There's No Way But Up

I have a gilded statue of Manjushri that sits on a small altar on my desk. I had just offered incense to it when it inspired me to write this piece . This statue is a 9-inch Nepali crafted figurine that became a part of my shrine a little over 14 years ago. What makes…

(Top to bottom): H.H. the 7th Panchen Lama, Ucheyma (Severed Headed Vajrayogini), Vajra Varnani (green assistant), Vajra Vairocani (yellow assistant), Dorje Shugden and Citipati.  (By Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor David Lai) Dear all,  I thought I share the article I wrote with the assistance of the other writers in my department. The result of this…

I was doing a reading of my book ‘Tales My Lama Told Me’ to a live audience, which was also screened live onto Facebook a week ago. Rinpoche’s birth and formative years had many aspects of what you would call a fantastic story of a high lama, from the miraculous dreams that Rinpoche’s mother had…

At Kechara Forest Retreat, we have a group blog discussion every Thursdays evening and recently, we have been discussing on  the topic of devoting to a spiritual teacher. Somewhere in mid-discussion, someone asked how can we convince people of the existence of karma and the next life. That was a pretty interesting question and I took…

Rinpoche had a commissioned a series of thangkas and amongst them was one that depicted Dorje Neljorma Uchedma – the severed head goddess. She is an awe-inspiring figure who graphically decapitates herself only to release three jets of blood that falls into her own mouth as well as two other attendant figures. Rinpoche called for…

  I have included here an explanation on tantra that I wrote as part of an article for the Indian Hirapur Yogini Temple on tsemrinpoche’s blog. I thought it was a neat little rough outline of the Tantric path. Rinpoche also gave us a profound  explanation of Vajrayogini, the yidam and the preparation to receive tantra….

It’s good to bring your pets and older people to circumambulate around Buddha statues and stupas to collect merit. It will plant Dharma imprints and merits for their future rebirths.   Every morning when it is cool around 7.30am, I would take a walk while carrying my mala around Kechara Forest Retreat where I work. I…

One day, Rinpoche was looking at a statue of Buddha Nageshvaraja and he asked me if I remember the circumstances in which Rinpoche had first laid eyes on this Buddha. I took a few moments to ponder but in the end, my memory failed. So, Rinpoche took some time out to tell his story again. It was…

I was thinking to tell another ghost story really but I realize that the rest of my stories of that of sleep paralysis that some say that it is a medical condition. I remember the first time I experience sleep paralysis was back in my old house in Taman Mayang, where it was a single…

I have been wanting to blog about a recent reading and sharing of ‘The Way of the White Clouds’ by Lama Anagarika Govinda. The book tells the story of the author’s meeting with the great hermit-lama Domo Geshe Rinpoche. Rinpoche asked me to read the chapter, ‘A Lama’s Vision’ and we were all soon transported to another…

Rinpoche recently commissioned a beautiful statue of the Buddha holding a flower in his hand and I was fascinated and I thought a did a little google to find out the basis and was pleasantly surprised to find its connection with the account that sparked the formation of the Chan/Zen lineage.  Within Chan (Zen) Buddhism,…

This old and quaint statue of Dorje Shugden is one of the many exhibits in the Mongolian museum of antiquities. I was told of a very special story of this Dorje Shugden statue from a monk-friend of mine. Apparently, this statue receives a lot of silk-khata offerings from the visitors to the museum. This was strange…

I wrote this travelogue of my recent trip to Serpom and Nepal for http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/ Since my mother had passed away earlier this year, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche advised me to take my dad on a holiday. He suggested several countries like India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand and so forth. Rinpoche said that we should go to these places…

In the Western world, people are led to believe that the Devil is in the form of a horned man with shaggy legs and cloven hooves for legs. This is the archetypal image of the devil that has descended through Christianity and its imagery can be seen everywhere in movies, books, artwork and across frescoes…

(I did research and written this blog post on the 35 Confessional Buddhas for Tsem Rinpoche’s blog. But I have reposting it here as well ~ http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-35-confessional-buddhas.html) The practice of the 35 Confessional Buddhas is one of the most long lasting purification practices that has been propagated since the time of Buddha Shakyamuni. The practice itself…

This is somewhat a controversial topic in itself but I think it does warrant to be mentioned. There are a lot of horny people out there. Being horny is not bad in itself (some may even consider it healthy) but when it has reached high levels of sexual addiction, it can be damaging. Addiction usually means we…

Ever since coming into contact with Tibetan Buddhism, I had become extremely intrigued by its rich philosophy and its pantheon of powerful deities. Nothing inspires the imagination more than a deity with multiple faces, hands and implements that is one fire. There quite a number of such deities and one I had come across over and…

The first time I have ever heard of Dorje Shugden’s name was when I had the fortune to visit Tsem Rinpoche’s house more than a decade ago. I had just gotten to know Rinpoche long enough that he would invite me over to his place. At that time, Kechara House was not established yet. I…

My Dakini-woman, my queen, my lady! The visible form of my pure awareness, Form not separate from me, nor yet a part of me, The phenomenal appearance of empty space: She is beyond compare and beyond words. In Magadha there once lived a householder of low caste. He married a girl of his own social…

Tsem Rinpoche recently published in his blog a comprehensive sharing and explanation of Dorje Shugden. I am simply amazed by the scope in which Rinpoche spoke at length with regards to Dorje Shugden, the lineage that he had received and all its pertaining issues surrounding the ban on Dorje Shugden. I was there in the audience and I…

The magnificent Buddha statue in Bodhgaya that was believed to be carved in the Buddha’s likeness by a woman who actually beheld the golden face of the Buddha  During this Wesak period, I thought it would be nice to blog about the Buddha. After all, he is the founder of the faith that I profess…

According to Tsem Rinpoche, the Pamthingpa brothers are the students of Naropa and the lineage holders of Vajrayogini Tantras after Naropa. Their name Pamthingpa is not really their’s but rather the name of the place where they reside, which is Pharping. I visited this place several times over the years to pay homage to the…

Beautiful statue of Yellow Manjushri with his gentle hands in the Dharmacakra mudra. Yellow Manjushri bestows the wisdom to teach/share the Dharma I love Manjushri! I think I got this infatuation from Rinpoche. But anyway, I do have to acknowledge the fact that any Buddha practice that helps me to be smart would be my…

Over the weekend, Tsem Rinpoche decided to treat a bunch of us to a new biopic movie on this Hindu yogi and master, Paramahansa Yogananda, the founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship. Apparently, this was the last day of the screening at a cinema in Pasadena, a charming and historic city. Not knowing much about Hinduism, Yoga…

A few days ago, Rinpoche was relating to a number of tasks to a few of us. Midway, he told us this incredible story of the Mahasiddha who lived by the river Ganges. The Mahasiddha observed this aristocratic Brahmin coming down the terraced ghats and performed his ablutions in the river every day. He would wash…

I thought I share these devotional pictures of Rinpoche standing up, bowing and folding his hands while listening to a voice message and receiving a phone call from his Guru recently. Even before receiving the phone call, Rinpoche would offer incense before hand. That’s the amount of reverence that Rinpoche had as if his Guru…

Just a couple days ago, I was with Rinpoche, Pastor Moh Mei, Pastor Jean Ai, Pastor Niral, William and Jean Mei and we were cruising towards West Hollywood. It was late and so the only thing that was still opened was this rainbow bookstore on Santa Monica. After browsing, shopping and taking touristy pictures, we…

Last night, I was with Rinpoche when I heard that my friend’s mom was passing away. I had arranged for my friend to call Pastor Yek Yee to help him with the final rites. Rinpoche heard and immediately came out with this wonderful and simple prayer to Kuan Yin/Avalokiteshvara. It seems my friend had a…

I used to think like Homer hehe… When I was 5, I hated eating vegetables. My mum used to tell me to eat my carrots as they gave me good eyesight. But I told her that was not a rabbit. I was no Bugs Bunny. Back then, I was this nasty little carnivore. Nevertheless, she…

I have been reading up on Buddhist view of homosexuality. Although the view on homosexuality was not clearly defined by the Buddha but was later defined by Indian masters as ‘sexual misconduct’ – one of the ‘karmic sins’ of the body. However, contemporary Buddhist masters like the Dalai Lama and others are prone towards the…