in wutaishan now

hi folks,

am in wutaishan now. happen to be in a monastery with wireless. I will be going up to a hermitage to stay for the next few weeks. won't have internet connection there but will have phone. you can reach me at +86 1322 3502034

Finally....

Hey friends,

Finally you hear something from me again....like trying to get blood out of stone!

Since the last blog, where I mentioned about returning from Ladakh, after which I returned to India again. That trip proved to be fatal to my mac book and my friend's vcd player, whose screen went kaput like mine. Strange but I tend to link it to the x-ray scanner at the Changi Airport. I believe it zapped something in my computer. At the end of my two month stay, my computer completely crashed and could not even be turned on. Hence I could not make much progress in my work.

here are some postings from my ladakh trip. look at the pics la.

the third pic down is meant to be orientated the other way round. see if you can catch glimpses of deities on it...

back in india

I am back in India just in case some of your folks are wondering where I am. Was back in Singapore recently for two weeks to sort out some matters. I am now back in Shimla in North India to receive some private teachings and transmissions. I will be here till around the end of the month, when I will head off to Sera monastery in South India to receive the lungs of the collected works of Lama Tsongkhapa from Kyabje Choden Rinpoche.

Weather here is cold with the onset of winter. Apparently it snows here during winter...that cold! Didn't bring my sleeping bag and sweater thinking that it would be too bulky to travel with. Kind of regret it now....

I've still not been able to post anything about my trip to ladakh as my original piece of writing on the trip was in my ibook, which somehow malfunctioned on the way here to India. I don't know how that could have happened as I took extra care to make sure it was never exposed to any kind of shock in anyway. And for that I put it in a shock proof cover and hand carried the whole thing. The harddisk seems to be running but the screen is not showing up. I suspect somehow the xrays at the airport security might have razed it, because I was also carrying a vcd player with me at the same time and that also went kaput. the display no longer works. I wonder how possible is that?

eclipse workout

I hope everyone remembered the eclipse last night. I sent out the sms ages ago and asked everyone to mark the day and time on their calendars. well damn if you didn't (haha, alrite, you poor little thing). To keep track of future such events on your own, please mark the following link as a bookmark on your browser: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html
All you Singaporeans, take out your kiasuness and note down the coming dates!

Well when most people were dutifully in class, I did the following during the eclipse period:
1. Prayer of All Auspiciousness (recited at the beginning of all events in the Nyingnma tradition, said to fulfill all wishes when recited first thing in the morn, and to bring auspicious dreams when recited before bed)
2. Prayer of Power (said to confer controlling power and influence on those who recite it - Nyingma)
3. Prostrations to the 100 peaceful and wrathful deities (considered to be a like a tantric 35 buddhas in the Nyingma),
4. 21x of the 100 syllable Vajrasattva mantra (Vajrasattva is the Lord of all Races, in this case, the Lord of the 100 Races), and 25 times of the 100 deities mantra.
Two extensive Guru Rinpoche prayers at top of list of most recited amongst Nyingmapas, promised by Guru Rinpoche to clear obstacles and fulfill wishes when recited in beginning of day
5. Barche Lamsel (Clearing Obstacles Along the Path)
6. Sampa Lhundrub (Spontaneous Fulfillment of All Wishes)
Then the short one a few times:
7. Du Sum Sangye
8. Abbreviated version of Expressing the Names of Manjushri
9. Entire Sanghata Sutra once
10. Diamond Cutter twice
11. King of Prayers once (for the long life of Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche)
12. Prayer of the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra twice (a prayer of the Dzogchen Great Perfection tradition that confers Buddhahood within 3 lifetimes of merely hearing it, to be found in my forthcoming Chinese Sanghata sutra cd)

Phew! So I did all that within the scope of the eclipse time, and non where part of my daily prayers, so I had to do my daily prayers after those, which lasted till 1 am. Of course I was on precepts too for the whole day. Die Die must earn merit la!

I also listened to the Chinese Sanghata CD to check some parts of it. I tell you, Siak Hong and Wenyi did such a good job of the whole CD with it's contemplative light background sound effects, I bet most of you would be playing this instead of the angmor one with it's screeching and bellowing tunes! Keep in view!

Also to let you know that I will be levaing this coming Friday for India again. I know, I know...the Ladakh update is on it's way ok. Just too much to write at one go!

back in "civilization"

Hi folks,

Just dropping a line to let you know that I am back in Singapore. But only for a little under 2 weeks before I am once again off on my adventures to India. Will post soon with stuff regarding my trip to Ladakh, so stay tuned! But first, let me get over my low altitude sickness and readjusting back to city life.....am currently doing detox at home. Will try to make it to Tara Puja tomorrow (Sunday) but no promises as yet.

My only contact number for the next two months

Hi all,

This is my number for the next two months +919419818417 I will not have any internet access but this number will be able to receive smses and calls, yet not be able to send smses or make calls. The reason for this being that I will be in a very remote area of India called Ladakh. Especially the area of Thak thok. I am here receiving empowerments and transmissions. If you don't manage to get through the first time when calling, please try again. See you in two months!!

can get email notification now

now you can get my postings sent to your email. just go to the lower left hand corner where there is a little blank space that allows you to fill in your email address to get notifications of new blogs. Then you won't have to keep coming back to check for new updates!

Still raining heavily in Dharamsala. Rain comes and goes. Was told not to do laundry too often. Everyone smells!

Leaving for Ladakh tomorrow night. Hopefully things will turn out ok. It is afterall next to the moon! Another thing is: my internet access in Ladakh will be limited as the location of the teachings would be lagi ulu (extremely remote). Hence, it would still be a better idea to sign up for email notification for further updates.