Tibetan Buddhist Shabkar Tsok Druk Rangdrol (1781-1851) on Compassion

Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol (1781–1851) was a Tibetan Buddhist yogi and poet from Amdo. Shabkar's yogic and poetic skill is considered second only to Milarepa.

Shabkar's works express non-sectarian ideals similar to those of the 19th century Rimé movement, even though he predates the movement by about three decades and never met with any of the Rime masters from Kham. Shabkar also held that even non-Buddhist religions are manifestations of the Buddhas:

Thus, one should know all the tenets of the religions of Buddhism and non-Buddhism—for example, other religions, Bönpos, the Chan Buddhists, the Nyingma, the Kagyus, the Sakya, the Geluks, and so forth—to be the emanations of the buddhas and bodhisattvas.^[1]

Avalokiteshvara, mighty great treasure of compassion,

From my heart I invoke your blessing 

By this blessing may compassion be born in my mind

And in the minds of all beings under the sky.

 

If someone has compassion, he is a Buddha;

 

Without compassion, he is a Lord of Death.

With compassion, the root of Dharma is planted,
Without compassion, the root of Dharma is rotten.

One with compassion is kind even when angry,
One without compassion will kill even as he smiles.

For one with compassion, even his enemies will turn into friends,
Without compassion, even his friends turn into enemies.

With compassion, one has all Dharmas,
Without compassion, one has no Dharma at all.

With compassion, one is a Buddhist,
Without compassion, one is worse than a heretic.

Even if meditating on voidness, one needs compassion as its essence.
A Dharma practitioner must have a compassionate nature.

Compassion is the distinctive characteristic of Buddhism.
Compassion is the very essence of all Dharma.

Great compassion is like a wish-fulfilling gem.
Great compassion will fulfill the hopes of self and others.

Therefore, all of you, practitioners and laypeople,
Cultivate compassion and you will achieve Buddhahood.

May all men and women who hear this song,
With great compassion, benefit all beings!” 

Shabkar Tsok Druk Rangdrol (1781-1851) Matthieu Ricard, transl.
The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin, p. 501

Astrology: Saturn in Aries May 25, 2025

Saturn in Aries May 25, 2025

 

'All planets retrograde, not just the famous Mercury retrograde. Saturn retrogrades from July 12 until November 27, 2025.

On July 12, Saturn begins to retrograde while it’s in Aries. It’s time to review your goals, commitments, and structures. If your foundations are weak, you can address them now. It’s also possible you could receive a reality check if you’ve been moving too fast. A necessary speed bump could be a blessing in disguise.

On September 1st, Saturn swims back into Pisces for a final lap. Reflect on your spiritual growth and energetic boundaries. Are you standing up for yourself? Or do you still allow others to walk all over you? If you still struggle with saying no, consider this your make-up lesson.

Saturn stations direct on November 27 and reenters Aries on February 13, 2026, where it remains until April 12, 2028.'

https://www.almanac.com/saturn-aries-2025-turns-heat-saturns-move-aries 

 

'The last time Saturn was in Aries (April of 1996 through February of 1999, minus a three-month window in 1998 when Saturn paid a quick visit to Taurus):

• The United Kingdom passed the Firearms Act (which banned the private possession of all handguns)
• Australia implemented a large-scale gun buyback program
• The United States launched the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System that established boundaries around who could legally own a handgun
• The United States also passed The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, which banned people convicted of domestic violence from ever owning firearms.

It is likely that, during Saturn’s next journey through Aries, we will see new, updated, and/or stricter restrictions on guns and other assault weapons.

Saturn in Aries will also bring increased regulation to startups and gig economies. Saturn’s need for structure can often be helpful; it can turn a “Wild West” of chaos into a manageable landscape that everyone can easily navigate. The “flip side” of Saturn is that it can make things more laborious and challenging (in this case, startups and gig economies may find themselves subject to new hurdles, additional documentation, and bureaucratic processes).

Lastly, Aries is the quintessential “fighting spirit.” While not the collective advocacy we see with Aquarius (or the idealism we see with Pisces), Aries is the “enough is enough!” energy that collectively moves us from despondence and the desire to numb our pain away (the less-evolved parts of Pisces) to realizing that if we don’t advocate for ourselves, no one will. Globally, many people will realize that the institutions (Saturn) they have put their faith (Pisces) in over the last two years are not going to magically save them, and that it is up to them — as individuals — to fight.'

https://astrologywithandy.com/2025/02/13/the-astrology-of-2025/#more-632 

'Saturn in Aries could be a time when we harness our inner power and achieve great things! When we use the best of what Saturn (discipline) and Aries (initiative) have to provide, we won't back down from going after we want. We'll work hard for as long as it takes, fueled by a sense of competition that makes us want to do bigger and better things.

Saturn in Aries could be a time when we become self-reliant ... a little too self-reliant. The headstrong Aries energy combined with Saturn's determination could mean that we only want to do things our way. If we learn how to balance being independent with being cooperative, we'll find that we're more successful than when we ever could have been on our own.

We may also struggle with being assertive during this transit. Stern Saturn can put a damper on the confidence that we'd normally feel as a result of Aries' energy, so sticking up for ourselves may not come so easily during this time. But this is Saturn's lesson for us, so we need to make sure we voice our desires!

https://www.tarot.com/astrology/planets/saturn-in-aries

 

The Light of Asia - Sir Edwin Arnold - Lalitavistara

The Light of Asia.  Sir Edwin Arnold. The first edition of the book was published in London in July 1879. In the form of a narrative poem, the book endeavours to describe the life and time of Prince Gautama Buddha, who, after attaining enlightenment, became the Buddha, The Awakened One. The book presents his life, character, and philosophy in a series of verses. It is a free adaptation of the Lalitavistara Sutra. 

After receiving the poem from theosophists, Mahatma Gandhi was awed and his subsequent introduction to Madame Blavatsky and her Key to Theosophy inspired him to study his own religion.^[3]

"A timely work in poetical form, and one whose subject . . . has just made its appearance. . . . the author, Mr Edwin Arnold, C.S.I., former Principal of the Deccan College at Poona, having passed some years in India, has evidently studied his theme con amore. In his Preface he expresses a hope that the present work . . . “will preserve the memory of one who loved India and the Indian peoples”. The hope is well grounded, for if any Western poet has earned the right to grateful remembrance by Asiatic nations and is destined to live in their memory, it is the author of The Light of Asia.'' (H. P. Blavatsky “The Light of Asia”, The Theosophist, 1.1, Oct. 1879, p. 20)

 

In 1885,  Sir Edwin Arnold translated The Song Celestial: A Poetic Version of the Bhagavad Gita. Much admired by Blavatsky, this version became popular among Theosophists.

https://www.bhagavadgitam.com/translations/The-Song-Celestial-by-Sir-Edwin-Arnold.pdf

 

It seeth everywhere and marketh all: / Do right — it recompenseth! do one wrong — / The equal retribution must be made, / Though DHARMA tarry long.

It knows not wrath nor pardon; utter-true / Its measures mete, its faultless balance weighs; / Times are as nought, to-morrow it will judge, / Or after many days.

The Books say well, my Brothers! each man’s life / The outcome of his former living is; / The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and woes / The bygone right breeds bliss.

That which ye sow ye reap. See yonder fields! / The sesamum was sesamum, the corn / Was corn. The Silence and the Darkness knew! / So is a man’s fate born. (Chapt. 8)

I, Buddh, who wept with all my brothers’ tears, / Whose heart was broken by a whole world’s woe, / Laugh and am glad, for there is Liberty! / Ho! ye who suffer! Know

Ye suffer from yourselves. None else compels, / None other holds you that ye live and die, / And whirl upon the wheel, and hug and kiss / Its spokes of agony, Its tire of tears, its nave of nothingness.(Chapt. 8)

As one who stands on yonder snowy horn / Having nought o’er him but the boundless blue, / So, these sins being slain, the man is come / NIRVANA’S verge unto.

Him the Gods envy from their lower seats; / Him the Three Worlds in ruin should not shake; / All life is lived for him, all deaths are dead; / Karma will no more make (Chapter 8).

 

If making none to lack, he throughly purge / The lie and lust of self forth from his blood; / Suffering all meekly, rendering for offence / Nothing but grace and good:

If he shall day by day dwell merciful, / Holy and just and kind and true; and rend / Desire from where it clings with bleeding roots, / Till love of life have end:

He — dying — leaveth as the sum of him / A life-count closed, whose ills are dead and quit, / Whose good is quick and mighty, far and near, / So that fruits follow it.

Lo! like fierce foes slain by some warrior, / Ten sins along these Stages lie in dust, / The Love of Self, False Faith, and Doubt are three, / Two more, Hatred and Lust.

Who of these Five is conqueror hath trod / Three stages out of Four: yet there abide / The Love of Life on earth, Desire for Heaven, / Self-Praise, Error, and Pride (Chapter 8)

No need hath such to live as ye name life; / That which began in him when he began / Is finished: he hath wrought the purpose through / Of what did make him Man.

Never shall yearnings torture him, nor sins / Stain him, nor ache of earthly joys and woes / Invade his safe eternal peace; nor deaths / And lives recur. He goes

Unto NIRVANA. He is one with Life / Yet lives not. He is blest, ceasing to be. / OM, MANI PADME, OM! the Dewdrop slips / Into the shining sea! (Chapter 8).