Summer 2010 at Lerab Ling

Corinne from Italy has kindly written a short story, telling about her impressions of visiting Lerab Ling for the first time this summer.

Hello everybody,

My name is Corinne and I would like to share the experience I had in Lerab Ling this summer, with whoever is interested in reading this little story. I´ll start a bit before the 14th of July.....

The 18^th of April this year I moved from Italy to Berlin. I´m 27 but I had the feeling that everything I build up in my life until that point was "good" but that something very important was missing. I was constantly searching for happiness outside of myself. Everytime I succeeded in fulfilling my desires, but then after a while they structurally revealed themselves as temporary solutions. So I had the feeling to be like the dog biting his tail...without the instruments to find he root of my suffering! My situation was not totally desperate but I got fed up and dizzy to be in this constant roller coaster Up and Down, and Down and Up.

I decided to start questioning myself seriously and at the right moment my friend Katrin gave me Sogyal Rinpoche's book -The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying- which really came into my life as a precious gift.I read with deep engagement and was simply amazed to have finally found someone who was speaking with such a wisdom about all the crucial points of human life! I thought: "Exactly this should be thought at school from early childhood on! This is something everybody should have access to!" So after that I went on Youtube to see Rinpoche and I knew with clarity that he is a true Master embodying what he is teaching.

One month later I had the chance to be in Lerab Ling..........Although I knew that I would be present for the visit of Yangsi Rinpoche, I had only heard briefly about Dilgo Kyhentse Rinpoche, and was not aware of the immensity of his enlightened activity at all! The only thing I knew was this deep desire to be in his presence. As Yangsi Rinpoche came ,although I was also sceptical about reincarnation,especially about the fact of how on earth could it have been possible to be sure that he was the true reincarnation, I instantly felt warmth! This was something I couldn´t explain with my ordinary mind but I felt an irradiating loving kindness which was really reaching me deeply. A sensation of melting, such a warmth which was released in my body and the wish to be helpful in this life. In that moment I had no doubt that what they told about Yangsi was true. The encounter with the relics was also an enormous gift. The possibility to come in contact with these blessed relics of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche'ss life was another unexplainable experience for me. Again I felt a confidence, that what was happening did not need an analytical explanation.What was happening was important and the connection I felt with Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche, whose name I heard for the first time 3 weeks before, simply filled me with joy and gratitude.

After Yangsi departed I stayed in Lerab Ling until he 30th of July and had time to learn more about meditation practices. Also i was able to constantly receive teachings, which reinforced more and more the seed which was freshly planted in me. Through "work and study", which revealed itself to be an important activity for integration I had the opportunity to observe my "patterns", my thoughts and emotions, while working in teams with others. I felt supported by the simple fact that I knew that all the people there in Lerab Ling were working and improving in the same direction, making an effort to overcome their habits practising the Dharma.

The value and benefit I had from this time in Lerab Ling is still accompanying me and offered me a good basis for my daily practice. So what I would finally suggest to everybody from the bottom of my hearth is: Go to Lerab Ling! And as Rinpoche always reminds us: Listen to the enlightened teachings of the Buddha!

I will return for sure!

With gratitude,

Corinne

Tulku

The Buddhist Broadcast Foundation, or www.Buddhistmedia.com , has finally made the documentary 'Tulku' available online. Being a young Buddhist is one thing, but being a tulku is another!

"Gesar Mukpo is a filmmaker who lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is the son of the great Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his British wife. As he gathers impressions from others, Gesar reveals his own poignant story of living in the West with this unique label and legacy — endlessly scrutinized as someone supposed to be special and monumental. What does it mean to carry on a role designed for an old world when you’re living in a completely new one? How will Gesar and other Western tulkus fulfill their destiny?"

Check it out here: http://www.buddhistmedia.com/uitzending.aspx?lIntEntityId=1181&lIntType=0&lIntYear=2010

The site where the documentary is hosted in Dutch, but don't worry, the documentary is in English. Tip: go to 'instellingen' to choose the videoplayer and the quality of the streaming: 'breedband' is better quality but you need a better connection for that.

DJKR's Interview for Karmapa Youth.

The Karmapa Youth group asked Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche to give his advice for young people and to say something in genaral about relationships, profession and hobbies (f.i. listening heavy metal and being a buddhist). The interview was recorded at 3 July 2010 in Menz, Germany.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche about relationships, profession and hobbies.

Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche interviewed by teenagers

During Yangsi Rinpoche's recent inaugural visit to Lerab Ling, Rigpa Youth had the incredible honour to take part in a special interview with him. Organised in collaboration with Rigpa Yeshe, the interview was a chance for Yangsi Rinpoche to meet the teenagers at the All Mandala Retreat and answer their questions, as well as questions from Rigpa Youth members from around the world.

Before the interview the film 'Brilliant Moon: Glimpses of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche' was shown, creating a beautiful atmosphere and reminding us all how privileged we were to have the opportunity to meet Yangsi Rinpoche in person. He generously spent an hour with us answering our varied questions, such as what kind of practice he most recommends for young Western students and about how to deal with the transition into adulthood. We hope to share the interview more widely in the near future (watch out for it at a Rigpa Youth meeting at your next local retreat!), and also asked that Yangsi Rinpoche return again and again to teach and answer more of our questions.

Here's an excerpt from the interview:

Question: Most of us cannot or do not want to become a monastic or yogi in a cave. So, how can we take work and family life onto the path and make a positive contribution to society?

Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche: "In this case, you don't have to become a yogi or join the monastery to become a Buddhist. That is one of the things that needs to be clarified. You know, you can have your own family and your work. But you should always have the effort of practice, the path of dharma and being positive, we can always do that. So how do we do that?

In daily life, even though we have little time, we can always remind ourselves that we should use this time as something special, like a gift. So we should use each and every moment that we have. Not waste it. So, we always try to remind ourselves to have positive thoughts. Because, through having positive thoughts and by helping others it will change our way of life. So I think that is really possible."

The public teaching that Khyentse Yangsi gave in Lerab Ling, on "The lineage of Good Heart" is now available for viewing online!

Retreat at Tenzin Gyatso Institute

I just returned from the retreat at the Tenzin Gyatso Institute. It was
an amazing event. While driving up with my friend Neal, we listened to
Michaela's beautiful cd "Actual Mind." It is such a great inspiration!
We were contemplating about how we could bring a more contemplative
style to our lives. The first two days of the retreat were the
inaugurational celebration of TGI. There was Tibetan music, speeches
by Patrick Gaffney, Sogyal Rinpoche, Lodi Gyari Rinpoche, Tsoknyi
Rinpoche and Daniel Goleman. It was a very exciting event, with not
just rigpa students present, but also a large group of Tibetans and
local residents. What was very exciting is that most of the Tibetans
were actually quite young. Maybe we should try to forge more bonds
with the young Tibetans and share the culture and the teachings. This
is definitely something I want to work on in New York City (especially
now we have the New York City Center, which Rinpoche inaugurated last
Monday, the day after the retreat). While Sogyal Rinpoche taught
mainly on shamatha, Tsoknyi Rinpoche gave some guidance on vipashyana
and the four types of ego. Daniel Goleman shared some psychological
and neuroscientific findings.

After all this excitement, we settled in the more normal retreat mode,
with Rinpoche and Patrick giving some amazing teachings. How lucky am
I to be able to receive all these teachings! And how lucky that I am
still configuring my life, getting ready for a move back to the
Netherlands. Whenever you are in an unsettled state like that, it is
so much easier to give the teachings a place before samsara creeps
in. Just to have the taste of the amazing space, peace and compassion
that is already and always present in our mind was extremely
inspiring. And if only I can make that part of my being, if I can
nurture it, then whatever work I do will be able to benefit
beings. Really, what else would be need? These teachings so much
changed my priorities--I started to notice (again) how much of my time
I spend "I want this...", "If only I could have this...", or "I think
he thinks I am doing really well," or "I really want to impress these
people." And the joke is that it's all irrelevant! As Rinpoche says in
some of his teachings: it's like an echo. The most important is really
to turn our mind inwards...

Unfortunately we did not have any Rigpa Youth meetings, because all
the young people were too busy holding the retreat... Nevertheless, we
did of course connect a little bit informally during the meal
breaks. Given that young people form a good part of the retreat team
in the US, we get to hang out with each other that way. Hopefully
we'll be able to support each other bringing the retreat in our lives
through Facebook and the like.

Report by Marieke van Vugt

Life at Lerab Ling: The Sadhana of Soccer

Although Lerab Ling is situated

relatively remote,

20 minutes by car from the nearest supermarket –the hallmark of civilization-, it does not escape the football madness that currently captures a large part of the world. In between the work, teachings and practices, a considerable section of the Lerab Ling residents manages to find the time to watch the world championship football. Countries where football traditionally forms a large part of the culture like Holland and Germany are well represented at Lerab Ling, and the tension rises now that both teams might meet

in the finals.

As the tournament progresses the noise level somehow also seems to rise. Therefore, as recently a meditation retreat started at Lerab Ling, we had to move our football theatre to a slightly more remote place. But no worries, because we have some skilled and fanatic –especially some Germans- football fans who didn’t mind setting up some benches, a television and an old satellite to make that happen. As the stress level rises with the preparations for the upcoming summer retreats, the matches seem to be a good time when everyone can let go. With this soccer fever, Lerab Ling starts to look more and more like a Tibetan Monastery: for anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, most likely you haven’t seen The Cup.

Mipham Rinpoche Anniversary

Today is the anniversary of Ju Mipham Rinpoche, one of the greatest scholars of the Nyingma tradition. It's hard find a Nyingma text which doesnt have a commentary by Mipham Rinpoche, and equally hard to find a difficult point which has not been made easy by Mipham Rinpoche's explanations. Check out his bio by Nyoshul Khen here

An excerpt of 'Satirical advice for the four schools'

"The Nyingmapas claim they have a path for accomplishing the level of Vajradhara through the practice of clear light Dzogpachenpo, without the need to rely upon an external consort and so on, and yet the lamas say they must take a wife in order to increase their longevity, improve the clarity of their vision, maintain good health, assist in the revelation of termas and accomplish the welfare of beings. They don’t say that in order to benefit the teachings they should teach and practise! That taking a wife could be a way to benefit the teachings and beings, and a substitute for teaching and practice, and at the same time improve clarity of vision and so on, is, I think, incredible!

The Gendenpas claim the antidote to all the pains of existence is the wisdom which realizes selflessness, and yet when they approach the realization of no-self they are so afraid to let go of this sense of identity that they can not sit still upon their cushions. In the past it was said that the attainment of the path of seeing and the clear experience of selflessness that precedes it are marked by special feelings of joy, so I think this must be a symptom of the current degenerate age!

The Sakyapas make the supreme assertion that one should not place too much emphasis on conduct because inner wisdom is the most important thing, and yet when they recite the Lamdü Hevajra sadhana, they maintain the discipline of never leaving their seats, because to do so would transgress their vow. If they ever did need to get up and do something, they would have to drag their seats behind them, such are their rites of purification and liberation based on time and the physical body. I wonder what would happen to them if they did leave their seats!

The Kagyüpas assert that the Great Mudra is the wisdom which pervades all samsara and nirvana, and yet they think of the word ‘mudra’ as referring to one’s hands. I wonder what such an enormous hand would look like!

Ha ha ha! That was all said in jest.

The teachings of the great masters are rich in meaning,

And each school has its own unique vision and key instructions."

Did you know... about the RigpaWiki MP3 library?

Slowly the library at Rigpa's Wiki is growing, with more and more wonderfull teachings available

It might be a bit much to listen to complete shedra texts like the Bodhicaryavatara which are available, but I can definitely recommend listening to some of the shorter teachings like Ringu Tulku Rinpoche's Q&A sessions from '06/'07, '07/'08 and 2010. Also check out Khenpo Namdrol Rinpoche's 'after diner talks', as we might call them. Namdrol Rinpoche has a tradition of inviting the Rigpa shedra students once or twice every shedra for momo's, after which he gives a few comments on the text being studied at the time, summarizing the whole text in one hour, while effortlessly linking everything with the dzogchen view!

Rigpa Wiki mp3 library

A better future, from HH 17 Th Karmapa

“Our hope for a better future places a heavy responsibility on the younger generation. How to meet this challenge? Try to educate yourself in areas that will benefit society. Take up spiritual disciplines that open your heart and mind.

Cooperate with others and establish harmonious relations with people regardless of ethnicity, gender, or age.

Do everything you can to stop the misuse of our natural resources and the senseless destruction of our environment. With ethical discernment, you -the youth of today- can create prosperity for the world and humankind. Otherwise our future is bleak “

From “The future is Now, Timely advice for creating a better world..."

“One of the most important and revered figures in Tibetan Buddhism, the Karmapa shows how the wisdom of an ancient tradition resonates with our fast-paced,globally connected lives. His advice, insights and reflections on topics ranging from the environment and social responsibility to relationships and freedom are Juxtaposed with bold and often unexpected contemporary images, which illuminate the timeless teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Open to any page and find guidance on how to live more consciously and caringly , and learn how to create a better world for yourself and future generations”

See also an Inteview with Ringu Tulku Rinpoche speaking about this amazing book!

And enjoy it!

The Four Reminders

"If we are reminded of these Four Thoughts and really integrate this
understanding and change our attitude, that alone can transform our life.
We can become a more responsible, joyful and understanding person."



1) Life is precious
How happy and satisfied we are, depends on how much we appreciate what we
have.

2) Impermanence
There is nothing that doesn't change. That's the nature of life. The more
we see this clearly, the more we can let things be. There's no use holding
on too much to either negative things or positive things that happen to us
sometimes.

3) Samsara
All of us have selfishness, greed, agression and ignorance. Nobody is
perfect. Therefore we can be forgiving and have compassion for those who
do negative things.
There's lots of pain and suffering in the world around us. The more we
understand that, the more we don't expect things to be perfect.

4) Karma
Everything has causes and conditions. I am responsible for myself. What I
am now, is because of what I have done. What I will be is because of what
I do now. So therefore, my future is, in a way, in my hands. So I have to think and
act in a positive way.

Phakchok Rinpoche on being tolerant

This is an except of an interview we had with Phakchok Rinpoche last summer.
Because Phakchok Rinpoche is only 28 years old, he is the perfect lama to ask those questions that young people have!

Question: Many of us experience pressure from society, friends or family, to have a 'normal life'. Like going to parties, to get a good education, have a good job, and so on. But our wish is to practice Dharma more intensively, so how can we deal with that pressure?

Don't be too defensive
Phakchok Rinpoche: That's very easy. But this question looks like it has quite a few questions inside. I think it's like this: Buddha's teaching is very liberal, very tolerant.
For example, if somebody comes to tell me, 'You know, I think Buddhism is quite stupid'. I'm not going to defend at all. I ask, 'OK, why do you think so?'
I'm just going to explain. If they don't want to listen, that's fine. I'm never going to defend the teachings. I'm not going to defend what is right or wrong because that shows the colour of your mind is not tolerant. You are more attached to your things, your view, and you're exactly the same. Everybody's like that.

Dharma teaches us not to be attached to anything. What I'm saying is, don't try to create problems through your belief system and attachments.
So when your family tells you to study... Family is important, don't try to go against them right away. Do with skillful means, you know.
For example, Iwent to Israel one time, I have a few people there telling me, 'my family's telling us they're not happy because we don't wear a kippah' [Jewish religious cap]. 'I don't want to wear a kippah, because I like to practice Buddhism'.

Wearing a kippah, makes you not Buddhist? My question is very simple. Then I told them, 'I give you very good method. You take your kippah and you put 'om mani padme hung' on the inside, then wear it'. Then because of kippah God can see you, and 'om mani padme hung' blessed your thing as well! Not bad... It's just a little joke, but it's just a way to make their thinking a little bit softer, they're too much defending.

Be skillful
And sometimes I tell people who have very orthodox families, you know, “They want to see you in church? Go! Make them happy!” What's wrong with that? I tell people like this, “Be tolerant!” Don't be too strict in yourself. I think, it's not healthy.

You earn your money, everything is good, your family's happy. Then you say 'OK, now I want to go to on one year retreat, this is my deep wish.' They're going to respect you too. If you fight saying, 'I want this, it's my right', they might say 'OK' but in their heart they're saying, 'Oh, I have my son, now not listening to me, because of this stupid Buddhism.' 'Now, my daughter I love so much, because of this stupid Tibetan monk came, I don't know what he taught, now she says she's going to change her life completely'.
That is not good. You should slowly move in... They are human beings, they can understand. But sometimes if they really don't understand, it doesn't matter, make them happy. What they want to see you do, try to do that. At the same time, you make your own time to practice. Show how tolerant your mind is, this is the thing I want to say, bottom line: show how tolerant you are.

You want to be a serious practitioner? Do your work or study, and also practice every day, as much as you can. And you plan a time for retreat... one month, two months, after five years work, you go like six months or whole year on retreat. You know, slowly, slowly.. Do that. I think it's very good.

Don't try to convert people
You should be very liberal so when family or friends tell you to go to party, you should go. Go, it doesn't matter, there's nothing wrong with going to a party! But going to a party, being wild like them, then there's something wrong. Go to party, act a little wild but don't really be wild. In the party you have a drink and talk, it's very nice, yeah, you know, 'life is impermanent'. So you already give some Dharma there. 'Don't be too selfish, it's not good, it's going to be painful for you'.

Honestly, when you do like that, then slowly they'll understand. Then slowly, they will say 'You know, I have some problem with my life... A while ago, I think you said something about being selfish. Who taught you that?' Ah, so then you can share some Dharma! But don't go trying to convert them... don't be like that.

Dharma is very liberal
Because honestly, what is Buddhadharma? Buddhadharma says very clearly, 'Don't do evil deeds, actions that make other people suffer and yourself suffer. Do good things, actions that make other people happy and yourself happy. But most important is to tame your mind, that is the Buddhadharma'.
Where did Buddha say, 'Believe me, that's the Buddhadharma'? Where did Buddha say, 'Kill people, this is the Buddhadharma'? Where did Buddha say, 'Torture yourself, that's Buddhadharma'? Where did Buddha say, 'Keep your anger all the time, that's the Dharma'? Buddha never said that.
Buddha said, 'Tame your mind', that is the Buddhadharma, so that is your job.

Buddha also says, whatever I've taught you, don't put the teachings right away in your head. Examine, examine if my teachings make sense or not, like a goldsmith checks the gold. Is it really gold or not? And if you see it's the real gold, then you keep it.
In some verses he says, 'I've shown you the path, whether you want to follow or not, it's your choice!' From the beginning Buddha is very liberal. So if we try to be too strict, I think it's not good, we should be a little bit liberal.

Interview with Erik Pema Kunsang

At the end of the three year retreat Rigpa Youth had the fortune of interviewing -in Patrick Gaffney's words- the "translating phenomena" Erik Pema Kunsang. After a little bit of delay we are very happy that we finally have the interview in written form, and so we are able to share it with you!

Erik spoke about his own youth and what renunciation means. He gave a lot of advice for young people, how to handle parents and how to benefit others. He talked about translating and being a translator, and much more. Please take a comfortable seat before you start reading, because it's ten pages.

Much gratitude to Erik for his time and his help with editing!

For the complete interview click here





An extract:

[Student] How was it for you to come to the dharma so young and also in a time when not many other people where in the dharma?

The first thing that comes to mind is two things. This is not a formal lecture, just some brief ideas to introduce. As I understand, dharma is two different things that are connected: dharma as reality, and dharma as the Buddhist toolbox, which connects with the reality we’re supposed to realize.

The Buddhist teachings are a very pragmatic way of approaching reality but the most important thing is of course, what’s real. As a young person , one is very curious, not necessarily towards Buddhism, because it’s an area which often is weird, like Buddhists are often weird, right? They do strange things, sometimes they dress funny, and they get weirder than before as they become Buddhist, for a while. That was how it was before. Before you could hang out with your friends and enjoy, and go to a party, and then you became Buddhist…you don’t call your friends, they feel that you hate them, because they’re just normal people, and you have become holy, because you’re focusing too much on the dharma as a religion, as a system , rather than on the dharma as reality, which was supposed to be the main point, according to the Buddha.

The Buddha didn’t emphasize the teachings is the main point, but the realization of what is. But it’s very hard to start with reality, because there is no handle on it, so the dharma is designed so that it fits your concepts, so that you can catch hold of it, with something to read, something to see, something to talk about, something to actually do, whereas reality is very flimsy. It slips away.

But what you always were interested in, and all your friends were interested in, is the dharma as reality. So don’t lose that just because you become Buddhist. Keep as your basis, “I want to understand what it’s all about, not the Buddhist side, but all of that which we are, what my friends are, what my family is, what the world is. That’s what I want to figure out.” Then you always have a shared basis with everybody, family, friends, everybody, and you can always communicate. If they ask you, and they for sure do, if they haven’t gotten to it yet, is “what are you actually doing there? What is this Buddhism thing? ” And then you should be able to give a one sentence reply that doesn’t make them look the other way and not answer your phone call next time – a reply that makes real sense to them, not just to you. “Well I like Sogyal Rinpoche and the other lamas.” That’s not a reply they will necessarily relate to.

Perhaps one or two of them will like to come along, and when they come in to Harry Potter’s castle, they ask: “Is it real?” and you say “Yes it is.” Then they expect people to take out magic-wands. But what Buddhism is about is the opposite of that, being true and real, sane and natural. That’s what youthfulness is about: no expiry date. Manjushri is called the ever-youthful. In a large portion of the Buddhist canon that’s the first sentence at the beginning of a sutra' homage to the ever youthful Manjushri,. Youth means having a live, intelligent quality, alive, vibrant, an always up-to-date insight. And everybody can relate to that vibrant quality.

That was an introduction to the meeting point between your world and people and Dharma, and about staying young. Tsoknyi Rinpoche also talked about that today, about not losing the spark. I found that I became a little weird after becoming a Buddhist. It was so much easier for me to be in the natural state before becoming a Buddhist. Which is sad, in a way. It took me five or six years before I found out that what the lamas where talking about was what I used to be, before I began formal practices. Perhaps I had connected with some wrong, well not wrong but very gradual-approach type teachers, who said “you cannot realize it, not in this lifetime, it takes many lives.” Even the idea of the awakened state being accessible was completely out of their world, which is actually quite sad.

For young people I think it’s often somewhat easy to access the natural state, as they are spontaneous, natural, free in their attitude, because it’s something that is very close--it’s what we actually are. Isn’t it? A happy, free approach, which is very close to Dzogchen and Mahamudra.

Most of what we have learned, what we are supposed to when we walk into a situation, is to be unnatural, and contained. Even as a Buddhist practitioner we could be taught to become something like a fossil, fossilized human being--not in actual teachings but it’s kind of in the air in many groups--that “now you don’t party anymore, you don’t go out.” Stuff like that. Then one thinks that one has to keep to a very rigid range, not just on voice and body language, but on the mind as well. This is true to some extent, but not deeply within. An area of oneself has to remain free and young, while another area has to be rained in a bit. Not to bang into each other. But the youthfulness disappears when these two areas get confused, worried wrinkles begin to appear. I got wrinkles already when I was 20, trying to look devoted (Erik makes a face). I was in a group where people made such faces when they showed sincerity and I just imitate that way. I see you don’t have that problem, luckily.