Mandala

Lama Yeshe’s talk in Berkeley, California, in the summer of 1983 was given at a time when the world was in a state of anxiety about the threat of nuclear war.

From Mandala March-May 2002.

In Training for Buddhahood Ven. Tenzin Chonyi talks about the lam-rim, the genre of Tibetan Buddhist literature the serves as a step-by-step manual for spiritual and psychological development. “If you want to become an Olympic athlete,” Ven. Tenzin Chonyi points out, “you train your body. You find out how your body works, how it can be trained, and what to expect as you keep up your training schedule. And you would need to know what not to do.

“What if you want to train your mind? What if you want to train your mind? How do you join the ranks of the great spiritual teachers, yogis and saints? Is it really possible for an ordinary person to become fully enlightened? All these questions, and more, are answered in the lam-rim teachings.”

From Mandala June-August 2003.

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Osel Hita speaks at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, April 2012. Photo by Sirianni.

“The first step for harmonious communities is to be aware of your own actions and thoughts,” Osel Hita told a group of students in April 2012. 

A 50-minute recording of the talk is now available online. This was the first time Osel had spoken to a group of Western Dharma students in over a decade. Gomo Tulku also joined the discussion, which took place at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy.

In 2010, Osel Hita and Gomo Tulku along with Ling Rinpoche and Cherok Lama participated in a roundtable discussion with Mandala about being recognized as reincarnated “lamas” and the future of Buddhism. The young FPMT notables offered fresh and original views on how Buddhism fits into the 21st-century world.

“Religion is moved by the people,” Osel told Mandala. “It is connection between the unknown and known universes within and outside of us. Like many other religions, Buddhism is one more way of understanding and growing closer to our true essence.” 

Gomo Tulku, perhaps even more than his compatriots, is pushing into new territories, pursuing a long-held interest in becoming a musician. He has just released his second music video today, called “Let Me Down.”

You can learn about new recordings and teachings along with the latest FPMT news by reading the FPMT International Office News, a monthly e-newsletter. Subscribe online to have it delivered directly to your email inbox.

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

Dr. Renuka Singh interviews His Holiness the Dalai Lama for her book Women Reborn. In it, His Holiness discusses his greatest spiritual accomplishments and struggles, celibacy, and separating from his mother at a young age, among other topics.

From Mandala January-February 1998.

As president of the Tibetan Women’s Association, Rinchen Khadro was the inspiration and energy behind many of the social welfare projects to help the Tibetan refugee community in India. 

American nun Ven. Thubten Chodron talked to Rinchen Khadro (in October 1992) about her views about social work activities.

From Mandala November-December 1999.

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Kadampa stupa construction at Kadampa Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, May 2012

Kadampa Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, is making impressive strides with its project to build a new Kadampa stupa. The center reports, “For two months, we had been designing and building all the remaining concrete parts for the stupa ‒ an ‘upper cylinder’ to complete the vase section, a lid for the cylinder, and a harmika. These have all been built to sizes and shapes that we have been taught by Jampel Lama, who of course is with us every day in person, and by his comrades who are back in Nepal.”

Jampel watches as the assembled upper cylinder, lid and harmika are moved by forklift.

With the aid of a forklift, center members moved the concrete pieces weighing well over 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) each, making sure they all fit together.

With the completion of the last concrete parts, the stupa is ready for the blessing and filling ceremony. At the blessing ceremony, the cylinder will be filled with mantras and precious substances, and then the lid and harmika will be lifted into place and the ceremony completed.   

Jampel, who supervised the construction and decoration of the stupa at Kurukulla Center, will be adding more decorations to the harmika. You can see some of the decorations (above) that have already been completed on the throne section.

The stupa is situated in view of both passing drivers and those traveling by train on nearby tracks as advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. 

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

Adèle Hulse remembers some of the experiences that her son T.Y. had early on as a young resident of a Dharma center, concluding that ultimately her wish is to let him “find his own way in Buddhism.”

From Mandala July-August 1998.

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Lama Yeshe meditating in the botanical gardens, Berkeley, California, 1974. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

It’s no surprise that meditation continues to draw the media’s attention. More and more, its positive effects on the mind and body are being documented by scientists and its techniques are being taught in clinical settings. A 2007 national survey in the United States found that “9.4 percent of respondents (representing more than 20 million people) had used meditation in the past 12 months – compared with 7.6 percent of respondents (representing more than 15 million people) in a similar survey conducted in 2002.” In fact, U.S. National Institute of Health has a dedicated webpage on meditation’s health benefits, which include helping with anxiety, pain, depression, stress, insomnia and coping with chronic illness. All signs indicate this interest will only continue to grow. The inaugural International Symposia for Contemplative Studies recently brought together more than 700 neuroscientists, educators, and contemplative scholars from around the world to share cutting-edge research on the nature and workings of the human mind. We can sincerely rejoice in the benefits that people throughout the world may experience from this increased interest in and use of meditative techniques.

But for students of Mahayana Buddhism, a meditation practice has benefits beyond improved health (which is still important). Developing the ability to calm the mind facilitates one’s ability to progress towards enlightenment, when one can be of most benefit. Fortunately, FPMT offers many resources online to support the development of this kind of meditation practice. Discovering Buddhism’s Module 2 “How to Meditate” is available free of charge on the Online Learning Center as well as instruction on shiné or calm abiding meditation. In addition, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive offers many teachings from Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and other qualified teachers on meditation. These resources are freely available to you to deepen your Mahayana meditation practice and to share with others who might want to take the altruistic path of Dharma.

With 160 centers, projects, and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

How do we maintain a selfless attitude without falling into the co-dependent, helper/enabler syndrome – especially when complicated by low self-esteem issues? This is how Tubten Pende responded.

From Mandala August-September 2006.

Read interviews with two amazing Colombian youths that are a part of Children’s Movement for Peace, nominated in both 1998 and 1999 for a Nobel Peace Prize. Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ven. Roger Kunsang met the five teenagers chosen to represent the movement in their 1999 Nobel nomination last year in Los Angeles, where they visited local high schools and were being interviewed for a CNN documentary.

From Mandala September-October 2000

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Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling Director Massimo Corona reports the recent uncovering of a VHS tape from a decade ago, featuring the former CEO of FPMT Mongolia Ueli Minder and Thubten Gyatso (Dr. Adrian Feldmann). The rough but fascinating video documents some of FPMT’s early contributions to the restoration of Buddhism in Mongolia. The 13-minute video, now available on FPMT Mongolia’s YouTube channel, includes footage of the renovation of a historic monastery located near Ulaanbaatar where Drolma Ling Nunnery, the first residential Tibetan Buddhist nunnery in Mongolia, was established. Also making a brief appearance in the video is Ven. Bakula Rinpoche, who greatly contributed to the return of Buddhism in Mongolia.

The history of Buddhism in Mongolia is rich, going back to the third century B.C.E. But with the rise of communism in the 1920s and Mongolia’s close alignment with the Soviet Union, Mongolian Buddhists suffered heavy oppression, witnessing the extensive destruction of monasteries and temples and the purging of an extraordinary number of monks and lamas in the late 1930s. The relighting of the lamp of Buddhism in Mongolia signifies the strength and determination of Mongolians to reclaim this nearly lost aspect of their cultural heritage.

Be sure to check out more of Mandala’s recent coverage of Mongolia.

With 160 centers, projects, and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

This account of a day with Lama Zopa Rinpoche comes from Ven. Thubten Jinpa, Kopan Lama Gyupa, who has often served as Rinpoche’s second attendant and was with him recently in Dharamsala, India. Incredibly inspiring!

From Mandala July-September 2009.