Get a Lifetime Dot Com

(Prologue: I‘ve got first-hand experience that a real understanding of the laws of karma can substantially change our lives for the better. I created this weblog to share information and personal experience with others. May it be beneficial!)

Part of a world-wide “going green” effort is the recycling programmes that many cities have put in place.

This webpost is how we can go further by “greening” our thoughts by recycling them, so to speak.

Following on the last post (dated September 11, 2011 immediately below this one), we learned that genuine spiritual guides and teachers avoid following a thought “down the road” so to speak. They let it go as it arises.

Why do they do this?

Because thoughts lead to volitional action. Which leads to the creation of karma.

How do they do this? By many years of participating in a fitness regime for taming and training the mind — meditation practice.

Meditation practice  provides instructions — labelling and letting go — whereby I can relate to thoughts and the emotions they evoke in a way that does not lead to action. (That’s why it’s said that meditation is one of the few times that we are not accumulating karma.)

But how about in everyday life? How can we recycle thoughts back into primordial energy? I’ve developed an exercise that helps me deal with the thought as soon as it arises in my everyday life. In my city our recycling programme involves three bins — green, blue and grey —  for a variety of items, e.g. garbage, paper, glass, and food etc. etc. etc.

There’s now a fourth “bin.” The city didn’t provide it. I created it. It’s virtual. It’s for thoughts. As soon as I can see the thought — either as it arises, or, more likely (at my early stage of development), when it is full blown — I “put” the thought in the thought recycling bin where it is transformed back into pure energy from which it arose. You can create your own virtual thought recycling bin. Mine is just vast space, like the sky.

The idea of “recycling” thoughts follows the second law of thermodynamics. Put very simply, it says that energy (in whatever form it has taken) returns to its original state as soon as the form decays. In terms of thoughts, the energy of a thought is released when we let go of that thought. If we grasp, attach and fixate on the thought, the opposite happens. We get caught up in a karmic chain reaction. It is described here.

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(Prologue: I’ve got first-hand experience that a real understanding of the laws of karma can substantially change our lives for the better. I created this weblog to share information and personal experience with others. May it be beneficial!)

I love Vermont.

To me, it’s always been a magical place since I first went there in January 1974 to hear Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche speak on Zen and Tantra at what was then known as Tail of the Tiger land centre (now part of beautiful Karme Choling).

I travelled there again on September 02, 2011 for six days to participate in a retreat around Tibetan King Gesar of Ling lead by His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rabjam Rinpoche. On Tuesday, September 06, His Eminence gave about eight of us an interview — arranged for us by his student Gary Mass — that lasted for one hour!

We were invited to ask one question each. In this situation most of us ask questions around the dharma teachings.

This webpost is around the simple yet profound personal question asked by Shambhala Buddhist student Leslie Witt from Vermont: how do you see the world? This is what I remembered the next day of His Eminence’s answer — PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAID.

Highly realized persons have thoughts and emotions like everyone else. The difference is that they do not follow those thoughts. And because they don’t follow the thoughts, they do not engage in liking or aversion. So they they do not perpetuate negative karma of the three poisons.

As my weblog is around an in-depth exploration of karma, I appreciated this simple yet very profound description.

As I sat writing this post at the computer in the dining room at Karme-Choling, one of the programme participants suggested I speak to the translator, Vanessa Turner from Los Angeles, to get her recall. (Vanessa tells me that she has been speaking and translating for a number of years for her Tibetan teachers, one of whom is His Eminence, since she was 16.)

I hit the jackpot! This wonderful translator remembered what His Eminence said almost verbatim. [Please note that words in {   } are mine.] Here it is, unedited so that the reader can get the full flavour of His Eminence’s answer:

I’m really just the same as you.  I too have thoughts and emotions just like you do. But the difference between you guys and myself is that I have thoughts but I recognize the thoughts {as thoughts} and I don’t follow after the thoughts. Actually this is the fundamental difference bewteen ordinary people and lamas. Both of them have thoughts and emotions. The process of thoughts and emotions arising is the same for ordinary people as it is for lamas. The difference is that ordinary people follow after the thoughts and get caught up in them whereas lamas recognize the arising of the thoughts and do not follow after them. (He thinks for a moment.)

When I was young, I remember finding this uncontrived, spontaneous deep level of compassion that was like this feeling of compassion for all sentient beings that was not constructed or forced. It was like something that is always innately there.

I know all sentient beings. I know the way in which they are confused and lost in samsara {the world of confusion created by ego, our manufactured self} and when I see sentient beings lost in their confusion and out of that confusion engaging in creating more negative karma because of their attachment and aversion and ignorance, I genuinely feel just a sense of loving care for all of them. I really feel for them. It’s like they can’t help it. They’re confused. I see it. I see how they create suffering for themselves. I feel so much love and caring for them. So there is this feeling, this compassion, where it’s like I can see that the sentient beings and the nature of their confusion but I myself do not follow after that confusion. But I can see it!

And also some lamas who have really high level of realization they actually don’t see impurity anywhere at all. They don’t see impure sentient beings. They see only deities {wisdom beings}. They see only the display of the deity mandala. Everything that appears to them appears as the expression of wisdom as a display of the deity. Everything they hear (all sounds) arise to them as the sound of mantra. But to have that kind of view one would have to be really high level of realization.

However, I will say that when we are all gathered together in puja and sometime I just look out at all of you and I only see your goodness. It’s like I look at you all and I don’t see any faults in anyone. When we are in the puja together, all of you are wholly good. So maybe that is some reflection of a pure view because really don’t actually see any flaws in you when we are together in the puja. For lamas of really high realization everyone appears as the deity {wisdom being} and anyway I too have thoughts but I recognize the thought.  Recognizing the thought I do not follow after it. Or become entrenched in it.

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Location:    Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada

Event:       State funeral for the Honourable Jack Layton,
             leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition

Date:        Saturday, August 27, 2011

Jack  was always an innovator, a creator, often ahead of his time, as the expression goes. Click here for summary of career.

But he outdoes himself on August 27, 2011 when he uses his own funeral as the setting for his last political campaign!

Let’s go back a bit.

May 02, 2011 Canadian Federal Election: Jack, 61 year-old leader of the federal New Democratic Party, had just brought his party to its highest political status in its history on the federal level: he won enough seats to become Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.

August 22, 2011 – 04h45: Jack dies from cancer. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, understanding the great affection Canadians have for Jack,  regardless of their political affiliations, announces that Jack will be given a state funeral — most unusual because state funerals are given if a former prime minister or cabinet minister dies. Jack has been neither.

August 22 – 26, 2011: Tributes to Jack come from some of the many people he worked with and knew over his lifetime. The one I like is given by Robin Sears who makes a point that no one else I am hearing has made:  how Jack evolved as a politician. The concepts of evolution and transformation appeal to me. And that was my experience of Jack. When I first met him in the 1980s he seemed defensive and somewhat aggressive. Now he has the stature of a bodhisattva, those who serve others out of compassion without thought of what one can get for oneself.

August 27, 2011: The day of the funeral. Only 600 members of the public were allowed into Roy Thomson Hall for this event. There are 1,700 invited guests including the Prime Minister, other elected officials including mayors and cabinet ministers etc. etc. etc. I managed to be one of the 600.

Here are a few of my off-the-cuff notes from this past week of mourning and grief:

• The media reports describe Jack as “lying in repose” in his casket — I think to myself that it probably is the only time that Jack lay in repose in this lifetime!  He was constantly working on behalf of others.

• Jack was a wonderful example of a great Shambhala (Tibetan) Buddhist warrior — warrior in the sense of courage, not aggression and hatred. His compassion fueled his courage. The Tibetan name for Great Warrior is Pamo Chenmo.
• We cannot become a genuine warrior until out heart is broken. Jack’s heart was broken by the suffering in the world.  He truly manifested the genuine heart of sadness of the warrior. Juxtaposed with this sadness was his boundless uplifted spirit of optimism and hope.
  

• Jack for me embodied some of the qualities of the Great Eastern Sun — the sun shines on everyone. It does not distinguish between old, young, fat, thin, rich, poor, beautiful, ugly, etc. etc. etc. Jack helped everyone who came to him.

• Jack often spoken of as “passionate” about his beliefs, described as social democratic. Yes, he was passionate, but not fanatically fixated or obsessed.

• Jack as a loving warrior – I like this phrase because of the juxtaposition of two apparently opposite ideas: “loving” and “warrior.”

• Jack-in-the-box  —his body is in his coffin now, but Jack was someone who could think outside the box.

• I hear people says it’s “unfair” that he died at this time. I don’t think Jack lived his life in terms of these kinds of dichotomies, e.g. fair\unfair.  To me, Jack lived in the gap between all the dualistic, polar opposites by which we conventionally live and judge others. Again, some examples are stupid\intelligent; nobody\somebody; and the biggest one being the us-and-them dichotomy; etc. etc.

• Jack’s “political” message transcended politics and spoke to basic goodness  (Quebecers call Jack “Le Bon Jacques”)

• Great teachers — whether they manifest as politicians, doctors, whatever — sometimes leave this life relatively early….we now have to stand on our own.

• I hear people say “I never met Jack but….”  I think to myself “Yes you did. You meet Jack anytime you see someone taking time to help someone in a practical way. He did not tell people that it wasn’t “convenient” for him and maybe if he had time he’d get back to them. No. He just helped them. On the spot.

• Jack, despite his personal and political stature, provided the courtesies of everyday life to everyone he met. To me, these simple courtesies create peace.

• There’s a phrase in one of our Shambhala Buddhist chants that talks about becoming “gentle and tough” (page 3 of 4). To me, that was Jack.

Dear Jack,

Just a few last thoughts…….

I’ll bet you are making your journey through the after-death  bardo on your bicycle! That is fitting,  as you promoted the option of riding our bikes rather than riding the transit rails or driving our cars in the city of Toronto long before anyone else.

You’ll always be on my ballot whenever there’s an election.

Well done, our good and faithful servant.

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This past Thursday, my sister Stephanie Andersen came to visit Mum and I from Florida. We went out for Father’s Day brunch today at the Bloor Diner in Toronto — albeit without my late father who died on November 06, 2004.

Around 1969 Dad sold the family business that his grandfather had started several decades earlier. And at the age of 50 Dad began to sell commercial real estate.

He won numerous awards year after year as top salesman in his company. How? He told me his “secret” — he sold without selling.

The young salespeople in the company always tried to make a quick sale. I didn’t. I spent a lot of time with the clients to assess what their needs were.

It sounded very Shambhalian to me.

Mum and my sister and I clincked glasses in a toast of gratitude to Dad.

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(Prologue: I’ve got first-hand experience that a real understanding of the laws of karma can substantially change our lives for the better. I created this weblog to share information and personal experience with others. May it be of benefit!)

This weblog is dedicated to the subject of karma and its many facets and factors. Today is “Milarepa Day” in the Buddhist calendar. Milarepa, a murderer and saint is, for me, the best object lesson for karma!

When we hear the name Tibet, many people think of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Gentle. Compassionate. Humourous. Loving. Wise.

Milarepa, one of the greatest figures of Tibetan Buddhism, couldn’t present a better contrast to the perception we have of the Dalai Lama.

Mila was one bad dude. Got into black magic in a big way. Murdered his enemies to avenge some wrong-doing done to his family after his father had died.

But he is favourite of mine. Why? It’s really quite simple. He was a very naughty boy who went from sinner to saint. From a murderer to a magician and mystic. And did it all in one lifetime.

Milarepa’s message to me is: “I transformed a great deal of negative karma into enlightenment. So can you.” Well, it’s taking me many, many lifetimes. But Mila is my inspiration.

Let’s start at the beginning of his story. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s March 05th, the Tibetan New Year, a time for celebration within the worldwide sangha (group of practitioners).

Every year the students of the Sakyong [Earth Protector] Mipham Rinpoche gather in their respective shrinerooms to hear his address through an onlinehook-up, which includes centres and groups from six continents and over thirty countries around the world .

But this year is even more special because Rinpoche [the Precious One] has just completed a year-long retreat.

As the Sakyong enters the shrineroom in Boulder, Colorado, 8,000 students stand up in their respective shrinerooms from Argentina to the United Kingdom. The bagpipes are played. Rose petals are tossed into the air.

The Sakyong takes his seat.

He looks well. As sangha member Madeline Conacher said in an e-mail message to me “Did the Sakyong not look radiant and peaceful!”

He begins his address:

Read the rest of this entry »

We live in interesting times. Tunisia, and now Egypt, have overthrown their respective dictators. Natural disasters seem to occur with frightening regularity. No less than the karmic streams of these countries have been changed.

We are encouraged not to resist change by living in our cocoons and clinging to our own little lives caught in the vice of self-cherishing.

Join with others! Form communities so that we can be alone together and work for healthy changes. Just as we cannot find happiness in some external circumstance outside of ourselves, we cannot depend on others to “lead” us. We are our own leader!

Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
…….
…….

At this time in history,
we are to take nothing personally,
least of all ourselves,
for the moment that we do,
our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves.
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done
in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.”

<source: paragraph of a speech given by a Hopi elder in Oraibi, Arizona to the Hopi Nation circa October 28, 2001>

Here are two more calls to action from The Sakyong (Earth Protector) Mipham Rinpoche:

Especially recently, we have seen a series of natural and manmade disasters. It is as if the earth is asking us to be kind to each other and to itself. Now, more than any other time in history, the fate of our own planet is in our hands. (Sakyong Mipham, Rinpoche, letter to sangha, June 28, 2010)

……….

“If we expect somebody else to create peace in the world, we’re going to be waiting for a long time. We’ll become even more angry or anxious, because our unmet expectations will bring frustration, disappointment, and inevitably, more instability. But if we can stabilize our motivation and learn to cultivate peace and compassion, our willingness to take responsibility for changing the environment will inspire many others.”

© 2005 by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, from his address to the Sit for Change Meditation Marathon 2005. This excerpt first appeared in The Shambhala Sun.

We are the one’s we’ve been waiting for. We can change the karmic stream of our planet. Indeed, we will have to. Why? Because we are beyond the proverbial Eleventh Hour.

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour. <source: section of a speech given by a Hopi elder in Oraibi, Arizona to the Hopi Nation circa October 28, 2001>

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What do sneezing and unexpectedly slipping while walking on ice have in common? We’re in the NOW. No discursive thought whatsoever. No concepts. Just the NOW.

Friends who’ve been in bad car accidents tell me that “everything stopped” while the car rolled over and over. They experienced NOW, a kind of stunned constancy (term from the Ocean of Definitive Meaning).

Another term for NOW is “the fourth moment,” the other three being past, present and future. When we experience the fourth moment, the concept of time is not operating.

The past is all of the things that have already happened and no longer exist.  The future is all of the things that have not yet happened and don’t yet exist.  The NOW is like the edge of a razor blade: so short and so sharp that there is no time for anything to exist in a substantial way.  We see that there is no time, and no substance, only clarity-emptiness, the nature of mind. <source: e-mail from Shambhala Buddhist student sent March 18, 2008>

My New Year’s Resolution is to be in the NOW as much as possible. My question is:  how can I do that without nearly being killed?

Here’s what happened exactly three years ago today.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Prologue: I’ve got first-hand experience that a real understanding of the laws of karma can substantially change our lives for the better. I created this weblog to share information and personal experience with others. May it be beneficial!)

We do not have to believe in reincarnation to benefit from this post or weblog. We only have to agree that present volitional actions have consequences in the future. 

Prologue: Based on my weblog page called Actual face of karma,what would the life of someone who is the present (fictional) incarnation of Queen Tiye (mother of Akhenaten), Queen of Sparta (aka Helen of Troy), Queen Jezebel, Cleopatra, St. Teresa of Avila and Sigmund Freud actually look like? In other words, what is the fruition of the karma (past volitional actions) of this portrait gallery of six historical figures when certain causes and conditions meet and the seeds of their past virtuous and non virtuous action  ripen in the present? To try to answer this question, I use diary entries like the one below.

* * * * *

I, Rainbow Desert Flower, enter these accounts of the last 40 years into my private diary. May it benefit all those who are trying to understand their own karmic package.

While it’s extremely helpful— indeed, necessary — to deconstruct the laws of karma, I started this weblog to demonstrate through real-life examples how karma actually works — manifests — in our present lives.

Here are some examples of the negative karma I had accumulated over many lifetimes through the ten unvirtuous actions that manifested in this present lifetime.

I went from

• being the extremely powerful mother of Akenaten, who plotted the death of of her grandchild Tutankamun in a past lifetime, to experiencing extremely negative karma with child for 22 years in this lifetime;
• taking away other women’s men for ego reasons in past lifetimes to no successful relationships for 22 years in this lifetime;
• being the richest woman in the world who abused her power in a past lifetime to financial poverty for 22 years in this lifetime;
• hatred towards my sister who had illegally seized the crown from our father in a past lifetime to severely unhappy relations with mother in this lifetime; and
  
• lying about one of my major theories in my last lifetime, to being slandered and deceived for 22 years in this lifetime.

In short, I went from abusing the power I had by virtue of the extremely high positions I held in previous lifetimes to being powerless for 22 years in this lifetime.

In that sense it has been the worst of lives.

Simultaneously, while the karmic s— — t was hitting the fan in this lifetime, I met enlightened, awake spiritual guides.

Learning about, inter alia [among other things]

• the  laws of karma — and how to cut through the habitual patterns that create and maintain that karma;
• how to tame my mind and cut through the confusion produced by ego through meditation; and
• the true nature of reality;

In that sense it has been the best of lives.

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It’s 06h15. I’m listening, as I do everyday, to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio One, and hear about the website that encourages people to sit at their computers and do nothing for two minutes. You cannot touch your mouse or keyboard. You get a Pass or Fail grade.

It is almost impossible to meet the challenge. We tend to go AWOL. Even for two minutes!

We’ve neglected mental fitness. We’ve been brought up on a diet of action, doing, going. We’ll get physically fit. But we don’t make time to practice fitness for the mind where we could actually meet our own minds directly and reclaim them.

Try the challenge! When you get a Pass grade, I’ll meet you here.

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