Dear friends and relatives,

We are now entering the fourth great occasion in Buddha’s life. Buddha’s mother Maha Maya had been reborn in the heaven of Thirty Three. To repay her kindness and to benefit the gods, Buddha spent three months teaching in the Heaven of 33.

The day Buddha returned to the world was celebrated as Lha Bab Düchen. Although some traditions celebrate this on full moon day, we Tibetans celebrate it on the 22nd of the 9th lunar month. How fortunate that we have two of this special day to practice. Because of its huge potency, every action good or bad is multiplied 1 million times as per Lama Sopa Rinpoche.

Anyone wishing to observe the whole month, it starts from October 31st. But, the 2 days where you need to be especially mindful are:

Full Moon of 9th lunar month:         Monday, November 14, 2016

22nd of the 9th lunar month:             Sunday, Nov 20,  2016

This act of Buddha’s great compassion for his mother reminds us to think of our own parents who have raised us with so much kindness and protected us with love. His Holiness always teaches us to use the example of our own mothers’ kindness to generate love & compassion for all sentient beings for they too have been our mothers in our past lives and while they were our mothers they have loved and cherished us in the same manner.

So on the above two days do not lose the opportunity to practice virtue such as generosity, patience & forgiveness etc. for the sake of not only our parents of this life but for all mothers we have had from the beginning-less time. Just as our practice is the best offering we can make to our Lamas, like His Holiness, it is also the best way that we can repay the kindness of all our mother sentient beings.

Because our parents of this life are the motivation behind our diligent practice they too will accumulate immeasurable merit – as many as there are sentient beings who are limitless in number. And at the end of the day do not forget to dedicate the merit you have accumulated to the enlightenment of all sentient beings and to His Holiness’ long life and realization of His Three Main Commitments for the world and for Tibet. Source:http://www.dalailama.com/biography/three-main-committments

Once more I share this beautiful story from Jatakamala that I found in: http://viewonbuddhism.org I never get tired of reading this every Lhabab Dhuchen. I hope you feel the same.

THE ELEPHANT AND HIS OLD BLIND MOTHER
Long ago, in the hills of the Himalayas near a lotus pool, the Buddha was once born as a baby elephant. He was a magnificent elephant, pure white with feet and face the color of coral. His trunk gleamed like a silver rope and his ivory tusks curled up in a long arc.

He followed his mother everywhere. She plucked the tenderest leaves and sweetest mangoes from the tall trees and gave them to him. “First you, then me,” she said. She bathed him in the cool lotus pool among the fragrant flowers. Drawing the sparkling water up in her trunk, she sprayed him over the top of his head and back until he shone. Then filling his trunk with water, he took careful aim and squirted a perfect geyser right between his mother’s eyes. Without blinking, she squirted him back. And back and forth, they gleefully squirted and splashed each other. Splish! Splash!

Then they rested in the soft muck with their trunks curled together. In the deep shadows of afternoon, the mother elephant rested in the shade of a rose-apple tree and watched her son romp and frolic with the other baby elephants.

The little elephant grew and grew until he was the tallest and strongest young bull in the herd. And while he grew taller and stronger, his mother grew older and older. Her tusks were yellow and broken and in time she became blind. The young elephant plucked the tenderest leaves and sweetest mangoes from the tall trees and gave them to his dear old blind mother. “First you, then me,” he said. He bathed her in the cool lotus pool among the fragrant flowers. Drawing the sparkling water up in his trunk, he sprayed her over the top of her head and back until she shone. Then they rested in the soft muck with their trunks curled together.

In the deep shadows of afternoon, the young elephant guided his mother to the shade of a rose-apple tree. Then he went roaming with the other elephants.

One day a king was hunting and spied the beautiful white elephant. “What a splendid animal! I must have him to ride upon!” So the king captured the elephant and put him in the royal stable. He adorned him with silk and jewels and garlands of lotus flowers. He gave him sweet grass and juicy plums and filled his trough with pure water.

But the young elephant would not eat or drink. He wept and wept, growing thinner each day. “Noble elephant,” said the king, “I adorn you with silk and jewels. I give you the finest food and the purest water, yet you do not eat or drink. What will please you?” The young elephant said, “Silk and jewels, food and drink do not make me happy. My blind old mother is alone in the forest with no one to care for her. Though I may die, I will take no food or water until I give some to her first.”

The king said, “Never have I seen such kindness, not even among humans. It is not right to keep this young elephant in chains.” And set the elephant free.

The young elephant raced through the hills looking for his mother. He found her by the lotus pool. There she lay in the mud, too weak to move. With tears in his eyes, he filled his trunk with water and sprayed the top of her head and back until she shone. “Is it raining?” she asked. “Or has my son returned to me?” “It is your very own son!” he cried. “The king has set me free!” As he washed her eyes, a miracle happened. Her sight returned. “May the king rejoice today as I rejoice at seeing my son again!” she said.

The young elephant then plucked the tenderest leaves and sweetest mangoes from a tree and gave them to her. “First you, then me.”

May every sentient being develop heart as great as this Great Elephant and swiftly attain enlightenment!

Love

Lynn Chazotsang
October 25, 2016