Dharma Wheel

how to discover a the cause of a problem one is suffering from continuously? are there any methods, can you discover it by logic or how do you go on trying to understand the real reason why one is suffering a certain karma , mostly mental but closely linked to the physical.

I think you would need a high level of realization to know for sure. Luckily, it is not necessary to know the cause specifically in order to purify it.

dakini_boi wrote:I think you would need a high level of realization to know for sure. Luckily, it is not necessary to know the cause specifically in order to purify it.

True ... but simple intuition can help sometime, also the bouddha (inside) knows the answer.

Sönam

Like causes like. Murder shortens life etc.

You may wish to read through Wheel of Sharp Weapons and Lam Rim texts that discuss karma.

ive read that text. it is quite helpful but doesnt answer the problem directly.

generally tibetan buddhism doesnt talk about or have any reflections or teaching about fear.

KonchokZoepa wrote:i
generally tibetan buddhism doesnt talk about or have any reflections or teaching about fear.

How about Chod? Certainly is about overcoming fear.

/magnus

chod is too ritualistic for me, ive done it once, it was complicated and elaborate and i dont find the benefit, it doesnt go to the root of the problem at least not if you dont want to spend quite a big amount of time doing it.

KonchokZoepa wrote:chod is too ritualistic for me, ive done it once, it was complicated and elaborate and i dont find the benefit, it doesnt go to the root of the problem at least not if you dont want to spend quite a big amount of time doing it.

Namkhai Norbu has a very short and fantastic chod practice and even shorter chod can be found in the Longchen Nyingtik ngondro and the Chokling Tersar that is just a few lines long. Everything in vajrayana takes a lot of time, nothing can be mastered in a few hours, days or weeks.

/magnus

hmm, the chod i participated was like 70 pages. with bells and drums, , just a confusing ritual with no benefit. i guess you would have to do it at least 100 times to get used to it and come familiar with it . anyway can you send a link to these chod's so i could check them out.

KonchokZoepa wrote:hmm, the chod i participated was like 70 pages. with bells and drums, , just a confusing ritual with no benefit. i guess you would have to do it at least 100 times to get used to it and come familiar with it . anyway can you send a link to these chod's so i could check them out.

The short version of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche's Chod is just over seven pages.

Paul wrote:

KonchokZoepa wrote:hmm, the chod i participated was like 70 pages. with bells and drums, , just a confusing ritual with no benefit. i guess you would have to do it at least 100 times to get used to it and come familiar with it . anyway can you send a link to these chod's so i could check them out.

The short version of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche's Chod is just over seven pages.

The other I mentioned are maybe 2 pages long. However, I think ChNNR is the easiest one to learn.

/magnus

do you need to be a member of the dzogchen community, im not sure if i can join the community during this year because of my financial situation. if not this year ill do it right in january next year.

KonchokZoepa wrote:chod is too ritualistic for me, ive done it once, it was complicated and elaborate and i dont find the benefit, it doesnt go to the root of the problem at least not if you dont want to spend quite a big amount of time doing it.

Hi. In the East where people are generally more rooted in the idea of karma, karmic debt etc...One generally, attributes more than 75% of our problems to karmic debt. Many people resolved their issues by making sur offering or offering of food to pretas and karmic debtors according to sutras tradition. karmic debtors manifest as obstructions and issues in one's life be it sickness that doctors can't find a cause, unexplanable fear, psychological issues, troublesome human relationships etc... You may try offering sur if you are keen. It is simple and takes short time.

one time i was starting to do a sur offering but i think a ghost or a spirit came and haunted me and i got very afraid and paranoid so i couldnt do it. and also now im currently not living home where i used so im not allowed incense and i guess that same applies to sur. when i get a stable place for my altar i will maybe start doing sur again since you need to do it on a daily bases.

Saying the name of Buddha with concentration will make ghosts and spirits not attacking. Also, you can play on a DVD the Surangama Mantra (or maybe the sutra...I am confused now); I read once here in the forum that the Surangama mantra/sutra will keep bad spirits away.

Remember the story of the "Poison Arrow in the Eye"? One will never know the causes unless one is realized. There are innumerable causes and conditions that lead to this point in life. Instead of trying to find the conventional causes that have led us to this point in life...we can look at the ultimate, ignorance, and apply the Dharma now.

KonchokZoepa wrote:one time i was starting to do a sur offering but i think a ghost or a spirit came and haunted me and i got very afraid and paranoid so i couldnt do it. and also now im currently not living home where i used so im not allowed incense and i guess that same applies to sur. when i get a stable place for my altar i will maybe start doing sur again since you need to do it on a daily bases.

The Mahayana style of offering food to pretas does not require burning of incense. You need some rice or oat meal with milk (or without), with honey is even better. Recite names of the 4 Buddhas, some mantras and that is all.

It is seldom that, ghosts or karmic debtors haunt and harm the person who give them compassion and placate their starvation. Occasionally, it happens. It means that the karmic debt is deep. What the person need to do is to kept continue the practice.

Generally,

1. people with few karmic debt, won't feel any effect.
2. Karmic debtors that one owe a shallower karmic debt will leave first.
3. Karmic debtor with whom one owe a deeper debt may take a while longer practice.

I think tibetan Buddhism has a lot to say about fear. Most of my teachers have addressed this issue in talks about disturbing emotions. As for remedies, there are of course many, speak to your teacher about this if it is the most predominant emotion affecting you. In the meantime methods could include looking directly at it...where is it, what is it etc and another option since Chod has been mentioned is Tsultrim Allione's feeding the demons process. She has a oak of the same name.

Lama Acharya Dawa Choddak is an expert at mirror divinations (phra bab), and one of the common questions He answers is what is the karmic cause of this or that problem and what specifically can/should I do about it. Lama Dawa developed the siddhi to do mirror divinations under the direct guidance of H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The answers to questions asked via these mirror divinations come from (I believe) Dorje Yudronma. Lama Dawa can be reached for mirror divination consultations via http://www.saraswatibhawan.org. He will also be in Boulder, CO in early November where He will be doing mirror divination consultations. For more information on that, please see the Events section. During that time, He will also be conferring the empowerment of Chokyi Gocha's Red Saraswati, the specific sadhana by which Lama Dawa developed these siddhi.

and is it possible to get a consultation through the internet ?