newish to Buddhism need advice

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jay88
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Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:49 pm

newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by jay88 »

Hello everyone so as the title says I'm newish to Buddhism. I mean new ish to actual practicing Buddhism. I did my first retreat about 2 years ago took refuge and eight precepts. About a week ago I met my "friend" again and officially became a Buddhist . My friend now is my guru and has now told me to call him Rinpoche . So we talked and had breakfast and lunch together ,he gave me a Dharma name "Sherapderji " don't know if I spelled that right lol. He told me it means wisdom vajra. Thought it was cool hope I can live up to it one day. The lineage is Longchen Nyigthik. I don't know much about lineages but from what I have read and what he has tought me lineage is important. I know that my Guru's teacher is the lineage holder H.H.Dodrupchen Rinpoche there's not much online about him and my guru told me that he doesn't want to be in the public eye. If people want his teaching they look for him or something like that .Does anyone here know of him?or better yet trained under him? Should would like to know more about what I should be doing now. My guru did tell me to do the refuge prayer and Bodhicitta everyday then do the seven line prayer followed by minimum woo recitations of guru rinpoche mantra a day. Also to re-read words of my perfect teacher outer preliminaries. I have been reading and contemplating the ones and outer preliminaries for two years. What else can I do now? Any advice would help thank you.
AlexMcLeod
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Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by AlexMcLeod »

Why would you go against your teacher by doing more than what he has told you to do? If you want more to do, ask your teacher if you even should do more.
Relax! Smile From The Heart!
There is a difference between the Mundane and the Transcendental. If you purposefully confuse them, I will ignore you, you nihilist.
There is no Emotion, there is Peace. There is no Ignorance, there is Knowledge. There is no Passion, there is Serenity. There is no Death, there is the Force.
pemachophel
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Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by pemachophel »

H.H. Dodrubchen Rinpoche is the incarnation of Jigmed Lingpa's most senior student and, as such, is the head of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage. So if you're doing Longchen Nyingthig and your Teacher is a personal student of Dodrub Rinpoche, then you should be in very good hands. Dodrub Rinpoche is quite old and infirm now and hasn't been seeing students and giving teachings for some years. Back when H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche passed away, Dodrub Rinpoche was asked to be the supreme head of the whole Nyingma School. He turned down that request, citing age as His reason. However, Dodrub Rinpoche is similar in many ways to the late Chatral Rinpoche (Who also turned down the same request). Many practitioners consider Dodrub Rinpoche a Maha Siddha. In any case, the Longchen Nyingthig is a wonderful cycle of teachings and it seems you have found a very pure and direct lineage within Longchen Nyingthig. I hope you take full advantage of these blessings.

In terms of the Four Topics Which Turn the Mind (i.e., outer preliminaries) and WOMPT, you can also recite the prayer at the end of each chapter numerous times to help with your contemplation of each topic. Some Longchen Nyingthig practitioners even recite each of these four (or six) prayers 100,000 times each. I've been a LN practitioner for more than 45 years and I recently spent some time reciting the prayer on death and impermanence. So don't rush with this. This is not a low-level practice. Rather it's the key to all practices.

Perseverance (what Tibetans call nying-ru/heart-bone) is the name of the game. So make haste slowly.

Good luck & best wishes.
Pema Chophel པདྨ་ཆོས་འཕེལ
jay88
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Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by jay88 »

Thank you Pema so much for the info and insight . My teacher did say that he practiced the outer preliminary for 2 years in retreat before moving on . So I know it's important I just don't know if I'm understanding or practicing it right. He's told my to study it then contemplate then meditate on it. I still don't know how to meditate on impermanence and death ? I can contemplate it but what is the system to meditate on it?
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kirtu
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Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by kirtu »

I prostrate to the glorious Samantabhadra!

This precious human rebirth is extremely difficult to obtain.
All things born are impermanent and must die.
Perseverance in the practice of virtuous Dharma is cause for becoming a Buddha.
Whatever negativity is produced will cause one to wander in the six realms.
Hungry spirits suffer from hunger and thirst; animals from ignorance;
hell beings from heat and cold; humans from birth, old age, sickness and death;;
demigods from warfare and even gods (Devas) have their suffering.

Contemplating this line by line over and over combined for now with reading Words of My Perfect Teacher and similar texts and commentaries may be helpful until you can receive direct teaching.

WOMPT explains each of these lines.

WRT impermanence, have you ever met someone more than 110 years old? There are a few on the planet. How about more than 200 years old? There are turtles that can approach that age. It is plain to see that everything that is born will die eventually. Death is inevitable but the time of death is unknown. Many people I knew are now dead. All my previous pets are dead. Much of my family is dead. We can contemplate this over and over again. So what happens when they die? In Buddhism, ordinary beings take a new birth. Over and over again, shucking off bodies and most of the time accumulating negative karma.

Then contemplate the suffering of the realms and esp. start with the human realm because the suffering is so manifest for us. However compared to lower realms, the human realm is a paradise.

Kirt
“Where do atomic bombs come from?”
Zen Master Seung Sahn said, “That’s simple. Atomic bombs come from the mind that likes this and doesn’t like that.”

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche
jay88
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Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by jay88 »

:thanks: thank you so much Kirt for your help this is just what I needed .
tingdzin
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Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by tingdzin »

The advice he has given you so far seems O.K., but I hope you have investigated your teacher's bona fides. While his unwillingness to be in the public eye is understandable and perhaps even praiseworthy, anyone can claim to be a disciple of Dodrup Chen. Go slowly and trust your inner judgment.
jay88
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Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 6:49 pm

Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by jay88 »

tingdzin wrote:The advice he has given you so far seems O.K., but I hope you have investigated your teacher's bona fides. While his unwillingness to be in the public eye is understandable and perhaps even praiseworthy, anyone can claim to be a disciple of Dodrup Chen. Go slowly and trust your inner judgment.
I think there is some confusion. My teacher does not mind being in the public eye lol. He told me that Dodrupchen Rinpoche doesn't like to. And as far as I can tell from all the pictures of him with Dodrupche Rinpoche for the past 30 years since my teacher was discovered by His Holiness I am pretty certain he is the real deal. But I do appreciate the advice. And my teacher did say this summer he has to go with H.H. Dodrupchen Rinpoche to Massachusetts to do some teachings. So if anyone is a student of his I'm sure they will meet my teacher there. I just hope I can meet his holiness soon.
BuddhaFollower
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Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by BuddhaFollower »

why can't you just name names?
Just recognize the conceptualizing mind.
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heart
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Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by heart »

Wild guess, its Kilung Rinpoche.

/magnus
"We are all here to help each other go through this thing, whatever it is."
~Kurt Vonnegut

"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
jay88
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Re: newish to Buddhism need advice

Post by jay88 »

heart wrote:Wild guess, its Kilung Rinpoche.

/magnus
Nope he's not my Guru but I would love to meet him . My teachers name is Sogyal Rinpoche. Not the one from the movie little buddha lol.
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