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Shamar Rinpoche, May 2005 On a mild Monday evening, in the temple tent of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling a large group of about 400 practitioners gathered in order to celebrate the Buddhist holiday of the enlightenment and parinirvana (the passing away) of Buddha Shakyamuni. In the beautifully decorated tent several tables were laden to overflowing with offerings of food and flowers, to be used in the ritual of the Karma Pakshi Guru Yoga Tsok. The ritual was performed in the traditional way by the Dhagpo lamas with different Tibetan instruments: cymbals, gyalings, radoungs and drum. It is always our honor and great pleasure to have our emblematic Tibetan monk, venerable Lama Purtsela, joining us as lopön, the symbolic mind of the ritual. The Karma Pakshi Guru Yoga is a practice leading to enlightenment through unifying our mind completely with the mind of the Guru Karmapa, who in this practice manifests as eight deities, demonstrating the diversity of enlightened expression. As Shamar Rinpoche had explained during his morning teaching, Vajrayana practices such as this Karma Pakshi ritual rely on the mastering of Shamatha, mental abiding. As we are instructed to visualise the essence of our mind in the form of a seed syllable and then as the corresponding yidam deity, Shamar Rinpoche pointed out that only a tamed and supple mind will be able to do this. Karma Pakshi, when practiced as a group ritual on special occasions such as full moon days or Buddhist holidays, is first and foremost a special opportunity for accumulating merit – positive spiritual energy – a requisite for advancing on the spiritual path.
His Eminence gave further instructions on Shamatha meditation with the support of the image of Buddha Shakyamuni. With great humour, he pointed out how the physical appearance of Buddha Shakyamuni had adapted throughout the centuries to the different cultures the Dharma had spread to. There are different options also as far as his posture is concerned; we can visualize the Buddha with his hands in the meditation posture, in the earth-touching mudra or the mudra of teaching. Even the lion position is a possibility. Shamar Rinpoche told us that these additional instructions were not in the original text. Most important for this kind of meditation practice is the awareness of the deeper meaning of the being known as the Buddha. The Enlightened One has the power to grant protection because he has accomplished the two benefits. The first of these is his own, e.g. through dissipating completely the veils of emotions and his karma and by realizing primordial wisdom, he brought his potential to full fruition: he attained enlightenment. And he accomplished the benefit of others first of all by incessantly praying and wishing them good and by putting these aspirations into practice, showing others the path so that they themselves could become liberated. The meditation on the outer form and the incarnated qualitites of Buddha Shakyamuni is thus not just a simple technique of concentration, but carries great blessing. Further instructions on Vipassana were then given. The final purpose of this practice is to uproot our erroneous idea of an independently existing « I » or self, separate from others. Even though we have a seemingly natural feeling that an entity we call « I » exists, it is impossible to give a precise indication of its whereabouts, substance or other characteristics. Vipassana meditation leads us to the realisation that nothing exists independantly. No object can exist independantly of our awareness of it. Finally, Shamar Rinpoche reemphazised what he has been repeatedly trying to make us understand. Speaking directly to us in English, he said, « Without the foundation of a stable Shamatha, you won't be able to practice this view! »
Shamar
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