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Thinking in Buddhism: Nagarjuna's Middle
Thinking in Buddhism: Nagarjuna’s Middle Way 1994 Jonah Winters About this Book Any research into a school of thought whose texts are in a foreign language encounters certain difficulties in deciding which words to translate and which ones to leave in the original. It is all the more of an issue when the texts in question are from a language ancient and quite unlike our own. Most of the texts on which this thesis are based were written in two languages: the earliest texts of Buddhism were written in a simplified form of Sanskrit called Pali, and most Indian texts of Madhyamika were written in either classical or “hybrid” Sanskrit. Terms in these two languages are often different but recognizable, e.g. “dhamma” in Pali and “dharma” in Sanskrit. For the sake of coherency, all such terms are given in their Sanskrit form, even when that may entail changing a term when presenting a quote from Pali. Since this thesis is not intended to be a specialized research document for a select audience, terms have been translated whenever possible,even when the subtletiesof the Sanskrit term are lost in translation.In a research paper as limited as this, those subtleties are often almost irrelevant.For example, it is sufficient to translate “dharma” as either “Law” or “elements” without delving into its multiplicity of meanings in Sanskrit. Only four terms have been left consistently untranslated. “Karma” and “nirvana” are now to be found in any English dictionary, and so their translation or italicization is unnecessary. Similarly, “Buddha,” while literally a Sanskrit term meaning “awakened,” is left untranslated and unitalicized due to its titular nature and its familiarity. -
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism By C. Fred Smith Founders: Siddartha Gautama, the Buddha. The Tibetan form grew out of the teachings Kamalashila who defended traditional Indian Buddhism in Tibet against the Chinese form. Date: Founded between 600 and 400 BC in Northern India; Buddhism influenced Tibetan religion as early as AD 200, but only began to take on its Tibetan character after 792 AD. Its full expression as a Lamaist religion (one dependent on lamas or gurus to guide meditation) began in the 1200s, with the institution of the Dalai Lama in the 1600s. Key Words: Lama, Bon, Reincarnation, Dharma and Sangha BACKGROUND Tibetan Buddhism focuses on disciplined meditation to achieve enlightenment, which is the realization that life is impermanent, and the accompanying state of bliss. Its unusual character, different from other forms of Buddhism, lies in two facts. First, it traces its practices back to the earliest form of Buddhism from Northern India. Certain practices are similar to those of Hindu practitioners,1 and the meditative discipline is similar to that practiced in the first Buddhist Sanghas, or monastic communities. Second, its practices and “peculiar, even eerie character” are a result of its encounter with Bon, the older religion of Tibet, an animistic religion that emphasized shamans, rituals to invoke and appease spirits, and even sacrifices.2 Together, these produce a Buddhism centered on monks and monasteries that is “more colorful and supernatural”3 than other forms such as Zen.4 This form of Buddhism emphasizes the place of the lama, or teacher, who directs his charges in their meditation and ritual practices. -
A Hackathon for Classical Tibetan
A Hackathon for Classical Tibetan Orna Almogi1, Lena Dankin2*, Nachum Dershowitz2,3, Lior Wolf2 1Universität Hamburg, Germany 2Tel Aviv University, Israel 3Institut d’Études Avancées de Paris, France *Corresponding author: Lena Dankin, [email protected] Abstract We describe the course of a hackathon dedicated to the development of linguistic tools for Tibetan Buddhist studies. Over a period of five days, a group of seventeen scholars, scientists, and students developed and compared algorithms for intertextual alignment and text classification, along with some basic language tools, including a stemmer and word segmenter. Keywords Tibetan; Buddhist studies; hackathon; stemming; segmentation; intertextual alignment; text classification. I INTRODUCTION In February 2016, a group of four Tibetologists (from the University of Hamburg), one digital humanities scholar (from Europe), and twelve computer scientists (from Israel and Europe) got together in Kibbutz Lotan in the Arava region of Israel with the stated goal of developing algorithmic methods for advancing Tibetan Buddhist textual studies. Participants were either recruited by the organizers or responded to an announcement on several mailing lists. See Figure 1. Most of the computer scientists had background in machine learning, and a few of them also had experience with natural language processing (NLP) research, but without any prior experience with Tibetan texts. The computer scientist organizers were quite familiar with programming workshops and contests and thought that the challenges presented by Tibetan texts would pose an ideal opportunity to explore the hackathon format. The hackathon is a short and intense event where computer scientists collaborate to develop software. For that purpose, it was essential to recruit as many software developers as possible. -
VT Module6 Lineage Text Major Schools of Tibetan Buddhism
THE MAJOR SCHOOLS OF TIBETAN BUDDHISM By Pema Khandro A BIRD’S EYE VIEW 1. NYINGMA LINEAGE a. Pema Khandro’s lineage. Literally means: ancient school or old school. Nyingmapas rely on the old tantras or the original interpretation of Tantra as it was given from Padmasambhava. b. Founded in 8th century by Padmasambhava, an Indian Yogi who synthesized the teachings of the Indian MahaSiddhas, the Buddhist Tantras, and Dzogchen. He gave this teaching (known as Vajrayana) in Tibet. c. Systemizes Buddhist philosophy and practice into 9 Yanas. The Inner Tantras (what Pema Khandro Rinpoche teaches primarily) are the last three. d. It is not a centralized hierarchy like the Sarma (new translation schools), which have a figure head similar to the Pope. Instead, the Nyingma tradition is de-centralized, with every Lama is the head of their own sangha. There are many different lineages within the Nyingma. e. A major characteristic of the Nyingma tradition is the emphasis in the Tibetan Yogi tradition – the Ngakpa tradition. However, once the Sarma translations set the tone for monasticism in Tibet, the Nyingmas also developed a monastic and institutionalized segment of the tradition. But many Nyingmas are Ngakpas or non-monastic practitioners. f. A major characteristic of the Nyingma tradition is that it is characterized by treasure revelations (gterma). These are visionary revelations of updated communications of the Vajrayana teachings. Ultimately treasure revelations are the same dharma principles but spoken in new ways, at new times and new places to new people. Because of these each treasure tradition is unique, this is the major reason behind the diversity within the Nyingma. -
The Foundation of All Good Qualities by Lama Tsongkhapa
PRACTICE The Foundation of All Good Qualities By Lama Tsongkhapa In the 11th century, Tibet was blessed by the arrival of capacities of varying practitioners — small, medium, and the Indian Buddhist master Lama Atisha. Motivated to pres- great — which organize practices and meditations on the ent an organized summary of the sutra teachings, Atisha path into gradual stages. composed a short text entitled, The Lamp of the Path. Three Lama Tsongkhapa's famous prayer, The Foundation of hundred years later, Lama Tsongkhapa expanded upon this All Good Qualities, is the most concise and stirring outline text with his opus The Great Exposition on the Stages of the available of the Lam-Rim teachings. In only fourteen stanzas, Path to Enlightenment (Lamrim Chenmo). The often referred Tsongkhapa offers us a prayer that covers the entire graduated to "Lam-Rim teachings" are taken from this seminal text. path to enlightenment, short enough to recite every day, The teachings are presented in three scopes according to the profound enough to study for a lifetime. The foundation of all good qualities is the kind and venerable guru; I will not achieve enlightenment. Correct devotion to him is the root of the path. With my clear recognition of this. By clearly seeing this and applying great effort, Please bless me to practice the bodhisattva vows with great energy. Please bless me to rely upon him with great respect. Once I have pacified distractions to wrong objects Understanding that the precious freedom of this rebirth is found And correctly analyzed the meaning of reality, only once. -
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. -
Compassion & Social Justice
COMPASSION & SOCIAL JUSTICE Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo PUBLISHED BY Sakyadhita Yogyakarta, Indonesia © Copyright 2015 Karma Lekshe Tsomo No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the editor. CONTENTS PREFACE ix BUDDHIST WOMEN OF INDONESIA The New Space for Peranakan Chinese Woman in Late Colonial Indonesia: Tjoa Hin Hoaij in the Historiography of Buddhism 1 Yulianti Bhikkhuni Jinakumari and the Early Indonesian Buddhist Nuns 7 Medya Silvita Ibu Parvati: An Indonesian Buddhist Pioneer 13 Heru Suherman Lim Indonesian Women’s Roles in Buddhist Education 17 Bhiksuni Zong Kai Indonesian Women and Buddhist Social Service 22 Dian Pratiwi COMPASSION & INNER TRANSFORMATION The Rearranged Roles of Buddhist Nuns in the Modern Korean Sangha: A Case Study 2 of Practicing Compassion 25 Hyo Seok Sunim Vipassana and Pain: A Case Study of Taiwanese Female Buddhists Who Practice Vipassana 29 Shiou-Ding Shi Buddhist and Living with HIV: Two Life Stories from Taiwan 34 Wei-yi Cheng Teaching Dharma in Prison 43 Robina Courtin iii INDONESIAN BUDDHIST WOMEN IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Light of the Kilis: Our Javanese Bhikkhuni Foremothers 47 Bhikkhuni Tathaaloka Buddhist Women of Indonesia: Diversity and Social Justice 57 Karma Lekshe Tsomo Establishing the Bhikkhuni Sangha in Indonesia: Obstacles and -
Buddhist Archeology in Mongolia: Zanabazar and the Géluk Diaspora Beyond Tibet
Buddhist Archeology in Mongolia: Zanabazar and the Géluk Diaspora beyond Tibet Uranchimeg Tsultemin, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Uranchimeg, Tsultemin. 2019. “Buddhist Archeology in Mongolia: Zanabazar and the Géluk Dias- pora beyond Tibet.” Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review (e-journal) 31: 7–32. https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-31/uranchimeg. Abstract This article discusses a Khalkha reincarnate ruler, the First Jebtsundampa Zanabazar, who is commonly believed to be a Géluk protagonist whose alliance with the Dalai and Panchen Lamas was crucial to the dissemination of Buddhism in Khalkha Mongolia. Za- nabazar’s Géluk affiliation, however, is a later Qing-Géluk construct to divert the initial Khalkha vision of him as a reincarnation of the Jonang historian Tāranātha (1575–1634). Whereas several scholars have discussed the political significance of Zanabazar’s rein- carnation based only on textual sources, this article takes an interdisciplinary approach to discuss, in addition to textual sources, visual records that include Zanabazar’s por- traits and current findings from an ongoing excavation of Zanabazar’s Saridag Monas- tery. Clay sculptures and Zanabazar’s own writings, heretofore little studied, suggest that Zanabazar’s open approach to sectarian affiliations and his vision, akin to Tsongkhapa’s, were inclusive of several traditions rather than being limited to a single one. Keywords: Zanabazar, Géluk school, Fifth Dalai Lama, Jebtsundampa, Khalkha, Mongo- lia, Dzungar Galdan Boshogtu, Saridag Monastery, archeology, excavation The First Jebtsundampa Zanabazar (1635–1723) was the most important protagonist in the later dissemination of Buddhism in Mongolia. Unlike the Mongol imperial period, when the sectarian alliance with the Sakya (Tib. -
Buddhist Ethics in Japan and Tibet: a Comparative Study of the Adoption of Bodhisattva and Pratimoksa Precepts
University of San Diego Digital USD Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship Department of Theology and Religious Studies 1994 Buddhist Ethics in Japan and Tibet: A Comparative Study of the Adoption of Bodhisattva and Pratimoksa Precepts Karma Lekshe Tsomo PhD University of San Diego, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/thrs-faculty Part of the Buddhist Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Digital USD Citation Tsomo, Karma Lekshe PhD, "Buddhist Ethics in Japan and Tibet: A Comparative Study of the Adoption of Bodhisattva and Pratimoksa Precepts" (1994). Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship. 18. https://digital.sandiego.edu/thrs-faculty/18 This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Buddhist Behavioral Codes and the Modern World An Internationa] Symposium Edited by Charles Weihsun Fu and Sandra A. Wawrytko Buddhist Behavioral Codes and the Modern World Recent Titles in Contributions to the Study of Religion Buddhist Behavioral Cross, Crescent, and Sword: The Justification and Limitation of War in Western and Islamic Tradition Codes and the James Turner Johnson and John Kelsay, editors The Star of Return: Judaism after the Holocaust -
The Bodhisattva Precepts
【CONTENTS】 Foreword 03 Introduction 06 The Source of Compassion 10 Who Is a Bodhisattva? 13 How to Overcome Difficulties 15 On Vinaya Practice 20 The Five Precepts 23 The Ten Good Deeds 25 The Three Sets of Pure Precepts 31 On Violation of the Precepts 35 The Four Immeasurable Minds ‥‥ 37 The Four Methods of Inducement 41 Participation in the World ︱ The Bodhisattva Precepts Foreword his book consists of talks on the bodhisattva T precepts by Master Sheng Yen given at the Chan Meditation Center in New York from December 6 through 8, 1997. We sincerely hope that this commentary on the bodhisattva precepts will provide the reader with a clear understanding of their meaning, as well as the inspiration to integrate these teachings into their lives. We wish to acknowledge several individuals for their help in producing this booklet: Guo-gu /translation Simeon Gallu/organization and editorial assistance The International Affairs Office Dharma Drum Mountain January, 2005 Introduction ︱ Introduction here is a saying in Mahayana Buddhism: "Those T who have precepts to break are bodhisattvas; those who have no precepts to break are outer-path followers." Many Buddhists know that receiving the bodhisattva precepts generates great merit, yet they believe this without a real understanding of the profound meaning of the precepts, or of what keeping these precepts entails. They receive the precepts as a matter of course, knowing only that receiving them is a good thing to do. To try to remedy this situation, we are conducting the transmission of the bodhisattva precepts over the course of three days so that prior to the formal transmission ceremony, I can explain to all participants the meaning and significance of these precepts within the Mahayana tradition. -
New American Zen: Examining American Women's Adaptation of Traditional Japanese Soto Zen Practice Courtney M
Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 2011 New American Zen: Examining American Women's Adaptation of Traditional Japanese Soto Zen Practice Courtney M. Just Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI11120903 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Just, Courtney M., "New American Zen: Examining American Women's Adaptation of Traditional Japanese Soto Zen Practice" (2011). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 527. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/527 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida NEW AMERICAN ZEN: EXAMINING AMERICAN WOMEN’S ADAPTATION OF TRADITIONAL JAPANESE SOTO ZEN PRACTICE A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in LIBERAL STUDIES by Courtney Just 2011 To: Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Courtney Just, and entitled New American Zen: Examining American Women’s Adaptation of Traditional Japanese Soto Zen Practice, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Laurie Shrage ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Kiriake Xerohemona ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Lesley A. Northup, Major Professor Date of Defense: November 10, 2011 The thesis of Courtney Just is approved. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Science ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Dean Lakshmi N. -
AyyaYeshe How To Be A
Ayya Yeshe How to Be a Light for Yourself and Others in Challenging Times Week One: “Establishing the Basis for Dharma Practice” September 4, 2017 Hi, I'm Ayya Yeshe. I'm an Australian Buddhist nun and I've been ordained 16 years. I'm the director of Bodhicitta Foundation, a charity for people in the slums of Central India, which has been running for over a decade. I'm also the founding abbess of a monastery in Australia, which we are currently raising funds for, called Khandro Ling Hermitage. I'm mainly from the Sakya tradition but I was ordained as a fully ordained nun by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Vietnamese Zen master. Today I would like to talk about The Seven Points of Mind Training by Geshe Chekawa, which is mainly from the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It's actually quite a long and involved text but it's a wonderful introduction to Mahayana Buddhism. As we go through the text, I hope that I can make some of