DOCSLIB.ORG

DB4 Reading 2

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
DB4 Reading 2 Discovering Buddhism 4 – The Spiritual Teacher Reading 2: Who is my Guru? This lesson covers the various functions that Buddhist teachers can perform, such as lecturer, preceptor, guru, etc., and we will learn how the teacher-student connection is formed in various situations. We will see what the qualifications are for certain types of teachers and how to decide whether to take someone as a guru. The readings here are drawn from: • Session One of DBaH course 4: "The Spiritual Teacher" by Ven. Constance Miller • Wise Teacher, Wise Student: Tibetan Approaches to a Healthy Relationship by Alexander Berzin • The Heart of the Path, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche • Online Advice Book, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche • Biographies of FPMT lamas, www.fpmt.org Meditation: • “Why We Need a Spiritual Guide” Excerpts from: Session One of DBaH course 4: "The Spiritual Teacher" by Ven. Constance Miller Discovering BUDDHISM at Home: Awakening the limitless potential of your mind, achieving all peace and happiness; SUBJECT AREA 4, The Spiritual Teacher. The meaning of “guru” Before we move on to other topics, it might be instructive to explore the meaning of the term guru. Guru is from the Sanskrit; it means “heavy, weighty.” A guru is someone who is weighty in the sense of having a substantial presence, having charisma. There are several ways to analyze the term guru etymologically.1 First, gu comes from the Sanskrit guna, which means “good qualities” and ru comes 1 What follows here is a not a true etymology, but rather a teaching tool. This is a common occurance in Buddhist commentaries where a word is broken down in a certain way to give more instruction on the topic. The actual Sanskrit root of guru is gr, which does mean 'heavy' as already explained. Discovering Buddhism 4 – The Spiritual Teacher, Reading 2 1 from ruchi, which means “collection” so a guru is someone who is heavy with good qualities. Alternatively, gu comes from guhya, which means “hidden, secret,” and ru comes from rupa, which means “body, form”; this indicates someone whose qualities are hidden and far exceed our expectations. In the Tibetan language, guru is translated as lama. Etymologically, la means “unsurpassable” and “sublime,” which indicate the method side of the Dharma, or bodhichitta; ma means “mother,” in this case the “mother of all spiritual attainments,” which is the wisdom side of the Dharma. Thus, a lama is “one who has given birth internally to what is unsurpassable and sublime,” and therefore exhibits the unified realization of both the method and the wisdom aspects of the Dharma. A lama, or guru, has the power to tame wild emotions and therefore to become as stable and substantial as a mountain in their mind and in their realizations on the path. This power or life-force finds expression as bodhichitta, the culmination of both love and compassion. Because of his (or her) bodhichitta, a guru is able to tame wild disciples so that they can live their lives meaningfully. Whether the guru, who is the active expression of the buddhas’ infinite kindness, manifests to us as a teacher of the Dharma or in the form of ordinary beings, situations, even inanimate objects in our life, whatever the outer form, the guru always serves to reveal to us our minds, our best and worst inner natures, so that we can grow in wisdom and compassion, so that we too can surpass our limitations on the path to awakening. It is simply up to us to open our minds to these manifestations of the guru in our lives. Choosing a spiritual guide When you go hiking in totally unknown territory and you hire a guide, you are entrusting yourself into the hands of that person – your body, your safety. In the same way, when you enter into a serious teacher-disciple relationship, you are entrusting yourself into the hands of that person. Along the spiritual path, whatever you encounter, you are entrusting your progress to the hands of that person and that person’s advice. It’s a very serious relationship and it’s a very serious decision when you decide to enter into such a relationship. So how do you choose a qualified spiritual guide? When you discover a prospective spiritual teacher who interests you, it is extremely important to check, check, check. Examine that person … thoroughly. Take time; take as much time as it takes. The Dalai Lama says you should observe and “spy” on a potential teacher for twelve years before you choose him or her as your guru. Twelve years? This may be a general guideline rather than a hard-and-fast rule. But in any case, you should be very thorough and very sure of your decision before you commit to such a relationship and the commitments that it entails. What do we look for as we observe and examine and check a prospective guru? Over time, you absorb impressions and feelings about this person. You check out how the teacher relates to his or her students; you talk to the students themselves about their own experiences. Does that person exhibit patience, compassion, and energy? What kind of example are they to the world? How do they ground their teachings, that is, do they practice what they preach? Again, over time, on the basis of your observations and experiences, an impression about that person will begin to form in an organic kind of Discovering Buddhism 4 – The Spiritual Teacher, Reading 2 2 way. Once you establish a relationship with a teacher, you will start to emulate that person. By following your teacher’s example, you’re eventually going to turn out like that person. We become like our teachers in so many ways. Remember this as you check out prospective teachers: Do you want to become like that person or not? Does that person have qualities that you would like to develop in yourself? A very important point to understand here is how extremely damaging it is to break this relationship once you have entered in. Our teacher-disciple relationship is at the core of our spiritual path. It is the foundation of our connection with the Dharma, which is the vehicle to achieve freedom from suffering and every temporal and ultimate happiness. To damage or break this relationship can bring deep spiritual despair. It is often said in the Christian tradition that hell is simply the state of being separated from God. I would say that this is quite similar. If we damage or destroy our relationship with our spiritual teacher, we can easily fall into the lower realms in our future rebirths, but we can also find ourselves in a kind of human hell realm in this very life, having poisoned our connection with the source of happiness, the enlightened beings and the Dharma they have given us. We open ourselves up to many negative influences, illnesses, psychological depression, and other maladies and difficulties. We can even find ourselves falling into a nihilistic view of the world in which we cease to care for either ourselves or others. This is not to scare us away from pursuing and entering into a teacher-disciple relationship – not at all! It is just very important that we understand the gravity of such a relationship so that we can choose a spiritual teacher very, very carefully. This can ensure that our experience of this relationship can be rewarding and joyful and bring great benefits to our lives. The qualities of a spiritual teacher Let’s consider more specifically the qualities that we should be looking for when we assess whether or not a person is suitable to be our spiritual guide. In Pabongkha Rinpoche’s Lam-rim teaching, Liberation In the Palm of Your Hand, [in Day Eight], Rinpoche teaches about the ten qualities of a Mahayana teacher. There’s a very succinct little verse, from the text the Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras, that reads: Rely on a spiritual guide who is Subdued, pacified, most pacified, Who has more qualities than you, Perseverance, a wealth of scripture, Realization into suchness, Who is a skilled teacher, has love, And has given up disappointment [In the disciple’s performance]. These are the ten general qualities of a Mahayana guru. So what do these mean? (1) Subdued: “Subdued” means that this person’s mind has been subdued with the practice of ethics. He or she is an ethical person, one who embodies the practice of Discovering Buddhism 4 – The Spiritual Teacher, Reading 2 3 morality in his or her actions and choices. This means that one’s ethics are more than mere words. (2) “Pacified” means that the mind is also pacified with single-pointed concentration. This means having some control and ability to focus and concentrate the mind. (3) “Most pacified” refers to having a mind pacified by an understanding of wisdom, most specifically the wisdom of emptiness. Then, (4) “having more qualities than you.” This seems rather obvious, but there is one very nice example in the text, in Liberation. If you put sandalwood together with other types of wood, then those other types of wood take on the scent of the sandalwood. In the same way, when you enter into a teacher-disciple relationship, you spend time with your teacher. You receive their advice, you take their teachings. By relying on your teacher, following his or her example, you eventually take on your teacher’s attributes, just as the wood takes on the scent of the sandalwood. This once again points to the importance of choosing your teachers carefully because in so many ways you’re going to become just like them.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Healing and Self-Healing Through White Tara
    HEALING AND SELF-HEALING THROUGH WHITE TARA Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche Spring retreat teachings, The Netherlands 1995 Winter retreat vajrayana teachings, US 1996-7 A Jewel Heart Transcript ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Part I of this edition is the transcription of the teachings on White Tara, Healing and selfhealing, that Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche gave during the spring retreat 1995 in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Part II are the vajrayana teachings on the practice of White Tara, taught by Rinpoche during the spring of 1995 in Nijmegen, a vajrayana weekend in Ann Arbor 1995, and the winterretreats 1996/97 en 1997/98 in the US. Part II is restricted; what is taught can only be practiced by those who’ve received full initiation in either Avalokiteshvara or in any maha annuttara yoga tantra. (A Tara long-life initiation – which actually is a blessing – is not what is meant here). Because of this restriction, part I has been published separately. The transcript is updated since the 4th edition. In particular it got a number of features that facilitate studying this worthwhile practice. A glossary, a list of literature and an index are provided. Images related to the teachings have been added. References to other literature have been made. Cross-references between the sutrayana- and the vajrayana part may help clarify difficulties. For easy study additional small headings have been made. The teachings of Part I were transcribed by several Jewel Heart friends in the Netherlands. The vajrayana teachings have been transcribed by Hartmut Sagolla. The drawing of Buddha Shakyamuni and those of the mudras were made by Marian van der Horst, those of the life-chakras by Piet Soeters.
    [Show full text]
  • Learn Tibetan & Study Buddhism
    fpmt Mandala BLISSFUL RAYS OF THE MANDALA IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS JULY - SEPTEMBER 2012 TEACHING A GOOD HEART: FPMT REGISTERED TEACHERS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE FOUNDATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE MAHAYANA TRADITION Wisdom Publications Delve into the heart of emptiness. INSIGHT INTO EMPTINESS Khensur Jampa Tegchok Edited by Thubten Chodron A former abbot of Sera Monastic University, Khensur Jampa Tegchok here unpacks with great erudi- tion Buddhism’s animating philosophical principle—the emptiness of all appearances. “Khensur Rinpoche Jampa Tegchok is renowned for his keen understanding of philosophy, and of Madhyamaka in particular. Here you will find vital points and reasoning for a clear understanding of emptiness.”—Lama Zopa Rinpoche, author of How to Be Happy 9781614290131 “This is one of the best introductions to the philosophy of emptiness 336 pages | $18.95 I have ever read.”—José Ignacio Cabezón, Dalai Lama Professor and eBook 9781614290223 Chair, Religious Studies Department, UC Santa Barbara Wisdom Essentials JOURNEY TO CERTAINTY The Quintessence of the Dzogchen View: An Exploration of Mipham’s Beacon of Certainty Anyen Rinpoche Translated and edited by Allison Choying Zangmo Approachable yet sophisticated, this book takes the reader on a gently guided tour of one of the most important texts Tibetan Buddhism has to offer. “Anyen Rinpoche flawlessly presents the reader with the unique perspective that belongs to a true scholar-yogi. A must-read for philosophers and practitioners.” —Erik Pema Kunsang, author of Wellsprings of the Great Perfection and 9781614290094 248 pages | $17.95 compiler of Blazing Splendor eBook 9781614290179 ESSENTIAL MIND TRAINING Thupten Jinpa “The clarity and raw power of these thousand-year-old teachings of the great Kadampa masters are astonishingly fresh.”—Buddhadharma “This volume can break new ground in bridging the ancient wisdom of Buddhism with the cutting-edge positive psychology of happiness.” —B.
    [Show full text]
  • Middle Way Review Class with Jampa Gendun – January 18 – 21, 2000
    SUPPLEMENT TO THE ‘MIDDLE WAY’ (Madhyamakavatara) TRANSCRIPTS OF REVIEW CLASSES WITH JAMPA GEDUN January 2000 – May 2001 FPMT MASTERS PROGRAM MATERIAL © Jampa Gedun & FPMT, Inc. All rights reserved No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system or technologies now known or later developed, without permission in writing from Jampa Gedun & FPMT, Inc. Masters Program: Middle Way Review Class with Jampa Gendun – January 18 – 21, 2000 Review Class with Jampa Gendun January 18 (Tuesday) Motivation for our studies of the Middle Way Without the wisdom realizing emptiness we will never be free from suffering. Kensur Yeshey Tupden (in Path to the Middle) says that to the degree we understand that the referent object of our conception of true existence does not exist, there will result a commensurate diminishment of our suffering. And not only will we understand but we can then impart this wisdom to others. We should be observing this precious opportunity to study Madhyamika with this motivation. Resources We have several resources for this text: A translation by George Churinoff of Chandrakirti’s root text, Supplement to the Middle Way (we will refer to this as Supplement), along with the autocommentary, ‘Explanation of the Supplement to the Middle Way’ (we will refer to this as Autocommentary) A translation by Jeffrey Hopkins of the first five chapters of Lama Tsongkhapa’s commentary, Illumination of the Thought (we will refer to this as Illumination) The transcripts of Geshe-la’s current teachings The transcripts of Geshe-la’s teachings on Supplement ten years ago A translation by Martin Wilson of The Mirror of the Clarification of the Thought, another commentary on Chandrakirti’s Supplement, written by the first Dalai Lama Reviewing the handout: Middle Way – Madhyamika – Studies Background Madhyamika has gone through many different changes in how it has been viewed in the West.
    [Show full text]
  • Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition Puja Fund
    Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition Puja Fund Activities Dedicated to the Long Life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, FPMT Dharma Activity & All Beings The FPMT is an organization devoted to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service. We provide integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility. We are committed to creating harmonious environments and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion. Our organization is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught to us by our founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe and our spiritual director, Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. “The merit that is created from all these pujas is also your merit. So you can dedicate all these merits to having realizations and to achieve enlightenment.” -- Lama Zopa Rinpoche Established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1995, The FPMT Puja Fund provides resources for continuous pujas (prayer ceremonies) dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and to the success of all the FPMT centers and projects, students, benefactors and those serving the organization in any way. Each month, pujas are performed by many thousands of monks and nuns. The enormous number of Sangha engaged in these practices is an extremely powerful means to overcome obstacles and create merit for the entire organization. The following lists all puja prayers and offerings currently commissioned by the Puja Fund.
    [Show full text]
  • Speech Delivered by His Holiness 14 Dalai Lama to the Second Gelug
    Speech Delivered by His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama to the Second Gelug Conference (Dharamsala, June 12th 2000) We meet here today with Ganden Tri Rinpoche, the representative of Jamgön Gyelwa (Lama Tsong Khapa), chiefly gracing us with his presence. The abbots representing the three seats of Sera, Drepung, Ganden, as well as those of Tashi Lhunpo, Gyutö and Gyumei tantric colleges have joined us; as have abbots and former abbots who are here on behalf of the various other Gelug monasteries. It seems though that the Manali representative has not been able to join us though (laughter)1. Anyway as well as all of these guests I also have been able to attend this Gelug conference. The organisation of these international Gelug conferences and the general concern for the maintenance and promotion of the teaching is admirable. I would like to thank all of you for your concern and for having put in such hard work. Given the significance of this event, I would like to encourage everyone, for the space of these few days, to dispense with ostentatious posing and the empty formalities of ceremony. Let’s try to get to the heart of the matter. We have now gained quite a bit of experience. So let us utilise that to focus on what problems we face and give some thought to how we can improve things. Our consideration of these matters should be careful. I have high hopes that this will prove to be an open forum for the discussion of the important issues and will generally prove to be a success.
    [Show full text]
  • Here It Re- Monastery
    BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID ITHACA, NY 14851 Permit No. 746 M 16 Address correction requested SNOW LION ORDER FROM OUR NEW TOLL FREE NUMBER NEWSLETTER & CATALOG 1-800-950-0313 1992 WINTER SUPPLEMENT SNOW LION PUBLICATIONS PO BOX 6483, ITHACA, NY 14851, (607)-273-8506 ISSN 1059-3691 VOLUME 7, NUMBER 1 Chakrasamvara, Yamantaka and Kalachakra, the special deity of NAMGYAL MONASTERY Namgyal, as the main ritual and meditation practices of the mon- Institute of Buddhist Studies astery. He placed special empha- Ithaca, New York sis on maintaining the practice of Kalachakra, and in conjunction Namgyal Monastery is establish- Namgyal Dratsang (Victorious with Zha-lu masters taught dance. ing a branch monastery in the Monastery). Since its inception, To gain admission to the monas- United States, in Ithaca, New the monastery has assisted the tery, a monk had to memorize cer- York, under the direction of His Dalai Lamas in their public reli- tain texts and was tested by a Holiness the Dalai Lama and the gious activities and performed senior monk who would judge parent monastery in Dharamsala, ritual prayer ceremonies for the whether he was capable of being India. Six Namgyal monks, in- welfare of Tibet. From the begin- examined in the Dalai Lama's cluding a Geshe and others with ning, the monastery has been a presence. If formally admitted, the the ' 'Master of Sutra and Tantra'' center of learning, contemplation monk would have a private au- degree, have been selected to es- and meditation on the vast and dience with the Dalai Lama before tablish the Namgyal Monastery In- profound Buddhist treatises.
    [Show full text]
  • Wisdom of Emptiness Required Reading
    Discovering BUDDHISM Awakening the limitless potential of your mind, achieving all peace and happiness Wisdom of Emptiness Required Reading 12. Wisdom of Emptiness 1 Discovering BUDDHISM Discovering BUDDHISM 2 12. Wisdom of Emptiness Contents The Wisdom of Emptiness, by Denma Locho Rinpoche 5 The Two Truths, by Denma Locho Rinpoche 7 Seeking the I, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche 9 Non-duality, by Lama Thubten Yeshe 13 How to Meditate on Emptiness, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche 19 Mahamudra, by Lama Thubten Yeshe 47 Further required reading includes the following texts: Virtue and Reality, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, 1997 gold edition (pp. 647–706) or 2006 blue edition (pp. 593- 648) Heart Sutra: An Oral Teaching, by Geshe Sonam Rinchen © FPMT, Inc., 2001. All rights reserved. 12. Wisdom of Emptiness 3 Discovering BUDDHISM Discovering BUDDHISM 4 12. Wisdom of Emptiness The Wisdom of Emptiness by Denma Locho Rinpoche In the most profound school of Buddhism, the Middle Way Consequentialist school, just what is emptiness or the ultimate truth? It is this: that in fact nobody or nothing, anywhere, has anything that inherently makes it what it is. Nothing has its own personal mark. Everything exists simply through language, through ideas. The absence of something, the total ab- sence, the total not-being, non-existence of anything that is not there through the power of language and thought is shunyata, emptiness, the ultimate truth. When one talks of an ultimate truth, of emptiness, one has a focus; one is looking at objects and finding them to be totally empty.
    [Show full text]
  • The Practice of the Triumphant Ma Healing Practices Based on the Deity Tara
    Gehlek Rimpoche The Practice of the Triumphant Ma Healing practices based on the Deity Tara Jewel Heart Transcript 2004 Gehlek Rimpoche, The Practice of the Triumphant Ma © 1995 Ngawang Gehlek Fifth edition, in new format: 2004. Jewel Heart Transcripts are lightly to moderately edited transcriptions of the teachings of Kyabje Gehlek Rinpoche and others teachers who have taught at Jewel Heart. Their purpose is to provide Rimpoche’s students, as well as all others who are interested, with these extremely valuable teach- ings in a way that gives one the feeling of being present at the teachings. JEWEL HEART Tibetan Cultural and Buddhist Centers, 207 East Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA Tel. (1) 313 994 3387 Fax: (1) 313 994 5577 www.jewelheart.org Acknowledgement This is the transcription of the teachings on White Tara, that Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche gave during the spring retreat 1995 in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. A few details from later teachings have been added here and there. These are unique teachings. Never before in the West, a Tibetan teacher gave such a detailed explanation about special visualization techniques concerned with healing and self-healing. It is also unique in as far as that part of it comes from the secret treasure-chambers of tantra. Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche modified those in a way that they can be used without having had the initiation. For those that have a full vajrayana initiation in at least a kriya tantra, a more exten- sive transcript that includes the vajrayana teachings on White Tara, is available. The basis of the teachings is A Prayer to the Noble Tara.
    [Show full text]
  • Gehlek Rimpoche a Course in Meditation
    Gehlek Rimpoche GOM a course in meditation based on Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo and Lamrim Chungba given in weekly Thursday classes in the Jewel Heart Center, New York City 2004 Jewel Heart Transcript 2005 Gehlek Rimpoche, Gom – a course in meditation © 2005 Ngawang Gehlek Jewel Heart Transcripts are lightly to moderately edited transcriptions of the teachings of Kyabje Gehlek Rinpoche and others teachers who have taught at Jewel Heart. Their purpose is to provide Rimpoche’s students, as well as all oth- ers who are interested, with these extremely valuable teachings in a way that gives one the feeling of being present at the teachings. JEWEL HEART Tibetan Cultural and Buddhist Centers, 207 East Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA Tel. (1) 313 994 3387 Fax: (1) 313 994 5577 www.jewelheart.org Acknowledgements This is the transcription of a Course in Meditation [Tib. gom], given by Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche in the New York Jewel Heart Cen- tre, in 2004. The course is part of the long-term weekly Odyssey to Freedom teachings. Subject is the development of Shamatha [Skt.] or zhi nay [Tib.], i.e. the way or how to meditate. At the same time Rimpoche gave a course in Ann Arbor, also on a weekly basis, on the Eighth Chap- ter of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara, the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, by Shantideva, in which was dealt with the object, the what to medi- tate on. After finishing the meditation course, Rimpoche gave a brief introduction into mahamudra. Inserted into this are a few pieces of text from Rimpoche’s Lam Rim Teachings as well as a few verses with commentary from the Ann Arbor teachings on the Eight Chapter of the Bodhisattvacaryava- tara.
    [Show full text]
  • Invoking the Truth of the Tri-Ratna
    Invoking the Truth of the Tri-Ratna A supplication for the swift return of Kyabje Denma Locho Rinpoche Shakyamuni, supreme teacher and most sublime expounder of the Dharma, Maitreya, Manjushri, and the seventeen most venerable masters of Nalanda along with the Victor Lobsang, his spiritual offspring and their lineage holders - pray bestow the magnificence of the three most rare jewels. The light of your fine and most exalted intelligence illuminated the lotus grove of the sugatas' complete discourse, and revealed the ocean-like profound peace of the dharmadhatu. Lama of beings in this most decadent of times, I supplicate you! Your most sublime intention and bodhicitta ripened and you practiced the Buddha’s teaching in general, and those of the Victor Lobsang specifically. Accomplishing them, you spread and increased them in each and every direction. But to our dismay, you suddenly retired into the sphere of peace. Nonetheless, you know the general and specific teachings, and have concern for others. And so, like the fine examples of the learned and venerable ones of the past, to increase the glory of the Dharma, and for the benefit of beings, please, quickly and without any hindrance, show us an emanation replete with the wondrous qualities of elucidation, debate, and composition once again. Through the infallibility of interdependence and the blessings of the ocean-like hosts of victors and the Three Jewels, may all we have prayed for come to pass in a smooth and timely way, without any obstacle. Colophon This supplication for the swift return of the recently deceased Denma Locho Rinpoche, Lobsang Oser Choying Gyatso of Drepung Loseling, was requested by the late Rinpoche's estate as well as by his devoted disciples.
    [Show full text]
  • Geshe Sopa by Roger Jackson Dear Colleagues
    Bios Geshe Sopa by Roger Jackson Dear Colleagues, It is with great sadness that I write to report the passing of Geshe Lhundub Sopa, on August 28, 2014, at the age of 91 (92 by Tibetan reckoning). Geshe-la—as he was well-nigh universally known—was one the last surviving masters to receive most of their scholarly training in Tibet, and one of the first such scholars to teach in a Western university. He was Professor Emeritus of South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of numerous scholarly works on Tibetan Buddhism, founding and emeritus abbot of Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, Wisconsin, and a revered Buddhist teacher, with students in every part of the world. Born in 1923 to a farming family in the Shang principality of the west-central Tibetan region of Tsang, he entered a local Gelukpa monastery, Ganden Chökhor, at the age of eight. When he was eighteen, he moved to Lhasa to join Je College of the great monastic university of Sera. Studying with some of Tibet's greatest masters, he rose rapidly through the scholarly ranks, and was appointed tutor to an important young tulku, Khamlung Rinpoche. In 1959, shortly before the Lhasa uprising, when H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama stood for his Geshe examination, Geshe-la was chosen to serve as a debate partner, quizzing His Holiness on the Perfection of Wisdom literature. With the Chinese suppression of the uprising, Geshe-la, like the Dalai Lama and tens of thousands of other Tibetans, made the perilous journey to India and exile.
    [Show full text]
  • China Announces That Its Annexing of Tibet Is a Reclamation of Chinese Territory
    CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS 1950 – 2008 This chronology was compiled by Kundeling Rinpoche and can be found on Sumati Arya’s website under the heading ‘Kundeling Rinpoche’. We do not necessarily share the opinions expressed here, nor do we wish to advocate the disdainful tone of the text to others; however the information here contained is valuable to get a clearer picture of Tibetan spiritual/political history as it has unfolded in the last half century. 1950 : December 19th : China announces that its annexing of Tibet is a reclamation of Chinese territory. The case for Tibet as an independent nation goes unheeded by the U.N.O., Great Britain’s Ambassador stating that Tibet’s legal status is unclear and the Indian delegate advising dialogue within the parameters of the Chinese Constitution, as a solution. All options for the Dalai Lama seem exhausted, his National Assembly requesting him to flee Lhasa. Thus, at 2 a.m. at night, the teenaged incumbent Dalai Lama, Tenzing Gyatso, sets out for Chumbi Valley, in the company of 40 nobles and 200 bodyguards armed with machine guns and howitzers. The destination is Dungkar Tashi Lhundup Monastery (also known as the Tomo Dungkar Gonpa. The young God-King settles here for 8 months, returning to Lhasa in August 1951 (‘In Exile from the Landof the Snows’, John Avedon, London 1984). This period could well be considered a momentous one in the Dalai Lama’s life, as vital decisions on the destiny of his kingdom, and spiritual guide-lines, are to be decided. His Government itself, with the ‘inner circle’ of his Senior Chamberlain Donyer Phala and the two Venerable Tutors, camps on the Monastery’s premises.
    [Show full text]