Wish It, Post-it

An original message… beautiful!

There are many prayers and preparations being made at Namgyal Temple in Dharamsala today.  

Tomorrow is the great Buddhist celebration of Chökhor Düchen, the first turning of the Wheel of Dharma; the day of Buddha first teaching, The Four Noble Truths, given at Deer Park in Sarnath, India.  

Along with the recitation of mantras, the making of prayer flags and the serving of tea, there is a place at the temple where any visitor can leave a message of good wishes and continued birthday sentiments for His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama. Yellow Post-its are gathering in number for Dalai Lama to enjoy. They are written in Tibetan, English, French, German, and many languages; possibly as many languages as there are visitors here.  

It is said that all good wishes and actions, positive and negative, are multiplied 10 million times during this time. So, write on a Post-it in your heart, wish-it with along with us… join us on this special day!  

A sampling of messages found at Namgyal Temple today.

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Chökhor Düchen is one of the Four Great Festivals (düchen), during the Tibetan calendar year of 2010-2011, Iron Tiger Year 2137, 4^th Tibetan day of the month (western calendar date of July 15, 2010)  

Photograph by C. J. Schake – © Copyright 2010 – all rights reserved, quality prints available on request.  

With A Wish

Three pink flowers at the base of a Buddha’s lotus seat are graced by roots of the same pink color, Hong Kong.

With a wish to free all beings

I shall always go for refuge

To the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,

Until I reach full enlightenment.

Enthused by wisdom and compassion,

Today in the Buddha’s presence

I generate the Mind for full Awakening

For the benefit of all sentient beings.

As long as space remains,

As long as sentient beings remain,

Until then, may I too remain

And dispel the miseries of the world.

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References ‘Generating the Mind for Enlightenment’, Traditional verse used when taking Bodhisattva Vows with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, derived and inspired by Shatideva, Bodhisattva’s Way of Life

Photograph by C. J. Schake – © Copyright 2010 – all rights reserved, quality prints available on request.

Drop, Pool, or Perhaps Ocean

Said to be a sacred pool at ancient ruins in Kangra Valley, Himachael Pradesh, India.

When drops of water fill a vase,

It is not the first drop that fills it,

Nor the last drop or each drop individually;

Through the gathering of dependent factors the vase is filled.

Likewise, when someone experiences joy and suffering – the effects –

This is not due to the first instant of their cause;

Nor is it due to the last instant of their cause.

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References ‘Mind Training: The Wheel of Sharp Weapons’, Attributed to Dharmaraksita, Translated by Thupten Jinpa, 2006, Stanzas 111 & 112 (partial); published by The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, http://www.budaedu.org

Photograph by C. J. Schake – © Copyright 2010 – all rights reserved, quality prints available on request.

Throwing ahead…

The traditional blessing of saffron water at Tibetan New Year celebrations, Losar at Boudha Stupa in Katmandu, Nepal.

There are five forces for condensing the practice in one lifetime, namely this lifetime. The first force is the intention that we throw ahead of us. We wish, “May I always be able to develop a bodhichitta aim; may I always be able to practice attitude-training; may I always be able to develop the good qualities that will truly enable me to benefit all others.” Throwing ahead the force of our intention is like making a preparation to fulfill these wishes. So, we throw ahead the intention: “I am going to develop in this good direction. Now that I have this opportunity to practice these vast vehicle Mahayana practices, I am going to apply all my force and all my active energies in this direction.”

To do this every day, in the morning we say as we wake up, “Today it is so fortunate that I’ve woken up. I’m alive! I have a precious human life. I’m not going to waste it, but will use all the energies of this precious life today to develop a bodhichitta aim to achieve enlightenment in order to benefit others as much as is possible. So, I am going to have kind thoughts toward all others. I am not going to be angry or have bad thoughts. As much as I can, I will use all my energies to help others, to be of benefit to others.”

It is very important to have this very practical setting of our intention in the morning. Likewise at night, we can examine our actions: “What have I done today? What type of person have I been today: did I help others or did I just use others for my own selfish purposes? Did I get angry; did I develop attachment?” We need to examine our day honestly as to how we actually behaved and what types of attitudes we developed during the day. If we find that during the day we in fact were a kind and warm person, we can rejoice in that, feeling happy and encouraged. But if we acted in a very disturbing manner, we need to feel regret about that, admit we did wrongly, and set a very strong intention: “Tomorrow, I’m not going to act again in such a negative manner.”

If we do this each day, we will gradually improve and learn to sustain it by resolving to “act well” for the next day, month and year.

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Commentary by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama; Attitude-Training Like the Rays of the Sun – Day Five: Relative Bodhichitta and Deepest Bodhichitta; Conventional Bodhichitta (continued), Developing Love and Compassion: to an audience with many new arrivals from Tibet. Translated by Alexander Berzin [http://www.berzinarchives.com ], Dharamsala, India, May 9–15, 1985

Photograph by C. J. Schake – © Copyright 2010 – all rights reserved, quality prints available on request.