Dön (Draper?) Season

Have you noticed, in the last 5 or 6 days, a number of things going wrong in your life? Illnesses? Car trouble? Accidents? Maybe even deaths of loved ones? Just a string of generally not so great days? Well, if you have, there's actually an explanation in my Buddhist tradition of why things are going wrong this time of year. We're just about at the midway point of Dön season. For the uninitiated, this does not refer to fact that a new season of Mad Men is coming up (although, that's happening too – and
let's not diminish the importance of that event). In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, dön season refers to the 10 days leading up the Tibetan New Year (Losar) when all the karma you accumulated over the
past year comes knockin' on your door and when you open it, tries to kick you in the groin – strictly in a spiritual sense, of course. It is not a time of year where you should do much of anything. Lay low, meditate, do yoga; don't travel, make big decisions or start a new project or relationship, if you can avoid it. Here's a good talk by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche explaining Don Season.
As one article in the Elephant Journal from 2010 aptly stated: "It’s a reminder that when you are a f*ck-up, even a basically good f*ck-up, it has consequences. The seeds of negative karma that may not even have ripened for four, eight, or twelve lifetimes can suddenly actualize into disasters and calamities in a most immediate and painful way." Cheerful, no? But, it's not all gloomy.
At this time of year, in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition, we practice a chant called the Pacifying of the Turmoil of Mamos every night. It's a protector chant, so we're supplicating to protector deities.  But, what does that mean? Are there real flesh and blood creatures out there whom we're asking for protection? Maybe. But, I prefer this explanation: "The deities or dharmapalas [dharma = truth, teachings, palas= protectors] symbolized in the protector chants are, in one sense, projections of our own inherent potentialities to overcome these obstacles. So, in supplicating them, we are arousing our own inherent wakefulness and confidence to rise above these negative energies."
So, not completely cheerless after all, and a great reminder that there are repercussions to all our actions. Every time we don't engage in mindful speech or action, it is never just left at that - never just a singular event - even if it may seem that way at the time. On the other hand, let's not be so hard on ourselves. We're not enlightened just yet and we've likely done many things over this past year which were not mindful, but we're working on it, working on uncovering the seed of right body, speech and mind that already exists inherently within us. The Shambhala website offers this description of the
purpose behind the mamo chant: "The mamo chant is recited in order to pacify the karmic cause of personal, social, and environmental chaos that accumulates at the year's end." The chant contains some pretty esoteric imagery and was originally only practiced by vajryana students, but the Skayong decided to open it up to all practitioners as he believed the chant would be helpful to all of us, regardless of our level of meditation practice.
In some ways, it can seem punitive – these karmic forces coming to call each year. But, in reality, it's just a very concentrated reminder of the interconnectedness of all our actions. We call upon the protective energies around us during this time period and we take time each day to meditate and reconnect with our basic goodness before going forward into a new year, which we enter in joy and celebration and with a heightened awareness of the workings of karma and how our own actions affect the world around us. Although it's preferable to practice the mamo chant with others led by a vajryana practitioner at your local meditation center (misery loves company and so do protectors?), there is a shorter version of the chant you can do at home. Since we have a small child, DH and I are practicing the chant at home – trying to do so before bed at least every other night.
I'm not usually a superstitious person, but this time of year makes me nervous. I do try and lay low as much as possible and I try and be really mindful about the possibility of accidents, especially around the home with my child and out driving in the world. It's impossible to stop life though. For instance, at work I have to give a negative evaluation to an employee during this time period – but, I'll try to be really mindful in what I say during the evaluation - maybe more so than I would have been at another time of year.   A potential doula client calls me and I have to have a consultation with her during this
time – I can't very well tell her "no, we'll have to wait to meet even though you're due in 6 weeks because, don't you know it's dön season??" But, I will be very mindful of my speech and actions during that meeting and not make any further moves (signing the contract, taking payment, etc) until after Shambhala Day.
Regardless of whether you believe in protector deities or karma, it's not a bad thing to have one time of year where you are really reflecting on your actions and the repercussions of them, both long and short term, as well as the interconnectedness we all share and about our basic goodness. Besides, there's not just negative karma - what about all the great things you've done this year - both big and small that have had ripple effects you could not have dreamed of? This year, I'm trying to put my nerves aside and focus on those things, but I will definitely breathe a sigh of relief next Wednesday, when we celebrate the new year. What ways can you increase your mindfulness over the next year? Maybe
there is one small thing (for me, it is mindful speech, which I will be working on a lot in the coming year) you can work on.  What is one unskillful thing you engaged in during the last year that had repercussions you didn't foresee? What about a mindful action you took or words you spoke that likewise had a ripple effect?
Be safe in the coming days. With the ending of dön season, Don Draper
season is just around the corner!

Link here for a more detailed description of the mamos and what they are.

Postscript:  In the couple days since writing this post and originally publishing it in its not so cleaned up form, the don season has really hit my home.  One of my grandmothers passed away and my toddler became ill with a sinus and ear infection.  Also, small things happened like letters coming the mail telling us we owed sums of money we don't have and then the mamos ate the graham crackers we bought during yesterday's food shopping (where else did they disappear to?).  Is don season a self-fulfilling prophecy, I wonder? Although I am nervous to travel at this time, my child is feeling better and we will make the 4 hour drive to my grandmother's wake and funeral tomorrow.  I hope the mamos will be appeased by the graham crackers (they're organic!) and protect us through these last 2 days of this challenging season.  We're in the home stretch!