Je Gampopa

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sherabpa
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Je Gampopa

Post by sherabpa »

There is a rupa of Gampopa on my shrine which I have had for years but just recently I started noticing it when I am meditating. The face of the image looks so peaceful, especially in the evening when the light reflects off it in a certain way.

It prompted me to return to Jewel Ornament and study this again, something I haven't done for over 10 years. When I was reading the chapter on suffering, it really struck me just how terrifying the Buddhist vision of samsara can be. Gampopa's description of the hells is one of the most uncompromising there is. It brought me back a bit to the reason why I practice dharma.

Anyway I just wanted to share this thought I have had lately, that Gampopa is so important in the Kagyu, and I wonder if anyone else was feeling this lately. Its like his blessings are everywhere. My main practice is Konchog Chindu and they say Jatson Nyingpo was an emanation of Gampopa, which is very amazing.
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Konchog1
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by Konchog1 »

By Huseng
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Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

-Paraphrase of Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsephel citing the Guhyasamaja Tantra

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.
Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.
Through the qualities of meditating in that way,
Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

-Ra Lotsawa, All-pervading Melodious Drumbeats
uan
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by uan »

Konchog1 wrote:By Huseng

:good:
sherabpa
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by sherabpa »

I prefer Gampopa but each to her own
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Ösel
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by Ösel »

Yes, I've been feeling the blessings of Gampopa everywhere lately. Recently I was on retreat in the mountains of Colorado, and tears of gratitude flowed when I thought of Gampopa for some reason. The example of his life is so inspiring-- I recommend reading his life story.
Ditthe ditthamattam sute sutamattam mute muta mattam vinnate vinnata mattam
sherabpa
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by sherabpa »

Yes that's exactly it. And in the past I have always been much more inspired by Marpa and Mila, and of course they are amazing, but Gampopa feels particularly inspiring these days.
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Grigoris
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by Grigoris »

Check out the biography of Rechungpa (Milarepas prodigal son) too. It is well worth loking into this, largely ignored, brilliant student of Milarepa. Milarepa likened Gampopa to the sun and Rechungpa to the moon, when referring to his two heart sons.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
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Namgyal
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by Namgyal »

gregkavarnos wrote:Check out the biography of Rechungpa (Milarepas prodigal son) too. It is well worth loking into this, largely ignored, brilliant student of Milarepa. Milarepa likened Gampopa to the sun and Rechungpa to the moon, when referring to his two heart sons.
The Rechung Kagyu lineage survives within the Nyingma.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changling_Rinpoche_XV
As for Samsara...
'All-Pervasive Suffering ' is the suffering inherant in the fact of being born with contaminated aggregates, which by their very nature are like a magnet attracting sickness, old age and death.' (Wangchuk Dorje)
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

In addition to the Jewel Ornament translations by the Khenpo & Ken Holmes, another helpful text is the Precious Garland. It contains 28 chapters of Tens listed. The one titled The Instructions of Gampopa has a commentary by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche.

Here is the root text of chapter one:
Those individuals wishing to attain liberation and omniscient buddhahood should, from the beginning, recollect the ten causes of loss:

This pure human body, so difficult to acquire, is lost in wrongdoing.
This pure human body with its freedom and resources, so difficult to possess, is lost in ordinary physical death without Dharma.
This brief human life in the age of decadence is lost and used up in meaningless activities.
This mind whose nature is the dharmakaya, beyond elaboration, is lost and mired in the swamp of samsaric confusion.
The holy guru who leads one on the path is lost if one is separate from him at any time until one attains awakening.
Vows and samaya, the ship of liberation, are lost in destruction by kleshas, carelessness, and adverse conditions.
The experience and realization that one has acquired through the intercession of one's guru are lost in the forest of mental formations.
The profound instructions of siddhas are lost by being sold to the unworthy.
Sentient beings, one's kind parents, are lost when one abandons them through anger.
One's youthful three gates are lost in ordinary indifference.

Those are the ten causes of loss.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Chapter Two:
These are the ten necessary things:

It is necessary to be independent so that one is not misled by advice.
It is necessary to practice with faith and diligence in accordance with the instructions of the holy guru.
It is necessary to select instructions of one's guru unmistakenly, through understanding the difference between instructions that are appropriate and inappropriate.
It is necessary to enact the intentions of the holy guru with knowledge, faith, and diligence.
It is necessary that through one's possession of mindfulness, attentiveness, and carefulness, one's three gates be unobscured by defects.
It is necessary that one be stable and independent in one's practice, through possessing courage and the armor of diligence.
It is necessary that, by being without attachment and craving, one avoid giving one's nose-rope to others.
It is necessary to be diligent in the continual gathering of the two accumulations, by complementing one's practice with preparation, execution, and conclusion.
It is necessary that one turn one's mind to benefiting beings, both directly and indirectly, with loving-kindness and compassion.
It is necessary that through knowledge, understanding, and realization, one not mistake all things to be substantial and inherently endowed with characteristics.

Those are the ten necessary things.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
merilingpa
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Re: Je Gampopa

Post by merilingpa »

There is also a nice Guruyoga of Gampopa, a terma found by Rigdzin Jatsun Nyingpo.
Practiced among The Kagyu. Its almost always included in the threeyear reatreats.
Translations can be found at Nalanda translations, Trungpas translation committe.
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