As Long As Space Endures: Essays on the Kalacakra Tantra in Honor of H.H. the Dalai Lama
As Long As Space Endures - Kalachakra Tantra book
The Kalachakra Tantra — Kalachakra means “wheel of time“ — is a tradition of Buddhist theory and practice whose root text treats a fantastic expanse of knowledge ranging from observations of the cosmos to investigations of meditative states and vital bodily energies. In the Tibetan-speaking world, a public Kalachakra initiation remains the most sought-after event in the life of a devout Buddhist. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama has long had a strong connection with the Kalachakra Tantra; he brought the initiation to the West in 1981, performing it in the U.S., Switzerland, Spain, and Australia. This volume has been created to celebrate his long involvement with the Kalachakra teachings.
The twenty-five contributors, scholars who have made tantric studies their specialty, have contributed translations of works by great Indian and Tibetan Kalachakra masters, analyses of historical figures, methods of practice, essays on medicine, ritual expertise, and ethical discipline. The collection also includes practical advice for Western students and practitioners from contemporary Tibetan Kalachakra masters.
Ed. by Edward A. Arnold on behalf of Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies, fore. by Robert A. F. Thurman. Snow Lion, 2009.
Kalachakra stela at Kalachakra stupa, Karma Guen, Spain (c) Space is Joy http://www.flickr.com/photos/7593961@N08/
Health and Astrology in the Kalachakra Tantra
Excerpt from the book
The cosmos is the aspect of time that is characterized by the passage of days, months, and years, which is determined by the movement of the sun through the twelve houses of the external zodiac. Read more »
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By Frank Ching, The Korea Times
09-27-2009, Hong Kong
Barack Obama made history last year when he became the first African-American to be elected president of the United States.
Next month, he will make history again ― of a different sort. He will become the first president not to meet with the Dalai Lama when the Tibetan leader visits Washington.
Ever since April 1991, when then President George H.W. Bush met the Nobel laureate, he has been received by the American president, regardless of party. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush met the Buddhist monk each time he came to the American capital.
However, China has been sending signals to warn President Obama not to meet with the Dalai Lama in October, when he is scheduled to visit Washington.
Dalai Lama and George W. Bush
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By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
LHASA: There are 999 rooms and a sprawling cave in the awe-inspiring, centuries old Potala Palace in the centre of Lhasa Valley in Tibet. But there is not a single photograph of the exiled Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in the palace-turned-museum where he spent his teenage, was educated, held religious ceremonies and met government officials and envoys.
As China officially ended the renovation of the palace that was the seat of the god-kings of Tibet when it was an independent Buddhist kingdom, the erasure of the image of the 14th Dalai Lama, who lived there from his formal enthroning in November 1950 till his flight to India in 1959, was virtually total.
The 64-year-old Nobel laureate, who remains a constant thorn in China’s flesh with his government-in-exile in India, is never mentioned by his name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso in any of the hundreds of labels describing the thousands of exhibits visitors are allowed to glimpse.
Potala, Dalai Lamas palace, in Lhasa, Tibet
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Due to miscalculation of our supplier, we received far too big party of the great Bhutanese Dragon (Druk Ka Nying) Incense.
So you are lucky guys and can buy it with huge discount: only us$ 7.8 instead of 10.8!
This is really a piece of art of Bhutanese incense making. Packed in wonderful silk tubes of various colors, the Druk Ka Nying Incense is a great gift for those you wish peace and happiness.
Druk Ka Nying Bhutanese Dragon Incense
This is the description of this precious incense as it printed on the labels:
From the land of Himalayan Kingdom (Bhutan) comes this blend of about one hundred precious aromatic substances like: cardamun, clove, nutmeg, giwang (bezor), saffron, cinnamon, aru, baru, churu, red and white sandalwood and other medicinal materials.
This superiour quality incense is made according to an age-old formulation prescribed by Kunkhen Pema Karpo, the great yogi of the Drukpa school of Buddhism.
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The Buddhist Sutras, written on cloth in India, were later transmitted to other regions of the world. These sutras, written on banners, are probably the origin of the prayer flags. Legend ascribes the origin of the prayer flag to the Shakyamuni Buddha, whose prayers were written on battle flags used by the devas against their adversaries, the asuras. Flags were first recorded in Ladakh in 710 CE. It was the Indian monk Atisha who probably first flew a prayer flag in Lhasa, Tibet around 1000 CE.
Lung Ta - Prayer Flags
There are two kinds of prayer flags: horizontal ones, called lung ta, and the vertical darchor. The ‘lung ta’ translates into ‘wind stallion’. The Lung Ta’s five panels represent the elements: blue-sky, white-wind, red-fire, green-water and yellow-earth. The mantras on prayer flags promote universal peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom.
Lung Ta is square or rectangular shape and are connected along their top edges to a string. They are commonly hung on a diagonal line from high to low between two objects in high elevations found on the top of monasteries, stupas or even mountain passes. Their altitude and the speed of the wind that blows past them is directly proportional to the strength or if you please the intensity of prayer. If you believe in them, this is a very rational yet charming thought. The wind blows over these flags, the rain wets them and they fade from exposure to the elements. Quite literally, carrying the prayer from the flag across the earth.
Text and picture, courtesy by bhisham
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Buddhism, Rituals | Leo Golan | 
September 28, 2009 9:01 am | 
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