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His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the Jangchup Lamrim teachings, Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, India, December 2015. Photos by Cynthia Karena.
FPMT student Cynthia Karena shared with Mandala observations from the final teachings in the Jangchup Lamrim series given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. During the four-year series, His Holiness transmitted and taught on 18 important lam-rim texts and commentaries:
There’s a long line of monks and nuns on the horizon with their maroon robes flowing in the breeze, making their way through the fields towards Tashi Lhunpo Monastery for the last of the Jangchup Lamrim teachings in South India in late December 2015.
Over 30,000 people, including monks from surrounding monasteries, are here. Nothing like the hundreds of thousands that were expected for the cancelled Bodhgaya Kalachakra event in January 2016, but the upside is attending a more comfortable event, with the freedom to move about without being too squashed and being able to find a clean toilet relatively quickly and easily (a necessity for most of us in India).
30,000 people attended the Jangchup Lamrim at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery
Older Tibetans in traditional dress, Sangha, plus us Westerners do korwa around His Holiness’ quarters each morning before teachings start, which surprisingly settles my mind. This also turns out to be where VIPs arrive, and is a wonderful opportunity to greet Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Ling Rinpoche, Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme) and others as they arrive each morning.
Attendees at the Jangchup Lamrim, Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, December 2015
Dotted in among the audience are beautifully wrinkled and grey haired old women with long plaits interwoven with ribbon, and old Tibetan men who know how to sport a felt hat.
It’s wonderful and inspiring to see so many Sangha listening, praying and chanting. Every molecule in my being feels like it is vibrating along with the sound of the deep resonant chanting, especially at the end when the chanting becomes louder and stronger.
Twice a day, monks run through the crowds with large hot teapots – amazingly, people don’t get hit in the head or burned by spilled tea. Butter tea in the cool mornings fortifies us, and sweet tea in the afternoon provides a sugar rush to wake us up for the last part of the day.
Generosity is a hallmark of these teaching events, with not only tea but a delicious lunch generously provided to – amazingly – over 30,000 people every day, as well as free consultations by Tibetan doctors. His Holiness also spoke of being generous to beggars, and importantly to give with respect.
Monks with teapots during Jangchup Lamrim
However, as always at these large events, seeing mountains of empty plastic bottles around the monastery is depressing. Isn’t there another way to distribute water? Perhaps huge filtered water stations where we can fill up our own bottles, for a price, might be a good start. I’m hoping someone who knows more about environmentally sound water distribution will think of a solution.
His Holiness with the five dakinis during long life puja
The long life puja for His Holiness brought the unexpected delight of seeing dakinis – monks dressed in elaborate brocade costumes.
One evening at Sera Je, we were briefly chatting to His Holiness’ translator. His mobile phone rang and I thought, Wow, he would have the Dalai Lama’s number. But apparently His Holiness doesn’t use a mobile phone, or surf the net.
There are many profound concepts His Holiness spoke about, from attachment and karma to tenets and emptiness, but looking at my notes, the last thing I write before the teachings finish is: “The most important thing is to give up self-centeredness.” Despite traveling all the way to India to hear amazing teachings by His Holiness, I take this as a sign to keep going with the basics.
With the support of the Preserving the Lineage Fund, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was able to offer tea to 32,000 participants and money offerings to the 18,100 Sangha present during the teaching event.
Cynthia Karena is a member of Tara Institute in Melbourne, Australia, who regularly travels to India. She is also a journalist, researcher and contributor to Mandala.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, New York, New York, US, August 2015. Photo by Edward Sczudlo.
Happy Tibetan new year to all our dear friends!
With love from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and
everyone at FPMT International Office
– Lama Zopa Rinpoche, July 2015
“Happy Losar” by Raven Jones
Liberation Prison Project student Raven Jones recently wrote Mandala to share his annual Losar (New Year) greeting card. Raven hand drew and colored the card and sent it in the mail to Mandala.
In celebration of the year Fire Monkey 2143, Raven illustrated a monkey on roller skates circumambulating Four-Arm Chenrezig. Raven included this prayer:
“May this be a year we all can joyfully attain Dharmic realizations and move – if not to enlightenment – closer to it!!!”
Raven holds the unique distinction of being the only FPMT Masters Program Homestudy student to complete the program entirely from prison, which he discusses in the interview “Liberation through Education.”
Read more about the relationship between Liberation Prison Project (LPP) students and volunteers in “One Letter at a Time: Liberation Prison Project Transforms Prisoners and Their Dharma Friends,” an article from Mandala July-December 2015. Find more Mandala archive stories about LPP online.
Geshe Dorji Damdul teaches at Choe Khor Sum Ling, Bangalore, India, November 2015. Photo courtesy of Choe Khor Sum Ling.
Student Ven. Gyalten Rabten shares the latest news from Choe Khor Sum Ling in Bangalore, India:
Around 25 people attended an intensive 10-day teaching program November 6-15, 2015, organized by Choe Khor Sum Ling in Bangalore. It was taught by Geshe Dorji Damdul, an eminent scholar and translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and current director of Tibet House-New Delhi. The teaching was on chapter two of Pramanavartika, a commentary by Acharya Dharmakirti on Acharya Dignaga’s salutation verse in his Pramannasamuchaya (Compend
Geshe-la, with his exceptional combination of superb knowledge in Buddhist philosophy, teaching and communication skills, was able to dissect and clarify for us the logical reasons and meanings behind many of the nuances contained in the text. He interspersed his teachings energetically with many personal anecdotes, practical experiences and examples to simplify various complex theses and concepts for our easy understanding. Despite the long hours with few breaks in between, most students attended all the sessions and participated enthusiastically in the teachings. Geshe-la patiently answered the various questions, doubts and qualms which arose, often due to his constant challenge for us to think beyond the norm. The participants were extremely fortunate and grateful to Geshe-la for his translation of the text into English.
It was due to his kindness that probably for the first time ever ordinary people like us had the rare opportunity to study this precious text outside Tibetan monastic institutions. The teachings concluded on an auspicious note with the reading of an extract from the first Gaden Tripa Venerable Gyaltsab Dharma Rinchen’s commentary on the text and the center’s request for Geshe-la to visit and teach us again very soon!
Choe Khor Sum Ling students receive teachings from Geshe Dorji Damdul, Bangalore, India, November 2015. Photo courtesy of Choe Khor Sum Ling.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
On World Leprosy Day 2014, Adriana Ferranti (at right with blue bag) works with MAITRI staff and volunteers, January 2014. Photo courtesy of Adriana Ferranti.
Every year MAITRI Charitable Trust participates in World Leprosy Day, founded in 1953 by French writer and humanitarian Raoul Follereau. Director Adriana Ferranti serves some of India’s poorest people in the state of Bihar and has worked for 25 years to eradicate Hansen’s disease (leprosy), a treatable bacterial infection, and to reduce the stigma against physical disability associated with the disease. World Leprosy Day 2016 is on January 31.
Last year, for World Leprosy Day 2015, Adriana and her staff decided to share a brief video to illustrate the work they do daily.
Watch “MAITRI World Leprosy Day” on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/UFe1FQQ71CA
MAITRI Charitable Trust invites all FPMT students and supporters to participate in World Leprosy Day with donations and with prayers and practices dedicated to eradicating leprosy and its stigma, to the prevention of new leprosy-related disabilities, and to the the rehabilitation of those already with disabilities.
Mandala brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Ven. René Feusi, 2010
“In the 1990s, I went to Bodhgaya to do two months’ retreat. I had rented a cabin in Bodhgaya and one of the texts I had with me with was Bodhicharyavatara. It was Stephen Batchelor’s translation. While doing retreat there, they started to build a cabin just in front of mine. There were 20 or 30 Indians from early morning into late in the afternoon building and talking, and I started getting quite annoyed and angry. I was supposed to do retreat and was expecting quiet surroundings. I realized I could leave and try to find another place or try to make the best out the situation. And that’s when I remembered Shantideva’s chapter on patience,” FPMT registered teacher Ven. René Feusi shared in the January-June 2016 issue of Mandala while describing the evolution of his newest book, The Beautiful Way of Life, a distillation of Shantideva’s seminal work.
“I read it again and again, and liked it very much, but found that the way it was written was so flowery that I had difficulty following the stream of reasoning. So I said to myself, ‘Let’s attempt to write out what he actually says,’ taking away all the embellishments. What is his stream of ideas on how to remove anger? That’s how I started. It was enjoyable work. I discovered Shantideva’s text in a more intimate way. I worked on a few chapters there in Bodhgaya, and over the years, each time I would be in retreat, I would take it up again and do some more of the text.
“I went over it many, many times because new translations of Bodhicharyavatara would come out. I used at least five different translations to write The Beautiful Way of Life, each time seeing if there were some words that would be more appropriate from here or there. I lived at Vajrapani Institute in California for seven years and once showed the director, Fabienne Pradelle, what I had done and she said, ‘Oh, that’s great, you should finish it.’ Slowly, slowly over the years I finished it. She and another friend, Judith Kondo, went over the manuscript to polish up the English. We worked on it together. …”
Read the complete interview as a PDF.
First published in the January-June 2016 print issue of Mandala available through the FPMT Foundation Store or as a benefit of the Friends of FPMT program, you can now read the entire interview plus an excerpt from The Beautiful Way of Life as part of Mandala‘s January-June 2016 online content.
Martha Cabral blesses dog, Sedona, Arizona, US, December 2015. Photo via Maitreya Loving Kindness Tour’s Facebook page.
“The final North American Maitreya Loving Kidnesss relic tour event was held at Yavapai College in Sedona, Arizona, December 12-13, 2015,” said Karen Smith, who was there. “It was an intimate venue with magnificent views of the famous Sedona Red Rock vistas. The event was hosted by Andrew Facca and Jakob Merchant and staffed by a wonderful volunteer team, many of whom had flown in just for the occasion from various parts of the US and Canada.
“There was a steady stream of visitors over the weekend and many people and pets were blessed by the relics of Buddha and other Buddhist masters. The traveling tour managers, Martha Cabral and Ani Norbu, led emotional opening and closing ceremonies with reminders about the power of loving kindness and gave special thanks to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who initiated the tour almost two decades ago. The European tour concluded in Ontinyent, Spain the same weekend.
“The first Maitreya Loving Kidnesss event took place in Taipei, Taiwan, in March 2001. Since then, there have been over 868 events displaying the relics in 68 countries. We estimate that almost 2.5 million people have been personally blessed by the holy relics. All of the touring relic collections will be placed on permanent display at the Maitreya Projects in Bodhgaya and Kushinagar, India, on the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.”
Watch “Maitreya Loving Kindness Tour Pet Blessings” on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/S8LVTVUsM7o
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
His Holiness the Karmapa, Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, New Delhi, India, December 2015. Photo by Abhijeet Kumar.
Ven. Kabir Saxena shares news about His Holiness the Karmpa’s recent December 2015 visit to Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre in New Delhi, India:
We were really fortunate that His Holiness the Karmapa fulfilled his promise to visit Tushita just before Christmas. It was a short morning visit, but very sweet.
Director Dr. Renuka Singh, in her welcome speech, quoted His Holiness the Dalai Lama who has said that whereas the last century belonged to people of his generation, the 21st century belongs to young leaders like the Karmapa, who have a great responsibility to guide people in these challenging times.
His Holiness the Karmapa started his visit by saying how he felt a good spiritual feeling as soon as he entered Tushita and that he appreciated that.
His Holiness the Karmapa, Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, New Delhi, India, December 2015. Photo by Abhijeet Kumar.
In his short interaction with the approximately 30 people who had gathered, His Holiness said that the emphasis given to mindfulness practice at the present time has not been wholly positive. He felt it had been commercialized and thus its effect cheapened. He warned us against using Dharma in this way. His Holiness also stressed the tremendous importance of motivation in our practice. This determines whether what we do is Dharma or not.
His Holiness then carefully ate one biscuit and nodded appreciatively.
Then, while Ven. Kabir Saxena read out some words of thanks, people bustled around His Holiness to have photos taken with him, to which he kindly and patiently consented.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s thanks to His Holiness for visiting were conveyed, as well as a plea for His Holiness’ guidance in these degenerate times. We requested His Holiness to have a long and healthy life, for his holy wishes to be fulfilled and recalled a moving image His Holiness himself had used some years back in which he said he would like to have the moon always be the bearer of his love for us, even when his body is no longer present.
After His Holiness left, the glow of his love still pervaded the small Tushita gompa. How fortunate we are!
Watch “His Holiness 17th Karmapa Blesses Tushita – Delhi on 21-12-2015” on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9iEsxXVdYw
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Kshitigarbha statue at Land of Medicine Buddha, California, US, January 2015
Ven. Losang Drimay reports on Land of Medicine Buddha’s 24-hour New Year’s Kshitigarbha “mantra-thon” to help fulfill Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice to pacify earthquakes, particularly those on the West Coast of the United States. Rinpoche has asked FPMT students to complete this advice by January 31, 2016:
Kshitigarbha statue. Photo courtesy of Ven. Losang Drimay.
With one month left to accomplish the practices recommend by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to pacify earthquakes in California and throughout the world, Land of Medicine Buddha held a 24-hour mantra-thon as a push to accumulate more recitations of the Kshitigarbha long mantra, one of the practices advised by Rinpoche. Over the 24 hours, we collectively recited 6,253 long mantras. As of January 11, Land of Medicine Buddha and other FPMT centers have collected 479,828 of the recommended 1.8 million long mantras, which is just over a quarter of the way towards the goal.
The mantra-thon went from 10 a.m. on December 31 to 10 a.m. on January 1. We had anywhere from 17 people (during the 11 p.m. session) to one person (during the 3 a.m. session), with six to eight being typical. Sessions began each hour with a 15-minute break between and a rotation of session leaders.
Staff member and participant Laurel Woolley said, “I thought it was a memorable and powerful way to bring in the New Year with the sangha, especially in light of the environmental events that we are expecting this year.”
Work-study resident Sue Ann Powers said, “Denice and all the sangha were inspirational in fulfilling our guru’s wishes.”
Some people here are still having a hard time deciding to do this Kshitigarbha practice, even though they consider themselves Buddhists. I try to remind people that following the guru’s advice is a way to create the cause to have the gurus stay with us and continue to guide us. Also, I stress that doing what the guru requests is not a matter of blind faith. First, we check carefully that the guru is qualified and has only our best interest in mind. Then, if what he or she is telling us to do is not dangerous or harmful, we should try to do it.
In this case, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme) are trying to protect us from harm by giving us ways to purifying our negative karma in relation to the environment. That’s why we are doing these pacifying earthquake practices.
To help students everywhere with the mantra recitations, student Nadzeya Norton put together a subtitled video of Ven. Steve Carlier reciting the mantra clearly.
Watch “Kshitigarbha Practice Long Mantra” on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XurWgnnE8ro
The only way we are going to reach our goal of 1.8 million recitations is to get many more people reciting the mantra. If one million people recited the mantra just once, that’s a million right there! The mantra gets easier with practice. You just start out slow and gradually a rhythm develops. Thank you for helping!
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche having tea with Ven. Thubten Labdron (Trisha Donnelly) at Root Institute, India, February 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Long-time FPMT student Ven. Thubten Labdron (Trisha Donnelly) passed away on December 19, 2015, in Queensland, Australia, due to cancer, with which she had recently been diagnosed. She was 71.
Ven. Trisha offered decades of service to FPMT. She helped start Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre in Dehli, India, in 1978 and worked there until 1985. From there she went to Dharamsala to do retreat. In 1986 she traveled with Lama Zopa Rinpoche and a small group on Rinpoche’s first trip to Tibet. In the 1990s she lived for several years at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, doing her ngondro practice and working in the monastery clinic taking care of young monks. She also worked for the Maitreya Project from 1996 to 1998 while living at Kopan. In February 1999 Ven. Trisha, who was still a lay student at the time, became director of Root Institute in Bodhgaya, India. She left Root in December 2003 and got ordained. Then she returned for a second term as director at Root in 2007, remaining there until June 2015.
During her illness, Ven. Trisha was staying next to Chenrezig Institute in Queensland and was looked after by Sangha and lay friends. She spent her last hours at Dove House Hospice. When Ven. Trisha took her last breath, Ven. Yeshe Khadro, an old friend, was with her and on Skype with Ven. Holly Ansett who was with Lama Zopa Rinpoche in India. Rinpoche immediately began prayers for Ven. Trisha. Ven. Khadro was able to administer a holy relic pill offered by Rinpoche, who dedicated the Lama Chopa tsog on December 20 at Kopan House at Sera Monastery for Ven. Trisha.
Ven. Trisha will be remembered as a dedicated Dharma practitioner, a good friend and a wonderful, warm-hearted person by the countless FPMT students who had the good fortune to meet her.
Ven. Thubten Labron (Trisha Donnelly) before the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Maitreya Project in Kushinagar, India, December 2013. Photo by Andy Melnic.
Over the years, Ven. Trisha contributed several articles to Mandala, including an account from December 2013 of the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Maitreya Project in Kushinagar.
Mandala will share a complete obituary of Ven. Trisha in the July-December 2016 issue.
Thubten Gyatso with new marble statues for Thubten Shedrup Ling, August 2015. Photo courtesy of TSL.
Long-time student and monk, Thubten Gyatso, shared with Mandala news from Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery (TSL) in Australia:
All the monks and several volunteers have been working for six months to repair the fire damage to our new building, and at last we are nearing completion. The cost of repairs and replacement of destroyed equipment and holy objects has been completely covered by the generosity of many friends, in particular, the Vietnamese community of Melbourne.
Marble Tara statue carved for Thubten Shedrup Ling, 2015. Photo courtesy of TSL.
Now, Geshe Rapten from Sera Je and his translator, Losang Dorje from Nalanda Monastery, will be able to move directly into their new accommodation when they arrive in January. Geshe Rapten will be the new geshe for Atisha Centre.
Again through the generosity of the Vietnamese people, we have commissioned 1.2-meter (4-feet) high statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and the Sixteen Arhats, carved from white marble. These will be placed in the garden. In Saigon, another artisan is making similar-sized statues of Tara and Amithabha Buddha, copied from photographs of Mongolian statues made by the great bodhisattva Zanabazar. The artisan is also making a 2-meter (6.5-feet) high Thousand-armed Chenrezig for our new altar.
It appears that, on top of the current drought, we are facing the hottest and driest summer on record. With this and the recent theft of our AUS$5,000 solar powered water pump that brought water from a dam, our flowers are quite worried. But isn’t it wonderful that so much karma has been purified?
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
For more on Mandala January-June 2016, visit our webpage (https://fpmt.org/mandala/this-issue/), where you can also find this issue’s exclusive online content.
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