Bell Hammer Song

 Jetsun Milarepa, the Cotton-Clad
Patron Saint of the Thunder Mountain Expedition

Milarepa was known for "Oral Transmission" and "Whispered Lineage" of the Karma Kagyus in Tibetan Buddhism. The Transmission was between Yogi and Dakinis, or Sky Beings, right hand raised, head tilted, ear cupped.

 H. E. Kalu Rinpoche

Choygam Trungpa Rinpoche

Thunder Mountain Dream I
Big Hand, 1977

Big Hand was in room with H.E. Kalu Rinpoche who was using his finger to point carefully at a scroll in his lap. Choygam Trungpa was standing in the room, involved in a heated argument with a student whom he ushered out. Meanwhile, Kalu elongated his head around to look directly in Big Hand's eyes. He was quizzical and curious about him. As Trungpa was walking out the door, he turned to Big Hand, next to Kalu. He said, "I'll meet you (again) at Thunder Mountain!"

I Ching Consultation, 2017
Hexagram 50, The Caldron

 "The I Ching or Book of Change"
Wilhelm/Baynes, Bollingen Series XIX
Princeton University Press

50. Ting/The Caldron

above Li The Clinging, Fire
below Sun The Gentle, Wind, Wood

The Judgment
The CALDRON. Supreme good fortune.
Success.

The Image
Fire over wood:
The image of THE CALDRON
Thus the superior Man consolidates his fate
By making his position correct.

Oral Transmission in Tibetan Buddhism

Oral transmissions by lineage holders can take place in groups and may last seconds or months. It is held a transmission can occur without actually hearing, as in Asanga's visions of Maitreya.

Hearing a teaching (transmission) readies the hearer for realization.
Tibetan Buddhists practice understandings of the true nature of reality, sunyata, or the emptiness of all things.

The Arhat of the Hinayana

I. "Sravaka: "Hearer," "Buddhist Disciple"

 II. "Pratyekabuddha": "Lone Buddha," "Buddha on their own," " Private Buddha," i.e. "Solitary Realizers." Pratykebuddhas were Hermit Buddhas, Self-Realized Ones.)


The Sravaka, the"Hearer," philosophically reflected on the Buddhist Teachings, accumulating Merit and Wisdom. Pratykebuddhas were more active in wanting a chance to practice Buddhism.

The first yana ("vehicle") of nine yanas was the Hinayana. (Chogyam Trungpa: "The Tibetan word for yana is thepa, which means 'that which lifts you up.'" The Hinayana, or "small vehicle,"(early Buddhism) was epitomized by the Arhat, or "sravaka," who accepted Buddha as Teacher. Buddha taught the unreality of the phenomenal, pursuing instead the "extinction of nirvana." Mindfulness of breathing ("samatha,or calming the mind,") and ("vipassana, or insight into the true nature of reality") were important to the development of Buddhist skills.

Sravakas approached the Teacher in a monastic community of lay people for direction and instruction.They "heard," then "proclaimed," Buddha's "four noble truths" and "nonsubstantiality."

In early Buddhism, or Hinayana, ("small vehicle"), the goal or vision insofar as the disciple was concerned was self-realization. One did not really "practice" the teaching. Rather, it was an intellectual assimilation of thought and mind in a life-positive way.

The Tharavadin sect of southern Asia survived the Buddha's death. It worked with the climate and culture of the rain forest environment, such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar.

The Hinayana was individually driven by personal desire. Thus, disciples of the sangha adhered to a strict behavior code and the basics of the Buddha's teaching before his death. Eigthteen sects were left behind with Theravadin the only survivor.

In summery, sravakas listen to spiritual teachings. They have some sort on interest or inclination about spiritual teachings and practices However, they do notin fact do any real practice themselves.

Sravakas are focused on the four noble truths.They concentrate on renouncing the worldand pacifying the emotions.





 The Arhat Path divided into the first two yanas, the "pratyekabuddhas" and "sravakas." Pratyekabuddha meant attaining realization "through one's own method or efforts. Individuals have understood the importance of spiritual practice.They have alreadyaccumulated enough knowledge, and nowthey want ti practice but not with other people.

Pratyekabuddhs pray to be reborn in a world to which bo buddha has come, and they attain realization without relying on a teacher. Unlike the sravaks, they accumulate merit and wisdom.

Pratyekabuddhas concentrate on individual liberation through examimng the Twelvefold Chain of Interdependent Originatio and the basic Buddhist doctrines such as the Four Noble Truths, in order to achieve Arhathood.

A Pratyekabuddha is one who meditates to achieve enlighenment for himself alone. In the Mahayana,his consideredinferior to a Bodhisattva, who works to help all beings reach Buddhahood.

The sravaka is the first yana of the Hinayana. The second yana is the pratyekabuddha. Both are considered the foundations of later Buddhist achievement in the Mahayana and the Vajrayana.