འཇམ་དཔལ་དཔའ་བོའི་ཞབས་པད་དྲི་མེད་ཉིད། །While the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī’s pristine lotus feetཡན་ལག་མཆོག་གི་པདྨར་རབ་བཀོད་ནས། །Remained excellently poised atop a supreme lotus,ཟབ་རྒྱས་ཆོས་ཚུལ་དངོས་སུ་ལེགས་ནོད་པ། །You directly trained in the Dharma, profound and vast —མཁན་ཆེན་ཞི་བ་འཚོ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་བསྟོད། །To Mahāpaṇḍita Śāntarakṣita, homage and praise!--Verse from Praise to the Great Abbot Śāntarakṣita by Mipham Rinpoche (1906) "When they present emptiness and the ultimate truth then they are presenting both… Continue reading MAGIC KEY TO ENTERING KNOWLEDGE (PART II): THE THREE ‘MIDDLE WAY’ (MĀDHYAMIKA) SCHOOLS: Overview of the three Middle Way schools and explanation of the first, the Autonomist Mādhyamika (Rang-Gyupa) and the Three ‘Autonomist’ Eastern Abbots: Bhāviveka, Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla
Month: Jun 2023
TOP OF THE PODS: Newly launched ‘Dakini Conversations’ podcast ranked in Top Ten Buddhist Podcasts
After only being launched a few months ago, and with only three podcasts, Dakini Conversations has already been placed at no.10 in the top 40 'Best Buddhist podcasts' by a popular podcast website ! They state that their list is "the best Buddhist podcasts from thousands of podcasts on the web and ranked by traffic,… Continue reading TOP OF THE PODS: Newly launched ‘Dakini Conversations’ podcast ranked in Top Ten Buddhist Podcasts
THE MAGIC KEY FOR “ENTERING THE GATEWAY OF KNOWLEDGE” (KHE-JUG) PART I: THE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS/TENETS (DRUB-THA): The non-Buddhist schools and two ‘externalist’ Buddhist schools of the Hinayana and Mind-Only (9th Thrangu Rinpoche’s teachings on Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche’s Gateway to Knowledge (Part I))
"Great emptiness free from the elaborations of the eight limits,From the authentic logical path of the wise scholars,That totally connects all beings to the ground of bliss and benefit,I prostrate to those kind and sacred gurus." --Khenpo Gangshar in The Magic Key commentary (tr. Tomlin, 2023) "In Tibetan, drub means to prove, and tha means… Continue reading THE MAGIC KEY FOR “ENTERING THE GATEWAY OF KNOWLEDGE” (KHE-JUG) PART I: THE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS/TENETS (DRUB-THA): The non-Buddhist schools and two ‘externalist’ Buddhist schools of the Hinayana and Mind-Only (9th Thrangu Rinpoche’s teachings on Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche’s Gateway to Knowledge (Part I))
A 21st CENTURY TIBETAN ‘POLYMATH RENAISSANCE GENIUS’, 17th KARMAPA BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE. An overview of the 17th Karmapa’s outstanding activities and teachings on Buddha Dharma, female empowerment, vegetarianism, environmentalism, art, theatre and poetry
Today, the first day of the fifth Tibetan month (19 June 2023) is the 39th birthday of HH 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. Normally, it has been celebrated on the 26th June, his birthday according to the non-lunar, western calendar), but it is now being celebrated on the Tibetan lunar month and day of… Continue reading A 21st CENTURY TIBETAN ‘POLYMATH RENAISSANCE GENIUS’, 17th KARMAPA BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE. An overview of the 17th Karmapa’s outstanding activities and teachings on Buddha Dharma, female empowerment, vegetarianism, environmentalism, art, theatre and poetry
THE ART OF WARRIORS: REMEMBERING MIPHAM GYATSO AND KING GESAR ‘THE GREAT LION JEWEL WHO SUBDUES FOES’: The Epic of King Gesar, Mipham Gyatso ‘s ‘pure vision’ Lingdro dance and texts, and the Karmapa connection
"Embodiment of the three buddha families,Through the compassionate light rays of Pema Totreng, you arose as the splendour of the world—Supreme being, Great Lion, Norbu Dradul, to you we pray!Grant us supreme and ordinary siddhis!" --Mipham Gyatso Rinpoche “In short, there is no doubt that Gesar is a wisdom emanation of the venerable hero Mañjuśrī—of… Continue reading THE ART OF WARRIORS: REMEMBERING MIPHAM GYATSO AND KING GESAR ‘THE GREAT LION JEWEL WHO SUBDUES FOES’: The Epic of King Gesar, Mipham Gyatso ‘s ‘pure vision’ Lingdro dance and texts, and the Karmapa connection
‘SONG OF THE DZOGCHEN VIEW: MUSIC OF SWEET SOUNDS’ by Ju Mipham Gyatso. Based on teaching by 9th Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
“However, those with little habituation to the abiding reality,Might not realize the secret point of the profound.I am not being disrespectful to you;So, if this strikes a nerve, please be patient." --Ju Mipham Rinpoche in Music of Sweet Sounds “I feel that it is fair to say that I have a strong lineage of blessings… Continue reading ‘SONG OF THE DZOGCHEN VIEW: MUSIC OF SWEET SOUNDS’ by Ju Mipham Gyatso. Based on teaching by 9th Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
‘Swift Dawn of the Lion’s Speech Sun’: Re-birth Supplication for 9th Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche by 17th Gyalwang Karmapa
As an offering for 9th Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, vajra brothers and sisters, and his community of followers, I have created a short video with my original translation of the Swift Re-birth Supplication composed by HH 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. I have entitled it 'Swift Dawn of the Lion's Speech Sun'. The video here,… Continue reading ‘Swift Dawn of the Lion’s Speech Sun’: Re-birth Supplication for 9th Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche by 17th Gyalwang Karmapa
A Memorial Tribute to Kagyu Mahamudra and Dzogchen master and Geshe Lharampa, 9th Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche (1933-2023)
"There is a sutra that says, “He has built the boat of dharma, beaten the drum of dharma, blown the conch of dharma, raised the banner of dharma, blocked the seeds of samsara, taught the nature of nirvana, cut off the wrong paths, taught the correct path, reversed bad karmas, and correctly taught the fields… Continue reading A Memorial Tribute to Kagyu Mahamudra and Dzogchen master and Geshe Lharampa, 9th Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche (1933-2023)
SAGA DAWA DUCHEN DAY: Remembering the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana. Buddha’s final meal, student, teaching and passing into paranirvana, and the 19th Century discovery of his stunning bone and jewel relics
"All composite things are impermanent. They do not last. Strive diligently for your liberation.” (Anda dāni, bhikkhave, āmantayāmi vo, vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā.)”–Shakyamuni Buddha’s Last Words “31. Just as when ghee or oil is burned, it leaves no particles or ashes behind, even so when the body of the Blessed One had been burned, no… Continue reading SAGA DAWA DUCHEN DAY: Remembering the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana. Buddha’s final meal, student, teaching and passing into paranirvana, and the 19th Century discovery of his stunning bone and jewel relics
PRAYERS AND ASPIRATIONS FOR THE HEALTH OF 17TH KARMAPA’S FATHER, KARMA DONDRUB
It was publicly announced a few days ago that HH 17th Karmapa's father, Dondrub is not well and rituals and prayers are being performed on his behalf now by many Karma Kagyu monasteries in India, Nepal and Bhutan. As my own offering for the well-being and good health of the 17th Karmapa's father, here is… Continue reading PRAYERS AND ASPIRATIONS FOR THE HEALTH OF 17TH KARMAPA’S FATHER, KARMA DONDRUB
Dakini Translations and Publications མཁའ་འགྲོ་མའི་ལོ་ཙཱ་བའི་འགྱུར་དང་འགྲེམས་སྤེལ། 