Stuff going on...

Sorry folks, I've been busy.  I am going to be slowly transitioning content now.  I've got a new Wordpress Randrol's Ramblings that will be more dharma teaching notes intensive.  (Wordpress has become one of those things all web professionals need to be fluent in, so I figure the most extensive of my useful content ought to go there.)  This current blog will remain for the usual personal blog stuff (whatever that means). 
So, that's where things are now.  I've got quite a backlog of notes I need to edit into useful form, which I hope to start making available soon.

-LWWD/JTR

Nuba Rinpoche – 2-day special Bodhichitta Generation teaching at TMC-Frederick 6/5/11

Continuing from this morning – 7 limbs. Related to the accumulate of merit through rejoicing at other’s good deed, as in the story of when a king invited Buddha and his retinue to his palace and made a big offering.  At the end, the Buddha asked the king “should I dedicate the merit of this to you – the king – or to the person who has gained more merits than you?”  The king thought, “Since I am the benefactor, I may be the one who gained most merit”, so the king said, “yes, dedicate to person with most merits.”  At that time, there was a beggar at the door of the palace.  He really rejoiced at the merit of the king, and that the king was making such a grand offering to Buddha.  When Buddha was about to dedicate, he surprised everyone when he used the name of the beggar at the door.  This shows that just by rejoicing at the good deeds of others, we can gain the same amount of merit.  

First reminder-The Precious Life - Khandro Rinpoche

Notes from the DC "Not-a-Study-Group" discussion, 

1^st section  of This Precious Life by Khandro Rinpoche - entering the gateway: she lays the groundwork, moving into 4 reminders.  The rest of the book is essentially the 4 reminders.  “Genuine appreciation of our human mind, body and potential, and with exertion, we can create the cause for genuine happiness. …”

Pg.17 - the Four Thoughts that Transform the Mind 

“Contemplating the preciousness of human existence brings a genuine appreciation of our human body, mind, and potential. With exertion we can create the cause for genuine happiness and benefit for others.”

The passing of Lopon Peter Lieberson

Lopon Peter Lieberson

This past week was marked by the death after a 5-year battle with cancer of modern classical composer Peter Lieberson. He was also was one of my dharma teachers, and a great example as a practitioner and as an artist. You would never know by the un-pretentious way he carried himself how much of a 'big deal' he was in the modern classical world.  Officially, as one of  Khandro Rinpoche's senior students, he was "Lopon Peter" - but you would would never know that either by the un-pretentious way he carried himself.  I only got to 'talk shop' about music and the creative process with him a little bit, which I of course regret now.  The best thing I suppose I could do now is let this be a reminder of 'The Second Reminder' that he taught about at the behest of Khandro Rinpoche.  Anything else I say wouldn't really be so eloquent, so I'll let the New York Times obituary and the write-up from Waylon Lewis's "Elephant Journal" do the rest of the talking.


Peter Lieberson, Composer Inspired by Buddhism, Dies at 64
That foreign yet visceral language we call music. [Peter Lieberson]

Talk on Guru Yoga - Lopon Andre, Lotus Garden, February 2011

I am -finally- getting some of my notes together and on-line since I have been asked to by a few people.  This one is a talk from the Ngondro ('ordinary' and  extraordinary preliminaries) program I attended at Lotus Garden in February.  I've discussed the practice of guru yoga in my own modest way before and presented my notes of the great Drikungpa Khenchen Rinpoche talking about guru yoga, but Lopon Andre Papantonio covered this topic in a much more complete (and lineage-approved :)) way.
As usual, any mistakes, errors, or corruptions are all my fault.
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Gas Prices around DC, or Cyclic Existence, or "Turbo is NOT the future"

Just a little note that gas prices around DC seems to be averaging $3.75/ Gal for regular. And given the continued "unrest", I wouldn't bet on those coming down anytime soon. In 2005, causes and conditions came together to drive prices this high. There was a lot of complaining in this country, and talk of "our oil addiction".

...here we go again...

Mindrolling Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche – Skype address – 2-21-11 9:15 AM

Mindrolling Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche has been talking to her students when they gather for programs via Skype. This is what she had to say at a program dedicated to Ngondro, aka "the Preliminary practices."

Practitioners must believe in the power of purification of karma. That’s why you are all intellect (?). If you didn’t believe it, there is no way you could having confidence in possibility of enlightenment.

Exertion on path – to be honest, whole-hearted. Very strong confidence in accomplishment stage of realization that becomes cause of liberations of all sentient beings. The full enlightenment, freedom from samsara for self and other.

Of all practices, ngondro emphasizes this most important. What kind of a result we all believe in. must encourage meditator- to have the power to hold the result in your hand – results in purification of karma and attainment of merit.

Buddha-nature in the Pali Canon

One troubling thing in the Dharma that I've heard about a bit is the whole "Hiniyana vs. Mahayana" difference, which is usually seen as Mahayana literature spelling out why the Hiniyana (literally, "Lesser Vehicle") is so inferior. I personally think the differences and dividing lines are WAY overblown. Drikung Kagyu founder Lord Jitgen Sumgon said that all the three turnings of the wheel of Dharma contain each of the others, so all of them - Hiniyana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana - are mixed together in a way that makes them impossible to extract. 

I got these quotes from the Pali Canon - the scriptures used by Theravadans of Southeast Asia - from Douglas Duckworth, an excellent translator that has been up at TMC in Frederick several times in the last few days.

These words of the Buddha do seem to more than imply the presence of Buddha-nature - Thagatagharba - the underlying nature of enlightenment in all living beings.  That is generally seen as the core teaching of the "Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma", which is most often associated with Vajrayana (since it is required in order to explain how Vajrayana 'works').