#The Mirror of Dharma

[kadampalife]

Buddhas required – apply within

In general, the mind of enlightenment (Skt. bodhichitta) is the wish to attain enlightenment in order to free all living beings permanently from their suffering. Sitting here in the Rockies last week, like you do, reading The Mirror of Dharma, I was struck by how Venerable Geshe Kelsang described it: Bodhichitta is the mind that spontaneously wishes to attain enlightenment to benefit each and…

[stressedmonster101]

ok we know the space theme, we love it, but there is SO much potential now that there’s 4.

fire, earth, water, and air.

wands, pentacles, swords, and cups.

also, keeping with the space theme, our solar system is split into two groups of planets.

two groups of 4.

[look-into-our-heart]

How can we attain a peace of mind?

Dharma Master Cheng Yen offers this Jing Si Aphorism as a solution.

To a beautiful heart, everything appears beautiful.

She also tells this story. A dog enters a room with eight mirrors. Upon entering the room, it sees eight dogs. Feeling threatened, the dog starts barking, and all its reflections bark back. The dog keeps on barking and eventually becomes exhausted.

Our mind is like this. We have a mirror in our heart. Whatever we put in front of the mirror is what is reflected. When we feel afflicted, we are seeing affliction. This is because we put affliction in front of the mirror. If we keep focusing on the affliction, our affliction will grow, just like the eight mirrors reflecting and multiplying our affliction. However, if we put loving-kindness in front of the mirror and focus on that, a lot of loving-kindness will reflect back to us.

Therefore, to attain peace of mind, nurture a beautiful heart, because a beautiful heart sees everything as beautiful.

[buddhisms-theory-of-happiness]

[Your True Self Revealed? Three Mirrors That Reflect The Self]

“What is it that I want to do?” “Why do I do this kind of thing?” Knowing the self isn’t as easy as we might assume. If you’re troubled by how little you know yourself, the Buddhist teaching of the three mirrors is something you really must hear. The more closely you’ve been looking at yourself, the more this teaching will amaze you.

Three points I talk about in this video are : 1. "The mirror of others" 2. "The mirror of the self" 3. "The mirror of Dharma"

If you think you can learn something from this channel, I’d be delighted if you subscribe. Thank you.

—-More about BTH—-

[kalki-tarot]

Spiritual advices from a Hindu spiritual freak 🪷

These are my personal opinions and piece of advice and may or may not work for everyone, pls do what you feel is right for you, I'm not forcing any advices on you, anything which is written below is not intended to harm anyone or any group of people🙏🧿💓

Karma is REAL, what you do definitely comes back at you at some point in your journey as a soul. Nothing happens without a reason.

You need to remove the fears associated with living for yourself instilled by your religion(s), parents, peers, etc.

There is no heaven and hell, they are just states of conciousnesses.

There is no "SATAN" or "GOD", good and bad are two sides of the same coin. Without one, another can't exist.

God is just the highest level of consciousness, which even transcends dharma.

Religion and politics are tools to limit and control you from inside and outside.

Dance is one of the deepest meditations possible.

There is no definite path to become one with godliness.

Everything is "maya" i.e, an illusion. It's all a play, and we all are actors. You are not the body, you are the eternal atman.

Love doesn't need marriage. Is love itself not powerful alone that it needs marriage? Love is natural, while marriage is not.

True love always dies at some point, just like a full blooming rose sheds after sometime. True love is momentary and can happen with multiple people throughout life.

Yoga is not what the west shows it to be, it has more spiritual significance. The west potrays some bs like beer yoga, lemonade yoga etc. Which is utter bs.

Never let other people, other ideologies, religions, etc mould your mind. Be who you are, not what you're conditioned to be.

Don't repress your shadow parts, like lust, sexual desires etc.

Meditations works for real. Try it yourself.

Tantra is not only about sex, it's much more than that.

Never practice tantra without a proper guru. Never chant special mantras without an authentic guru's advice.

People who trigger you are actually mirrors of your own deepest darkest fears and shadow parts.

Everything is temporary, you as a human being too, are temporary.

Practicing mindfulness actually does wonders.

Don't donate money, instead buy things with it like clothes, food, etc. Then donate it to the needy.

[simdertalia]

🌺🎍 ACNH Harmonious Set: Part 2 🎍🌺

💗 Sims 4, Base game compatible besides 2 items (ourdoor retreat & get together for hearth & dance floor). 55 items. Many extra swatches added by me. Items with only 1 swatch are not pictured in the swatch previews.

Always suggested: bb.objects ON, it makes placing items much easier. For further placement tweaking, check out the TOOL mod.

You can raise & lower items with 0 and 9 on your keyboard.

Use the scale up & down feature on your keyboard to make the items larger or smaller to your liking. If you have a non-US keyboard, it may be different keys depending on which alphabet it uses.

I hope you enjoy! ☺️ Download below, all in a zip file or pick & choose!

I hope you enjoy!

Set contains: -Another Wall Hook | 5 swatches | 104 poly -Asian Screen | 5 swatches | 2280 poly -Asian Wall Shelf | 5 swatches | 2612 poly -Bamboo Bench | 3 swatches | 1968 poly  -Bamboo Nightstand | 3 swatches | 1094 poly -Bamboo Seat | 3 swatches | 1094 poly -Bird Bath | 12 swatches | 1194 poly -Bonbori (2 items, short and tall versions. Lights up in the dark) | 5 swatches each | 1226 poly each -Dharma Decor | 10 swatches | 1124 poly -Dharma Flower Pot | 12 swatches | 2116 poly -Dresser | 6 swatches | 1662 poly -Framed Art Decor | 24 swatches | 52 poly -Go Board | 1 swatch | 1190 poly -Hinaningyo (lanterns light up in the dark) | 1 swatch | 4802 poly -Japanese Coffee Table | 6 swatches | 1208 poly -Japanese Hearth: Functional (requires Outdoor Retreat) | 2 swatches for fish color | 3042 poly -Japanese Kettle (steams) | 8 swatches | 1200 poly -Japanese Lantern (lights up in the dark) | 33 swatches | 824 poly -Jars Glow Moss 1-5 (5 items in different shapes & sizes, glows in the dark) | 21 swatches each | 810 poly each -Make-Up Brushes | 17 swatches | 1730 poly -Maneki-neko Flower Pot | 8 swatches | 1396 poly -Miso Soup (steam & no steam versions) | 5 swatches each | 196 poly each -Mochi Pestle | 14 swatches | 1194 poly -Pagoda Statue | 5 swatches | 2702 poly -Sakura Blossom Lantern (2 items, small and tall, lights up in the dark) | 2 swatches each | 1238 poly each -Sakura Dance Floor | 1 swatch | 2 poly -Sakura Petals | 4 swatches | 633 poly -Sakura Purse (wall) | 7 swatch | 736 poly -Sakura Wall Clock | 7 swatches | 876 poly -Sakura Alarm Clock | 7 swatches | 952 poly -Salad | 3 swatches | 238 poly -Shoulder Bag (wall) | 25 swatches | 782 poly -Spring Rolls | 3 swatches for plate | 328 poly -Stone Arch: functional (marriage altar) | 5 swatches | 2102 poly -Torii | 5 swatches | 1976 poly -Vanity Anti-Dust Cloche | 8 swatches | 964 poly -Vase | 1 swatch | 812 poly -Vines 1-3 (3 items of different vine plant combinations) | 7 swatches each | 783, 741, & 720 poly -Vine Chair (the actual chair one) | 7 swatches | 1313 poly -Vine Lamp (lights up in the dark) | 5 swatcesh | 1238 poly -Vine Purse (wall) | 7 swatches | 810 poly -Vine Seat (the plant one) | 5 swatches for pot | 1032 poly -Vine Wall Hook | 5 swatches | 312 poly -Wall Flag | 4 swatches | 1203 poly -Wooden Make-Up Mirror | 12 swatches | 298 poly -Woven Trivet (slotted for tea kettle) | 11 swatch | 482 poly

Type “ACNH harmonious 2” into the search query in build mode to find  quickly. You can always find items like this, just begin typing the title and it will appear.

📁 Download all or pick & choose (SFS, No Ads): HERE

📁 Alt Mega Download (still no ads): HERE

📁 Download on Patreon

Will be public on September 1st, 2024 💗 Midnight CET

Happy Simming! ✨ Some of my CC is early access. If you like my work, please consider supporting me (all support helps me with managing my chronic pain/illness):

★ Patreon  🎉 ❤️ |★ Ko-Fi  ☕️  ❤️ ★ Instagram📷

Thank you for reblogging ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

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Harmonious Set 1

-Potted Palm CC & Plumeria Blooms -Sakura Branch in Vase CC -Altar Cloth CC

The rest of my CC

[lil-mr-slipstream]

-ARCHETYPE: THE MYSTIC-

INTELLECT[◆

PSYCHE[◆◆◆◆

FYSIQUE[◆◆◆

MOTORICS[◆◆

DHARMA[◆◆◆◆◆

Signature skill - Flux et Reflux

An archetype painting based on the Disco Elysium × Slay the Princess fanfic Fury of a Shattered Mirror! There have been some musings of an entire skillset to go with Flux over on the BTG discord.

[talonabraxas]

“When one displays the Buddha mudra with one’s whole body and mind, sitting upright in this samadhi even for a short time, everything in the entire dharma world becomes buddha mudra, and all space in the universe completely becomes enlightenment.” — Dōgen Zenji 道元禅師 1200 – 1253 CE

Indra's Net Talon Abraxas

Possibly first used in an early, c. 1000 BCE Atharva Veda Hindu text, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra repurposed this imagery to symbolize the Buddhist principles of emptiness and interdependent origination. The 7th Century Chinese Buddhist Huayan school developed these ideas further and "Indra's Net" became a symbol for "True Self" — the vast, interconnected web that includes all phenomenon.

Each interdependent, individual jewel or point of connection (our consciousness), in a mirror-like way reflects the totality of this vast network. All experience at these points spreads back and through Indra's Net influencing it just like all of the experiences at the other points come back and influence our "True Self."

These teachings became an important influence on Chinese Chan Buddhism, the Korean Hwaeom school, and the Japanese Shingon lineage. For hundreds of years, this concept permeated mystical traditions and taught the oneness and omnipresent sacredness of all life, the illusion of all feelings and thoughts of separateness.

Today, these ideas have entered the world of science, the multidimensional theories of modern physics, and as an insightful way of understanding how our brains function.

[janaknandini-singh999]

After Krishna left for Dwarka, Radha used to keep herself a lot busier than usual; doing her chores back in Vrindavan, talking to the trees finding Krishna in everything, taking care of the people and animals. At night she would go to her room and sit in front of the mirror, sigh and take out her shringaar. Tonight, as soon as she looked into her reflection, it was her Kanha smiling at her.

"How's Dwarka dheesh doing?" she carefully kept her tone as teasing, afraid that if he suspects even a little bit of sadness then he will come running to her right away, leaving everything behind

"Oh please, Radhe. You should come sometime, you used to before but you barely do now."

Radha cupped Kanha's cheek in the mirror

"My sweet mohana, you know I can't. It's my duty to give you and your ashtabharya all the space and love," laughing, she added a little wistfully "As it is I don't really have a good reputation out here. Krishna's lover. But why? Krishna has millions of lovers. The whole brahmaand is his lover. Why worship one exclusively with him? If he loves all his lovers equally then why just worship this Radha with him? She isn't even his wife. Unlike Mahadev and Parvati, they aren't even legitima-"

"Radhe." Krishna stopped her with tears in his eyes

Radha, hurting as much as him, apologized and continued "but it is true, my love. People only view love as black or white. They think marriage is sanctity when it is the bond that is. Not the label."

Nodding, Krishna whispered "do you miss me?"

She laughed till there were tears in her eyes too "Oh Kanha, you are everywhere I look. Every time I breathe."

"Then why talk to me like this? Why summon me here?"

"Because you are everywhere. Everywhere but right here."

Kanha's eyes softened "I am within you, sakhi. Always."

Nodding and smiling, she looked away to wipe her tears "yes yes, I know that." she looked back in Kanha's eyes "only if I could somehow tell that to Yashoda maiya, Nand baba and all the gopiyan and people here. Maiya is inconsolable, kanha. She cries and says 'that boy always tricks me. I saw the universe in his mouth when he was a child. Now wherever I look, I see him. But I just want him to come steal my makhan. Kanha, where are you? I promise I'll never scold you.'

Krishna touches the mirror ever so gently

"Kanha, they think you are not real when you are everywhere. They think it's an illusion and all they do is weep."

"But they forgot that Maya is Krishna and Mohana is Krishna. Everything that involves krishna is as real as the morpankh falling from the sky quietly into their palms when they think of Him." Radha and krishna whisper at the same time

"Tomorrow the Pandavas and Kauravas fight and I'm Arjuna's saarthi. After killing Kansa mama, the trajectory of my life has changed completely. But I miss Vrindavan, Kishori. I honestly don't even know what to do. They call me God but forget I'm a human in this avatar too. All I can feel is Gandhari's pain. Even if she hates me with everything she has and cursed me for my existence but I just can't help but feel for her so deeply. What can I do?" he sobs

"What Kauravas did was wrong but Gandhari is a mother, kanha. Her pain can't be measured. It is unbearable but justified. But so is your karma and dharma. Whatever you do will be remembered forever. They all need you. So go, sakha. Do what needs to be done. I believe in you. I love you. We all do."

Krishna smiled through the tears

Radha whispered "we parted physically to fulfill our dharma in this lifetime but you know? I.. I'm just so tired, Kanha. It's been so long. I just want to go home. To Goloka. Our home. I feel my purpose here is coming to an end..."

"So is mine, Radhe.. so is mine. We are One." Kanha clutched the mirror closer to his chest and Radha did too - both of them in an eternal embrace.

"We will go home very soon. To everyone we love, finally. It's my vachan, sakhi."

[magumsilvarum]

Spirits and their common uses and misconceptions

So today I wanted to talk about a few spirits which, not much is so far known of through literary writing, but more so through celestial knowledge. (each spirit will have its own section)

The Pythoness - many Christian and Judea religions view the pythoness spirit as a demon like spirit that is meant to steer one away from Gods path and imbue one with negative thoughts such as death and sickness through the mind, yet I've personally found and many civilizations prior and after that the story is not as such. In yogic practices there is a certain breathe and practice of the kundalini. Kundalini is the term for "a spiritual energy or life force located at the base of the spine", conceptualized as a coiled-up serpent. The practice of Kundalini yoga is supposed to arouse the sleeping Kundalini Shakti from its coiled base through the 6 chakras, and penetrate the 7th chakra, or crown. This allows for an open pathway as a connection to God, elevated spirits and the spirits of the afterlife, our ancestral spirits, within celestial planes. In buddhism giant serpents were seen as protectors of the dharma, the truth that liberates us, standing strong against any attack. Many psychics, seers, mediums, witches and tarot card readers tend to have a spirit who knows one of two things about divination, prophecy and esoteric knowledge, but the pythoness spirit is looked at more like the all seeing eye or the eye of ra and horus. In greek mythology Leto the great she-wolf was cursed to never give birth upon the land as Hera set her out to be cursed by her daughter and for Gaia to not allow her to give birth to her two children. Through Zeus' interference Leto was able to give birth to both Artemis and Apollo. Later Apollo went to go slay a Snake that had threatened Leto and therefore gained the ability to turn into a snake himself. He declared the island previously known as Pythos to be Delphi and as the God of prophecy later became a hub for those seeking answers from great oracles once a year, known as Pythias. These women were great prophets and witches alike that danced with fire and tamed snakes to dance along with them protecting the island from attacks and monsterous threats as to pay respect to Apollo. These were women and men of wild nature who allows there instincts to guide them through the understanding of the great divine. One with nature they became medicine workers, prophets, seers, musicians, dancers, pyromancers, snake charmers, witches and mages and dream weavers.

These great spirits are revered as a highly elevated court in spiritualist practices, sometimes just perceived as the spirits of tarot decks or oracular objects they are forgotten as being far too complex to be seen as just that. Through the force of light they bring great aid to those they are on spiritual journey's with, they rid of hexes, curses and spiritual illnesses. They guide through prophetic dreams, clairvoyancy, clairsentience, clairaudience and mediumship. They are capable of conjuring powerful spirits and the spirits of the dead (necromancy), as well as a straight line communication to God, gods and goddesses. They move through the celestial tides of the universe and bring forth great health, wealth, abundance, freedom and spiritual knowledge to those they favor. They are quite benevolent spirits who help bring in death or the spirit of change for the better and to rid old stubborn ways of the past. They are great teachers of dark and light magic. They aid in learning and music as well. Helping those with charisma and the ability to enchant and/or charm enemies and others alike. They have such affinity towards chocolates, gold, silver, wine, fire, candles, light, mirrors, divination tools, water, flowers and floral scents, perfumes, snakes and music. There number is 7 and their flower is the rose, particularly the white rose, but other colors are fine as well. They also enjoy sunflowers, as they venerated Apollo, and the Anise star. Their colors are Red, burgundy, gold, emerald green, white, silver, purple, and brown. Yet each is different and might prefer a royal blue for all we know each spirit is different to another so getting to know ones spiritual court is quite important. Stones like diamond, ruby, jade, emerald, citrine, labradorite and amethyst can be given to such spirit as well as Selenite and Amber each representing Artemis and Apollo. These spirits can sometimes be confused with a better known spirit Santa Martha la Dominadora. You may even have both within your spiritual court, but they two hold many similarities.

Prayer to the Pythoness

O Blessed Pythoness, I invoke your humble yet wild nature into my life, I give you thanks for the visions told and untold and for the sight to see my path clearly. May your connection to God and all living things be great and full of love and respect. May your tides of wisdom bring peace to the land and bestow upon me and my loved ones a blessed hand. Lady of the fire, imbue me with your holy flames may they burn away all evil done unto me by others or by my own hand. May your light charm those who seek no good into doing acts of kindness and greatness and may your soothing voice bring sweetness and riches to the land and seas. You the one who tamed the dragon and serpent to your gracious hand. Tame my enemies and bring good fortune to those in need. Help the world against devastation and may your great cobra bring forth the promise land. Lady of the land and sea, conjure your celestial winds to protect me and bring good news from the heavenly lands. Through the eye of the one who can see I plea to you humbly and in need. As it is. So mote it be. Amen

Say this prayer with Psalm 91 3x and Psalm 4 3x under the flame of a white(or yellow) light end with a Glory be. It will help receive divine messages through divination or prophetic dreams and help transmute negative energy and protect against evil eye.

Oracion a La Pitonisa

O Bendita Pitonisa, Yo invoco tu humilde y salvaje espiritu de naturaleza entre mi vida, te doy las gracias por los visiones contado y no contado y por la vista para ver mi camino claramente. Que tu conexión a Dios y a todas criaturas vivas sea lleno de gran amor y respeto. Que las olas de sabiduria traen paz a toda la tierra y otogar a mi y mis seres queridos tu mano bendicida. Mujer de los fuegos, envuelvame con tus llamas benditas que me liberan de cualquier maldad sea enviado por enemigos o que han nacido de mi propia mano. Que tu luz encandile a los que no buscan el bien y les transformas hacer actos de carino y grandeza y que tu voz encantadora trae dulcisimiento y riquezas a la tierra y los mares. Tu que haz vencido el serpiente y el dragon con tu mano graciosa. Ayuda al mundo contra la devastación y que tu tierra prometida sea traido por tu gran cobra. Mujer de la tierra y mar, protejame con los vientos celestiales y que traen buena noticias del cielo. A través del ojo del que puede ver te suplico humildemente y de necesidad. Como es. Asi sera. AMEN

[cg11555]

On Ankarna

BLeeM said the Rage God's name for the first time, and because I'm certifiably insane, my first thought was damn isn't that a Hindu demigod? Then it came to me, the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. OF WHICH KARNA IS A MAJOR PROTAGANIST AND TRAGIC HERO!!!!!

Now, I don't know who here is familliar with the plot of the Mahabharata but if you're not I'll do a quick TLDR so you don't have to google.

The epic follows two opposing factions of cousins vying for power. The crux of this power struggle centers around the line of succession. These two factions are the Pandavas and Kauravas. The Kauravas are the senior line in the order of succession but the Pandavas' eldest member is older then the Kauravas' eldest member. The whole epic details the conflict through births, deaths, and MARRIAGES. In the end, The Pandavas ascend to the throne.

This is important for us because of the demigod Karna a member of the Kauravas faction. WHO IS THE SON OF THE SUN GOD SURYA. ALSO - in Hindu his name translates to - Husk Of A Grain - . This guy is a tragic hero who falls in the final battle. He narratively is important in the epic because he serves the purpose of bringing up Dharma ( the Indian religious ideal of actions that serve the purpose of upholding life and balance in the universe ) This guy is a flawed hero that is an archetype for any protaganist that suffers through rejection as a result of circumstances, ( HIs mom Abandons his ass Moses style bc she was 16 and pregnant )

NOW, we have to connect this info to a dnd campaign on the internet.

Ankarna is a God that has lost their original domain (Summer / Sun) presumbly at the same time as their wife Cassandra (Doubt / Night). Both of them are corrupted into perversions of their original states. Cassandra becomes the Nightmare King and rules over Fear and Terror. We are currently unaware of what emotion that Ankarna started with before their shift to rage (I've seen some people on here provide very good cases for conviction). Ankarna begins as a member of the Giant Pantheon and sibling of Ruvina ( Goddess of winter and sorrow that was worshipped by Lucy Frostblade ) At some point in their story they lost this original domain and became Fiendish and was stationed over rage. We see a mirror of this relationship between Ankarna and Ruvina in Cassandra ( Night / Doubt -> Fear ) and Galicaea ( moon ). Most importantly, we know now that Sol is Cassandra and Galicaea's brother.

Reviewing these facts, I believe that there was a war over who would hold domain over the sun ( Sol or Ankarna ) and Sol won. After their loss the other gods sundered Cassandra and Ankarna names from existence to stop them from rising again and threatening their power, mirroring the central confict of the Mahabharata.

Here's an insane person theory that I also have relating to this

As previously stated, Karna means husk of grain in Hindu. Going off the idea that Ankarna was sundered from existence by Sol IT IS POSSIBLE that he was absorbed into Sol's domain and instead of morphing into something similar to the Nightmare King they Became Helio. This is a crazy idea so feel free to disregard.

[thatshowthingstarted]

Sword (jian) and scabbard, probably made in the court workshops of the Yongle Ming Emperor. Chinese, Ming Dynasty, early 15th century.

The hilt is of gilt iron. The grip is of gibbous rectangular section, punched with small circles to imitate ray skin. Down the centre of the front is a raised spine bordered by tiny flames at either side.

The pommel is of trilobed form, bordered at the front and rear by bands of golden scrolls. The front panel of the pommel is chiselled and fretted with a dragon surrounded by interlacing flames, with triple claws on each paw. At the rear of the pommel, the central panel is decorated with a monster mask (kirtimukha), surmounted by a silvered crescent and golden disc, and with human hands, also surrounded by flames. At either side of the pommel are the Eight Buddhist Emblems of Good Augury (ba jixiang): the wheel of law (dharma), the standard, the treasure jar, the pair of fish, the endless knot, the lotus, the parasol and the conch shell of victory.

The guard is embossed in the form of a monster mask, surmounted by a silvered crescent and golden disc. The face is punched with circles, the canine teeth silvered, the eyebrows and whiskers chiselled and gilt. The horns are in the form of crab claws. At either side of the mouth is a paw in the form of a human hand. The head is surrounded by scrolling curls of mane. The rear of the guard is rendered as the underside of the jaw, with a set of silvered teeth, and a narrow beard running into a throat of alternate silvered and gilt bands.

The blade is associated but is probably a later replacement of Tibetan manufacture. It is formed of pattern-welded steel, of diamond section, straight and double edged. The pattern welding produces a mirrored pattern of addorsed crescents at either side of the medial ridge. The tang is of rectangular section, tapering towards the pommel, with a large expanded peg-hole towards the end. The edges have been ground and sharpened.

The scabbard is of wood covered in green stained leather and bound with gilt iron. At the throat is a V-shaped cut out at the front for seating the blade, and a scalloped cut-out in the leather to accommodate the guard. The throat retains traces of the scarlet silk with which it was lined. The iron binding comprises a long, facetted strip running all the way round either edge.

There are eight transverse bands at the rear, the uppermost and fourth of which are wider than the others, and extend round the front of the scabbard forming suspension loops. The edging strip has four main facets, with an additional narow facet at either side. It is decorated with scrollwork in gold running down each facet, and matching that on the pommel. At either end is a set of three golden lotus leaves.

The front panel is divided stylistically into upper and lower sections. The upper section is decorated quite plainly; a series of five beaded transverse bands divide it into six sections, and there are three vertical bands of fretted four-petalled rosettes in each section.

At the throat is a cusped section with a beaded border, below which is a band of flames. The ornate lower section has six smaller segments, divided vertically and horizontally by fretted 'vajras', each with a 'yinyang' symbol in the central knop. The half-'vajras' at either side emanate from the heads of lions, and the vertical bands of decoration at either side are formed by rows of flames.

Above and in the middle of these divisions are two square panels, each containing a cusped lozenge shaped central medallion, the corners decorated with interlacing flames. The uppermost of these two panels contains two dragons intertwined amid flames, with the heads at top right and bottom left; the lower has two similar dragons, with thicker bodies, and with their heads confronted at the left and right.

The chape section is decorated with a large panel of interlacing flames, within a beaded border. At the rear of the scabbard, the upper band is decorated with alternating gold and silver scrollwork, and terminates in a rosette at the front. The next two narrow bands are decorated with silver scrollwork only. The fourth is decorated at the rear like the top one, but is extended accross the front in a broad band; it is chiselled with four medallions decorated with gilt characters on silver grounds, and surrounded by interlacing gilt flames. The three lower bands are decorated in gold scrollwork.

The rear chape panel has a small, flat piece of rather coarse, scrolling interlace at the bottom, and narrow bands of petalled rosettes at either side.

A four character Tibetan inscription on the lower suspension loop reads 'khi'u ga ral gri' (honourific sharp sword).

China, 15th century (About 1420),

Leather, Ferrous, Gold, Silver, Semi-precious stone, Silk, Wood,

Dimensions:

Blade Length: 30 inches

Overall (sword) Length: 35 inches

Courtesy: Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, United Kingdom

Sword (jian) and scabbard, probably made in the court workshops of the Yongle Ming Emperor. Chinese, Ming Dynasty, early 15th century.

[bomberqueen17]

sewing and dyeing

I have managed to achieve some sewing!

I finished the silk dress from the yardage I'd dyed around Christmas, even hemmed it and everything, I feel very accomplished. So that's done.

And the linen bias-cut slip dress I made around Christmas, which I never wore anywhere because it was white-- I've managed to dye it, and it came out much more interesting than I'd expected! So, pictures and discussion behind the cut.

[image description: A mirror shot of me, a fat blonde white woman, in a grungy basement, wearing a clingy white knit tank top with a drapey cowl neck]

Firstly, I made this tank top (I bound the armholes, it looks nicer that way)-- started with the Cashmerette Wexford top, then used this tutorial from Threads Magazine to hack a cowl neck onto it. Ages ago I'd had a cowl neck sleevless top that I loved, and wore holes in, and couldn't find one again. So I used a yard or so of very slinky knit, probably some kind of rayon blend from Dharma would be my guess.

I tried it on, and immediately threw it in the soda ash solution to dye it because I don't need a white top like this, it'll get shit dripped on the tit immediately so I might as well give it a busy dye job. I will make more of this top in other fabrics, but 1) make the cowl just a bit longer so it drapes farther, and 2) make the self facing deeper, I feel like this one is going to flip out all the damn time.

I also think I'll hem this shorter, but I haven't hemmed it at all so far so it remains to be seen.

Secondly, I have nearly finished this button-up camp-collar shirt from the Cashmerette Club, in a natural linen that I have so many yards of from an old project I never did.

[image description: me in the same grubby cluttered mirror view of my basement, wearing a gray shirt, slightly wrinkly, with unfinished sleeve edges and I'm holding it shut because there aren't buttons on it yet. There are two breast pockets and one is significantly higher than the other.] So the breast pockets are optional and uh I am definitely only going to put one or zero on the next one of these I make because I checked and rechecked and rechecked and this is literally the best I could do at making them even??? ugh also they don't sit right because there's a bust dart and one of them went on ok and somehow the other one is overlapping the bust dart slightly, which means it's Not On Straight. Just.... not optimal. I get why there are pockets but I also super get why they're optional. No thanks!

I hate the interfacing too, it was awful to work with and feels like paper. But once I've finished and washed this I hope it will settle down. (In the past I've used shitty salvaged interfacing for things I was making, and used spray adhesive and sewed the edges where possible, and it worked fine. This, I splashed out and got the stuff in the package that's ostensibly meant to fuse on with your iron and guess what doesn't fucking work? that. So it's been just a nightmare and I'm not buying the nice stuff again because it fucking sucks. I get that you don't want to not interface the collar of a shirt like this, and the button band would be awful un-interfaced, but christ, I'm using the flimsy salvaged shit I cut out of an old bedskirt next time.

The directions on this pattern are... well as long as you know what they mean it's great. But there's a video sewalong, and that helped a ton. This is a very complicated pattern and yet somehow none of it has been beyond me, even though i sewed one bust dart inside-out first thing, and immediately also sewed the yoke to the back inside-out, and then right away also assembled the collar inside-out because I was so distracted by how much the interfacing did not actually fucking do what it was supposed to (yes i followed the package directions, no it did not fucking fuse). I got a lot of seam-ripping done, is all. (It really is a cool pattern, and if you manage to get through the directions, which are extremely specific, you wind up with a fully-finished interior with almost all the seam allowances beautifully enclosed-- it's cool as fuck.)

I have fabric already set aside to make at least two more of these. IDK how much I'll wear them but I love them. (I *have* coveted a shirt-dress for years, with one Almost Okay from Torrid that I wore a lot but have recently realized looks awful on me actually, so I will be making it a dress too, no fear.)

But then! Also: Dyeing!

So I looked on Dharma Trading for their tutorials and was not disappointed. I don't want to do traditional tie-dye, but I want the effect I got at Christmas with the silk scarves that I space-dyed. I don't have to steam-set fiber-reactive dyes, so that's a plus.

I saw this tutorial on dharma for ombre dyeing and I'm super gonna try that next, but haven't yet.

Tie Dye Tutorial on Dharma Trading: this is the one I used as a starting point.

So I dissolved a cup of soda ash in a gallon of warm water, put that in a plastic bucket, and soaked my fabric for 5-15 minutes, and then I decided to do a kind of gravity-based thing with squirt bottles and a spray bottle. I hung a clothes hanger from the gas pipe in the ceiling, put a big plastic mortar tub underneath, put a smock on myself, mixed up my dyes (and urea and in some cases salt, as directed by dharma the all-knowing-- half-cup batch size for the squirt bottles, and quarter-cup sizes for the spray bottle), and got to work one garment at a time.

I put some pleats into the garments and held them with clothes pins. Then I sort of "drew" along the pleats, picking a color to be the tops, and a second color to squirt into the valleys. I filled in with the spray bottle to highlight the pleats more, since that would hit the outer parts of the folds but the interior would be shadowed and stay white; then I could go draw in those white areas with my shadow color.

Everything then would drip down toward the hem of the garment, though there wasn't really that much movement; if I wanted a drip to cascade, i had to draw it down there myself with the squeeze bottle.

[image description: two squeeze bottles with narrow nozzles, and a spray bottle of more rigid plastic with a pump-dispenser top, sitting on top of a piece of stained scrap fabric on an old washing machine with tubs of dye powder sitting in the background.]

I also did a shirt where I spread it out on a rack in a pan at an angle, and sprinkled a mixture of dye powder and salt on it. Then I went and used the squirt bottles too, but it was a fun technique and I'd use it again.

[image description: a garment lies in loose folds, speckled with dark blue-green spots, and at the top decorated in splotches of blue and green.]

I wrapped the garments in plastic, and put the smaller ones into plastic bags, and then hung them outside in the sun so that a) the dye would flow downward rather than backstaining the areas I'd meant to leave white, and b) the sun would warm them so the dye could cure, and c) the plastic would keep them wet because the dye only chemically sets while damp.

Let them cure for 24h, and then today I brought them in and rinsed them for about a thousand years, and then washed them and gave them a soak and rinse in dye-fixative, then dried them on the line.

Here is the linen bias-cut slipdress I made at Christmas time, dry and ironed.

[image description: a dress on a hanger, with my hand pulling out one side of the skirt: the straps and neckline are bright emerald green, and then the body is streaked vertially with varying shades of green, teal, and dark blue, with a little purple at the hemline. The colors are light and a little muted, and some white shows between them in a few places.]

The linen took the dye lightest, the cotton a little darker, and a small offcut of rayon I'd had sitting around took the dye darkest of all.

here's everything still damp on the line:

[image description: under a blue sky, a metal clothes-tree-style line on the left has several small items in shades of green and turquoise, and then a line crosses the screen from right to left through the middle, with several items hanging on it. In the background are two cotton dresses, one mostly teal and the other green at the top with a white and purple skirt, then the linen dress from above in the middle, and closest to the camera is a mostly-quite sheet of fabric with geometric lines in green, blue, and purple.]

The foreground fabric is the rayon, and I sandwiched it between two blocks of wood with rubber bands holding it in place, and just saturated the edges with dyes. I'm extremely into it, it came out beautifully. i have more rayon so I am going to make something from that to ombre-dye, for sure.

I have severely overdone my physical activity the last two days though; I lay awake for a couple of hours the other night with my sciatic nerve just burning, and I expect the same tonight. We'll see though, maybe I'lll be pleasantly surprised, or just lucky.

Oh yah I'm trialing Ritalin, but just like the other medications, it's such a low dose and it's not extended-release. I looked up how to take it and the directions assumed I'd been given two or three pills to get through a day. Not so! So I have about four medicated hours in a day, and keep experimenting with where to put them. I don't notice it wearing off the way I did with Adderall though, so there's that at least.

Maybe by the end of May I can try a full dose of something, and see if that helps. IDK, it seems like it might.

[mountain-sage]

Genuine Compassion through

Presence of Awareness

Even if 'practitioners' talk a great deal about Mahamudra and Dzogchen, all they are really doing is becoming more expert and refined in the ways of behaving of the eight worldly dharmas. This is a sure sign that a true compassion has not arisen in us, and the root of the matter is that there has never really arisen the presence of awareness.

So, without chattering about it, or getting caught up in trying to hide behind an elegant facade, one should try really and truly to cause the presence of awareness actually to arise in oneself, and then carry it into practice. This is the most important point of the practice of Dzogchen.

There is a Tibetan proverb about this, which says:

'Even if you've got eyes to see other people, you need a mirror to see yourself!' As this proverb implies, if one really wants a genuine compassion for others to arise in oneself, it is necessary to observe one's own defects, be aware of them, and mentally put yourself in other people's places to really discover what those persons' actual conditions might be.

The only way to succeed in this is to have the presence of awareness. Otherwise, even if one pretends to have great compassion, a situation will sooner or later arise which shows that compassion has never really been born in us at all.

Until a pure compassion does arise, there is no way to overcome one's limits and barriers. And it happens that many practitioners, as they progress in the practice, just end up thinking of themselves as being a 'divinity' and thinking of everyone else as being 'evil spirits'.

Thus they are doing nothing other than increasing their own limits, developing attachment towards themselves, and hatred towards others.

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

[buddhisms-theory-of-happiness]

No matter how insightful we are, no matter how hard we try to reflect on ourselves, we can never discover who we truly are. Because we are biased and conceited, we can't see ourselves properly.

Buddhism teaches us that we can only see ourselves as we really are by looking in the Mirror of Dharma.

—-More about BTH—-

[mahayanapilgrim]

THE CONSTANT WISH TO BENEFIT OTHERS

The mind is simply that which conceives and remembers countless thoughts. If the current of thoughts is virtuous, you have tamed the mind; if it is negative, you have not.

Taming the mind and making it positive needs perseverance. Never think, "The Buddha is fully enlightened, and Chenrezi is the very embodiment of compassion; but how could an ordinary person like me ever help others?"

Do not be discouraged. As your motivation grows more and more vast, your capacity for positive action will expand too. You may not have the same ability as Chenrezi right now, but the way to develop it is to practice the Dharma.

If you maintain the constant wish to benefit others,

- the power to actually do so will come by itself,

as naturally as water runs downhill.

All difficulties come from not thinking of others.

Whatever you are doing,

- look constantly into the mirror of your mind

- and check whether your motive is for yourself or for others.

~ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

From: «The heart treasure of the enlightened ones» by Patrul Rinpoche;