brief update - hired!

Anyone out there - I will be doing an entry soon on what the whole buddhist concept of refuge, and trying to explain why anyone in their right mind would take it on themselves to do 100,000 prostrations (or, if you a Drikung Kagyu practitioner, 300,000) as something that is 'just' "the preliminaries"?
I plan to get to it in a few days, if all goes well.

Work has been decent so far - good environment, decent work, VERY short commute (10-15 minute bus ride!).
More on that later.

Now, to figure out my timesheet...

-JTR

Prayers to the Protectors - Part 1

I've been asked to say a few words about the Dharma protectors, one of the most unique - and most easily misunderstood - aspects of Himalayan Buddhism.  These are said to be beings that specifically guard the Vajrayana tantras and tantra practitioners, up to a point.  The dharma protectors (who are known in sanskrit as Dharmapalas, dakas, and dakinis) can be understood in many ways.  The most common protector is Mahakala.

"Mahakala: Sanskrit name meaning ‘The Great Black One’. Originally a non-Buddhist deity, sometimes seen as a form of the Hindu god Śiva, he is a wrathful tutelary deity (yi-dam) and protector of the faith (dharmapāla). In tantric Buddhism he is considered to be a manifestation of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and his worship (pūjā) and related practices are described in detail in the Mahākāla Tantra. Various iconographic forms exist of Mahākāla in Indian and Tibetan tantric Buddhism with between four and sixteen arms. A non-wrathful form exists in Japan where he is associated with good fortune and is known as Daikokuten."
source: answers.com

Some people like to focus on the outer protectors, and some the inner protectors.  Since the inner protectors are much more sensible to westerners on  a psychological level, I will start with them.

The Inner Protectors

Here is a practical explanation of the protectors, as taught by Chogyum Trungpa Rinpoche.  The example given is: Imagine you are arguing with someone, and you are totally red-faced angry, and completely unaware of yourself or your surroundings.  Basically you have no mindfulness at all.  Now, imagine you were to storm out of the room, go to slam the door shut, and catch your finger, instantly bringing you back (albeit in a not-so-pleasant way) to yourself, and allowing you to sort of reinhabit yourself. It brings your mind back to where you are. 
 
That right there is the protector...that's Mahakala...Ekajati, etc.  The protectors are the personification of wrathful wakefulness.

Now, Wrathfulness confuses a lot of people. It can be abused to disguise plan old anger, which is NOT enlightened.  There is always a danger of people claiming they are manifesting "vajra anger" in an attempt to wake somebody else up.  This is a VERY slippery slope.  The comedian/performance artist Andy Kaufman tried to work this ground, to varying results. ( At some point, I am going to have cover "Saint Andy" - He's had a pretty big influence on how I have manifested myself at different times.)  I would suggest to newer students that they go a LONG time before they attempt to act as protectors - unless they are in the Dorje Kasung ('Vajra protectors') within the Shambhala organization, which I will cover later also, IAGW. 

I like to say it's like the difference between His Holiness the Dalai Lama saying very gently to some kids playing in a house that has caught on fire, "ok children, you need to get out of the house..."...and Samuel L. Jackson in full-blown Jules Winnfield from "Pulp Fiction" mode shouting at the kids "GET YOUR ASSES OUT OF THE MOTHER FU@KING HOUSE NOW!!!!!"
Both are done for the same reason, out of love and concern for the kids, but one is much more forceful.

Protectors practices are done at dusk, as a way of rousing one's wakefulness, since after a long day, that is when one would be most likely to indulge in mindless activities in the name of 'relaxing'.  Doing these practices at dusk is to a great extent a way of saying to yourself "wake up!  Keep up your mindfulness! This precious human birth will be over in a flash, so there really is no time for mindlessness."  

 

Next time, Part 2: the Outer Protectors

Here is where things start to get into "Agent Mulder, is that you?" territory.  It's worth it's own post...so it will get that. :)  

-JTR

"I am not really a buddhist..." - some disembodied poetics

Several sangha folks have been making a big deal about this thing I wrote last month.
I figured, it must be notable enough to post on here. So, for your consideration...

"Last Monday at the monthly Shambhala Art Salon, we worked and played
with words. In one exercise, we each wrote down a secret (true or made
up), passed the secrets along, and then wrote down whatever came up with
the only stipulation that it had to incorporate the secret at least once.

Luther came up with this vivid and humorous poem I thought was too good
not to share"


I am not really a buddhist-

I’m a member of DEVO, rolling on stages

in flower pot hats, talking about potato

depraved post-Kent State apocalypse



I am not really a buddhist

I’m a water moccasin, certainly not a shoe

floating in Chesapeake bland backwater

with tongue flicking – no trace of equanimity



I am not really a buddhist

I’m a fundametalist Ishtar nightmare throwing

stones and guitar picks at the next infidel

to walk through that door



I am not really a buddhist

I’m a lost B-movie action star who never learned

how to act



I am not really a buddhist

I am a walking deception, red strings around my

neck, but no strings attached or detached

where it really counts



I am not really a buddhist

I could more likely be a used ukulele leaning

precariously against a tree, one tuning peg

never quite staying in place – the dissonance

makes more sense



I am not really a buddhist

I am a sleepwalker, sleep talker, neuromancer

or maybe just a dream, a dream to be

disregarded – or closely guarded



I am not really a buddhist

I’m a jack-off-in-a-box, the birthmark

on Gorbachev, a faker holding a damaru



I am not really a buddhist

The only thing empty I believe is my

gas tank, bank account, a brick wall

looks solid and real to me.

Hired!

Well, boys and girls, I am finally leaving the employment 'bardo'.
I start next week as a Contract-to-hire web developer. After a couple months, if everyone is happy, I convert to full staff.
Given how bad the economy is (and it is going to get worse...) I jumped at this opportunity.
Whew! I only had one week of unemployment left to spare.

So, no more late night postings on Randrol's Ramblings...like. for example, this posting...:)

-JTR

I know, I know - I owe, I owe

I still need to get some entries done before they go up.  Been busy with that job hunt thing.

In dharma news, the Milarepa Chorus is back.  After a long hiatus, the four core vajra sangha members came back together last night to sing some of the songs of Milarepa and other great Kagyu and Nyingma lamas.  These songs were introduced in the West by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyatso Rinpoche, and then translated and set to music by some of his students.  

Last night, we went through a bunch of songs, with me using my bass guitar for accompaniment.

(I didn't want to use an acoustic guitar: It would remind me of the travesty I was subjected to at Mt. St. Joes which is 'folk mass' :))

We were a little rough, but it sounded ok.  More on that later, IAGW.

-JTR