The Dalai Lama Was Coming Continued from Page 1 That the Other Was a Buddhist Un- the USSR
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BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID ITHACA, NY 14851 Permit No. 746 Deliver to current resident ORDER FROM OUR NEW SNOW LION TOLL FREE NUMBER NEWSLETTER & CATALOG 1-800-950-0313 winter supplement SNOW LION PUBLICATIONS PO BOX 6483, ITHACA, NY 14851, (607)-273-8506 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 1 H.H. SAKYA TRIZIN TO GIVE LAM DRE TEACHINGS IN WASHINGTON D.C. The Venerable Lama Kalsang Lama Kalsang Gyaltsen, resident sence of his realization in the Vaj- Gyaltsen and members of Sakya lama and director of Sakya Phunt- ra Verses, a secret oral teaching Phuntsok Ling are delighted to an- sok Ling. "It is difficult to get a based on the Hevajra Tantra. nounce that His Holiness the chance to receive this teaching, These Vajra Verses form the basis Sakya Trizin has consented to be- even in India. Over the past thir- of the Lam Dre teaching. stow the Lam Dre teaching cycle ty years, there have been only six The Lam Dre remained in In- and initiations in Washington D.C. previous opportunities to receive dia and was passed orally for sever- in the autumn of 1991, following this teaching from His Holiness. al generations from master to His Holiness' participation in the Those who wish to practice and favored disciple. Sachen Kunga Kalachakra initiation to be held in understand the Vajrayana Dharma Nyingpo, the founder of the Sakya New York City in October. The should not miss this opportunity Order, received the teaching in the Lam Dre is the highest and most to receive this rare teaching direct- eleventh century from this long special teaching of the Sakya Or- ly from a great master." lineage when it was brought to der. In this country it was given The Lam Dre teaching originat- Tibet. As the full teaching is very only once before, in Boston in ed in the ninth century with the extensive, he remained with his 1985 by His Eminence Luding great teacher Virupa, abbot of teacher for eight years to receive it Khen Rinpoche. This is the first Nalanda University. After years of completely. Sachen Kunga Nying- time that it will be given in the diligent practice and meditation, po then practiced it secretly for U.S. by His Holiness. the wisdom aspect of the deity eighteen years. Virupa appeared in "In celebration of the Interna- Hevajra appeared in Virupa's pure his pure perception and personal- tional Year of Tibet, I and the vision and bestowed upon him the ly transmitted to him the short members of the center felt it fit- Hevajra initiation. That day, Viru- lineage of the Lam Dre teaching. ting to sponsor the Lam Dre pa obtained first bhumi realiza- After this period of practice, teaching, the great living treasure tion, and by meditating on the Sachen Kunga Nyingpo began to of the Sakya Order, for the bene- instructions, over the next five teach it more openly to qualified fit of Dharma students through- days he obtained the stage of the students. He first set down the H.H. Sakya Trizin out the country," said the Ven. sixth bhumi. He codified the es- Continued on page 18 THE RUSSIAN- INTERVIEW WITH MONGOLIA N-TIBETA N LAMA THARCHIN RINPOCHE CONNECTION Lama Tharchin Rinpoche is a find it easy to relate to a teacher ence, one can feel his joy, and at Tibetan Ngakpa (yogi) and medi- who presents a model of calm, the same time know that he wants The Buddhist community who told us he still remembers the tation master of Vajrayana Bud- cheerful and centered living to share this happiness with every- throughout the entire Soviet Un- day in 1937 when the communists dhism. He is the tenth lineage amidst the many pressures of one, human and animal. I watched ion is now blossoming after many came and used dynamite to blow holder of the Repkong Ngakpas, domestic life in America. Rinpoche invite an old dog to decades of the harshest persecu- up the great stupa which had been famous throughout Tibet for their Lama Tharchin Rinpoche's share his teaching seat with him. tion. But the scars of fear remain. a holy landmark of the temple. meditative abilities. Rinpoche teaching of Buddhist philosophy This particular dog was blind, We met sangha members who Forty-four Buryat Tibetan Bud- studied meditation and Buddhism and meditation are complement- quite deaf, mangy, foul-smelling, told us stories of the KGB arrest- dhist temples were destroyed in under the close guidance of many ed by his artistry. His artistic skills flea-bitten, and was constandy ing people caught in the "subver- Siberia, and in Kalmykia not only of Tibet's greatest masters. One of cover the length and breadth of scratching. Rinpoche treated this sive" act of meditating in the were all the Tibetan gompas his major teachers was His Holi- traditional Tibetan religious arts, dog as if it were the most impor- privacy of their own homes—even destroyed—some of them re- ness Dudjom Rinpoche, the including painting, sculpture, tant being on earth, calling it to into the 1980's—up until President nowned for their magnificent spiritual head of the Nyingmapa dance, and crafts. He is particu- him, stroking and hugging it, Gorbachev came to power. Stories or "ancient ones," the oldest line- larly known and loved for his work sharing his food with it. The dog, of the KGB trying to recruit infor- age of Buddhism in Tibet. Lama as a sculptor, working with clay which was usually quite irritable, mants from within the sangha in Tharchin Rinpoche is internation- and concrete, and he joyfully became happy and peaceful and, order to report on their "illegal" ally renowned as a master of the draws his students into the crea- amazingly, quite dignified in Rin- religious activities. Dzogchen (Great Perfection) tra- tive process at every opportunity. poche's lap. Stories of brave dharma teachers dition and of the Nyingma heri- Rinpoche seems happiest when he It is this sort of authentic pres- in the 1970's being jailed and dy- tage of aesthetics and monastic is working with his hands and get- ence which seems to be the essence ing in prison. Students of these arts. ting others involved as well. of Rinpoche's teaching. He has the teachers would cry as they shared For the last five years, Rinpoche But then again, whether joking skill of gentiy showing people that with us these tragic tales. has been a resident in the Santa with his students, taking a walk, it is not what you know, who you In the first years after the Com- Cruz area. He currently lives in a teaching, or working at his artist- know, or what you can do that munists came to power, there was quiet hillside house in Aptos. Rin- ry, Rinpoche always seems happy. counts. It is who you are, and how an uneasy truce, with the Budd- poche speaks English, and his can- His cheer is infectious. In his pres- Continued on page 8 hists treading carefully. Gradual- did, humorous, and thorough ly more and more restrictions were style of teaching has attracted stu- Catalog Contents: forced upon religious communities dents from many parts of the until by 1936 Stalin cracked down country. Although Rinpoche Dharma Items 22 mercilessly. That was the year the Buryat Mongolian Pilgrim teaches throughout the United famous Buryat Lama Agvan Aginsk Temple States and abroad, he is currently Kalachakra 16 Dorjief— a personal confidant to architecture—but hundreds of focusing more of his teaching ef- New Books 20-21 the Great Thirteenth Dalai thousands of Kalmyk Mongolians forts locally in order to better pass Lama—was imprisoned, and died were cruelly shipped out in rail- on the wealth of his ancient tra- Ordering Information 24 shortly thereafter. Another great road cattle cars. Many died as they dition. Tapes & Videos 23 teacher was executed by being were forced from their pastoral Unlike many Tibetan lamas who thrown in front of a street car in homelands in the deep southern are monks, Rinpoche is a house- Year of Tibet 12-13 Leningrad, and the great Kalitch- Russian steppes to exile in distant holder and proud father of two akra Temple there was shut down. Siberia. Difficult as it may be to sons, the eldest a Buddhist prac- At a recently restored temple in compare, this Tibetan Buddhist titioner who lives in Nepal, and This newspaper is a supplement to our complete Fall Aginsk, in the Chita region of culture of Kalmyk Mongolians the younger a bright and lively 1990 Catalog, which is still available. Siberia, we met an elderly layman suffered a greater decimation from four year-old. Western students Continued on page 2 SNOW LION 1991 WINTER SUPPLEMENT 1 NEWS Russian-Mongolian Tibetan- Buddhists who were neighbors to October 1990, they returned from dhist sangha. Now Russians and Czechslovak Embassy in Washing- Connection each other but who did not know their sixth visit in twelve years to Mongolians alike have formed a ton, the Dalai Lama was coming Continued from page 1 that the other was a Buddhist un- the USSR. They were guest lec- common Buddhist society. as a 'private guest of President til they saw each other at our lec- turers for the Soviet Academy of Russian Buddhists who have Vaclav Havel with whom he is go- the hands of the Communists than ture. Persecution was so severe Sciences and for other organiza- also suffered religious persecution ing to spend the whole of Sunday, even the Tibetans. that even now some people still tions in five cities.