Transforming hardships into realizations

I am extremely pleased to announce that one day after the pujas, my itch on the entire body has been 90% cured.  So I hope my friends do not avoid me as though I am a leper. Haha! I was doing some reading earlier. I am always thankful that whenever I encounter a problem or a difficult situation or have some weary queries which no one can answer, by a stroke of karmic luck, I will find the answer through some articles or books or teachings which just happened to appear timely.  It is just like every time I want to ask my guru a question, somehow the answer will present itself within a very short time (sometimes immediately!). Sometimes, my guru, through his teachings, gave the exact answer to the question I had wanted to ask but did not dare to. I did not even need to ask him face to face!

Here are some excerpts taken from Mandala Publications, of a long interview with two retreatants which I found is quite relevant for the rest of us in practice. Do read the entire article there if you have time.

The main reason we need to experience hardships is because that’s when we get to practice Dharma. When life is easy you don’t think about transforming a problem because you don’t have any. But when your life is full of problems (whether you’re in retreat or not), every minute is a chance to change your mind. The more problems you have, the faster your path to enlightenment. If you want to learn to ride a bicycle, you keep getting on, no matter how many times you fall off. You fall off, get back on. An easy life doesn’t give you much opportunity to transform your mind.

You don’t practice hardships because you want to punish yourself or you’re bad and someone wants to punish you – it’s just a very nuts and bolts issue of time and space in one’s life. When you’re working solely for the happiness of this life and all the comforts and securities of this life, the life is taken up with those activities and very little time is left to actually practice in any meaningful kind of way. You have to give up wanting health insurance, always having the right automobile, always having the right kind of food, having the kind of house you want – not that these things aren’t important, but at the end of the life your mind will be full of regret because you have to leave all those things behind. It’s just a very practical matter of how much time we have left in this life and what it is you want to take with you at the end of this life into a future life. You just can’t take the material things. If you spend this life on the material world and all its comforts and securities, at the end of it your mind is empty of virtue. You travel on from this life with no supply of virtue in the mind.

We have an incredible backlog of negative karma and the ways we experience the purification of that is by undergoing hardships. The negative karma doesn’t just go away; when you do Vajrasattva retreat the karma doesn’t disappear. You still have to experience the karma ripening, but maybe you experience it not in the hell realms but as some sort of sickness, or maybe your husband leaving you, or something like that. If we’re really intent on purifying negative karma and accumulating merit, then we’re constantly experiencing hardships due to constant purification. We have to want the hardships. If we’re doing the practice of the four opponent powers with faith and we’re sincerely purifying, the hardships are the outcome of pure practice. Then we have to learn to rejoice and feel happy when they come!

How can you tell the difference between purification and “normal” suffering?  From the outside it’s impossible to tell. I think only an individual practitioner can tell by looking back over the years and seeing if they’ve changed after going through the hardships.

Sometimes it seems as if the sufferings increase and life gets worse when you wholeheartedly submit to the guidance of a qualified vajra master. But that’s what you want, that’s what you’re looking for. It’s like when you’re sweeping a house, you’re looking for the dirt and you want to get it out of the house. It’s very simple: When you practice Dharma you look for the negativities and you try to get them out through the doors of your body, speech and mind, the only places they can exit. That’s how you create the space in the mind for Dharma realizations to take root. Before it was overcrowded with the weeds of hatred, ignorance and greed. Nothing of virtue could grow there. You have to pull those weeds out and that’s always painful.

What part do courage and willingness to face hardships play? Once we find the powerful motivation needed to do something, then doing it is easy. You can call it courage, but you can also call it a mind that’s going to push through the hardships, knowing there’s something much greater. Everyone goes through hardships to achieve what they want, not just spiritual people. Even rich people go through the hardships of dealing with family and the pressures society places on them; everyone has hardships, no matter what. Actually, the courage to practice Dharma doesn’t seem like much at all because the results are so great; the hardships that are experienced are so miniscule in relation to the blissful outcome of enlightenment.

Another difficulty people face in truly entering the path is that we have to start Dharma from wherever we are; if you’re an independently wealthy heir to some kind of fortune and you meet the Dharma, you start from there. You can afford to do this or that, take teachings, pay for your own education in that way. But if you’re a very poor person with no material resources, you have to accept that’s where you start your practice. You can’t think, “Oh, one day I’ll create the ideal circumstances to practice,” and start from there, because that’s the kind of life where no Dharma is practiced. You figure out what your resources are, where you want to go, what you want to do, and you start from that point.

Should even the environment and the beings therein

be filled with the fruits of their karmic debts and

unwished-for sufferings pour down like rain, 

please bless me to see miserable conditions 

as the path by seeing them as causes 

to exhaust the results of our negative karma.

- A verse from Guru Puja

My 三菜一汤 kitchen: It's time for Teochew Porridge

Today in My 三菜一汤 Kitchen series, let's talk about Teochew Muay ("muay" is Teochew for Porridge). It is different from Jook, the Cantonese name for porridge or congee. Jook is like a thick soup with ingredients like minced meat, century egg served in the porridge making it a one-dish meal. Unlike Jook, the Teochew Muay is plain and more watery when cooked (more like rice in a watery gruel) and we eat the muay together with many separate simple dishes.  Teochew Muay has its roots in China where in the old days, which was served with food more like peasant's fare, with cheap dishes like boiled peanuts, salted eggs, preserved cai xin etc. The cooking style is simple, usually boiled, blanched with soya sauce as the basic seasoning condiment. 

I'm half Teochew, so in my household, we do not mind having Teochew Porridge sometimes, especially during a weekend lunch or on a rainy day. So what dishes do we usually have with our Teochew Muay?  There are 1001 simple dishes which can accompany the plain teochew muay perfectly. I will introduce 4 dishes below.

Cai Por Egg. Cai Por means preserved radish.  This dish is basically adding fried Cai Por in the beaten eggs, and fry them. The Cai Por gives the fried egg a little fragrant savoury taste to this simple dish.

Stir-Fry Beanprouts with Cuttlefish. I am personally not a fan of beansprouts, especially when it is cooked in noodles soup.  It is more palatable when it is stir fried.  We usually stir fry the beansprouts with cuttlefish, and fresh tomatoes. However, in this instance, I did not have tomatoes. I found this unusual plum in the fridge which was way too sour to eat raw. So I decided to use it here instead - it added a tangy taste to the dish!

Fried Ikan Kuning (Small Fish). The ikan kuning is simply marinated lightly with salt and fried. My mom told us that in the old days, when my grandma had 9 kids to feed, she could not afford big fishes at each meal. So the kids only got to eat little fried fish like this. However, in these modern days, my sis and myself actually LIKE to eat these fried ikan kuning to go with our porridge! Each of us can finish at least 2 fishes at one go.

Braised Pig Trotters. I have not mastered this dish compared to my mom. The method of braising pork trotters with dark and light soya sauce for a few hours results in a flavourful dish of melt-in-the-mouth skin, tendon, cartilage and meat (it is collagen-rich). This dish with its gravy goes very well with plain porridge. Sometimes together with the pig trotters, we add hard boiled eggs or tau pok (fried brown beancurd).

Lati Rinpoche (1922-2010) - First anniversary passing into Nirvana, Remembering a great saint-teacher

How time flies. Next week on the 12th April (Tuesday), will be the 1st year anniversary of our great teacher, His Holiness Kyabje Lati Rinpoche's passing into Nirvana.  The 3 great monasteries of Gaden, Drepung and Sera, with a total of 10,000 monks, will be conducting a grand guru puja and tsog offering ceremony to mark this occasion. 

Gaden Shartse Monastery has completed the building of Lati Rinpoche's statues and stupa. I caught a glimpse of a photo of Rinpoche's statue a couple of nights ago. The resemblance was uncanny. There will be 3 statues of Lati Rinpoche to be erected, one to be placed in the main hall of the monastery, the second one in Lati Ladrang in the monastery and the third one will be brought over to Singapore, to Dro-Phen Ling!  Earlier last year, after Rinpoche's cremation, DPL was deeply honoured to have received Rinpoche's holy relics from Gaden Shartse Monastery.  The Monastery has maintained that no other centre in the world was given Rinpoche's holy relics.  Again this time, DPL is very fortunate and privileged to be able to receive Lati Rinpoche's statue in Singapore.  Lati Rinpoche was very close to his students in Singapore, having spent most of his latter years coming to Singapore for teachings and initiations.

In Singapore, Gaden Shartse  Dro-Phen Ling will also be conducting a Guru Puja & Tsog Offering at 7:30pm on 12th April (Tue) to mark this occasion.  It will be a get-together to dedicate prayers for the swift return of Lati Rinpoche as well as to be reunited with Rinpoche's reincarnation as soon as possible.

If you would like to plant the seed of affinity to meet with Lati Rinpoche again, you may wish to contribute to this puja, and/or to the building fund of Lati Rinpoche's stupa and statue, please do so as soon as possible, preferably before 9 April 2011.  You can contact DPL at  65-63449521 for more information. 

If you have noticed on the right column of this blog, there is a link dedicated to the Loving Memory of Lati Rinpoche.  It is a compilation of my entries during Lati Rinpoche's passing into Nirvana last year.  

Let me recap....

Lati Rinpoche was recognized as a reincarnation of a great practitioner and became a monk at the age of 10.  He was the Spiritual Advisor to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, as well as the Abbot Emeritus of Gaden Shartse Monastery in Mundgod, South India.  In early April 2010, Lati Rinpoche was staying in Dharamsala at that time and he made a request to His Holiness the Dalai Lama that he would like to personally conduct a long life puja for His Holiness.  His Holiness at first refused but accepted on the condition that Lati Rinpoche sit side by side with him for the long life puja together. On 12 April 2010 early morning, Lati Rinpoche woke up, did his prayers and circumambulated His Holiness the Dalai Lama's monastery.  Then he requested for a bath, after which he told his personal attendant, Sopon-la, to leave his room, "It's time for me to go". With that, at about 5.30am, Rinpoche entered into clear light meditation sitting in the lotus position, with his hand in the Vitarka Mudra (which is the mudra of teaching gesture). His attendants noted that at this time, an Unisha had appeared on top of Rinpoche's head (an Unisha is a flesh protuberance on the crown of the head. This was clearly one of the 32 distinctive and auspicious signs of a Buddha).

News of Lati Rinpoche's passing into Nirvana spread rapidly all over the world. In the meantime, His Holiness the Dalai Lama did a divination and advised that Lati Rinpoche's body be brought back to Gaden Shartse Monastery in Mundgod for cremation.  Lati Rinpoche remained in thugdam (clear-light meditation) for 56 hours until 14 April, with his body still warm. Throughout the 8 days until his cremation, Rinpoche's body remained intact in its natural state with no sign of decomposition nor smell. His holy body was placed in coffin without sealing the top, which was simply just covered by cloth.

On 15 April, Lati Rinpoche's holy body was flown back to Mundgod accompanied by his entourage of attendants, lamas and students, returning to Gaden Shartse Monastery. It was an emotional home-coming as thousands of monks lined the streets leading to the monastery, to pay their respect to Rinpoche, each offering karta as Rinpoche's body passed them.  Around the clock pujas were conducted by the thousands of monks everyday as they built the fire pyra and prepared for Rinpoche's cremation. 

On 19 April at 7am was the cremation day of Rinpoche. It was a grand send-off from Lati Ladrang all the way to the cremation grounds, with thousands of monks from the 3 great monasteries of Gaden, Drepung and Sera, lining the streets. Led by His Holiness Zong Rinpoche, there were many high lamas present; His Holiness Ling Rinpoche, Kensur Rinpoche Dakpa Tenzin, Khen Rinpoche Jangchup Choeden (Abbot of Gaden Shartse Monastery), Kyabje Shartul Rinpoche Tenzin Kunkhen,  Kensur Rinpoche Kunchok Tsering, Kensur Rinpoche Jampa Yeshe with many old Geshes were all present. Before Rinpoche's holy body was offered to the fire pyre, the monks and members of Dro-Phen Ling circumambulated the stupa 3 times, before making their prayers and offering of karta.

The guru puja and tsog offering continued for the following 3 days and 3 nights. On the evening after Lati Rinpoche's cremation, a dharma sister snapped some photos when the puja was on-going.  She shared with me some of these photos which captured several mystical orbs. Simply amazing.

 

 

 

On  23 April 2010, Lati Rinpoche's fire puja pyre was uncovered and many amazing relics were discovered. Lati Rinpoche's heart relic was left behind unburnt and there was a small Vajrayogini deity seen in his heart (Rinpoche's main practice deity).

It was also revealed a little footprint has been discovered pointing towards the East direction, the same direction of the first smokes during the cremation.  This is indicative of the direction of the place of Rinpoche's rebirth. The size of the footprint also has a significant meaning. Since it is small, this indicates that Rinpoche's reincarnation will arrive very soon. This means that Rinpoche will return to us very soon.

Heart relics of Lati Rinpoche with Vajrayogini in his heart

Precious relics of the Heart, Tongue, Eyeballs, Bones remained intact

 

 

A little footprint pointing to the East

HH Zong Rinpoche and entourage led the procession of Lati Rinpoche's relics

Thus we witnessed the story of a real practitioner, a great master and teacher, who has  attained Nirvana within one lifetime. If you would like to read about my previous posts and see more photos, below are the links of my wonderful guru.

12 April 2010 - Rinpoche Passes Away

13 April 2010 - In Clear Light Meditation

14 April 2010 - Rinpoche Out Of Thugdam

15 April 2010 - Ongoing Guru Pujas

16 April 2010 - Rinpoche's Holy Body Leaving Dharamsala

17 April 2010 - Rinpoche's Homecoming Back Mundgod

18 April 2010 - Preparing For Cremation

19 April 2010 - Paying Last Respects

19 April 2010 - Rinpoche's Fire Puja Ceremony (Cremation)

23 April 2010 - Discovering Rinpoche's Relics

24 April 2010 - Relics & Auspicious Signs

Lati Rinpoche, A Great Lama, The Perfect Guru

HH Dalai Lama's Prayer For The Quick Return of Lati Rinpoche

I have also received many comments and replies to this series of posts, many of whom are Lati Rinpoche's students all over the world.  Below I share some of their comments: 

Rodney Stevenson said...
No reason to be sad. He chose the best time to pass to a new life to best help his students et al. What a joy for those who met and received teachings from him. May he soon return. May we be among his students. And a really nice blog/set of pictures! Thank you.  

A reader said... 
Your compilation on the previous entries of Lati Rinpoche is really good, it keeps people reminded of Rinpoche and how great He is as a master. Though Rinpoche has left us, we should always keep Rinpoche in our heart :) 

A reader said.. 
A true master, he gave me long life blessing and initiation in Toronto in the eighties. Even though he was very sick with a terrible cold he still held the teaching and taught many things by example, not just on an intellectual level but on a deeper spiritual level. A true Saint. 

Tenzin Phuntsok said....
Dear Lopsided8 Blogger, Thank you for posting the information with daily updates about Kensur Kyabje Lati Rinpoche. We really appreciate it, as we are praying in Calgary, Canada. Sincerely, Tenzin Phuntsok and Lobsang Rinchend...

S said....
I feel privileged to have met this excellent lama and received teachings from him. I hope he returns soon and that all of us as his disciples will follow his instructions and practice dharma to benefit others.

TMC said....
Seeing Rinpoche wrapped in pink and purple (blanket) made me smile. I constantly appreciate reminders that whether I perceive something as painful or whimsical, it's always a Dharma teaching. Thank you for sharing this series of posts re: Rinpoche.

Vajrayogini Devotee said.... 
Dear Lopsided 8, It's so wonderful and so nice of you to take the time to post and share with us to the latest of new developments regarding to Lati Rinpoche's funeral at Gaden. Without your kindness to share, we would not have the opportunity to see those precious photos, to witness the true and feel so fortunate that we actually connected with the Enlightened Beings in this life time Really appreciate you very much. Thank you and best wishes to you, C Bach (Lati Rinpoche's student at Thupten Dhargye Ling Long Beach C) 

Nancy Ho said... 
Dear Lopsided8, Stumpbo, thank you so very very much for your postings about Lati Rinpoche. I felt so sad on the first day of the News but now I feel so much better because I feel I am with so many others who treasure Rinpoche and pray for his speedy return. Without your postings, I would not have been able to feel so connected. I would have felt more alone and missed the opportunity to feel such loving connections around precious Lati Rinpoche. Thank you so so very much. I wish you all the best. Keep being your wonderful self.  Nancy Ho, student of Lati Rinpoche from Gaden Choling Toronto Canada  

A reader said...  
Ditto from a student of Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling in Long Beach, CA. He was here a number of times and gave us all great blessing. your wonderful blog and photos are such a treasure. thank you so much.

Bobby Ng from Shandong, China, said...  
Dear Lopsided8, I have follow and greatly respected Lati Rinpoche as one of my main masters. Memories of rinpoche's great compassion and teachings will always remain in my heart. Thanks for sharing all the precious photos and may the Triple Gems bless u always. 

Thubten Nyima said... 
Absolutely beautiful!! Thank you so much for posting and sharing this.

Thank you so much to everyone who wrote in to me. Lati Rinpoche's passing serves as a reminder to me the importance of practice, and to treasure all the gurus /masters who are still around, as well as to give full-fledged support to the Sangha. More importantly, Lati Rinpoche's passing into Nirvana taught me the lesson of impermanence, yet again. His expedient example only emphasized simply the benefit of expounding and practicing the Dharma. I witnessed The Buddha manifested through Lati Rinpoche (from his teachings, his practice, his followers, and the eventual evidence of his relics). I consider myself most fortunate to have the good karmic affinity to have met Lati Rinpoche in this lifetime, to have had received his teachings and empowerments as well as immense blessings. I would never forget the kindness of my guru.  _/|\_

May everyone who has met Rinpoche, talked to him, heard about him, remember him, received teachings from him and may all who are connected to Lati Rinpoche in any way be able to meet Lati Rinpoche very soon and in future lifetimes again and again until enlightenment. May the reincarnation of Lati Rinpoche return to us swiftly. May all be auspicious!

Join us for the Guru Puja & Tsog Offering at 7:30pm on 12th April (Tue)  @Gaden Shartse Dro-Phen Ling.

                               This life as impermanent as a water bubble;

Remember how quickly it decays and death comes.

After death, just as a shadow follows the body,

The result of black and white karma follow.

May the gurus who show the noble path

And spiritual friends who practice it have long lives.

In all my lives, never separated from perfect gurus.

Scratch the itch!

Have you ever experienced extreme itchiness on your whole body (yes, every part of your body) that you want to soak yourself in a pool of calamine lotion or have ten pairs of hands scratching you concurrently? I just experienced that.

About a week ago, the thighs started to itch and so I just scratched it. It began to grow red and a few spots started to appear. I ignored them as I thought it was nothing unusual. Then my different parts of my body - arms, legs, thighs, shoulder, lower back - started to take turns to itch. Even my face felt itchy at times!

So I began to wonder what the cause was. Allergies to food? I did not eat seafood or anything unusual and I never had any food allergies before. I only have drug allergies which only cause my eyes to be extremely swollen but NOT itchy body! Then I started to wonder could it be due to the new shower gel I was using. After changing back to my normal one, the condition did not improve still. I thought could it be my bedsheets and I changed it twice within four days! I was still as itchy as ever.

I thought, could it be hives, or eczema or some skin problem. I was worried for a moment, could it be Lupus otherwise known as SLE, a joints condition which attacks the nerves and causes rashes on the face. I am worried because my mom has Lupus and many years ago, my ex-boss, who is a specialist, warned me that this disease may be hereditary, especially from mother to daughter.

But I did not have any symptoms of Lupus. I did not have painful or swollen joints, I did not have unexplained fever, I did not have red rashes on the face, I did not have chest pain, I did not have swollen legs or eyes or glands. Basically I just feel itchy all over!

A friend told me that usually it is the lunar third month of the Qing Ming period, similar to that of the 7th month of the hungry ghosts, where the surrounding energies are fluctuating, that people tend to feel unwell. My friend taught me a method to rid the negative energies and I also told her about another method. I have not had time to try it yet.

On Saturday morning, after nights of turning and tossing in bed due to the itch, I could not stand it anymore that I went to see the doctor. He could not determine the cause either. He said, "it looks like hives yet not, looks like eczema yet not, and you've no history of asthma, no internal discomfort....". The only reason I visited the doctor was i wanted a jab to get the itch to subside immediately (otherwise I have not seen a doctor for the past 3 years!). He also gave me a course of anti-histamines.

The jab knocked me out for the next 5 hours due to drowsiness. When I woke up the itch was still there. I missed 2 classes on Saturday but I made sure I attended the White Umbrella Goddess (大白伞佛母) puja in Dro Phen Ling. This Buddha has the ability to prevent natural disasters, accidents and untimely death, and can dispel any supernatural harassment, as well as cure hundreds of types of diseases. On Sunday, I attended the 100 Torma Offerings puja, Qing Ming prayers in Amitabha Buddhist Centre. This puja is based on the practice of the 4-Arm Avalokiteshvara (Kuan Yin) which involves creating merit by making offerings to the Three Jewels, to transcendental and worldly beings. By doing this practice, it is possible to repay heaps of karmic debt accumulated over infinite time.

After these 2 pujas, the itch has subsided quite a bit. I always have full faith in the power of healing by the Buddhas. Besides adopting the practical way of applying medication, considering supernatural remedies, the only other way (from my experience) which can definitely help is the spiritual method. After all, Shakyamuni Buddha said that there are 84,000 different types of afflictive emotions, such as desire and hatred, which have corresponding effects on humans, thus producing 84,000 different types of disorders. At different times or lifetimes, potentially we may encounter any of these 84,000 disorders, depending on our karmic disposition. That was why the Buddha gave 84,000 teachings to counter these 84,000 diseases.

The other reason I attribute this itch is the ripening of certain negative karma, hastened from the prayers and practices I had been doing. This is what we call purification, and this may not be necessarily bad news. I hope my itch goes away completely soon.

March Madness!

“In fierce March weather
White waves break tether,
And whirled together
At either hand,
Like weeds uplifted,
The tree-trunks rifted
In spars are drifted,
Like foam or sand.”
- Algernon Charles Swinburne

I'm a little sad the iPhone app, Polarize, is not working anymore. So my usual month-end summary using "polarized" photos with fun text is no more.  Now I have to use Instagram again.  Anyway, March has been a busy month of classes still.... until... I don't know when.....enlightenment? :P 

Here's my March 2011 round up...

 Farewell, Elizabeth Taylor! May you have a good rebirth.

Burger King's Tendergrill Chicken was $1

McDonalds' Grilled Chicken was 1-for-1.

Good bye for now, Geshe-la! See you again soon! 

Simple dim sum & shopping with my mom! 

My kawaii twin cousins who were born on 9/9/99.

I'm mesmerized by this particular mandala of a very very important Buddha. 

Another mandala - an offering to the Three Jewels.

It was Losar, the Tibetan New Year, merit-multiplying 2 weeks!

I like to snap photos in Little India.

Love this mango shake which is not too sweet.

Niece went Sabah for a school trip, sent her off at 6am. 

Niece brought back Sabah Tea.

Guess what was I cooking with 15 ingredients?

Devastating earthquakes /tsunamis

My home-cooked yummies. Watch out for a special series soon! 

Sanghata recitation and writing non-stop to create heaps of merits

 I miss my guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Why does SBS need to advertise this? 

I've an issue with "on time, every time".

Earth Hour 2011 at home

My father is officially 70 years old!

Pure indulgence...

Vibrant colours everywhere in Little India.

A little huggable Eurasian cutie !

One of my buddies' birthday! 

Look what's inside my fortune cookie! 4D number too?

The path ahead unravels....