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Khadro-la teaching at Tushita Meditation Centre, McLeod Ganj, India, March 9, 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
Tushita Meditation Centre is a bustling FPMT center in Dharamsala – the seat-in-exile of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Tushita staff recently wrote Mandala, sharing news about a visit from Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la), an extraordinary Tibetan woman and teacher respected by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness.
Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la) very kindly accepted our request to give a teaching and Q&A session on Sunday, March 9. Although Khadro-la has been to Tushita Meditation Centre many times as a special guest of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, this was the first time that she had given a teaching here alone.
Our main gompa is currently being extensively decorated and our only option was to squeeze our 58 “Introduction to Buddhism” course students, 13 “Pre-Ordination Course” attendees, Tushita staff and volunteers and the many visitors from the local area into our very small Medicine Buddha gompa. Some people had to sit outside on the balcony in the freezing cold weather (and through the thunderstorm that began halfway through the teaching!)
It was an incredible event, translated beautifully by Ven. Namdak.
One highlight was Khadro-la’s humbling answer to a playful question from our audience. A student from our “Introduction to Buddhism” course asked, “When you’re not teaching or meditating, what do you do for enjoyment?”
Khadro-la was warmly welcomed by Tushita Meditation Centre staff and students, March 9, 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
Ven. Namdak explained to us that he had translated this question as “what do you do to relax?” While our more mundane minds were thinking “watching movies” or “going out for dinner,” Khadro-la’s answer floored us:
“In order to relax, (one should) examine the mind in a way that you look at the mind and how the mind reacts to the different objects of the senses – so the different objects of the eye sense power or the different objects of the ear – and then see how the mind actually engages in different imputations towards those objects. Then also realize, or think about, that the mind basically by itself – in its nature – doesn’t have to engage in those objects, and can just abide in the nature of the mind itself. And that is more or less the only thing to say about that.
“Basically, in short, I feel extremely lazy and I don’t have much knowledge of the Buddhadharma. The only thing I aspire to in life, and the only thing I really feel a lot of affection for, is bodhichitta and emptiness. They are two aspects of mind I really aspire a lot to, and really like to think about and like to put into practice.”
Listen to the audio recording of the full teaching and find more photos on Tushita’s Facebook page.
Khadro-la at Tushita Meditation Centre, McLeod Ganj, India, March 9, 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
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