i listen

Hallelujah and Amen

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo teaching at KPC

I demand the poetic! And decry the
profane-
And I never never ever want to see
The day
When the artist is forbidden to dance
and sway
And the Goddess is prevented from
having her say.
Yeah, I’m really gonna hate that day.
Really don’t wanna see the day.

This may be a song or maybe a poem-
But I just can’t leave this thought alone.
See I don’t wanna see my people sick
and fearful
Only makes our suffering so tearful. Hard
to heal
Hard to be the Hero. Being here with you
Is all I have.
See, I don’t wanna leave, don’t wanna let
you down.

Here’s the church and here’s the steeple
Inside and all around stand my people
This is no lie and it’s not just ego-
They’re mine to love, and mine to live
for!
So here I’ll stay.

Maybe there will come a day when
All the people learn to pray and
We will turn our minds to Truth and Light
No one will ever doubt what’s right. No
never again.
And we can trust both enemies and.
friends.
Hallelujah and Amen.

Lama Guided

Meditation

Image courtesy of NASA

Download Guided Meditation

This is a guided meditation by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo. In a teaching from the 1980s, Jetsunma taught about how this meditation helps one get passed the feeling of separation, and begin to imitate the radiant qualities of one’s true nature – light and compassion.

In her words, “Separation is the cause of all trauma, all pain, any grief that you have ever suffered anywhere, or at anytime. Anything that has ever hurt you or been a bother to you has been because you believe yourself to be separate from everything. Your true nature is Absolute Union or Oneness. The true nature that you are is light.

Effective prayer is about imitating that radiance. Through imitation of your true nature, you come to realize your true nature. You stop thinking about separation, and you stop buying into judgment, and you get out of limitations. Effective prayer is centering into that Absolute reality that is the core of what you are.”

Precious Poetry

This Journey

The Journey

From the birth of yearning
To the moment of recognition
The path, this journey, is method.

One’s true nature the precious seed-
Buddha ground.
One’s journey, this path- the method.
The awakening- this fruit- the treasure.
How astonishing!

The ground, the path, the fruit are Buddha.
Praise to the Nirmanakaya Buddhas who walk the earth!
Praise to the sons and daughters who follow them!

May I myself return again and again for them.
May I never grow weary, or bored of helping them.
May I nurture, teach, and feed them precious fruit.
May I never abandon the supreme samaya!

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo on October 21, 2009

Eventually the Truth will always come out

I don't know this person and have never read her comments in the book The Buddha From Brooklyn but of course heard the "Rumor Mill" about it. And to Her credit Michelle Grissom is coming clean.

"My real name is Michelle Grissom, formerly Ani Dechen Drolma. I wish that I could reach every person who has read or heard of The Buddha From Brooklyn, or who has heard the slander I've spread through blogs and as Longchenpa on Wikipedia -- now being helplessly replicated everywhere against my will -- because I lied."

Fakes and Frauds

This is why Lineage is sooo important.

watch out for the people that say they are something but don't have support from teachers. These self-proclaimed people take other Teachers Teachings, re-write them or sometimes even directly link to them and try to make them their own so they seem authentic.
They say things like you don't need an empowerment/ or permission from Legitimate Teachers for Deity Practices and Prayers. They take small pieces of information and bend them into something they are not. they prey but the wrong kind of preying, on those that don't know or haven't studied Buddhism or on how to make good choices.

We have enough work to do and the potential to accomplish in this life with the Foundational Teachings of Buddhism that secret and special practices are not necessary. Pray with devotion and good intention, make choices and perform actions in accordance with the Basic Teachings and one will find what we've been looking for all along.

And lastly, part of meditation is to let all the talking, thoughts and sights before our minds and eyes pass like clouds in the sky, we remain aware and see but let them pass. please don't listen to all the talkers and fakers or invest in people you have not fully checked out.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Buddhist Ponzi Scam Alleged in L.A.

By TIM HULL

LOS ANGELES (CN) - A self-proclaimed Buddhist monk collected $7 million in phony land investments from Vietnamese-Americans who thought they were helping build religious shrines and charities, the 15 recent immigrants claim in Superior Court.
The plaintiffs, some of them elderly and all followers of Buddhism, which eschews worldly wealth and ambition, say they contributed more than $800,000 to a Ponzi scheme run by Tuan Nguyen, Kiet Nguyen, Robert E. O'Leary and others.
The 15 say that the Nguyens and O'Leary claimed to be devout Buddhists was central to the scheme. They say Tuan Nguyen sold himself to groups of "unsophisticated émigrés" as a Buddhist monk whose followers were "spiritually advanced practitioners of the creed."
"A Buddhist monk is presumed to be one who has progressed far along the path towards total liberation from selfish sentiments and cravings," the complaint states, adding that the plaintiffs "relied on the defendants to act in an ethical, spiritual manner that would accord with their common Buddhist teachings."
Though Nguyen said he would use the money to build "Buddhist shrines, temples and community centers," the more than $7 million he collected over two years went to pay other investors who had been promised unrealistic returns, and into the defendants' own pockets, according to the complaint.
The 15 plaintiffs, many of whom invested more than $50,000 in the scheme, want a jury trial and their money back. They are represented by William Markham of Maldonado & Markham.


courtesy of the Buddhist Channel

Slander is a non-virtue

So I don't even know where to really start with the recent slander from impersonator tulku tenpa - really convicted felon william cassidy.
Essentially he and his three blogs are so ridiculous it's beyond bothering to even pay attention to, so i'm really writing today because I refuse to see my Teacher have annoyances directed towards Her. Jetsunma was given accreditation from HH Penor Rinpoche, His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, H.E. Gyatrul Rinpoche and HH Ngawang Tenzin Rinpoche, and others!!. All of whom are supported by HH the Dalai Lama. So to slander Her is to slander ALL of the Vajrayana Buddhist Lineage, in turn displaying william cassidy can not be a Buddhist in any way what so ever.
I'm begining to think that he really is a gyalpo spirit because he is trying to create harm and turn ordinary people, like me, away from Buddhism through creating a vile poison of Anger and Hatred. Jetsunma though has Taught well and this can be seen by a compassionate response from Her students. I can only speak for myself, so i see that within this opportunity to bare Anger and Hate, only compassion and wisdom arise. what i see is a poor suffering being lost in samsara distracting himself from his old age and thus sickness and death to come by voicing his delusion. i see him creating his own vicious hell realm for a future tormented by his own actions. I see this stalker blinded by hate not seeing his own stalker as his reflection but instead himself as the stalkers reflection, (that's pride and arrogance), i know that doesn't make any sense but that's what he voiced. i see his confusion as my own secret hopes to currently be an accomplished master. thankfully, due to my Teachers, i know i'm not anything special nor accomplished in any way. so i pray anyone on the verge of finding the Dharma, finds qualified Teachers and (if finds a false master) has the merit to see through the facade by way of Vajrayana's Foundational Teachings.



slander
pride
arrogance
hate
anger
all poisonous to the mind

Peace and Love to All
Norbi GD Tashi

HH Penor Rinpoche Prayer for a Swift Rebirth by HH Dalai Lama

PRAYER FOR THE SWIFT REBIRTH CALLED THE ESSENTIAL
BLESSINGS OF THE LOTUS-BORN BUDDHA

MA WAI NYI MA DREN CHOG SHAKYAI TOG
The sun of speech, the supreme guide, the crown of Shakyas

DRIN GYI DO ME KHEN LOP CHOE KYI GYAL
Unequalled in kindness, Khenpo(Abbot), Lopon(Acharya) and
Choegyal (Dharma King)

KHYE PAR GANG RI'I NYEN DU SHAR WAI GON
Especially, the one who appeared as the friend of the Snowland(Tibet)

TSO KYE DOR JEY GE LEG CHAR DU NYIL
Lotus-born Vajra ! May you all shower virtue and perfection

DRUB PAI SA LA WANG WAI CHO GA YI
The one who achieved the state of accomplishment through the ritual

TOB CHU PEMA KHONG NA ZHE PA YI
Blossomed the lotus of ten powers in the heart

GE LEG NOR BU JO WAI DZOG DEN TRIN
May the cloud of golden age that showers the precious gem-like virtue and perfection

KAL PAI BAR DU CHAG LA SOL WA DEB
Remain for eons!

JIG ME RIG PEY THUB TEN JE WAI SOG
Through your fearless logic, you possess the courage to preserve the life-force
of the million teachings of Lord Buddha

SHE DRUB NGE DON CHOE KYI DRA YANG KYI
By study, practice and the melodious voice of dharma

NAM KHA SI DU DZIN LA PA WA YI
Until the endurance of space

YANG TRUL NYIN JE WANG PO ZHE DU SOL
I pray that the sun of your emanation appears!

KA DAG TROE PA DRAL WAI DOE MEI ZHAL
The primordial purity, non-conceptual, the face of the beginning

RANG JUNG NYUG MAI LONG DU SIM PA NYI
That dissolves in the vast expanse of self-born nature

NGON JE ZAB SANG NYING PO DZOG PA CHE
The essence of profound and secret Great Perfection that helps to actualize it

NGA GYUR RANG TEN SO WAI PAL DU JON
May your reincarnation appear to revive the teachings of the Ancient Translation!

CHE PAI KYE GUI NA WAI CHU LEN JE
Your discourses serve as ambrosia for all beings

TSOE PE CHOE DRAG RIG PA DUL DU NYIL
Your debating skills outsmart even the logics of Dharmakirti

TSOM PE NGAG GI WANG MO KHA LA KYENG
Your composition skills put even Saraswati to shame

CHOG TRUL TEN PAI MIG CHIG LAR JON SHOG
May the supreme emanation, who is the only eye of the teachings come again!

KUN TU MI GYUR TEN JUNG RANG TSAL DANG
The never changing self-expression of interdependence and

CHOG SUM JIN LAB CHID KYI MA MA YI
The blessings of the Three Jewels which are the like the rain

JI TAR MON PE PAG SAM CHOE KYI TSAL
May they enable whatever aspirations I have made

TONG TRAG TSUG TU MIN PAR SHOG
To ripen into one thousand wish-fulfilling trees of dharma upon the crown
of samsara and nirvana!

This prayer for the swift rebirth called the Essential Blessings of the
Lotus-born Buddha was composed by the Shakyan Shramanera, Dalai
Lama Tenzin Gyatso, on the 19th day of May 2009, 23rd year of the 17th
Rabjung Cycle, at the request of Gyang Khang Rinpoche, the Abbot of
Thegchog Namdrol Shedrub Dhargyeling Monastery (Namdroling
Monastery) and all its sangha members.
The composition is ornamented with the auspicious name of Jigme
Thupten Shedrup Choekyi Drayang (the 3rd Drubwang Pema Norbu
Rinpoche) and was written with the utmost devotion for Acharya
Padmasambhava, the compassionate guru. May the prayer be fulfilled!

Garuda Aviary

My Teacher was on CBS news for a one liner in a piece about Parrots and their abandonment and rescue. The whole piece is only a few minutes long and you can check it out Here

I love Our President!!!

Dalai Lama part of solution for China: Obama aide

WASHINGTON (AFP) — China should see the Dalai Lama as "part of the solution" on Tibet instead of trying to isolate him, US President Barack Obama's top Asia adviser said.

Jeff Bader, senior director for Asia on the White House's National Security Council, told the Committee of 100, a Chinese-American group, that it should use its influence in Beijing to encourage a different view of the Dalai Lama.

"I hope that you will use that credibility and those relationships to help persuade Chinese officials that the Dalai Lama is not part of their problem but rather part of the solution to the situation in Tibet," Bader said.

Beijing brands the Dalai Lama a separatist and has stepped up pressure on world leaders, including Obama, not to meet with him. The Buddhist leader fled to India 50 years ago as China crushed an abortive uprising in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama, an advocate of non-violence, says he is only seeking greater rights for Tibetans under Chinese rule. The Nobel Peace laureate is currently touring the United States, but he does not plan to visit Washington.

Bader acknowledged that human rights have become an irritant in US-China relations -- "unsurprisingly, because China's human rights record, as we know, is poor."

But he said Obama believed the most effective way to persuade China was to lead by example, citing the president's decision to shut down the widely condemned "war on terror" detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"President Obama does not believe in lecturing. He believes in leading by example, not finger-pointing," Bader said.

Obama has called for a broader relationship with China that includes cooperation on pressing global issues such as climate change and the economic crisis. The US leader is due to visit China later this year.

"President Obama, with his unique gifts in communication and popularity, will be looking for ways to reach out to Chinese audiences and connect," Bader said.

Before his appointment, Bader served at the Brookings Institution think-tank where he led a project encouraging Chinese academics to make contact with the Dalai Lama. He said he was pleasantly surprised at the response.

"It suggested to me that there is an openness to discussion among non-official Chinese on this subject and I hope that one of these days officials will catch up," Bader said.

But Ken Lieberthal, who held Bader's position at the end of Bill Clinton's presidency, said there was a "total disconnect" between the way the US public and the Chinese government viewed the Dalai Lama.

"So long as the Chinese refuse to understand that to most of the world this is a revered religious figure -- someone who has extraordinary ethics and is deserving of great respect ... I don't see a good future here," Lieberthal told the same forum.

"Once he passes from the scene, if there has been no progress, I think the next generation of Tibetans have the possibility to be China's worst nightmare," he said.

The Dalai Lama, 73, has frequently said he wants to retire but has kept a frenetic travel schedule. His current visit to the United States has included serving food to the homeless in San Francisco and opening an ethics center named after him at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He is expected to return to the United States in October, when he hopes to meet with Obama.

Asked this week in Boston whether he expected to return to Tibet, the Dalai Lama said with a smile: "Oh yes, every Tibetan feels like that."

"If the leadership in Beijing thinks in a more wider way ... within a few days can solve," he said in English.

If you need to go to a Digital Tibetan Alter make sure it's This One. This is a legitimate blog with True Teachers and Teachings from many different Schools and Lineages.

Colors blind people's eyes,
Sounds deafen their ears;
Flavors spoil people's palates,
The chase and the hunt
Craze people's minds;
Goods hard to get
Make people's actions harmful.
Therefore sages work for the core
And not the eyes,
Leaving the latter and taking the former

- Lao-tzu

courtesy of DailyZen

Amazing story of a near past

Check it out via here at Monk Konchog Norbu's blog http://danzanravjaa.typepad.com/

I wish i was there

SINGER-SONGWRITER JETSUNMA RELEASES TRILOGY

Upholding Women of the World

Nashville, TN. Singer, songwriter and realized Tibetan Buddhist master, Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo, releases Trilogy. Accompanied by John Lennon’s former (post-Beatles) lead guitarist, Wayne “Tex” Gabriel (http://waynegabriel.com), Jimmy Mac, former bass player for Sly and the Family Stone, and drummerLewis Winfield, three new songs are now available for download at www.jetsunmamusic.com. Trilogy is a taste of Jetsunma’s latest CD, A Lineage of Queens, to be released in late Summer 2009.

Jetsunma’s soulful, earthy musical style and to-the-bone lyrics, layered with ancient Buddhist mantra chants could be described as inspired World Music. Her ultimate hope through music, song and sacred mantra is to uplift the women of the world-too long suffering their diminished status.

Jetsunma said, “A Lineage of Queens is, for me, a work of love for the spirit and heart of women, and men who are progressive. It speaks to the lack of empowerment and quality of life that one half of the world’s population experiences. In many places, and for a long time, women have been considered property, servants, unequal. Yet the Buddha teaches, and I believe, that all sentient beings–ALL without exception–are equal in their nature and potential. It is my dream and prayer to tell them so. How odd that the very women who are the mothers of nations and their leaders are not allowed, in many places, to have a voice. Here is my offering. Call it view, if you will. A different view of our mothers, daughters, grandmothers, sisters, friends, lovers, wives. It is the way of women to think as tribal leaders. We don’t climb on top of anybody to get power. We are mothers of the World Tribe. We care for the way of LIFE. And all must benefit equally. My great hope is that we will rise together, see our true nature, and offer our love and wisdom to all.”

“Music City,” Nashville was the gathering place where Trilogy was produced. All those present experienced something beyond a typical studio session. “At first I thought it was just going to be another run-through… but then we became captured by it. It was an incredible feeling… transcendent… hypnotic… like an altered state of consciousness,” said Gabriel who has also performed and/or recorded with Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder.

On the third cut, “Phowa,” Jimmy Mac described it like this: “When Tex, Lewis and I did the first run-through, everything jelled perfectly, and we only did one more take for the final version. I was so moved by what was happening that I had to leave the studio to re-focus before playing some more.”

A Lineage of Queens, in production now, celebrates the heroine, the divine feminine, and the embodiment of wisdom and compassion–the dakini or female wisdom being. Jetsunma’s lyrics are filled with the promise, vows and resolve of fearless compassion for the benefit of all beings.

Jetsunma, a Brooklyn-born Western woman and the first to be recognized as a Tibetan Buddhist master, has turned to music to connect and share her vision of a better world. From her spontaneous sung prayer, Invocation, 17 years ago, to her current activity as singer-songwriter and producer of three CDs, Jetsunma’s songs of longing and compassion fuse ancient Buddhist mantra with uplifting offerings that travel the spectrum of contemporary music.

Listen to Jetsunma’s new songs!

This is from jetsunmamusic.wordpress.com

Read a nice post about Guru Yoga and/or Devotion. take a looksee here.

Great news after a long month, Thank You Thank You Thank You

Mary from NY Retreat Center gave us the blessing of a live video feed of HH Penor Rinpoche's Procession, you can see it either here , here or here. One of them will hopefully work for you.
There will probably be a relatively large number of videos captured by others available soon too, so keep your eyes open for them if your interested.

Not sure if my Momma is gonna notice the address on an email i just sent her but Here's a pic from a few years back

Penor Rinpoche

HH Penor Rinpoche 8.6.06 at NY Retreat Center

I try to find you in my heart
Amongst the debris
Rays of light as memories
bring smiles to my face
i pray to You, Kyabjé Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche, to help me clear away my faults.



FYI - i took this picture by His Holiness's kindness and allow unaltered use of it for beneficial purposes

There's a wildly inaccurate person out there going by the name of marshalduncan, i have no idea if this is the persons real name but i doubt it. that's not the main reason that i mention this though. This person has heard some information that they are surrounding in an inaccurate context. This person can't be a Buddhist or have studied the Teachings of Buddha, so i just want to say for Your and There sake, don't fall for the air of delusion they are putting out into the world.

If Anyone has a question please feel free to ask, i don't know much but maybe i can direct you to a place where an accurate answer can be found, not an angry, revengeful style of thoughts.

Two Videos Courtesy of Jetsunmamusic.wordpress.com

Ngagpa Yeshe Dorje speaking on Jetsunmas music

Nice Short Teaching From Jetsunma talking about Her music and HH Penor Rinpoche

A Sad day has come
new to the work week in all the wrong ways
a wish i never had
a fear i knew was there
so deep the river flows by my eyes
just trying to say why
a sad cat got my tongue
i pray it gives life to a baby snowlion

May Kyabjé Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche
swiftly return for us poor confused beings
reborn in ignorance and suffering
May He find His SnowLion Throne and turn
the Wheel of the Dharma




It's a poor example of literature but i really do pray this
and a brief example of my thoughts to start
It hit me this morning that He's "gone". He has changed me.
He has taught me more than i can know. Though i'm blind,
he showed me all there is to see. With out him i wouldn't
have found my Teacher, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo!!!!!!! and that is
a big deal!!! So many blessings would have been missed if i lead myself around my
deluded duality, You lead the way. my Story like maybe yours are a plenty, that's
just amazing to me, to have help sooo many in such a true and
deeply caring ways !!!!

Your Holiness please return soon for me and all others


your son norbu gyurmed dorje tashi

The 11^th throneholder of the Palyul Lineage of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, entered his final meditation at 8:20 pm on Friday, March 27, 2009, at the Palyul Namdröling Monastery in Bylakuppe, South India.

Earlier, at noon, he received offerings from many of the highest Nyingma Lamas, Tulkus and dignitaries who had assembled to pay homage to him. At 3:30 he left Columbia Asia Hospital with the Indian government providing a police escort. He reached Palyul Namdröling at 6:40 pm and remained on his bed in his residence. Tulkus, Khenpos and lamas did aspiration prayers together with His Holiness until 8:20 pm. Then he looked around, closed his eyes and went into meditation. Prayers continued for 5 minutes and then everyone remained in silence for the next two hours. His meditation continues today, and is expected to continue for a couple of days. When he releases his body from meditation, there will be an official acknowledgement of his final passing, allowing everyone to pay their respects according to tradition.

Kyabjé Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche was born in 1932 in the Powo region of Kham, Eastern Tibet. After leaving Tibet, he settled in South India, where he built, from his own hands and with the help of a few monks, the Palyul Namdröling Monastery. It has grown into one of the largest temples in the world, housing over 6000 monks and nuns in the complex, which also includes a hospital, and hospice.

His Holiness has also built temples around the world – in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, United Kingdom, Greece and the United States – among others. He has frequently traveled to teach and give empowerment at all of them. Worldwide, His Holiness is revered for his compassion, pure upholding of the Vinaya and ceaseless dedication to the welfare of all beings. He has brought and nourished the Buddha-Dharma everywhere he has been. He will live forever in our hearts.

---- i don't have any words, courtesy of Jetsunma and KPC

I don't understand why slick willy cassidy faux tulku tenpa keeps writing about Jetsunma in derogatory ways. No one that's friends with or part of Jetsunma's sangha cares about him. Real Masters aren't sitting there talking shit about someone else, theyjust remove themselves from the situation. Just because slick willy was not accepted into the Sangha as a teacher, he now feels he has to belittle Her. It's all rediculous!! tenpa you are not a master or teacher or anything but another confused person in the world just like me and a billion others. slick your actions proove you are not anything special, you are just like a gnat that hasn't gone away yet, annoying, you will though all bugs do.
One can not have a Sangyum if one is only ordinary.

As a Vajrayana Buddhist we pray and have vowed to come back in any form necessary and to use any method we can to help others find buddism. sometimes that phenomina does display as music or fundraising, it will come together in what ever will bring benefit. and if you look back to yourSaturday, December 29, 2007
you will see your own words stating your completely opposite opinion. which is it, you like it while it gives you something but once you aren't getting what you want you don't like it. perfect example to remind you that you are a deluded human with a precious birth - being wasted.

Taking vows of ordination and being a Monk does not make one automatically saint like, But it is a undescribable support to developing oneself to help others. A kind of person to be watched out for in the degenerate times is one that repeats the Teachings without any Accomplishment, slick you are an example so just look in the mirror to see more examples. you post the teachings of others and take other teachings jumble them around and call them your own.

A more recent teaching from the Karmapa clearly describes how this is a time for compassionate activity not slipping away into a cave out of touch. So to sharp tongue an ordinary person trying to do good and one not hiding from the world but actually connecting to it, is rediculous. these persons should be commended.

stop trying to saw the tree bill haven't you heard the old comment "we can not change others, but only ourselves" so stop talking and gossiping about others and just try to be a real buddhist not a master, just wait, if you do good and develop good qualities you eventually will get there. but you are only hurting yourself at this point.

i apoligize for having negative thoughts but i am not accomplished in any way and can not refuse defending the innocent, much less those trying to do something.

interesting

Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran

in Top 25 Censored Stories for 2007

Source: Global Research.ca, August 5, 2005, Title: “Halliburton Secretly Doing Business With Key Member of Iran’s Nuclear Team,” Author: Jason Leopold

Faculty Evaluator: Catherine Nelson
Student Researchers: Kristine Medeiros and Pla Herr

According to journalist Jason Leopold, sources at former Cheney company Halliburton allege that, as recently as January of 2005, Halliburton sold key components for a nuclear reactor to an Iranian oil development company. Leopold says his Halliburton sources have intimate knowledge of the business dealings of both Halliburton and Oriental Oil Kish, one of Iran’s largest private oil companies.

Additionally, throughout 2004 and 2005, Halliburton worked closely with Cyrus Nasseri, the vice chairman of the board of directors of Iran-based Oriental Oil Kish, to develop oil projects in Iran. Nasseri is also a key member of Iran’s nuclear development team. Nasseri was interrogated by Iranian authorities in late July 2005 for allegedly providing Halliburton with Iran’s nuclear secrets. Iranian government officials charged Nasseri with accepting as much as $1 million in bribes from Halliburton for this information.

Oriental Oil Kish dealings with Halliburton first became public knowledge in January 2005 when the company announced that it had subcontracted parts of the South Pars gas-drilling project to Halliburton Products and Services, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Halliburton that is registered to the Cayman Islands. Following the announcement, Halliburton claimed that the South Pars gas field project in Tehran would be its last project in Iran. According to a BBC report, Halliburton, which took thirty to forty million dollars from its Iranian operations in 2003, “was winding down its work due to a poor business environment.”

However, Halliburton has a long history of doing business in Iran, starting as early as 1995, while Vice President Cheney was chief executive of the company. Leopold quotes a February 2001 report published in the Wall Street Journal, “Halliburton Products and Services Ltd., works behind an unmarked door on the ninth floor of a new north Tehran tower block. A brochure declares that the company was registered in 1975 in the Cayman Islands, is based in the Persian Gulf sheikdom of Dubai and is “non-American.” But like the sign over the receptionist’s head, the brochure bears the company’s name and red emblem, and offers services from Halliburton units around the world.” Moreover mail sent to the company’s offices in Tehran and the Cayman Islands is forwarded directly to its Dallas headquarters.

In an attempt to curtail Halliburton and other U.S. companies from engaging in business dealings with rogue nations such as Libya, Iran, and Syria, an amendment was approved in the Senate on July 26, 2005. The amendment, sponsored by Senator Susan Collins R-Maine, would penalize companies that continue to skirt U.S. law by setting up offshore subsidiaries as a way to legally conduct and avoid U.S. sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

A letter, drafted by trade groups representing corporate executives, vehemently objected to the amendment, saying it would lead to further hatred and perhaps incite terrorist attacks on the U.S. and “greatly strain relations with the United States primary trading partners.” The letter warned that, “Foreign governments view U.S. efforts to dictate their foreign and commercial policy as violations of sovereignty often leading them to adopt retaliatory measures more at odds with U.S. goals.”

Collins supports the legislation, stating, “It prevents U.S. corporations from creating a shell company somewhere else in order to do business with rogue, terror-sponsoring nations such as Syria and Iran. The bottom line is that if a U.S. company is evading sanctions to do business with one of these countries, they are helping to prop up countries that support terrorism—most often aimed against America.

UPDATE BY JASON LEOPOLD

During a trip to the Middle East in March 1996, Vice President Dick Cheney told a group of mostly U.S. businessmen that Congress should ease sanctions in Iran and Libya to foster better relationships, a statement that, in hindsight, is completely hypocritical considering the Bush administration’s foreign policy.

“Let me make a generalized statement about a trend I see in the U.S. Congress that I find disturbing, that applies not only with respect to the Iranian situation but a number of others as well,” Cheney said. “I think we Americans sometimes make mistakes . . . There seems to be an assumption that somehow we know what’s best for everybody else and that we are going to use our economic clout to get everybody else to live the way we would like.”

Cheney was the chief executive of Halliburton Corporation at the time he uttered those words. It was Cheney who directed Halliburton toward aggressive business dealings with Iran—in violation of U.S. law—in the mid-1990s, which continued through 2005 and is the reason Iran has the capability to enrich weapons-grade uranium.

It was Halliburton’s secret sale of centrifuges to Iran that helped get the uranium enrichment program off the ground, according to a three-year investigation that includes interviews conducted with more than a dozen current and former Halliburton employees.

If the U.S. ends up engaged in a war with Iran in the future, Cheney and Halliburton will bear the brunt of the blame.
But this shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who has been following Halliburton’s business activities over the past decade. The company has a long, documented history of violating U.S. sanctions and conducting business with so-called rogue nations.

No, what’s disturbing about these facts is how little attention it has received from the mainstream media. But the public record speaks for itself, as do the thousands of pages of documents obtained by various federal agencies that show how Halliburton’s business dealings in Iran helped fund terrorist activities there—including the country’s nuclear enrichment program.

When I asked Wendy Hall, a spokeswoman for Halliburton, a couple of years ago if Halliburton would stop doing business with Iran because of concerns that the company helped fund terrorism she said, “No.” “We believe that decisions as to the nature of such governments and their actions are better made by governmental authorities and international entities such as the United Nations as opposed to individual persons or companies,” Hall said. “Putting politics aside, we and our affiliates operate in countries to the extent it is legally permissible, where our customers are active as they expect us to provide oilfield services support to their international operations. “We do not always agree with policies or actions of governments in every place that we do business and make no excuses for their behaviors. Due to the long-term nature of our business and the inevitability of political and social change, it is neither prudent nor appropriate for our company to establish our own country-by-country foreign policy.”

Halliburton first started doing business in Iran as early as 1995, while Vice President Cheney was chief executive of the company and in possible violation of U.S. sanctions.

An executive order signed by former President Bill Clinton in March 1995 prohibits “new investments (in Iran) by U.S. persons, including commitment of funds or other assets.” It also bars U.S. companies from performing services “that would benefit the Iranian oil industry” and provide Iran with the financial means to engage in terrorist activity.

When Bush and Cheney came into office in 2001, their administration decided it would not punish foreign oil and gas companies that invest in those countries. The sanctions imposed on countries like Iran and Libya before Bush became president were blasted by Cheney, who gave frequent speeches on the need for U.S. companies to compete with their foreign competitors, despite claims that those countries may have ties to terrorism.

“I think we’d be better off if we, in fact, backed off those sanctions (on Iran), didn’t try to impose secondary boycotts on companies . . . trying to do business over there . . . and instead started to rebuild those relationships,” Cheney said during a 1998 business trip to Sydney, Australia, according to Australia’s Illawarra Mercury newspaper.

just started playing with "StumbleUpon" check out this site about Mongolia - http://www.kiku.com/electric_samurai/

Eight Worldly Dharmas

Desire for Fame
Desire for Worldly Pleasure
Desire for Material Gain
Desire for Praise
Feeling unhappy when Loosing Fame
Feeling unhappy when Worldly Pleasure
Feeling unhappy when Material Gain
Feeling unhappy when Hearing Criticism


The Eight Worldly Dharmas - from my understanding - are a reference point of where one may want to come from, view point wise, if one wants to reduce suffering. And to that point i don't care to criticize anyone but rather put forth an accurate view point when i find inaccurate information. As well i am bound by oath to stand tall before my Teacher and dispel the words of confusion that attempt to reduce the value of Perfect Masters.

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone kept the 8 Worldly Dharmas in mind and represented themselves as they are.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ex-Goodman aide placed on probation

Cassidy burned down former wife's business

By GLENN PUIT
REVIEW-JOURNAL

William Cassidy Also worked as an investigator in the Ted Binion murder trial

A former aide to Mayor Oscar Goodman was placed on probation Monday for burning down a business belonging to his ex-wife.

William Cassidy, who also worked as an investigator in the Ted Binion murder trial, told District Judge Lee Gates during a sentencing hearing that his arrest on arson and domestic violence charges last year ruined his life.

"I've lost virtually everything. All my property, my family," Cassidy said.

Cassidy, who once was a close adviser to Goodman, is recognized as one of the most talented private investigators in Southern Nevada. A federal judge in Southern California once wrote a letter to Gates on behalf of Cassidy in which the judge attested to Cassidy's character.

Cassidy worked on behalf of Sandy Murphy's defense team in the Binion trial. Binion was found slain in 1998. Murphy, his former live-in girlfriend, and her lover, Rick Tabish, still face murder charges as a result of a Nevada Supreme Court decision overturning their convictions.

In the past three years, Cassidy has been repeatedly arrested on charges of domestic violence against his ex-wife, Xiao Ping.

His most recent legal predicament stems from allegations that he carried out a February attack on Ping by burning down her massage parlor. Authorities originally alleged Cassidy also raped and beat her.

In November, after spending close to a year in jail, Cassidy pleaded guilty to first-degree arson and attempted battery constituting domestic violence. Cassidy entered what is known as an Alford plea to the two charges. An Alford plea does not involve an admission of guilt but it is generally viewed as a guilty plea by the courts.

During Monday's hearing, Gates placed Cassidy on probation for up to five years and ordered him to stay away from Ping. He also ordered Cassidy to pay nearly $45,000 in restitution.

Much of that figure deals with reimbursement for damage caused by the fire at Ping's business, Silk Road Accu Pressure/Pan Pacific Management.

Cassidy also had a financial interest in the business.

Prosecutors have said previously that their plea agreement negotiation with Cassidy does not involve his cooperation in the second murder trial of Murphy and Tabish. That trial is tentatively scheduled to begin this fall.

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Thursday, April 24, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Former Goodman aide indicted on sex assault, other charges

REVIEW-JOURNAL

A former aide to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman was indicted Wednesday on sex assault, arson, stalking and kidnapping charges.

The indictment was unsealed Wednesday against William L. Cassidy, who resigned from his mayoral aide position in 2001 following an arrest on a domestic violence charge.

Cassidy was charged with raping his wife, Xiao Ping, on Feb. 19.

Within two days of that attack, authorities say, the woman's business was the scene of a fire that caused about $100,000 damage. Authorities subsequently named Cassidy a suspect in the blaze at Silk Road Accu Pressure/Pan Pacific Management Inc.

In addition, the indictment charges Cassidy with stalking and beating his wife. A domestic violence charge lodged against Cassidy is listed as a third offense in court documents.

"There has been an escalating level of violence for several years," Clark County prosecutor Conrad Claus said.

In asking District Judge Gene Porter to set bail at $500,000, Claus said Cassidy has claimed to have connections to the Central Intelligence Agency. Claus labeled Cassidy a potential flight risk, saying he has multiple international connections.

"He's been talking about ending his own life," Klaus said, adding that "we may have (further) injury or death to the victim" if Cassidy was released.

Porter set bail at $500,000 cash only for Cassidy, who already was in custody at the Clark County Detention Center in the matter.

So slick willy posted this

but put it in inaccurate context.

BUT here are three points to keep in mind.

- Anyone can make images that can look legitimate. heck look what i did in less than five minutes

- We are in America and there ARE rules and regulations if not even laws that dictate the conditions that public and private places have to abide by. i.e. rodent and bug population are one of them. i don't know and haven't research the exacts but i have worked in a restaurant and they had bi-weekly exterminations. Much less even if there weren't guidelines on this, again we are in America. And how many people living here in america do you know that would sit in a place while surrounded by rodents and bugs???? Expecting that would be crazy-ness, that's just not the life style and conditions that we in a "first world" country are use to.

- And thirdly, if you knew someone was smoking or creating harm for themselves wouldn't you try to help them prevent hurting themselves?? Well any Temple or Monastery is considered a sacred object and the suffering that is created by destroying sacred objects is far more potent than destroying anything else. Thus it is potentially more to the benefit of these beings to stop them from destroying a temple and creating that habit along with the amazing opportunity to have a High Lama praying for them than to let them run around wild. i relate it to the stories of masters taming beings for the Beings own and others benefit.

oh ya everyone donates what they can when they can and if a dollar is all one can give than great.
$400 times 42 rupees = 2400 rupees breakfast in india costs 5 to 15 rupees. so 2400 rupees is about equal to approx. $2000 when spent in India. That's a pretty nice size donation.

Bottom line - don't believe statements based on insult or angry bias but Think

i was in a hurry so if anything isn't clear please feel free to leave a comment and ask for clarification.

for a friend

So Jason this is for you, and anyone else that needs it. here's a little more info for you.

LIBERATION UPON SEEING

' THOSE WHO SEE THIS SCRIPT WILL NOT EXPERIENCE THE THREE LOWER REALMS & WILL BE LIBERATED FROM THE FEAR OF FALLING INTO THE LOWER REALMS ; WILL BE PURIFIED OF THE FIVE POISONS AND WILL BE FREED FROM THE RESULTS OF ONE'S KARMA ; WILL BE FREED FROM THE FEAR OF REMAING IN SAMSARA '

TERMA REVELATION By TERTON MIGYUR DORJE

LISTEN NOW
Prayer to Be Reborn in Dewachen

This melody to a traditional prayer is offered as a gift to you. It is part of a music project Jetsunma is working on, a CD of songs and prayers to be played for the dying, both human and animal. It is a lullaby of compassion for those passing from this life. Share it far and wide.

Click here
to download and play

I'm putting these up here because sometimes ghost "hang around" us. And i think they will stay until either they burn off the karma that binds them to whatever or whomever they are attached to or find liberation. Either way though i believe these two have the potential to help change their condition.

Think

So i found some confused people blogging negative opinions about HH Penor Rinpoche, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo and two of Her monks. And could not refusing posting my opinion.

Within Vajrayana Buddhism, as i understand, there are some points of reference to finding Teachers. i.e. take three years to examine, dispel doubts through examination. And understand Buddhism, it isn't some random fluffy religion or philosophy and doesn't say 'just blindly accept'. Buddhism is logical - cause and effect, and all the other points, can be understood.

Regarding His Holiness - I have been to 2 years of His 'Summer Retreat Program' and can say through common sense that He is Legitimate and beyond the most complimentary words that can be offered. He teaches only pristine-ly accurate and flawless Dharma. He offers His Wisdom, Blessings and Kindness to all without restriction. I Pray for those that call a Jewel as anything else.

Regarding Jetsunma - i'm an american and have all the restrictions of mind that my compatriots have. To that point, When i found Jetsunma and KPC i was doubtful, heck this in America!! But i continued going there despite my western hesitance. After 2 years Hurricane Katrina happened and Jetsunma asked Her students to go help the best they could. I went and unknowingly started on a track to dispel all doubt. All of Her activity IS based on helping others. She allowed me into Her personal space and showed me Her life, and 'allowed me' is accurate, you and i both really know we allow people into our lives and no one forces their way in. But anyways, Without ever verbalizing that i needed to feel special and get a behind the scenes view point, She opened Her arms and let me see how She was in private. She is Buddha, the embodiment of Wisdom and Compassion. Everything in Her life is for the Benefit of others. She Doesn't force anyone to do anything, whether they stay or go is ones own choice, whether one does what is asked or not, is ones own choice. Though every action has a reaction, even science proves that!!!
And i think that if one hasn't studied life or Buddhism with any depth or application then one will allow themselves to have a disparaging view point. One may not agree or choose to do the same as another but that still doesn't make the other wrong, it just makes oneself not in agreement with the other. You don't have to like Her but to ridicule anyone with only make suffering for oneself. I didn't like William Cassidy aka the "tulku tenpa" when i heard of him but only after examining his lineage or 'lack there of' and watching his actions, did my choice to avoid him become solid. I encourage everyone to walk with ones eyes open And Pray that all will rest in the heart of themselves.

regarding the Monks - the Buddhist Teachings make this clear that if one studies reality that they will be able to understand that due to Karma we have lived many lives and have the positive and negative potentials within all of us. Neither of these monks are declaring themselves any different than any other monk, Konchog even declares, through jokes, many of His own faults. The comments i read are equivalent to a child trying to belittle another.

These are my thoughts
Norbu Gyurmed Dorje Tashi

When I got this Tattoo, some 15 years ago, I wanted to get something that i knew and wanted to be with me for the entirety of my life. 5 years after, I met a girl named Amanda. She is an amazing girl and was an even better Girlfriend. But as you can see we had something else in common!!! how crazy!!! but anyways I want to get the new tattoo for the same reasons i got the other.

Monday I start having this Union of Guru Rinpoche and Mandarava, Amitayus and Tsendali Tattooed on to my chest over my heart. I decided this because Their Liturgy is the heart of my prayers.

In three months i will have an announcement

A Little Jungle action in SW India for this Sloppy day

In Spirit of Slum Dog Millionaire

Work and Pray

By ordinary standards i think my life may seem boring, I work, pray, read and watch CNN and Movies (Block Buster stock goes up every Tuesday thanks to me, he he).