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February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 3
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Mandala eZineMandala eZineLAMA YESHE’S WISDOM6 EmptinessBy Lama Yeshe
ADVICE FROM THEVIRTUOUS FRIEND8What is Dharma?By Lama Zopa Rinpoche
COVER FEATURE10 Lama Zopa Rinpoche:A Light For All
COMMUNITY FORUM21 Discussion Topic23 Photo Bulletin Board
MEDIA PAGE24 Featured Media
COVER: Lama Zopa Rinpoche with alucky koala. Photo by Wendy Finster,Adelaide, 1983.
e-Vol 3 ISSUE 1 FEBRUARY 2010. The Mandala eZine is published asan online quarterly for Friends of FPMT by FPMT Inc., 1632 11th Ave,Portland, OR 97214-4702.
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
Web site offers thousands of pages of teachings by some
of the greatest lamas of our time. Hundreds of audio
recordings, our photo gallery and our ever-popular
books are also freely accessible at lamayeshe.com.
Please see our Web site or contact us
for more information
TEACHINGS FROM THE MEDICINE BUDDHA RETREATLand of Medicine Buddha, October–November 2001
by lama zopa rinpocheedited by ailsa cameron458 pages, $20
“Because bodhisattvas have unbelievable merit, they can understand the limitless skies of bene�t and qualities that Medicine Buddha has. �e fortunate one who has good karma and much merit and the one who has miraculous psychic powers is able to believe in this, and they should cherish this Medicine Buddha practice.”
FREEDOM THROUGHUNDERSTANDINGThe Buddhist Pathto Happiness and Liberation
lama thubten yeshe & lama zopa rinpoche198 pages. free
THE HEART OF THE PATHSeeing the Guru as Buddha
by lama zopa rinpocheedited by ailsa cameron502 pages, $20
*plus shipping charges of$1 per book ($5 minimum)
* plus shipping charges of
free books!*
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 5
Mandala is the official publica-tion of the Foundation for thePreservation of the MahayanaTradition (FPMT), an interna-tional charitable organizationfounded more than thirty yearsago by two Tibetan Buddhistmasters: Lama Thubten Yeshe
(1935-1984) and LamaThubten Zopa Rinpoche. FPMT is now a vibrantinternational community with a network of over 150 affiliate centers,projects, services and study groups in more than thirty countries.
Editorial PolicyRecurring topics include: Buddhist philosophy; Education; Ordinationand the Sangha; Buddhism and Modern Life; Youth Issues; FPMTActivities Worldwide; Lama Yeshe and his teachings; Lama Zopa Rin-poche and his teachings; His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his teachings,among many other topics.
Writers, photographers and artists, both amateur and professional,are encouraged to submit material for consideration. Mandala currentlydoes not pay for publishable content; we credit all photos and other workas requested.
Mandala, in addition to the Mandala eZine, is published quarterlyand is available via the Friends of FPMT program. Additionally, bothpublications are supplemented by online stories published exclusively at:www.mandalamagazine.org
Friends of FPMT is a donor program composed of Friends workingtogether to support FPMT’s global activities.
To learn about Friends of FPMT levels and benefits, contact us orvisit: www.fpmt.org/friends
Mandala is published in January, April, July and October.Mandala eZine is published in February, May, August and December.
Managing Editor and PublisherCarina [email protected]
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FPMT Board of DirectorsSpiritual DirectorLama Zopa Rinpoche
Board MembersKhenrinpoche Geshe LhundrupVen. Roger KunsangVen. Pemba SherpaKaruna CaytonAndrew HaynesPeter KedgeTim McNeillTara MelwaniAlison MurdochPaula de Wijs-Koolkin
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Membership, has been established to truly support your
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confident we’ve designed a level that is perfect for
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Become A Friend of FPMT! www.fpmt.org/friends
6 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
LAMA YESHE’S WISDOM
If your daily life is tremen-dously involved in emotions,you are completely driven bythem and psychologicallytired. You have to learn tosit back instead of beingimpelled by your emotions.Emotions aren’t necessarilynegative – they can be positivetoo – but in the Westernenvironment, when we relatewith each other we gettremendously emotional. Inother words, our physicalemotions get too involvedand we don’t understand thefunctioning of our six senseconsciousnesses.
Buddhism has tremendous concern for theneeds of both the object and the subject, and inthis way, loving-kindness becomes an antidoteto the selfish attitude. Western religions alsoplace tremendous emphasis on love andcompassion but they do not emphasize wisdom.Understanding wisdom is the path to liberation,so you have to gain it.
When I was in Spain with His Holiness theDalai Lama, we visited a monastery and met aChristian monk who had vowed to stay in anisolated place. His Holiness asked him, “Howdo you feel when you experience signs of happyor unhappy things coming to you?” The monksaid, “Happy is not necessarily happy; bad is notnecessarily bad; good is not necessarily good.” Iwas astonished. To my small understanding,that was wisdom.
The person who has some understanding ofemptiness will have exactly the same experiences
as that monk. The personsees that bad and good arerelative; they exist for onlythe conditioned mind andare not absolute qualities.The characteristic of ego is toproject fantasy notions ontoyourself and others, and thisis the main root of problems.You then react emotionallyand hold your pleasure andyour pain as concrete.
You can observe rightnow how your self-image issimply a projection of yourego. It’s a simple question:“How does my mind imag-ine myself?” Understanding
your conventional mind and the way it projectsyour own self-image is the key to realizingemptiness. In this way you break down the grossconcepts of ego and eradicate the self-pityingimage of yourself. By eliminating the self-pitying imagination of ego, you go beyond fear.All fear and other self-pitying emotions comefrom holding a self-pitying image of yourself.You can also see that you feel the self-pityingimage of yourself that you had yesterday still ex-ists today. That is wrong. Thinking, “I’m a verybad person today because I was angry yesterday;I was angry last year” is also wrong, because youare still holding today an angry, self-pityingimage from the past. The ego holds a perma-nent concept of our ordinary self all the time –this year, last year, the year before: “I’m a badperson; me, me, me, me, me, me.” From theBuddhist point of view, if you hold that kind ofconcept throughout your lifetime, you will
EMPTINESS By Lama Yeshe
From Harry Sutton’s private collection,recently discovered.
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 7
become a bad person because you interpretyourself as a bad person. Therefore, your ego’sinterpretation is unreasonable. It has nothingwhatsoever to do with reality. And because yourego holds onto such a self-existent I, attachmentbegins. From the Buddhist point of view, it isvery difficult for a person to experience non-attachment. From the Buddhist philosophicalpoint of view, attachment for something meansthat it is very difficult for us to separate from it.We have a very strong attachment, strong likeiron, for the things we think of as being verygood. We need to learn to be flexible.
Let’s look at a flower. My attachment forthe flower is a symptom. It shows that I over-estimate the value of the flower. I wish tobecome one with the flower and never separatefrom it for the rest of my life. You understandhow sick I am? It is so difficult for me to let goof it. This craziness is attachment. But non-attachment is flexible; it is a middle way, areasonable way.
The psychology of attachment is over-estimation; it is an unrealistic attitude. That iswhy we are suffering; and for that reasonBuddhism emphasizes suffering, suffering,suffering. Westerners can’t understand whyBuddhism talks about suffering so much. “Ihave enough money. I can eat. I have enoughclothes. Why do you say I’m suffering? I’m notsuffering. I don’t need Buddhism.” This is amisunderstanding of the term “suffering.”Attachment itself is suffering.
Philosophically, you can research emptinessvery deeply; you can analyze the notion of theself-existent I a thousand ways. However, I amtalking about what you can do practically, everyday, right now. Don’t think about Buddhistterminology; don’t think about what the bookssay or anything like that. Just ask yourselfsimply, “How, at this moment, do I interpretmyself?” That’s all. Each time you ask yourself
that question you get a different answer. Thenyou can laugh at yourself: “What I’m thinking isincredible!” But you shouldn’t worry; just laugh.The way you question yourself should make youlaugh. In that way, you get closer to emptiness.Because you know through your own experiencethat your own projection of yourself is a fantasyand, to some extent, you experience selflessness.You no longer trust your own ego and yourconcepts become less concrete.
This type of analytical meditation shouldn’tmake you sad or serious. When you reallyunderstand something, you can laugh at your-self. Of course, if you are alone, you shouldn’tlaugh out loud too much, otherwise people willthink you’re clinically sick! Milarepa is a goodexample. He stayed alone in the snowy moun-tains and laughed and sang to himself. Helaughed because his life was rich and happy.
Your entire life is built by dualistic concepts.Actually, “dual” means two, but in Buddhism,our complaint is not that two phenomena exist.The problem is their contradictory, competitivenature. Is the competitive mind comfortable ornot? Is the competitive life comfortable or not?Is competitive business comfortable or not?Themind is irritated. The mind in which there aretwo things always contradicting each other iswhat we call the dualistic mind. Simply put,when you get up in the morning after a goodnight’s sleep, do you feel peaceful? Yes, you feelpeaceful. Why? Because during sleep, thedualistic mind is at rest! As long as the dualisticmind is functioning in your life, you are alwaysirritated; you have not attained the peace ofultimate reality.y
Excerpted from Buddhism in a Nutshell: Essentials forEnlightenment, a compilation of teachings and essays by LamaYeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ven. Amy Miller. This bookand audio program set covers all the quintessential topics foundinTibetan Buddhism. Due for release in early February throughFPMT Education Services.
8 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
ADVICE FROM THE VIRTUOUS FRIEND
WHAT IS DHARMA?The Sanskrit word Dharma refers to that
which guides, or saves, our minds fromsuffering. There are thousands upon thou-sands of different types of suffering, andwithin these there are many different kinds.For example, there are hundreds of differentkinds of illnesses, and therefore, there are alsomany different kinds of medicine. Similarly,within the Dharma, there are thousands ofdifferent kinds of Dharma practice, but theyare all Dharma.
The effect of external medicines and theeffect of Dharma are as different as the earthand the sky. External medicines are onlytemporary methods. They offer temporaryrelief; they don’t cure disease permanently. Forexample, if you have the problem of diarrhea,medicine can temporarily cease but not endthe experiences of diarrhea. Even if thesuffering of the stomach is cured at that time,in a few months or years it can come back, andthe person can again experience suffering. Evenif you take medicine continually, it causesother problems; the medicine itself can causeother sicknesses in the body to arise. We canrealize this when our wisdom is acutelyperceptive. Sometimes even if medicine curesthe physical problem it harms the mind. Thisalso proves that medicine is by no means anultimate way of dealing with disease.
It is the same thing with drugs. If you keeptaking drugs with the belief that they willalways give the same effect, you will go crazy orthere will be danger to your life. This is well-known: because the first and second trip felt
good, people continue to believe that the drugwill give the same effect, so they use it moreand more. This makes the person moreunconscious and undisciplined in body, speechand mind. This proves that drugs are also notthe ultimate method.
With Dharma practice, there is no problem.No matter how long you practice Dharma, youalways benefit; you always profit. Your body,speech and mind become more pure and thereis never any danger to your body or your mind.Dharma practitioners don’t need drugs. Drugsare for those whose minds are limited, whohave no idea of Dharma or the meaning of life,who have no understanding of past and futurelives, who believe just the limited phenomenathey see before them.
Similarly, all the normal everyday things wedo to protect ourselves from suffering, thekinds of things that animals do, are also merelytemporary methods. Eating, drinking, wearingclothes, doing our jobs – none of these areultimate methods that will put an end tosuffering forever. No matter how highly wedevelop materially and technologically, noneof this will put a final end to problems.
In ancient times, long before our modern,material development, people had problems.The very first humans on earth had manyproblems – mental problems, life problems,suffering and dissatisfaction. Now there iseven more confusion, fighting and suffering.Over the millennia, there is been a muchgreater increase in suffering than in peace.This again shows clearly that external,
By Lama Zopa Rinpoche
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 9
material development is not an ultimatesolution to problems. It shows that somethingis missing.
I am not saying that science and materialdevelopment are bad; I am simply describingwhat is happening around us. Why can’tmedicine, drugs and every single thing we doput an end to temporary problems? Becausethey do not affect the cause of these problems.The actual cause of suffering is not in theexternal conditions. If you understand this,you understand the essence of Dharma. It alsoproves that everything we have ever done hasnot touched the cause of suffering. Why dothese external methods fail to cease all sufferingand its cause? Because the cause of suffering isnot in the external conditions; it is within themind. Whether we are humans walking on theearth, worms in the ground, or insects in theair, the cause of suffering is within our minds.Therefore, we cannot escape from physical ormental suffering by going underground orflying to the moon.
Trying to solve a problem by traveling toanother place instead of attacking its cause islike going for a run to get rid of a pain in yourstomach. Instead of alleviating the pain, yousimply make yourself tired and hungry. Thisexample might seem stupid and childish, butactually it describes just the way we are. We’redoing the same thing; we just don’t recognizeit. Running from suffering by train or planeinstead of trying to recognize the cause of theproblem and discover the right way of solvingit can never be effective.
What kind of method should we allpractice; what kind of method can destroy allsuffering and its cause? We need the innermethod – in other words, Dharma. Dharma isthe inner method that can cease all sufferingand its cause. By “cease” I mean to put acomplete end to all physical and mental suf-fering, so that it never can recur. This innermethod, Dharma, is beyond compare with anytemporary method. Through the practice ofDharma, billions of different sufferings andtheir causes can all be completely destroyed.y
Excerpted from Buddhism in a Nutshell: Essentials forEnlightenment, a compilation of teachings and essays byLamaYeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, andVen. Amy Miller. Thisbook and audio program set covers all the quintessential topicsfound in Tibetan Buddhism. Due for release in early Februarythrough FPMT Education Services.
10 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 11
Photos from the fpmt.org photo gallery of Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
A LIGHT FOR ALLThe January-March 2010 print issue of Mandala focused exclusively on
FPMT’s spiritual director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Of course, there was
not nearly enough space to explore all that Rinpoche has contributed to
FPMT and we were left with some great material we couldn’t fit in the pages
we had to work with. Here we include more resources and information about
Lama Zopa Rinpoche for those wishing to explore in more depth this
incredible spiritual teacher.
12 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Official Homepage:www.fpmt.org/teachers/zopa
This website contains mountains of information about Rinpoche
including: downloadable prayers and practices that Rinpoche
recommends, anecdotes from devoted students, biographies,
Rinpoche’s current teaching schedule and contact information, a
photo gallery, and a collection of short video clips.
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 13
Photos from the fpmt.org photo gallery ofLama Zopa Rinpoche
Audio and video from Lama Zopa Rinpoche'sofficial homepage
Lama Zopa Rinpoche recites the Sutra for Entering the City of Vaishali.This teaching of the Buddha was given specifically to pacify harmful
spirits and listening to these recitations can help alleviate pain.
14 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE
Photos from the fpmt.org photo gallery ofLama Zopa Rinpoche
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 15
FPMTOnline Learningand Media Center:http://onlinelearning.fpmt.org
Check regularly for new additions to
the site focusing on the teachings
and education programs of Lama Zopa
Rinpoche
The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive houses the most completecollection of audio and video recordings, books, advice andphotographs featuring Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.Of particular note are Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive’scollection of free books and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s OnlineAdvice Book, a collection of advice offered freely to the publicon all variety of practical and spiritual topics.
EXCERPT FROM RINPOCHE’SONLINE ADVICE BOOK:
Depression is GoodA student had been battling severe depression for some time. One
day when Rinpoche was visiting the city where this studentlived, Rinpoche called him to suggest meeting. Rinpoche came by hishome that same day, which happened to be the student’s birthday.While he was visiting, Rinpoche offered the following advice.
The first thing is that having depression is good. It is good because this is a sign of purification,of having practiced Dharma.
Negative karma gets purified to different levels. With the first level, you never experience thesuffering results of the actions.With the second level, you experience these results, but rather thanexperiencing the suffering result of the negative action for many eons of suffering in the lowerrealms – hell , hungry ghost or animal – instead, the result manifests in this life in the form of some
Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive: www.lamayeshe.org
16 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE
problem, such as a toothache, headache, or beingcriticized by people. Unbelievably, negativekarma manifests as this problem, or even just asbad dreams, nightmares, often in the form ofsickness, failure in business, some disaster in thefamily or in one’s relationships, other peopletreating you badly, abusing you, and also in theform of depression. This way, you never have toexperience the heavy suffering in other realmsfor an incredible length of time. Therefore,experiencing this depression is a positive thing.
This way of thinking can be related to what-ever problems you have so that you feel positiveand happy about them. You should understandall the rest of your problems, whatever you have,in this same way.
Then there’s the next level of purifyingkarma. With this one, you do get reborn in thelower realms, but for a very short time, and thesuffering is very light. For example, when youthrow a stone on a rock, it hits in one second,like the snap of your fingers. Similarly, in thatway, all those heavy sufferings for a great lengthof time are finished, instead, in that instant ofsuffering. Comparing that to heavy suffering foran incredible length of time, even though one
has been reborn in the lower realms – it’s verypositive, very good. It’s fantastic!
So, there’s no question that the problemsexperienced in the human realm are anincredibly great comfort, even a pleasure, whenyou compare them to those extremely heavysufferings in the hell, hungry ghost and animalrealms.The negative karma that one doesn’t haveto experience is really fantastic. It’s gorgeous!This can be related to AIDS, cancer or whateverproblems someone might have.
For example, when you wash a cloth, withwater and soap, the dirt comes out. At first, thereis very black dirt. You don’t immediately see thatthe shirt has been cleaned. But that black dirtcoming out is not at all negative, it’s a very goodsign. If the dirt doesn’t come out, that’s not good.You want the cloth clean, so the dirt must comeout. It appears very dark, black, but it’s a positivething that you are able to clean it.
It’s the same when we practice Dharma. Atthat time, negative karmas manifest and we canget sick. When one practices Dharma, negativekarma comes out very quickly, to finish. There-fore, one should rejoice in depression.Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book
Wisdom Publications:www.wisdompubs.org
Anon-profit publisher affiliated with FPMT, WisdomPublications has published several of Lama Zopa
Rinpoche’s books. One of these books, Dear Lama Zopa:Radical Solutions for Transforming Problems intoHappiness is a remarkable collection of advice Rinpoche hasgiven to students over the years. Also, one can find TheLawudo Lama: Stories of Reincarnation from the MountEverest Region, an extensive biography of Rinpoche and hispast-life predecessor, Kunzang Yeshe, written by Ven. JamyangWangmo.
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 17
Indispensable for anyone wishing to do pujas according to the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
The 8 Mahayana precept ceremony and commentary
The practice, commentary and practical advice for the preliminary practice of tsa tsas
FPMT Education ServicesProviding Programs and Pract ice Materials For All
Available from the Foundation Store: www.fpmt.org/shop
Online Learning Centerhttp://onlinelearning.fpmt.org
www.fpmt.org
FPMT’s Discovering Buddhism program is now ONLINE!Now you can watch the renowned Discovering Buddhism videos, listen to teachings and meditations, down-load readings, take quizzes, and discuss with your fellow students and teacher, ALL with the convenience of online access to the materials.
To launch FPMTs new Online Learning Center we are offering How to Meditate (module two), for free.Join us now: http://onlinelearning.fpmt.org/
For free access to How to Meditate, please use enrollment code: calmabiding07
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
18 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE
FROM DEAR LAMA ZOPA:
Marriage DifficultiesDuring a stay in Hong Kong, Rinpoche was
hosted by a woman who was experiencingexcessive strain in her marriage. According to her,the primary condition for the escalating tensionbetween her and her husband seemed to be thefinancial difficulties her husband’s business wasencountering.
My very dear Winnie,Thank you very much for all your nectar
lunches, dinners, and money offerings, and allthe other offerings you made.
In answer to your question about yourmarriage, since it is not working well, maybeyou should marry the Buddhas and the deities.What do you think about that? I guess you can
still argue with the deity, but that means youhave to see the deity first.
The best is when you become the deity.That is the best marriage. Then it is goodbye toall sufferings and defilements.
Anyway, in themean time, until that happens,while you are with your husband, just changeyour mind when problems arise. This meansaccepting the experience in the opposite way.
Label it differently, by saying,“This is fantastic, this is great.”
Why is it so fantastic? Because you canexperience these problems on behalf of allsentient beings who have relationship problems,whose problems are 100,000 times worse thanyours. You can experience these problems onbehalf of all those who will experiencerelationship problems in the future, as well asthose experiencing them now.
Think, “I take all their relationship problemson myself and experience them myself.”
There is a very powerful way to do that, togive everything to the ego, to absorb yourproblems into the ego, which is what is givingyou all those problems. Extinguish the ego likean enemy that is destroyed by a bomb, destroyedto pieces and scattered everywhere. The egobecomes non-existent. It doesn’t exist at all.
It is very good to think this from time to time.Practice the visualization of taking on the
sufferings of others and giving your happinessand your past, present and future merits toall the beings of the six realms, as well as to
the beings in the intermediate state.
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 19
The rest of the time, when these relationshipproblems or other problems arise for you,
think immediately, “I am experiencing thison behalf of all sentient beings.”
Each time you do this, you are collectingvast amounts of merit and good luck. This isthe best cause for achieving enlightenment,to liberate numberless sentient beings fromsuffering and its causes, and to bring them allto enlightenment, including your husband.
This is how to enjoy your life andexperience its problems with happiness.
You are achieving the best result andprofiting from this experience. Then, whenyou perform this practice, you will really
appreciate your husband, and you will feel hiskindness in the depths of your heart. You willsee that he is very precious in your life. Whenyou see the benefits of this practice and youcome to like performing this practice, you willwant to achieve this result. The reason we likemoney is because of what we can do withmoney. In the same way, you can achieve somuch benefit by experiencing these problems.Without him, this would not be possible. Heis giving you this opportunity.
FromDear LamaZopa, published byWisdomPublications,2007. Excerpted here with permission.
Dear Lama Zopa features many prayers and practicesas recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. FPMTEducation Services has made an easily accessibleresource to help you locate and acquire these.
Mystic Tibet: An Outer, Inner, and Secret Pilgrimage(documentary on DVD)
Mystic Tibet, a documentary focusing on a pilgrimage with students to various holy sites inTibet, is an excellent snapshot of Rinpoche’s ability to inspire and empower people.
Beautifully shot and edited, it is the next best thing to meeting Rinpoche in person. Availablethrough the Foundation Store.
20 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE
Lama Zopa Rinpoche even has Facebookand Myspace pages! Not only will you
find up-to-date and interesting informationabout Rinpoche and FPMT, you’ll beable to see and interact with Rinpoche’sexpanding network of friends:
Facebook:www.facebook.com/#/pages/Lama-ZopaRinpoche/186747361240?ref=tsandwww.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6751312481
Myspace:www.myspace.com/lamazoparinpoche
Friends of FPMT program:www.fpmt.org/friends
By signing up for the free FPMTMembership level of the Friends of FPMT program, youare directly supporting Rinpocheís activities by joining a world-wide network of friends
dedicated to creating a better world for themselves and others. Among other resources theFriends program provides access to the FPMT eNews, a monthly e-newsletter featuring currentadvice, photos, and news about Rinpoche and the FPMT. Other benefits of Friends of FPMTinclude all forms of Mandala Publications and the FPMT Online Learning Center.
Get involved with FPMT!And of course, the best way to learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche and to develop yourBuddhist practice is to visit or volunteer at one of his 157+ centers or social service projectsaround the world. Most centers have websites listing their course schedules and services.Get involved today! y
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 21
D I S C U S S I O N T O P I C
COMMUNITY FORUM
WHAT WASYOUR MOSTPOTENTTEACHINGOR LESSONFROM 2009?
Please send your responsesto [email protected]
Responseswill be printedin the May issue ofMandala eZine.
Drawing byEmma Bramma-Smith
RESPONSES TO LAST ISSUE’S DISCUSSION TOPIC(What are some of your “best of ” moments?
The moments that help you rejoice in your life’s accomplishments?)
When my daughter put her head on my cushion during the reading of the Heart Sutra.She came into the gompa just in time for the group reading. Seeing my son read his
pocket sized book written by the Dalai Lama while in the car instead of playing his DS.Looking over at the Heart Shrine Relic Tour to see that my atheist husband has slippedaway to be blessed by the relics.
Joy PottsGeorgia, United States
22 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
COMMUNITY FORUM
Accomplishment can be a social one oranother skill developed through practice.
Looking at the first part of my life, it seemsmy accomplishments are related to ordinaryactivities. Here are some of them: learninghow to swim and going beyond my fearprogressively; learning to play the guitar afterhours and hours, months and months ofsuffering in my fingers, and then eventuallyplaying with my friends; torturing myself inorder to put my two legs in the lotus position;getting my driver’s license – especially afterfailing twice; going back to school, aftertwenty years, to study in order to work asnurse attendant.
These moments had four characteristicsin common: a goal, analyzing the materialsand methods needed to attain that goal, theperseverance and patience requested duringthis time, and, finally the joy of being able todo something which couldn’t be done beforeand sharing this moment with others.
Patrick GeorgelinLavaur, France
My most recent joy was during theteachings of Eight Verses of Thought
Transformation by H.E. Ling Rinpoche. Itwas very short teachings but yet, somehow,I felt the joy of giving the victories to othersin my heart. It’s just like feeling over themoon or maybe “over the stars.”
Min Chuan Cheweluk Intan, Malaysia
Iwatched “Mystic Tibet” for the first time.I was so excited when it arrived, I put it
on, sat down and from the moment itstarted, I cried my eyes out. I cried and criedand cried. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t hear muchof the dialogue at all, and had to composemyself and watch it again straight after. I justknow I was overcome by this emotion thatwas like a tidal wave.... It was like: “that ismy Guru” and “how amazing he is” and“how could I have the karma to have metsuch a one as Rinpoche?” I have never hadsuch a reaction to anything like that before.I think it was then that I truly realized justhow amazing Rinpoche is and how tirelesshis work is. I’ll never forget that day I saw“Mystic Tibet.” It certainly was a day ofrealization for me.
Thubten DrolkarTasmania, Australia
I t’s so odd, but when I look back over my lifeand through some of my more powerful
Dharma experiences, the ones that really standout as incredibly affirming are those whenKuzho-la (nee Geshe Tashi Tsering) wouldthump me or expose my failings in front ofothers or tell me my mind is weak. He’s usu-ally so polite and jolly to people, so I supposeit felt like he knew he had already hooked meand I was ready to get to work or something.
Debbi Jones,Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia
When I feel completely absorbed by medi-tation and when I can reflect my inner
peace to the others.Massimiliano, Gelati Italy
When I am super sad and Rinpoche callsme. When I help others at the tribe and
homeless children in the streets.Diana Gorbea
Arizona, United States
February 2010 MANDALA EZINE 23
P H O T O B U L L E T I N B O A R D
Send us a photo of you or a group with an issue of Mandala and we’ll post it on
our bulletin board in the next eZine. This is an excellent opportunity for us to
visualize the amazing international community of teachers, students and friends
that make up the FPMT family.
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Send your photos to [email protected]
Jennifer Cuevas, Omaha, Nebraska, USA Ian Tenzin Lhawang Marfield, USA
Spoggy the Dharma bird, Tasmania,Australia
David Lynch, Detroit, Michigan, USA Ven. Ani Desal and Wendy Cook, Weston,Massachusetts, USA
24 MANDALA EZINE February 2010
F E A T U R E D M E D I AFEATURED AUDIO:“Lama Yeshe’s ‘Dissolution’and Other Advice for Death”By Ven. Amy MillerThis recording by Ven. Amy Miller, director of Milarepa Center, features a reading of LamaYeshe’s “Dissolution,” a poem adapted by T. Yeshe from Lama’s teachings at Kopan Monastery in1975. “Dissolution” was first published inWisdom Energy 2 (1979). Using the poem as a startingpoint, Ven. Amy touches upon the ten non-virtuous actions and the five powers at the time ofdeath with great sincerity and with some lovely stories. Other recordings from this series are madeavailable freely to the public by Jamyang Buddhist Centre on Talkingbuddhism.com
MEDIA PAGE
FEATURED VIDEO:“Sleep Yoga” By Lama Zopa RinpocheThis short teaching contains practicaladvice on how to transform one’s sleepinto something sacred and start to “takethe essence day and night.” Taken fromthe 2009 teachings at the Light of thePath retreat in North Carolina, USA.“Sleep Yoga” and other video segmentswill be included in FPMT EducationService’s new program – Living in thePath. Living in the Path will be FPMT’sessential lam-rim program, drawingexclusively from the teachings of LamaYeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, andmade completely available throughFPMT’s Online Learning Center.
FEATURED PHOTO:“Rinpoche and Molly Serkong”ByWendy CookRinpoche lets Molly Serkong, a dzomo,lick his hand. Ngawang Samten,Rinpoche’s sister, looks on. Lawudo,September 1998.
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