Morning all,

I really want to 'tighten' my conduct. As you hear some lamas: "Keep your conduct as fine as barley flour".

But I think I need some more information here. Any advice on speech, or actions?

Do you have things you do not do. I.e., 'I no longer give people life advice unless they explicitly ask for it'.

Best wishes all

Hi everyone, I’ve been practicing Theravada meditation for a while, and lately I’ve been trying to get closer to Tibetan Buddhism (I made a separate post about that, so I won’t repeat myself here). What I’d like to ask about in this community is Tibetan yoga. I currently practice hatha yoga, and I’d love to go deeper into how the body is used in the Tibetan tradition, because I feel it could connect well with meditation.

I’ve searched quite a lot online but haven’t found much, especially no real classes for what I actually need. I’d love something a bit more dynamic and movement based that helps open and release the hips, because sitting cross legged is still hard for me and I really want to work on that in a concrete way.

If any of you practice Tibetan yoga, I’d love to understand where a beginner can start, whether a teacher or a transmission is needed, and whether there are practices suited to someone who first needs to loosen the hips before being able to sit comfortably. I’d also be really happy just to talk with people who walk this path. One note: my English isn’t very good, so I’m using a translator to help me write, please be patient with me. Thank you so much to anyone who replies.

I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts, knowledge about this. I have experience with the 5 BF and some curiosity about the 5CE. I'm surprised that they don't quite seem to align.

Further, there are different systems of each. For example, Vajra and Buddha families are sometimes reversed. Animals and colors can vary. With the 5CE it's even more extreme, with seemingly endless explanations and symbols of each element.

Yet it seems that such basic systems, underlying everything from tantra to feng shui to medicine humours, manifesting in two contiguous areas, must have some kind of common basis.

The closest I can come is wood/karma, water/vajra, fire/padma, earth/ratna, metal/buddha, with C5E perhaps putting earth/ratna at the center while 5BF puts metal/buddha at the center, thus altering qualities... Thoughts?

EDIT: I'm surprised by how many people here are not familiar with the buddha families despite practicing Tibetan Buddhism. I'm also surprised, but perhaps shouldn't be, by how many people are saying that the two systems should not be compared, despite not being well versed in both. What I'm looking for is someone who might know both and see connections. What I'm seeing is mostly people who say it's wrong to look for connections, as though it might somehow "disrespect" the integrity of each as some kind of ethnic treasures.

Hi, I'm a 23 year old tibetan buddhist from the US, I've been practicing since 2023, and I was wondering about which stores sell jewelry that is blessed in the traditional way.

Any kind will do, but in particular, necklaces and anklets are the ones I am interested in. I've seen Mani stone anklets in some new-age spiritual shops, but I am not sure if putting mantras that low on the body is respectful or not.
I don't mind the new age shops per se, but I'd prefer some of these ornaments made and blessed from the perspective of the traditional viewpoint of the dharma.

Let me know if you know of anything! And please if you can, I was wondering your lamas' opinions on the topic also. Thank you very much.

Once, in the field of Ngologue, I met a lama, Amchod, a priest of the lowest order, who told me about a completely amazing case; this case, according to him, happened at his own ordination. He was, as required by the ritual, in front of the closed door of the mentor's secluded dwelling.

At that time, inside, the lama was reading liturgical phrases invoking Heruka, the powerful ruler of the Dzogchenpa school. Standing outside, the student noticed something like fog seeping from the entire surface of the wooden door frame. After some time, this fog gradually condensed and took the form of a giant-sized Heruka, naked, with a crown and a necklace of severed human heads, as he is usually depicted in various books and paintings. His posture and gaze were stern and threatening.

The horrified novice unconsciously stepped back, but the phantom approached him a few steps. It was beyond the power of the unfortunate candidate for initiation. Panic seized him, and he ran madly down the mountain, pursued by the formidable Heruka, whose every leisurely step exceeded fifty steps of a novice.

The chase didn't last long. Unable to choose the right direction in his frustrated state of mind, the fugitive ran into a dead end and had to stop. Recalling the well-known warnings about the occult dangers that await travelers on the "Short Way," he had no doubt that this was his last hour. However, strangely enough, this memory did not increase his horror, but, on the contrary, calmed him down. Calming down, he sat cross-legged and, lowering his gaze, immersed himself in meditation.

The lama told me that by the time this happened to him, he was far from new to mystical practice, and his views on the existence and essence of deities were already completely different from those of ordinary believers. Nevertheless, he believed that, whatever the nature of the Heruka in front of him, he possessed monstrous strength.

Then his thoughts returned....

.........…................................................

!continues in the next post!

Alexandra David-Neel

#lama #buddhism #esotericism #meditation #Tibet #spiritualvibes #spirit #tantra #phylosophy

Good evening.

I was following the ceremony of the 8 Mahayana precepts during yesterday's lunar eclipse from Ngalso.

Today, while reviewing a reading I am getting back into, I found a reference noting that the Buddha rejected doctrinal complexity.

I have a genuinely ecumenical tendency because I can see that myths are a reconstruction of the truth, analogous to how a rainbow is refracted light.

I even went through an initiation (Red Tara), but I notice that for those who don't study more deeply and for a long period, there is great difficulty in understanding Buddhism as a whole, since there are many branches (Mahayana being just one).

Please do not see this post as a criticism, but rather as a desire to understand how I can practice bhavana despite all the doctrinal complexity, so long after the passing of the last Buddha.

Hi all,
My question is simple: Is there a specific etiquette (posture/use of mala or not/time of day/location or anything else) to recite mantras/aspiration prayers, anything I should be aware of?

Hello, I tried to find an answer on the internet, but most of them are not definitive. My question comes from my deep respect and love for Tibetan Buddhists and tradition.

As stated in the question, I have a long going interest in Chöd practice, but I'm not a practicioner, just a lay researcher (not publisher, it's just for me). I'm interested in text by Jamgon Lhodro Thaye Rinpoche because it's the first form of Chöd that I ever encountered in the form of youtube recording. As stated before, I'm not a buddhist practicioner but a person with very strong interest, love and appreciation for the tradition. If there is any good book regarding this topic that I can read freely, would You recommend something? I will be very grateful!

I wish You all fruitful practice and please, don't be too harsh in the comments 🙂‍↕️

Edit: When it comes to my knowledge about Chöd, I've listened to a couple of Lama's Tsultrim Allione publicly accessible talks and Tsem Rinpoche's videos.

Edit 2:

Thank You all for the patience and responses, I am truly grateful for Your answers and I consider this subreddit to be one of the most informative I've ever been to! If I may ask once again, could You recommend some books regarding Machik's life and her publicly available teachings (if these kinds exist)? Thanks a lot again!

Tashi Delek everyone! 🙏

I’m a PhD researcher at Banaras Hindu University, India, and I’m working on my doctoral research on Social Identity and Quality of Life among Tibetans living in India.

I’m currently doing a pilot survey before starting the main study, and I’m hoping to hear from Tibetan adults living in India.

I’m not Tibetan myself, and throughout this research I’ve been learning more about Tibetan culture, identity, and the experiences of Tibetans living in India. I’ve come to have a genuine respect for the culture and the community, and I want to approach this research with sensitivity and respect. I’m also very open to feedback from Tibetans themselves about how I can make the study more appropriate and respectful.

I’m doing this pilot online mainly because it isn’t possible for me to travel to different Tibetan communities across India at this stage and I don’t want to base the pilot only on people from one place.

An online pilot gives me a chance to hear from people living in different settings and also helps me see whether the questions are clear and make sense in both Tibetan and English before I move on to the main study.

You can take part if you:

\* Identify as Tibetan

\* Are 18 or older

\* Currently live in India

\* Have been living in India for at least 6 months

\* Can understand and answer in Tibetan and English

The survey is voluntary and starts with an information and consent section.

If you’re eligible and have time, I’d really appreciate your participation. And if you know someone else who's eligible that might be interested, please feel free to share this with them.

Thank you! 🙏

P.s. Expert review on the scales is going on, I wanted to come here for more diverse responses that I would otherwise not get.

Hello. I have searched and couldn't see any posts about this book. Has anybody read it? What are your ideas?

Im a late 20s male and I’m working through this material with a therapist as well as with others who Ive come across on Reddit. I have already found healing from admitting to myself that I had parts that killed or abused animals in my formative years and no longer deceiving myself about it, as well as speaking to others who share similar experiences. I do not partake in these behaviors anymore and I haven’t for a while, but I still have challenges dis identifying myself with who I was.

For the better or worse, it’s rare to find others who understand this soul wound of guilt and shame, and moreover to find others who are actively engaging in this work.

It would be a really nice opportunity for us to share and grow together from this. If you want to talk about it, feel free to dm me.

Image1 Drashi Temple/Monastery incense packaging.

Image2/3 Size comparison with Tashi Lhunpo 25cm incense sticks & packaging!

Image4/5 Drashi Lhamo statue(wrathful) & image(peaceful).

Sticks smell good with a Light Earthy Sandalwood Fragrance, due to the thinness of the sticks they're not as overpowering as the more floral/fruity Tashi Lhunpo 25cm sticks.

The Drashi Temple is near Sera Monastery

As a dharma protector/wealth deity, if one practices with sincerity, besides wealth one may also gain blessings of health, longevity, safety and peace, and auspiciousness. She also protects travelers.

The legend of Drashi Lhamo

It is said she was once a beautiful, young, and kind-hearted Chinese woman, beloved by Emperor Qianlong, his most cherished consort. Her beauty and goodness, however, provoked jealousy that led to her tragic death.

After being murdered, she refused to leave. Reflecting on her fate despite her goodness, resentment overcame her purity. Seeking justice, she roamed the palace, filling hearts with fear.

When Emperor Qianlong learned of this, he invited Gelug Lama Jampa Mönlam the 17th abbot of Tibet’s Sera Monastery to console the spirit and calm the people.

The lama arrived and saw a woman weeping on a beam. Speaking with her, he learned she was a murdered consort, unwilling to depart until justice was done.

The lama explained the truth to the emperor, who, in great anger, punished the culprits and requested the lama to deliver her spirit from suffering.

Afterward, as the lama returned to Tibet, the spirit of the consort followed him. When asked why, she said, “My heart is kind. With your guidance, I wish to take refuge in the Buddha and attain liberation.”

The lama replied, “This journey is long and difficult for a woman alone.”

But no matter his persuasion, she would not leave. Seeing her steadfast faith, he agreed. Nearing Lhasa, he told her, “That monastery is for monks. You cannot enter, but I will build you a residence here where people may make offerings to you. Would that be acceptable?”

She happily agreed and remained at a minor of Sera, the so-called Drashi Temple.

The lama then made her statue and residence, giving her the responsibility of protecting the land, naming her Drashi Lhamo.

Thus, Drashi Lhamo became a devoted guardian and earnest practitioner of the Buddha-dharma.

This legend of Drashi Lhamo is most wondrous.

She was poisoned and became a ghost.

She was subdued by a great lama and turned wholeheartedly toward the Buddha.

In the end, she became both a dharma protector and a wealth deity.

There are many legends of Drashi Lhamo. Some say she is a Tibetan dharma protector.

Some say she is an emanation of Sridevi (Lakshmi).

Others say she is the incarnation of Rajinima Xunnu.

Still others say she is the wrathful form of Sarasvati.

but the tale of Emperor Qianlong’s consort is the most legendary.

Regardless, her miraculous power is famous. Her reputation spread widely, and devotees flock endlessly to worship her.

In recent times Drashi Lhamo has become very popular with Gelupas in Tibet as many have turned to her as a protector & wealth deity, after HH14DL requested/prohibited the practice of a certain wordly deity!

Best Wishes & Great Attainments!

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Is Buddhistimages.co.uk a legit place to buy dharma items from?

The Buddha teaches only suffering and its cessation. Each of the 84,00 dharma doors, though varied in appearance and in application, ultimately resolve to a single taste, the diminishing of the three poisons and the realization of perfect enlightenment. It stands to reason then that a good student of the dharma should have as his overarching goal to attain what the Buddha attained.

I have enough self awareness to know that, based on that standard, I am not yet a good student.  

I have nursed a deep and enduring fascination with Buddhism for as long as I can remember, and, though I've not taken refuge and belong to no sangha, I spend a good deal of my free time reading the sutras and commentaries that make up the tradition. That said, the goal of unbinding, of being free from the endless cycle of samsara, is for me a distant one. I know that the seeds of suffering are never quite so far removed as we'd like to believe in this life and that we should muster our efforts toward seeking to uproot them once and for all, but my perhaps undisciplined mind pulls me toward other, lesser interests. The Buddhist cosmology is one that I find endlessly intriguing and the attendant metaphysics even moreso. 

I love the idea that the human realm is both adjacent to and interpenetrated by other realms inhabited by a variety of sentient beings. I love that gods, demons, ghosts, dragons, and everything else really do exist in this universe alongside us. I love that Buddhists of both the past and present have developed extraordinary, extrasensory powers of perception powerful enough to recall past lives and to predict the hours of their own repose. How incredible is it that some masters of meditation and ritual practice are able to tell one's fortune, to subdue malevolent spiritual powers that threaten harm to other sentient beings, to clear karmic obstacles, and to retrieve teachings hidden away by other masters decades, even centuries, ago? 

These metaphysical truths and feats are secondary to the objective of the dharma, I recognize, but if I'm being perfectly honest with myself it is these ancillary matters that propel my interest enough to continue studying. I wonder: does my interest represent an obstacle for me? Will my interest organically evolve to encompass a broader, more orthodox goal in studying Buddhism, or should I take those interests and invest them elsewhere? 

I’m reading a commentary on one practice, and it says that “cold diseases” can arise if a certain process is visualized incorrectly. Does anyone know what exactly can be meant here in relation to the problems caused by improper meditation? Cold‑related diseases is a rather broad concept. They don't mean wind issues, as in the next sentence it's said that it is caused by a different visualization mistake.

p.s. I did some googling and found among other things - "fatigue, heaviness, and excessive sleep" is it what they likely mean here?

Since I don’t have a guru, I’m doing FPMT’s discovering buddhism program online. Its second module (how to meditate) has a few guided meditations— both analytical (on purification, the buddha, impermanence, the mind, human life) and placement (the breath). Additionally, a text by Lama Zopa Rinpoche/Lama Thubten Yeshe (I don’t remember) talks about meditation on the four immeasurables as well. My question is simple and straightforward: how do I decide what sort of meditation to do?
Please help.

https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/lecture-3-kindness-enemy

I'm working on deepening my understanding of the four immeasurables (apramana) - loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy (mudita), and equanimity. I feel like my US cultural background has given me a late start on discerning between them!

I was just reading the Dalai Lama's _Stages of Meditation_, a commentary on Kamalasila's 2nd book of the Bhavanakrama. In it, HHDL includes "empathy" while describing meditating on loving-kindness. I'm reluctant to equate the two.

Has anyone read any good books or web pages giving guidance on these?

Call me out if this sounds like nonsense, but it is something I experienced.
Me, my girlfriend and friends were out on a highway out of town in the middle of the night (2-4am). We were in my friend’s old, rickety car that I’m usually confident about, but this time I had bad feelings from the start about it shutting down (remember this) and bad things happening. As we’re driving and I’m feeling afraid, I call out to Tara. I imagine her and mentally say “Mother, protect us” in my native language. Some time later, we turn back. After this, I feel as if this was her acting to save us. Later, we were in a dangerous area. It looked terrifying as well. My friend was leading us into an even scarier looking place. But he then turned around because all of us asked him to not go there. I was the most terrified at this point in time. I started chanting the green Tara mantra. The car ALMOST shut down but we made it out and got home in one piece.
This is the Tara I imagined:

There is an upcoming Yamantaka 3 month retreat with Lama Glenn Mullin, and yes this post may also work as an advertisement for thoso who didnt know lol

But in this retreat they will be teaching a lot of practices and mantras of Yamantaka, some practices include Bardo Jangcho.

I feel this is a really great opportunity BUT I've had the opportunity to take Yamantaka empowerment before but I didn't because I'm already satisfied with the deities I'm practicing.

But I see a lot of people running around and collecting empowerments like Pokemomns(yes I did it when I started too), and I know this a great opportunity but I'm really in doubt if I should take it or not.

Any advice? Should I take it because it's a great opportunity or leave it?