ༀ་ཨཱཿ་ཧཱུྃ་

OM AH HUNG

嗡阿吽

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This newsletter is curated by our Dharma friends. We wish to provide useful resources to help you learn Buddhism and apply the teachings to your life. ☸️

Buddhism 101

The bhavacakra (Sanskrit: भवचक्र; Pāli: bhavacakka; Tibetan: srid pa'i 'khor lo) is a symbolic representation of saṃsāra (or cyclic existence).

The bhavacakra consists of the following elements:

The pig, rooster and snake in the hub of the wheel represent the three poisons of ignorance, attachment and aversion.
The second layer represents karma.
The third layer represents the six realms of samsara.
The fourth layer represents the twelve links of dependent origination.
The fierce figure holding the wheel represents impermanence. It is also Yama, the god of death.
The moon above the wheel represents liberation from samsara or cyclic existence.
The Buddha pointing to the white circle indicates that liberation is possible.

[source: wikipedia]

bhavacakra, wheel of life

Reading

Many people often ask me a question: “For some reasons I started to have interests in Buddha Dharma. If I want to understand Buddha Dharma comprehensively, which book is the best to read?”

I would answer every time without hesitation: “Words of My Perfect Teacher and Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life.”

—- Khenpo Sodargye

A Great Commentary on the Words of My Perfect Teacher

The Importance of The Preliminary Practice

We study Buddhism to be liberated, and liberation must rely on lamrim. Without this staged practice, only the very few who have the sharp faculty and happen to follow a teacher of transcendent virtue can attain enlightenment immediately, merely relying on the teacher’s instructions, direct guidance, or simple teaching. Most practitioners cannot do so. Therefore, it is very necessary to follow the usual rules of the lineage teachers and practice in order.

In this Words of My Perfect Teacher, Patrul Rinpoche followed the practice path taught by Longchenpa in Finding Rest in the Nature of Mind, that is, practicing the four ordinary external preliminaries first: the difficulty of obtaining human rebirth with freedoms and advantages, the impermanence of life, the defects of Samsara, and the principle of cause and effect. Then, the practitioners will continue with the extraordinary internal preliminaries.

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The Way of the Bodhisattva*

To those who go in bliss, the dharmakāya they possess, and all their heirs,

To all those worthy of respect, I reverently bow.

According to the scriptures, I shall now in brief describe

The practice of the Bodhisattva discipline.

Here I shall say nothing that has not been said before,

And in the art of prosody I have no skill.

I therefore have no thought that this might be of benefit to others;

I wrote it only to habituate my mind.

* Also known as Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Texts are selected from the book of the same name.

Dharma x Life

What Makes Us So Busy?

Sometimes, we need to reflect on our life and ask ourselves “Why are we so busy every day?”

Whether it’s those with religious belief or those without, people often say that they are very busy every day. Although we’re bustling around all day long, there will come a day [―the day that we die―] when we have nothing to be busy with. Many of you may be afraid of that day and that’s probably why you would rather be busy than take a rest.

What is it that makes us so busy? You should think about that.

What Should We Be Busy For

It is inevitable to have afflictions and suffering when living in such a complicated world, although luckily, since it’s so rare an opportunity, we have encountered what we really need―an authentic wisdom education on spirituality. Therefore, while we are slaving away over affairs of this life, it is also worthwhile for us to stop sometimes and occupy ourselves with something spiritual.

Finding Enlightenment in Life

According to the teachings of the Secret Mantra or Vajrayana, one can enjoy a happy life without having to renounce covetousness or observe many rules. There is an important notion in Vajrayana that lay practitioners can attain liberation without the need to relinquish their covetousness or to cast away the relationship with their family and worldly affairs, as long as they realize the nature of mind and the nature of afflictive emotions.

Once, King Indrabhuti told Buddha Shakyamuni, “I long for liberation, but I cannot become a monk as I would never be able to forsake my beautiful palace nor my entourage.” Then the Buddha gave him a pith instruction on how to realize the nature of the mind, through which he achieved liberation without having to be ordained.

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Meditation

Meditation on Love

One of the subjects in meditation is meditation on love, or more specifically, meditation on compassion, loving-kindness, and bodhichitta. It’s a very simple method of meditation where you cultivate love towards others. You just generate a loving mind towards your object and meditate repeatedly that “I love you.”

When you do this meditation, you can start with loving small groups of people around you such as your family members, like your father, your mother, your children or other senior members in your family, or your friends. Then expand your love to all the people in the world. Gradually, you will be able to extend your love to each and every sentient being.

Love is a very positive mental state. Mahayana Buddhism speaks highly of the mind of loving every being because when one’s mind is filled with love, there will be no room for hatred.

However, after becoming a Buddhist some people seem to be indifferent and have no concern for others. That’s not good, as when we have love towards others it carries a powerful energy which can bring about a lot of merit. We should also love in the proper way when loving others and not go to extremes, otherwise love can become an affliction and may bring about suffering to ourself and others.

Recent updates

Youtube videos

Green Tara Mantra

[Buddhist Animation] The Great Compassion Dharani

Pray to Budhisattva Mahasattva Ksitigarbha by Khenpho Sodargye

Social media posts

Bodhi Institute of Compassion and Wisdom

@BICW_USA

How can our beloved bodies, which are not able to withstand even a tiny spark of fire, endure the scorching iron ground of hell?
---- Jamgon Mipham

August 31st 2022

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Upcoming Events

Weekly Preliminary Practice Study Group: The Words of My Perfect Teacher

Every Sunday
4pm PT | 7pm ET, about 1 hour 30 minutes
Zoom: 605 544 4820 (passcode: 2021), link to the class details

Basic Meditation for beginners (Opening the Heart: Joy for a Neutral Person )

Sunday, Sep 4, 2022
11am PT | 2pm ET, about 1 hour
Meetup: Link to the event