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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.
Jacques Haesaert. Photo courtesy of Ambroisie Association.
In September 2014 during the CPMT 2014 meeting, managing editor Laura Miller met with student Françoise Majeste who revealed that a close student of Lama Yeshe and a long-time student of Institut Vajra Yogini in France – Jacques Haesaert – had died over five years ago, but had never been honored in Mandala. We’re happy to now share this tribute to Jacques’ life from his friends and students.
Jacques Haesaert, 67, died in Graulhet, France, July 2009, from a stroke
Five years have gone by since our doctor, teacher and friend, Jacques Haesaert, passed on. When he died in July 2009 at the age of 67, we were so unprepared and perturbed that none of his many students in France and Spain thought to send an obituary to Mandala magazine. Jacques was a member of Institut Vajra Yogini in Marzens, France and benefited not only his patients, but also his many students who came to his introductory classes on Tibetan medicine at the institute and his in-depth study programs. Now in remembrance of him, we write this biography as a tribute to him and his work.
Jacques Haesaert was passionate about learning and taught himself to read even before starting school in France. His personal studies of biology, natural medicine, the powers of plants and minerals, archeology, religions, Egyptology, cooking, music, to name a few, surely helped him assimilate Tibetan medicine later on. As well as working in France, Jacques spent many years in Africa and later worked in the Phillipines with local healers.
In 1974, his spiritual search brought him to India where he had his first contact with Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and the medicine practiced in this country. In Nepal he became a disciple of Lama Thubten Yeshe who encouraged him to study Tibetan medicine. Jacques followed Lama’s advice and studied many years in Dharamsala, India with Dr. Ama Lobsang Dolma.
We do not know all the details of his many years of study, treating and accompanying patients in India as a Tibetan doctor, but we do know that he also studied with Dr. Tsering Dinggang and worked for some time with the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa in Calcutta, with the most destitute of people.
In this 1982 forward, Lama Yeshe praises Jacques’ work writing “Jaques [sic] Haesaert has studied with us for several years … He has researched extensively into all aspects of Tibetan medicine, culture, mind psychology and religion. His work is authentic, and his style is good.”
In 1981, Lama Yeshe asked Jacques to share his knowledge with the Western world in a way that was adapted to the special needs of the people living in those places in actual times. After returning to France, Jacques treated patients and taught for the rest of his life.
As well as a practicing Tibetan Buddhist, he was also a Christian and Bible scholar. Jacques often made parallels between passages in the Bible and teachings of Buddha.
Faithful to the ethics of a Tibetan physician, he expected no pay for his consultations, only accepting offerings. In his later years, he made only two appointments a day so he could remain for hours with each patient in order to treat the patient as a whole and help the person to understand the cause of his ailments, and not just treat his symptoms.
Jacques always intended to write a book so many people could benefit from the knowledge and wisdom he accumulated over so many years, applying Tibetan medicine to the West. He wanted to help Westerners discover the extraordinary and practical knowledge offered by this system. For him it was important to show, through Tibetan medicine, how people can become responsible for their mental and physical health, conscious of their potential for happiness, love and wisdom, and of the errors that would lead them to suffering.
Just months before passing on, after years of our begging for them, he gave to us, his students in France and Spain, his nearly finished book that he used for his classes. He compiled it over decades and organized the information into chapters used for his teaching. Jacques explains important teachings from the medical tantras and elaborates on many aspects of what is health and disease, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Moreover, he explains many aspects of Tibetan medicine from a Western point of view.
We, his students and members of the Ambroisie Association, are in the process of translating it from French to English, Spanish, and German. It was his heart-felt wish to help preserve the extensive knowledge and wisdom that is Tibetan medicine from being lost or diluted.
You can find Jacques’ piece “Nature the Great Healer” in the June 2004 issue of Mandala.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests that “students who read Mandala pray that the students whose obituaries they read find a perfect human body, meet a Mahayana guru and become enlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the teachings exist and they can become enlightened.” While reading obituaries we can also reflect upon our own death and rebirth, prompting us to live our lives in the most meaningful way.
More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice page.
The students of Golden Light Sutra Center negotiated the terrain around Aglag Monastery with ease, Darkhan, Mongolia, July 2014. Photo courtesy of Ven. Tezin Tsapel.
Ven. Tenzin Tsapel, director of Golden Light Sutra Center in Darkhan, Mongolia, reports on the group’s celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s July 6, 2014 birthday:
A group Golden Light Sutra Center students went on a sutra reading picnic for His Holiness’ birthday celebration. We hired a mini-bus for the two-hour drive to Aglag Monastery, 13 kilometers (8 miles) off the Darkhan/Ulaanbaatar road. As we drove in, the valley became quite narrow, and heavily treed, very green and culminated in small, steep mountain with unusual natural rocky outcrops, enclosed by a ring of mountains. From the car park we walked up the step gravel drive to the main monastery and cluster of buildings. The center piece was an ornately painted monastery building with a commanding view.
We settled in to recite the Vajra Cutter Sutra in front of the central Amitabha altar and then joined the stream of visitors upstairs paying respect to the holy images and Buddha relics and viewing an odd assortment of mythical beast models.
The path led behind the main building and around a very beautiful but very steep and slippery mountain track past numerous carved holy images, mantras and syllables, as well as a few obstacle-course rock formations. My initial concern for some of the older members of our group gave way to respect as our hardy Mongolian ladies made their way around mountain. We stopped on the way for some birthday cake and fruit and made our way to the grass base for our late picnic lunch.
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.
Jim Blumenthal on the Johkang with the Potala in the background, Lhasa, Tibet, 2004.
Mandala is mourning the loss of our dear friend Dr. James Blumenthal, who passed away very early in the morning of October 8, 2014, at age 47, due to complications from cancer. Jim was a regular contributor to Mandala for many years. He was also a talented and generous scholar, teacher and colleague, serving as a professor of Buddhist philosophy and history at Maitripa College as well as at Oregon State University in the United States. He was a student of Geshe Lhundub Sopa Rinpoche at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his PhD.
Jim was quick to say “yes” whenever we asked him for an article for Mandala and his submissions arrived on time and were beautifully written. He had great depth of knowledge and a sharp mind, yet was always humble and gracious. He had the wonderful ability to make the sometimes complicated and difficult-to-understand world of Buddhist philosophy accessible and fascinating to the not-so-academically inclined. His gentle kindness, clear explanations and always interesting stories will be profoundly missed.
Jim’s death is a great loss for Maitripa College, where he taught since its founding. Jim is survived by his seven-year-old son Ben, wife Tiffany, parents Susan and Jack, brother Tom and Ben’s mother Sara, who was the former editor and publisher of Mandala.
As a small remembrance of Jim, we’ve upload several PDFs of his Mandala articles from archive issue, which you can find here.
Maitripa College has created a webpage for Jim with a collection of prayers that may be recited and dedicated for him. Also on the page, you will find Jim’s translation of Shatarakshita’s Ornament of the Middle Way, a link to a memorial page and a touching video remembrance of Jim by Ven. Thubten Chodron.
Oregon State University has published a moving tribute of Jim.
Mandala will run a full obituary in our next issue.
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.
Ven. Kabir Saxena and Hari Om, MPT Healthcare Program staff, offer basic health education to villagers, Kushinagar, India, March 2014. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Project Trust.
In March 2014, Maitreya Project Trust (MPT), the organization responsible for constructing a very large Maitreya statue in Kushinagar, India, began offering basic medical services to villagers affected by the project. The MPT Healthcare Project, one of MPT’s social programs, purchased a large van and toured the countryside, offering basic education on hygiene and alcohol abuse, and forming partnerships with village officials. The van will travel to Delhi to be converted into a fully functioning mobile clinic and soon doctors, nurses and support staff will be hired to expand MPT Healthcare Project’s services and outreach.
This September, MPT collaborated with Kushinagar District Magistrate’s Office to begin distributing 3,500 mosquito nets together with reading material about malaria and other infectious diseases. Hundreds of people lined up to receive the first 1,000 nets during the inaugural health camp, and many more are expected to come in October during the second.
At the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, MPT is making plans to distribute 3,500 wool blankets in December, when temperatures can dip to 40°F (4°C), to the area’s poorest.
Progress continues being made on the statue itself, with MPT staff estimating that they will be able to receive 200 acres of land by the end of 2014 and begin the long process of fencing the boundary, setting up their office and welcoming a 24-foot (7-meter) Maitreya statue from Bodhgaya to Kushinagar for auspiciousness.
MPT Healthcare Program distributes 1,000 mosquito nets to Kushinagar residents, India, September 2014. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Project Trust.
More about Maitreya Project Trust and its accomplishments can be found in its October 2014 update.
You can support Maitreya Project Trust, including the MPT Healthcare Project, by visiting FPMT.org.
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.
Ven. Tenzin Namdak teaching at Choe Khor Sum Ling, Bangalore, India, April 2013. Photo courtesy of Choe Khor Sum Ling.
“As part of the ongoing Discovering Buddhism course at Choe Khor Sum Ling, we recently organized a four-day non-residential retreat,” said center member Shanti Gopinath in an email to Mandala in July. “Under the adept guidance of Ven. Tenzin Legtsok from Sera Je, students reflected and meditated upon the outlines of two topics from the program: ’The Spiritual Teacher’ and ’Death and Rebirth.’ The meditation sessions invigorated all that we learned theoretically in these two modules. The retreats included reflection and guided meditation. Ven. Legtsok’s pragmatic approach to the reflection, contemplation and meditation process made the concepts easier to understand, clearer and deep seated in our minds.”
“Bangaloreans are mostly a staunch working community and so a non-residential retreat in the heart of the city was well received. Participants were happy to break away from everyday monotony and the distractions of ordinary life.
“Our next four-day residential retreat in August 2014 will be at Gyume Tantric Monastery in Hunsur. The retreat will be led by Ven. Tenzin Namdak from Sera Je. The retreat will incorporate guided meditations focused around the topics outlined in the Discovering Buddhism modules ‘All About Karma’ and ‘Refuge.’ Gyume Monastery is in a Tibetan farming settlement four hours’ drive from Bangalore and is a perfect setting for our next retreat.”
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.
Kayak paddle with Namgyälma mantra, Waldo Lake, Oregon, US, August 2014. Photo courtesy of Mandala Publications.
A third-year Maitripa College student sent Mandala this idea on how to use the Namgyälma mantra to make kayaking a more beneficial experience. “The Namgyälma mantra is extremely powerful,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches. “It is the main mantra to purify and liberate beings from the lower realms, purify negative karma, and help those who are dying or have died ….” Here is her account:
During a rituals and ethics class, we learned about water tsa-tsas. While kayaking one day, I started thinking about how many times my paddle was in the water. I wondered if there was a way to do something like the water tsa-tsas with my paddle.
Waldo Lake, Oregon, US, August 2014. Photo courtesy of Mandala Publications.
I came across an article about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Namgyälma mantra board and blessing all the creatures in the water and whomever comes in contact with the water. I put two and two together and started asking around about a way to put a mantra on a kayak paddle.
The mantra that I used is actually a bumper sticker that I got through the FPMT Foundation Store. Before putting on the sticker, I first did the Jorchö practice and recited some of the mantras I found in the tsa-tsa book. Afterward, I dedicated the merit. Since it’s important to protect the mantra, I cover both of the paddle blades with stuff sacks for storage, taking them off before paddling and putting them back on when I’m done.
The new stickers have really changed the way I treat my paddles and my mindset while paddling. I recite a mantra most of the time as I paddle and dedicate at the end of the kayak outing.
The Foundation Store, managed by FPMT International Office, provides Dharma materials and supplies to interested students around the world. All proceeds from the shop are used to further the charitable mission of FPMT Inc.
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.
CPMT, FPMT’s international meeting, which was recently hosted in the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, successfully concluded with the official long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on September 19th.
We invite you to read our wrap up of CPMT 2014, and also review the blogs sent during the meeting. You can still watch video of Rinopche’s advice given during the meeting and the long life puja here.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is currently teaching during the month-long Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa retreat in the Great Stupa, and Rinpoche’s teachings are available via livestreaming.
In addition to the live webcasts, mp3 audio recordings of Rinpoche’s teachings in English and translated into Spanish, French and Italian are uploaded each day.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche circumambulating the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, September 12, 2014. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.