Do NOT turn a God into a Demon!

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“It is a mistake to confuse enthusiasm with wisdom.
It’s NOT uncommon for Dharma students to get so enthusiastic
that they fill their entire schedules with dharma and dharma related activities.
Big mistake.


How could that be a big mistake?
Because if we leave NO time in our schedules to
• breath,
• smile,
• play,
• screw,
• sleep and
• be an all around happy camper,
we’ll be creating the causes to be cranky bastards…
and no one wants that.

That is why in the pith instructions it is written,

“Do NOT turn a God into a Demon,”

or in other words
even something as good as Buddha’s Dharma,
if misapplied, could be profoundly destructive.

For instance, if we hold onto our understanding of the teachings too tightly
then we aren’t leaving room for greater insight and growth.
Let us explore this by way of contrast.

One student insists, “This is the truth….”
{can you sense his rigidity?}
a second student says, “This is what I was told…”
{could you sense this guy’s flexibility?}.

The more rigid we are
the less possibilities we experience,
whereas the more flexible we are
the vaster is the universe of possibility that we inhabit.

Many years ago,
I went a great period of time limiting my reading
to spiritual texts, exclusively.
That was a big mistake.

So my teacher recommended that I lighten up
and read both novels as well comic books
such as “Calvin and Hobbes” or “Garfield.”


I followed my teacher’s guidance,
and so ushered into my life,
a new series of playfulness, ease and consequentially realizations and growth
that had been impossible when I was over-working myself.

Yes asceticism can wear many masks,
including that of an enthusiastic scholar or a rigid dogmatist.
Come let us follow Buddha’s example and traverse the middle way
between asceticism and over indulgent foolishness.

But how can we know whether an activity is beneficial or destructive?
Simply dialog with the Buddha of Compassion.

You don’t know how?
Then find a lama to teach you this easy technique,
that you too might walk in the footsteps of:
• Chandragomin,
• Chandrakirti,
• Gelongma Palmo,
• Tsongkhapa,
• Jigme Lingpa,
• Kyergangpa, and
• Mingyur Namkhai Dorje.

The Friday series of weekly webinars begins January 7th.

May you and yours be

happy and healthy!

Om Mani Padme Hum,

Lama Jigme Gyatso: Rime Manipa Tantrika

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Use It

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Tips on Meditation and the Spiritual path - idea #186
from your Buddhism expert



Could you recall rejoicing at the very sight of
nature? When I glimpsed the sky, this morning, on
the way to the laundry room, the sight of the sky
beautifully lit by the sun’s fiery orb, that had
yet to appear at the horizon, put a smile on my lips
and joy in my heart.


Could you have ever had a brainstorm that filled you
with the enthusiasm of creative energy? While loading
the washing machine today, communication strategies
to prevent energetic vampirism just seemed to come
to me. It was as fun as it was exciting.


Could you remember ever feeling like a million bucks?
No, I don’t mean green and wrinkled! What I meant to
ask is: Have you ever felt a song in your heart? This
morning I felt the urge to sing and dance to the
Beastie Boy’s “Three MCs and One DJ.”






If you’ve been reading these daily tips for any time
at all you could recall that I frequently teach that
neither sorrow, fear nor anger are foes that need to
be crushed, as much as energy that needs to be
harnessed. Like wise, joy too, is an energy to be
harnessed.


But shrewdly harnessing the energy of joy really isn’t
our knee-jerk reaction, is it? Sadly, each of us
instinctively tends to squander that energy through movement, speech or thought.


There is nothing wrong with dancing about, in fact one
of my teachers was quite a big fan of it. However it
can also be good to use that physical energy to help
your partner around the house of even bow to the
Buddha of Compassion, AKA:
• Avalokiteshvara,
• Kuan Yin or
• Chenrezig,
which can really generate a whole bunch of good karma.


This of course brings us to the “motor mouth”
syndrome. When some folks feel great joy they aren’t
sure what to do with themselves. They feel as if they
could burst into a million pieces, so they start
talking AT another, non-stop, until the feelings of
overwhelming joy abate. It is as if they have drunk
too much and are now vomiting. But instead of
purging the contents of their belly into a toilet,
they are vomiting their words upon another.


My friend, have you ever had someone talk AT you for
5, 10 or even 15 minuets straight? It’s exhausting
isn’t it. Whether someone is vomiting their joy or
their sorrow upon you, it is still no fun to be
treated like a human toilet, is it?


If you’re reading these essays with any regularity you
probably possess some spiritual ambition. You most
likely would rather be a great Bodhisattva than a
destructive energy vampire. So then how can we harness
the great energy of joy?


Easy! Make use of the contemplative exercise
“Essential Giving.” It can be found on the 25th page
of “Quick Path to Happy Peace;” which is available
for FREE download to all who visit
http://www.lamajigme.com


Yes, you can use this mental yoga to,

“…give great joy and it’s causes to all;”

empowered, of course, by the Six-syllable mantra:
Om Mani Padme Hum. If you have yet to master the
secrets of this mantra then order your copy of the
“Mastering the Mani” audio CD at
http://www.lamajigme.com/Mastering-The-Mani.html


After six or so repetitions of “Essential Giving” I
urge you to then let go by practicing the concise
mental yoga of the “Essential Meditation;” which is
found on page 10 of the same text. After the proper
training, these two techniques could provide you with
the frame work to tread Buddha’s path of Love and
Letting-go.


Of course this type of mental training is only helped
by blissfully centering yourself, twice daily with the
“Centering Questions.”


Om Mani Padme Hum,
Lama Jigme Gyatso
Tibetan-Buddhist: Monk, Teacher, Healer and Tantrika


P.S. Registration to receive this month’s audio CD
explaining the “Centering Questions” is picking up
more and more steam each day. It’s awesome to be part
of this group evolution. I feel sorry for the people
who’ve told themselves they can’t order it. There’s
nothing stopping YOU but YOU – and if YOU really want
to receive a copy – you will find a way to make it
happen. 'Tis how the Universe works. Go to
http://www.lamajigme.com/Centering-Questions.html
and make it happen.






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Punky's Baby

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Tips on Meditation and the Spiritual path - idea #170
from your Buddhism expert



Soleil Moon Frye who starred as T.V’s “Punky
Brewster” just gave birth to her second child and
both mother and baby are resting comfortably.






The series began when I was in High School; so you
can understand that I had absolutely no interest in
it when I was on my quest to find both a girl as
well as a college that would have me. A couple of
times I ran across that show when I was channel
surfing and that was all it took for me to realize
that I did not like that show. But detest it or not,
it’s little star soon became a cultural icon… and
now she’s all grown up.


But hey, wait a minuet, if Soleil Frye aged more
then twenty years, then couldn’t that mean that I,
too, have aged more than twenty years. But how?


How could I have aged more than twenty years? Easy;
just as our friends in AA say, “One day at a time.”
How does this relate to Buddha’s teachings? As it
has been written:

“The seasons come and go
in the passing of the year,
the moon waxes and wanes
in the passing of the month,

the sun rises and sets
in the passing of the day
and this chest rises and falls
in the passing of a single breath.

Everything is always changing
all the time.”

Spring is beautiful and temperate, but no one has
ever grabbed it and stopped it from leaving. And so
it is replaced by summer’s inferno. Sunset can be
exquisite but no one can grasp it and stop it from
fading into the onyx, black of night. For those of
us who will receive next month’s course “Centering
Questions” each breath can be blissful. Yet it can
not be grasped and held on to.


Time’s relentless march of impermanence renders
everything non-graspable. Buddha taught that really
getting the phenomena of impermanence is crucial to
accomplishing full enlightenment in this life, and
really becoming the happy campers that we were born
to be.


You could skillfully bring impermanence into the path
of letting-go through the mental yoga of the “Sutric
Questions” found on pages 18 and 19 of “Quick Path
to Happy Peace.” You could download it for FREE by
going to
http://www.lamajigme.com


Om Mani Padme Hum,
Lama Jigme Gyatso
Tibetan-Buddhist: Monk, Teacher, Healer and Tantrika


P.S. If you want become the happy camper you were
born to be, then take advantage of Buddha’s teachings
about impermanence, so you can accomplish
enlightenment in THIS life. If this is what you
desire, then you should practice the “Sutric
Questions.” To really practice them, with any degree
of competency, skill and ease it is absolutely
imperative that you learn all you can about the
Six-syllable mantra, “Om Mani Padme Hum.” That is
exactly why I’ve made the special course, “Mastering
the Mani” available on audio CD. Come and see what
I mean at:
http://www.lamajigme.com/Mastering-The-Mani.html






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Be sure to Forward to a friend.



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Humility

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Tips on Meditation and the Spiritual path - idea #163
from your Buddhism expert



Humility



If a humble man does NOT offer unsolicited advice;
then he most certainly does not manipulatively
force his uninvited guidance upon others. But this
is exactly what so many would-be healers do.






When a friend or relative is in crisis the are weak,
they are vulnerable. As loving men or woman, should
we exploit that weakness? Oh please don’t! Violating
another’s will, the way a rapist might violate his
victim’s body, can never benefit the object of our
attention.


But what are we to do, then? Can we make the offer?
Could we ask, “Would you like some in-put?” Yes,
that is a start, but let’s also give them the choice:
“…or would you just like a friendly ear?”


“But hey, Lama Jigme,” you could ask, “…isn’t
catharsis bad?” And the answer is, “Yes, yes it is.”
But folks, the choice to use catharsis or not, is
not ours, it is theirs. We must respect the will of
others. We must respect the autonomy of others. If
we violate their free will. If we dis-empower them
by being overbearing they might not recover.


So there we are, with a friend who is on the verge
of hysterics and is running off at the mouth,
espousing some very poor life-strategies:
• do we argue vehemently?
• Do we just nod our heads like mindless
“yes” men?
Or could there be a third option?


That third option would be to listen compassionately.
To listen while discretely performing the
metaphysical exercises that could actually dissolve
our friend’s suffering and it’s causes.


As we listen, we can subtly practice the silent
meditation “Essential Taking” from page 17 of “Quick
Path to Happy Peace” which you could down load for
FREE at: http://www.lamajigme.com


“Essential Taking” is part of a larger practice
called “Bringing Liberation into the path of
Compassion,” which is dependant on a certain amount
of comfort and familiarity with the Six-syllable
mantra: “Om Mani Padme Hum.”


How familiar should we be with the mantra, also
nicknamed the “Mani?”
• We need to pronounce it correctly.
• We need to pronounce it easily.
• We need to pronounce it effortlessly.
• We need to pronounce it conversationally.
• We need to whisper it quietly.
• We need to recite it mentally and silently.


Yes, compassion begins with the desire to take away
the suffering of another. But as the Dalai Lama’s
late teacher Dilgo Khyentse taught; once we desire
to take away another’s suffering it is then imperative
that we then perform the actual deeds that take those
very sufferings away.


Do you chose to become an even greater man or woman
of compassion? Do you long to beneficially take away
the present or future sufferings of your family and
friends? Then this is the month you need to take steps
to better equip yourself to do so.


This is the month you could receive my instructional
CD: “Mastering the Mani.” This is the month you could
learn the “A-B-C’s”, the building blocks that could
empower you to be the great man or woman of compassion
that your friends and family need you to be… that you
were born to be. Take advantage of this month’s special
pricing and order yours today at: http://www.lamajigme.com/Mastering-The-Mani.html


Om Mani Padme Hum,
Lama Jigme Gyatso
Tibetan-Buddhist: Monk, Teacher, Healer and Tantrika





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What does “Om Mani Padme Hum” really mean?
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Patrick Swayze

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Tips on Meditation and the Spiritual path - idea #162
from your Buddhism expert



Patrick Swayze


My three favorite Patrick Swayze films are “Ghost,”
“Point Break,” and “To Wong Foo;” how about you?

Like many actors, he has known both highs and lows
in his career as well as personal life. But like too
few of us, he has hung in there, always ready to
come out swinging and fight his way back to the top.
Whether on screen or off, many of us have rooted for
Patrick over the years. Today, several internet news
sources have both reported his grave struggle with
cancer and have requested their readers to pray for
him.



Let’s use our will, imagination and intention to
embrace the idea that this fellow, who has brought
joy to so many people still has a few more come-backs
left in him.

With hands folded in the “prayer gesture” before our
sternum or breast bone, let’s gaze upon his picture
during our IN-breath and then during the OUT-breath
let’s recite the prayer: “Essence of the Manipa’s
Heart.” You can find it on page 11 of “Quick Path
to Happy Peace.” It is available for FREE download
at: http://www.lamajigme.com


Although most of us have never met Patrick Swayze,
it can feel as though a friend or an acquaintance
has fallen ill. Is that because of his movie career
or could there be a deeper reason? What are some of
the ways we could all be at least indirectly
connected? What are some of the many things we could
have in common with this actor?

Each of us were born, each of us has tasted the
bitter draft of illness, and each of us dances daily
with the specter of our inevitable demise. What is
it about the certainty of our own death that could
evaporate the trivial distractions that can clutter
our lives?

It has been taught that as we lie dying our awareness
collapses inward, like an umbrella closing. Our
awareness could encompass our hospital room, then our
companions who are sitting with us, then our own body,
then our dimming perceptions. It has been said that
all we can take with us over the threshold of death
is our karma and our practice of the Six-syllable
mantra.


Om Mani Padme Hum,
Lama Jigme Gyatso
Tibetan-Buddhist: Monk, Teacher, Healer and Tantrika


P.S. Learn how to correctly pronounce “Om Mani Padme
Hum” once and for all. In THIS month’s instructional
CD: “Mastering the Mani” I’ll teach you exactly how
to utter the Six syllable mantra. Plus you get five
tantric blessings as well. Make sure you order NOW to
get this month’s special gifts of bliss – http://www.lamajigme.com/Mastering-The-Mani.html




Lama Jigme’s tips and teachings… they’re free!
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To receive the FREE, fun, politically Incorrect,
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http://www.LamaJigme.com

What is the EASIEST way to Learn to Meditate?
http://www.lamajigme.com/Beginning-Series.html

Change how you Feel in less then 90 seconds?
http://www.lamajigme.com/Change-90.html

What does “Om Mani Padme Hum” really mean?
Special discount, this month ONLY:
http://www.lamajigme.com/Mastering-The-Mani.html






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Robert Schimmel

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Tips on Meditation and the Spiritual path - idea #157
from your Buddhism expert





Robert Schimmel



“Cancer.” Now there is a word that can cause even
the stoutest heart to skip a beat. Upon learning
that one has this dreaded disorder what are some
of the natural emotional reactions? Well how about:
• denial,
• fear,
• anger,
• sorrow
• and even hope.

Just like one of us, when stand-up comedian, Robert
Schimmel got this horrendous diagnosis he too was
subject to these feelings. Remember it is NOT what
we feel, BUT what we do with what we feel that
separates the men from the boys, or the Buddhas from
the Bodhisattvas.

So what did Robert Schimmel do as he followed his
course of medical treatment? He married a raw,
vulnerable honesty about his dreadful experience
with his sense of humor and the product was his book entitled: “Cancer on Five Dollars a Day (Chemo Not
Included): How Humor Got Me Through the Toughest
Journey of My Life”

If you’re curious you may order a copy through:
http://www.lamajigme.com/Books.html
and Amazon.com will give me about 4% as a gift to
be used for monastic support, including the
founding of San Diego’s first Buddha of Compassion:
meditation center and monastery.

And how does this relate to Buddha’s teachings?






Simple! Buddha taught that every:
• thing,
• being
• and phenomena
is directly or indirectly interconnected.

If you’ve already downloaded your FREE copy of
“Quick Path to Happy Peace” from
http://www.lamajigme.com
then you could already be familiar with the passage
on page 6 that reads:

“…be it causes, components, conditions or
perceptions,
separateness is but an illusion;…”

Yes, our experience of health challenges is
dependant upon many things, including our:
• causes,
• components,
• conditions
• and perceptions.

How did Robert Schimmel influence his perception of
cancer? With words! Many of the exercises in “Quick
Path to Happy Peace” use words, gestures and
mantras to help us transform sorrow, anger, fear or
turmoil into Renunciation, Concentration, Insight
and Compassion.

What does that mean to you? It means that you have
access to the tools that make a man out of a boy,
or a Buddha out of a Bodhisattva!

Om Mani Padme Hum,
Lama Jigme Gyatso
Tibetan-Buddhist: Monk, Teacher, Healer and Tantrika

P.S. In the interim, make sure you get a hold of
“Harnessing the Power of the Bowing Prayer” –
http://www.lamajigme.com/Change-90.html
so you can get your “karmic” ducks in a row!

But remember this special offer will be
over in just 2 days.



Lama Jigme’s tips and teachings… they’re free!
Be sure to Forward to a friend.



To receive the FREE, fun, politically Incorrect,
daily e-mail, “Lama Jigme's Tips on meditation and
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http://www.LamaJigme.com

What is the EASIEST way to Learn to Meditate?
http://www.lamajigme.com/Beginning-Series.html

Change how you Feel in less then 90 seconds?
Special discount, this month ONLY:
http://www.lamajigme.com/Change-90.html



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