Here is a new video I made with a sample of Karma Kagyu nuns chanting the Long-Life Aspiration Prayer for HH 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, with Tibetan, phonetics and English (click CC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxdiaRPXmIw The 17th Karmapa has cancelled several teachings citing ill-health and obstacles. This video and chant have been compiled as an… Continue reading New Video: Long-Life Aspiration for 17th Gyalwang Karmapa
Author: Dakini Translations
In memoriam Tibetan film-maker, Pema Tseden (1970-2023) and ‘Tharlo – a Mountainous Allegory of Tibet’ film review
“A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet.”—Orson Welles "One reviewer simplistically called it ‘ a rich allegory for a nation torn between past and future.’ Others glossed over its clear political undercurrent about Tibet. Yet, in more ways than one, Tharlo is an allegory… Continue reading In memoriam Tibetan film-maker, Pema Tseden (1970-2023) and ‘Tharlo – a Mountainous Allegory of Tibet’ film review
PURE DEVOTION TO AN INEXHAUSTIBLE TREASURY OF GOOD QUALITIES: RECEIVING THE BLESSINGS AND SIDDHIS OF A QUALIFIED GURU: 8th Karmapa on staying away from jealous and competitive people, impure gurus and lineages, the meaning of real devotion (17th Karmapa Spring Teaching 2023, Day 10, part 1)
"You need to stay in remote places that are far away from people who are jealous and competitive towards you. When we look at the words of the Buddha, he talks about the nine bases of malice...So, you need to go to a place where such feelings will not occur. If you stay in a… Continue reading PURE DEVOTION TO AN INEXHAUSTIBLE TREASURY OF GOOD QUALITIES: RECEIVING THE BLESSINGS AND SIDDHIS OF A QUALIFIED GURU: 8th Karmapa on staying away from jealous and competitive people, impure gurus and lineages, the meaning of real devotion (17th Karmapa Spring Teaching 2023, Day 10, part 1)
Happy Buddha Purnima/Birthday: Remembering Buddha’s Mother Queen Māyā
“From women…buddhas come into this world….” “But when Queen Māyā saw the immense mightOf her son, like that of a seer divine,She could not bear the delight it caused her;So she departed to dwell in the divine realms.” —excerpt from Buddhacarita on Queen Māyā’s death “I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Which… Continue reading Happy Buddha Purnima/Birthday: Remembering Buddha’s Mother Queen Māyā
THE GREAT ARMOUR OF THE SOLITUDE OF BODHICITTA: 8th Karmapa’s interest and reasons why big monasteries can become like ‘fortresses’ of conflict and sectarianism, and his interest and joy at practising in isolated, difficult retreat places, and the meaning of real ‘solitude’ from the’ Bodhisattva perspective (17th Karmapa Spring 2023 teachings, Day Nine)
"If you don't have any self-interest, but you also have the bodhicitta/mind of awakening of the Mahayana and you are wearing the armour of that, then whether one is staying in towns or crowds or wherever, that is the greatest solitude of the bodhisattva. The great bodhisattvas don't need to go to retreat/remote places, solitude… Continue reading THE GREAT ARMOUR OF THE SOLITUDE OF BODHICITTA: 8th Karmapa’s interest and reasons why big monasteries can become like ‘fortresses’ of conflict and sectarianism, and his interest and joy at practising in isolated, difficult retreat places, and the meaning of real ‘solitude’ from the’ Bodhisattva perspective (17th Karmapa Spring 2023 teachings, Day Nine)
A TIBETAN TRAVESTY: DESTRUCTION AND APPROPRIATION OF KARMA KAGYU/8TH KARMAPA’S MANY MONASTERIES: Reasons why 8th Karmapa newly established many colleges and retreat centres, disrespect of his activities by Sakya teacher, Tsarchen Losal Gyatso, and case study of the Karma Kagyu Gatsel Karma Zhunglug Ling college and its stolen/forced conversion into Ganden Thosam Dargye Ling monastery by the 5th Dalai Lama/Gelug
'A real friend will tell you when your face is dirty." "For two or three centuries the Kagyu shedras had been torn down, and the transmissions on the teachings of the great texts were lost. Later, in Kham, monastic colleges were established in Palpung and Zurmang but due to the thirteen [Gelug] great monasteries they… Continue reading A TIBETAN TRAVESTY: DESTRUCTION AND APPROPRIATION OF KARMA KAGYU/8TH KARMAPA’S MANY MONASTERIES: Reasons why 8th Karmapa newly established many colleges and retreat centres, disrespect of his activities by Sakya teacher, Tsarchen Losal Gyatso, and case study of the Karma Kagyu Gatsel Karma Zhunglug Ling college and its stolen/forced conversion into Ganden Thosam Dargye Ling monastery by the 5th Dalai Lama/Gelug
New Dharma Talk: “A Bird With Two Wings: Flying with the Correct View of Emptiness” by Adele Tomlin (Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, May 2023)
As promised, my first Dharma Talk with Tricycle Buddhist Review, on the two views of emptiness, Empty-of-Self (Rang-tong) and Empty-of-Other (Zhen-tong) was published today and can be watched here. The talk is split into six sections and a transcript can be downloaded on the Tricycle website too: 00:00 Introduction 03:36 Great Wisdom Mother symbolism (Yum… Continue reading New Dharma Talk: “A Bird With Two Wings: Flying with the Correct View of Emptiness” by Adele Tomlin (Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, May 2023)
The Karmapas, Vajrakīlaya and Chogyur Lingpa’s ‘Dagger of the Seven Profound Cycle’ (Zabdun Phurba)
Introduction Today, on Guru Padmasambhava day, the Palchen Choling Monastery in Ralang, Sikkim, the monks are performing the Vajrakīlaya cham(dance) The Seven Profound Daggers (Zab bdun phur ba) in the tradition of treasure-revealer, Chogyur Lingpa. See live video here and photos on their Facebook page, here. For this reason, I am republishing a research article, first… Continue reading The Karmapas, Vajrakīlaya and Chogyur Lingpa’s ‘Dagger of the Seven Profound Cycle’ (Zabdun Phurba)
‘Wild is the Wind’: Q & A with Adele Tomlin, visiting teacher and founder of Dakini Translations and Publications (Tricycle Magazine, Summer 2023)
I am delighted to share and announce this new light-hearted Q & A feature with Tricycle Magazine in their brand-new Summer 2023 magazine. The online version of that piece, can be read here. The new Tricycle magazine can be read here. May it be of benefit! Music? From two of my favorite female singer-songwriter musicians,… Continue reading ‘Wild is the Wind’: Q & A with Adele Tomlin, visiting teacher and founder of Dakini Translations and Publications (Tricycle Magazine, Summer 2023)
THE YELLOW-HAT KAGYUPAS: LOST, STOLEN AND DESTROYED KARMA KAGYU TRADITIONS AND MONASTERIES IN TIBET. 8th Karmapa on inclusivity in Dharma communities, the yellow-hat Kagyu tradition of the Karmapas, signs of being in the last 500-year period of ‘merely wearing the robes’, worldly warring ‘monks’, and the many shedras and retreat places established by the 8th Karmapa (17th Karmapa Spring teaching 2023, Day 7)
"During the meeting, we spoke about what sort of hats we should wear during the Kagyu Monlam, I said we should wear the yellow-crested hats and that it would be good to do so. During the time of the 7th, 8th and 9th Karmapas, there was a tradition of wearing such yellow-crested hats. Likewise, the… Continue reading THE YELLOW-HAT KAGYUPAS: LOST, STOLEN AND DESTROYED KARMA KAGYU TRADITIONS AND MONASTERIES IN TIBET. 8th Karmapa on inclusivity in Dharma communities, the yellow-hat Kagyu tradition of the Karmapas, signs of being in the last 500-year period of ‘merely wearing the robes’, worldly warring ‘monks’, and the many shedras and retreat places established by the 8th Karmapa (17th Karmapa Spring teaching 2023, Day 7)
Dakini Translations and Publications མཁའ་འགྲོ་མའི་ལོ་ཙཱ་བའི་འགྱུར་དང་འགྲེམས་སྤེལ། 