receive our newsletters
join Friends of FPMT
FPMT Community: Stories & News
Jhado Rinpoche explores a tablet computer with Andy Wistreich and Geshe Kelsang Wangmo ready to assit, Dharamsala, India, July 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala, India, shares its news and access to downloadable teachings recorded at the busy center with Mandala readers:
Tushita continues to keep the Wheel of Dharma spinning with packed course after packed course and waiting lists of prospective students thirsty for spiritual knowledge. By the time of closing for our annual winter break, we’ll have had 16 introductory courses, six Intermediate-level courses and five group tantric retreats in 2014, as well as our popular daily drop-in sessions, regular pujas and special events attended by thousands.
In the second half of the year we hosted special guest teachings by Geshe Lhakdor, Jhado Rinpoche and Gen Gyatso.
Geshe Lhakdor teaching at Tushita on Choekor Duchen, Dharamsala, India, July 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
We celebrated the festival day of Choekhor Duchen on July 31, 2014 in the company of Geshe Lhakdor, who gave a wonderful teaching on the meaning of Buddhism. Audio of this teaching can be streamed or downloaded.
Geshe Lhakdor has been the director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala since 2005, after serving as His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s official translator for 16 years. (He still occasionally travels with His Holiness as a translator.) We felt so fortunate we are to have him come to teach here!
To wrap up the day, we had an inspiring Medicine Buddha puja led by Ven. Kabir Saxena and a light offering at our stupa. It was an amazing day and photos of our Choekhor Duchen events can be seen on our Facebook page.
Tushita took an unusual break this monsoon as most of our staff and students attended the Kalachakra initiation conferred by His Holiness in Leh, Ladakh, from July 3-14. During this period, Tushita was closed and there were no courses or drop-in events between these dates.
After the initiation in Leh, in order to support practitioners new and old, Tushita held two special Kalachakra related courses and retreats led by Kalachakra expert Andy Wistreich. On July 29, students on the “Harmony in Kalachakra” course were particularly fortunate in receiving special instruction from Jhado Rinpoche in the Vajrasattva gompa.
Jhado Rinpoche was unbelievably kind in also finding time to give a short talk to the “Introduction to Buddhism” students, and also checked in on the progress of our gompa painters to whom Rinpoche has given extensive advice on the painting of our four ceiling mandalas in recent months.
Gen Gyatso teaching at Tushita, Dharamsala, India, September 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
We also struck it lucky – once again – by having our very dear friend Geshe Kelsang Wangmo act as translator during all these events, as she also did at the teachings of Gen Gyatso, who led a three-day non-residential introductory lojong teaching entitled “Healing the Aching Heart” in September. Audio from these three-day teachings are available as are photos from this event.
We held an interfaith event by marking the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur on October 4. We were happy to grant the request of 17 Israeli students to allow them to observe Yom Kippur and to prepare for and break their fast with special meals. This post-fast feast was made possible by the kindness of Ven. Namgyel and Ven. Rita Riniker, who sponsored the meal. Ani Rita was in Israel at the time, and wrote:
I just wanted to thank Tushita for giving me the opportunity to be part of this and also for supporting the Israeli and Jewish students in their fast by giving them proper food on Friday. They will appreciate it very much and I am sure they will never forget how an institution of another religion supported the Jewish fast. This will be something new for them and maybe it will put the idea in their minds that different religions can not only live peacefully together, but also support each other. This is what has to happen in this area. Tushita started with being a great example of this.
Israeli guests celebrating Yom Kippur, Dharamsala, India, October 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche preparing to teach at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, UK, July 2014. Photo by Pierre Aloize.
Spiritual program coordinator Mike Murray from Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London reports on the center’s activities during June-August 2014:
This summer in London turned out to be wish fulfilling. Our kind guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche came in July to visit for the first time in a good few years. Over 70 people volunteered their time and offered financial support to make the visit a success and to make the center look its best.
Rinpoche was on top form. He gave one public talk in the Conway Hall and then gave five evenings of teachings at Jamyang, culminating in a Heruka Five Deities initiation. At the end, he kindly accepted a long life puja offering from the students. He was utterly extraordinary. The whole experience was uplifting, inspiring, heart opening, mind expanding and, at times, totally exhausting. May he come back very soon!
Afterward, Rinpoche left for America to be with Geshe Sopa at Deer Park. Our resident teacher Geshe Tashi Tsering once again led his annual nine-day summer lam-rim retreat in late July. This year, the students settled into retreat mode far more quickly than before, and the aura of contemplative caring calm that pervades retreat began to cover the building. For our very busy city center, this is our annual immersion in stability, clarity, kindness and calm. Geshe Tashi’s explanations and his insistence on combining training in shamata with lam-rim meditation from the beginning really gave students a taste of what transformation is possible.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche preparing for initiation, Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, UK, July 2014. Photo by Pierre Aloize.
In late August, we hosted a six-day teaching on the Heart Sutra by Glen Svensson. It was with this that we launched our very first five-year Basic Program course. It seems odd that up till now the English-speaking countries in Europe have not hosted this amazing course, but now one of them is. Glen is a seriously good teacher and the 20 or so students embarking on the Basic Program found out just how relevant to daily life the Heart Sutra teachings are.
Geshe Tashi Tsering is currently teaching the Sublime Continuum on Tuesdays and the Middle Length Lam-rim on Wednesdays and our autumn program is in full swing. In November we hosted the Heart Shrine Relic Tour; then a visit by the very the first female geshe, Geshe Kelsang Wangmo; then Andy Weber; then Geshe Sherab from Kopan; then Geshe Graham Woodhouse; and we end with a double nyung nä before Christmas. Along the way, there were Tara pujas, Medicine Buddha pujas, Lama Chöpa tsok pujas, recitations of the Golden Light Sutra and of the Sanghata Sutra It was an autumn of much merit!
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.
The Stupa for World Peace and Environmental Harmony, Spokin Lake, B.C., Canada. Photo courtesy of Gendun Drubpa Centre.
Dianne Noort from Gendun Drubpa Centre in Williams Lake in central British Columbia, Canada, sent Mandala some news about their stupa, their public programming, and their support of Tibetan refugees in the country:
Gendun Drubpa Centre is delighted to announce that the decorations on our Stupa for World Peace and Environmental Harmony are completed! Thank you to all who assisted in hosting Gelek Sherpa, who painted the stupa, for one month. Visiting the stupa at the Spokin Lake location is now truly an inspirational experience.
Resident teacher Ven. Tenzin Chogkyi has begun teaching “Cultivating Emotional Balance” to a group of 24 students.
In November, we completed a weekend intensive seminar on “Awakening Compassion: Teachings on the Bodhisattva Vows.”
A new day-long silent retreat format has been well received and the next topic is the four immeasurables on December 6.
About 10 of our students, plus family members, drove in support of the Tibetan Resettlement Project in British Columbia to Vancouver to attend His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Avalokiteshvara empowerment and teachings in October. At the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Canada’s Tibetan community, the Canadian government is facilitating the immigration of up to 1,000 Tibetans living in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India, an impoverished and remote region of northern India that borders on Tibet. In this region, displaced and stateless Tibetans live with the threats of illness, deportation, and intensifying military tensions between China and India. This humanitarian program allows them the chance to start a new life and pursue their dreams in Canada. To assist those who are most in need, His Holiness himself directed that Tibetans from this region be chosen as candidates to come to Canada.
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.
Geshe Tashi Tsering teaches on buddha nature to the students of Jamyang Bath, England, October 2014. Photo courtesy of Sandra Whilding.
“Jamyang Bath has a full program this autumn,” said study group coordinator Sandra Whilding. “We hosted a weekend of talks by Geshe Tashi Tsering on the subject of buddha nature. It was a great success and lots of people came and we were all inspired by Geshe-la’s talks which were delivered with warmth, clarity and humor. Geshe-la also gave us some helpful advice to help our group thrive and grow. An amazing weekend all round. Geshe Tashi has already agreed to come to Bath again at the end of February 2015.
“We enjoyed our visit by Geshe Kelsang Wangmo on November 12 who talked on ‘How Things Exist: A Buddhist View of Reality’ and look forward to Geshe Sherab on December 3 talking on compassion.”
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. Thubten Dechen with students from Do Ngak Sung Juk enjoy a delicious lunch during nyung nä, September 2014, Japan. Photo by Doc O’Connor.
Every year the students of Tokyo’s Do Ngak Sung Juk complete a nyung nä, an intensive two-day retreat connected with Chenrezig. Doc O’Connor reports:
On September 12-15, Do Ngak Sung Juk (DNSJ) had their annual nyung nä. The past two years we were at a traditional Japanese inn near a 2,000-year-old mountain temple. This year our larger venue was near the beach. Our international participants, led by Ven. Thubten Dechen from FPMT Taiwan’s Heruka Center, recited prayers in either Japanese, English, Chinese or Tibetan. As you see, global friends are welcome to join us!
A Japanese professor interested in Tibetan and historical Japanese Buddhism gave DNSJ a wonderful compliment. He said DNSJ is reviving practices that were done centuries ago in Japanese Buddhism. These include the nyung nä, animal liberations, and sutra recitations. DNSJ is able to do this due to the kindness of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT and DNSJ’s amazing translators!
Read more blogs about Do Ngak Sung Juk already published by Mandala.
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.
The new translators with Gen Sherab, Gen Teresa, Geshe Wangdak, Sally Dudgeon, Acha Choezom-la and Martha Urbina, celebrating the graduation from the first part of LRTZP 6, Dharamsala, India, October 2014. Photo courtesy of Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program.
Yaron Bahir, director of Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, recently shared this update with Mandala:
The first two years of the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program 6 finished on October 16. All 10 students successfully passed their exams. It has been two years of intensive study while facing many hardships. Now, the young lotsawas [translators] can see the result of their efforts. Not only are they able to speak and understand Tibetan, but they can understand and interpret teachings and especially understand His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings. That’s an achievement to rejoice about!
Out of the 10 students, four will continue on with apprenticeships in FPMT centers; two are waiting placement; one started interpreting in Dharamsala; one will work as a written translator for FPMT; one will join the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives; and one will continue to work in the Lotsawa School as director.
Thanks everyone who helped to make LRZTP 6 happen! Many thanks to teachers Gen Sherab and Gen Teresa; past directors Sally Dudgeon and Claire Yeshe Barde; conversation partner coordinator Geshe Wangdak; Martha Urbina; Acha Choezom and many others.
The next cohort, LRZTP 7, is now in the making and is scheduled to meet September 2015. If you wish to become a translator, please visit LRZTP.org or send an email to lrztp108@gmail.com.
Mandala brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from over 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.
“Wisdom Publications has been traveling across the globe over the past few months,” reports Wisdom’s Lydia Anderson. “In October, editors David Kittelstrom and Andy Francis attended the Tsadra Foundation’s Translation and Transmission conference in Colorado; publisher Tim McNeill attended the Frankfurt Book Fair; and staff members Daniel Aitken and Kestrel Slocombe attended the Buddhist Geeks conference, which Wisdom cosponsored. In September, Daniel also represented Wisdom at the CPMT meeting in Australia.
“Tim has continued to represent Buddhist publishing in the publishing trade press most recently participating in a Publishers Weekly forum on digital innovation.
“Wisdom authors Mark Siderits and Shoryu Katsura were awarded the Khyentse Foundation Prize for Outstanding Translation for their book Nagarjuna’s Middle Way, the second in our Classics of Indian Buddhism series. This is the second year in a row a Wisdom title has won this award. Last year’s prize went to Bhikkhu Bodhi’s The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha.
“Forthcoming and new publications from Wisdom include a new book by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Thubten Chodron, Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions [see Mandala‘s recent interview with Ven. Chodron]; the latest in the Tibetan Classic series, Mind of Mahamudra by Peter Alan Roberts; and a new reprint of Lama Yeshe’s Becoming Vajrasattva, edited by Nick Ribush. Wisdom continues to add new digital editions of our new and backlist books to our website for direct sale.”
Mandala brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from over 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.
Concrete beams arrive and are ready to be hoisted into place, Nalanda Monastery, Labastide St. Georges, France, November 2012. Photo by Martijn Prins.
Spiritual program coordinator Ven. Losang Tendar wrote to Mandala describing the recent construction completed as part of Nalanda Monastery’s 15-year master plan.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has expressed the importance of continually developing Nalanda Monastery’s facilities and study programs in order to create a major seat of monastic learning in the West. To achieve this, a master plan has been drawn up to skillfully develop Nalanda’s land and cater for its growth.
The Monks’ Building
During the first half of 2012, we finished some new infrastructure and landscaping at Nalanda. In September 2012, we started with the foundation of the new monks’ building, including the floor insulation, pipe work and drainage system. The monks’ building will have 18 rooms, including four double rooms and one room for physically disabled people. The building is influenced by the layout of the large monastic universities in India and features an external walkway.
Environmental Responsibility
Environmental responsibility is an essential part of the Buddhist path. As a result, Nalanda’s master plan aims at creating as much self-sufficiency as possible regarding electricity, water management and heating, as well as having a minimal impact on the environment.
The Second and Third Phases
The second phase – the erection of the walls and roof – will be finished by February 2015 due the generosity of one of Nalanda’s students.
The third phase of the building, which we’ll begin in 2015, still needs financial support. The third phase will allow the building to become habitable. Potential sponsors will be able to choose what they would like to contribute towards (e.g., furniture, showers, doors, walls, painting) and how much they would like to give. We estimate a need of €400,000 [US$499,160].
Nalanda Monastery makes its 15-year master plan available upon request (info@nalanda-monastery.eu). The master plan details the different phases of the project and options available to sponsors and donors.
Pouring concrete, Nalanda Monastery, Labastide St. Georges, November 2012. Photo by Martijn Prins.
Lama Yeshe wearing a ceremonial crown of the five dhyani buddhas for the Tara statue procession, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1976. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (lamayeshe.com).
Share your love, your wisdom, and your wealth, and serve other beings as much as possible. Live in harmony with one another and be an example of peace, love, compassion, and wisdom. Try to be happy in your practice, to be satisfied with your life. Be reasonable in the way you grow, and don’t ever think that it is too late.
And don’t be afraid of death.
Even if you are going to die tomorrow, at least for today keep yourself straight and clean-clear, and be a happy human being.
– Lama Yeshe, from When the Chocolate Runs Out, published by Wisdom Publications
Lama Yeshe was the founder of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche courtesy of Drepung Loseling Monastery’s Facebook page
Khensur Denma Locho Rinpoche ceased breathing and entered into clear light meditation on Thursday, October 23, at his home in McLeod Ganj, India, after a brief illness. He was 86 years old.
Denma Locho Rinpoche was a highly respected Tibetan Buddhist master and one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus. Denma Locho Rinpoche was also an incredibly powerful and important teacher to many FPMT students and to many monks and nuns at Kopan Monastery. He taught at several FPMT centers and led the Kopan Monlam for many years. He was regarded as an expert on Manjushri’s fierce form, Yamantaka, and on several other teachings and practices.
Denma Locho Rinpoche was born in Kham in eastern Tibet in 1928 and was recognized at the age of six as the reincarnation of a famous yogi, Choying Gyatso, from the local Selkar monastery. At age eleven, he entered Drepung Loseling Monastic College near Lhasa. He obtained his lharampa geshe degree at age 25 and completed his tantric exams at Gyume Tantric College in 1958. He received many teachings from the late Kyabje Ling Rinpoche (the senior tutor to His Holiness the Dalai Lama) and became the main lineage holder of all his teachings.
Denma Locho Rinpoche fled Tibet in 1959 for India, living in Sarnath for two years and then spending two years on a research fellowship at Calcutta University. He then became the principal of the Buddhist School of Dialectics in Ladakh. In 1967, he become abbot of a small monastery in Manali. He served as abbot of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Namgyal Monastery from 1986 to 1991 in Dharamsala, and visited the United States on several occasions, including one year teaching at the University of Virginia.
After hearing of Denma Locho Rinpoche’s passing on Thursday, Lama Zopa Rinpoche led a six-hour Lama Chopa and tsog, until 2:30 a.m., at Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery in Bendigo, Australia, with Sangha and some lay students. Lama Zopa Rinpoche spoke extensively about Denma Locho Rinpoche’s tremendous kindness.
“Denma Locho Rinpoche was always concerned and cared for FPMT,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche said. “He was one of the lamas from Tibet who was extremely learned and famous and good hearted and pure in the vows and this was a big loss for the Gelukpa teachings.”
Denma Locho Rinpoche had great concern for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT and the Maitreya projects. Many times he was consulted in regards to pujas or practices to overcome obstacles. He also often gave advice on what students could do for Rinpoche’s health and long life. Just before starting the recent month-long retreat in Australia, Ven. Roger Kunsang consulted Denma Locho Rinpoche about pujas that needed to be done to overcome obstacles.
Gelek Rimpoche shared that in early October Denma Locho Rinpoche had “an excellent meeting with His Holiness in Dharamsala. There are pictures showing His Holiness to be extremely happy, touching heads with [Denma] Locho Rinpoche.”
FPMT is deeply saddened by the loss of such a generous and profound teacher as Denma Locho Rinpoche.
Amitabha Buddha statue on Amitabha celebration day, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, August 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
By Ven. Holly Ansett
Preparations for Buddha Amitabha Celebration Day
While Gelek painted, Ven. Yarphel started to prepare the grounds for the celebration day, putting woodchips down and hanging giant flower baskets. A few weeks earlier, Rinpoche had said he would like to invite all the neighbors and local students for a big, joyous celebration day and that he wanted to compile a text for the day, which would need to be translated. There would also be many specific offerings that would need to be obtained. In addition, Rinpoche wanted to offer everyone a delicious meal and have musicians playing violins and guitars and dancing, etc. And so started the next month of preparations!
All the things that would be needed for offerings and for the celebration meal needed to be located and many of them needed to be shipped to the land, because the area is so isolated. The Sangha at Rinpoche’s house in California and in the local area all helped to actualize the event by doing everything from sending dried mushrooms and tofu to making intricate brocade banners. The Sangha in California shipped us the seven kings of reign after going to Chinatown in San Francisco as Rinpoche wanted each of the kings to be individually bought. They also sent the eight auspicious signs, a Dharmachakra, a monk’s begging bowl, large conches and many other things.
Artist Gelek Sherpa opening the buddha statue’s eyes at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, August 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
During this time of preparation, Rinpoche went into strict retreat and was not speaking at all, and so many instructions were written down on paper or communicated by sign language. At times, it was not 100% clear what was being said, but the Sangha staying with Rinpoche tried their best in silence. One of the most complicated requests was for four large three-foot (one-meter) brocade banners, shaped in a specific way that none of us were familiar with, with hanging tassels and in a very specific color. This was all communicated in silence. The Sangha in Kachoe Dechen Ling in California spent 10 days sewing the banners.
About a week before the day of the celebration, Rinpoche’s retreat had ended and Rinpoche started the task of compiling the Tibetan texts from various sources, primarily Lama Tsongkhapa’s text used for the Mönlam celebration in Lhasa. Rinpoche had Ven. Losang Sherab, a Kopan monk, type the text in Tibetan. Then Rinpoche began carefully translating the 23 pages of text. The translation went all night, every night for about a week. During last two days, it also went most of the day, and so Rinpoche was translating about 18 hours a day with me as scribe.
I tried my best to keep up and not fall asleep. Rinpoche spent a long time choosing words, checking various dictionaries and really putting an incredible amount of effort into the translation. Rinpoche said the text can be used for other celebration days with large thangkas and statues just by changing the main deity. The words are beyond beautiful and are truly an offering practice.
The text consists of inviting the guests, extensive bath offering, mandala offering, prostrations to the 35 buddhas and then making the extensive offerings. Each offering has its own verse explaining the meaning of the offering which is recited when the offerings are held up and offered. At the end, there is the “Praise to Amitabha” by Lama Tsonkhapa and the prayer to be reborn in Sukhavati and then extensive dedication prayers. (The text will eventually be made available by FPMT Education Services.)
Here is an example of these offering verses from the text:
Savior of the transmigratory beings – Guru Amitabha
By offering this Dharma banner to you,
May the transmigratory beings achieve victory over the war of the four Maras
And establish the banner of the teachings of Buddha in the ten directions.
During this process, we had boxes and boxes of offerings arriving at the house – banners, the princess figurine, elephant statues and conches, etc. The delivery people started to ask what was happening and were immediately invited to the celebration day. One of the delivery people came with a camera and took many photos of the statue, I think quite amazed to find this incredible statue here in the middle of nowhere. Each time she came, the statue was transforming – first white, then red, then with eyes opened, and with the flowers surrounding it multiplying.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing how to make shemdu – potato, radish, mushroom, ping noodles and rice — which would be the main dish that would be offered on the Amitabha Buddha celebration day, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, August 2014. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
Rinpoche was intimately involved in every aspect of the celebration preparations, including the menu for the day. Rinpoche did a trial run of the menu, inviting Ven. Yarphel, Merry Colony and Harry Sutton to lunch. Rinpoche himself cooked the lunch to show us how to make shemdu – a Sherpa dish of rice, ping noodles, potato, radish, mushrooms and vegetarian tofu sausage and spices – which is what he wanted to be served on the day, as well as a salad topped with feta cheese, oranges and capsicum, and also spring rolls. For dessert, Rinpoche wanted cut fruit and cream. After lunch, Rinpoche wanted to show exactly how to place the flower offerings around the statue on the day.
Ven. Tharchin went to a local meeting with all the neighbors, and they were all invited as well as the many people we have met over the last 10 years in the area and their friends. Rinpoche wanted everyone to come to see Amitabha.
The day before the celebration day, it rained very heavily, which gave us the perfect opportunity to start cooking for more than 70 people with just a few giant pots and one stove. Ven. Thubten Kunsang started cutting vegetables at about 3 p.m. the day before. Pamtingpa Center students helped with the spring rolls, salad and dessert.
Merry was involved with getting much of the material for the many offerings. Both Merry and Harry decorated the incredible umbrella offerings, which Rinpoche wanted to have fringe around the edge and three strings of pearls. The trays of offerings were being made up until 5 a.m. the day of the event. The translation continued also to about 5 a.m. The day before at midnight, Rinpoche said he wanted to start with the consecration of the statue, so the Sangha would need to start at 6 a.m., three hours earlier than planned. The Sangha had to immediately start making the many tormas needed for the consecration. They worked in such a beautiful happy way, ready to do anything, not at all fazed by the change of plan, lack of sleep and work needed to actualize it.
Ven. Roger was putting chairs out at the statue at 6 a.m. The many offerings and tormas were being carried up; flowers were placed; the umbrella was raised above the statue; altars appeared; and food started to arrive, brought by Pamtingpa students. Ven. Kunsang continued working in the kitchen, cooking food, making tea, preparing rice, and then bringing the food up the hill.
Guests and neighbors started to arrive, most never having been to the land, and some never having seen a Sangha person or holy object. The drummers arrived. Rinpoche had asked the musicians to try to play along to the gyaling, which they had practiced. The text was being printed.
The Celebration
The celebration began and Rinpoche was sitting in front chanting each verse of the text in Tibetan. Merry recited the English translation. During the music offering, many kinds of drums were played as well as guitars and conches. The other offerings were made with many people holding up the many horse and elephants figurines, conches, banners, and so on, and then placing them around Amitabha. It was an extremely beautiful and moving practice. A number of Native Americans came to the celebration as the land is close to a reservation. No one seemed fazed by the practice during the celebration and enjoyed sitting back in the sun and watching the offerings and drumming.
Amitabha celebration day, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, August 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
By lunch time, there was about 70 people at the celebration. Everyone seemed to enjoy lunch, going back for seconds and thirds. Afterward, many of the neighbors came up to meet Rinpoche, many for the first time. Rinpoche gave them photos, cards and a small verse of Dharma he had translated, which said:
The Savior Nagarjuna, the Second Buddha, the Ancient Great Enlightened Scholar said,
No matter how many times you harm or even kill
External enemies, there will always be more.
But simply killing your own anger
Destroys all external enemies.
The Great Bodhisattva Shantideva said,
Bothersome sentient beings are as limitless as space
And can never be completely overcome.
But simply overcoming your own anger once
Destroys all bothersome sentient beings.
There is not enough leather
To cover the whole earth,
But by simply wearing leather shoes,
It’s as if the whole earth is covered by it.
It is similar with external phenomena.
Once the internal mind is subdued,
All external bother is subdued as well.
Therefore it is good to subdue (or take care of) the mind.
After lunch, the beautiful Tara dancers from Pamtingpa Center walked slowly up the hill in rainbow-colored silky clothes and began the offering of dance to Amitabha Buddha with the giant Tara thangka in the background.
Tara dancers, Amitabha celebration day, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, August 2014. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
Rinpoche finished with the “Praise to Amitabha” and the prayer to be born in Sukhavati and extensive dedication prayers. People slowly left, and we started to pack everything up as clouds were forming. We finished just as an incredible rain storm happened. The following day, Rinpoche left for Mongolia.
Rinpoche seemed very pleased with how the day had gone, the delicious food and the celebration. He said he wanted this to become an annual event, and we’re already looking at the calendar for a time next year. Many people worked incredibly hard to actualize the celebration day and we offer thanks to every one of them. It was an incredible offering to make to Guru Amitabha.
Continued from Part 1 of “Amitabha Buddha Celebrated at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land.”
View more photos from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s July 2014 visit to Buddha Amitabha Pure Land.
Mandala brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from over 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.
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s homepage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Parhelia appear in the sky above the newly situated Amitabha Buddha statue, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, July 1, 2014. Photo by Merry Colony.
A solid white marble Amitabha Buddha statue arrived at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land (BAPL) in Washington State on June 30, 2014. Resident Sangha and students from nearby Pamtingpa Center welcomed the statue with incense and blowing conches, leading the large truck hauling the statue still in its shipping container onto the land. Lama Zopa Rinpoche instructed that those in the procession should think that they are welcoming the Buddha himself to the land.
The following day, the 16 ton (14,790 kilogram) statue and its marble lotus throne were lifted by a crane onto a filled throne base created by Ven. Gyaltan Yarphel [John Jackson]. Rainbows appeared in the sky once the 13-foot (4-meter) statue was situated, culminating a two-year process. Once the statue was placed, local students did extensive prayers, the seven limbs with extensive offering practice and recited the beautiful “Praise to Amitabha” by Lama Tsongkhapa.
A crane lifts the container that holds the Amitabha Buddha statue, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, July 1, 2014. Photo by Merry Colony.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche had been involved with every step of the creation of the statue, including the details of the carving, which was done in Vietnam. Rinpoche sent drawn suggestions to the artists with explanations. Last year, a typhoon hit the location where the statue was carved and ended up delaying its arrival in the United States by a year.
Rinpoche Arrives
The first thing Rinpoche did upon his arrival at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land on July 22, 2014, was to go see the new Amitabha statue. Rinpoche immediately led a long extensive offering practice in which he offered all the water bowls and flowers at the house at BAPL, as well as at Kachoe Dechen Ling in California and at all of the FPMT centers, projects and services around the world, and then recited the “Praise to Amitabha” by Lama Tsongkhapa.
Letter from Lama Zopa Rinpoche with instructions on how to paint a buddha’s eyes
Rinpoche saw that there were still some details on the statue that needed to be adjusted, which he noted for Gelek Sherpa, a master artist resident at Land of Medicine Buddha in California and a former monk from Kopan Monastery, who would soon be arriving to paint the statue and throne.
Locals heard about the statue and asked whether they could visit it.
The large statue sits on a hill behind Rinpoche’s house and overlooks the valley. Except for when Rinpoche was in strict retreat, Rinpoche visited the statue every single day during his stay at BAPL in July and August. Every time he went up to the statue, which for Rinpoche is about a 10-15 minute walk, Rinpoche first would check whether there were any ants on the road to the statue and carefully moved them to the side. Rinpoche would lead an extensive offering practice, often with a recording of a gyaling playing throughout and then chant the “Praise to Amitabha” by Lama Tsongkhapa and the prayer to be reborn in the blissful realm of Sukhavati, Amitabha’s pure land.
After arriving in Washington, Lama Zopa Rinpoche shopped for extensive flower offerings for the new Amitabha Buddha statue, driving as far as two hours away looking for flowers, US, July 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Flower Offerings
Two days after arriving, Rinpoche wanted to go to town to personally pick out flower offerings. Rinpoche took the utmost care picking out the exact kinds of potted flowers for their color and size. He nearly bought out all the flowers in the local town. Ven. Yarphel spent each day transplanting the flowers into bigger pots or digging holes and planting them in the ground. Ven. Tharchin watered them each day, sometimes twice a day as there happened to be in a heat wave with temperatures in the high 90s, which is about 35°C.
The following day, Rinpoche wanted to drive two hours away to find other nurseries with different flowers. Unfortunately, there are not too many to choose from in the area, but we discovered by accident an incredible flower shop on the side of the road. Rinpoche bought about six giant containers of flowers. We had to come a second time to pick everything up with a trailer. Throughout the visit there were many more trips to flower shops to get certain colors or sized flowers and each time they were brought to the statue, Rinpoche would lead an extensive offering practice. Usually, these happened at night by flashlight. And at the end, a thermos of tea would be enjoyed in the dark in front of Amitabha Buddha.
The thumbs of the statue also need to be extended to touch, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, August 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Painting the Statue
The artist Gelek Sherpa arrived from California and immediately started work on the statue. The first thing he did was change the shape of the eyes and then made the statue’s thumbs touch.
Gelek Sherpa and Ven. Roger Kunsang after opening the buddha statue’s eyes at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, August 2014. Photo by Ven. Holly Ansett.
Gelek worked extremely quickly, despite the heat. He had about 10 days to paint the statue before the Buddha Amitabha celebration day that was being planned. He mentioned one day that the incredible amount of flowers around the statue attracted many hummingbirds and butterflies, who actually chased the humming birds away! Each day the statue changed. It first became red, then the lotus was painted, and finally, the day before the celebration, the eyes were opened. Rinpoche explained that it’s important to make offerings to the artist the day the eyes are opened on a statue because the artist is creating the cause for us all to create merit. On the day the eyes were opened, Ven. Roger came up with a khata, money offering and coffee for Gelek.
Mandala will publish Part 2 of “Amitabha Buddha Celebrated at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land” later this week.
View more photos from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s July 2014 visit to Buddha Amitabha Pure Land.
Mandala brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from over 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.
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s homepage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.