Egbert Moray-Falls

"It is more important to bring one to the gates of learning through sadness and desire for liberation, than to pity a hundred hundred people living in banal ways. It is more important to help one smart person than a hundred fools. It is more important to help one monk than hundred ordinary people. It is more important to help one person than hundred animals." — Machig Labdron

A Song of Instruction to Gampopa By Milarepa     Son, when simplicity dawns in the mind, Do not follow after conventional terms. There’s a danger you’ll get trapped in the eight Dharma’s circle. Rest in a state free of pride. Do you understand this, Teacher from Central Tibet? Do you understand this, Takpo Lhajey?   When self-liberation dawns from within, Do not engage in the reasonings of logic. There’s a danger you’ll just waste your energy. Son, rest free of thoughts. Do you understand this, Teacher from Central Tibet? Do you understand this, Takpo Lhajey?   When you realize your own mind is emptiness, Do not engage in the reasoning “beyond one or many”. There is a danger that you’ll fall into a nihilistic emptiness. Do you understand this, Teacher from Central Tibet? Do you understand this, Takpo Lhajey?   When immersed in Mahamudra meditaion, Do not exert yourself in virtuous acts of body and speech. There’s a danger the wisdom of nonthought will disappear. Son, rest uncontrived and loose. Do you understand this, Teacher from Central Tibet? Do you understand this, Takpo Lhajey? When the signs foretold by the scriptures arise, Do not boast with joy or cling to them. There’s a danger you’ll get the prophecy of maras instead. Rest free of clinging. Do you understand this, Teacher from Central Tibet? Do you understand this, Takpo Lhajey?   When you gain resolution regarding your mind, Do not yearn for the higher cognitive powers. There’s a danger you’ll be carried away by the mara of pretentiousness. Son, rest free of fear and hope. Do you understand this, Teacher from Central Tibet? Do you understand this, Takpo Lhajey?

“A smell of mould and neglect grabbed me by the throat. I was so depressed that I would have chosen to leave immediately. But I forced myself to stay, to examine these masks, all those objects that people had created with a sacred and magical purpose, to serve as intermediaries between them and the unknown and hostile forces that surrounded them, thereby trying to overcome their fears, giving them colour and shape. And then I understood what painting really meant. It is not an aesthetic process, it is a form of magic that stands between us and the hostile universe, a means of taking power, imposing a form on our terrors as well as our wishes. The day I understood that, I found my way.” — Picasso

The Mahayana scriptures speak of those who are completely ready to open, those who are just about ready to open and those who have the potential to open. Those who have the potential are intellectual people who are interested in the subject but who do not allow enough room for this instinct to spring out. Those who are almost ready are quite openminded, but they are watching themselves more than necessary. Those who are completely ready to open have heard the secret word, the password of tathagata: someone has already done it, somebody has already crossed over, it is the open path, it is possible, it is the tathagata path. Therefore, disregarding how or when or why, simply open. It is a beautiful thing, it has already happened to someone else, why not to you? Why do you discriminate between "me" and the rest of the tathagatas? "Tathagata" means "those who have experienced the tathata," which is, "as it is": those who have experienced "as it is." In other words, the idea of tathagata is a way of inspiration, a starting point; it tells us that other people have already made it, that others have already experienced it. This instinct has already inspired someone, the instinct of "awake," of openness, of coolness in the sense of intelligence. - Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

We’ve been asked: What would you say is the best book to read to get into tantra is the Tantric Grounds and Paths: How to Enter, Progress On, and Complete the Vajrayana Path a good one? Or maybe tantra illuminated? What shuld i read to get me started? Thanks ;) No. Do not read “Tantric Grounds and Paths”, it is by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso - who was a CCP agent, founded a heretical anti-Dalai Lama sect called the NKT, and sabotaged Lama Yeshes attempts at bringing Dharma to the West by stealing the Title to the Conishead Priory from the FPMT … oh, he also propagates the demon Dojre Shugden, who has attacked the Dalai Lama, and murdered various Monks involved with Rime. Stay away. Tantra illuminated isn’t a book we’ve read, nor do we plan to, nor do we recommend you do. What we recommend is simple. >Introduction to Tantra by Lama Yeshe >Lam Rim Year by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche >The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shintideva >The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment Volume 1-3 by Lama Tsongkhapa >Buddhas Lions by Abhayadatta >Legends of the Mahasiddas by Keith Dowman >The Divine Madman by Keith Dowman >The Words of my Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche There’s many more to read - but those are appropriate for beginners to Tantra, and are more than enough for you. Vajrayana isn’t something you learn from books, you learn it by practicing it. You practice it by seeking out an authentic Lama, receiving a spiritual lineage & practice, and doing it everyday for years and years.

"The transformation of consciousness is imagination. What is imagined by it does not exist. Therefore everything is representation-only." Vasubhandu

The lovely and shy young woman, who is so reluctant to give a teaching that she hides her head in her hands when the students sing a song of request, is the same woman dancing fiercely in front of many monks. She is Khandro-la, Rangjung Neljorma, the Tseringma oracle. When Tseringma, a deity subdued and bound to oath by Padmasambhava, is invoked by the monks, Khandro-la enters a trance and channels the deity to give predictions to the high Lamas. Oracles of this sort were also famous in the classical worlds such as the famous oracle of Delphi. There are many oracles in the Vajrayana tradition. The last clip is of the Nechung oracle, who is also a very quiet and humble monk normally, who would not be able to move under the weight of the ritual headdress worn while he is in a trance. (I would avoid videos of the controversial Dorje Shugden oracle)

Vaishnavas at Krishna temple offering Guru Puja to the Dalai Lama, and performing Abhisheka (ritual bathing) of his feet.

To all pagans: Everyone who considers themselves religious should engage with meditation as a method of experiencing the divine essence of phenomena. Meditation should be considered a necessary prerequisite for a successful ritual, a successful petition to the gods, a successful sacrifice. Without allowing your mind to rest in the primordial breath, that was the gift of Odin, you cannot expect to contact the gods in a true or direct sense. The link below is to a course on shamatha meditation, the most fundamental meditation technique in the Buddhist tradition, which is used at all stages of practice. There is no downside to learning these techniques, only benefit. Just 20 minutes meditation a day will greatly improve your mental state in a matter of weeks, and be a tool for better thought and better action in every aspect of your life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xyikn0_IWU&list=PL0YBPqRedGKq3N6f330ec9HINoJDfJp7h

💥📚 New Book-Review! Introduction to Tantra: The Transformation of Desire by Lama Yeshe 🔹The Tantric Approach to Pleasure 🔸The Tantric View of Mind and Body 🔹Against the Modern View of the Human 🔸The Heart Chakra and Bodisattva 🔹Visualisation Exercises 📖 Read the review here: https://thegoldenone.se/2022/09/22/introduction-to-tantra-by-lama-yeshe/ The writing of my upcoming book goes well, by the way! I merely took a break to share this review.

The Prayer of Kungtazangpo, The Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra Ho! Everything – appearance and existence, samsara and nirvana – Has a single Ground, yet two paths and two fruitions, And magically displays as Awareness or unawareness. Through Kuntuzangpo’s prayer, may all beings become Buddhas, Completely perfected in the abode of the Dharmadhatu. The Ground of all is uncompounded, And the self-arising Great Expanse, beyond expression, Has neither the name “samsara” nor “nirvana.” Realizing just this, you are a Buddha; Not realizing this, you are a being wandering in samsara. I pray that all you beings of the three realms May realize the true meaning of the inexpressible Ground... It is unstained by outer expression and inner thought, Affirmation or denial, and is not defiled By the darkness of unmindfulness. Thus this self-manifesting display is free from defects. I, Kuntuzangpo, abide as Intrinsic Awareness. Even though the three realms were to be destroyed, there is no fear.

A Yogi (Hindu monk) Spotted by Indian army meditating in snow at -40° c chanting "Jai Shree Ram".

Since all good things come in threes here's another post on Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. In this documentary Tibetans tell mystic stories about a teacher best known for his activities in the West. https://youtu.be/KeYDqQi9x1I

To the conventional way of thinking, compassion simply means being kind and warm. This sort of compassion is described in the scriptures as "grandmother's love." You would expect the practitioner of this type of compassion to be extremely kind and gentle; he would not harm a flea. If you need another mask, another blanket to warm yourself, he will provide it. But true compassion is ruthless, from ego's point of view, because it does not consider ego's drive to maintain itself. It is "crazy wisdom." It is totally wise, but it is crazy as well, because it does not relate to ego's literal and simple-minded attempts to secure its own comfort. The logical voice of ego advises us to be kind to other people, to be good boys and girls and lead innocent little lives. We work at our regular jobs and rent a cozy room or apartment for ourselves; we would like to continue in this way, but suddenly something happens which tears us out of our secure little nest. Either we become extremely depressed or something outrageously painful occurs. We begin to wonder why heaven has been so unkind. "Why should God punish me? I have been a good person, I have never hurt a soul." But there is something more to life than that. What are we trying to secure? Why are we so concerned to protect ourselves? The sudden energy of ruthless compassion severs us from our comforts and securities. If we were never to experience this kind of shock, we would not be able to grow. We have to be jarred out of our regular, repetitive and comfortable life-styles. The point of meditation is not merely to be an honest or good person in the conventional sense, trying only to maintain our security. We must begin to become compassionate and wise in the fundamental sense, open and relating to the world as it is. — Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

She bears a shield She bears a trident She is kind to others She would strike those who disbelieve in her She never doubts She has triangle in her body She is a drala She is a protector of the monarch She performs in different manifestations I offer salutation I bow to her Royal Britannia I met you only when I took my oath to Great Britain. — Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Britannia Rules

Many would point to the popular conspiracies around Her Majesty, others to the decline and destruction she presided over. Other's to blind love of monarchy, or her personal dignity. Few, however, can maintain a balanced view of what it must have been like for a woman such as her to have lived and reigned over such a period as the previous 70 years. Certainly, she did little to use her potential power and influence, and certainly she was head of state during great national degeneration, but her attitude was always one of humility and service to her people, as she saw it. To see her as wilfully malicious is to read extraordinary evil into her character. Ask yourself how likely is that, really? One's untamed imagination can be one's own worst enemy, and many of us who have gone down internet rabbit holes forget just how extreme our views actually might be. Try putting yourself in her position and ask what you might have done. At many points during her reign the monarchy itself was in genuine peril, was the queen, as a woman who prayed for a brother so she would not have to take the throne, in any great position to resist the currents of recent history? All people are afflicted by aversion and attachment, anger and greed, but the most profound problem for living beings is ignorance. That is why me must have compassion for both friend and foe. The nurturing compassion of a gentle mother to our friends, and the stern compassion of a disciplining father for our enemies. I think it is clear that radical action is not possible at this time. We ought not to blame the outside factors over which we have little to no control, but rather seek to cultivate ourselves and change what we can through subtle means.