize with to such an extent that we are unafraid, confident or at least, without regrets? How do we handle losing everything we know? How can we deal with the intense and vast unfolding of the primal energies of consciousness?
Who is Padmasambhava, the Guru Rinpoche, the Lotus Born? From where did he emerge, and how did his appearance transform the minds and landscape of the Himalayas? How does a man who walked in the shadows of mountains a thousand plus years ago, continue to leave traces of his steps today?
We know the Guru’s fierce and unflinching compassion because of the wisdom of Yeshe. She is the keeper of his secrets and the channel for his teachings. These exchanges between Guru and Consort unfold with affection, love, and inviolable trust.
Taktsang is indeed a special place. It is the most holy and revered temple in all of Bhutan, perched dramatically on the edge of a cliff with a 900 meters drop beneath. The Indian yogi Padmasambhava, affectionately known as Guru Rinpoche in the Himalayas, flew to this cave on the back of a tiger.
I have heard my teacher say that in the same way a summer rain will bring forth countless mushrooms in a meadow, the mind-training and meditation practices of Tibet brought forth an uncountable number of masters who awakened to their own potential. These masters attained a degree of fulfillment and insight in their lives that far surpasses anything we can imagine.
To understand Bhutan, you must know Padmasambhava, affectionately known as Guru Rinpoche, who brought Buddhism here in the eighth century. He is the backbone of Bhutanese culture.
Since ancient time, mantras have been part of many spiritual teachings. But why is this the case? Traditionally the word mantra means protecting the mind. But what is a mantra protecting?
A song to raise positive conditions. Among all the beliefs people may have about why some prosper and some don’t, the Indian master Padmasambhava taught that we can create prosperity. It starts in our minds, in our ability to imagine combined with boundless kindness.
Throughout human civilization there have been attempts to formulate that conscious ability in response to the question, what are we really, of what is experience made, where does perception takes place, what is it that feels emotions, and the big question, can consciousness, meaning us, know what it is, directly, by itself and without the use of technological instruments?
The supreme place of blessing, the spring of Awakening, Chumig Changchub, is located half way between Kathmandu and Pokhara in the Mahabharata range, overlooking Daman in the Noble Land of Nepal. The importance of the site to Vajrayana Buddhists cannot be overstated. Padmasambhava, the second Buddha meditated there on the way to Tibet.
In the old Tibetan manuscript from the 12th century, we find this story about Tso Pema, the Lotus Lake, and why the tantric master Padmasambhava allowed himself to be burned alive and then transformed the blazing fire into a lake.