Sat, 15 Jul 2006
A Visit and a Letter
Rinchen Gyatso writes about his recent visit to the Tibetan Meditation Center on his weblog. He also has a few pictures. I wasn't able to meet him because I was away at KTD, of course, but I know him from previous Spring Retreats at TMC. He writes a bit about dedication prayers, based on a teaching by Ani Trinlay.
One interesting point that came up is the importance of dedication. Without dedicating the merit of our virtuous actions for our enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, the "good karma" comes back to us in the form of mundane benefit like good food, a nice car, etc.... Most of us in the West have a lot of undedicated good karma. So say those dedication prayers folks! Here's a good one specific to the Drikung lineage:
By the virtues collected in the three times by myself and all beings in samsara and nirvana, and by the innate root of virtue, may I and all sentient beings quickly attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect, precious enlightenment.
It's a great catch-all. We don't know when we loose the ability to dedicate the merit of our actions for our enlightenment, so saying "in the three times" helps us to catch every available bit.
I received email from someone in New Zealand about the appeals court decision in the fight between Beru Khyentse Rinpoche and the board of New Zealand Karma Kagyu Trust that I posted about before leaving for the KTD retreat. In case it was not clear, the decision was a victory for supporters of Orgyen Trinlay only in the sense that it changed a total defeat into a draw: neither side can dismiss the other. The case is being appealed to the New Zealand Supreme Court. If you're interested, supporters of Beru Khyentse Rinpoche have compiled a list of links to all the relevant court documents.
