Dearest Disciples of Lord Buddha @
CAS ( Phuntsok Cho Ling ),
 
 
We are glad to come back, alive and still kicking ( ! ), from Sri Lanka, a land blessed and visited, thrice, by Lord Buddha Shakyamuni.
 
 
Having strategically maneuvered away our many Dharma programmes in Singapore for the past 2 years, to that of mission relief trips to Laos, Burma and Sri Lanka, many times over, we are glad to have met Lord Buddha, in His many guises again .... this time not excluding !
 
As we always love to share the Buddha with anyone, we felt compelled by sheer ardent zeal to patch together all the Buddhas we have met in Sri Lanka and dispatching them into your Inboxes
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So, then, we have plus-ed an extract from the "Lanka Vatara Sutra" or the "Sutra of Descending onto the Island of Lanka":
 
Thus have I heard. The Blessed One once stayed on Lanka which is situated on the peak of Mount Malaya on the great ocean, and which is adorned with flowers made of jewels of various kinds. He was with a large assembly of Bhikshus and with a great multitude of Bodhisattvas, who had come together from various Buddha-lands ....
 
Thereupon, Ravana, Lord of the Rakshasas, with his attendants, riding in his floral celestial chariot, came up where the Blessed One was, and having arrived there he and his attendants came out of the chariot.
 
Walking around the Blessed One three times from left to right, they played on a musical instrument, beating it with a stick of blue Indra (saphire), and hanging the lute at one side, which was inlaid with the choicest lapis lazuli and supported by [a ribbon of] priceless cloth, yellowish-white like Priyangu, they sang with various notes such as Saharshya, Rishabha, Gandhara, Dhaivata, Nishada. Madyama, and Kaisika, which were melodiously modulated in Grama, Murchana, etc.; the voice in accompaniment with the flute beautifully blended with the measure of the Gatha.
 
After seven nights, the Blessed One leaving the ocean which is the abode of the Makara, the palace of the sea-king, now stands on the shore.

Just as the Buddha rises, Ravana, accompanied by the Apsaras and Yakshas numerous, by Suka, Sarana, and learned men,

Miraculously goes over to the place where the Lord is standing. Alighting from the floral vehicle, he greets the Tathagata reverentially, makes him offerings, tells him who he is, and stands by the Lord.

"I who have come here, am called Ravana, the ten-headed king of the Rakshasas, mayest thou graciously receive me with Lanka and all its residents ....

"Let the Blessed One, too. surrounded by sons of the Victorious One, now disclose the Truth immaculate on this peak embellished with precious stones; we, together with the residents of Lanka, desire to listen .....

"In the time to come, there will be Buddhas and Buddha-Sons pitying the Yakshas; the Leaders will discourse on this magnificent doctrine on the peak adorned with precious stones.

"This magnificent city of Lanka is adorned with varieties of precious stones, [surrounded] by peaks, refresh-ing and beautiful and canopied by a net of jewels ...

"I give myself up to serve the Buddhas and their sons; there is nothing with me that I do not give up [for their sake]; Great Muni, have compassion on me!"

Hearing him speak thus, the Lord of the Triple World said, "King of Yakshas, this mountain of precious stones was visited by the Leaders in the past.

"And, taking pity on you, they discoursed on the Truth revealed in their inmost [consciousness]. [The Buddhas of] the future time will proclaim [the same] on this jewel-adorned mountain.

"This [inmost Truth] is the abode of those Yogins who stand in the presence of the Truth. King of the Yakshas, you have the compassion of the Sugatas and myself."

The Blessed One accepting the request [of the King] remained silent and undisturbed; he now mounted the floral chariot offered by Ravana ....

Thereupon the Blessed One created jewel-adorned mountains and other objects magnificently embellished with jewels in an immense number. 
 
On the summit of each mountain the Buddha himself was visible, and Ravana, the Yaksha, also was found standing there.

Thus the entire assembly was seen on each mountain-peak, and all the countries Were there, and in each there was a Leader.

Here also was the King of the Rakshasas and the residents of Lanka, and the Lanka created by the Buddha rivaling [the real one].

Other things were there, too,  the Asoka with its shining woods, and on each mountain-peak Mahamati was making a request of the Buddha,

Who discoursed for the sake of the Yakshas on the Truth leading to the inmost realisation; on the mountain-peak he delivered a complete sutra with an exquisite voice varied in hundreds of thousands of ways.

[After this] the teacher and the sons of the Buddha vanished away in the air, leaving Ravana the Yaksha himself standing [above] in his mansion.

Thought he, "How is this? What means this? And by whom was it heard? What was it that was seen? and by whom was it seen? Where is the city? and where is the Buddha?

"Where are those countries, those jewel-shining Buddhas, those Sugatas? Is it a dream then? or a vision? or is it a castle conjured up by the Gandharvas? ....

Then [Ravana reflected], "This is the nature as it is (dharmata) of all things, which belongs to the realm of Mind, and it is not comprehended by the ignorant as they are confused by every form of imagination.

"There is neither the seer nor the seen, neither the speaker nor the spoken; the form and usage of the Buddha and his Dharma they are nothing but discrimination .....

The Lord of Lanka was then immediately awakened [from his reflection], feeling a revulsion (paravriti) in his mind and realising that the world was nothing but his own mind ....

bb & students of the Buddha @ CAS ( Phuntsok Cho Ling )

p/s:
We are too happy to share that retreats are almost on-going at Phuntsok Cho Ling just like how our Teacher, the Drikung Kyabgon, had said it would ... Tara bless !!
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Lord Buddha
 
 
 
Lord Buddha, Your supreme compassion for us exhorts You to take birth into our defiled world, so that You may teach us the way to Liberation. 
 
Now, we see You, Lord Buddha - the Enlightened One - so utterly pure and perfect in every way.
 
May You bless us to follow You, that we, too, like You, become a Buddha soonest - the Teacher for the world - that we may bring all suffering mother beings to perfect Enlightenment.
 
 
 
 
When You showed the Great Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree and subdued the endless assemblies of evil Maras with a mere touch of Your finger, calling upon the earth as Your witness, You proved that, indeed, Your virtues and greatness are unparalleled, unequalled, unsurpassed.
 
The gentle tap from Your finger caused even the mighty cosmos to quake and tremble in sheer homage to You, One who has accumulated unbelievable merit, countless and countless aeons from the past.
 
Not one being have You not given up Your life for, that You may bring a smile, a pint of solace and hope ....
 
Hence, the divine hosts flock to You, to honour and salute You, to celebrate Your greatness.
 
 
 
Immutable and thoroughly unshakeable, Lord Buddha, Your attainment, the highest and most glorious pinnacle of all good, is abided upon the complete union of Love and Wisdom - the Illusory Body united in Clear Light.   
 
 
 
Undeserving though we, the wretched and defiled beings in samsara may be, Lord Buddha, You have never declined our feeble attempts to earn some good, even if we offer only patched flowers, so roughly hewn and carelessly strewn upon Your blessed, golden facade, born of a million virtues.
 
 
 
When we become indolent and unruly, Lord Buddha, You showed the Great Passing into Nirvana, to shake us up, to wake us up from our self-indulgent cravings.  
 
Indeed, as You have taught us how to live, now, You, our great Teacher, have also taught us how to die. 
 
 
 
Even as You have shown the great entry into Peace, Your manifestations are unceasing.
 
You emanated as Buddhas, sometimes behind silk curtains, still, accepting blossoms and flourishes of flowers to honour You, in memory of Your greatness.
 
 
 
Just as how, in the past, You have taught the holy Dharma at the faithful entreaties of kings, nagas, gods and even demons, now, we faithfully enshrine, diffuse and tread Your teachings .... that we may not fail You - our Teacher.   
 
 
 
To Your students in these latter, darker times, plagued with myriad, endless fears and worries, You bestowed courage and fearlessness.
 
To the confused, You exemplarize with immovable samadhi; to the deceitful, You defeated with truth and wisdom.
 
Though You have showed the Great Passing, Lord Buddha, we have never doubted Your omnipresence and love ....
 
 
 
From the pristine sphere of Dharmakaya, Lord Buddha, You still watch over the world, with its gods and men ...
 
Silently, lovingly ....
 
 
Like the Lion's roar, Your teachings still resonate throughout the Three Thousand Great Thousand Fold World ... waking the drunk from their stupor; giving light to the dark and ferrying the drowning to the Other Shore.
 
 
 
Just as how You have fed the famished with Your body, may we, too, learn, follow and dedicate likewise.
 
Just as how You have given up Your beloved for fulfillment of the greater good for all, may we, too, learn, follow and dedicate likewise.
 
 
Again, just as how, infinite times, over and over, You have fed the famished with Your body, may we, too, learn, follow and dedicate likewise.
 
 
 
All of these, oh, Lord Buddha, our Teacher, so that we could take birth like You, at Lumbini, to the Queen Maha Maya, under the Sal Tree, bowed so deep in homage, with countless hosts of attendant divine gods and spirits , to teach, to fill the world with light, so that the world with its gods and men, may know the right from the wrong, the calm-abided not the distracted and to tread the righteous path to complete Liberation.
 
 
 
Under the Bodhi Tree, may we, Your students, Lord Buddha, likewise, subdued the hosts of vicious maras intent on keeping beings in samsara, under their sway and trickeries, invoking the limitless merit we have accumulated through the Six Perfections, these infinite, inconceivable activities of a Bodhisattva.
 
We shall reveal, unstintingly, that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent, all sensual perceptions are innately pained, all existence are empty of inherent-independent-nature and only Nirvana is Peace.
 
Through these, may we, like You, ferry countless upon countless mother sentient beings away from the blistering pains of the lower realms as well as the beguiling delights of heavens and only upon the pure, sublime path of Dharma, that all beings may, one day, also become a Buddha, unchained to and transcendent to any samsaric realms. 
 
 
 
Just as You showed the Great Passing into Nirvana to rouse the last obstinate vestiges of untamed, bawdy students, likewise, we aspire with our hearts, that we, too, shall manifest this Great Passing into Peace. 
 
 
 
Just as You have left the holy relics, the remnants of Your holy body, born of infinite, inconceivable virtues, for the world, likewise, too, we pray that we shall leave the holy relics, that future disciples, who have not been able to see, hear or meet us, could accumulate immeasurable merit and cultivate boundless virtue.
 
Then, they shall continue the sacred legacy of the Buddhas ...
 
The world shall be blessed by an unceasing chain of Blessed Ones, the Tathagatas, the Enlightened Ones, the Teacher of Gods and of Men  .....
 
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Dedication
 
"Just as the Blessed Buddhas of the past have dedicated;
Just as the Blessed Buddhas presently existing is dedicating;
Just as the Blessed Buddhas of the future will dedicate;
I also humbly learn, follow and dedicate likewise."
 
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Supreme Protector of the Dharma
 
        Palden Lhamo
 
"You the Goddess who followed Buddha Kasyapa's Teachings;
By Buddha Shakyamuni and His aspirations;
In this country, You protect and increase the Buddha's Teachings;
Principal Lady of all Protectors of the Precepts, we invite You."
 
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