Aug Sep Oct 2021 LHA LHA BAB DUCHEN
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TBI MAGAZINE Aug Sep Oct 2021 LHA BAB DUCHEN BAB LHA TIBETAN BUDDHIST INSTITUTE INC - THEKCHEN SHEDRUB CHOELING A place of Dharma, cultivating study and meditation in the Mahayana Tradition From the Director TIBETAN BUDDHIST INSTITUTE I offer this prayer to my Precious Teacher and Mentor: Thekchen Shedrub Choeling “I dedicate the mass of white virtues thus created. So that I may be inseparably cared for in all my lives. By perfect, pure ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE Gurus who are kind in three ways. And so attain the united state of Vajradhara” (Lam Rim Prayer) Spiritual Head His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet Tenzin Gyatso Founder, Teacher and Past Spiritual Leader It was a busy time in the last few months with several The late Kyabje Khensur Kangyur Lama Jetsun Losang Auspicious Days, including Saka Dawa in May, Choekhor Thubten Rinpoche Duchen in July and His Holiness 14th Dalai Lamas Birthday Spiritual Leader ~ Nawang Thubten in July. All these auspicious days were well attended and I Founders Reincarnation would like to make special note of His Holiness birthday, Kangyur Lama Choktrul Tenzin Losang Dhargye Rinpoche as on this day we gave 300 families in Nepal rice, lentils Resident Teacher ~ Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen and oil. Members and friends contributed financially to Sangha ~ Ven Tenzin Drolkar, Ven Tenzin Lhamo this wonderful project—Compassion in Action Public Officer and Responsible Person~ Ralf Zurbrugg (see pages 8,9) Translator and Director of Publishing ~ Ilia Durovic We also celebrated online, Mothers Day with Geshela, Management and Advisory Board reciting prayers. Director and Chairperson ~ Nawang Thubten Assistant Director ~ Carole Armstrong Anthony Reid lead Buddhism in a Nutshell, which went Treasurer ~ Sam Pons extremely well. Thank you so much Anthony, for your Senior Advisor ~ Chris Ridley wonderful contribution to the TBI program. Anthony will Spiritual Program Coordinator ~ Ven Tenzin Drolkar be repeating this class in November (see page 5) Membership Coordinator ~ Chrys Dombroyannis Geshela continues to give superb teachings on Tuesdays Other Positions Finance and Probity Sub Committee ~ Ralf Zurbrugg and Wednesdays and also Sunday mornings in English. Sam Pons Simon Williams Along with Ilia Durovic, our amazing translator, I would Building Fund Committee ~ Nawang Thubten encourage everyone to attend either online or in the Gerry Treuren Christele Kervin Carole Armstrong Gompa (if Covid restrictions are not in place). These Constitution Committee~ Nawang Thubten, Gerry classes are not to be missed as these teachings are Treuren, Simon Williams, Carole Armstrong Bookkeeper ~ Lucille Bruyand extremely precious and rare!! Membership Data base ~ Anthony Sweeney There are some Covid19 cases in Sera Monastery that we Librarian ~ Gordy Losic are concerned about and we are frequently offering Tibetan Sponsorship Scheme prayers for them and all sentient beings during this Administrator ~ Nawang Thubten pandemic. Administrator & Data Base ~ Anthony Sweeney Tibetan Buddhist Institute Inc Thekchen Shedrub Choeling 8 Ross Ave Flinders Park SA 5023 [email protected] Nawang Thubten www.tibetanbuddhistinstitute.org Spiritual Leader and Director m: 0404839293 ph: 08 8351 8788 2 LIVING THE SIX PERFECTIONS 2nd and 3rd October We are delighted to announce that our resident teacher, Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen, will be teaching How to live the Six Perfections in Daily Life. Specifically, Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen will focus on how to live the Six Perfections through one's body, speech and mind in ordinary Australian life and will rely on Candrakīrtī's Madhyamakāvatāra (as well as Maitreya GESHE JAMPA GYALTSEN Abhisamayālamkāra, etc). Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen is a Lharampa Geshe of Sera Je Meditation: 9.00 - 9.45am monastery who, in addition to completing Teachings: 10.00 - 12noon the grueling 20 year plus curriculum to Lunch Break: 12noon - 3pm attain the Lharampa Geshe degree, also Teachings: 3.00 - 4.30pm studied Tantra at Gyume Tantric college. He Venue: You are welcome in the Gompa with Geshela BYO lunch, (tea/coffee provided) or live-streaming in has served as disciplinarian of Tehor your home. Khangtsen and was a close student of TBI's Facility and Live-streaming fee for two days: founder, the late Abbot of Sera Je, Khensur Members & Concession: $40.00 Non Members $60.00 Kangyur Rinpoche. It is quite rare to have a Direct Debit: BankSa teacher of such an undeniable level make Account: 057 567 240 BSB: 105 081 teachings such as these easily available and Code: WEGJGSurnameFirstname we hope many students will attend! 3 LHA BAB DUCHEN Wednesday 27th October Everyone is most welcome to come along and join the celebrations with Geshela, Sangha and TBI Community. 10.30am Recitations 12.30pm Shared Lunch 7.00pm Guru Puja Lha Bab Duchen is the anniversary of the Buddha’s descent from the heavenly realm (Tushita) to earth. Buddha Shakyamuni ascended to The Heaven of Thirty Three in order to give teachings to benefit the gods in the desire realms and to repay the kindness of his mother by liberating her from Samsara. This is considered to be one of the great deeds of the Buddha among the twelve great deeds. During Lha Bab Duchen, the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied. It is part of Tibetan Buddhist tradition to engage in virtuous activities and prayer on this day. Tibetan Buddhist Institute Inc Tekchen Shedrub Choeling 8 Ross Avenue Flinders Park 5025 08 8351 8788 www.tibetanbuddhistinstitute.org [email protected] 4 The altar at TBI BUDDHISM IN A NUTSHELL Mondays 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd November A SHORT COURSE Online or in the Gompa This course runs over four consecutive sessions, and is designed to provide an overview of key points of the Buddhist path in the Tibetan tradition. 1. All in the mind: why Buddhists first meditate 2. Open heart: far-sighted compassion 3. Clear mind: the flaming sword of wisdom 4. Bodhisattva’s way of life: the six perfections. The course includes talks and guided meditations and will be led by senior student, Anthony Reid. He has been interested in Buddhist practice since the mid 1990s and studied with Ven. Khensur Rinpoche for many years. Anthony has also listened to a range of other Tibetan teachers and visited some of Buddhism’s most sacred sites in India and Tibet. Everyone welcome to come into the Gompa and bask in the wonder of our altar. Facility Fee per session Members & Concession $10.00 Non Members $15.00 Full Course (4 nights) Members & Concession $30.00 Non Members $45.00 Please contact Tibetan Buddhist Institute 8 Ross Avenue Flinders Park 5 About Ilia Durovic Some of you may not know much about our translator, Ilia Durovic. Because of Covid, few people come to TBI to listen to teachings, and therefore don’t have the opportunity to meet Ilia in “real life”. I hope the following gives insight into our highly respected and much venerated, translator. Ilia Durovic, formerly a US citizen, is one of the students of the late Geshe Rabten Rinpoche, who was the Counsellor in Religious Affairs of HH the Dalai Lama. Ilia studied Buddhist philosophy under Geshe Rabten’s direction and was his personal French translator in Switzerland until Geshe Rabten’s passing in 1986. Ilia also translated into French for His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Geneva (Switzerland) in 1985. He then continued studying for many years, taking responsibility for his family after his father’s death in 1988. He came to India in 2001 to attend major teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and shortly after came down to Sera Je (Karnataka, India) with the strong wish to pursue his studies in Buddhist philosophy. As his Tibetan, both colloquial and classi- cal was very good, he was able to start studying Buddhist philosophy privately under the direction of three different Tibetan teachers. One of these was Geshe Yama Rinchen, a very famous scholar, who became his foremost teacher. He then generated the strong wish to become ordained and received Novice and eventually Bhikshu ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama under the name of Tenzin Tenpa. Because of his very good knowledge of Buddhist Philosophy, the then disciplinarian of Sera Je Monas- tery (second only to the Abbot of the monastery) and his teacher , Geshe Yama Rinchen, decided that he should be allowed to enter directly into the fourth year of studies at Sera Je. This was an exceptional decision made at the time. Ilia also successfully passed a debate examination in Tibetan in front of the whole monastery, which comprised 3,500 monks! He is to my knowledge the only Westerner to ever have done so. Ilia Durovic then studied three further years at Sera Je Monastery, completing an in depth study of Buddhist Philosophy. During his studies, he sponsored: • on a very large scale the Sera Je Health Care Center, which is responsible for all health-related issues at Sera Je Monastery. • the Sera Je Library and it’s publishing branch and funded. • the creation of a special compound for Western monastics (Sera IMI), to enable Westerners to study Buddhist philosophy at the source. In addition to these activities, Ilia requested and sponsored numerous teachings for the benefit of the Tibetan monks of Sera Je, and offered his services to translate them into English for the benefit of the westerners who were present. He also translated into English for the benefit of western students “The Easy Path” by Panchen Lobsang Chogyan, which Khensur Kangyur Rinpoche taught to an audience of ca 1,000 monks at Sera Je monastery. 6 Continued from previous page: About Ilia Durovic Ilia specifically requested and sponsored: • The 21 day teachings on “Liberation in the Palm of your Hand”, by Khyabje Phabongka Rinpoche, which was given to well in excess of 1,000 monks and he provided simultaneous translation into English from the Tibetan (20/11/2003-12/12/2003 with a break).