The Four Thoughts That Change the Mind: Defects of Samsara [4]

[@freeworld88888]

it is easy to have a teacher. when you read books, it is too difficult and oftern confusion, we go back and forward the pages.
thank you , sir, very liberating to listen to this.

[@mommayanna]

I love your teachings and am so grateful for this beautiful wisdom. Thank you so much for your excellent English language skills so that I am able to understand. I rejoice! May you be blessed, Khenpo.

[@nathand.springer9221]

Preliminaries to Engaging in the 23 Practices :
Refuges, Yidams, Buddhas, Root Syllables, Kagyu Lineage, Prajnaparamita and Milarepa Supplication :
I take Refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Namo Buddhaya,
Namo Dharmaya,
Namo Sanghaya,
Namo Guru Dewa Dakini. (x3)
I take Refuge in the Lamas, Yidams and Protectors.
Namo Lama,
Namo Yidam,
Namo Dharmapala. (x3)
Root Syllables
Om Ah Hung (x3, x23, x108)
Yidam
Om Benza Pani Hum Phat (x3, x23, x108)
Historical Buddha
Om Muni Muni Maha Muni Shakyamuni Soha (x3, x23, x108)
Kagyu Lineage
Karmapa Khyenno (x3, x23, x108)
Perfection of Wisdom
Tayata Om Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Sattva (x3, x23, x108)
Supplication to Milarepa, The Laughing Vajra
Je Mila Zhe Pa Dorje La Solwa Dep So (x3, x23, x108)
23 Practices of a Black Mountain Yogi : A Tibetan Buddhist Sadhana with Vajrapani as Yidam
For Sutrayana,
I take Refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
For Vajrayana,
I take Refuge in the Lama, Yidams and Dharmapalas.
Birth, Old Age, Sickness and Death . . .
Preoccupation on these is like a Magician Conjuring Illusions and forgetting them as such.
This is the Practice.
The Sides of Good and Evil are just displays of my own mind and subject to change;
Too see these as ethereal and without essence-
Appearing yet Empty.
This is the Practice.
To shun others for the sake of reaching a preordained destination or to control others in isolation-
Seeing these intents as the Demon of Ego I completely abandon them.
This is the Practice.
To know that hollow sounds of incantation by those with confused minds are in no way akin to the Reality of Emptiness Protected by Emptiness.
I dispel these things as one dispels a virus.
This is the Practice.
To eat what is offered,
To love what is given,
To know when to give and when not to-
Abandon Idiot Compassion Fully.
This is the Practice.
Make little plans for travel,
To wander as if it is the most joyous thing in the three worlds,
To make provisions last and thank a benefactor with kindness and protection.
This is the Practice.
Avoid self-centered friends whose wish it is to use you for their ends and desires that are still bound in the Prison of Samsara-
They're like Spiritual Friends on the outside and Ghouls within.
Stand up against these individuals when necessary.
This is the Practice.
To Listen, Reflect and Sit without effort on your part is to please a Genuine Spiritual Friend.
To have at first analytical devotion, and then true loyalty that knows no bounds.
This is the Practice.
To rely on innate skill-
Born of practice in tireless nights and long days of discipline and effort,
Subdue obstacles in all Forms and From all Directions.
This is the Practice.
Seeing the Three Sources of Refuge as none other than Refuges of your own Body, Speech and Mind Inseparable.
Not getting mired in agreement, contradiction, a combination of both or neither-
For now, let your mind rest simply on this without exaggeration.
This is the Practice.
To condense all pith instruction, initiation and transmission into a Panacea of Awakening,
With a Miraculous Potency,
That is like Pure Light and Sheer Awareness without a Boundary to be seen with limitless benefit to yourself and infinite others.
This is the Practice.
No one is absolutely perfect.
Searching for faults without end is to destroy
The Merit of yourself and others throughout the three times.
To quiet the mind that seeks to destroy and control.
This is the Practice.
To only confront that which is an immediate threat to yourself and infinite others.
Then to recede back into meditative equipoise on the unborn nature of mind.
Ever deepening understanding arises spontaneously-
To do just this.
This is the Practice.
To not let the cries of the Voiceless go Unheard.
To be perfect in preparation and set out with perseverance that is limitless and like a Diamond that can cut but not be cut.
This is the Practice.
To not be concerned in the least with the Eight Mundane Concerns.
Even to laugh in the face of their mention.
This is the Practice.
Any imbalance in practice is the seed for further degeneration,
To see instability as non arisen and ultimately nonexistent,
Conventionally change how it is perceived.
This is the Practice.
Asking too much of others without reciprocation in Material Comfort,
Mental Comfort and Provisional Dharma Teachings
denies essence teaching and contradicts
'The Four Immeasurables' the most serious of downfalls.
Don't do this even at the cost of your own life.
This is the Practice.
Seeing those who beat you mercilessly,
Humiliate and torture you as manifestations of appearance-emptiness and not seeing them as truly evil.
This is the Practice.
To know without support that emptiness is not a common denominator, it's the only denominator.
Then to not posit emptiness as anything in particular.
This is the Practice.
This Body you inhabit will one day be lifeless and dead,
Possibly grounded into bloody chum to feed frenzied sharks.
Knowing this,
Don't be attached to Beauty and Procreation.
This is the Practice.
The Body left unkempt will return to its natural smell.
At birth you smell terrible and at death exponentially worse.
Knowing these things to be absolutely relative to context -
Let go of soothing and disgusting smells.
This is the Practice.
To not fall off the Horse of Mindfulness and Exertion,
Vowing
'As Long as Space Endures
And as Long as Sentient Beings Remain,
Until then may I too remain,
To dispel the misery of the world.'
This is the Practice.
Know that empty sounds and words can't harm or help you.
Take Refuge in the Teacher,
Their Teaching,
As well as those who are or have sincerely internalized practice.
Practice.
Herein is explained the Practices of a Black Mountain Yogi.
Any who masters this practice internalizing and embodying it through training, application and realization of the inner meaning is considered beyond the many contrivances of Samsara in it’s seeming contrast to Nirvana.
Out of the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana this is a text associated with the Vajrayana or 'Resultant Vehicle'.
Within Vajrayana, Mantrayana.
Dedicated to Milarepa whose supplication mantra is ' Je Mila Zhe Pa Dorje La Solwa Dep So' and my root Yidam Vajrapani whose supplication mantra is ‘Om Benza Pani Hum’, I supplicate you who represents The Embodiment of the Strength of all Buddhas.
Dedicated to my root teacher Lama Dudjom Dorje and The 17th Gyalwa Karmapa.
May you not encounter any obstacles,
May there only be respect towards you.
I dedicate any and all merit of this practice to all sentient beings without exception.
*The Bodhisattva Vajrapāni (alt. pronunciation Benzapani)
Vajrapani, who represents the energy of the enlightened mind, is a member, along with Avalokiteshvara who represents the compassion of the enlightened mind and Manjushri who represents the wisdom of the enlightened mind, of the trinity of Bodhisattvas known as the Three Family Protectors. The Buddha family of which Vajrapani is the protector is the Vajra family, which includes Dhyani Buddha Akshobhya and Yamantaka, The Destroyer of Death.
Vajrapani, Holder of the Vajra, represents the energy of the enlightened mind and energy that breaks through delusion. He dances wildly within a halo of flames, which represent the transformative power of Awakening. He holds a vajra in his right hand, which emphasizes the power to cut through the darkness of unknowing.
Om Vajrapani Hum (3x Mala or 23 minutes)
Non-Buddhists (and Theravada Buddhists) seeing Vajrapani for the first time may wonder how such a wrathful-looking figure could possibly fit with the peaceful associations they have with the Buddhist tradition, although such figures are actually very common in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions.
Of course it’s not really possible adequately to represent the qualities of Enlightenment in any image, and so even the peaceful forms of Buddhas and bodhisattvas are to some extent misleading.
Enlightened beings do not, in reality, sit around all day on lotuses smiling serenely. The Buddha himself was fearlessly active in engaging with the other religious figures and philosophers of his day. His fearless approach to life is perhaps characterized most clearly by his encounter with Angulimala, who was an infamous bandit who killed his victims and added a finger from each to the garland he wore around his neck (his name means “Garland of Fingers”). Although warned to stay away from this dangerous figure, the Buddha insisted on going into the forest to confront Angulimala, who converted to Buddhism, became a monk, and eventually became Enlightened.
Therefore, it’s just as appropriate to represent an Enlightened being as dancing wildly, naked and fearless.
Another way of looking at the apparent fierceness of Vajrapani and other seemingly wrathful figures is to consider what a Buddha looks like from the point of view of that part of ourselves that doesn’t want to change. We may, at some level, want to meditate, to live ethically, and so on, but other parts of us are profoundly threatened by the possibility of change.
Our habits can form a kind of stagnate-personality that can try to hijack our lives. After all, habits of denial, craving, and aversion face extinction if we continue to practice the path of mindfulness and compassion, so it’s not surprising that they sometimes put up a protest. From the point of view of those powerful and yet primitive parts of ourselves, Enlightenment, rather than looking attractive, seems to be threatening and demonic.
Because of this dual nature, Vajrapani has his peaceful forms as well, and early depictions of him, while muscular and athletic, are nothing like the wild figure commonly depicted.