Tribute from Dzongsar Khyentse

We may be a minority, but there are some of us who have the merit, as well as the guts, confidence and courage to take the path of guru devotion as our utmost essential path. I was taught by my master that the core of this path is remembering the guru.

Contrary to many people's assumption that the guru is some kind of external entity that dictates your life, if I have understood correctly, in the Vajrayana the guru is the path.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was a pioneer and igniter of Buddhadharma in the West. Without a doubt, that must have been a challenging task. What Rinpoche has achieved would usually take at least three generations—first introducing, then maturing, and finally stirring things up. Rinpoche managed to do all of this in less than twenty years!

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(from "The Chronicles of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche")

in the arms of the Glorious Mother

Simplicity, free from conceptual mind,
Dawns as one taste, fresh relaxed.
Seeing nothing but That
Is the ordinary mind.

spontaneously composed by Chogyam Trungpa
at 1979 Seminary

mahamudra poem

you must examine the nature of mind.
it is like a white lily growing alone in the jungle.
it has one drop of water resting on a leaf.
its inherent nature is perfection.
smell its fragrance.
touch its petals.
its roots grow deep in the ground,
but its expression is reaching toward the sun.
it is filled with beauty.
it is filled with desire.
it is filled with sadness.
it is utterly content within all of its longing.

Chogyam Trungpa

blessings

"your life is not a personal thing."

when you understand it fully and truly live every moment according with the dharma, life will always be filled with joy and blessing.

An Indian Prayer

O' Great Spirit
Whose voice I hear in the winds,
And whose breath gives life
To all the world, hear me!
I am small and weak,
I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty,
And make my eyes ever behold
The red and purple sunset.
Make my hands Respect the things you have made,

And my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise,
So that I may understand
The things you have taught my people.

Let me learn the lessons
You have hidden In every leaf and rock.
I seek strength,
Not to be greater than my brother,
But to fight my greatest enemy- myself.
Make me always ready
To come to you with clean hands
And straight eyes.
So when life fades,
As the fading sunset,
My spirit may come to you
Without shame.

still sitting

time has gone by so fast.
I, sitting still looking at wandering thoughts.
and only a glimpse of non-thought,
I finally found myself.

home, I discover my true home.
work, I engage my true work.
love, I am truly in love.

no time...
no coming, no going—
no attaining, no non-attaining—
still, sitting looking at self-liberating thoughts,

see the moon flies,
glance the cloud shines,
taste the rainbow sky,
feel the gurus’ smiles,
everything turns into the sunlight of the Vajra dawn.

vichak
Crestone, CO
March 22, 2007

winter hibernation

February21 - March22
Cabin @ the Sacred Mountain Retreat Center
Crestone, CO

คุณค่าของตำนาน

“เอลิอาเดถือเป็นบุคคลสำคัญที่สุดคนหนึ่งของวงการวิชาการด้านปรัชญาและศาสนา เขาเปรียบเหมือนผู้เปิดโลกแห่งคุณค่าและความหมาย ให้ชาวตะวันตกได้เห็นว่า ศาสนาหาใช่เป็นเพียงแค่ปรัชญาทางความคิด หรือความเชื่อศรัทธา แต่ศาสนาคือ คุณค่าทางจิตวิญญาณของมนุษยชาติ ที่สามารถสัมผัสได้จากประสบการณ์ตรงในชีวิตประจำวัน เอลิอาเดจะเน้นย้ำกับนักเรียนของเขาเสมอว่า หากการเรียนรู้เรื่องปรัชญาและศาสนาที่เรากำลังทำอยู่นี้ ไม่สามารถส่งผลต่อการสร้างรากฐานทางจิตวิญญาณให้กับสังคมตะวันตกได้แล้ว แสดงว่างานที่เราตรากตรำทำมาทั้งหมดล้มเหลวอย่างสิ้นเชิง”

จาก "คุณค่าของตำนาน"

no compromise

“I have enough students now. I don’t need any more students. But if there are people here that want to make this journey really from the depth of your heart, then Lee and I want to work with you, but we are not interested in people who are half-hearted. We want people who really understand the view and who are willing to go to the pain of the journey—a lot of pain, but it’s good pain. It’s pain where there is a lot of learning, transformation, opening, sadness, and joy. If you want to do this, yes, we are here for you. But like I said, we will love you and we will kill you, but there’s no compromise. We are not gonna play games. If you come in trying to play games with me, I will take my sword and chop your head off right on the spot.”

Reggie Ray

take roots

“When Buddhism arrives in a new culture, it is essential for the practitioners to make a deep and genuine connection with the unseen beings in the new place, the spiritual presences and potencies residing there and active from time immemorial, in nature and in the ancestral world.”

Reggie Ray
From the February 07 letter to the sangha