Meditations of a Yogin

The Chatra (or Chhatra) is the "umbrella" or parasol-like structure found at the very top of a Buddhist Stupa. It is one of the most recognizable features of Buddhist architecture, serving as a powerful symbolic crown for the monument. Symbolic Significance In ancient Indian culture, the umbrella was a symbol of royalty and protection. When placed atop a stupa, it signifies the Buddha’s status as a "Universal Monarch" (Chakravartin) of the spiritual realm. Three stacked chatras represent the Triratna while seven stacked chatras represent the seven factors of enlightenment.

If you have pure perception, everything appears as the Guru. There is no other teaching that bestows inseparability..... Yeshe Tsogyal

Tibetan spiritual leader Tai Situpa Rinpoche was the largest individual donor to the reconstruction of Kathmandu’s historic Boudhanath Stupa. He contributed 29 kg of gold toward the restoration after the 2015 earthquake. The $2.1 million reconstruction used more than 30 kg of gold to restore the stupa’s iconic spire.

"The Brahmins make sacrifices in vain... They say that by eating and drinking, and offering to the fire, they will attain liberation. But if liberation comes from fire-offerings, then why do they not burn their own houses? ...Fools are bound by religious rituals; without these rituals, the wise are free. Look at the sky: it has no color or form, yet it contains everything." - Mahasiddha Saraha

Please consider donating to this worthy endeavor at: https://www.phurbathinleyling.org/product/becomedonor/

Based on a vision, Lama Dawa saw that a three-dimensional Phurba mandala sited above the Mississippi River could help control the negativity of the entire North American continent. This is the purpose of the Phurba Peace Mandala currently being established at Phurba Thrinlay Ling in Lansing, IA on a bluff over-looking the "Mighty Mississippi." This is especially important now as we count down to the prophesied calamitous 2030, the Iron Dog year. Below is a graphic showing how the Mississippi and its tributaries reaches the very heart of North America. The mandala itself has been carved, painted, and assembled. What remains is the construction of its temple.

Based on a vision, Lama Dawa saw that a three-dimensional Phurba mandala sited above the Mississippi River could help control the negativity of the entire North American continent. This is the purpose of the Phurba Peace Mandala currently being established at Phurba Thrinlay Ling in Lansing, IA on a bluff over-looking the "Mighty Mississippi." This is especially important now as we count down to the prophesied calamitous 2030, the Iron Dog year. Below is a graphic showing how the Mississippi and its tributaries reaches the very heart of North America. The mandala itself has been carved, painted, and assembled. What remains is the construction of its temple.

Alas, it is like giving teachings to a stone! Most people in this world— To think of them brings sorrow welling up! They do not comprehend when taught, And explanation brings no understanding. Tomorrow death awaits them, but they think they’ll live forever. Saṃsāra does not sadden them, And of the will for freedom they have not the slightest trace. If they have knowledge, they are arrogant. If they have some understanding, it is all distorted. They are borne away by busyness and pastimes And are deluged by the rain of their defilement. When might I be of help to them? Lama Longchenpa @sridmtsho

Don’t you get it? If you’ve got money, you’ve got money problems. If you have a house, you have house problems. If you have yaks, you have yak problems. If you have goats, you have goat problems! Patrul Rinpoche @sridmtsho

Bodhisattvas (菩萨凭栏) leaning on the double-layered railing of the Heavenly Palace, from the niche ceiling in Mogao Cave 321, Dunhuang.

Great King, it is good that you are disillusioned with samsara. It is good that you have become dissatisfied. When one is attached, that is saṃsāra. When one is not attached, that is nirvāṇa. Advice to a King (1) Sutra @sridmtsho

Free Buddha Dharma ebook Prayer to Manjusri by Khenchen Ngawang Palzang A four-verse praise, which Khenpo Ngawang Palzang composed in 1907 when he was receiving teachings on Dharmakīrti’s Pramāṇavārttika from Khenpo Lhagyal (1879–1955). At first, he had some difficulty understanding the text, but when he invoked Mañjuśrī, his difficulties disappeared and he composed this prayer. Free download available: https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/khenchen-ngawang-palzang/manjushri-prayer ===

Alas, all compounded things are impermanent; They have the characteristic of constantly arising and ceasing. Whatever is born dies. Anything that comes together falls apart. Once born, your lifespan is quickly depleted, like a waterfall flowing from a steep mountain. The life of creatures lasts but a moment, and then they go before the Lord of Death. The Lord of Death won't wait or listen to such excuses as, "I've finished this, but not that." So engage in meritorious deeds from this very day forward. Wealth fluctuates and youth ends in an instant. Life is lived in the fangs of the Lord of Death. Alas, how amazing the behavior of people who are lax about preparing for their next life. Abandon the bustle of this life; but if you cannot do so, then associate with holy people. That is the medicine for the distracted life. Abandon desire, but if you cannot do so, then direct your desire toward being liberated. That is the medicine for attachment to pleasure. If all these beings could see the Lord of Death sitting on their head, they would find no joy even in eating; what need to speak about finding pleasure in other actions. Jamgön Mipham @sridmtsho

The "consecration of the dreadlocks or hair" (relwang or trawang) is a procedure that does not always coincide with the formation of the dreadlocks; it can be received years earlier, even without having dreadlocks. Its exact nature is subject to some ambiguity: it is not a full initiation authorizing one to practice a ritual set associated with a central deity, but rather consecrates the hair and establishes it as a residence for tantric deities. In some cases, it is conferred as an optional extension of an initiation into Vajrasattva, which includes a consecration of the deity's hair. The texts vary, and some present four consecrations that follow the classic sequence of higher tantric initiations. Receiving several hair consecrations throughout one's life is not exceptional. These consecrations impose a set of tantric rules and commitments: not to cut the hair, to protect it from being touched by inappropriate people or from anyone stepping over it, and to keep it wrapped around the head rather than letting it fall freely (though there are variations according to the teacher). Before 1950, pulling out even a single hair from a tantrist in a fight could incur heavy fines imposed by the feared collectivity of Repkong tantrists (Repkong Ngakmang). However, even the prohibition against cutting hair admitted exceptions, such as trimming the bulky mass of dreadlocks when it became excessively heavy. With age, the dreadlocks reach their culmination, though hair loss can affect the elderly. The death of a virtuous adept can produce the phenomenon of the "rainbow body," in which the body dissolves into light leaving only nails and hair, which acquire relic status. In more ordinary deaths, if the deceased had received a hair consecration, their hair must be cremated separately through a burnt offering (jinsek).

Repkong shows a non-homogeneous community of tantrists, the majority follow Nyingma traditions, but a substantial minority are Bönpo. The Nyingma tantrists are divided into two dominant ritual traditions according to the side of the main valley (Minling to the east, Longchen Nyingtik to the west). They are organized into village communities that hold monthly collective rituals (the tsechu, dedicated to Padmasambhava) and annual ones. Their initial training, though intensive, is limited to a few months spread over several years, with infrequent subsequent teachings, which contributes to the variety of ideas about hair. The basic categorization in Repkong includes the layperson (with short hair today, though formerly they often wore a Chinese-style queue), the tantrist (with long hair, ideally in dreadlocks), and the monk (shaven). However, there are intermediate categories, such as the amchó or amchó gyawo, non-monastic practitioners of lesser discipline who are not obliged to wear long hair. There are also exceptional figures who transcend the monk-tantrist duality, such as the great yogi Zhapkar Tsokdruk Rangdröl (1781–1851), who, while being a monk, let his hair grow during prolonged retreats, generating a categorical ambiguity that his songs poetically exploit. Regarding gender, laywomen wear their hair very long, nuns shave theirs, and tantrists are traditionally men, although in Repkong the figure of the ngakma (female tantrist) has emerged in the last generation, who is recommended to wear a single braid instead of the two customary among laywomen. The local vocabulary is complex and nuanced. The central term is relpa (in Amdo, rawa), which in its strict sense designates dreadlocks, but in common usage is employed to refer simply to a tantrist's long hair. Dreadlocks are produced through an active technique of twisting two strands, forming a thin cord that becomes matted over time. The term gyələ designates these "twisted locks," and the verb gyi means "to twist." Another term, ramtel, refers to the long strip of fabric (red, orange, or black) used to wrap and secure the hair around the head. There is also the chörel (in Amdo, chira), a wig that imitates dreadlocks, used by tantrists who cannot grow their hair (due to age or having lost it during the Maoist period). Finally, changlo is a literary term designating braided or matted hair, and ratəm is a black cloth sometimes wrapped around the hair to protect it from dust. The formation of dreadlocks is a process usually undertaken in middle age, and is not the result of neglect but of precise technical manipulation. The teacher or lama usually takes the initiative, making the first twisted locks and reciting a text of entrustment to the protectors. Subsequently, other tantrists or even herders skilled in making ropes complete the process. This act is often conceived as a tendrel, an auspicious occasion; on occasion, eight tantrists are symbolically chosen to evoke the Eight Rigdzin (great wisdom adepts of the initial transmission of the Kagyé teachings). The exceptional donation of one's own dreadlocks by an elderly teacher to his disciple constitutes a rare but significant case of transmission of power and blessings, which the disciple preserves as his most precious object.