New Spiritualibus Blog Posts – Excerpts

Abu Ullo
Just a kid
Renounced
Defilement
Of a world
Confining
In small
Nor big
Homes
To be free
In universes
And planes’
Existence
Within
And out
Manifest
Reality
As it is
Just bare
Necessities
Auspicious
To benefit
Eventually
Awakened
Impartial
To what is
True here
Just a kid
Little monk
Changchup
Benchung
Abu Ullo!
གྲྭ་པ་ཆུང་ཆུང་།
བྱང་ཆུབ་

“Thö-gäl” — instantaneous arrival

From an enlightened vagabond དཔལ་སྤྲུལ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ

Patrul Rinpoche: “When you’re eminent, it’s bad. — When you’re reviled, it’s good. — When your position is lofty, vanity and envy flourish. — When your position is lowly, you’re at ease and your practice can flourish.”

In Tibet, to this day, many dedicated practitioners renounce not only worldly affairs but… renounce involvement in monastic affairs as well. They give up all involvements, not wanting to “renounce a small home only to get caught up in a big one.”

— Enlightened vagabond, the life and teachings of Patrul Rinpoche, Matthieu Ricard, pp. 9 & 225

Patrul advised Nyoshul Lungtok: “Study all philosophical systems without bias. Bias creates distorted understanding. When you study all teachings impartially, you will know what is true and what is not, you will know what is profound and what is not, you will know what accords with… wisdom… From then on, understanding will come through your own insight.”

— Wonderous dance of illusion, Khenpo Ngawang Palzang, p. 102 (or above p. 227-228)

Each sunset enables the sun to rise again

May you, we, and all be auspicious!

Rinpoche
Recognized
Continuation
From past lives
Some importance
That happened
And still does
Here ‘nd now
Sweet title
And face
To behold
Good karma
Contained
Within
No word
But spirit
Blessings
Touch heart
Then, let go
Personality
Claims a god
To be adored
And giving
Of oneself
To everyone
Listening
May all
Be well
And happy

“Rinpoche déjà-vu chant” — for recognition and deliverance

A word of profound wisdom

Generally, to have faith in anything will bring benefits accordingly. The benefits obtained by the practitioner do not depend on the excellence or lack of it of the objects of faith, but only upon the individual’s mind and the quality of his faith. Thus it is very important to have what is known as the attitude which views all appearances as pure (dag.snang དག་སྣང་ in Tibetan).

— The Dzog-ch’en innermost essence preliminary practice, “Long-ch’en Nying-thig Ngön-dro”, by Jig-me Ling-pa, translated by Tulku Thondup, p. 48

A famous quote of the Buddha

As a star, a hallucination, the flame of a lamp,
An illusion, a dewdrop, a bubble of air,
A dream, a flash of lightning, a cloud,
Consider the world of phenomena.
This life is as fleeting as an autumn cloud.
Observing the birth and the death of beings
Is like watching the movements of a dance,
A life is similar to a flash of lightning in the sky,
It quivers by, and it rushes down,
Like a stream on a steep mountain.

— La méditation m’a sauvé, Phakyab Rinpoche and Sofia Stril-Rever, p. 18

अवलोकितेश्वर Avalokiteśhvara sand mandala

A larvae
As human
Mammals
Biologically
It seems
We are.

So what will
We become
Metamorphing
Eventually
In time?

Our turn
Now spent
As caterpillar
Then actually
In a cocoon
Encased
Silent.

Finally
Will we
Emerge
A butterfly
Or as beetle
An ant or bee
A mosquito
Or a tick?

It’s all here
Right now!
Have a look
And choose
Your stance.

“गरुड़ Garuḍa” — puja for the celestial hawk

Old Tibetan wisdom from Milarepa and Surya Das

Milarepa to Gampopa, one of his main students, after the latter announced his intention to discard his maroon monastic robes and adopt the white cotton dress of Milarepa instead: “Don’t copy others! Each one of you must follow your own spiritual path.” Then Milarepa sang a song, explaining the original monastic state — detachment, surrender, simplicity, solitude . . . recognition of the truth of egolessness. Milarepa concluded, “Heal yourself… then you will naturally heal others. My teaching is mine; yours must be yours. Do whatever is necessary in order to evoke it from within.”

When we know who we are, we know where we fit in the cosmic pageant. Each of us is like a link in a chain; by knowing what we are, we know what we are a part of, and our individual existence assumes greater meaning.

Things are not exactly what they seem to be — nor are they otherwise. Even if we may feel far from any sort of divine reality, we can rest assured that the ultimate or absolute is never far from us.

Everyone has his or her own religion; everyone believes in something. Young children believe in everything.

Celebrate the inherent freedom and sacredness of authentic being.

— The snow lion’s turquoise mane: Wisdom tales from Tibet, Surya Das, pp. 188 and 246-251

A post-larvae Coleoptera — option to co-operate with a lion