DOCSLIB.ORG

Appendix – Rigpa Reconciliation – a Practice of Communication Pages

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Appendix – Rigpa Reconciliation – a Practice of Communication Pages On account of the prayers it contains, this booklet should be tr If you should wish to dispose of it, please burn it rather than thr www.rigpa.org . eated with respect. eated with respect. ow it away. A Pract A RECONCILIATION: ice of Communication ow it away. eated with respect. eated with respect. www.rigpa.org If you should wish to dispose of it, please burn it rather than thr On account of the prayers it contains, this booklet should be tr 30 Running-order for confession practice Running-order View Confession Prayer Practice Texts T B ackground he Practice Dam drip nyepa kunsel Prayer for the Long Life of Sogyal Rinpoche The Dedication of Merit The Meditation and Recitation of The Generation of Bodhichitta: Invoking the Lama ‘Resolution’ ‘Confession’ E Purpose The Four Powers Being a ‘Nangpa’ Responsibility, not guilt Responsibility, Dedication from ‘Samantabhadra’s Aspiration’ ‘Samantabhadra’s Dedication from The Heart of Vajrasattva Refuge Taking ‘Appreciation’ Preliminaries Ru Ground Aspects of Transformation Three Noble Principles The Three nvironment ________________________________________________ which Purifies Obscurations of the Awakened Mind Awakened the ___________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ ________________________________________ les ______________________________________ ______________________________________ _________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ________________________________ Contents ____________________________ ____________________________ _____________________________ ___________________________ __________________________ __________________________ the Heart _____________________ _____________________ Vajrasattva Vajrasattva __________________ __________ ________ 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 7 6 9 9 3 1 5 4 4 2 1 0 0 9 7 6 5 4 3 1 9 8 6 4 4 3 29 ) ) group practices loving-kindness during ( group practices tonglen during each ( Confession prayer (individual) 100-syll. mantra 1x (group) Confession prayer (group) or simply the heart of Vajrasattva, Purification prayer from 100 syll. mantra 3x if time is short (group) Dam Drip Nyepa Kunsel 3x, last line 21x (group) close Vajrasattva 1st Noble Principle; a moment’s quiet contemplation of this follows. & others’ or ‘self-tonglen’) & 4 powers for purification Confession Running-order for confession practice Facilitator welcomes, reminds of the purpose of the practice, and of the Motivation prayer Invoking the Lama Taking Refuge (from LNN) 3x Prostrations 21x Generation of Bodhicitta (from LNN) 3x Silent or guided Mahayana practice (usually ‘exchanging self after all confessions completed:- Tea! Resolution Dedication & SR long-life prayer Generation of Bodhicitta 3x Open Vajrasattva 100 syl 21x 6 syl 100x Facilitator reminds everyone of 2nd or 3rd Noble Principles after each confession:- Appreciation 28 BACKGROUND teachings are not authentic, or the students are not applying not authentic, or the students are teachings are arising means that the people worry that such problems communities all over the world. and developed in lay monastic Buddhist applied, refined with such situations was developed which continues to be transformation. Over time, a tradition of how to work skilfully arising, and their potential for both confusion the inevitability of such situations have always recognised Buddhist communities, particularly monastic for transformation. authentic self-confidence - a fertile ground and lack of work with their own patterns of self-centredness such situations can become a powerful basis for students to acknowledged and worked with, if recognised, However, nowhere. pattern that continuously feeds back upon itself, leading confusion, & exhaustion is generated; a classic samsaric grasping, projection, & territoriality, further aggression for - a fertile ground someone else ‘losing’/being ‘wrong’ - usually in terms of ourselves ‘winning’/being ‘right’ and the situation ‘locked up’ in unskilful attempts to ‘resolve’ becomes energy and more As more individuals concerned. of the and the spiritual progress both the work of group and worked with, these tensions can block If not recognised dealt with. are how such problems community is, rather, to experiences, what characterises a genuine spiritual react Just as what distinguishes a practitioner is how they nakedly. causes all our samsaric patterns to be exposed ever more & Dzogchen practice, that it and especially of Vajrayana of authentic practice, characteristic of the deep healing process them. The latter is often the case but not always, since it this; in fact, they are be immune from people imagine that spiritual communities will somehow experience tensions due to miscommunication. Sometimes Any community living and/or working together will A Practice of Comm A RECONCILI ATION: unication particularly prone. Or prone. 1 27 bimalé Dam drip nyepa kunsel (Mantra for the removal of all defilements of samaya) om utsitaya torya soha uta mitaya torya soha mönta krotaya torya soha ako krotaya torya soha abhu krotaya torya soha uta shataya torya soha eling etaya torya soha lamön taya torya soha ené piné taya torya soha om bhurkur maha pranaye bhurtsi bhurku utsukma krodha hung phat torya soha Such skills are perhaps particularly necessary for Buddhist perhaps Such skills are communities trying to integrate the teachings in a Western living wisdom- context. The encounter between this great tradition and a society characterised by speed aggression As a tensions and misunderstandings. is bound to produce also be said that Westerners generalisation, it could perhaps much tend to define themselves in terms of their relationships an Oriental culture. than do practitioners coming from more tend to play out that we might more foreseeable It is therefore our confusions in the context of relationships. This practice is closely modelled on those used for in the earliest community-building and conflict-resolution It was developed Buddhist monasteries, and still in use today. into the practices used in a number of research through contmporary western Buddhist communities, of which the and work done in Thich Nhat Hanh’s and Chagdud Tulku’s, Amaravati (a Theravadin monastery in Britain) proved at also adapted from particularly valuable. Some tools were from American tradition of tribal group-meetings, the Native developed at the the ‘circle-work’ Quaker practice, and from Family Life Center in California. This model has now been used weekly by students in personal development, and a powerful working context in which to practice integrating the teachings into their lives & - an authentic taste of why ‘Sangha’ is one the relationships Jewels in which we take refuge. Three Rigpa’s one-year retreat at Dzogchen Beara for the last 3 Rigpa’s one-year retreat and years, during which time it has been further refined It has rapidly developed into one of the richest structured. its use Through and most important practices in the retreat. students have found their confidence in themselves weekly, of sense growing and the teachings deepened, a real for their the community as both a supportive environment 2 26 And grant absolution by pure self-nature, I pray! Please accept this with forebearance, not holding onto I confess with these words. theTo extent that I have not remained within a completely I have fallen from the traditional ideals and upset your minds. inYet regard to fundamental manners of pure body and pure There is no distinction of excellence or fault within the context allWe moreover have made a commitment to behave And have taken the samaya oath as disciples of the Sugatas. All of us are vajra-brothers and sisters, ah rangshin dag pé tsang pa tsal du sol dzin mé ngang du zö par shé dzö la nam dag sam pé ni né tsig di shag zhung lé nyam shing thug dang gal wa nam lu ngag nam par dag pé tsul tsam du nyam nyi dang lé ne nye yerme kyang kun kyang thun par kyö pé damtsig la dewar sheg pé lob mar dam no mé tham ché dorje dang chamdral te ho (from ‘Knowing One Liberates All’, by Jamgön Kongtrul Lödro Thaye) Confession Prayer anything, pure state of mind, speech of equanimity; harmoniously. Responsibility, not guilt VIEW active, rigorous, liberating and transformative. active, rigorous, is passive, self-indulgent and disempowering; responsibility humour and courage. Guilt is aspects with lucidity, difficult in that, we can face, work with and finally liberate our a deep confidence Arousing fundamentally sane, awake, pure. not a hopeless case, we’re not our confusion”. We’re are “We because, as Rinpoche says, can release of things’. We breast purifying, ‘making a clean Real confession is about releasing, change. powerless to the message that we are patterns by reinforcing of our personal soap-opera”, allowing us to continue old the coin of self-indulgence” and “a particularly seductive part He has called it “the other side of of egocentric perception. mechanisms is one of the subtlest and most powerful control us, guilt As Sogyal Rinpoche has so often reminded & guilt. it is connected with a sense of personal unworthiness where in the contemporary Judaeo-Christian context, interpreted not using that term in the way it is so often that we are When we speak of ‘confession’, it is vital to understand
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Conversion to Tibetan Buddhism: Some Reflections Bei Dawei
    4 Conversion to Tibetan Buddhism: Some Reflections Bei Dawei Abstract Tibetan Buddhism, it is often said, discourages conversion. The Dalai Lama is one of many Buddhist leaders who have urged spiritual seekers not to convert to Tibetan Buddhism, but to remain with their own religions. And yet, despite such admonitions, conversions somehow occur—Tibetan dharma centers throughout the Americas, Europe, Oceania, and East/Southeast Asia are filled with people raised as Jews, Christians, or followers of the Chinese folk religion. It is appropriate to ask what these new converts have gained, or lost; and what Tibetan Buddhism and other religions might do to better adapt. One paradox that emerges is that Western liberals, who recoil before the fundamentalists of their original religions, have embraced similarly authoritarian, literalist values in foreign garb. This is not simply an issue of superficial cultural differences, or of misbehavior by a few individuals, but a systematic clash of ideals. As the experiences of Stephen Batchelor, June Campbell, and Tara Carreon illustrate, it does not seem possible for a viable “Reform” version of Tibetan Buddhism (along the lines of Reform Judaism, or Unitarian Universalism) ever to arise—such an egalitarian, democratic, critical ethos would tend to undermine the institution of Lamaism, without which Tibetan Buddhism would lose its raison d’être. The contrast with the Chinese folk religion is less obvious, since Tibetan Buddhism appeals to many of the same superstitious compulsions, and there is little direct disagreement. Perhaps the key difference is that Tibetan Buddhism (in common with certain institutionalized forms of Chinese Buddhism) expands through predation upon weaker forms of religious identity and praxis.
    [Show full text]
  • Sikkim: the Hidden Land and Its Sacred Lakes
    - SIKKIM- The Hidden Holy Land And Its Sacred Lakes Dr. Chowang Acharya & Acharya Sonaro Gyatso Dokharn Various religious textual sources ascertain the fact that Sikkim is one of the sacrosanct hidden Buddhist zones recognized by Guru Padmasambhava, the fountainhead of Tantrayana Buddhism. Denjong Nye-Yig (The Pilgrim's Guide to the Hidden Land of Sikkim), by Lhatsun Jigmed Pawo, based on Lama Gongdu Cycle revealed by Terton Sangay Lingpa (1340-1396) has the following description of Sikkim: "~:n'4~rs~ 'a;~~1 ~~'~o,j'~~ 'ffi~ 'Q,S~'5f~4~~'~~'$'~1 ~s~~'~' qr.;'~~'~~'l:.Jl ~~o.J·UJ~'~~'~f.:1o,j'~'d;f~~l ~~~~'~~~'~'f~q'o,j'~~' ~'~1 ~r~:~5f[lJ~·~~'o,j·~ry~·l:.Jl f~~'~~l~~~'~'~'o,j'~ry~l ~q. il~·~·~~'~~'~'o,j'~ry~'l:.Jl S~'~~~'o.Jg.ii~'~~~'o,j'~ry~l ~~'l:.J~.~, S~'4~ ·o.J~~·~·~~'~'o,j'~ry~'l:.Jl o.J~Q, 'f~~'f~~'Q,~~ 'a:)~ 'o,j'~ry~ 'l:.Jl f~f.:1~'UJ~'l Q,~~'~~'C:iT-Q,S~'~~'UJ~'~'~Q,'Q,S~'5Jj UJ~~'4~'ffi'~~' ~4~~1 ~ 'W~ '~~'~o,j'Q,S~'5f~4~~'~~':n~~1 " "The auspicious Hidden Land ofSikkim, having a square topographical ap­ pearance, is situated in the southwest ofSamye Monastery, Lhasa, TIbet, and is 10 SIKKIM- THE HIDDEN HOLY LAND close to the southwest flce ofMt. Kyin-thing. Its eastern border touches Mt. Sidhi of India; the western border touches the mountain of Zar district of u- Tsang, Tibet, and the Northern border touches Lake Tsomo Dri-Chu': "The upper range ofthe country, the northeastern side, reaches up to Gangchen Zod-nga and the lower southwesterly range touches Banga (India).
    [Show full text]
  • Secularism and the Buddhist Monastery of Pema Yangtse in Sikkim'
    MELANIE V ANDENHELSKEN 55 SECULARISM AND THE BUDDHIST MONASTERY OF PEMA YANGTSE IN SIKKIM' MELANIE V ANDENHELSKEN Montpellier Thutob Namgyal and Yeshe Dolma's2 account of the founding of the kingdom of Sikkim, shows us a politico-religious system in line with the concept of separate spiritual and temporal domains such as encountered in Tibet.3 However, this concept is very distinct from the Indian notion of secularism, which can be formulated as a privatisation of the religious sphere.4 Indeed, the absolute separation of the lay and religious domains appears to be equally problematic in both Sikkim and Tibet.5 The functioning of the royal monastery of Pemayangtse in Sikkim clearly demonstrates that there can be many interpenetrations of these two domains (that we can also refer to as conjugation), and which are not at variance with certain Buddhist concepts. The relationship that existed between Pemayangtse monastery and the kingdom of Sikkim represents one of the forms of this interpenetration in the Tibetan cultural area. When considering the functioning of Pemayangtse today and in the past, I will examine the relationship between the monastery and the I This paper is adapted from my doctoral thesis entitled: Le monastere bouddhique de Pemayangtse au Siklam (Himalaya oriental, Inde) : un monastere dans le monde. This thesis is the result of two years of fieldwork in India (1996-1997 and 1998- 1999), financed by an Indo-French grant from the French Department of Foreign Affairs and the ICCR, Delhi. My long stay in Sikkim was made possible thanks to the Home Ministry of Sikkim and the Institute of Higher Nyingma Studies, Gangtok.
    [Show full text]
  • Copper Mountain
    A Free Article from The Shamanism Magazine You may share this article in any non-commercial way but reference to www.SacredHoop.org must be made if it is reprinted anywhere. (Please contact us via email - found on our website - if you wish to republish it in another publication) Sacred Hoop is an independent magazine about Shamanism and Animistic Spirituality. It is based in West Wales, and has been published four times a year since 1993. To get a very special low-cost subscription to Sacred Hoop - please visit : www.SacredHoop.org/offer.html We hope you enjoy reading the article. Nicholas Breeze Wood (editor) hether seen from a Buddhist or shamanic Wviewpoint, Padmasambhava is a being who is able to manipulate reality and the beings who dwell in it in a very magical way, and there is no doubt that the teachings left by him have great power. He is an extremely important figure in Tibetan Buddhism, being the tantric Buddha, and sometimes is reffered to as Padmakara or Guru Rinpoche. As the ‘First Shaman’ he provides a role model for practitioners and the many legends that surround him link back to the pre-historic shamanic world of the Himalayas. These legends were recorded by his Tibetan consort Yeshe Tsogyal after he came to Tibet in the 9th century, and his birth was predicted by the Buddha, who, before he died, said that one even greater than himself would be born in a lotus flower to teach the ways of tantra. PADMASAMBHAVA’S LIFE Guru Rinpoche’s story began at the ‘Ocean of Milk’ or Lake Danakosha in the Land of Odiyana on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where according to legend, in the reign of king Indrabodhi, he appeared miraculously in a beautiful red lotus blossom, as an eight-year-old child holding a dorje (see picture) and a lotus.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018 Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in Delhi, India
    ANNUAL REPORT 2018 Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in Delhi, India. Photo by Alexvi. RINPOCHE’S REMARKS While it’s important for all human beings to bring reason to every avenue of their lives—social, political, and spiritual— academics particularly treasure, cherish, and nurture the critical, rational, and analytical faculties. In that regard, Buddhist studies have such sophisticated tools for sharpening our critical thinking that they even lead us to critique the critical mind itself. In this world and era of short attention spans, where we are so influenced by headlines, images, and sound bites and swayed by emotion, it’s ever more important to support and cultivate genuine traditions of critical thinking. That is also of paramount importance for followers of Shakyamuni Buddha who cherish his teachings. The traditional approach to the Buddhist path recognizes that a complete understanding and appreciation of the teachings cannot happen through academic and intellectual study alone, but requires us to practice the teachings and bring them into our lives. Prior to such practice, however, it has always been emphasized that hearing and contemplating the teachings is of the utmost importance. In short, study and critical analysis of the Buddhist teachings are as necessary for dedicated practitioners as they are valuable for scholars, leaders, and ordinary people the world over. —Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, in his remarks announcing the Khyentse Gendün Chöpel Professorship of Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Michigan, June, 2018 3 MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Sharing Buddha’s Wisdom with Everyone Dear friends and supporters of Khyentse Foundation, As Khyentse Foundation enters its 18th year of operation, I wish to take In managing the activities of the foundation, we try to maintain both an the opportunity to share some thoughts on the basic questions of who open mind and a critical approach.
    [Show full text]
  • Guru Padmasambhava and His Five Main Consorts Distinct Identity of Christianity and Islam
    Journal of Acharaya Narendra Dev Research Institute l ISSN : 0976-3287 l Vol-27 (Jan 2019-Jun 2019) Guru Padmasambhava and his five main Consorts distinct identity of Christianity and Islam. According to them salvation is possible only if you accept the Guru Padmasambhava and his five main Consorts authority of their prophet and holy book. Conversely, Hinduism does not have a prophet or a holy book and does not claim that one can achieve self-realisation through only the Hindu way. Open-mindedness and simultaneous existence of various schools Heena Thakur*, Dr. Konchok Tashi** have been the hall mark of Indian thought. -------------Hindi----cultural ties with these countries. We are so influenced by western thought that we created religions where none existed. Today Abstract Hinduism, Buddhism and Jaininism are treated as Separate religions when they are actually different ways to achieve self-realisation. We need to disengage ourselves with the western world. We shall not let our culture to This work is based on the selected biographies of Guru Padmasambhava, a well known Indian Tantric stand like an accused in an alien court to be tried under alien law. We shall not compare ourselves point by point master who played a very important role in spreading Buddhism in Tibet and the Himalayan regions. He is with some western ideal, in order to feel either shame or pride ---we do not wish to have to prove to any one regarded as a Second Buddha in the Himalayan region, especially in Tibet. He was the one who revealed whether we are good or bad, civilised or savage (world ----- that we are ourselves is all we wish to feel it for all Vajrayana teachings to the world.
    [Show full text]
  • KHANDRO RINPOCHE PEMA DECHEN (1923-2006) Chorten
    BULLETIN OF TIBETOLOGY 137 KHANDRO RINPOCHE PEMA DECHEN (1923-2006) TULKU THOGMED Chorten Monastery, Gangtok English translation by Tenzin Samphel and Carl Yamamoto Om Svasti! From the integral nature of the all-pervading primordial state, The Rupakaya of the uninterrupted unity of voidness and awareness, The mother of the spiritual activities of the lord of the three times, The widely manifested venerable Dakini—at her lotus feet, I do service. Lately, a number of people have been asking about the venerable Khandro Rinpoche and her spiritual activities. This obituary is a modest attempt at presenting some information about the late divine mother’s spiritual life. Khandro Rinpoche was born in Brula, in the province of Kongpo in Eastern Tibet, to the noble lawyer family of Dekyi Khangsar in the Water Female Pig year of the 15th 60-year cycle of the lunar calendar (1923). She was given the name Pema Dechen. From early childhood, she displayed noble signs of altruism such as mercy and compassion, together with an unshakable faith in Ogyen Rinpoche and the Vidhyadhara siddhas. Unlike the other children, when she played as a child, she would repeatedly assume the bare cross-legged posture and pretend to meditate, recite, make ritual offerings, etc., which awakened her divine predispositions. Around the age of six, she learnt from her father the arts of reading, writing, and memorizing texts. During this period, she helped her family and successfully carried out similar worldly responsibilities. At the age of 13, realizing that the answers to her prayers and aspirations had come, she became the consort of the great Dzogchen master Trulshik Rinpoche Pawo Dorjee (1897-1962) of Kham Minyak, Eastern Tibet.
    [Show full text]
  • §¨ ¨ Úf' Ú 7 ºú9º Ú
    Restricted text. Please do not distribute. §¨¨ÚFÚ7ºÚ9ºÚ º¬ Rangjung Peme Nyingtik His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Restricted text. Please do not distribute. Introduction Ask anyone who ever met His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche about his qualities and you will probably get a similar description. He had a most unusual physical presence. His body was grand and stable like a mountain, yet a soft, yielding, and vibrant energy seemed to flow through him unobstructedly, like a river. Most striking was the unceasing quality of his teaching. There was no break in his speech: as he inhaled he taught and as he exhaled he taught. An unending stream of people came to see him each day, yet his compas- sionate activities and his longing to serve others never diminished. How does someone with so many people under his care generate such deep reservoirs of energy? For us to truly understand the wonder and mystery of his activity we will have to study and practice the Dharma. His Holiness, without a doubt, embodied all the great tradi- tions of the rime, or non-sectarian, movement and demonstrated this as a living experience, manifesting an example of enlightened activity for all to see. He has, with great kindness, passed many of these teachings on to us either directly or through our own teachers. Now is the time to put them to use. The prayers in this book have been compiled for the cenntenial celebrations of His Holiness’ birth in the United States. This year Rinpoche graciously returns to us as a promising young man of 17 years.
    [Show full text]
  • When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Time
    When Things Fall Apart HEART ADVICE FOR DIFFICULT TIMES PEMA CHÖDRÖN SHAMBHALA Boston 2010 SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS, INC. Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 www.shambhala.com © 1997 by Pema Chödrön The Sādhana of Mahāmudrā © 1968, 1976 by Chögyam Trungpa, © 1990 by Diana J. Mukpo. Used by permission of Diana J. Mukpo and the Nalanda Translation Committee. The author’s proceeds from this book will be donated to Gampo Abbey, Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada B0E 2P0. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Library of Congress catalogues the hardcover edition of this book as follows: Chödrön, Pema. When things fall apart: heart advice for difficult times/ Pema Chödrön. p. cm. eISBN 978-0-8348-2100-2 ISBN 1-57062-160-8 ISBN 1-57062-344-9 ISBN 1-57062-969-2 1. Religious life—Buddhism. I. Title. BQ5410.C434 1997 96-9509 394-3′ 444—dc20 CIP To Sakyong Mipham, with devotion, love, and gratitude CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Intimacy with Fear 2. When Things Fall Apart 3. This Very Moment Is the Perfect Teacher 4. Relax As It Is 5. It’s Never Too Late 6. Not Causing Harm 7. Hopelessness and Death 8. Eight Worldly Dharmas 9. Six Kinds of Loneliness 10. Curious about Existence 11. Nonaggression and the Four Maras 12. Growing Up 13. Widening the Circle of Compassion 14. The Love That Will Not Die 15.
    [Show full text]
  • In M. Ferrari & N. Weststrate (Eds.). (2013). The
    In M. Ferrari & N. Weststrate (Eds.). (2013). The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom: From Contemplative Traditions to Neuroscience. Amsterdam, NL: Springer. The Grinch Who Stole Wisdom Eleanor Rosch Department of Psychology University of California, Berkeley Abstract Contemplative wisdom offers a different orientation to what personal wisdom is, how to develop it, and how to use it in the world than is presently contained in our popular culture, our sciences, or the field called wisdom studies. I illustrate this by showing parallels between the historical development of contemplative paths in Buddhism and the narrative development of the great Dr. Seuss children’s fable How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Both diverge markedly from our educational expectations for wisdom. The second part of the chapter outlines the difficulties of doing traditional scientific research on this kind of material; in particular, it presents a critique of the research that purports to study Buddhist derived mindfulness. Rosch – Grinch who Stole Wisdom 2 “Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, Was singing! Without any presents at all!” (Seuss, 1957, unpaginated) Dr. Seuss is wise. How the Grinch Stole Christmas could serve as a parable for our time. It can also be seen as a roadmap for the development of contemplative wisdom. From the point of view of contemplatives in any of the world’s philosophies or religions, people are confused about wisdom. The content of the nascent field of wisdom studies, they might say, is largely not wisdom at all but rather what it's like to live in a particular kind of prison cell, a well appointed cell perhaps, but not a place that makes possible either personal satisfaction or deep problem solving.
    [Show full text]
  • Tibetan Self-Immolation and the Problem of the Non/Violence Binary
    Open Theology 2015; 1: 146–159 Violence of Non-Violence Open Access Research Article John Soboslai Violently Peaceful: Tibetan Self-Immolation and the Problem of the Non/Violence Binary DOI 10.1515/opth-2015-0004 Received February 17, 2015; accepted March 18, 2015 Abstract: The paper investigates the conceptual dichotomy of violence and nonviolence in reference to the self-immolations that have been taking place in Tibet for the last several years. First using the insights of Hannah Arendt to distinguish between the categories of violent, nonviolent and peaceful, I approach the question of violence as the problem of acts that transgress prohibitions against causing harm. Using that heuristic, I examine the ways multiple ethical systems are vying for recognition regarding the self- immolations, and how a certain Buddhist ambivalence around extreme acts of devotion complicate any easy designations of the act as ‘violent’ or ‘nonviolent’. I conclude by suggesting how any such classification inculcates us into questions of power and assertions of appropriate authority. Keywords: Self-Immolation; Tibetan Buddhism; Violence and Nonviolence; Power; Transgression Since 1998, over 130 Tibetans have taken their lives by “burning the body in fire” (ranglü merseg). These public performances are actions against the policies of the People’s Republic of China, and in most cases are linked to demands for that the exiled religious leader the XIV Dalai Lama return to Tibet. The painful acts typically result in the actor’s death, but have always been performed by willing agents, never upon others, and for that reason have been heralded as nonviolent. However the violence against Tibetan bodies seems equally clear, as the blistered and charred skin of their corpses attest.
    [Show full text]
  • Biographies of Dzogchen Masters ~
    ~ Biographies of Dzogchen Masters ~ Jigme Lingpa: A Guide to His Works It is hard to overstate the importance of Jigme Lingpa to the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This itinerant yogi, along with Rongzom Mahapandita, Longchenpa, and-later-Mipham Rinpoche, are like four pillars of the tradition. He is considered the incarnation of both the great master Vimalamitra and the Dharma king Trisong Detsen. After becoming a monk, he had a vision of Mañjuśrīmitra which caused him to change his monks robes for the white shawl and long hair of a yogi. In his late twenties, he began a long retreat during which he experienced visions and discovered termas. A subsequent retreat a few years later was the ​ ​ container for multiple visions of Longchenpa, the result of which was the Longchen Nyingthig tradition of terma texts, sadhanas, prayers, and instructions. What many consider the best source for understanding Jigme Lingpa's relevance, and his milieu is Tulku Thondup Rinpoche's Masters of ​ Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet. While the biographical coverage of him only comprises ​ about 18 pages, this work provides the clearest scope of the overall world of Jigme Lingpa, his line of incarnations, and the tradition and branches of teachings that stem from him. Here is Tulku Thondup Rinpoche's account of his revelation of the Longchen Nyingtik. ​ ​ "At twenty-eight, he discovered the extraordinary revelation of the Longchen Nyingthig cycle, the teachings of the Dharmakāya ​ and Guru Rinpoche, as mind ter. In the evening of the ​ ​ twenty-fifth day of the tenth month of the Fire Ox year of the thirteenth Rabjung cycle (1757), he went to bed with an unbearable devotion to Guru Rinpoche in his heart; a stream of tears of sadness continuously wet his face because he was not 1 in Guru Rinpoche's presence, and unceasing words of prayers kept singing in his breath.
    [Show full text]