The Living Journal – Taking refuge, the gateway to our liberation.

Taking refuge in the Three Jewels [The triple gems]

The Three Refuge is to remind ourselves to endorse a right living and social responsibility. It is our aim to become living embodiment of the Three Jewels.

The first Jewel, Buddha - One who is fully awake and wise, so we learn to direct ourselves to awakening, keeping a mindful attitude, being compassionate in our everyday life.

The second Jewel, Dharma - Is universal truth, teaching and discipline, we learn to direct ourselves toward what is true and right, and shape our life accordingly.

The third Jewel, Sangha - Is the community of followers and non-followers. We learn to live in peace and harmony with all beings and dedicate ourselves to extending our loving kindness to all.

Buddhist five Precepts

All Buddhists live by the Five Precepts which are as follows:-

1. Refraining from killing and harming living beings.
2. Refraining from stealing.
3. Refraining from sexual misconduct.
4. Refraining from lying.
5. Refraining from intoxicating.

Prayer of taking refuge in Tibetan language

Sangye choe dang tsok kyi chok nam la

Jang chup bar du dak ni kyap su chi

Dak gi jin sok gyi pay sonam kyi

Dro la phen chir sangye drup par shok

Until becoming enlightened, I take refuge

In the Buddha, the Dharma and the supreme assembly

May the merit by practicing generosity and the other perfections

May I attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

The Tibetan also sometimes uses this Sanskrit language of taking refuge :-

Namo Buddhaya 

Namo Dharmaya 

Namo Sanghaya

I take refuge to the Buddha 

I take refuge to the Dharma 

I take refuge to the Sangha

The benefits of taking refuge

Taking Refuge in itself is a very important commitment and is the foundation of all practices. By taking refuge we are planting the seed of liberation within ourselves. We distance ourselves from the negative actions we have accumulated and develop more positive actions.(Unless otherwise that we don't practice and we don't live by the Five Precepts,and our negative actions can not be changed). 

It is not something you should do in an informal way. In order to carry out a trust connected with anything in your life; you need some commitment. For that reason if you desire to take Buddhism as your path to an enlightenment journey and support your life on Buddha’s doctrine, then certainly you have to make a form of commitment.

The commitment is resembling a declaration to study, to learn an understanding of how lives are seen through the principles of Buddhism. The commitments are not meant to isolate ourselves absent from the society. Taking refuge is the opposite and it is about learning how we can lead a more functional and constructive life and how we can make possible to create a more positive society. 

We enter the path for both our own self progress and, at the same time, to learn how to assist others. Buddhists can make a world of difference and contribute to the creation of a global society that would preserve the environmental integrity of our universe.

The taking refuge and the Five Precepts had provided us a spiritual focus on ethics and morality. One must do best to maintain and uphold the Buddhist Five Precepts. Peace, love and happiness form the basis for the true meaning of human life. For that reason, in order to make our lives meaningful and enriching we must discover peace, love and happiness in our everyday lives. The purpose of human life is to realize that all beings are an interconnected and interrelated whole, and to enter the non-dual gate to our liberation. 

Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the precious Buddha’s precious Dharma and turning the Dharma wheels in the world.

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Nagarjuna's Dedication of Merit

By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.

May we liberate migrators from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright of these pictures.

Pictures courtesy and credit to the rightful owners.

The Living Journal –The Tibetan Dorje And The Bell

His Holiness The 17th Karmapa, Karmapa Chenno, Karmapa Chenno

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Bodhichitta is the practice of the awakened mind. As human beings, we are self-centered and we work hard to earn a living for ourselves. We even pray only for our own benefit. However, when we possess Bodhichitta, or awakened mind of an enlightened being and our mind and will constantly consider the welfare of others including our enemies, strangers and those dearest to us.

Why Bodhichitta is important to us? These beings, who we now perceive to be strangers or opponents, could be our parents in our previous live as we undergo rebirth many times according to Buddhism. Just as we worry and feel troubled for our loved ones, so we should extend our feeling toward the others as well. 

I know it may seem and sound wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate; it’s easy to say than doing, just hard to imagine to extending your love and feels for your opponents who once betray you?

Tough, it is it? But that’s not true. Each one was born and has a mother and a father; for that reason, by practicing Bodhichitta, our practice is directed to reduce the sufferings of others. Some are suffering from mental illness, or from personal anguish or from religious manipulation. 

In the midst of grief and anger for those who suffer, can we not spare some compassion for those who have missed out on the life filled with grace and hope that religions had called all of us to live? I want to be very clear: I am not supporting or seeking to humanize of terrorism and violence . I am also not arguing for legal consequences of those actions.

By practicing Bodhichitta, an ordinary merit becomes extraordinary. Just as a drop of water by itself will evaporate quickly while one in an ocean will never run dry. Besides Bodhichitta, we also need to have skillful means and wisdom. The joining of skillful means and wisdom is traditionally symbolized by the Buddha of Vajrasattva, the method aspect of purifications with skillful means and wisdom.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, you can see the Buddha of Vajrasattva His right hand is holding a dorje that  represents skillful means and left hand is holding a bell that represents wisdom. The bell and dorje which symbolized wisdom and skillful method. 

Using these hand implements in your practice symbolizes the union of skillful means and wisdom. Like using the two hands to produce a sound. Skillful means encompasses rightful methods, compassion and Bodhichitta. If we do not have the implements of skillful ways of compassion and Bodhichitta, it is like a house without a door.

Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the precious Buddha’s teachings and turning the Dharma wheels in the world.

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Nagarjuna's Dedication of Merit

By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.

May we liberate migrators from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright of these pictures.

Pictures courtesy and credit to the rightful owners.

Solar Eclipse On Auspicious Buddha Day

March 09, 2016 is the new moon day and it’s the Shakyamurni Buddha day according to the Tibetan calendar. On this day, the auspicious Buddha day is coinciding with a natural phenomenon as follows:-

1. Shakyamurni Buddha Day. 
2. New moon day
3. Solar eclipse.
4. Sojong practice

The maximum eclipse It is visible from across a much wider area, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, the Koreas, Japan, Philippines, Guam, northern Australia and even parts of Alaska. A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between Earth and the sun. The moon passes between Earth and the sun every month, but a total solar eclipse happens only when the three celestial bodies are perfectly aligned. This particular eclipse is even more special: It’s happening while the moon is at its closest point to Earth—called perigee.

Lucky sky watchers in Southeast Asia get a rare front-row seat to a total eclipse on March 8 and 9, and Pacific islanders will see a still-dazzling partial eclipse.

On this day, the effects of positive or negative actions are said to be multiplied by Hundred million times during Solar and lunar eclipses according to the Tibetan tradition. If one have committed a good and bad actions, and it will be multiplied by Hundred million times of such action. Therefore practices are emphasized according to the Tibetan lunar calendar of the Fire Monkey year 2143.

The Eight Mahayana Precepts or Sojong Practices

1. To refrain from killing.
2. To refrain from  stealing.
3. To refrain from sexual misconduct.
4. To refrain from lying and intoxication.
5. To refrain from taking a high or luxurious seat.
6. To refrain from singing and dancing.
7. To refrain from wearing ornaments.
8. To refrain from eating after midday.

The power of prayer is well known over centuries and in all different religious beliefs. According to Buddhism, the world in which we live and all that happens to us is a result of our past actions. Past harmful actions create unhappy results and skillful actions create happy results. 

Tadyata Om Muni Muni Maha Muniye Soha

One way to purify obstacles we experience due to our past harmful action is through prayers and pujas. A puja is a special ceremony in which prayers are offered to the Buddhas to request their blessings or invoke their help. But most importantly, making prayers and offerings to the enlightened beings, and to the Sangha community generates and increases merit, our positive potential. Merit is needed to have success in all activities. 

Pujas are performed to avert and clear the three types of obstacles which arise due to the lack of merit, which prevent us from achieving our worldly and spiritual goals. Removing these obstacles will help us to achieve happiness and good fortune in all our activities.

How to request a Puja

While some prayers are of universal benefit, there are others that help with specific problems. It is always advisable to ask a lama or other knowledgeable person for advice on what puja is suitable for one's specific situation or problem.

There are three types of obstacles:

1. Affecting our  day to day life,relationships, business, and finances. 
2. Affecting mental and physical health in the form of strong emotions, confusion, and associated physical problems.
3. Obstructing the attainment of wisdom, experienced as difficulties in Dharma practice.

Pujas can be performed for various purposes:

1. To help pacify their mind, and decrease fear during the time of death.
2. To bless and guide their mind to a higher state of rebirth and liberation. 
3. To remove obstacles to mental and physical health.
4. To remove obstacles to success in all activities, be they worldly or spiritual.

Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the precious Buddha’s precious Dharma and turning the Dharma wheels in the world.

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Nagarjuna's Dedication of Merit

By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.

May we liberate migrators from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright of these pictures.

Pictures courtesy and credit to the rightful owners

The best ways to predict your life is to create it.

The best ways to predict your life is to create it.

Kindness is the language

The blind can see it 

The deaf can hear it

Your little kindness goes a long way

Leave footprints of your love and kindness wherever you go

It's not always as easy to be kind to people and very often we think we are correct and another is wrong. When our thinking and emotion are wounded or our needs are not met in exclusively, people tend to express more impetuously, without considering what they say. Occasionally, we fail to remember about how the other one feels when we think what we have to say is more important. 

From time to time, in the middle of the conflict, we should be observing from the sidelines. What are they doing? Why are they talking to each other this way? Why are they both engaging in this manner?  

Problem solving is a process that is best achieved by the acceptance of a common goal and a kind heart. That does not exclude the expression of painful emotions. You can love someone and be angry. Again, it’s the way you express it. It’s how you express it that matters. The triumph of your interactions is directly related to your awareness and kindness.

Every new day we should come with a thankful thought!  For as long as you live, you have the chance to grow and be happy and for every new day must be considered a blessing, even if you are a non-believer. Try to fill the hours with optimism and contentment.

Remember these notes:- The best way to predict life, is to create it.

Do your best to have a little kindness towards others, including all beings as often as possible and let contemplate, let our love and compassion unfetter you from ignorance and sharpens your ability to appraise. Compassion and kindness are like the sanctuary that provides us a safe haven, when the storm is raging around us and naturally our reaction is to seek and find a shelter for safety. So compassion and wisdom are the wings that lighten all human’ development in many aspects of our life, whether it’s a spiritual journey or a self achievement.

Loving kindness and Bodhichitta are the messages of life, you don't learn only in institutions. Life itself is a living Journal that teaches something to those who wish to learn. This is the reason why I am always beginning my writing post of a title of THE LIVING JOURNAL. The Living Journal is related to Dharma and Dharma is a living philosophy and teaches us how significant to learn the Dharma and to apply it in our daily life.

To practice the Dharma and to apply it in our daily life, we need to study and attend the teachings and perceiving and viewing the Dharma as medicine to heal our life. When we attend teachings, we should think that “I am doing this to benefit myself and others” This is what we should do so with a Bodhichitta motivation. Besides having a positive motivation, we should try to avoid the six impediments of the path (please refer my post dated March 02, 2016)

When we attend teachings, keep a pure view; view the opportunity to attend the Dharma teaching as a perfect place, a perfect speech, a perfect assembly of gathering together to listen the precious teachings from the teacher.

In the Vajrayana tradition, you can see the bell and a dorje are frequently used during the prayer and ritual ceremonies. The bell and dorje which symbolize wisdom and skillful method. Using these hand implements in your practice symbolizes the union of skillful means and wisdom. Like using the two hands to produce a sound. Skillful means encompass rightful methods, compassion and Bodhichitta. If we do not have the implements of skillful ways of compassion and Bodhichitta, it is like a house without a kitchen.

Three common defeats of listening to Dharma

1] Listen to Dharma with full concentration, listen well and understand what is being taught. Likewise, you are like pouring water into an overturned or upside down of a pot and water will never fill or what the saying goes; “what go in one ear and out the other” we will never learn.

2] What we listen, we should revise, analyzed memorized and practiced. If we set it aside, we will not remember what was taught. Like a pot with a hole whose contents will leak and the pot will become empty.

3] Attending Dharma with the right motivation is extremely critical. However, diligent or devoted we may be, if it is only attend the Dharma for fame, fortune that motivates us, it is like a pot is contaminated and when we drink, we all will get sick. This is the poison in our mind, and then the Dharma teaching can’t really help us

When we practice diligently and followed every instruction that our Guru, the teacher has taught us, our practice should be like the sun coming out from the clouds brings brightness and charity.

Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the precious Buddha’s precious Dharma and turning the Dharma wheels in the world.

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Nagarjuna's Dedication of Merit

By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.

May we liberate migrators from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright of these pictures.

Pictures courtesy and credit to the rightful owners.

The Six Impediments of The Path.

The Living Journal – The six impediments of the path.

I can show you the way, but to attain the enlightenment, you have to work for yourself.- Quoted By the Buddha.

The six impediments of the path or the obscuration of the path, which affect our understanding of the Dharma.

1] Pride – to learn or to practice the Dharma, avoid pride. Once we have pride we will never learn, as we will always think that we are much better or more capable than our teachers.

2] Lack of faith [Not referring to blind faith] without faith nothing will happen, even if we have met with auspicious circumstances that allow us to practice, such as to have the time to practice, to have a good teacher and to have met the Dharma.

Why do we think that Buddhas are special ? There is absolutely no reason why we should think so. But because of faith, devotion arises. Once we have analyzed the Buddha’s teachings, and we are firmly convinced that the Buddhas really have an all-encompassing knowledge and wisdom, our faith and devotion will grow even stronger. Hence. We must have faith to learn or to even meet the Dharma and faith is an absolute pre-requisite to achieve enlightenment.

3] Lack of effort – Without right effort, we will not be able achieve our goals. Buddha Shakyamurni said to his disciples, “ I can show you the way, but to attain the enlightenment, you have to work for yourself”

If we don’t practice, even the Buddha Himself can not help us. If it possible for Buddha to liberate us all, out of compassion for us, the Buddha would have done so.

We are responsible for our own liberation, putting effort into our practice is all well and good, but right effort is also important. Right actions and efforts increase our inner realization and understanding. Wrong actions and efforts, like killing, stealing are those actions that should be avoided.

4] Outward distraction -  A distracted mind will not be able to concentrate and to improve our practice. It would be better to minimize activities that may cause us to lose our focus, such as partying, nightclubbing and gossiping. It is very easy for our mind to become attached to objects that attract our six senses or six consciousness, which are our eyes, nose, tongue, ears, touch and mind. 

[Your may refers to the Heart sutra explanations on how nature is emptiness and emptiness is nature and what is form, form is emptiness and emptiness is form]

When we are easily distracted by objects of the six senses may cause us to act rashly and irrationally. Like some animals will immerse themselves in mud to feel cool under the hot sun, but if they are becoming stuck in the mud, the animals will die. We learn to be less attached to objects and learn to let go or detached and to learn to control our mind.

5] Inward tension – If the string is too tight, it will break. If the string is too loose, it won’t work. If we focus too much, we become tense and may cause us to lose our concentration by falling asleep or becoming lazy. When we push ourselves too hard during meditation, we would become tired and confused, when we are too relaxed , we would then falling into asleep, this is the same concept should be applied to our practice..

6] Discouragement – Do not discouraged when we made effort to listen to the Dharma. Stop thinking that , “ I have wasted two hours listening to this teaching, instead of being here, is better I could be at home watching Oscar academy awards. All these thoughts serve no purpose except to discourage and prevent us from practicing.

The basic of Six Paramitas. (To be discussed separately)

Paramita is a Sanskrit word and in Tibetan words the six Paramitas, is “phar-phying-drug” it’s literally means Perfection or completeness. It’s also known as the 六度般若波羅蜜 in Mahayana traditions. In Buddhism, these virtues are cultivated as a way of purification of karma and helping the disciples to live an unobstructed life, while reaching the goal of enlightenment.

1. Generosity.

2. Virtue, morality, ethics conduct.

3. Patience, tolerance, forgiveness, acceptance, endurance.

4. Diligence, vigor, joyful endeavour.

5. One point concentration, meditative concentration.

6. Wisdom

Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the precious Buddha’s precious Dharma and turning the Dharma wheels in the world.

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Nagarjuna's Dedication of Merit

By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.

May we liberate migrators from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright of these pictures.

Pictures courtesy and credit to the rightful owners.