Author Archives: Raven Cypress Wood

A Household in Kham, Tibet

Tibetan household in kham with photo credit

Photo by Marieke ten Wolde

This is a view into a traditional Tibetan household in Kham, Tibet.  This photo was taken by the photographer, Marieke ten Wolde, who documents her travels throughout Tibet with her camera and on her blog.  You can see an example of her work in her new book about changes and modern Tibet, Freeing the Fish.

http://marieketenwolde.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/freeing-the-fish-the-book/

Directly Manifesting Compassion

The children of Shurishing Yungdrung Kundrakling Monastery receive the donation of sports shoes from a kind sponsor

In South Sikkim, there is a Yungdrung Bön monastery with over 30 children.  Many of them are completely dependent upon the monastery to take care of their every need.  The abbot of this monastery is Khenpo Yongten Gyatso.

The children of Shurishing Yungdrung Kundrakling Monastery in South Sikkim

If you would like to know more about these children, the monastery, or how you can become a sponsor, please follow the link below.

http://www.rosaworldwide.ch/en/projects/sikkim-project.html

 

The Four Immeasurable Qualities: Love

4 Immeasurables byams pa love

One of the Four Immeasurable Qualities is ‘Love‘.  In the Tibetan language, it is ‘Jampa‘.  Jampa is the practice and aspiration that all beings have happiness and the causes for happiness.  Training to feel an authentic quality of love towards all beings, one sets the intention that all actions arising from one’s body, speech and mind will support the happiness of all beings that one encounters either directly or indirectly.

Blessing the Environment

Matri mantra in stone with color

The Great Mantra of Yungdrung Bon, OM MA TRI MU YE SA LE DU, blesses the surrounding environment

Buddha Tonpa Shenrap’s 2nd Deed: Spreading the Teachings

second-deed
Buddha Tönpa Shenrab teaching subjects such as medicine, divination, astrology, and ritual

Tönpa Shenrap began the spread of the Yungdrung Bön by first giving teachings related to cosmogony and cosmology to two of his primary disciples, Malo and Yalo, to bodhisattvas who had descended from heaven to receive the teachings, and to many other powerful, worldly deities.  Then to the gods of Mt. Meru and other deities, he taught powerful methods for subduing negative forces.  Traveling to the city of Langling, he taught from the 100,000 verses of Perfecting.  In Olmo Lungring, countless human and non-human beings gathered including those who were to be lineage holders.  To this assembly, he taught the Nine Ways of Bön.

More specifically, it is said that on the 30th day of the lunar month, that Buddha Tönpa Shenrab taught the beings of the formless realm.

On the 1st of the lunar month, He taught the gods who reside in space in the highest realm.

On the 8th of the lunar month, He taught the clear-light gods.

On the 13th of the lunar month, He taught the tsangri gods.

On the 14th of the lunar month, He taught the gods of the form realm.

On the 15th of the lunar month, He taught on Mt. Meru to the gods of the desire realm.

On the 16th of the month, He taught the gods of Gyalchen Rikshe.

On the 22nd of the lunar month, He taught the demi-gods.

On the 29th of the lunar month, He taught the (sanskrit: naga) of the desire realm.

Therefore, these days are significant in the Yungdrung Bön lunar calendar.