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Mandala
The newly ordained Ven. Gyalten Samten (right) with Geshe Sherab, Sera Je Monastery, November 2012. Photo by Bill Kane.
“History was made in South India at Sera Je Monastery when a 38-year-old Indian woman named Barkha Madan, who works as a model and Bollywood actress, became one of the first non-Himalayan Indian Tibetan Buddhist nuns in FPMT.
“… Now Ven. Gyalten Samten, she remains as beautiful as she is strong, kind, unpretentious and gentle, and she has great faith in Lama Zopa Rinpoche. She felt like she was taken by the hand and guided ‘to this end’ and feels that her being a nun will come out well for all sentient beings. ‘There is no turning back,’ she said. ‘On November 4, 2012, at 11:20 a.m., I was reborn.’”
From Mandala January-March 2013
Marcel Bertels, at the Third Kopan Meditation Course, December, 1972. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
“As a child, I had an enormous attraction to and curiosity about Christianity,” shares long-time student Marcel Bertels, “but as there was nothing and no one to nurture this curiosity, even in the Roman Catholic system of which I was part, it was gone by the time I was eight or nine years old. After that, I basically had no more space for anything to do with religion.”
However, Marcel later did find space for Buddhism.
“Lama Zopa Rinpoche was a huge shock to my system. I had never seen or met anyone who was so far beyond a normal human being. Rinpoche’s demeanor was always very stern and serious in those days, completely single-minded, like there was simply no time to joke, quite different from how we experience Rinpoche now…”
From Mandala January-March 2013
Geshe Sherab, Tasmania, Australia, August 2012. Phots by Kunchok Gyaltsen.
Geshe Thubten Sherab was born in 1967 in the Manang district of Nepal. He entered Kopan Monastery at age nine. He completed his Geshe degree at Sera Je Monastic University in South India, followed by a year at Gyumed Tantric College. Over the last decade, Geshe Sherab has taught all over the world as well as serving several years as Kopan’s Headmaster.
In 2012, Geshe Sherab spent three months touring the FPMT Australian centers, organized by FPMT in Australia. Mandala spoke with Geshe Sherab in October 2012 while he was at Kadam Sharawa Centre, located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Mandala: Are there advantages that Westerners have in terms of studying Dharma?
Geshe Sherab: Yes, absolutely. One of the advantages they have is that most have a good basic education, so when you explain the Dharma, I think it much easier for them to understand and to really get the essence of the Dharma. They are more interested in meditation and the essence of the Dharma than the ritual aspects. I believe that is good, it’s an advantage I think. When someone gets too into the ritual aspects, sometimes it is possible that he can lose the essence of the Dharma.
Westerners also come with a bit of a skeptical mind and I think that helps them too. When you come with that kind of skepticism and doubt, you take more caution, you reflect more, you contemplate more, and therefore you can develop greater understanding and knowledge.”
Read more …
From Mandala January-March 2013
Caravan for Peace participants at Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., August 2012. Photo: www.caravan4peace.org.
Within the FPMT mandala, there are many practitioners witnessing first-hand the violence, suffering and chaos that result from war, poverty, crime, corruption and other destructive social forces. In Mexico, the trafficking of illegal drugs has wrecked havoc on Mexican society. Karla Ambrosio, FPMT’s national coordinator for Mexico, shares how the teachings of Buddha are offering peace, insight and direction to those impacted by this violence and how a movement has developed that calls for compassion and love instead of retaliation and hate.
“Rafa is the brother of Juan Carlos and their lovely mother is Doña Mary, who is looking for her four lost sons. Two years ago, Jesús and Raúl made a journey from Michoacán to Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, where they were kidnapped. A year later, Gustavo and Luis disappeared in Veracruz on the Atlantic Coast. The four brothers used to travel to maintain the family business. They are four of the 10,000 desaparecidos (missing people) and the 70,000 murdered when the war against drug trafficking began in Mexico in 2006.
“Doña Mary and her sons Rafa and Juan Carlos are members of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, a citizens’ movement that was born in 2011 when a Mexican poet named Javier Sicilia raised up his voice after his son was murdered and said fearlessly: ‘No more blood! We are sick and tired!’”
From Mandala January-March 2013
Mummification box of 9th Khalkha Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche, July 2012
Mongolia, while a traditionally Buddhist country, faced decades of religious oppression in the 20th century. The importance of Mongolia’s spiritual leaders during that period, however, did not decrease. Özer Rinpoche explains the significance of His Holiness the 9th Bogd Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche and the mummification of his holy body.
“His Holiness the Dalai Lama made the decision that the 9th Khalkha Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche should be mummified, a process not decided on or performed by just anyone. Mummification is not used for all lamas, only for the very highest of the high Lamas. Rinpoche’s mummification will be finished around March or April 2013 and his holy body will be placed in the former library of Ganden Monastery, which will be open for the public to receive blessings.”
Read more …
From Mandala January-March 2013
A young nun from the newly established Gephel Shadrubling Nunnery, 2012. Photo by Mary Wellhoner.
Dr. Mary Wellhoner, a student of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, writes about the growing number of opportunities for Ladakhi nuns to access education and health care.
“Supported by the progressive policies of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, advanced Buddhist education for girls and women in Asia is taking a foothold in Ladakh. A somewhat revolutionary concept for traditional Tibetan culture and developing Asian countries, His Holiness and Lama Zopa Rinpoche have promised equal education for girls and women. As a result, a cohort of bright, energetic young female geshes is on the horizon at Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery, FPMT’s largest nunnery in Kopan near Kathmandu, and at nunneries in Dharamsala under the guidance of the Tibetan Nuns Project.”
From Mandala January-March 2013
Geshe Sopa at Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s house in Aptos, California, 2009. Photo by Kalleen Mortensen.
Wisdom Publications has just published Geshe Lhundub Sopa’s autobiography, Like a Waking Dream. In it, Geshe-la shares detailed memories of his youth and early days in the Tibetan monastic system and offers a first-hand perspective on exile and establishing Tibetan Buddhism in the West.
Paul Donnelly served as the editor of Like a Waking Dream. In 1989, Donnelly entered the Ph.D. program in Buddhist Studies at U.W. and became a student of Geshe-la. He graduated in 1997 and now is an associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University.
Mandala managing editor Laura Miller talked to Donnelly from his home in Flagstaff, Arizona, about working on the book with Geshe-la. The conversation took place over Skype in October 2012. They began the discussion talking about how the book came to be.
Listen to the audio interview on fpmt.org/mandala/.
From Mandala January-March 2013
An enthusiastic crowd of nearly 2,000 people of all ages – including Kurukulla Center members, Boston-area Tibetans and Kurukulla Center neighbors – listened to His Holiness speak on universal human values and inter-religious harmony. For part of his talk, His Holiness spoke directly to the gathered Tibetan community in Tibetan. He expressed his admiration for how they have preserved their language and culture in exile and said that this, along with the strong spirit of Tibetans in Tibet, serves as grounds for hope for the future.
You can read the complete story of His Holiness’ visit in the print edition of Mandala January-March 2013.
Kurukulla Center has kindly provided Mandala with photos of the event, which we are happy to share here.
From Mandala January-March 2013
Geshe Lama Konchog. Photo by Nick Dawson.
Geshe Lama Konchog came to Kopan Monastery in 1984, where he spent nearly 18 years devoting himself to teaching the monks and nuns there. Before arriving at Kopan, Geshe Lama Konchog had spent twenty-five years meditating in caves in the Tsum region of Nepal. Geshe Lama Konchog was born in Tibet in 1927 and educated as Sera Monastery. He was known then for his profound commitment to Dharma practice. But it was only after his death in 2001 that his extraordinary qualities were revealed to a wider circle of Dharma practitioners and students. His disciple Geshe Tenzin Zopa detailed the accomplishments of this modern-day Milarepa and shared them with Ven. Robina Courtin for this story published in Mandala March-April 2002.
Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Centre, 2012
In 1982, the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Centre (HBMC) was founded in Kathmandu as the Himalayan Yogic Institute (HYI) by Pam and Karuna Cayton, long-time students of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Thirty years later, their daughter Arya became the spiritual program coordinator there, bringing her experience and fresh perspective to the city center.
“It wasn’t my plan to work at the center my parents were involved in starting 30 years ago. I came to Nepal in 2011 with an idea for starting a social/creative business venture and with an undeniable interest in connecting more with the country where I was born and where spiritual practice is encouraged and accessible.
… After finishing college and doing the November course for the first time in 2009, I was amazed by how many people my age were there at Kopan. Up until that point, if I went to teachings at a center, I was usually the youngest person in the room and because of this I never really had Dharma friends my age. As my personal connection with Buddhism developed, the need for support from peers became more important. At the 2009 November course, I found it really refreshing and inspiring to meet so many young people from all over the world who had a genuine interest in the Dharma. Since then, I have noticed that many people my age are interested in Buddhism, but they just haven’t met with the right situation to learn more. Now as the current SPC at Himalayan Buddhism Meditation Centre, my wish is to help create a really welcoming and comfortable community space for people of all ages and backgrounds to explore Buddhism.”
From Mandala January-March 2013
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Ksitigarbha Day at Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, California, U.S., September 15, 2012. Photo by Dionne Wilson.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche shares techniques for transforming life’s difficulties into spiritual strength in “Seeing Problems as Positive,” an excerpt from Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive’s How to Practice Dharma: Teachings on the Eight Worldly Dharmas.
“For worldly people the confusion caused by suffering only brings more suffering and confusion, but as Dharma practitioners we have the opportunity of making suffering extremely beneficial by using it to cut confusion rather than to create it. In order to achieve enlightenment we have to experience both physical and mental difficulties, but bearing such difficulties is incredibly worthwhile because by doing so we reach a state where all suffering ceases forever. As we progress along the path to enlightenment, problems become fewer and fewer and therefore whatever we experience at this time only helps to bring about the end of the suffering that has no beginning.”
From Mandala January-March 2013
Rigzin is king of the table! Animal Liberation Sanctuary, Nepal, October 2012.
Kalarupa, the goat, is a resident of the Animal Liberation Sanctuary at Kopan Monastery. For the latest online edition of Mandala, Kalarupa shares news of the activities at the sanctuary, where exciting developments are happening.
“I hear the people sometimes talking about the lower realms – ‘We have to get them out of the lower reams!’ – and they look at us,” Kalarupa writes. “I’m the tallest goat here, and I can tell you I wouldn’t want to be a short goat. That’s the lower realms, in my opinion.”
Read more from Kalarupa as part of the online edition of Mandala January-March 2013.