fpmt Mandala BLISSFUL RAYS OF THE MANDALA IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2013 Living Buddhism: Actualizing the Lam-rim THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE FOUNDATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE MAHAYANA TRADITION Wisdom Publications The Leader in Classic and Contemporary Buddhist Works THE EASY PATH Illuminating the First Panchen Lama’s Secret Instructions Gyumed Khensur Lobsang Jampa Edited by Lorne Ladner 328 pages | $18.95 he first English translation of the Panchen Lama’sEasy Path (Delam), one of the eight Tgreat treatises on the stages of the path, with commentary by Khensur Rinpoche of the DNKL center in Connecticut. “How wonderful that the First Panchen Lama’s timeless classic, one of the ten greatest Tibetan books on contemplative meditation, has finally come out in an easy-read English translation. All the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times and ten directions no doubt are rejoicing with great delight.”—Glenn Mullin, author of The Fourteen Dalai Lamas and The Practice of Kalachakra A CLASSICAL TIBETAN READER Selections from Renowned Works with Custom Glossaries Yael Bentor 160 pages | $18.95 “An excellent gateway into the world of Tibetan literature.” —Sonam Thakchoe, University of Tasmania “Congratulations are due to Yael Bentor for this Tibetan-language reader. Such a reader is long overdue.”—Gavin Kilty, translator of A Lamp to Illuminate the Fives States “A welcome tool for students of classical Tibetan that will help train new generations to access one of the great world literatures.”—Peter Skilling, University of California, Berkeley ORIGINAL PERFECTION Vairotsana’s Five Early Transmissions Translated by Keith Dowman Foreword by Bhakha Tulku Pema Rigdzin 128 pages | $16.95 “Precise and poetic, authentic and elusive, these sweet translations bring the warm breath of the Dzogchen tradition into our daily lives. A major contribution to the exciting spread of Dzogchen in modern times.”—James Low, author of Simply Being “I consider this text to be among the most profound teachings I have ever encountered. Keith Dowman’s translation and commentary bring Vairostana’s message alive. It is a price- less gift to all of us.”—Pir Elias Amidon, author of The Open Path DAILY DOSES OF WISDOM A Year of Buddhist Inspiration Edited by Josh Bartok 448 pages | $16.95 “Directions: Read one page a day. Can be taken with meal. Side effects may include insight, compassion, and wisdom. Stop immediately if experiencing nirvana.” —Sumi Loundon, author of Blue Jean Buddha “Filled with bite-sized gems of wisdom from many of the world’s most insightful Dharma teachers, it’s a wonderful companion for anyone interested in awakening to a richer, freer, more engaged and fulfilling life—right now.” —Ronald D. Siegel, author of The Mindfulness Solution HOW TO WAKE UP A Buddhist-Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow Toni Bernhard 240 page | $16.95 “I love this book! Toni Bernhard has done it again—she has the inside-out experience, intelligence, and empathetic warmth to help light our way.” —Tara Brach, PhD, author of True Refuge “A beautiful, wise, and practical book presenting the Buddha’s teaching for our contem- porary world.”—Gil Fronsdal, author of The Issue At Hand STAY TUNED FOR OUR NEW WEBSITE! • Access thousands of pages of Wisdom’s books for free. • Browse our exclusive collection of DRM-free ebooks, easily readable on any device. • Sign up for our eNewsletter by November 30 and receive a free ebook of Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist Inspirations, compiled from our most-loved books. • Support our mission as the leading nonprofit Buddhist publisher. Ebooks available from major providers. wisdompubs.org, 1-800-272-4050 Follow us on /wisdompubs and @wisdompubs. Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm Street, Somerville, MA 02144 FPMT Lineage Series “There is no greater meaning in life than leading all sentient beings to peerless happiness, and the perfect human rebirth that we now have for this brief period gives us the ability to do just that. That is why we need to understand just how precious this perfect human rebirth is and determine never to waste a second of this amazing time.” — Lama Zopa Rinpoche The Perfect Human Rebirth is the third in our Publishing the FPMT Lineage Series. Also available are The Heart of the Path and How to Practice Dharma The Perfect Human Rebirth Freedom and Richness on the Path Free video of Lama Yeshe to Enlightenment and Lama Zopa Rinpoche on our YouTube channel: By Lama Zopa Rinpoche youtube.com/ Edited by Gordon McDougall $10 lamayeshe Free books available on all our books are available as ebooks from amazon, LAMAYESHE.COM apple, barnes & noble, sony and more Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive contains recordings and transcripts of Lama Thubten Yeshe’s and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings dating back to the early 1970s—and we’re still growing! Our website offers thousands of pages of teachings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Hundreds of audio record- ings, our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible at lamayeshe.com. please see our website or contact us for more information Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive po box 636, lincoln, ma 01773 • [email protected] • www.lamayeshe.com fpmt Mandala CONTENTS 6 FROM THE EDITOR 8 TEACHINGS AND ADVICE FEATURE STORY 16 Living Buddhism: Actualizing the Lam-rim 25 DHARMA AND THE MODERN WORLD 32 EDUCATION 36 YOUR COMMUNITY 50 OBITUARIES 52 FPMT NEWS AROUND THE WORLD 59 FPMT DIRECTORY ONLINE HIGHLIGHTS Mandala publishes EXCLUSIVE ONLINE articles, photos and video each issue to supplement our print publication. The October - December 2013 issue includes … 16 TEACHINGS AND ADVICE An excerpt from The Easy Path: Illuminating the First Panchen Lama’s Secret Instructions by Gyumed Khensur Lobsang Jampa; Lorne Ladner, Editor FEATURED PROJECT Cooking with Bodhichitta: “The Sera Je Food Fund” YOUR COMMUNITY Andy Wistreich talks about Land of Joy, a retreat 25 46 center in the making in the UK Ven. Margaret McAndrew shares her “Road to Kopan” story … complete interviews, advice, personal stories and more at mandala.fpmt.org! COVER: Lama Zopa Rinpoche meditating at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, March 2013. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang. 54 mandala.fpmt.org www.fpmt.org OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2013 ISSUE 61 MANDALA (ISSN10754113) is published quarterly by FPMT, Inc., 1632 SE 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97214-4702, USA. Printed by Journal Graphics, Portland, Oregon, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Portland OR. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mandala, 1632 SE 11th Ave, Portland OR 97214-4702 October - December 2013 Mandala 5 FROM THE EDITOR Dear Reader, uring a break from Mandala in July, I found myself on a In this issue of Mandala, we hope to encourage students to sandy Oregon beach, looking out over the vast, gray not only study lam-rim, or stages of the path, teachings, but to do DPacific Ocean and waiting for high tide. I stood with two the work necessary to have actual realizations – the internal trans- young girls, their mother and another beachcomber next to a formations that result from lam-rim lessons permeating your large, low-slung sandcastle the girls had constructed right below heart, your mind and your worldview. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche the high-tide line. For 15 minutes, we watched as the waves advises, these transformations happen through consistent and surged closer and closer to the sandcastle until finally the cold correct meditation on lam-rim topics. We’ve collected teachings Pacific rushed around the castle walls and began melting the del- and stories to help illustrate and inspire FPMT students to set icate structure back into the shoreline. What a clear illustration of their intentions to actualize the lam-rim, to turn every moment impermanence we witnessed, but how deeply did any of us take into beneficial activity and to exemplify living Buddhism. the lesson in? Love, Laura About Mandala Mandala is the official publica- Friends of FPMT is a donor program composed of Friends working tion of the Foundation for the together to support FPMT’s global activities. Preservation of the Mahayana To learn about Friends of FPMT levels and benefits, contact us or visit: Tradition (FPMT), an interna- www.fpmt.org/friends tional charitable organization Mandala is published in January, April, July and October. founded more than thirty years ago by two Tibetan Buddhist Managing Editor and Publisher FPMT Board of Directors Laura Miller Spiritual Director masters: Lama Thubten Yeshe [email protected] Lama Zopa Rinpoche (1935-1984) and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. FPMT is now a vibrant international community with a Assistant Editor, Board Members network of over 150 affiliate centers, projects, services and study groups in Advertising & Sales Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi more than thirty countries. Michael Jolliffe Ven. Roger Kunsang [email protected] Ven. Pemba Sherpa Editorial Policy Art Director Tenzin Ösel Hita Recurring topics include: Buddhist philosophy; Education; Ordination and Cowgirls Design Karuna Cayton Andrew Haynes the Sangha; Buddhism and Modern Life; Youth Issues; FPMT Activities [email protected] Peter Kedge Worldwide; Lama Yeshe and his teachings; Lama Zopa Rinpoche and his Friends of FPMT Program Tim McNeill teachings; His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his teachings, among many other Justin Jenkins Alison Murdoch topics. [email protected] Paula de Wijs-Koolkin Writers, photographers and artists, both amateur and professional, are FPMT, Inc. mandala.fpmt.org encouraged to submit material for consideration. Mandala currently does not 1632 SE 11th Ave. www.fpmt.org pay for publishable content; we credit all photos and other work as requested. Portland, OR 97214-4702 Mandala is published quarterly and is available via the Friends of FPMT Tel: 1 503 808 1588 program. Additionally, the publication is supplemented by online stories Fax: 1 503 232 0557 published exclusively at: mandala.fpmt.org Toll free USA only 1 866 241 9886 6 Mandala October - December 2013 The Foundation of Buddhist Thought A correspondence course that provides a structured approach to deepen your knowledge and practice of Tibetan Buddhism.