Excerpt

Keith says this blog is schizophrenic--and he's right. You never know what my mind is going to spew: recipes, lists of berries, videos, random sentences, pictures. And for this, I am sorry, but no too sorry. And so, for today's second installment of PaperPinwheel, I give you...

These days I'm tackling Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche's huge, "A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems." Within the pages of this unbelievable book I found a prayer which was written by Khenpo Ngakchung AKA Khenpo Ngawang Palzang AKA Khenpo Ngaga. The second Penor Rinpoche was one of his heart sons. Here are some excerpts:

While the Lord of Death hounds me from behind,
Days, months, years--time draws me onward from in front,
And in between, I'm seduced and enthralled by distraction.
There's a danger--that, without ever realizing it, I'll be completely deceived:
Longchenpa, father of mine, look on me with all your compassion!

All things in samsara and nirvana are devoid of any substance.
This body will not last and has no reality of its own.
Like the rainbow that arches across the sky,
It is taken as real, but fades into thin air:
Longchenpa, father of mine, look on me with all your compassion!

By marking even the smallest failing in others,
But failing ever to notice how rotten I am inside,
By constantly fooling and misleading people,
Aren't I just purchasing my own misery?
Longchenpa, father of mine, look on me with all your compassion!

Because of all this, I feel my heart breaking in sorrow,
And I pray now to all the buddhas,
For the beings of this degenerate age, and
Especially those like me, who just bear the likeness of practitioners:
Longchenpa, father of ours, look on us with all your compassion!