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Tibetan Saint Je Tsongkhapa Chenpo, the Found- Er of the Gelugpa School

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Tibetan Saint Je Tsongkhapa Chenpo, the Found- Er of the Gelugpa School BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID ITHACA, NY 14851 Permit No. 746 Deliver to current resident SNOW LION SPECIAL ORDER FROM OUR NEW TRAVEL TOLL FREE NUMBER NEWSLETTER & CATALOG OFFER 1-800-950-0313 page 5 VOLUME 4, NUMBER 2 PO BOX 6483, ITHACA, NY 14851, (607)-273-8506 SNOW LION PUBLICATIONS ing English at Cambridge Univer- sity in the early 1970s, he has made good use of the nearly twenty years litilS he has lived in the West to shape his unique perspective on today's culture : ; ; : : : : : ::: ■ : : - m t : mimwmisM: and its spiritual needs. The follow- mmm::; : :: ■, :■:::;::■. : ;:;:':-::: ing are excerpts from his reflections ■■■ ' . ■■■.■.. ' ; ■ ■■ on his early life. I come from the Teyhor Kham region of East Tibet. I was for- tunate to have been born into the Lakar family, a very special fami- ly which owes its name to the great fourteenth century Tibetan saint Je Tsongkhapa Chenpo, the found- er of the Gelugpa School. En route from Amdo to Central Tibet, he was going from door to door, beg- ging for alms, according to monas- tic custom. When he arrived at our house my ancestor came out to welcome him and offer him food, dressed in a thick white woollen robe. In Tibetan this type of cloth is called 'La', and the word for white is 'kar'. Tsongkhapa saw this as a very auspicious sign, so, call- ing the family Lakar, he blessed my ancestor and prophesied that his descendants would become very wealthy, and be benefactors of the Dharma. In the next gener- ation, two brothers were born who were considered to be emanations of Jambhala, the god of wealth, Photo: Peter Gold and his prophesy did indeed come Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet true. The family enjoyed consider- able commercial success, and with body, and thus there is a limit to their money helped many great how much you can jump. Howev- THE LUMINOUS NATURE masters in their work. There was er, since the mind is an entity of not a single major monastery in mere luminosity and knowing, Tibet that did not receive their when the basis of training is the OF THE MIND support, and thus they became mind, it is possible through gradu- widely renowned for their support al familiarization to develop salu- by His Holiness the Dalai Lama of the Dharma. tary attitudes limitlessly. When I was not even six months We ourselves know that the It is necessary for us to familiarize the mind, then from its inception old, I was being taken from my mind can remember many things; with and get used to good atti- the mind would always have to be home to the Dzongsar monastery, putting one thing in mind and tudes, but our habituation to bad hateful, for instance, since that where my master used to live, a then another, it is posssible to keep emotions such as hatred makes a would be its nature. However, that journey of about three days. As we a great amount in memory. Nowa- huge obstacle. Thus, we need to this is not so is obvious; it is only were crossing a little mountain days we cannot retain an extraor- identify the various forms of bad under certain circumstances that pass, I spontaneously began to dinary amount, but we are using afflictive emotions and combat we become angry, and when those sing Padmasambhava's Mantra, only grosser levels of conscious- them right on the spot. If you circumstances are not present, an- which amazed the whole party. Af- ness; if we utilize more subtle lev- gradually become accustomed to ger is not generated. This indicates ter this, the word got around that els, we can retain even more. controlling bad attitudes, over a that the nature of hatred and the an incarnation had been born in Qualities that depend on the period of years it is possible even nature of mind are different even Sogyal the Lakar family, and as a result, mind can be increased limitlessly. for someone who often used to get if in a deeper sense they both are a number of monasteries pounced As much as you implement and in- very angry to become calm. consciousnesses thus having a na- to claim me as their incarnation, crease the antidotal attitudes that Rinpoche Some people might feel that you ture of luminosity and knowing. in order to capture the financial What are the circumstances that counter afflictive emotions, so lose your independence if you do Fluent in English and well-known backing of my family. A certain serve as a basis for generating ha- much do those unfavorable atti- not let your mind just wander in the West because of his frequent amount of maneuvering went on. tred? It is generated because we tudes decrease, finally being extin- where it wants to, if you try to con- appearances in the media and. at in- Yet since I was the only child, my superimpose upon phenomena an guished altogether. Hence, it is trol it. This is not so; if your mind ternational conferences, Sogyal Rin- parents did not want to give me to unattractiveness or badness that said that since we have a mind that is proceeding in a correct way, you poche is a Buddhist master who was a monastery, as they looked to me exceeds what is actually there. has a nature of mere luminosity already have independence, but if bom in Tibet and trained by some of to run the future affairs of the With this as a basis we get angry and knowing, all of us have the it is proceeding in an incorrect the greatest teachers of this century. family. at what prevents our desires. fundamental substances necessary way, it is necessary to exercise He is acknowledged as a pioneer in The dilemma was solved by my Hence, the foundation of a mind control. drawing out the common insights of teacher Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi of hatred is not valid. However, a Continued on page 2 Is it possible to get rid of the af- the ancient Buddhist wisdom of Lodro. He took me and kept me mind of love does have valid foun- flictive emotions completely or is Tibet and blending them with mod- dation. When, over a long period it possible only to suppress them? em experience and research. Study- Continued on page 2 From the Buddhist point of view, of time, an attitude that has a val- the conventional nature of the id foundation competes with an at- titude that does not, the one with mind is clear light, and thus defile- Kalachakra 21 Zen 28 the valid foundation will win. ments do not reside in the very na- Catalog Contents: Art & Photography 22 Native America 29 ture of the mind; defilements are Therefore, if you familiarize Other Traditions 29 Dharma Items 14 Adventure Travel 23 adventitious, temporary, and can steadily over a long period of time Psychology & Self-Help 30 Snow Lion Tibet Cards 16 Biography 24 be removed. From the ultimate with good attitudes that have a val- Religion & Philosophy 31 Cards, Prints, Posters 17 Cookbooks 25 point of view the nature of the id foundation, bad attitudes that Music & Chants 38 Computer Software 17 Health & Fitness 26 mind is its emptiness of inherent do not will gradually diminish. Calendars 38 Video Dharma 18 History & Politics 27 existence. When training physically in broad- Complete Title List 39 Audio Tapes 19 Language 28 If afflictive emotions, such as jumping, for instance, the basis of Ordering Information 40 Books by the Dalai Lama ... 20 Women's Studies 28 hatred, were in the very nature of the process is the gross physical SNOW LION FALL 89 NEWSLETTER & CATALOG NEWS & PROFILES Luminous Nature ing, when your mind has awak- Sogyal Rinpoche when the owners began to give the same time you are taught from (continued from page 1) ened and is clear but your senses (continued from page I) chase. They had to move quickly, a very young age not to let it go to are not yet fully operating, is bet- and amongst the horses was a your head, and your tutor treats for the attainment of Buddhahood. ter. It helps not to have eaten too with him at Dzongsar, where he pregnant mare which was about to you as somebody very ordinary. A basic Buddhist point is that much the night before nor to sleep brought me up like his only son. give birth. Trying to stop her as The training was very tough with in dependence upon the mind's too much; this makes the mind So I grew up spending more time she fled in the stampede, one of a great deal of memorization of being essentially an entity of mere lighter and sharper the next morn- with him and my aunt Khandro the robbers slashed out at her with scriptures, and if you did not work luminosity and knowing, it can be ing. Gradually the mind will be- Tsering Chodron, his spiritual his sword, tearing a huge gash in diligently enough you were made shown that the mind can eventu- come more and more stable; wife, than with my own parents. her stomach, through which her to feel your tutor's displeasure. ally know everything. This, from mindfulness and memory will be- My first recollection, in fact my foal was born. The mare immedi- In the early fifties, the situation a philosophical viewpoint, sup- come clearer. entire childhood memory, is of this ately stopped in her tracks and be- in East Tibet deteriorated rapid- ports the position that good atti- See if this practice makes your incredible being.
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