"Sooner or later, you will have to part from even your dearest friends. But one...friend will never leave you, even though you may never be aware of its existence. It is the Buddha-nature, pure awareness. You begin to discover it by listening to the teachings of a spiritual master. The ties will deepen as you cultivate sustained mental calm and profound insight into reality. In the end, you will discover that it has always been near you and will always be with you. This is the truest friendship you can ever cultivate.

~ Chatral Rinpoche

Poetry by Maria Grazia Testa

we hold each other's hand as if everything, within us, knew. we let go, knowing only that nothing belongs to us.
this desolation gasps for reflections, wipes them away and calls them back with frenzy, looks for appeasement in thoughts of unity and, when not found, rattles for freedom. as if it were impossible to withstand the peace of this body, which is given to us only once and it's given, each time, in full. in this breath, that with certainty comes and goes, till it won't, and it won't, without delusion. in this mind, that left to its own acknowledgment, is in knowledge, and peace.

how can it be, to have one existence only and to labor purposely to change it all the time?
how can it be, trimmed between the fear of being, the hope of becoming, hindered to be what just is?

i wish today to be myself, with all myself, in my nature, in truth.
to bear the courage.
to own the wisdom.
to stop lying.
to have opportunity, and youth, on my side.
to live. and live for goodness.

so to you, my wonderful friends.

The Daily Practice Hand-Clapping [Reversal] of the Lion-Faced Dakini

KED CHIG RANG NYID KHANDROMA
Visualizing that I instantly become
SENG GE DONG CHEN KUR SAL WAI 
The Lion-faced dakini
TUG KA NGAG KYI TRO DU YI
Through the radiation and reabsorbing of the mantra in my heart,
NÖD CHED MA LÜ TSAR CHED GYUR
All harm-doers are completely annihilated.

AHKA SAMA RATSA SHADA RASA MARA YA PHET
Recite as many times as possible, after which:

NAMO TSA GYUD LAMA YIDAM LHA
Homage to the lineage Gurus, the meditation Deities,
KHANDRO DÜD DUL DRAG MO YI
And to the wrathful mara-subduing Dakini,
DEN PA CHEN PO JIN LAB KYI
By the blessings of the Great Truth
CHAD KHA PHUR KHA BOD TONG SOG
May all curses, sorcery, black magic, and so forth,
MI TUN CHAG CHE NYAM NGA KUN
Dreadful, ominous, non-conducive obstacles,
DANG WAR CHED PAI DRA LA JHYO - (clap)
And hateful enemies be reversed!
NOD PAR CHED PAI GEG LA JHYO - (clap)
May the harmful obstructing forces be reversed!
DUD DRA CHED MAI TENG DU JHYO - (clap)
May all negativities be sent back to the harmful maras and obstructers,
JE SHUL MED PAR DOK GYUR CHIG - (clap)
Completely reversed with no trace remaining! 3
Thus the reversal is performed.
TROMÖ RIG NGAG NÜ PAI TU
By the strength of this wrathful female's awareness mantra,
CHANG CHUB DRUB PAI BAR CHED DÜD
May the maras that cause obstacles to the accomplishment of awakening
NÖD CHED MA LÜ TSAR CHED NEI
And all harm doers without exception be annihilated,
SAM DÖN YID ZHIN DRUB PAR DZÖD
And may all intentions be achieved as though wish-fulfilling.

Conclude with dedication and aspiration prayers.
This was written by Jigdral Yeshe Dorje for daily mantra practice. Dzayantu
Translated by Sangye Khandro

Yeshe Tsogyal

'Every appearance and every event
Are the mind’s miraculous display.
In the spacious expanse, I see nothing to fear.
It is just reflexive radiance
Of mind’s clear light, and nothing else.
Hence there’s no reason to react.
All activity is my adornment.
Therefore, better to rest silently In meditative absorption.'

~ Yeshe Tsogyal

'When you arrive at the extinction of reality, there is nothing but the spontaneity of pure potential. There is no other way to dance in the sky.'

~ Yeshe Tsogyal

Khandro Tsering Chödrön

‘Parting from the Four Attachments’

• If you are attached to this life, you are not a true spiritual practitioner;
• If you are attached to samsara, you have no renunciation;
• If you are attached to your own self-interest, you have no bodhichitta;
• If there is grasping, you do not have the View.

Yogin Drakpa Gyaltsen

1. Relinquishing Attachment to This Life

The first step is to relinquish attachment to this life:

Discipline, study, reflection and meditation

Undertaken for the sake of just this life—

Give them all up, for they are not the Dharma!

To begin with, to practise discipline is to possess

The cause for reaching higher realms,

The stairway to liberation,

And the remedy that eliminates suffering.

Without discipline, nothing is possible,

But if it is observed out of attachment to this life,

You have the root cause of the eight worldly concerns.

You criticize those with poor conduct,

You are envious of the truly disciplined,

It turns your own discipline into mere hypocrisy,

And it sows the seeds of birth in the lower realms:

So give up this fake and fabricated discipline!

A person who pursues study and reflection,

Possesses the wealth of acquiring all knowledge,

Holds a torch that dispels ignorance,

Knows the path on which to lead living beings,

And has got the seed of the dharmakaya.

Study and reflection, then, are indispensable,

But those who pursue them out of attachment to this life,

Possess instead the riches of pride and arrogance,

Scorn for those of lesser learning and contemplation,

And envy for all who accomplish genuine study and reflection.

Forever seeking disciples and wealth,

They own the root cause for reaching lower realms:

So give up study and reflection motivated by the eight worldly concerns!

All those who train in meditation,

Possess the remedy for negative emotions,

The basis for accomplishing the path to liberation,

The wealth of realizing the natural state

And the seed for attaining buddhahood.

Meditation, then, is indispensable,

But those who meditate with only this life in mind,

Find busyness and entertainment even in seclusion,

Turn their recitation practice into meaningless talk,

Disparage those who truly study and reflect,

And are jealous of other meditators,

While their own practice is pure distraction:

So give up your meditation on the eight worldly concerns!

~~Yogin Drakpa Gyaltsen

2. Relinquishing Attachment to Samsara

In order to attain nirvana, beyond all sorrow,

Abandon attachment to the three realms of samsara.

And in order to relinquish attachment to the three realms,

Reflect on the faults of samsaric existence:

First, there is suffering upon suffering

Which is the suffering of the three lower realms.

Contemplate this deeply and you will break out in goose pimples;

If it actually befalls you, it will be beyond your power to endure.

But by failing to practise the virtue of restraint,

You keep on tilling the fields of the lower realms,

And there, wherever you find yourself, how dreadful it will be!

Contemplate the suffering of change,

And how you can fall from higher to lower realms,

How Indra, lord of gods, can be reborn as an ordinary mortal,

The sun and moon can turn dark,

And the emperor of the world can be reborn as a humble servant.

Such examples are to be trusted as they come from the scriptures,

Yet they are hard for ordinary beings to comprehend.

So just look then, with your own eyes, at the changes among humans:

The wealthy turn into beggars,

The powerful grow weak,

Out of many people, only one survives...

And so on, beyond our mind’s imagining.

To contemplate the suffering of conditioning,

See how there is never an end of things to do,

And suffering is found among the many and the few,

Among the well-off and the starving alike.

Our whole human life is spent preparing,

And in the midst of our preparing, we are swept away by death;

But not even in death is there any end to preparation,

As once again we begin making ready for the next life.

How perverse they are who keep clinging

To this heap of misery that is samsara!

When free from such attachment, there is nirvana,

And in nirvana, the attainment of lasting bliss.

I sing of my realization—freedom from attachment to this life and samsara.

~~Yogin Drakpa Gyaltsen

3. Relinquishing Attachment to Our Own Self-Interest

Yet to liberate myself alone will bring no benefit,

For sentient beings of the three realms are all my fathers and mothers.

How disgusting to leave my parents in the thick of suffering,

While wishing and seeking for just my happiness alone!

So may the suffering of all the three realms ripen on me,

May my merits be taken by sentient beings,

And through the blessings of the merit of this,

May all beings attain buddhahood!

~Yogin Drakpa Gyaltsen

4. Relinquishing Attachment to Self-Existence

Yet no matter how far I have progressed in the Dharma,

As long as there is grasping at self, there is no freedom.

To elaborate in more detail:

If you grasp at existence, there is no liberation;

If you grasp at non-existence, there are no higher rebirths;

If you grasp at both, you are just ignorant,

So do the best you can, to remain in non-duality!

All things and events are the domain of the mind:

So without searching for a creator of the four elements,

Such as mere chance or an almighty god,

Do the best you can, to rest in mind’s innermost nature!

The nature of appearances is like a magical illusion,

And the way they arise is through interdependence:

That’s the way things are, which cannot be expressed in words,

So do the best you can, to dwell in a state which is inexpressible!

By the merit of this virtue—

Explaining the ‘Parting from the Four Attachments’,

May all the seven classes of living beings

Be led to the perfect ground of buddhahood!

~Yogin Drakpa Gyaltsen

Life of Guru Rinpoche of each lunar month

Describing the deeds performed by Guru Rinpoche on the 10th day of each lunar month.

1st Month

Guru Rinpoche renounces his kingdom, practices yoga and meditation in the great charnel ground of Sitavana, ‘The Cool Grove’, and attains liberation. Gathering under him the matrikas and dakinis, he is known as Guru Shantarakshita

2nd Month

Guru Rinpoche takes the ‘Rabjung’ ordination from Buddha’s disciple Ananda. He shows unparalleled understanding and mastery of both sutra and mantra, and is known as Guru Shakya Senge and as Guru Loden Chokse

3rd Month

The king of Zahor tries to burn Guru Rinpoche alive. Guru Rinpoche transforms the fire into a lake, establishes the Dharma in the land of Zahor and takes Mandarava as his consort. He is known as Guru Chime Pemajungne, the Immortal Lotus Born

4th Month

The deluded ministers of Orgyen try to burn Guru Rinpoche and Mandarava, his spiritual consort, alive. He turns the flames of the funeral pyre into a lake, from which they emerge seated on a lotus. The king, ministers and people of Oddiyana are inspired with devotion. He is known as Guru Pema Dorje Tsal

5th Month

When tirthikas from South India attempt to harm the Buddha Dharma, Guru Rinpoche, with his great power, vanquishes them along with their gods and guardians. Raising the victory banner of the Dharma, he is known as Guru Senge Dradrok

6th Month

At sunrise Guru Rinpoche is miraculously born amidst dazzling radiance in a lotus bed on Lake Danakosha. Turning the Wheel of Dharma for the dakinis, he is known as Guru Tsokye Dorje

7th Month 

The tirthikas from Tamradvipa throw Guru Rinpoche into the Ganges. Rising from the water, he reverses the flow of the river and performs a vajra dance in the sky. The tirthikas are inspired with devotion, and begin to follow the Dharma. Guru Rinpoche is known as Guru Khading Tsal

8th Month

The tirthikas try to poison Guru Rinpoche, who transforms their concoction into amrita nectar. Irradiant from his drink, he inspires faith amongst the tirthikas, and is known as Guru Nyima Ozer

9th Month

Guru Rinpoche takes the form of Vajrakumara at Yanglesho in Nepal, and subdues the local deities and negative forces. He performs the sadhana of Palchen Yangdak and attains the vidhadhara stage of Mahamudra realization. He is known as Guru Dorje Totreng

10th Month

Guru Rinpoche arrives in central Tibet. He subdues all the hostile negative forces, founds the great monastery of Chokhor Palgyi Samye and lights the lamp of the holy Dharma of the sutra and mantra teachings. Guiding his twenty-five disciples and the king to liberation, he is known as Padmasambhava

11th Month

Guru Rinpoche assumes his wrathful form in Paro Taktsang in Bhutan, and brings under his control the local deities and guardians. Making them protectors of the terma (hidden treasures) teachings, he entrusts them with secret oral instructions, to be given only to the tertons who shall discover them. He is known as Guru Dorje Trollo

12th Month

Guru Rinpoche is invited to Oddiyana by King Indrabodhi and installed as crown prince, marrying the Princess Bhasadhara. He is known as Guru Pema Gyalpo

What if there is no God?

What if there is no God? What if you are free from the illusion of Good and bad? What if there is no Government to enforce any law, no society to preach morality, no ties of blood and tribe to stop you from any atrocity you want to commit? What if you are absolutely free to do whatever you want without any consequence of pain or loss?

Would you then turn into a monster? Would you kill your neighbor to make your home bigger? Would you dare to ruin a masterpiece of art?

Or you will remain the same? You will continue to cherish the fragrance of jasmine; will still be moved by flapping wings of dove; will be breathless in the presence of Niagara Falls; will love the smile on the face of a child; will protect the shivering kitten in your warm coat.

Would you turn into a monster or remain the same?

What if the simpletons of antiquity, unable to grasp the inherent goodness of man and the enigmatic sense of purpose in every single entity of the universe, fell down on their knees out of thankfulness and gratitude and name this mystery in a most eloquent way they can and thus God smilingly stepped into the spotlight of consciousness.

Asad Ali
Painting by Jiao LiQiang