Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Encountering Grief


May I be open to the pain of grief.

May I find the inner resources to be present for my sorrow.

May I accept my sadness, knowing I am not my sadness.

May I accept my own and others’ anger, fear, anxiety, and sorrow, [knowing that our hearts are not limited by these feelings].

May I accept my grief, knowing it does not make me bad or wrong.

May I forgive myself for not meeting my loved one’s needs.

May I forgive myself for mistakes made and things left undone.

May I be open with myself and others about my experience of suffering and loss.

May I find peace and strength that I may use my resources to help others.

May all those who grieve be released from their sorrow.


(from Joan Halifax, Being With Dying)

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Straying is easy

from Tsele Natsok Rangdrol:

"Resting one’s mind without fabrication is considered the single key point of the realization of all the countless profound and extensive oral instructions in meditation practice such as Mahamudra, Dzogchen, Lamdrey, Cho, Zhije and so forth. The oral instructions appear in various modes due to the differences in ways of human understanding.

Some meditators regard meditation practice as simply a thought-free state of mind in which all gross and subtle perceptions of the six senses have ceased. This is called straying into a dull state of shamatha.

Some presume stable meditation to be a state of neutral dullness not embraced by mindfulness.

Some regard meditation as complete clarity, smooth bliss or utter voidness and cling to those experiences.

Some chop their meditation into fragments, believing the objective of meditation to be a vacant state of mind between the cessation of one thought and the arising of the next.

Some hold on to such thoughts as, "The mind-nature is dharmakaya! It is empty! It cannot be grasped!" To think, "Everything is devoid of true existence! It is like a magical illusion! It is like space!" and to regard that as the meditation state is to have fallen into the extreme of intellectual assumption.

Some people claim that whatever is thought or whatever occurs is of the nature of meditation. They stray into craziness by falling under the power of ordinary thinking.

Most others regard thinking as a defect and inhibit it. They believe in resting in meditation after controlling what is being thought and tie themselves up in fixated mindfulness or an ascetic state of mind.

In short, the mind may be still, in turmoil as thoughts and disturbing emotions, or tranquil in any of the experiences of bliss, clarity, and nonthought. Knowing how to sustain the spontaneity of innate naturalness directly in whatever occurs, without having to fabricate, reject or change anything is extremely rare."

~ Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, Lamp of Mahamudra

Thursday, July 11, 2013

A Prayer to Empty the Six Realms


Countless beings are wandering, trapped in cycles of confusion and struggle.
My heart goes out to them!
Through karma gathered from beginningless time,
The force of reactive emotions creates realms of suffering.
There is no refuge but awakened compassion.
May I fully awaken for the benefit of all beings.

Through reaction and habit, the force of anger creates the hell realm.
Hot anger and cold hate, attacking and revenge, what torture!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely, reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to kindness and harmony.

Through reaction and habit, the force of greed creates the hungry ghost realm.
Hunger and thirst, craving and grasping, frustrated misery!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely, reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to generosity and gratitude.

Through reaction and habit, the force of instinct creates the animal realm.
Fearful hiding, seeking safety and comfort, the thick fog of dullness!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely, reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to intelligence and creativity.

Through reaction and habit, the force of desire creates the human realm.
Restless searching, fleeting pleasure, the stress of constant activity!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely, reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to contentment and ease.

Through reaction and habit, the force of jealousy creates the titan realm.
Stab of envy, furious competition, unjust defeat!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely, reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to appreciation and sympathetic joy.

Through reaction and habit, the force of pride creates the god realm.
Deluded pleasure of self-absorption, the shock of humiliation when it ends!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely, reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to humility, connection, and service.

In all my lives, may I meet whatever arises with awakened compassion.
Opening to the depths of each realm, I rest in experience just as it is.
Knowing and freedom arise together; may I not take birth in the six realms again.
With a heart open to the cries of others, realms are emptied and beings are freed.


From seeds planted, fruit grows. Seeking to escape from pain, we may discover that others are suffering too. Relying on the teachings of Thangtong Gyalpo and Ken McLeod, George Draffan gathered these words to remind himself and others of a way to meet confusion and turmoil.