Definition of Nyungne Practice

THE FASTING PRACTICE of Nyungne is a well known, very popular, and profound purification practice that is widely performed in Tibet. One set of Nyungne consists of two days of practice. The first day is the preliminary day, and the second day is the actual fasting day. One takes what is called the Tekchen Sojong vow, the mahayana vow of Restoring and Purifving Ordination, with a total of eight precepts, and on the preliminary day one eats only one meal with drinks for the entire day. The meal is completely and purely vegetarian, which means it is free from any meat sub¬stance as well as onions, garlic, eggs, etc. The next day is a complete fast with no meals or drinks, and one must also be silent.

This important and well cherished fasting practice can be done by anyone. The only requirement is that if you are not a Buddhist, you must take the vow of refuge as well as the bodhisattva vow, and you must receive the empowerment for Thousand-Armed Chenrezig. As long as one is willing to receive these teachings, one is welcome to participate in the practice.

The Benefit of Doing Nyung Nay

By keeping the eight vows which are:

l. No killing

2. No stealing

3. No sex

4. No telling lies

5. No drinking alcohol

6. No singing or dancing, makeup or ornaments

7. No evening meals

8. No sitting in high seats

for a period of 48 hours, along with The Chenrezig Practise
and reciting The Mani Mantra, by doing these things brings a real
benefit to the practioner and to the place where he or she practices.
By keeping the eight vows thoroughly for twenty-four hours purifies
the bad karma that will cause an individual to fall into The Hell
Realm and by fasting one purifies the bad karma to be reborn in The
Hungry Ghost Realm. By keeping silent one purifies the bad karma to
be reborn in The Animal Realm.

All suffering and misfortune comes front negative powers, so The
Nyung Nay practice is to increase the positive powers so that it can
bring happiness and harmony. It is one of the most effective
practices to purify our defilements, and to purify environmental
pollution.

By doing group practice one creates a very efficient method for
extending our lives, and stopping disease, drought, and also war. The
Nyung Nay practice was founded by Bhikshuni Phalmo who was a serious
leprosy patient. By doing this practice for a period of twelve years
along with The Chenrezig practice, she became a great Siddhi. By
reciting The Mani Mantra it purifies the six seeds of the six realms
and it pacifies the suffering of all beings and brings peace to the
world, so in this degenerate time it is the best practice for the
cause of World Peace. Finally, it brings enlightenment, Bhikshuni
Phalmo attained The Celestial Body, she sees Chenrezig anytime.

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Nyung Nay

Nyungne (pronounced nyung-nay) is a traditional retreat which includes vows for fasting and silence. Periods of group mediation are interspersed with periods for individual practice, study and reflection. Each day, we eat a large midday feast together, with assigned groups alternating cooking responsibilities and observing no meat or eggs. Nyungne, literally "ritual fasting," is a practice that belongs generally to the Mahayana, and more specifically to the Kriya Tantra tradition. However, the wonderful thing about this practice is that it generally acts as a framework for discipline and diligence, and practitioners of all levels--from beginners to practitioners of Atiyoga Dzogchen--can do the practice together, each at their own level. We focus on generating Bodhichitta and training in the view of meditation, relying upon the practices of Avalokitesvara and Medicine Buddha. Anyen Rinpoche also gives general practice instructions each morning.

A Brief History of Nyungne

Nyungne was adopted as a formal style of practice after a great female Siddha from India, named Gelongma Palmo, attained realization using just this method. Gelongma Palmo was born a princess in the land of Orgyen, also the birthplace of Padmasambhava. Because she was highly educated and had a strong aptitude for Dharma, she developed renunciation and became a nun. However, after joining a nunnery, she developed leprosy and was cast out to live on her own in the wilderness. Gelongma Palmo took up ritual fasting as a strict, daily discipline. She focused herself wholly on the practice of 1000-Armed Avalokitesvara, until she saw the face of Avalokitesvara himself, and attained realization that equaled his. After this divine vision, her body healed and she no longer showed any signs of illness.

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Purify Our Mind

By Hank Fu

The most important thing in our life should be "To Purify Our Mind". In this page I will donate my knowledge and time to work with those who are interested in this field. Any questions are welcome.

To purify our mind, we need to first broaden ourselves with activities of compassion so as to gradually get rid of the self-centered habits.

To broaden ourselves, we should first fill our mind with beautiful thoughts:

We should try to make our mind like land, because land has beautiful virtues: when animals shed their excrement on land, land never express anything angrily, because it is not swayed and is completely indifferent; when humans (the rich and famous, sages and saints, or perfect people) walk over land, land feels nothing, again because it is not swayed and is completely indifferent.

Land is not involved or affected by favorable or dangerous situations. Land always welcomes all kinds of situations. It will not take or give up anything, is never confused, is never swayed or attracted by anything, never starts an idea or gives up an idea, peacefully enjoys leisure and endures patiently, and is completely serene. These are some of the beautiful virtues of the land that we step on every day.

If you have no mind to all living things, then what's the harm of letting these things surround you? We really should learn the spiritual part of land and cultivate the broad and generous mind. This will help to purify our mind.

The Good and The Bad: 

When you face favorable situations or dangerous situations, you can still do everything without the least worry and feel comfortable and able to do anything of your own free will. When you meet somebody, perhaps the person you like the least in your life, a person who looks at you with dirty stares, do you still feel comfortable and free? As a matter of fact, in these kinds of moments, there is a fight between "The state of holiness and wisdom" and "The temptations or evil influence." If we use the worldly words it's like a fight between "The Good" and "The Bad." Becoming The Good or The Bad is all depended on our mind.

Because The Good and The Bad are decided by our mind, maybe we can put it this way: The Good and The Bad share our mind. When The Good defeats The Bad, the whole of our mind is Good. When The Bad defeats The Good, the whole of our mind is Bad. From this angle you might have an idea that The Good and The Bad are all from our mind. 

The way our mind treats the situations we face creates the difference between "The state of holiness and wisdom"(The Good) and "The temptations or evil influence"(The Bad). If our mind is contaminated by situations, the mind becomes "The Bad." If our mind is not contaminated by situations, the mind becomes "The Good".

Why Bother: 

When adverse circumstances come, just let them do what they like; when adverse circumstances go, just let them do what they like also. When fortunate circumstances come, just let them arise naturally without extra effort; when fortunate circumstances go, again just let them depart naturally without extra effort. Our mind should not be linked up with any circumstances, whether good circumstances or bad circumstances. This will help Purify Our Mind.

When adverse circumstances come, do not feel delighted, when adverse circumstances leave, do not feel disappointed. If the mind feels delighted or disappointed, it shows that we can not control ourselves. In this moment, our mind will have all kinds of entanglements of love, hate, desire, and possession by force. After this step, all kinds of problems will follow and never end.

The Idea Of the word "Impermanent": 

If we observe things around us, we will find out that "None is permanent". Things, whether material or non-material, change constantly. Some of the changes are evident, some of them are not. Ever since life began, natural phenomena have been like this. From this point of view, we should understand that things always arise depending on conditions. When the appropriate conditions come together, things arise; when those conditions disperse, things cease. 

If you could understand the point that Nothing is permanent, you will not keep thinking of something in your memory all the time, because it is impermanent and will eventually vanish, no matter how much you keep remembering it. In such a case, why don't we just leave it alone?

In the Universe, everything that we can see, hear, and think of all arising depending on conditions, meaning that everything is impermanent. The people we love the most or the situations we like the most will all vanish. The people we hate the most or the situations we like the least will all vanish too. Do we still want to persist in our own opinions of things that happen one minute and vanish the next in this world? 

The Thoughts in Our Mind:

There are all kinds of thoughts in our mind: evil thoughts, greedy thoughts, and kind thoughts. These thoughts are always confused, tangled, profuse, disordered, and most of the time, we can not control them. Actions, motions, works, and even mistakes all arise from thoughts in our mind. When we put an idea of going to a place in our mind, then action will lead our body to that place. When we start an idea of going to the church, then action will bring us to that church. We will spend our entire fortune doing something because of a little thought in our mind. We will begin to be deeply attached to one thing or act on momentary impulse because of a little thought in our mind. We will offend people by our words because of a little wrong thought in our mind. We might do something offensive or harmful to society's morals because of a little evil thought in our mind.

We always maneuver for positions or benefits against rivals. We try to cause alienation between friends or relatives by spreading rumors or doing something. Does anybody know why? It is because "What one is thinking of at any given moment is often evil thoughts." 

The Good and The Bad all are from our mind. We are the masters of the mind and also are the watershed of The Good and The Bad. Mind produces all kinds of thoughts; mind is the origin of events that follow from Good thoughts and Bad thoughts. From this point of view, we all should understand how important it is to purify our mind. 

To Deal with Thoughts:

If we want to avoid disasters or calamities made by ourselves, we have to stop putting ideas in our head. The moment we stop an idea arising is called "True Awakening".

There is all kinds of garbage in our mind. If we want to purify our mind, getting rid of the garbage in our mind might be the first thing we have to do. What is the garbage of mind? Dirty and polluted thoughts, greedy thoughts, hateful thoughts, infatuated thoughts, worried thoughts, suffering thoughts, haughty thoughts, impudent thoughts, envious thoughts, indecent thoughts, heterodox thoughts, dreary thoughts, and hollow thoughts. These can all be called garbage of the mind. 

Someone in history said once that one who can govern a battalion of a million soldiers is not a hero: the real hero is that person who can govern his mind. We should understand the meaning of these words. 

If an evil thought arises in our mind, then more evil thoughts like water will come in torrents; nothing can ward them off. These evil thoughts will forever lead us to thinking, speaking, and acting evil. Ever since life began, the habitual temperament of human beings makes us like this. It is doubly difficult to get rid of them. 

When we can govern our thoughts, our mind will not be affected by situations. From this, our mind can be free. This is a very hard level to reach, but the first step always is hard.

For those who have too many friendly feelings (such as being crazy about women), if they do not control their feelings well, they will follow their thoughts and will sink into the deep sea of feelings. For those who desire wealth and honor greatly, their minds are clouded by material desires, the covetous thoughts will lead them to fame and wealth, and they will be in the bondage of reputation and wealth forever.

Always keep a watch on thoughts in your mind. Try to realize or know what and where your thoughts are. As a matter of fact, according to the experienced people's idea, "Thoughts always vanish when you watch them." If we could practice like this all the time, the power of our thoughts will decrease over time. This is not a very easy level to reach, but at least we have an idea that there is a way to get rid of thoughts. 

Like we mentioned, things arise always depending on conditions: when conditions come together or gather together, things arise; when conditions disperse or dispel, things cease. [This is a doubly important notion]. When we understand this notion, we will also understand that everything in the universe is impermanent; from this point of view, it should be easy to get rid of clinging, and always persisting in our opinion. Always remember and practice the notion of impermanence. This will help to purify our mind a lot.

The Original Nature of Human Being:

We should live in a world which belongs to our real inner self or original nature of human being. This world is bright and brilliant, where there no dispute, and we are not bothered by material concerns. It is pure and peaceful, enjoying leisure and not sorrowful; but we never try to act in response to this world, we never try to be a friend of our real inner self. The only thing we do day in and day out is to try and climb up socially. This is what the Chinese call "Attending to the superficials and neglecting the essentials". 

When our real inner self is led astray by human desires, we all know that desires are bottomless. We all will not be able to do anything of our own free will, and we become the slaves of human desires. 

The power of temptation of human desires is doubly brutal. Some people always try to attain their desires with nefarious tactics. The moment we have a thought like this, the moment we lose the chance to contact our real inner self, we are going to be gone far away from purifying our mind.

Our mind will not stop producing thoughts because of human desires. Therefore, our real inner self will be clouded by material desires forevermore, and our original nature will be contaminated forevermore also.

Why does our mind always produce thoughts? Before we talk about this subject, maybe we should understand some evil ingredients in our mind. According to the experienced people's idea, " Being greedy for everything, angry at everything, and not understanding the real truth are the most common evil ingredients in our mind." 

These evil ingredients influence and poison our mind very strongly. That is the reason why our mind produces thoughts every minute of the day. And like we mentioned, "What one is thinking of at any given moment is often evil thoughts." From this, we should understand that fighting these evil thoughts is the most important thing we are going to do.

To Reduce the Thoughts in Our Mind:

Besides what we have already mentioned, there are other ways to reduce thoughts in our mind. Here we try to introduce some of them. Hopefully this will benefit everybody who is seriously interested in this field.

Try our level best to understand that all living things in the universe are equal; otherwise, we will have a special mind which always looks at things from a dualistic perspective. For example, making a distinction between the good and the bad. And all the problems will be starting from right here, such as "Always persist our own ideas", "Always argue", "Always hate", "Always fight", …and never stop. 

Like we mentioned in the beginning, we should try to make our mind like land, and be tolerant of other people's mistakes, or wrongdoing or weaknesses. Try to express solicitude for everybody (Friends, enemies, good, and bad) equally. Try not to dispute or discuss in minute detail gaining or losing. Try not to be moved by sad or delighted things. Try not to feel so pleased when people respect or praise us. Try not to hate or abhor when people slight us.

When people show their beautiful virtues (like helping others), we should show our respect and join in their actions, and we should try not to be jealous of other people's beautiful virtues. When we see people facing troubles, we should not gloat over their disaster. 

According to the experienced people's idea, "The highest wisdom comes from a merciful heart", the merciful heart comes from "Solving people's problems without any conditions and helping people to get peace, calm, and sagacity without any conditions either".

IF we look at things or treat things unequally, from here, all the worry, trouble, and prejudice will be produced almost right away. Thus if we want to purify our mind, we have to learn to look at things or treat things with equality. 

Someday when we realize that all the beings are equal and could be blend or mix together, and become "One" in some way, we will understand really what is the "Real Truth".

How to Combat and Subdue Lust and Desire

Afflictions stemming from greed, while numerous, are all included within the defilements of the "five desires" and the "six Dusts." From the root of greed stem other evil afflictions, such as stinginess, envy, hate, fraud, deceit ... known as secondary afflictions. The "five desires" refers to the five defilements, that is, the desire for beautiful forms (sexual desire ...), wealth and money, fame and power, exquisite food and elegant attire, [excessive] rest and sleep.[1] The "six Dusts" are form, sound, scent, taste, touch and dharmas [i.e., external opinions and views]. 

The six Dusts encompass the five desires; however, the term "five desires was created as a separate expression to stress the five heavy defilements of human beings in the realm of the "six Dusts." The concept "six Dusts" is used when speaking in general, while the expression "five desires" refers to specific afflictions. I employ the term "six Dusts" here to cover other defilements not included in the five desires, such as excessive fondness for music and songs as well as infatuation with romances, novels, etc ... 

When the five desires and six Dusts flare up, the general way to counteract them is through skillful visualization of four truths: Impurity, Suffering, Impermanence, and No-Self. 

1. Impurity 

This means that the body is impure, the mind is impure and the realm is impure. Impurity of the body means that we should reflect on the fact that beneath the covering layers of skin, our bodies and those of others are composed entirely of filthy, smelly substances such as meat, bones, blood, pus, phlegm, saliva, excrement, urine, etc. Not only that, body fluids are excreted through nine apertures (mouth, ears, nose, anus, etc.). If we stop to think carefully, the physical body of sentient beings is hardly worth cherishing. 

Impurity of the mind means that once the mind develops thoughts of greed, it has already become evil and defiled, not unlike a limpid pond that has been polluted with dirt and sludge. The dirty pond cannot reflect the images of trees, mountains, sky, clouds; likewise, a polluted mind has lost all spiritual powers and wisdom. Thus, we have the saying: 

One who knows how to cultivate does not waste his efforts; peaceful, still mind will bring spiritual powers and wisdom. 

Those who are determined to tread the Way should endeavor gradually to sever the mind of afflictions, polluted by greed in its gross and subtle aspects. 

The impure realm is the world of the Five Turbidities, full of dirt and mud, rocks and stones, spikes and thorns, which harbors countless sentient beings defiled in body and mind. Therefore, this impure world is not worth craving or clinging to. 

2. Suffering

This refers to the fact that the body undergoes suffering, the mind endures suffering and the environment is one of suffering. The suffering of the body means that our body is not only impure, it is subject to birth, old age, disease and death, as well as to heat and cold, hunger and thirst and other hardships that cause us to suffer, preventing us from being free and happy.[2] 

The suffering of the mind means that when the mind is afflicted, it is necessarily consumed by the fire of afflictions, bound by the ropes of afflictions, struck, pursued and ordered about by the whip of afflictions, defiled and obscured by the smoke and dust of afflictions. Thus, whoever develops afflictions is lacking in wisdom, because the first person he has caused to suffer is himself.

The suffering of the environment means that this earth is subject to the vagaries of the weather, scorching heat, frigid cold and pouring rain, while sentient beings must toil and suffer day in and day out to earn a living. Tragedies occur every day, before our very eyes. 

3. Impermanence 

This means impermanence of the body, the mind and the environment. Impermanence of the body means that the body withers rapidly, soon grows old and debilitated, ending in death. The ancients have lamented: 

Oh, that time when we were young and would ride bamboo sticks, pretending they were horses, In the twinkling of an eye, our hair is now spotted with the color of frost. 

What happened to all those brave and intelligent young men and those beautiful and enchanting women of bygone days? They ended as in the following poem: 

Rosy cheeks have faded, heroes have passed away, Young students' eyes, too, are weary and sad.

Impermanence of the mind means that the mind and thoughts of sentient beings are always changing -- at times filled with love or anger, at times happy or sad. Those thoughts, upon close scrutiny, are illusory and false, like water bubbles. 

Impermanence of the environment means that not only do our surroundings always change and fluctuate, but happiness, too, is impermanent. Succulent food, once swallowed, loses all taste; an emotional reunion, however sweet and joyful, ultimately ends in separation; a delightful party soon becomes a thing of the past; a good book, too, gradually reaches the last page.[3] 

4. No-Self
This means that there is no self, no permanent nature per se and that we are not true masters of ourselves. This point, too, is divided into the no-self body, the no-self mind and the no-self environment. 

The "no-self body" means that this body is illusory, not its own master.[4] It cannot be kept eternally young or prevented from decaying and dying. Even gods and "Immortals" can only postpone death for a certain period of time.

The "no-self mind" refers to the deluded mind of sentient beings, which has no permanent nature. For example, the mind of greed, thoughts of sadness, anger, love and happiness suddenly arise and then disappear; there is nothing real.

The "no-self environment" means that our surroundings are illusory, passive and subject to birth and decay. Cities and towns are in time replaced by abandoned mounds, mulberry fields soon give way to the open seas, every single thing changes and fluctuates by the second, one landscape disappears and another takes its place.

Visualizing that everything, from body and mind to the environment, is impure, subject to suffering, impermanent and without self, the practitioner can rid himself of the mind of greed. Sentient beings, lacking wisdom, always live upside down; they mistake the impure for the pure, suffering for happiness, impermanence for permanence, no-self for self.[5] They then develop delusions and become degraded and defiled. Therefore, Buddha Sakyamuni taught sentient beings the Four Truths, to sever their delusions.

For example, the human excrement that we consider fetid and dirty is regarded as fragrant, clean and succulent by animals such as insects, dogs and pigs -- because of their deluded karma. They therefore compete and struggle to gobble it up. The defiled desires of this world are considered by humans as lovely and clean. However, the gods and Immortals see them as foul-smelling, dirty and unclean, not unlike the way human beings regard dogs and pigs eating filthy substances. The various desires of sentient beings, defiled and upside down, are generally thus. The practitioner should strive gradually to destroy them. 

(1) The basic goal of Buddhist teachings is to keep the mind empty and still so that our innate wisdom can manifest itself. (A Buddha is all wisdom at all times.) Thus, Buddhism fosters practices and habits that subdue passions and simplify life, freeing the cultivator for spiritual pursuits. It is in this context that sexual desire, excessive rest and sleep, etc. are considered afflictions. Note: section 35 as a whole is geared to the advanced practitioner!

(2) According to Buddhist (and Taoist) teachings, it is because we have a body that we suffer. Therefore, the true cultivator, when ill, should always remind himself of the need to escape this body and transcend Birth and Death.

(3) When the practitioner sees the signs of impermanence (e.g., parched skin, gray hair) he should redouble his efforts at cultivation, so as to escape Birth and Death. This is, of course, the opposite of common, everyday behavior, which consists in hiding the truth -- coloring one's hair, for example.

(4) Our bodies, our emotions, our environment all exist but their existence is not permanent or absolute. Therefore, in Buddhism, they are said to be illusory but not non-existent. See also Glossary, "Illusion."

(5) All these delusions are termed "upside down thinking" in Buddhism.

Buddhism of Wisdom & Faith: Pure Land Principles and Practice

Dharma Master Thich Thien Tam
Translated and edited by the Van Hien Study Group
Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada

Countering Afflictions

In the past, during lay retreats, if a practitioner had heavy karmic obstructions and could not recite the Buddha's name with a pure mind or clearly visualize Amitabha Buddha, the presiding Dharma Master would usually advise him to follow the practice of "bowing repentance with incense." This method consists of lighting a long incense stick and respectfully bowing in repentance while uttering the Buddha's name, until the stick is burnt out. There are cases of individuals with heavy karma who would spend the entire seven or twenty-one-day retreat doing nothing but "bowing with incense."