Full Moon Holy-Day: Forgive, Let Go & Start again!

Some people may be under the impression that Buddhists are far too serious to celebrate something like the full moon, but it couldn’t be further from the truth! As I’m writing this, a potent Buddhist observation date is coming up—namely, the full moon of March 28th. 

Like all full moon days, as well as new moon days, this one is a cause for celebration in the name of your spiritual practice. Since the full moon is one of the most sacred times in the Buddhist calendar, let it inspire you to make this one and all moon days true holy-days for you. Whether you choose to focus on your meditation practice, offering a generous meal, or engage in a spring cleaning of your house in the name of purification, this is a good time to do so. Full moon days are potent times for focusing on formal practice such as calm abiding and sadhanas. 

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The phases of the moon represent the path of death and birth, reflected in bodies of water, just as in the fertile female body. The 28 days of the moon cycle always invite us to the repetitive cycle of planting seeds of good wishes to reaching fullness and then of beginning over again.

To make use of a complete cycle, plant your good wishes on new moons and let the time of the full moon be the culmination of your wishes for manifesting a kinder world for all. 

There is always a chance to start fresh with the new moon, just as forgiveness, manifesting, and letting go are supported by the full moon’s time. 

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Siddharta Gautama, who later became known as the Buddha, was born on a full moon. His renunciation of a lifestyle in extreme abundance was on a full moon. He became enlightened on a full moon and finally left his human form under a full moon—all in the spirit of intention, completion, and manifestation.

Traditional Buddhist societies observe the lunar calendar instead of the solar calendar used in the west. This is true, with few exceptions, such as the western-made lunar-inspired We’Moon calendar.

One of my poems,” Redemption,” written in honor of my African and Native American ancestors, is in the print to be published in this legendary We’Moon calendar, the edition of 2022 called:” The Magical Dark!”

To have an inclusion of my work in this longstanding lunar calendar in collaboration with international women’s cultures is a true honor. The inclusion of my poem in the We’Moon calendar is a manifestation of my intentions. It is a complete cycle that has culminated into an expression in a true spirit of the full moon that I’m so excited to share with you! It will be available to order in a few months.

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Until then, to get some guided inspiration right off the bat to kick-off this full moon holy-day, find me on YouTube or Sound Cloud for guided meditations.

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And if nothing else, allow this full moon to be a time for non-judging, patience, beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go. These attitudes support each other and are deeply interconnected. Practicing one will lead to the others.

Blessed be,

Chimey

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Renounce The World Now And Find Lasting Freedom

With a developed sense of renunciation, we realize that our usual reliance on pleasure prevents us from having complete happiness.

Our usual compulsive habits need to be worn out, and we don’t have much time to act on them anymore. The more we realize that satisfying our pleasures will never add up, the more we can let go of our expectations for sense pleasures to be the answer to happiness ever after.

Instead of getting too tight around what we want or don’t want, we can remind ourselves to let go of any circumstance and adopt an attitude of both enjoyment free of attachment and radical acceptance.

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Try out enjoying what you have and what is coming your way without constantly wishing things to be different. At the same time, don’t expect any lasting solutions from the tangible items you enjoy. Relax into your appreciation and remember that all pleasures are fleeting.

Set your site on a higher form of happiness than what temporarily satisfies the senses. Go beyond your current wants and needs of what the world has to offer.

When you look in the mirror, realize that you are not the reflection in the mirror. Mindfully observe your reflection for what it is. This should be enough to tell you that you are not what you see in the mirror.

Through letting go of identifying with the wrong thing, the sense world will lose its grip on us. Keeping this in mind, we don’t have to get lost in the pleasures of the world, nor claw into our ownership of precious objects or drain ourselves in misery over misplaced stocks on the stock market.

We do not need to spiral down when things don’t go our way. Instead, renounce the world in a healthy sense. Get your head out of the norm box and take some fresh breaths. Let go. Remember. This too is a fleeting moment.

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Instead of taking refuge in sensory objects to resolve our dissatisfaction, we place our reliance on our inner light and highest potential, knowing that we are beyond measurable, powerful, and capable.

A sincere spiritual path of renunciation often indicates an abandonment of the pursuit of all material comforts, such as a home, intimate relationships, jewelry and investments etc. Something that we associate with the life of a nun or a monk. So-called worldly renunciation. An act of letting go of that which binds us to the material world, done in the interest of achieving enlightenment.

Still, there have been spiritual adepts throughout history who have managed to renounce their attachment to the world of sensory pleasures and adopted a way of relying on their inner resources for happiness while remaining in a worldly lifestyle. Kings and Queens of great wealth have even successfully carried out this type of renunciation without abandoning their riches.

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Most broadly, renunciation can be understood as letting go of whatever binds us to ignorance and suffering. The Buddha taught that genuine renunciation requires thoroughly perceiving how we make ourselves unhappy by grasping and greediness. When we understand the suffering that comes with allowing our greedy minds to continue in an unhealthy way, renunciation naturally follows. It becomes a positive and liberating act, not a punishment.

What can you renounce today?

Can we learn to live with less and let go of attachment to having things in a certain way? What if a healthy sense of renunciation is more than going forth into the homeless life of a nun or a monk?

Our greed and grasping that we indulge in are intoxicants that dull our natural clarity, but if we work our mind, a way out of this miserable state will follow.

Greed is permeating our minds on a global scale and has done so for thousands of years. We are reaching out for illusory objects left and right, which are already in the decay process as we approach them. It is true that not everybody is set up for challenging themselves with being content with less. We might not be ready to live in a tiny house, eat oatmeal porridge for dinner, and watch the stars at night instead of buying a bigger home, overeating and watching digital screens as a source of joy and fulfillment.

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But in a rapidly changing world, we need to seriously contemplate our lifestyles and act on the insights we derive.

Since not even when we know that the world depends on us making a rapid u-turn in this regard do we seem to find enough motivation to override our ingrained habits of reaching out for new shiny objects: a car, a smartphone, a new house.

What does one little plastic container matter? Thinks billions of people…

Instead of habitually turning to fleeting sense pleasures as your source of refuge, set your site on a higher form of happiness. Go beyond your current wants and needs. Place your reliance in your inner light and highest potential whether you live as a royalty or a monastic, or someone in between. Rest assure that we are all beyond measurable, powerful, and capable of making that u-turn.

Blessed be,
Chimey

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Leaders who dare to embody feminine wisdom – the future belongs to you

The Divine Feminine is getting loader in society today, but where are the leaders who dare to embody feminine wisdom claiming her equal status as the queen of existence? We need her traits to survive! So take them, adopt them, nurture them within you and hurray them on in others and society at large! If you do the future belongs to you.

We don’t have to look far to find these balancing qualities. These are traits that live naturally within us all. Qualities that have been beaten, neglected, and suppressed for thousands of years. Characteristics that are unstoppable ones their humble waiting posture have been thrown aside, and SHE starts to rise to the throne – like now.

Contrary to popular belief, feminine qualities are not limited to biological women. It has nothing to do with gender identity whatsoever. 

As we move through these times of transition, we must get used to that labeling traits as masculine or feminine reflects popular perception rather than evidence-based fact.

Yes, qualities such as; Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, Community building, Intuition, Environmental Awareness, and Inclusiveness are traditionally identified with women, while qualities such as Courage, Independence, Assertiveness, Drive, Competitiveness, Protection, and Hierarchical structures are generally associated with men.

As of now, we are forced out of the gender-limiting box. We are collectively starting to explore our complete existence beyond the former gender box for the first time in millennia. Leaders who dare to embody feminine wisdom holds all of our collective future in their hands.

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Each and every individual, and most of all leaders of all traits, are waking up to what sought-after qualities needed in the world today look like. It’s those that are called feminine.

To produce excellent results for leaders of any gender, we need a healthy combination of all our qualities to not remain as it has been up until now with divided quality sectors. Superior leadership is born when all our traits are applied beyond historical restrictions and false claims of one heap of qualities being better than the other.

Being sensitive to others’ thoughts and feelings, acknowledging others’ know-how, and not being afraid to ask for help, prioritizing community-building, seeking to serve others – before dominating others, sharing, listening, and supporting. These are the traits that belong to our future leaders. Giving life, and not taking it are some healthy guidelines to adopt in today’s leadership, no matter where we are on the gender spectrum. 

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The Divine Feminine is on the rise after patiently waiting for thousands of years, and now there’s nothing that can stop her! 

In Tibetan Buddhist mythology, SHE is often depicted as a dancing goddess with fierce gestures and bared fangs as a symbol of interconnectedness. A Sky Dancer, a Khandro (Tib.), a Dakini. (Sanskrit.) She is a reminder that we all possess these qualities. To differentiate between any of our inherent qualities is plain ignorance. 

Allow me to use the genius saint Hildegard von Bingen‘s words, the German medieval Benedictine Abbess and contemplative artist, to depict an illustration of the divine feminine: 

“She is so bright and glorious that you cannot look at her face or her garments for the splendor with which she shines. For she is terrible with the terror of the avenging lightning and gentle with the goodness of the bright sun, and both her terror and gentleness are incomprehensible to humans. But she is with everyone and in everyone, and so beautiful is her secret that no person can know the sweetness with which she sustains people and spares them in inscrutable mercy.” 

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As our society and planet are cast into the dreadful fright of environmental chaos due to an imbalance between our inherent feminine and masculine qualities, we have to give our voice to HER and implement these qualities before it’s too late. To survive and live harmoniously on the planet, we must nourish the divine feminine without delay. Because when the Masculine and Feminine are out of balance, the natural result is chaos. That’s where we are currently at. Let us change that with the support from leaders who dare to embody feminine wisdom since the future belongs to you.

Our world – the very survival of our species – depends on the rise of the Divine Feminine.

Welcome here. Embrace her. Honor her.

The glorious 17th Karmapa has said:” Our ideas about what it means to be a woman or a man – that is, our gender constructs – are given meaning and importance in our day-to-day reality. Gender identities permeate so much of our experience that it is easy to forget that they are just ideas created to categorize human beings. Nevertheless, masculine and feminine categories are often treated as if they were eternal truths. But they are not. They have no objective reality. Because gender is a concept, it is a product of our mind – and has no absolute existence separate from the mind that conceives of it. Gender categories are not inherently real in and of themselves.”

Traits such as inclusiveness, intuition, supportiveness, gentleness, cooperativeness, empathy, affection, and circular leadership have been cited as stereotypically feminine. Still, they are all neutral and inherent, just as their counterparts. This is the time to incorporate them all, our so-called healthy feminine and healthy so-called masculine qualities, and become whole human beings beyond gender labels for a brighter future. 

I wish you happy inclusiveness in yourself and society at large.

Blessed be,

Chimey

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Love or Die

In our pursuit of the need to be loved, we have a parallel need: the need to love and care for others. This healthy desire is just as strong as the need to be loved and nurtured in return.

We know that the desire to love and care for others is hardwired and intensely seated within us. And when we manage to let it flow through us and bypass all temporary blockages and preferences, we get happy much more easily!

The manifest love experiences that we get through loving also enhances our happiness levels. It’s a double win situation. Because happiness, in turn, sets all kinds of positive endorphins and circumstances in motion. Therefore, expressing love, care, and compassion for others benefits not just the recipient of our affection but also ourselves as the person who delivers it.

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We need to expand that capability of loving-kindness, like I wrote about in my last blog post, “Go To Hell,” as well. Not through forcing change but by expanding our circles of love and compassion, extending that feeling of love and affection that we naturally have to include more and more beings and nature.

When we feel alone and miserable in our lives and our practice, we benefit from remembering that we live in an interconnected web with all there is on a bigger scale. 

Our hearts open when we are relaxed and allow ourselves to be at ease with ourselves as we are. That is where we need to start since our natural openness may be covered up by many layers of doubt, fear, anxiety, and low self-esteem due to habitual patterns. 

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The good news is that we don’t need to go through all these layers one by one to get to the healing rawness of our open hearts. Instead, we can put on our mindfulness glasses and start small by observing when our hearts spontaneously opens. Maybe it’s by seeing a puppy or baby or any other being in a vulnerable position that makes our heart tick. Stay awake to the ongoing moments of spontaneous heart opening, and you will see what ticks yours.

The need to nourish and reach out to others that comes spontaneously before we even have time to think is a good reference point to remind us of this hardwired system of loving kindness that is in us. Use these moments of spontaneous awakening of the heart’s desire to love and be loved, and put them into action in wider and wider circles as part of your mission to live and let live.

Because, with a strong and patient motivation in the right direction, an intention that is allowed to grow organically, we will get to where we want to go; love and be loved, as slow and steady accomplishes the task. 

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While by solely remaining in the intellect, the knots and doubts around what we can do may instead become tighter and tighter. I can’t stress enough how crucial it is that we set the wheel of loving-kindness into motion. 

Love and being loved is a prerequisite for us as human beings to survive. Love and affection is something we cannot live without. We can give material gifts, protection and knowledge, and so on, but there is nothing as important as the gift of love and affection. Without it, we feel unhappy, lonely, and unloved. We forget that geographical distance and physical locations can’t keep us apart and that we are all together in the greater web of existence. 

Today is the first day of the Tibetan New Year of the Iron-Ox. This year offers us the feminine qualities of loyalty, nurturing, and keeping a slow pace. We can tap into those qualities, ride the force of love, and create a reasonable ground for nurturing each other throughout the rest of 2021 and cultivating this innate drive even more within us.

After creating a proper ground by observing our spontaneous moments of extending our care and training our mind to cultivate it, it is natural to develop care and consideration for others further outside our immediate sphere. Start with yourself and let the circles grow from there. 

May you be safe.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be at ease.

Tashi Delek! Happy New Year!

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Go To Hell

Read this blog post to the last word. There is a treasure at the end.

The definition of fearlessness is – the trait of feeling no fear. Braveness, bravery, courage, courageousness – a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear.

Fearlessness is what we get when we realize that we have to do what we have to do, not for ourselves because we might not make it, but for generations ahead.

While fearlessness of the Bodhisattvas (the once next in line to become full-blown Buddhas) points to a state lacking fear altogether.

To be brave and courageous, we need to have its opposite – fear, and go against what scares us.
A Bodhisattva lacks fear altogether.

I once asked my retreat master What is fear? And he said; Fear is a thought.

So if fear is a thought, then feelings are born based on that thought. If we can control, our minds fear can’t take over. Controlling our minds doesn’t mean suppression of emotions. It means pulling our heads out of the self-created mental ant nest and take a few fresh breaths.

Get a bird’s eyes’ perspective on what is going on in our minds. Get clear without stirring up the mud from the bottom of the pond.

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Because to move forward, we need to take risks that activate changes. Patience has its place, but not when life, freedom, and justice are at stake. The WHOLE human raise are suffering together and the whole planet with us. We don’t have time to get snared in fear.

Fearlessness, the Bodhisattvas trade is rising strong within every community right now and permeating its qualities to each and every corner. Fearlessness and compassion that comes through sharing, inclusion, joining, uniting, and remaining friends. These are our new alias.

Because when we share and include, we become each other’s renewable resources. We become each other’s endless powerhouses.

We all feed on the same nourishment. Love. And we do not need to wait for permission to love, share and unite. We already have that power.

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Use it well, fearless Bodhisattvas. Remember your father/mother – the great Bodhisattva of the hell realms, Kshitagarbha, who in his last life before becoming Kshitagarbha was an Indian girl.

The story goes that before the time of the historical Buddha, this girl’s mother died. The mother had often spoken badly about sacred wisdom, and the girl feared that her mother would be reborn in hell. She worked tirelessly, performing many good acts to create merit and dedicate it to her mother.

However, it happened, she was then escorted to the hell realm by one of the great beings, where a hell guardian told her that her excellent acts had indeed released her mother, who had been reborn again, in a much more favorable place.

At the same time, the girl had glimpsed the countless other beings in torment in the hell realms, and she vowed to free them all. “If I do not go to the hell realms to help the suffering beings there, who else will go?” she said. “I will not become a Buddha until the hells are empty. Only when all beings have been saved will I enter Nirvana.”

Her love for one person became the love for all beings. She proclaimed: I will not become a Buddha until all hell realms are emptied.

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Hold close to your heart all of humanity, every plant and insect too. And don’t wait, because there is just too much to be done. Stay focused, laser-sharp, head high, and open heart. We already have all we need to move forward.

The experience of traveling through the hell realms of great suffering are here so that we can work with our benevolent mind. These are skillful means of suffering that brings us to practice. And that’s good.

Remember:
Love. Always. Wins.

Don’t close your hearts, dear once. When the going gets even more challenging, and we find ourselves in hell realms of sorts where fear instills its grip over our minds, then go against the grain. Instead of giving up and shrinking down, widen your circles of compassion no matter what. Feed the stray dogs, love your neighbor, and wish your so called enemies well. Share everything down to your last resources.

In times of intense overwhelm with many people bordering depression, desperation, and hopelessness, it’s challenging to stay open and not allow ourselves to close down. Therefore – don’t.

Remain in love. We need each other more than ever right now. So floating on uncontrollable negative emotions based on fearful thoughts will not be so helpful. Watch your mind like a soaring eagle and come back to the heart again and again.

Directing our love and care specifically to our closest friends and family exclusively is not sustainable, but when specifically directed love is crushed to pieces by circumstances; it spills out and becomes love for all beings. Direct that power of care you have for those closest to you to include all beings and the whole planet without delay.

Thank you.

Here is the treasure that I promised you, Ksitigarbhas mantra. Memories it. You might need it.

Ksitigarbhas short mantra is powerful enough to reverse all sorts of hellish experiences, including severe health and financial problems. Even just reciting it a few times is very powerful.

Om ah Kshiti Garbha thaleng hum.

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How Breath can Lead us Back to Compassion

What can we do in these times of great pain to transform our raw emotions that may be stuck inside? What can we do for ourselves and others that are suffering from loss, isolation, and grief?

In the meditation practice of Tonglen, we bring others suffering to mind and exchange our happiness for their pain. Many people find this to be an outrageous thing to do. In times throughout history, when the temporary rulers have labeled this kind of practice in an unfavorable way, it has gone underground and withdrawn to the inner circles of initiated practitioners alone but never perished.

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It’s a transformative practice that is still with us today.

The courageous meditator who is ready to take on this practice of Tonglen – literally “sending & receiving,” will cultivate a healthy sense of exchanging oneself with others and eventually lead the otherwise habitually self-oriented ego to shift its focus.

Breathing for others in times of pain can offer relief from suffering in many kinds of ways. We can begin the practice gently by taking on the suffering of someone we know and love, someone who is hurting or in pain whom we doubtlessly wish to help. It may be a child, a partner, or a friend.

As we start the practice of Tonglen, it’s wise to begin with what we feel comfortable to engage in at the moment. Don’t aim for the most terrible of hell realms when you start this practice. Send someone a good cup of coffee, a good night’s sleep, a healed wound, or whatever else the person likes and needs who might be in a troubled place.

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As we deepen into this practice, we often face our own fear, resistance, and frustration, or whatever tightness we are currently experiencing.

When that happens, we can shift our focus to breathe for everyone else of those other millions of people who are suffering just like us, from similar kinds of emotional states.

Likewise, when we are enjoying something, for example, a peaceful moment in the sun, waking up safe in our home, or having a gorgeous dinner with friends, we can briefly close our eyes and say: may others too have this joy.

We breathe in for all who are caught with that same emotion, and we send our relief through every exhalation to all.

While staying with the breath, we are engaging in this meditation through contacting whatever raw feeling we are experiencing, and we breathe it in for all of us- and then send out relief to all of us. Yourself included.

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The awkwardness of Tonglen is that it goes against the grain when it comes to the habit of wishing the best for ourselves, no matter what that means to others or the environment, hoping that everything will turn out the way we want it to be, without having any concern for others. It helps us to turn our focus outwards.

This practice dissolves the tight crust around our hearts and makes us soft, receptive, and carrying. We keep on breathing without getting too entangled in whatever emotion comes up for ourselves, but focus on what is needed and be done for others’ well-being.

If you make this practice part of your life, it will eventually reverse the usual logic of avoiding suffering for ourselves and continually seeking pleasure. In that process, we begin to access radical acceptance for what is and love for both ourselves and others.

We become liberated from our ancient patterns of fixating on a self and starts to tip into the absolute void of wisdom and compassion inseparable.

By doing the practice, we begin to connect and open up rather than closing down and isolating ourselves. We can use our pain, frustration, and stuckness in a world of semi lockdown as a stepping stone to understanding what people in general are up against all over the world.

Breathe in for all of us and breathe out for all of us. Please.

Breathing for the world – Widening our circles of compassion is a meditation-based in the Tibetan Buddhist Tonglen practice of “sending & receiving.” This meditation can be found on my Sound Cloud account and enjoyed for absolutely free.

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listen to the Guided tonglen meditation here

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Friendly reminder, Prepare for Death while you can!

Do not back down from the fact that one day you will die for sure.


A Buddhist’s life naturally contains the preparation for death. We aim to cultivate positive, happy, virtuous states of mind during our lifetime while abandoning non-virtuous, harmful, and painful states of mind. One of the reasons is that we don’t want our negative states of mind to follow us around from one realm to another, so we cultivate the habit to abandon painful negative emotions – asap. Not hold on to them.


We need to take this seriously and prepare for death while we can. This current human existence is not forever, you know. Death will come, and that is a non-negotiable fact. It’s only the timing that is uncertain.


That potent moment of death is an opportunity for an enormous spiritual breakthrough – if we can keep our mind in a pleasant place, that is. When we are prepared and remember our spiritual practice during the time of death, we do have an excellent chance to succeed. Succeed with what you might ask?

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Well, we have a rare and precious human life right now, but we are not human eternally. We are spirits having a fleeting human experience. As spirits, there are many different forms of existence available to us. We don’t know where we will end up next time, and only karma will show the way. However, there are pure spiritual realms that we can aspire to go to in the life after this. Such as the pure realm of Sukhavati. (Sanskrit) (Dewachen – Tibetan.)


Due to enlightened activities by the most dedicated and the universal law of interdependence, we can benefit from the masters’ good intentions and promises. Such as the promise of the venerable monk Dharmakara.


Venerable Dharmakara made a promise long time ago, that when he got enlightened, he would come to reign in a non-discriminating pure realm, where everyone was welcomed. A paradise where no one would need to be a saint to go to. Even those with faith and determination alone would still have a fair chance to be reborn there. And an even greater chance if they were habituated to let go of hardships and keep the mind at peace.


Dharmakara kept his promise and came to be known as the one we today call Buddha Amitabha (Sanskrit: “Infinite Light”) – the great savior Buddha. He is usually depicted with a red body, sitting in meditation posture (Vajrasana/dhyana-mudra), with a begging bowl in his lap, in front of a small pool of lotus flowers. That’s where we can imagine the new arrivals being re-born.


By being mindful and grateful to the precious life we have now, we can remain ready for death to come at any moment, using our lives well under all circumstances, and always remember the uncertainness of its length.

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Since we have had a lot of focus on sickness, old age, death, and dying this unstable year of 2020, we could use the comforting grace of Amitabha Buddha’s promise and turn to his infinite light to connect with the pure realm of Sukhavati, by making it a habit to chant his name and his mantra.


Therefore I decided to release a beautiful and simple chant of Amitabha’s mantra before years end. (*See note at the end of this post.) One that was performed during a Kirtan concert I gave years ago with some friends in Woodstock. It will be available from Winter solstice, 2020, in itself a powerful day for stepping into a new way of co-existing, beyond life and death, or any other mind made borders.


Whatever hardships we are going through in our lives, we need to remember that suffering is samsara’s nature. (Samsara means “Wandering” – pointing to the cycle of existence.) Not until we have learned how to get out of this habitual mary-go-round and thereby transformed it, we’ll never be free from our suffering – not even if we take our own lives.

On the contrary suicide solves nothing at all. Since it is the mind that experiences suffering, it will not help to leave the body behind. The pain remains after the body drops and follows us into the next state of consciousness. Our concern here is whether the mind can stay harmonious at all times.

All of us have faced significant trials in life, this year not the least, and it’s often by drawing from such difficulties that we find our most precious teachings and inspiration to remain on a healthy spiritual path.

To die without anger or clinging is vital for a happy death and a good rebirth. So since the state of mind at the time of death is vitally important, it’s of significant concern to die with a calm and peaceful mind. Holding on to anger and other negative emotions will not lead you to Amitabha’s Dewachen or any other pure realm for that matter.

So, be gentle with yourself as well as others. Express love and gratitude whenever you can. And when your loved ones are about to pass, energetically permit them to go, especially since they feel your state of mind even more vividly at this point.

But before you can help someone else through the process of death, you need to learn how to prepare for your own. To die with a happy and peaceful mind is a severe spiritual concern. Some are very well prepared for it, but most of us are not, especially if we have never given death a sincere thought.

Preparing for a happy continuation into our next existence depends not on our formal spiritual practice alone but also on how we hold our minds every day and every moment of our lives, especially at death.

Don’t delay your preparation. Start chanting Amitabha Buddhas mantra today, and get the transmission when you can.

Blessed be,
Chimey

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This is the last blog post from Lama Chimey for Sky Dancer World during 2020. The next article will be posted in January 2021.

*Note: Aum Amideva Hri (Live) with Chimey Lhatso will be released on all major digital music stores online on December 21st, 2020, winter solstice – a day known to most astrologers as The Great Conjunction. May all beings benefit!

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Ngöndro – The Portal to Tantra

The sacred so-called Ngöndro practice is the foundational practice of Vajrayana Buddhism. The Ngöndro practices are divided into four sections and are profound and powerful means for achieving a deep purification and transformation in body, speech, and mind. They prepare the practitioner for Vajrayana’s profound path, but they also lead her towards enlightenment in a step-by-step fashion.

It’s designed to prepare the sincere practitioner who wishes to go deep into this path. Without the Ngöndro as beginners on the Vajrayana path, there is a risk that we may go astray further on. The Ngöndro is, therefore, to be considered the portal to the tantric practices. So what exactly is tantra?

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The tantras are the teachings and writings that set out the practices of Vajrayana Buddhism, the third vehicle of Buddhism that mainly comes from old Tibet. This is the form of Buddhism that I’m primarily schooled in. The tantric teachings are based on the principle of the transformation of impure vision into pure vision. It is cultivated as part of the secret Mantra Vajrayana. (The word mantra means that which protects the mind.)

Our practice within the Vajrayana vehicle is based on mantra recitation, visualization, and meditation. In turn, meditation is divided into several different meditation styles, such as Shamatha, Vipassana, Analytical, and Settling meditation.

Most of us in the west often prefer calming or settling meditation initially, while analytical meditation can seem like too much of an effort to start with. It has a more scientific approach to it, which, yes, might appeal to us, but not be in the foreground of our choices when it comes to” choosing” which type of meditation to engage in—speaking of which. Our habit of picking and choosing from the different parts of the path or even different paths may have us end up with nothing. Instead, we recommend examining whatever teachings we come across and settle with a path that we trust. When starting a meditation practice, we recommend beginning with resting or relaxing the mind and then practice analytical meditation only once we have developed some peace of mind. Unless we start building a foundation, our practice will not be stable. Like building a house, we need to begin digging the ground and working on the plumbing.

Once our minds are ready to apply the tantric practices, our ordinary perception is transformed through the step-by-step practice approach towards a ‘sacred outlook,’ where everything is seen and experienced purely in its true nature, through working with the body, energy, and mind. Bypassing the road there and going straight to applying a homemade understanding of sacred outlook without building a foundation is, therefore, a mistake.

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Although Hindu and Buddhist Tantra have many similarities from the outside, they do have some clear distinctions. For example, the Hindu Tantras has many many schools, where Shivaism might be one of the most commonly known Hindu tantric schools, based on Shiva’s recognition as one of the principal deities of Hinduism. The Hindu Tantric texts are based on dialogues between Gods and Goddesses. This dialogue between God and Goddess is a unique feature of Hindu Tantra that has been written down in their scriptures. Unfortunately, most Hindu Tantras remain untranslated, and their origin veiled in mystery outside of the circles of Sanskrit scholars.

While Buddhism recognizes the Gods and Goddesses as part of the samsaric vehicle within their divine domain and respects them deeply, the Buddhist scriptures don’t base the Dharma on them.

The tantras are such high practices that without a solid foundation in pure outlook and a stable mind, one can easily get lost—That’s why it’s recommended to walk through the portal of Ngöndro to start with. So if the tantric path is something that resonates with you, I strongly recommend that you go slowly, take the step by step approach, and dive in gradually under trustworthy guidance.

Blessed be,
Chimey

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Becoming the Change You Want to See in The World, Part 2:How To Transform Your Life into The Dream You want to Live

To prepare for any significant change we want to make in our life, we can start by creating the habit of actively dreaming about the life that we envision and how wonderful it feels to live it, as if it’s already our reality.


The first secret is to prepare for your dream to come true by acknowledging the daily treasures you already have, a cup of coffee, watching the sunset, taking a hot shower, breathing. Count your blessings and express gratitude every day for the small things in life and that which you already appreciate. Take nothing for granted. Whatever is here today might be gone tomorrow. Everything is continuously transforming. By actively preparing for the changes you wish to see in your life by creating the ground of a grateful attitude will, when taken seriously, serve as a springboard to a successful manifestation of your wishes since gratitude is the foundation for bringing more happiness into our lives.


To begin with, ask yourself these three questions:
1.What qualities and deeds are you grateful for with your self? 2.What qualities and deeds are you appreciating in someone else who is present in your life? 3.And how about in the world?


A conscious programming of the mind as a preparation for your life’s new direction will transform your sense of doubt, stuckness, and hopeless free-falling into clarity and confidence that you’re in charge of your life. Maybe not every little bit of it jet, but your attitude towards manifesting will change immediately, no doubt. As we can’t change anyone else’s mind, we can only work with our own, and that’s all we need to gain more sustainable happiness. This way of actively choosing to be grateful creates a ground from which you can take a more confident step towards aligning with what makes you happy.

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The second secret is to dream wide awake as it makes the dream come alive. Making active choices and knowing that all it takes to change your life is your courage to consciously choose the dream. Don’t allow any unexpected circumstances to sweep you along. There is no need to stay uncomfortable. And no one on the outside to blame for how your life is manifesting. You are the designer of your life. If you’re not happy with how things are currently playing out, choose again, my friend. Take charge of your waking life by having a clear vision and determination to set sails for journeying towards having your dearest dream come alive!

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The third secret is to use the power of choice even as you sleep. For example, if you have the good fortune to enter states of conscious dreaming or being aware within the dream (a.k.a lucid dreaming,) know that this is where you can plant deep transformational seeds in your mind. (Sankalpa in Sanskrit) Let the seeds blossom in a good way, instead of being helplessly lead by your mind where ever. When awareness of the dream within the dream happens, know that you’re dreaming while dreaming (without waking up in excitement as you discover that you can control your dreams.) To try this out for yourself, you can start with downloading this f r e e Yoga Nidra (Yogic sleep)where I will guide you into a relaxed state. To go even deeper, sign up for the coming online course Yoga of Mind here.


By learning to stay calm and aware and awake while you dream, you can program the awake states otherwise zombie-like manners of helplessly being swept in any direction, to a lifestyle of conscious choices by firmly planting your visionary seeds while sleep-dreaming, as well as when you’re dreaming wide awake.

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The first step towards implementing these transformational tools in your sleep is to get out of the habit of” fainting” into dreamless sleep states where your conscious responses are so dormant that you have no idea of what happened the last couple of hours once you wake up.


Lastly, by making a clear statement of your wish, including how and when it’s going to manifest, and repeating that statement to yourself before you go to sleep, you are preparing the ground. Then, when you’re about to fall asleep, make the decision that you will recognize that you are dreaming while in the dream. Don’t give up on this exercise. It’s not a magic tool that I’m carelessly giving away nor a resonant transmission of any sort. It’s merely a simple suggestion in this step-by-step guide to creating your dream life. Once you start, keep it up for as long as it takes to develop this new skill.


To successfully develop these lucid dreaming skills to program your mind to align with your dearest dream’s outer manifestations, it’s necessary to first awaken to the limitless possibility of creating your conscious dreamlife and trust that you can make it happen. If you carry any hesitations or doubts with you into this, it won’t work.


If you wish to go even further, engage in authentic ancient wisdom proven to lead you to deep insight. Instructions can be handed to you by the masters, and you will find that humbly engaging in these kinds of pearls of wisdom will transform your life and that you better have the right guidance and be prepared for it before you start. Don’t just apply the methods from any random book that says it will work, nor take my word alone for it. My online course Yoga of Mind will get you started. Sign up for the waiting list here.


Learn from someone who can guide you. The possibility to create your dream life, including the wisdom of lucid dreaming as one of the keys to change your life, is within your reach. Once you’ve taken the necessary steps towards having that key in your possession, the benefits that come from consciously dreaming wide awake are limitless, and the practice of this visionary wisdom-art a remarkable companion to rely on beyond the limitations of time.


Whether we have the good fortune to walk in the prominent yogi Naropas footsteps to incorporate conscious dreaming in our lives or not, whether we walk on this earth executing our freedom of choice or not, and despite what background or identity we carry, every one of us can shift our mindsets on the spot, right here, right now by merely applying the first step asking your self; 1.What qualities and deeds are you grateful for with your self? 2.What qualities and deeds are you appreciating in someone else who is present in your life? 3.And how about in the world?


This will immediately shift the state of your mind to one of gratitude, and you can ask your self these questions at any given moment that you feel you’re slipping into a more dull mind state. Then, when you’re ready, learn to dream wide awake and have your wishes come alive through a clear statement about the same. After all, it’s all a dream, it’s just a dream, and it’s a real dream, which means that we can choose to fill that dream with our hearts’ deepest longing.


Why would we do anything but that?


Blessed be,
Chimey

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Becoming the Change You Want to See in The World, Part I: Take a Leap of Faith

Let me start by asking you this: Exactly what are you planning to do with this short, wild, precious life of yours? What leap of faith would be required to make the change you want to see in your life? Are you willing to make that change – and when?

Like with all significant transitions, whether it’s your spiritual path, relationship, politics, location, or personal identity – change will call us out on a cliff every so often. The good news is that whether our mind is set up or not for the giant leap when that moment comes, it is actually up to us. Living the life you want to live means becoming accustomed to repeatedly making leaps of faith, and there are ways you can prepare for it.

During our journey through existence, our awakening hearts repeatedly calls us out into deep unknown waters. It’s a calling that might strike us like a brick in the head or a set of harmonizing chords from a passionately mesmerizing string quartet.

Hard as a rock or unbearably beautiful, either way, impossible to ignore.

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To follow that calling means losing our foothold and free-falling into the abyss of our unknown – or known dreams. When you actively prepare for life-changing events, you are consciously walking into new territory instead of helplessly free-falling into new circumstances where you might end up feeling like a victim instead.

In the middle of a leap of faith, you can, of course, never know for sure whether your life will shift in a favorable direction or not. When the time of change comes, we have to let go of who we know ourselves to be and jump. As change is both an ongoing challenge and an inevitable part of life, we can all serve ourselves better through acquiring some skills to deal with it. And even so, if you succeed to land on your two feet after having jumped ship, it can still be confusing at first to find our selves in new terrain. That’s the way things are, and we need to do our best to befriend whatever shift is going on.

As for all of us, with life-changing transitions, it’s likely that they have first been initiated by an inner knowing that was present before our outer circumstances shifted, whether we listened to that precognition or not.

Squarely facing the fact that we are always in minor transition and accepting that fact instead of insisting on negotiating with it, we are already on a path towards greater alignment.

It is more important than ever to trust our brave hearts to lead the way during uncertain times like this. How could it be otherwise?

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Getting accustomed to life’s inevitable uncertainties can also serve as a preparation for more advanced leaps of faith further ahead on our path. We therefore do rightly to get accustomed to having the rug pulled every so often.

My path as a renunciate western woman can, for instance, stand as a general example when it comes to facing the outcome after having jumped the ship of lay life.

In some ways, I can see that my renunciate path has been very blessed and fortunate. In other ways, it only adds on to many of the insufficient hardships experienced by several of those who dare to take a similar kind of leap.

Still, isn’t it better to leap of faith and jump, even if so only with the parachute of your dreams? Then to wait for a signal from who knows where or when to make the change we are longing for? Isn’t it better to leap of faith than having the idea of pausing in mid-air to wait for a more certain direction to appear, a choice that usually means landing on our face instead of on our feet? Isn’t it better to take a leap of faith than to stay in our ingrained cocoons and waste our opportunity to leave our outworn nest instead of sore like butterflies in the sky?

Listen. When was there ever a moment of certain outcomes that could guarantee a favorable situation ahead? Has it ever helped to sit around and wait for a change to happen? What just excuses are you convincing yourself about to stay put in a situation you don’t want to be in and let your dreams remain on the shelf? Remember that we are dealing with a talented chess player in the game of life here called time, and this non-negotiable player has zero patience with our whims and hesitations. The only choice we have around taking that leap of faith, whatever it is that needs to shift for you, is now.

The shift begins with the conviction that you see the futility of keeping going down the same path you are currently going. That your life the way it’s set up right now, or parts of it, just isn’t working any longer – or never has. The leap of faith is an active choice from your side, born out of trust that you have a choice. The leap of faith involves growing an essential belief in your capability of taking full responsibility for your life without being self-indulgent. By standing firm in a fundamental trust in the vision of who, what, and where you want to be, you jump off the cliff into your wildest dreams. Even if only with your dreams as your parachute.

Blessed be,
Chimey

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