His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaching on “In Praise of the Dharmadhatu” by Nagarjuna, Bodhgaya, India, December 29-31, 2023. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama offered teachings on “In Praise of the Dharmadhatu” by Nagarjuna in Bodhgaya, India, from December 29-31, 2023. Cynthia Karena, Tara Institute (Australia) student stayed at Root Institute during these teachings and was able to talk to other FPMT students who attended the teachings as well as Tenzin Phuntsok Rinpoche, the twenty-one year old reincarnation Geshe Lama Konchock. She offers the following report of their words and wisdom as well as many beautiful photos of the event: 

Cynthia Karena (front) takes a selfie with the crowd when leaving His Holiness the Dala Lama’s teachings, Bodhgaya, December 2023.

Words have power, and when they are spoken by His Holiness the Dalai Lama they feel like they seep into your core being.

About 50,000 people—monks, nuns and lay people—were incredibly attentive as they listened to His Holiness’s amazing teachings on emptiness as he offered commentary on Nargajuna’s “In Praise of the Dharmadhatu” in Bodhgaya from December 29-31, 2023. On the first day, His Holiness said: “I do my best to cultivate the awakening mind of bodhicitta and an understanding of emptiness every day, not with a view to this life alone.”

The teachings were followed by a long life puja on New Year’s Day. What a great way to start the year!

I talked to a few people staying at Root Institute during this time. I thought staying here without Lama Zopa would be so sad, but there is a strong feeling of him being here, which is comforting and amazing.

“Root Institute is a manifestation of Rinpoche’s inspired vision,” shared Australian nun Ven. Tenzin Namdrol.

“Everything here is Rinpoche—the prayer wheel, the Nargajuna statue, the Maitreya statue, the statues on the plinths, the gompa and how it’s designed, everything here is Rinpoche, so he can’t be not here.”

Ven. Tenzin Namdrol in front of the Nagarjuna statue at Root Institute, Bodhgaya. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

Ven. Tenzin was also pointing out all the quotes by Rinpoche displayed around the place. She says she would never stay anywhere else in Bodhgaya, and if there was no room available, she’d just sleep under the Nargajuna statue.

Mark Hebblewhite, former Tara Institute management committee member, also always stays at Root Institute. He made friends with Kabir Saxena (current spiritual program coordinator of Tushita Meditation Centre in Delhi) when they were both in Bodhgaya together during the Kalachakra initiation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in December 1985.

Mark Hebblewhite and Kabir Saxena, dear old friends. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

“Kabir and I were part of the advance team for FPMT,” says Mark. “Kabir was here trying to find land for Root Institute, and I’d been asked to set up a restaurant to feed the Westerners who came to the Kalachakra. ”They were in Bodhgaya together for three months and formed a decades-long friendship. 

Mark also feels that Lama Zopa is still here. “He was here just last January,” reminds Mark. “Central at Root is a large prayer wheel. It has a clear bell that rings with each rotation of the wheel. I was told that Rinpoche was always pleased to hear that bell ring, day and night. I’ve been going out of my way to ring that bell loud and often during this visit. It pleases Rinpoche.”

Pilgrims joining His Holiness’s teachings in Bodhgaya, December 2023. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

 Mark noticed that the Dalai Lama’s constant theme, “that he kept coming back to,” was the problem we have as a whole society, dividing humanity up into us and them.  “And that’s based on ignorance. There are lots of antidotes to that sort of separated thinking, but it doesn’t come easily. He’s hoping that all people, including those here in Bodhgaya, can live in a way that they cease to be so divisive in the way they see humanity.” Mark thinks this is an ambitious idea. “Even for experienced students that’s really hard; so how easy is it going to be to achieve this? And we’re the ones who are here listening. I think it’s highly aspirational, but that’s the aspiration and Tibetan Buddhists are highly, highly aspirational.”

His Holiness talking about emptiness resonated with Mark. “There was a good lesson yesterday about the ‘I’ that’s labeled or designated upon the aggregates, which have arisen as a result of karma and causes, and the ‘I’ that’s overlayed on that, and which then engages in our life’s dramas. And the discipline and the mindfulness (required) to see which one we’re talking to or thinking about or identifying with at any particular time. That’s a work in progress, because the one that’s validly designated is not the one that gets caught up! That’s really a work in progress for me.”

Echoing Mark’s observations about His Holiness’s comments about the current state of the world, Ven. Lindy Mailhot, director of Chag Tong Chen Tong Centre in Hobart Tasmania, was moved by His Holiness’s words. “It felt so urgent, really urgent. There was something different today. His Holiness has said these words before, but it felt different today. There was an urgent message for the world. His Holiness also told us his realisations so publicly. It broke my heart but I don’t know why. I’m still thinking about it. His Holiness was making an urgent point. He was saying that enough is enough, and that compassion is the way forward; the world can’t continue like this anymore.” 

Monks in the mist, going to HIs Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings, December 2023. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

I also had a quick chat with the twenty-one year old Tenzin Phuntsok Rinpoche, the reincarnation of the great Geshe Lama Konchock, about His Holiness’s teachings while we were waiting for others to come and meet him.

Talking about afflictions, Phuntsok Rinpoche said, “you can’t see them.” “For example,” he explains, “the light rays of a butter lamp inside a pot would not be able to come out. So it’s the same thing for us. Our Buddha nature is covered up by afflictions. It’s hard to see it, but once everything’s been cleared, the nature comes out.”

He re-iterated His Holiness’s teachings by emphasizing that we need both wisdom and method when practicing Dharma. “I found that really important nowadays as well since I’m studying the wisdom part of it. I see that the studying part is important, but also we need to apply what we have been studying into the method as well, because just studying is not the end point of it. The whole point of studying and debating the philosophical side of Dharma is to be able to practice, is to be able to meditate, and to be able to visualize whatever we are studying. That’s the main point. So I felt that it applies to my life, and very important for all Dharma practitioners to focus on both sides of it (wisdom and method) no matter what level they are. Even if you are learning a little bit, you can apply what you’ve learnt into practice. And that is better than learning it and not applying it in real life at all. (His Holiness’s talks) were inspiring and apply to me as well.”

His Holiness waving to the crowd in Bodhgaya, December 2024. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

I also had the good karma to meet Phuntsok Rinpoche again at Gaya airport where we chatted for around an hour before our plane left about everything from the Eight Verses to monastery life and teaching techniques for the West.

The chatter among our group after meeting Phuntsok Rinpoche and earlier with Tenzin Urgyen Chonyi Rinpoche, the fifteen year old reincarnation of the great Khensur Urgyen Tseten, in Bodhgaya is that we feel incredibly fortunate that these young lamas (and others some of the group met at Sera Je Monastery a few weeks earlier) are part of the future of Tibetan Buddhism.

Hopefully we’ll still be around when they start teaching.

We offer grateful thanks to Cynthia Karena for offering this moving report and photos. 

Tara Institute students in Bodhgaya together for His Holiness’s teachings. Photo by Damien Busby.

For more information on His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his beneficial activities, please visit DalaiLama.com and also view His Holiness’s public schedule. 

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