Avoid the trap of 'spiritual delusion'

(The Theory of Samsara) Avoid falling into spiritual delusion. We need to know this if we're on the spiritual path, particularly within Tibetan Buddhism, a form of Vajrayana [a kind of Mahayana Buddhist Hinduism with yoga and lots of ritual, magic, and siddhis]

Trekking: Hiking to Padma's Valley

Hiking into Padmasambhava's hidden valley: A pilgrimage with Geshe Tenzin Zopa

Padmasambhava looms large in the Himalayas

(Enter The Mandala) In April 2025, we visited the construction of the World Peace Stupa in Tsum Valley, Nepal. This was the first time we made the journey by foot rather than by helicopter. We were led by Tibetan Buddhist monk Geshe Tenzin Zopa, retracing the route he had walked many times as a child. We hope that through this video viewers can join us in experiencing the blessings of this sacred land. Music at end is "Snow Flower" by Tenzin Choegyal.

• Peace Pagoda(s)

Trek, hike, climb, and focus on the breath.

The Tsum Valley Trek goes to the remotest Himalayan region in Nepal which was once restricted as visitors were kept out. The Tsum Valley lies at the far northern side of Gorkha District in Nepal.

The valley gets its fame from being a sacred place blessed by Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche), misunderstood to be one of the "incarnations" of Lord Buddha [as if a buddha were ever reborn, having by definition already overcome ALL rebirth, suffering, and cyclical "becoming" in samsara, more likely a bodhisattva striving to become Maitreya Buddha].

Padmasambhava (Hemis Gompa)

Buddhists revere this place as sacred, and most living in this region follow the Tibetan form of Vajrayana Buddhism infused with remnants of Bon shamanism. The valley lies in the lap of Ganesh Himal and offers the best view of surrounding areas with a good contrast to glistening peaks in the background. Other peaks like Singi Himal and Himal Chuli may also be observed up close during this trek.

• Tsum Valley Trek | Aiming Adventure (Pvt.) Ltd.
• Enter The Mandala, July 16, 2025; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Milarepa: mass murderer saint, Part 3

The Story of MILAREPA: The SINGING SAINT who healed Tibet (Part 3)

(Buddha's Wisdom) Aug. 23, 2025: 🔍 THE MOMENT A KILLER'S VOICE BECAME TIBET'S MOST SACRED SOUND What if a mass murderer could transform into Tibet’s greatest yogi? This is the story of Jetsun Milarepa, the sorcerer who killed 35 people with black magic…only to become one of Buddhism’s most beloved enlightened masters.

• Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa (Garma Chang C. C. 1962: Rina Viswanathan/Internet Archive)
• The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa: A New Translation (PDFDrive.com)
• 100,000 Songs of Milarepa | PDF | Indian Religions | Indian Philosophy

In this episode, we witness his final test in the cave of nettles, where supernatural demons appeared, and how his spontaneous songs of realization dissolved fear, healed trauma, and reshaped Tibetan Buddhism forever.

Part 1: • The Story of MILAREPA: The Sorcerer Who B...

Part 2: • The Story of MILAREPA: The Cave Where a Ki...

DISCOVER:

• The night Milarepa’s demons transformed into wisdom beings
• How his Hundred Thousand Songs began in the cave of nettles
• His reunion with family and songs of forgiveness
• Why villagers who once feared him became his followers
• How Milarepa’s voice spread across Tibet, creating a Buddhist lineage

Ready to witness the impossible Buddhist transformation? If inspired by Buddhist teachings, Tibetan masters, karma, enlightenment, and redemption, subscribe now to explore more life-changing stories.

TIMESTAMPS:

• 00:00 The Enlightened Voice That Echoes Through Eternity
• 02:19 Chapter 1: When Demons Become Buddhist Teachers
• 06:44 Chapter 2: Songs of Buddhist Forgiveness and Family Healing
• 11:48 Chapter 3: The Wandering Years
• 15:55 Chapter 4: Sacred Songs That Transform Mountains
• 19:56 The Lesson of the Singing Saint

#milarepa, #buddhism, #tibet, #buddhaswisdom, #spiritualjourney, #buddhateachings, #karma, #redemption, #enlightenment, #buddhiststories

Silence+Celebration: New Year’s Eve (12/31)

LA.Shambhala.org; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Cult Founder Chogyam Trungpa

Silence + Celebration: A New Year’s Eve Meditation Retreat (Online) Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023: 6:30 pm-12:00 am through SHAMBHALA LOS ANGELES (ONLINE MEETING)

This New Year’s Eve, can we pause, take a breath, make a cup of tea — or glass of vegan eggnog — and celebrate the sadness/joy of our beautiful world and our precious lives?

If anyone aspires to meditate more this coming year — or to learn how to meditate — it's a good time. It's not too late. Everyone is welcome to join this online mini-retreat as we transition from the old to the new.

Come for the entire evening, or for any part of it, to meditate and celebrate with old friends and new ones. Throughout the evening we will alternate between sitting and walking meditation with a break to watch a video Dharma talk. There will also be a brief “live” talk closer to midnight.

Schedule (approximate)

New Year’s Eve Meditation Retreat (Online) - Shambhala Meditation Center of Los Angeles

• 6:30-8:00 pm: Alternating sitting and walking meditation. Guided group instruction given at the beginning.*
• 8:00-9:00 pm Video showing of talk followed by Reflection Circles
• 9:00-12:00 am midnight Alternating sitting and walking meditation
• 10:00 pm Brief talk sometime after ten

*After initial group meditation instruction, individual instruction is available upon request in break-out rooms at all times during the evening. No prior meditation experience required.

• REGISTER NOW
• Police in riot gear clear hundreds of rowdy juveniles from Torrance mall (ktla.com)

The Dakini Code: Himalayan expedition

Laurence Brahm, Dakini Code, 12/24/21; Pat Macpherson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Dakini Code: Lotus-Born Master and the Event Horizon (Guru Padmasambhava)

What in the world is a dakini?

(Shambhala Studio - Himalayan Extreme Expeditions) shambhalastudio.com THE DAKINI CODE focuses on concepts in astrophysics related to the dark hole and wave theory connected to things like dark matter.

The expedition seeks to explore how ancient traditional philosophies understood these concepts and the interaction of science and early technologies.

Laurence Brahm with lamas in Himalayas

Laurence Brahm believes, “The Lotus-Born Master (Guru Padmasambhava, Guru Rinpoche) was an important historical figure having embraced many different cultures across the Himalayan region while merging philosophy and science.

“He was also a goodwill ambassador of peace. His ideas reflected a common shared destiny and interconnected cultural heritage of [hu]mankind."

The book is out now at ShambhalaStudio.com

The Dakini Code the third film in Laurence Brahm’s Lotus-Born Master series. His earlier works Searching for the Lotus-Born Master (2018) and Return of the Lotus-Born Master (2019) have won multiple international film festival awards.

New course series and new book, The Lotus-Born Master Eight Manifestations of Quantum Energy DECODED: Ancient Science Backed by Modern Day Research

©Shambhala Studio and Laurence Brahm all rights reserved (shambhalastudio.com)

What's a 'dakini'? Female demon or goddess?

CC Liu, Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

What is a dakini? Might it be a spirit of ferocity in women? (Tara Mandala)

How does Buddhism view women and female enlightenment? The historical Buddha had enlightened female disciples -- many Scythian/Shakyian women, his wife (Rahula Mata, Yasodhara, Bimba Devi, Bhaddha Kaccana), mother (Maha Pajapati Gotama, who was made the world's first Buddhist nun), sister (Sundari Nanda)...

Tantric temple banner of a dancing goddess flanked by dakinis (Art Institute of Chicago)

Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto City, Japan, Nov. 2013, fox dakini kitsume veneration in Shinto

.

I'm a modern dakini (Adele)

A ḍākinī is a type of female spirit, goddess, or demoness in Hinduism and Buddhism [1, 2].

• (Sanskrit डाकिनी, Tibetan མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ་, Wylie mkha' 'gro ma, THL khandroma, Mongolian хандарма, Chinese 空行母, pinyin kōngxíngmǔ, literally, 'sky-going mother', alternatively 荼枳尼, pinyin, túzhǐní; 荼吉尼, pinyin tújíní, or 吒枳尼, pinyin zhāzhǐní, Japanese 荼枳尼 / 吒枳尼 / 荼吉尼, dakini)

The concept of the ḍākinī differs depending on the context and tradition. For instance, in earlier Hindu texts and East Asian esoteric Buddhism, the term denotes a race of demonesses who ate the flesh and/or vital essence of humans.

• Is there any mention of dakinis in Theravada Buddhism? (reddit.com)
• What is a dakini? (Tara Mandala)
• Adele Tomlin – writer, Buddhist scholar-practitioner, translator, poet
• Scholar: Adele Tomlin (Women Also Know History)

In Hindu Tantric literature, Ḍākinī is the name of a goddess often associated with one of the six chakras or the seven fundamental elements (dhātus) of the human body.

Origin of the cave door dance (Amaterasu) (Shunsai Toshimasa 1889/wiki)

.

The Buddha Vairocana

In Nepalese and Tibetan Buddhism, meanwhile, ḍākinī (also wisdom ḍākinī) can refer to both what can be best described as fierce-looking female embodiments of enlightened energy and to human women with a certain amount of spiritual development, both of which can help Tantric initiates attaining enlightenment.

In Japan, the ḍākinīs are held in the East Asian Buddhist tradition to have been subjugated and converted to Buddhism by the Mahayana Buddha Vairocana under the guise of the god Mahākāla (Daikokuten in Japanese).

They were eventually coalesced into a single deity called Dakiniten (荼枳尼天, 吒枳尼天, or 荼吉尼天), who, after becoming syncretized with the native agricultural deity Inari (kami), became linked to fox (kitsune) iconography associated with the latter. More

The real-life Tara is a fierce and determined meditator who overcame much (tarabrach.com).

SURF: The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez

Patagonia, Dec. 14, 2022; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Jerry and Friends tried to make jam music.

Jerry Garcia probably didn't get around to surfing much, but he did ride the waves during the Electric Acid Tests of the CIA and university psychologists. But this isn't that Jerry. This is the story of Gerry, a seminal figure in the world of surfing. Music festivals and LSD would have to do for Garcia, but Lopez was looking for something more, some oneness with nature via meditation, yoga, or riding the sea.

The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez | Patagonia

(Patagonia Films) From award-winning documentary filmmaker Stacy Peralta comes Patagonia’s The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez, a film that lifts the veil on one of surfing’s most enigmatic heroes.

The Grateful Dead led the free form dance

While “Mr. Pipeline” is famously known for his calm demeanor in the tube, Gerry built his early career on cutthroat, aggressive surfing. Gerry is as radical as he is Zen; he transcends categorization.

He’s one of the most influential surfers and surfboard shapers of all time, an entrepreneur, a family man, a movie star, and a lifelong yogi who brought surfing to new frontiers.

His influence on modern surfing is immeasurable, and his story is being told in full for the first time.

Produced and directed by Stacy Peralta. Written by Stacy Peralta and Sam George. Produced by Monika McClure. Executive Producers Evan Hayes, Alex Lowther, Josh Nielsen. Editor Paul Crowder. Music by Matter.

If we had GODDESSES to worship

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Buddhist Goddess Prajnaparamita

The world needs goddesses (devis) to worship if it is going to honor "gods" (devas) like we used to have in the Jewish and early Christian traditions, which were taken away by Rome when they converted these ideas into an imperial Psy-Op to conquer the world, and females were relegated to an afterthought with the triumph of beloved Western icon Mother Mary (like the East's Kwan Yin). Later Buddhism was not immune to the worldwide sexist rampage that took away our sacred feminine figures keeping a more androgynous.

Originally, females were honored as chief disciples (Khema, Uppalavanna), enlightened matriarchs (Maha Pajapati Gotami, Rahulamata Bhaddhakaccana a.k.a. Yasodhara or Princess Bimba, Kisa Gotami, Maha Maya Devi often portrayed as a salabhanjika), and exemplary nuns (bhiksunis, anis, theris, sayalays) and supporters (Ambapali, Queen Mallika). A feminine revival largely forgot them but set up other Buddhist "goddesses" such as Prajnaparamita, the 21 Tārās like Green Tara, the apsaras, dakinis, tantrikas, yakshinis, and of course the universally beloved Kwan Yin Bodhisattva. Even the Jewish-Christian God YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah) once had a consort or wife named Asherah, and Rabbi Jesus (Issa, Y'shua) had Mary Magdalene.

WHEN GOD WAS A WOMAN: Archaeologically documented is the story of the religion of the Goddess. Under Her, women's roles were far more prominent than in patriarchal Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian, Muslim) cultures. Author Merlin Stone describes this ancient system and, with its disintegration, the worldwide decline in women's status. Index, maps, and illustrations. More

Crappy JAP Survivor's Shallow, Parvati

Parvati (Sanskrit पार्वती) or Uma (as in Thurman) is the Hindu goddess of fertility, love, and devotion, as well as of divine strength and power.

Known by many other names, she is the gentle and nurturing aspect of the Hindu goddess Shakti and one of the central deities of the Goddess-oriented Shakta sect.

Goddess Saraswati

She is the Mother Goddess in Hinduism and has many attributes and aspects. Each of her aspects is expressed with a different name -- giving her over 100 names in regional Hindu stories of India.

Along with Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and prosperity) and Saraswati (goddess of knowledge and learning), she forms the Trinity of Goddesses (Tri-devi).

Wall carvings in Ellora Caves: Kalyanasundara wedding scene of Shiva/Parvati (wiki)

  

Deva Shiva and Devi Parvati like Greek gods

Parvati is the consort or wife of the Hindu god Shiva -- the protector, the destroyer (of evil), and regenerator of universe and all life, according to the Shaiva sect.

She is the daughter of the mountain King Himavan and Queen Mena. Parvati is also the mother of Hindu deities Ganesha and Kartikeya.

Shiva, Parvati (British Museum)

The Puranas also reference her as the sister of the preserver god Vishnu [who gets equated with the Buddha and other for being peaceful] and river goddess Ganga.

Along with Shiva, Parvati is a central deity in the Shaiva sect. In Hindu belief, she is the recreative energy and power of Shiva, and she is the cause of a bond that connects all beings and [not] a means of their spiritual release.

Uma Karuna Thurman among some pigs

In Hindu temples dedicated to her and Shiva, she is symbolically represented as the argha or yoni (womb, vulva, vagina, abode, uterus linked to the Shiva lingam).

She is found extensively in ancient Indian literature, and her statues and iconography grace Hindu temples all over South Asia and Southeast Asia. More

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Young Sadhvi once put her foot in her mouth in defense of Hindutva nationalism. And in an instant, there vanished our peaceful super heroine.

Kama Sutra Love Sounds

Sexual Healing: Tantric Sacred-Spot Massage
Examiner.com, 9/3/09) As a teacher of tantra and a sexual healer, I am often surprised at how many women have lingering sexual wounds. These may be from sexual abuse…

Vishuddah: The 5th Chakra

Luminessa Enjara (SF Tantra Examiner)

Have you ever noticed that when you allow yourself to let go and to become vocal while making love, it seems to feel even better? I can remember the first time I did this. It made quite an impact on me. I gave myself full permission to really be loud and make a lot of noise. I felt ecstatic.

It was a wonderfully freeing experience. Making sounds during lovemaking can sometimes be difficult for women. We often cut ourselves off at the throat. We may have been told that it was unladylike or "slutty." Religious standards, shyness, insecurity, all may contribute to being silent in bed.

Men, too, may have difficulty vocalizing during lovemaking. Even if they have been given permission regarding sex in general, most find making sounds unacceptable. More>>