Today's Thoughts.

Been bumming around. Felt wonderful, finally I feel rested again.  I have fixed up my Sangha's site, with the help of Sangha-friend Max, so now we have an English version: http://www.ktg.nu/en.

Been pfutzing around with my pictures too, and realized I have to have better order in the house. So, now I have re-imported every raw picture I still owned into Lightroom and rename the directories according to date and content.
Feels good!

And... Staffan and I have ordered our tickets for next summer. PHEW!  7400 SEK per person for trips going from Stockholm on the 8th of June to Delhi, then Katmandu, then Delhi, then Bangalore and then Delhi back to Stockholm via Doha on the 22nd or August.
Quite the trip this time.

From today on - I will study one chapter of the Manual of Standard Tibetan so that I remember something from last time spent in Kathmandu and Rangjung Yeshe Institute. 

My Saraswati will hopefully keep me safe on all my ventures...

Our Grand Old Lady - Queen Amidala - Amy - and ... Lucifer, the pug

...from the net: two stories of the Kagyu Lineage.

Naropa and Tilopa...

Tilopa was about to take his leave, but Naropa, out of desperation and devotion, clung to Tilopa without any shame or embarrassment and again requested him to be his teacher. Saying neither yes nor no to Naropa's request, Tilopa walked away. Naropa tried to follow Tilopa, but although Tilopa appeared to be walking normally, and although Naropa was running, he was unable to catch up, no matter how fast he ran. Naropa could see the form of Tilopa in front of him, but he was unable to get closer. As this area in India was particularly hot and arid, it became very difficult for Naropa to keep running after Tilopa, and although he subjected himself to thirst, hunger, and fatigue, he was not able to catch up.
Eventually, Naropa saw Tilopa sitting on a very high cliff. He went over to him and prostrated, again requesting Tilopa to be his teacher. Tilopa responded by saying, "If you were really desperate and determined to learn about the teachings, you would obey my order to jump off this cliff without any hesitation because you would be able to understand how important it is to follow the commands of your master." Naropa jumped off the high cliff and fell to the ground. All his bones and joints were broken into many, many pieces. Tilopa went down to Naropa and inquired, "Are you experiencing any pain?" Naropa replied, "The pain is killing me!" This is how Naropa got his name. ("Na" in Tibetan means "pain," "ro" means "killing" and "pa" makes the word a noun.) Tilopa gently touched Naropa's body and all his broken bones joined together and were healed.
After undergoing so much suffering, Naropa once again asked Tilopa to give him the profound teachings. Tilopa said, "You are not yet pure enough to be introduced to the nature of mind!" With a wrathful expression, Tilopa removed his slipper and slapped the face of Naropa so hard that Naropa fainted. When he regained consciousness, Naropa's mental state of realization was equal to that of his teacher.
Becoming very peaceful, Tilopa lovingly explained to Naropa why he had to be so very wrathful and subject him to so much suffering. He explained, "The fact that I led you into so many painful circumstances does not mean that I am a cruel person. Your negative karma could not be purified by your own effort alone. Only by your actually experiencing hardship could you purify the negative karma that prevented you from realizing the ultimate nature of buddhahood. Throughout all your experiences of hardship, you did not develop any doubts, hesitation, or wrong views, and you diligently obeyed all commands. In this way you were able finally to overcome the conflicting emotions and experience realization."

Karma Pakshi

Karma Pakshi
The 2nd Gyalwa Karmapa
(1203 - 1283)
was a child prodigy who had already acquired a broad understanding of Dharma philosophy and meditation by the age of ten. His teacher, Pomdrakpa, had received the full Kagyu transmission from Drogon Rechen, the first Karmapa's spiritual heir.
The second Karmapa spent much of the first half of his life in meditation retreat. He also visited and restored the monasteries established by the first Karmapa and is famous for having introduced to the Tibetan people communal chanting of the OM MANI PADME HUNG mantra of compassion.
Karmapa travelled widely in China, Mongolia, and Tibet and became famous as a teacher. Returning to Tibet towards the end of his life, he had an enormous (sixteen-meter) statue of the Buddha built at Tsurphu, to fulfill a dream he had had long before. The finished work was slightly tilted and Karma Pakshi straightened it by sitting first in the same tilted posture as the statue and then righting himself. The statue moved as he moved.

Qatar

http://pix.denizen.se/Travel/Scenic-Qatar/Qatar-Nov-Camels-and-Birds/i-V5RSQTD

Stockholm and Lama Ole

Doha... Qatar

Another 4 days in this little but pleasant Arabic place.  Well, I should probably not say that much, there is plenty of tragic things here too - but all in all pretty well-ordered society if you compare with other places on earth.  Personally, I have a very luxurious stay when I am here.  People are polite, interested and generally very nice. You feel safe. Cannot say I know society - because I do not, it is obvious that down the ladder of pecking order, there are quite a few very unfortunate souls. Nepali, Pakistani, Indian and Filipino, for instance. But do remember that not all of these peoples just mentioned are unfortunate.  For some, this is better than back home. even if the job is not that well paid and the hours too long.

I have been here so often now, that I feel ashamed I know not more than mere three arabic words.

It is hot still - around 38 degrees, but getting cooler by the day.
Below - one of the many arenas of Doha... more on pix.denizen.se.

For those of you who wondered about the SIGNIFICANCE of Saraswati

Quote from 
http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com


Saraswati  appears as a Buddhist  yidam in her capacity as embodiment of culture, learning and the arts, especially music.  Her mythology also includes an important purificatory aspect.  In many regards, she shares characteristics with White Tara.
In Tibetan, Saraswati is Yang Chenmo, or when her musical aspect is emphasized, she is Piwa Karpo.  In Mongolian she is Keleyin ukin Tegri, in Chinese she is called Tapien-ts'ai t'iennu or Miao-yin mu, and in Japan she is equated with Benten.   The Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo is named for Saraswati.
She is often identifiable by her plain white garment, (though not in this image) her veena which is a stringed musical instrument, and her association with the consonants and vowels of the Sanskrit language.  Her own seed syllable is haym.  
In the Sadhanamala (162) Maha-Sarasvati's mantra is:

Om Hrih Mahamayange Mahasarasvatyai namah.

In Hinduism, she is the daughter of Durga and wife of Lord Brahma, and her vehicle is the celestial bird called the hamsha or kinnara, today portrayed as a swan but sometimes a peacock.  She is called Sharda Devi or Sharada (Sarada) and the hymn to her says that her home is Kashmir, once famous for its pandits or learned scholars.  
Saraswati means 'the one that flows' and is the name of a Vedic river that once flowed, but has vanished.  That is the source of her connection with fluidity of all fertile kinds including speech, writing, song, music and thought.  She is also known as Vak [speech.]

A postcard image of Saraswati.
In India, grandmothers make a pentagram or Saraswati-sign with honey
on the tongue of newborns to invoke the blessing of speech. 

Hers is a spring [besant] festival falling on the fifth day of the new year's waxing moon.  In Bengal, it is the custom of girls to wear the light orange shade called besanti on Saraswati Day. 

Students of all kinds call upon her for success in their studies.  She is depicted dressed in pure white without the usual adornments of goddesses as she, herself, is the source of illumination.

In Bengal, students are supposed to fast before the Book or Boi Puja as this time is also known,  and  writing materials, musical instruments and school supplies are placed before the deity's altar.  

Books are considered sacred to Saraswati; if one accidentally sits or puts their feet on even a page of a book, it is necessary to pranam [bow with palms together] or touch it to the forehead with respect, as a form of apology for the misdeed.

Offerings end with a special floral and fruit tribute [pushpanjali] accompanied by the following mantra said three times:

Saraswati maha-bhage vidye kamala lochane
Viswa-rupe vishalakshi vidyangdehi namastute
Esho shachandana pushpa bilvapatranjali
Namo Saraswatvayi devyayi namo.

This puja is also the time that very young children are initiated into writing. An elder holds the child and guides its hand to write for the first time, the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet - Aum.

In Bengal at least, this festival is celebrated in all schools and colleges, and educational institutes are closed all day.  Children participate feeling this will bring them luck in their exams. 

Saraswati Puja is also plum-eating day.  Amusingly to English-speakers, in Bengali the word for the fruit that epitomizes spring is Kool.

~ Source of Saraswati Puja in Bengal: Biswas Anirban,  Calcutta.

In Buddhism, as well as being a yidam or inspirational deity Saraswati is sometimes considered the consort of Manjushri, the knowledge bodhisattva.  She was the yidam of the reformer and founder of the lam-rim system, Tsongkhapa. 
Mipham Rinpoche invokes Saraswati in the introduction to The Blazing Lights of the Sun and Moon [Sherab Raltri]:

In the expansive lotus-garden of speech of all the conquerors,
With 100,000 melodious blooms of holy Dharma,
You are a singing swan that shines as bright as moonlight,
May you now enjoy the vast lake of my mind.

Sometimes considered the peaceful form of Palden Lhamo, which may derive from the connection with Nila Saraswati, a dark blue emanation of [Durga] the Mahakali of Hindu tantric tradition,Yangchenma  is sometimes associated with White Tara since she is white with one face and, sometimes, three eyes.  She can be depicted with only two hands, knees bent with crossed ankles as she sits playing her instrument, but often with four when one holds a book of scripture and one a mala  - the mala symbolizes the string of letters of the alphabet.  
There is also a red Sarasvati - Yangchen Marmo and a vajra or Dorje Yangchenma. 
The mantra of her form as Arya Vajrasarasvati (sadhanas no.161 & 163) is:
Om, pichu pichu prajna vardhani jvala jvala medhavardhani dhiri dhiri
buddhivardhani, Svaha
~ mantra information courtesy M. B., Nepal
 Link to Newbery's Ocean of Sound page about Tibetan Buddhist music in which the form of flowing or melodious chant is called yang after Saraswati.