liberation

Om Krim Kalikaye Namah

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Kali is a wrathful emanation of the great Mother Durga and the consort of Lord Shiva.

Kali is destruction and time. She is representative of the cycles of samsara, specifically birth, death, and rebirth. Despite this association, she is also a symbol of moksha (liberation), as she encourages effort (shakti) and action in one’s life to overcome obstacles and suffering.

Kali is nature and matter, everything that changes in existence. She is that which primordial, unchanging consciousness (Shiva) is thrust into. This duality is the core of what we see in the famous image of Kali dancing on Shiva, as she is the play (dance) of nature and he rests motionless beneath her as the foundation of reality (consciousness/space).

Although Kali seems fearsome, this aspect of the goddess has immense motherly love for her devotees. She gladly removes tribulations and gives boons to her followers as long as they remain strong and diligent. Negative thoughts and emotions are offered to Kali who purifies them instantly. The mantra “Om Krim Kalikaye Namah” is an invocation and homage of the glorious goddess Kali Ma, who chooses carefully her disciples according to their endurance and diligence.

May all negativity and misery be abolished!

Jai Maa Kali!

Image link: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.44

“The powerful black Hindu goddess Kali effortlessly slays an eight-armed spotted green demon with an impossibly long trident. His chariot horses and two minions lie incapacitated below. Kali’s tongue lolls out, indicating her ability to catch blood before it touches the ground: one of her demonic enemies has blood that generates another demon every time one drop comes in contact with the earth. The demon is a metaphor for wicked thoughts that give rise to more evil thoughts; Kali aids her followers in eradicating them all.”

Padmasambhava

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Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, was a legendary tantric Yogi and the founder of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet, bringing the religion from India around the 8th century and establishing the first Tibetan sect now known as the Nyingma (Old School). He is considered by many to be the second Buddha, foretold by Shakyamuni (Gautama Buddha) to reveal the tantric/esoteric (Vajrayana) teachings and to propel and protect Buddhism in the degenerate age (Kali Yuga).

Jigme Khyentse writes in the book “White Lotus,”

“Before he [Shakyamuni] passed into mahaparinirvana, the Buddha prophesized that his activities would be prolonged and his teachings propagated and protected by Padmasambhava, whom Tibetan Buddhists frequently refer to as Guru Rinpoche, the Precious Master.”

Vajrayana is an outgrowth of Mahayana Buddhism and involves a wide collection of practices aimed at providing liberation (nirvana) in a single lifetime, hence its name meaning “Thunderbolt Vehicle.” This differs from the Mahayana (Great Vehicle) path where it can take an untold number of lives (incarnations) to accomplish complete liberation. Because of this difference in philosophy, the indigenous Tibetan and Himalayan peoples could only be persuaded by the infinite power of the Vajrayana and were quite reluctant to adopt Buddhism prior to Padmasambhava’s arrival.

Through various trials and tribulations, Padmasambhava was able to subdue the powerful gods and beings who inhabited the region of Tibet. In doing so, he gained their favor and service in return, incorporating them into the Buddhist religion as protectors and stewards of the Dharma. This is why we see numerous gods from other pantheons mentioned in the rituals and myths of tantric Buddhism, as Vajrayana practitioners of all nationalities seem to include their own ancestral deities into their practice. This is easily observed in the Tibetan, Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolian variants of Vajrayana, where each culture has created a syncretic and unique flavor of religious practice, not completely removed from its source but rather philosophically reformed and reworked.

The mantra of Padmasambhava OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM is one of the most popular and powerful mantras used in Tibetan Buddhism, recited often to instantly evoke the Guru, gain enlightenment, and achieve siddhi (occult power). It can be translated in many ways and has various levels of meaning, but a general interpretation of the syllables would be:

OM AH HUM – Purifies body, speech, and mind.

VAJRA GURU – Perfect Teacher.

PADMA – Lotus, synonymous with nature of mind.

SIDDHI – Occult power, success in practice, accomplishment.

HUM – The syllable of enlightenment, the unshakable nature of ultimate truth.

Padmasambhava permeates everything and exists everywhere, nestled into the very fabric of space and time. At the time of his death (parinirvana), he achieved “Rainbow Body,” dissolving into light and leaving behind nothing but hair, nails, and clothing. He is known also as Padmakara (Lotus-Born), meaning he is born in our minds, existing eternally in the unstained regions of our consciousness, quickly summoned by this sacred formula. This mantra should be recited as often as needed, whether for guidance, protection, clarity, wisdom, or any other purpose.

OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha

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We’ve just released another mantra track on our channel, may it benefit all beings.

Tara is a prominent goddess in both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, representing the feminine aspects of the Supreme, whether as an emanation (Mahavidya) of the great Durga or as a female embodiment of the Buddha. Tara has an exceptionally wide array of forms depending on which religious pantheon one is focusing on, varying from entirely wrathful forms to completely peaceful ones. These different emanations are necessary according to each individuals’ particular inclinations (due to karmic imprints) or specific school of practice.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, Tara is believed to have 21 forms with varying attributes, colors, and characteristics.  She is invoked for protection and liberation from obstacles, to dispel poisons and bad dreams, and to destroy demons or other harmful spirits. Tara is revered as a loving mother and is often referred to as the “Mother of All Buddhas.” She guards sentient beings against fear, anxiety, and disease. Tara is often Green in color, representing all the activities of the Buddha, but white is also common, used for achieving long life and longevity. Other forms and colors exist as well. The seed syllable of Tara is TAM.

The Sanskrit word tā́rā means “star”, stemming from the Proto-Indo-European word h₂stḗr, which refers to stars (or planets) and means “shiner or glower.” Her mantra is OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA which means “Praise to Tara the Swift Liberator, Hail!” Above her sits Amitabha, Buddha of Boundless Light.

“…Homage to her whose face is like one hundred full autumn moons

And who blazes with light like that of thousands of stars…

…Homage to her whom Indra, Agni, Brahma, Vayudeva,

Vishvakarman, and Ishvara present offerings…”

#tara #mantra #protection #buddhism #goddess

Dharma Practice

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“Think of the simplest thing you do, such as making a cup of tea. You know that in order to do something as easy and simple as making a cup of tea, you must acquire all the necessary conditions and ingredients. You need a source of heat and you need a source of water. You need a container in which to boil the water, you need tea leaves, and you need a cup to drink the tea in. If you do not have those things, you cannot make tea. When it comes to making tea, we take all of these things for granted. We think of it as a very simple process. Yet somehow when it comes to the practice of Dharma, we are unwilling to go through the process of accumulating what is necessary. 

Furthermore, when you make tea you have to know what your are doing. You have to know how to use the stove. If you do not know what you are doing, you are going to burn your house down. When it comes to practicing Dharma, you think that you do not need to know what you are doing; you do not need to know anything, and you do not need to study. This is incorrect.”

-MD Vol. 3 (The Dispelling of Impediments or Obstructions) 

It is important that we approach our practice in this simple and straight forward way, making sure to acquire and assemble all of the ingredients of a practice (physically and mentally) before attempting to accomplish it. If we expect fruition of a practice without doing any preliminaries to ensure our accomplishment, we will likely fail and discontinue, or worse, lose our faith altogether. Be diligent and disciplined with your routine, take things step by step. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice from those who embody the qualities you want to develop or achieve. This is crucial on our path towards awakening. 

May all beings be liberated. 

Awareness, Samsara, and Meditation

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The fact that there will always exist a present moment is a point of permanence one can take solace in.

Past and future are littered with attachments and desires, polluted by expectations and other products of our ignorance like fear, anxiety, etc.

Whether we know it or not, these afflictions are the causes of our suffering, keeping us “fettered” in a state of constant flux, away from the present moment.

Although this is the case, it isn’t something that we need to be upset about. This is just the nature of living within the confines of endless change, the endless spinning of Samsara that all beings are subject to.

One thing that doesn’t change in our experience, however, is the primordial state of awareness regarding the here and now. Minds natural state of naked clarity. Like the center of a wheel, true nature of mind is fixed in place no matter how fast the rest of its parts may be going.

When one can reach this realization and become familiar with it, they can observe their minds’ habits and patterns more easily,  removing obstacles, worries, and distractions with consistent practice. One can begin to sever problems from their roots.

This is a method to liberate one from Samsara and achieve a state of samadhi, free of time and space. A tiny glimpse of this pure “enlightenment” is enough to shatter our many delusions and make us strive to practice with more vigor and dedication.

To reach that place within that doesn’t change, is to escape the motion that the “Wheel of Life/Wheel of Becoming” represents, giving one a sense of peace that doesn’t exist in any materially found means.

If we can learn to rest in this experience of present awareness, we can observe all phenomenon that arise in our experience without attaching ourselves to them, giving us a a sense of well-being, freedom and love.

May all sentient beings find a place of unchanging peace within.