I think we all have some Dharma quotes, or teachings that inspire us to practice, motivate us on our path of liberation. Here is one of my favorites from the 19th century Tibetan yogi Shabkar, definitely tied for first place with another quote from Santideva. This one comes from the excellent book Life of Shabkar . I can’t reproduce all of it here because it is too long but Shabkar’s dialogue between Ego and Wisdom is stunning, amazing, and so much more. The Ego is trying to tell Wisdom why Ego is better.
“(Ego says) These days Dharma practitioners say they want you [Wisdom]. But in their hearts, they all want me…why? Because you don’t bring quick rewards –like food!…You might bring benefit in the next life, but the future is something far away… In this decadent age, It is I who preside over the happiness and suffering of beings in general…These days, in this dark age, my activity prospers…All are my retinue, my servants. Who is greater than me?”
I can read this section over and over again and never tire of it. Shabkar captures how powerful the ego is and how difficult it is to defeat. Ego goes on to explain that with just a little hardship people will abandon their Dharma practice. I look at this as a mirror and when I read it I ask myself where am I? Do I have a little hardship and slow down my practice? Maybe I am a little bit sleepy and think oh tomorrow I will do more practice, or maybe my mind is agitated and I can’t focus on practice. I only need to re-read this section and I realize how powerful our habitual tendencies really are. And that is why we practice, to undo those habitual tendencies.
Hope you had a wonderful Losar. During these first couple weeks I am observing the 8 Mahayana precepts daily. So I am very focused on practice right now but I thought it would be fun to put up a little blurb about apps for the iPhone. I give short reviews of the ones I have and if you have any you would like to share, please drop me a line. And yes, I save my favorite one for last.
iThangka. This is a nice, simple app that show’s Buddhist deity images on your iphone. Some of the Buddha’s included are Amitabha, Medicine, Maitreya, etc for a total of 30 images. The plus side is seeing Buddha images when I want. The downside is I wish I could add my own and they have added some advertising at the bottom—I am not fond of that. Especially since i paid for the app.
Next app up for review is SUZU Meditate. Just a simple timer with some nice gong sounds for meditation. Not much to like or dislike, set the time you want, press start and it will chime away when the time has expired. Your choice of golden bells or repeating bells. The price is a little steep for my taste and my only request would be able to change the image.
Paging the Dalai Lama. I think Rev Danny Fisher mentioned this app. I like it and it is free. Nice “words of wisdom” from HH Dalai Lama but I wish they would give sources. Interface could use some tweaking but it does list his upcoming talks and that is most important in this app.
Tibetan Alphabet. Great little app to help you learn the Tibetan Alphabet with, and get this, pronunciation. Press the letter and hear how to pronounce it. Very nice app, more expensive but very useful.
The Songs of Milarepa. Awesome! I really don’t need to add more. Not all Hundred Thousand songs are included in the app, but a nice selection is included. I have the large hardcover book, but carrying it around is just not as easy as this carrying this app.
And now, in my opinion, the best Buddhist app out there, and it is free! Access to Insight, an offline edition of the website. WOW! Read suttas all day long, or at least till your battery runs out.
Ok back to practice now, if you have any favorite Dharma apps please post them below.
Konchog Norbu, has written very informative articles about the devastating disaster in Mongolia at Shambhala SunSpace and at Bitterroot Badger. Mongolia might lose” up to 20 million animals — half of Mongolia’s total herd — may succumb before tolerable weather arrives in late May.” For a country where 750,000 people make their living off herding animals this will cripple their economy and have far reaching economic consequences well into the future. Fortunately there are organizations where you can donate financial support, (He has posted links to donate.) While this is the best way to help, we all realize that many people are suffering right now and even if you are not able to make a monetary donation you can still help by thinking compassionate thoughts. You can also help by raising awareness of the Mongolian issue by changing your social media images to the Mongolian flag or other Mongolian images you feel will help. So with that view of raising awareness of the Mongolians struggle I have changed my blog colors to the colors of the Mongolian flag. I hope you will help.
Update: John Pappas at ElephantJournal.com has written a great article, check it out here. And thanks to reader Anna for the great UN situation report, click here to read it.
For the weekend post let’s talk about some Dharma movies both old and new. I put the trailers for the films at the bottom of this post.
The latest, “The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom” has been gaining a lot of attention at the recent Palm Springs Film Festival. Most noteworthy is China’s decision to pull two of their films out of the festival.According to the review in Variety, it seems the Chinese did not want this film to not be shown. The trailer opens with some hand held protest footage from March 2008 and goes on to show police arresting people. It goes on to include footage from HH Dalai Lama as well as some counter footage from anti-Dalai Lama groups. I like hip hop so the Tibetan rapper is cool, when Ifind out who he is I will post it here. Overall I am very excited to see this film and if any of you have seen please let me know what you think. Check out the website for the film here.
Next film is “The Unmistaken Child.” I saw this in the theater before retreat last summer. Wow, it is a great film and I really liked it. After the death of Lama Konchog, the film follows his main student, Tenzin Zopa, finding his reincarnation. What I like most about the film is seeing the process of how finding reincarnate lamas works. A very memorable scene from the film is probably the last scene, where the young Lama Konchog and Tenzin are cooking. Overall this is a very enjoyable, light-hearted film I think you will enjoy. Check out the website for the film here.
And finally an older film I recently discovered is “Himalaya.” The film, a narrative, follows Dolpo salt traders as they trek across the mountains but more importantly shows the struggle between the ways of the old caravaners and the new ones. I really liked the juxtaposition of the father and his son, the monk. The film also gives a glimpse of their daily life and the scenic shots and the soundtrack for this film is amazing. Not a light-hearted film but not too heavy either. Check out the website for the film here.
Simple question. Difficult answer. For me being a Buddhist in the west is about integration. And integration, at least in my experience, is the only obstacle, albeit a big one, I have. I know some people are new to Buddhism so to benefit you I will give examples of how I integrate some of my practices into daily life and hope that some other readers might share their experiences.
Mantras and malas, a staple of Tibetan Buddhism. I always carry my malas with me, but ask your teacher. I try to say mantras when I can; driving, sitting, watching TV, walking, etc but I don’t make it flashy. When I was a beginner I really wanted to know what to do with the malas when I went to the bathroom. Yes, this question caused me stress. Solution: I just put them in my front pocket before I go into the bathroom. Bonus, I found some mantras to say when using the bathroom in Enlightened Livingby Tulku Thondup. The food prayer is something I try not to make look like a “now bow your head” scenario, especially at a restaurant. I know some people just tip up the edge of their plate, some people hold up a offering plate. Again it is a food offering prayer not a food demonstration.
Days when I take the 8 Vows. Twice a month, on the 15th and the 30th of the Tibetan calendar, I take the 8 Mahayana vows. These are the 5 precepts plus no eating after noon, no sitting/sleeping on high places, no dancing or singing (no entertainment) and no ornamentation. They last from sunrise to sunrise and for me it is a great practice in being mindful or as Rigpa Dorje says “Hunger strike against samsara”. Sometimes I have to be into work before the sun rises and sometimes those days fall on the days I take the 8 vows at sunrise. So I have to take my text with me, and at sunrise, I go into a little room, kneel down, vow away, and then back to work. Some of the little things I have to remind myself of: Make sure the radio is turned off before you get in the car, otherwise the song you hear will be stuck in your head. Watch out for the candy sitting around, this almost got me but it was before noon so I was ok. And I have to watch out for mindless chatter, people like to talk and they tend to gravitate to the person not speaking, me.
Next, people will find out you’re a Buddhist and they will have certain perceptions/opinions about Buddhism. Everything from “Buddhism doesn’t offer salvation”, to you will have to answer to a god, to you are not Asian, and I have even had you are not a Buddhist because you do this or that. I remind myself that I am practicing and while I would love to engage them about their own religion, that action ultimately won’t do any good. I don’t wear maroon, I do shave my head, not because I want to look like a monk but because I am losing my hair. I do wear a protection cord and some other Dharma accouterments, but I keep them hidden under my shirt. I do carry a small daily prayer book and some Dharma pictures because maybe I will get snowed in somewhere and I have to practice. Oh and I carry them in a cool looking Mountainsmith pack.
Daily Practice. This, in whatever tradition you practice, is very important. In the beginning this was the hardest for me to establish. Do what your teacher has suggested. I have to remind myself that I have vowed to liberate sentient beings and daily practice helps them. Buddhism is a vast religion, that is probably not mastered overnight. The Buddhas are kind, seriously they are. They don’t judge, won’t threaten you with eternal damnation, etc, and should you end up in a hell realm well I have read that the Buddhas even go there to help (read a story about Avalokiteśvara) Ask questions and I guess the most important point is practice, study, and be kind to yourself. Remember compassion starts with you. And to all those on the Buddhist path I will take this sentence to say THANK YOU for your compassion and I beseech you to return to benefit all sentient beings. Please add your suggestions…
I realize this is not much of blog post but I have been looking for awhile and can not find out what something means in the Rigpaa calendar. On page 91 of the current Rigpa calendar (2009-2010) Friday the 15th (Tibetan 11th month, 30th day) it says “Night when the fates of those to die in the coming year are decided.” I can’t find any information on what this means, other than the obvious or where it comes from. I have emailed Rigpa in Europe and didn’t receive a reply so I am hoping that a MF1B reader knows this answer. If you do I will post your answer here to share.
Saw a new Red Bull commercial tonight on television. A couple, kneeling before someone they call “Grand Master”, is asking for the “ways of meditation.” So he gives them Red Bull. I guess meditation now comes in a can. Simple, now off to the store for some meditation in a can.
—USAToday has a new article about an interview that WTOP had with Brit Hume today. Listen to the interview on WTOP.
—Check out the videos from the Daily Show, Don Imus, and others on ShambhalaSunpace. The Daily show is very funny, leave it to the writers on that show to come up with something that funny.
Tonight Brit Hume has replied on Bill O’Reilly’s show. So let’s break down a couple of points here on MF1B. Bill O’Reilly’s first statement to Brit after showing the recap video from yesterday is “Was that proselytizing?” Brit responds “I don’t think so…” Well Bill and Brit let me offer you a definition for the word Proselytizing from Dictionary.com“v. tr. To convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another.” Hmm. Let’s see Brit, you state that Tiger should abandon his Buddhist faith for Christianity yet that is not proselytizing? Really?
Anyway, the conversation goes on to ask “what drives the negative comments about Christianity?” I have to say that proselytizing oops, I mean suggesting (Can I use that word instead, has a nice spin doesn’t it?) people change faiths because their faith (Buddhism) does not offer redemption like yours would probably, at the very least upset Buddhists. And obviously, judging by the comments on various other web pages, people of other faiths or no faith at all. However, I am happy that you are concerned about his family and his well being. Buddhists are also concerned with compassion and the well being of all sentient beings. Perhaps, and I am just suggesting this, you stop proselytizing and focus on delivering the news.
I realize this is already all over the net but it is appalling that a national news show would let an anchor say this on television. If you haven’t seen the video I have embedded it at the bottom of this post. I feel an apology is in order from Mr. Hume. And as Bitterroot Badger suggests I also suggest emailing Fox News and expressing that this is not “Fair and Balanced” news.
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