Tibetan Nuns Between Oppression and Opportunities
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JACEK TRZEBUNIAK* Analysis of Development of the Tibetan Tulku
The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture Nr 10 (2/2014) / ARTICLE JACEK TRZEBUNIAK* (Uniwersytet Jagielloński) Analysis of Development of the Tibetan Tulku System in Western Culture ABSTRACT With the development of Tibetan Buddhism in Europe and America, from the second half of the twentieth century, the phenomenon of recognising a person as a reincarnation of Bud- dhist teachers appeared in this part of the world. Tibetan masters expected that the identified person will serve important social and religious functions for Buddhist communities. How- ever, after several decades since the first recognitions, the Western tulkus do not play the same important role in the development of Buddhism, as tulkus in China, and the Tibetan communities in exile. The article analyses the cultural and social causes of the different functioning of tulku institution in Western societies. The article shows that a different un- derstanding of identity, power and hierarchy mean that tulkus do not play significant roles in the development of Buddhism in this part of the world. KEY WORDS religious studies, Tibetan Buddhism, tulku, West INTRODUCTION Tulku (Tib. sprul sku) is a person in Tibetan Buddhism tradition who is recog- nised as a reincarnation of a famous Buddhist master. The tradition originated in the 13th century in the Kagyu (Tib. bka’ brgyud) sect when students of the Dusum Khyenpa (Tib. dus gsum mkhyen pa), after his death, found a boy and * Wydział Filozoficzny, Katedra Porównawczych Studiów Cywilizacji Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Polska e-mail: [email protected] 116 Jacek Trzebuniak recognised him as a reincarnation of their master1. -
YESHE MELONG “Mirror of Wisdom” NEWSLETTER April 1998
YESHE MELONG “Mirror of Wisdom” NEWSLETTER April 1998 News and Advice from Gyatrul Rinpoche A Brief Prayer that Spontaneously Fulfills All Wishes EMAHO! KON CHOG TSA SUM DE SHEK KUN DÜ PAL NYIK DÜ DRO WA GON MED KYAB CHIG PU TÜK JE LÖG TAR NYUR WA’I TÖD TRENG TSAL MAHA GURU PEDMA HERUKAR MÖ GÜ DÜNG SHÜK DRAG PÖ SOL WA DEB DRA DON GEK DANG BAR CHED JAD PUR LOK MA RÜNG GYAL SEN JÜNG PO DAM LA TOK SAM PA LHÜN GYI DRÜB PAR CHIN GYI LOB EMAHO! O Guru Rinpoche, in your glory you embody Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; Lama, Yidam and Khandro; and all the Sugatas, the sole refuge of beings, who are without protection in this dark age. Your compassion is as swift as lightening, Töd Treng Tsal. Maha Guru, wrathful Pedma Heruka, with fervent longing and devotion, we pray to you. Avert enemies, obstructing forces, obstacle-makers, curses and spells. Bring all negative forces—gyalpo, senmo and jungpo demons—under your subjugation. Grant your blessings so that all our wishes be spontaneously fulfilled! Tashi Delek! The old Fire Ox has gone away. He’s wagging his tail at us, therefore we are getting lots of stormy weather from East to West. Hopefully we’ll make it out okay because now the golden Earth Tiger is here. So, I’d like to say to everyone, “Happy New Year!” I am in Hawaii now, everything is fine. My feet are getting better, but I still have a slight problem with my shoulder. Everyday I swim with the fish, and I have lots of friends—mostly around three-years-old—that I play with in the water. -
Big Love: Mandala Magazine Article
LAMA YESHE, PASHUPATINATH TEMPLE, NEPAL, 1980. PHOTO BY TOM CASTLES, COURTESY OF LAMA YESHE WISDOM ARCHIVE. 26 MANDALA | July - December 2019 A MONUMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENT: THE MAKING OF Big Love BY LAURA MILLER The creation of FPMT founder Lama Yeshe’s official biography has been a monumental task. Work on the forthcoming book, Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe, has spanned three decades. To understand the significance of this project as it draws to a close, Mandala talked to three key people, all early students of Lama Yeshe, about the production of the book: Adele Hulse, Big Love’s author; Peter Kedge, who initiated and helped fund the project; and Nicholas Ribush, who is overseeing the book’s publication at the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe begins with a refugee Tibetan monks. Together, the two lamas encountered their simple dedication: “This book is dedicated to you, the reader. first Western student, Zina Rachevsky, in 1967 in Darjeeling. The If you met Lama during your life, may you feel his presence here. following year, they went to Nepal, where they soon established If you never met Lama, then come with us—walk up the hill to Kopan Monastery on the outskirts of Kathmandu and later Kopan and meet Lama Yeshe, as thousands did, without knowing founded the international FPMT organization. anything of Buddhism or Tibet. That came later.” “Since then, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been to many Within the biography’s nearly 1,400 pages, Lama Yeshe comes countries and now has a great reputation and has received many to life. -
Buddhism and Abortion
424 Book reviews J Med Ethics: first published as 10.1136/jme.25.5.424 on 1 October 1999. Downloaded from of the unborn patient is the phrase Postgraduate Medical Dean, University of abortion rate in Korea is very high used here to describe the introduction Bristol and General Secretary, Institute of (partly driven there by son prefer- of treatment primarily directed at the Medical Ethics ence). Moreover the rate among Ko- fetus. rean Buddhists is as high or higher Early in the book the author states: than that of the rest of the population. "it is a key goal ofthis book to reframe Buddhism and However, only rather recently have fetal surgery as a women's health issue Abortion Korean Buddhists begun to express a and to re-situate fetal personhood concern for aborted fetuses and de- within the specific relationships in and mand Edited by Damien Keown, London, memorial services for them, by which it is produced". This per- though of a distinctively Korean form. Macmillan, 1998, 222 pages, spective results in questioning much £45. Part three begins with a review by of the practice of fetal surgery, but McDermott of This interdisciplinary collection James the ancient Pali whether this perspective is shared by of textual sources on nine essays is a welcome and abortion, which expectant mothers is debatable. pioneer- it for as a ing attempt to explore the abortion regard (especially monastics) The book documents the period serious breach of the Buddhist precept from the start of intrauterine transfu- question from a number of Buddhist life. -
Chawla 1 the Female Renunciant in Exile
Chawla 1 The Female Renunciant in Exile: (Re-)Invention, Translation, Empowerment1 Abstract Through a focus on the Tibetan Nuns Project (TNP) founded in 1987, my paper argues that exile in India necessitated a translation of “Tibetan culture” for patrons and potential sponsors of the putative “Tibetan cause” in Europe and North America, which in turn led to pedagogical and curricular innovations in Tibetan nunneries. This has led to a re-imagination of the role of the female monastic within Tibetan nationalist culture: from a relatively marginal position (vis-à-vis monks), nuns now occupy a prominent place as ambassadors for the Tibetan cause. Mass migration led to innovations, inventions, and improvisations within Tibetan society in exile regarding the role of women in general, and religious women in particular. Through an analysis of the TNP, this paper asks how migration has occasioned a rethinking among Tibetans about gender relations within their society, and the ways in which a three-generation long stay in India has contributed to this rethinking. A second related enquiry is about the translation of western feminism in Tibetan Buddhist contexts, both through the initiatives of TNP office bearers such as Elizabeth Napper and Phillipa Russell, as well as through TNP’s participation in the worldwide rethinking of women’s roles in the Buddhist sangha. Finally, I explore what empowerment means in movements for gender-equality within TNP nunneries, and ask if these are based on a misreading of these non-Western monastic traditions in Judeo-Christian terms. I make a case for approaching Tibetan exile in India beyond the prism of forced dislocation and loss, and argue that exile became an opportunity for Tibetan Buddhist nuns to reconfigure their position in Tibetan society. -
Buddhism / Dalai Lama 99
Buddhism / Dalai Lama 99 Activating Bodhichitta and A Meditation on Compassion His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Translated by Gonsar Rinpoche The awakening mind is the unsurpassable way to collect merit. To purify obstacles bodhicitta is supreme. For protection from interferences bodhicitta is supreme. It is the unique, all-encompassing method. Every kind of ordinary and supra-mundane power can be accomplished through bodhicitta. Thus, it is absolutely precious. Although compassion is cultivated in one’s own mind, the embodiment of it is the deity known as Avalokiteshvara (Tib. Chan-re- PY: 1979,2006 zig). The various aspects that are visualized in meditation practices and 5.5 X 8.5 represented in images and paintings are merely the interpretative forms of 80 pages Avalokitephvara, whereas the actual definitive form is compassion itself. ` 140 paperback ISBN: 81-86470-52-2 Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Edited by Donald S.Lopez,Jr. Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart is His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s gentle and profoundly eloquent instruction for developing the basis of the spiritual path: a compassionate motive. With extraordinary grace and insight, His Holiness shows how the Tibetan Buddist teachings on compassion can be practiced in our daily lives through simple meditations that directly relate to past and present PY: 2008 relationships. 5.5 X 8.5 This illuminating and highly accessible guide offers techniques for 178 pages deepening and heightening compassion in our lives and the world around ` 215 paperback us. ISBN: 81-86470-68-9 Commentary on the Thirty Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Translated by Acharya Nyima Tsering Ngulchu Gyalse Thogmed Zangpo’s The Thirty Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva is one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most popular texts, incorporated in the Mind Training text and also able to be explained according to the Lam Rim tradition. -
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo DIRECTOR GATSAL
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo DIRECTOR GATSAL ISSUE No. 34 SUMMER 2018 Celebrating International Womens Day in Peru Dr Wallace will return again at the end of this year to continue with Dear friends, the Vipassana section of this Dudjom Once more the months flow by and Lingpa terma. The retreat was recorded the nuns are now busy revising for and made available on the Meridien their end-of-term exams – walking or Trust website as a resource for other sitting with their noses in a book! Tibetan speakers. In August 2017 the nuns In December Yonge Mingyur participated in a 10 days Goenka Rinpoche again graciously visited Vipassana retreat conducted by DGL Nunnery and gave a talk on five charming lady instructors who meditation to all the nuns as well as had travelled by train from Pune in visiting the nuns in long-term retreat. Maharashtra. This was the first time He had given teachings at Sherab Ling our nuns had sat such a retreat and which Tsunma Aileen and I attended. they felt great benefit from so many Later that month I visited Pune for hours of introspective meditation. my annual talks. There is a growing In October the nuns were invited to interest in Buddhism among the Indian participate in the inauguration of the middle class and we have many dear Temple at Bhuntar near Kullu. This is friends in Pune and Mumbai. Then we the monastery of Kyabgon Choegon travelled to Sankassa in Uttar Pradesh Rinpoche who is a good friend of DGL. where the people claim to be descended Many thousands of people attended from the original Shakya clan of the this event, mainly from Kinnaur Indigenous Faces of the World, Buddha. -
THE SECURITISATION of TIBETAN BUDDHISM in COMMUNIST CHINA Abstract
ПОЛИТИКОЛОГИЈА РЕЛИГИЈЕ бр. 2/2012 год VI • POLITICS AND RELIGION • POLITOLOGIE DES RELIGIONS • Nº 2/2012 Vol. VI ___________________________________________________________________________ Tsering Topgyal 1 Прегледни рад Royal Holloway University of London UDK: 243.4:323(510)”1949/...” United Kingdom THE SECURITISATION OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM IN COMMUNIST CHINA Abstract This article examines the troubled relationship between Tibetan Buddhism and the Chinese state since 1949. In the history of this relationship, a cyclical pattern of Chinese attempts, both violently assimilative and subtly corrosive, to control Tibetan Buddhism and a multifaceted Tibetan resistance to defend their religious heritage, will be revealed. This article will develop a security-based logic for that cyclical dynamic. For these purposes, a two-level analytical framework will be applied. First, the framework of the insecurity dilemma will be used to draw the broad outlines of the historical cycles of repression and resistance. However, the insecurity dilemma does not look inside the concept of security and it is not helpful to establish how Tibetan Buddhism became a security issue in the first place and continues to retain that status. The theory of securitisation is best suited to perform this analytical task. As such, the cycles of Chinese repression and Tibetan resistance fundamentally originate from the incessant securitisation of Tibetan Buddhism by the Chinese state and its apparatchiks. The paper also considers the why, how, and who of this securitisation, setting the stage for a future research project taking up the analytical effort to study the why, how and who of a potential desecuritisation of all things Tibetan, including Tibetan Buddhism, and its benefits for resolving the protracted Sino- Tibetan conflict. -
Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, Revised Edition
REVISED EDITION John Powers ITTB_Interior 9/20/07 2:23 PM Page 1 Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism ITTB_Interior 9/20/07 2:23 PM Page 2 ITTB_Interior 9/20/07 2:23 PM Page 3 Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism revised edition by John Powers Snow Lion Publications ithaca, new york • boulder, colorado ITTB_Interior 9/20/07 2:23 PM Page 4 Snow Lion Publications P.O. Box 6483 • Ithaca, NY 14851 USA (607) 273-8519 • www.snowlionpub.com © 1995, 2007 by John Powers All rights reserved. First edition 1995 Second edition 2007 No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the publisher. Printed in Canada on acid-free recycled paper. Designed and typeset by Gopa & Ted2, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Powers, John, 1957- Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism / by John Powers. — Rev. ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN-13: 978-1-55939-282-2 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-55939-282-7 (alk. paper) 1. Buddhism—China—Tibet. 2. Tibet (China)—Religion. I. Title. BQ7604.P69 2007 294.3’923—dc22 2007019309 ITTB_Interior 9/20/07 2:23 PM Page 5 Table of Contents Preface 11 Technical Note 17 Introduction 21 Part One: The Indian Background 1. Buddhism in India 31 The Buddha 31 The Buddha’s Life and Lives 34 Epilogue 56 2. Some Important Buddhist Doctrines 63 Cyclic Existence 63 Appearance and Reality 71 3. Meditation 81 The Role of Meditation in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism 81 Stabilizing and Analytical Meditation 85 The Five Buddhist Paths 91 4. -
The Tulku System in Tibetan Buddhism: Its Reliability, Orthodoxy and Social Impacts
The Tulku System in Tibetan Buddhism: Its Reliability, Orthodoxy and Social Impacts By Ramin Etesami A thesis submitted to the graduate school in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the International Buddhist College, Thailand March, 20 Abstract The Tulku institution is a unique characteristic of Tibetan Buddhism with a central role in this tradition, to the extent that it is present in almost every aspect of Tibet’s culture and tradition. However, despite this central role and the scope and diversity of the socio-religious aspects of the institution, only a few studies have so far been conducted to shed light on it. On the other hand, an aura of sacredness; distorted pictures projected by the media and film industries;political propaganda and misinformation; and tendencies to follow a pattern of cult behavior; have made the Tulku institution a highly controversial topic for research; and consequently, an objective study of the institution based on a critical approach is difficult. The current research is an attempt to comprehensively examine different dimensions of the Tulku tradition with an emphasis on the issue of its orthodoxy with respect to the core doctrines of Buddhism and the social implications of the practice. In this research, extreme caution has been practiced to firstly, avoid any kind of bias rooted in faith and belief; and secondly, to follow a scientific methodology in reviewing evidence and scriptures related to the research topic. Through a comprehensive study of historical accounts, core Buddhist texts and hagiographic literature, this study has found that while the basic Buddhist doctrines allow the possibility for a Buddhist teacher or an advanced practitioner to “return back to accomplish his tasks, the lack of any historical precedence which can be viewed as a typical example of the practice in early Buddhism makes the issue of its orthodoxy equivocal and relative. -
A Guide to Shamatha Meditation
A Guide to Shamatha Meditation by Thrangu Rinpoche Geshe Lharampa Copyright © 1999 by Namo Buddha Publications. This teaching is taken from the much longer The Four Foundations of Buddhist Practice by Thrangu Rinpoche. The teachings are based on Pema Karpo’s Mahamudra Meditation Instructions. This teaching was given in Samye Ling in Scotland in 1980. These inexpensive booklets may be purchased in bulk from Namo Buddha Publications. If it is translated into any other language, we would appreciate it if a copy of the translation. The technical terms have been italicized the first time to alert the reader that they may be found in the Glossary. Dorje Chang Lineage Prayer Great Vajradhara, Tilopa, Naropa Marpa, Milarepa, and lord of the dharma Gampopa The knower of the three times, the omniscient Karmapa The holders of the lineage of the four great and eight lesser schools. The lamas Trikung, Tsalung, Tsalpa, and glorious Drungpa and others To all those who have thoroughly mastered the profound path of mahamudra The Dagpo Kagyu who are unrivalled as protectors of beings I pray to you, the Kagyu gurus, to grant your blessing So that I may follow your tradition and example. The teaching is that detachment is the foot of meditation; Not being possessed by food or wealth. To the meditator who gives up the ties to this life, Grant your blessing so that he ceases to be attached to honor or ownership. The teaching is that devotion is the head of meditation. The lama opens the gate to the treasury of the profound oral teachings, To the meditator who always turns to him, Grant your blessing so that genuine devotion is born in him. -
“Little Tibet” with “Little Mecca”: Religion, Ethnicity and Social Change on the Sino-Tibetan Borderland (China)
“LITTLE TIBET” WITH “LITTLE MECCA”: RELIGION, ETHNICITY AND SOCIAL CHANGE ON THE SINO-TIBETAN BORDERLAND (CHINA) A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Yinong Zhang August 2009 © 2009 Yinong Zhang “LITTLE TIBET” WITH “LITTLE MECCA”: RELIGION, ETHNICITY AND SOCIAL CHANGE ON THE SINO-TIBETAN BORDERLAND (CHINA) Yinong Zhang, Ph. D. Cornell University 2009 This dissertation examines the complexity of religious and ethnic diversity in the context of contemporary China. Based on my two years of ethnographic fieldwork in Taktsang Lhamo (Ch: Langmusi) of southern Gansu province, I investigate the ethnic and religious revival since the Chinese political relaxation in the 1980s in two local communities: one is the salient Tibetan Buddhist revival represented by the rebuilding of the local monastery, the revitalization of religious and folk ceremonies, and the rising attention from the tourists; the other is the almost invisible Islamic revival among the Chinese Muslims (Hui) who have inhabited in this Tibetan land for centuries. Distinctive when compared to their Tibetan counterpart, the most noticeable phenomenon in the local Hui revival is a revitalization of Hui entrepreneurship, which is represented by the dominant Hui restaurants, shops, hotels, and bus lines. As I show in my dissertation both the Tibetan monastic ceremonies and Hui entrepreneurship are the intrinsic part of local ethnoreligious revival. Moreover these seemingly unrelated phenomena are in fact closely related and reflect the modern Chinese nation-building as well as the influences from an increasingly globalized and government directed Chinese market.