During this retreat we have received much more than we had ever dreamed. Saying goodbye to Rinpoche doesn’t seem to leave space for anything else, nonetheless we had still to attend the closure event, an event that inspired our practice, even more. This event showed us the results that we can obtain in this spiritual path. Rinpoche had set our minds in the correct direction, then went on to inspire us ever more deeply.

So, after saying goodbye to Rinpoche, 65 retreatants went on a trip to Karme Ling, the three-year retreat center located 90 minutes from KTD.

We traveled in two buses. As it is expected from a Hispanic Sangha, our first challenge was to be on time, all together and in an orderly fashion. Even if we didn’t quite achieve this goal, we did manage to leave KTD for our new objective.

In the middle of woods where more than 10 varieties of pines exist, there sits Karme Ling. Venerable Kalo, one of the resident monks, welcomed us in a warm and cordial way. Once in the principal building, where Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche lives and the lamas meet, we were invited to know the place and everything in it. Venerable Tsultrim, who accompanied us, is in charge of the male retreatants and has done the three-year retreat four times. Venerable Chonyim, on the other hand, is in charge of female retreatants, and finished her three-year retreat in Karma Ling last year.

Karme Ling is a place where Dharma permeates the air. Green Tara and Buddha Shakyamuni appear to be in unexpected places, in the middle of the gardens. The first place to visit was the Gompa, in the principal building with His Holiness the Karmapa’s living quarters, where he stayed during his 2 tours to the USA. We continued our visit to the Stupa, and the individual retreat cabins, the female and male retreat houses and finally, the crowns jewel of Karme Ling, the Columbarium.

The Columbarium is a space created by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche in 2005, as an offering to the transitory vehicle of our mind in this life, a place in which ashes are kept in urns. In this space Rinpoche offers prayers every morning and evening, and during the day the Chenrezig mantra sounds in His Holiness’ voice. In 2011, the Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje and other great lineage teachers blessed it. Inside the Columbarium, the main buddhas of the Five Buddha Families protect the ashes arranged in a specific order.

Each of the places we visited is impressive, more impressive are the people that breathe life into this place, the lamas that run Karme Ling. They are the manifestation of practice, in their physical verbal and mental expressions, they fill the space with a kindness that can be inhaled. Due to them we went back to KTD filled with inspiration and with a clear vision of what profound practice could eventually represent for each of us.

Photographs courtesy of: Alessandra Otero, Almendra Ramírez and Miriam Cuevas-Fournier.

In just a few days, many fortunate members of the KTD mandala will gather at KTD for the annual Ten Day Teaching. We will celebrate Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s 90th birthday with prayers and practices for his long life and the long lives of all the Kagyu gurus, especially His Holiness, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa.

Lodro Nyima Rinpoche, Khenpo Karthar’s nephew

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On this auspicious occasion, we are especially blessed to have Lodro Nyima Rinpoche, Khenpo Karthar’s nephew, joining us from Thrangu Monastery in Tibet.

There will be many rituals of offering during the celebrations. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche is building a special White Tara shrine, to which many of us have contributed, and students will make additional offerings to the teachers and lineage masters. But what exactly goes into an offering, and how does one go about making it?

At first glance, the offering rituals in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition can seem foreign and even cryptic. Certainly they are quite ancient, having been been passed down to us by the faithful practitioners of Tibet who kept them intact through wars, invasions, and exile. Like all religious rituals, though, these practices are actually universally relevant and accessible. A small amount of cultural translation or familiarization is all that’s needed.  As Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche has said, one learns the meaning of the practice through doing the practice.

Thrangu Rinpoche offers a mandala during a puja with His Holiness Gyalwang Karmapa, VVI, Sarnath, India, February, 2013. Photo by Karma Jangchup, VVFBP

One of the first rituals that new dharma students encounter is the offering of a mandala before any teaching.  Many of us spend this short four-line prayer fumbling to get our two hands into the intricate mudra of the offering mandala.  The word “mandala” gives some hint to the complexity of this seemingly simply ritual.  A mandala can be made of sand; it can be a geometric design painted on a wall or ceiling or thangka; or it can be a 3-dimensional palace, full of detailed parts and pieces, with a deity on a throne in its heart center.  Mandala is also the term for the multi-layered plate which Tibetan Buddhists fill with rice and offer to teachers and the three jewels (the Buddha, dharma and sangha). And Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s White Tara shrine is also a mandala. In all these cases, a mandala is a representation of the universe, with its various features.  By offering a mandala, we are in fact trying to give away everything possible, everything that exists, including our own way of seeing the universe.  This is possible because, as the teachers remind us, there is in fact no boundary between self or other, and no inherent, permanent existence to anything.  Thus we can lay claim to all of it, and give it all away. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche says about offering that mentally, you offer everything you have, everything you are, and everything you will become to your teacher or to the three jewels. Practically, you offer whatever you can afford.   You do these simultaneously.  In our tradition, you do it repeatedly.

Truly making a vast offering is quite difficult. It is hard for many of us westerners even to make a financial contribution of $50 or $100.  We’re accustomed to getting something in return for every transaction. We wonder how much we should give:  “What is this weekend teaching worth?”  We worry both about giving too much and giving too little.  We feel inadequate, or stingy, or profligate. These self-involved thoughts can overwhelm us and dominate our experience of offering.

His Holiness accepting offerings from Thrangu Rinpoche, VVI, Sarnath, India, Feb, 2013. Photo by Karma Jangchup, VVFBP

Fortunately, as new students, we can follow the examples of our dharma friends and teachers.  They can point the way and shorten the journey for us. They can show us how to be less tight – financially and otherwise. On my recent trip to India and Nepal, I was deeply moved and powerfully instructed by the many rituals of offering I witnessed, and also by some that I participated in. I learned that the ritual of offering is meant to be an experience of great joy, a time for abandoning all thoughts of self, and a moment when we can get a real taste of freedom. I learned this from watching my precious teachers – the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, and His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa – as they participated in these ancient rituals.

Although we may not be able to practice the offering rituals with the accomplishment and realization of great masters, we can train and follow their example, giving without regret, joyfully and freely. Through participating in the ritual of offering, we are practicing generosity, and the results can be transformative and profound. Thus we have a very special opportunity in the events lying just ahead of us.

– Amy Schwartz

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“The true meaning is in actually doing the practice.”  Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, “Vajrasattva Practice Instruction,” p. 7
Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, “The Garland of Pearls:  Gampopa’s Assembly Dharmas.” Audio CD. Hartford KTC, 2005-2006.

In Giving There is Joy

Namo Buddha, Nepal, site of Ten-Day Long Life Ceremony for Thrangu Rinpoche. Fall, 2012. Photo by Amy Schwartz

As beginners in the dharma, we can easily become distracted or seduced by the beauty and power of Tibetan Buddhist rituals. However, our aim as practitioners is not just to watch, but also to practice! To that end, our teachers often remind us to look beneath the richly textured outer layer of these rituals, and penetrate to their heart. We can only do this through repeatedly joining our minds to the texts and rituals, and letting them gradually work on us. Whether making offerings, prostrating, taking vows, or saying mantras, we work with these practices until they make sense to us, beyond the initial outer level of simply doing them “correctly.” As we gradually move from mere gestures to genuine practice, these rituals are our supports.  Even so, we must acknowledge that these practices are incredibly profound, with levels of meaning we may not achieve or realize in our current lifetime. Luckily, though, we can get quite far, even if we are beginners! And we can learn so much by following the example of our teachers.

Last November, I had the good fortune to attend a ten-day long life ceremony in honor of the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s 80th birthday. It’s traditional for Tibetan practitioners to make offerings to the gurus on special occasions such as birthday celebrations, prayer festivals such as the Kagyu Monlam, Losar (Tibetan New Year), and the end of a teaching.  Making an offering allows the giver to generate merit, which can then be dedicated to the welfare of others. Offering to the entire sangha (all the monastics in attendance), however small the monetary gift, allows the giver to form a karmic connection with the monks and nuns, and to support their practice of dharma.

Four Rinpoches of Thrangu Monastery, Namo Buddha, Nepal, November, 2012. Photo by Kama Jangchup

For this ceremony, hundreds of Thrangu Rinpoche’s khenpos, monks and nuns, his Asian and western lay students, and the realized lamas of Thrangu Monastery in Tibet, including Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche and Lodro Nyima Rinpoche, converged at Namo Buddha, Thrangu Rinpoche’s mountaintop monastery in Nepal.

Sponsor of the Long Life Puja Lama Lobsang Dorje holding a mandala offering for Thrangu Rinpoche, Namo Buddha, Nepal, Fall, 2012. Photo by Karma Jangchup

Those in attendance made countless offerings for Thrangu Rinpoche’s long life and flourishing dharma practice.  Each day, a long line of devotees snaked along the shrine room’s central aisle and down the stairs into the vast foyer underneath the temple. I was extremely happy and fortunate to be able to make an offering at this auspicious occasion, using money left to me by my father, who had died a few months earlier.  In fact I got to make two, because I also participated in making KTD’s offering.  The number, variety, and beauty of the various offerings were simply amazing. They included a crystal stupa holding a relic, so holy we were forbidden to photograph it; a large, 3-dimensional mandala palace gilded in gold; a set of new rugs for the shrine room, made in Tibet; a complete set of the texts of the Geluk tradition; applique’ed thangkas; statues; many sets of the eight auspicious substances, the eight auspicious symbols, and the seven precious articles of royalty ; and countless mandala plates gilded in silver or gold, as well as monetary offerings. Thrangu Rinpoche’s Hong Kong center also made a substantial offering to the local community on his behalf: it gave a large sack of rice to every villager who showed up to claim one.

Monks holding offerings in the foyer under the shrine room, preparing to offer to Thrangu Rinpoche, Namo Buddha, Nepal, November, 2012. Photo by Karma Jangchup

Despite the pomp, Thrangu Rinpoche was completely at ease with this effusive display of reverence and generosity.  When we were making KTD’s offering, the aisle was so crowded that I got stuck to one side, right next to Rinpoche’s throne.  I couldn’t get around the traffic flow, so I just relaxed there. It was wonderful to witness up close Rinpoche’s joy as he blessed each person filing by.  He was surrounded by piles of khatas and offerings, but he was completely relaxed and natural. I had the sense that his evident joy was all on our behalf; he was happy to meet us in such an auspicious way, and he was happy that we were generating merit!

Long Life Puja for Thrangu Rinpoche’s 80th birthday, Namo Buddha, Nepal, November, 2012. Photo by Karma Jangchup

Another deeply moving example of offering was the moment when Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, the senior lama in attendance, chanted the ritual text of offering to Thrangu Rinpoche.  He offered, in succession, the above-mentioned precious substances, symbols and articles, and probably much else (I could not understand the text). For this occasion, Khenpo Rinpoche wore his most formal robes, including the pandit hat. It was a long ceremony, and he sometimes sat on a chair in between the various offering sections; Lama Karma Drodhul was at his side, holding his text and helping him.  Rinpoche’s trip to Nepal at the age of 89 could be seen as a part of this offering; it was surely not an easy journey for him.  We might also see the dedication of his entire life to the dharma as part of his offering. Although I was at the back of the shrine room and could not see Rinpoche, I could hear him very clearly.  I knew there was much I was missing, yet what I received was immeasurably great.
This event brought home to me the dharma’s incredible potential for transformation.  Givers and receiver alike were filled with joy, and a spirit of abundance and well-being pervaded the entire event, spilling over to encompass the local people in the nearby village.

– Amy Schwartz

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[1] According to Thrangu Rinpoche, these traditional offerings recall events in the Buddha’s life, aspects of the Buddha’s appearance in the world, and the key elements of dharma practice. The 8 auspicious substances are the conch shell, yogurt, durva grass, vermillion, bilva fruit, the mirror, givam (medicine made from an elephant’s bladder), and white mustard seed. The 8 auspicious symbols are the umbrella (the Buddha’s head), the fish (his eyes), the vase (his throat), the conch (his speech), the victory banner (his form), the glorious knot (his mind and heart), the lotus flower (his tongue), and the wheel (his feet, turning toward the dharma). The 7 articles of royalty are the wheel (penetrating insight), the jewel (faith), the queen (Samadhi, meditative absorption), the minister (joy), the elephant (mindfulness), the horse (diligence), and the general (equanimity). See Thrangu Rinpoche’s Medicine Buddha teachings, published in several formats.

The Empty Nature of Offering

At the highest levels of practice in our tradition, one works toward an understanding of the true nature of things, which is emptiness. In terms of the offering ritual, a high view might realize the insubstantial nature of the gifts, no matter how expensive or elaborate they might be, and the lack of boundary between giver and receiver. Although I don’t pretend to have any realization of this view, I think perhaps that I witnessed it in action in India this past February.

His Holiness with Thrangu Rinpoche’s offering and strange blue light at heart center, VVI, Sarnath, India, Feb, 2013. Photo by Karma Jangchup, VVFBP

On February 25^th, the festival of Chotrul Duchen just after Losar (Tibetan New Year), Thrangu Rinpoche made an elaborate long life offering to His Holiness the 17^th Gyalwang Karmapa.  The event took place at Thrangu Rinpoche’s monastic college, the Vajravidya Institute, in Sarnath, India, which His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa often visits around Losar. It was powerful to watch Thrangu Rinpoche, the receiver of so many offerings at his 80^th birthday celebration in November, turn around and offer everything back to His Holiness, as a support for His Holiness’s long life.  It was equally powerful to watch His Holiness, whom I think of as constantly giving to us, receiving the offering with heartfelt gratitude.

His Holiness accepting offerings from Thrangu Rinpoche, VVI, Sarnath, India, Feb, 2013. Photo by Karma Jangchup, VVFBP

Rinpoche had to do a great deal of work to make this elaborate offering.  First, there was a lama dance of six long-life dakinis.  Then there was a long succession of offerings:  the eight precious substances, the eight auspicious symbols, the seven articles of royalty, and so forth (see Part II for a description of these).  Wearing the pandit hat, Rinpoche chanted through the same lengthy offering text that Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche had presented at Namo Buddha, Nepal, in November.  Supported by his lamas, khenpos and attendants, Rinpoche repeatedly mounted a high step in order to reach His Holiness, who was seated on a very high throne at the front of the shrine room. His Holiness had to lean way over to accept the offerings from him, and His Holiness’s attendant repeatedly reached high up to take these articles from His Holiness and place them carefully on a shrine table to the side.

His Holiness meditates during the Long Life Dakini dance offering, VVI, Sarnath, India, Feb, 2013. Photo by Karma Jangchup, VVFBP

Thrangu Rinpoche makes Long Life offerings to His Holiness Gyalwang Karmapa, Vajravidya Institute, Sarnath, India, February, 2013. photo by Karma Jangchup, Vajravidya Facebook page (VVFBP)

I don’t speak Tibetan, nor do I have the realization necessary to comprehend the more subtle and profound aspects of the ceremony. Nonetheless, I found this ritual extremely moving and helpful. First of all, Thrangu Rinpoche was still recovering from about 18 months of ill health.  He had lost a lot of weight and appeared visibly shrunken and much aged. Yet here he was, stepping repeatedly onto his bad knee to climb the steep step to His Holiness’s throne, engaged in a lengthy and physically demanding ritual.  He was focused, yet completely relaxed and natural.  On the other hand, there was His Holiness.  Although he is no ordinary person, it can’t be easy to face the incredible daily obstacles he faces – unable to travel, living in a borrowed monastery, unable to see his aging parents or enact his activity as he wishes. During the teachings he gave that week, he admitted to feeling discouraged and confessed that he feels he hasn’t accomplished even a small part of what previous Karmapas accomplished. Yet here he was, focused and serene, accepting Rinpoche’s offering totally.

Thrangu Rinpoche offers a mandala during a puja with His Holiness Gyalwang Karmapa, VVI, Sarnath, India, February, 2013. Photo by Karma Jangchup, VVFBP

This was the moment when I realized that the offering ceremony takes one outside oneself and one’s cares, ills, and worries. Previously I had understood that the ritual was an experience of joy.  I had felt my own joy and witnessed it in so many other faces. But on this occasion I suddenly understood that the offering ceremony is one of freedom – in offering everything, including one’s own perceptions, one is suddenly free of the weight of everything that commonly presses in on us. Perhaps this freedom is the fruit of true practice, springing from the realization of the empty nature of all that we experience.

Table next to His Holiness’s throne just after the Long Life Offering, showing oferings made by Thrangu Rinpoche, VVI, Sarnath, India, Feb, 2013. Photo by Amy Schwartz

And, of course, our teachers also show us that to give is to receive, and to receive is to give. After Thrangu Rinpoche’s formal offering ceremony, many lay devotees and monastics followed up with their own offerings.  I watched one young Chinese woman offer His Holiness a card.  To my surprise, he took it, opened it, and read it right there on the throne, in the middle of the ceremony.  When I asked her about it later, she was thrilled that His Holiness had read the card, which was from her mother. It was His Holiness’s gift back to her.

The Precious Elephant and the Precious General. Photo by Amy Schwartz.

Our gurus fulfill our every wish, both by giving and by receiving our gifts. I believe the rituals of offering are meant to train us to understand that giving and receiving are basically the same thing. To the extent this is true, we enrich ourselves and others immeasurably, and simultaneously, when we participate in these ancient rituals.

Thus, I am looking forward to the Ten Day teaching with a special sense of excitement  and anticipation.  On this occasion, our beloved abbot and teacher, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, will be the receiver, as he was the giver last November in Nepal. Together with our teachers and fellow practitioners, and blessed with the special presence of Lodro Nyima Rinpoche, we will all have the chance to experience a taste of true joy and freedom.

– Amy Schwartz

Thrangu Rinpoche offers a mandala during a puja with His Holiness Gyalwang Karmapa, VVI, Sarnath, India, February, 2013. Photo by Karma Jangchup, VVFBP

It’s said that for students hungry for the dharma that will transform their minds and lives, there is no one who shows more kindness than the teacher.

Photo, Michael Erlewine

And for all of us in the United States who follow His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa, there is one special teacher who has shown us immeasurable kindness: Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche.

Born in Tibet in the 1920s and educated at Thrangu Monastery to be both a meditation master and a scholar, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche has been an excellent teacher for dharma students in America.

Almost 40 years ago, His Holiness the 16th Karmapa chose Khenpo Rinpoche to guide us, and in so doing firmly planted the Karma Kagyu dharma in a new land.

Photo, Michael Erlewine

This week at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, we celebrate  three milestones: the 25th Anniversary of the Ten-Day Teaching program; KTD’s 35th Year on Mount Guardian; and the 90th Birthday of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. It is a family “homecoming” for all of His Holiness’ students in America, and a special opportunity to say thank-you to Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche for all he has given – and continues to give – to all of us sentient beings.

Ten-Day Teaching: 25 Years and Counting

Photo, Michael Erlewine

In 1989, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche began the trandition of the Ten-Day Teaching, which became a vehicle of students to expand their dharma practice and study by spending 10 days together in the Catskill Mountains at His Holiness’ monastery.

Photo, Michael Erlewine

Students still gather every morning in the Main Shrine Room to perform their prostrations, offerings, mantras, and meditation; the air is full of devotion and practice. Khenpo Rinpoche, in recent years accompanied by the gifted Candadian translator Lama Yeshe Gyamtso, expounds the dharma at all levels. Year One, Khenpo Rinpoche taught the Third Karamapa’s “Profound Inner Meaning:” This year, he teaches Jamgon Kongtrul’s “Torch of Certainty.”

The Ten-Day Teaching is a rare opportunity to spend time with a master, and to be in the company of dharma brothers and sisters.

35 Years on Mount Guardian

KTD Archives

In May, 1978, KTD opened its doors for dharma students in the old Meads Mountain House near the crest of the southeastern slope of Mount Guardian. This mountain, flanking the nearby peak of Mount Overlook, has been KTD’s home ever since.

Photo, Michael Erlewine

Early teachings and seminars were conducted in a shrine room fashioned from the former dining room of the resort hotel; His Holiness the 16th Karmapa visited in 1980 and performed a Vajra Crown ceremony in a tent on the southeastern lawn. From 1982 to the early 1990s work was done to build a temple just west of the Meads Mountain House; it has served since then as KTD’s spiritual hub.

Photo, Alessandra Otero Ramos

In 2010, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche called KTD “the Bodhgaya of America,” saying, that as the spiritual dwelling place of His Holiness Karmapa and the seat of his blessings, it was a place of sacred pilgrimage for people in the west.

Just this year, a group of pilgrims from Latin America came to KTD for the first time, making this dream of KTD being a pilgrimage site come true.

90th Birthday of the Master Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche

Photo, Michael Erlewine

In 1975, His Holiness  the 16th Karmapa signed the documents creating Karma Triyana Dharmachakra as the center of his activities in the United States. The next year, 1976, His Holiness sent Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche to America to be his representative and create his center of activities.

Rinpoche was a little over 50 years old then; this year, he turns 90, and we are gathering to celebrate his work on behalf of His Holiness in the United States.

More than 150 people are expected to attend his birthday celebration, which will begin at the end of this year’s Ten-Day Teaching. In fact, the Ten-Day is being cut short by three days to accommodate an elaborate White Tara practice for the health and long-life of His Holiness Karmapa, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche and all the gurus.

Photo, Anitra Brown/Lama Kathy Wesley

The White Tara pujas will be on Aug. 30, 31, and culminate on Sept. 1.  During that time, people from around the world are expected to assemble at KTD to participate.

Photo, Michael Erlewine, Poster Design, Beth Keenan

Offerings will be made by students from every corner of the globe, all celebrating Khenpo Rinpoche’s contributions to dharma – East, and West.

Student Michael Erlewine has made a commemorative slideshow that you can view here.

And there are many opportunities to participate in the offerings and ceremonies, even if you cannot come to KTD.

I am writing this note to update you on our White Tara Shrine to be raised on Sept.1, 2013 in the Main Shrine Room at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra.  To create this Shrine, we made 155 White Tara , with a 24” White Tara statue to place on the very top (a gift to our precious teacher, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche).

The rest of the 154 statues are of three different sizes: 6”, 8” and 12” and two styles: fully-gold plated and partially-gold plated.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the 154 fine statues have all found a home. 

We’ve got donors from many states in the USA, as well as donors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai China, and London.  Several of KTD’s Karma Thegsum Choling city centers and Lama Karma’s Ngondro Group also have pitched in.  Individual statues have been sponsored by students as a prayer for the longevity of His Holiness the14th Dalai Lama, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, and the precious lineage teachers such as the Twelfth Tai Situpa, the Fourth Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, the twelfth Goshir Gyaltsap Rinpoche, the ninth Kenchen Trangu Rinpoche, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Garchen Rinpoche, and also the swift return of our late Traleg Kayabgon Rinpoche.  For a person who has been involved from Day One in this project, it has been a long, challenging, but very rewarding, campaign that has taken us this far.

Many of you are getting ready to attend the White Tara retreat (30 August and 31 August), and the final White Tara puja and party to celebrate Rinpoche 90^th birthday (1 September).  Usually this period of time is allocated specifically for our annual KTD Ten-Day Teaching.  Khenpo Rinpoche himself picked this time to raise the White Tara Shrine and for his birthday party.  He told me there were many dedicated students who come from different places once a year at this time to KTD to listen to his teaching.  It also seems to be also the only chance for Rinpoche to see them  – once a year.  He picked this time for the project simply because he will be very happy to see his students at KTD and he does not want them (especially, the regular participants who have been coming to the Ten-Day Teaching for years) to miss the wonderful occasion to be together with him and everyone else for his 90^th birthday celebration.  Although the traditional Ten-Day Teaching will be cut short by three days, we all will have a chance to practice the White Tara together and also appreciate the White Tara Shrine.

Rinpoche will be in charge of creating the Shrine (he personally filled all the statues by himself without any assistance).  In addition, the shrine will be surrounded by100 sets of five traditional Buddhist offerings. Flowers, Incense, Lamps, Perfumed Water and Food will be offered to make our Shrine even more spectacular.  I know we all are “squeezing” our wallets this year to obtain statues, to make the trip to the Ten-Day Teaching, to pay for the teaching, etc.  But if you would like to sponsor a set of the five traditional Buddhist offerings, please visit this website for details.

Meanwhile, for donors who have already sponsored a statue, I am compiling a list of names for whom donors would like to dedicate merits.  Rinpoche will bless all the people on my list. Later on, I will present the list to Rinpoche and request his blessing at the Amitabha retreat in December.  If you are a statue donor, your names are already on my list.  If you want to add more names, please email me the names at your earliest convenience.

There are no words that I can use to express my deepest gratitude for your generous support. Whether you sponsored a statue, read our stories about the project, or just rejoiced in the merit of this amazing White Tara Shrine and its creation, I think this is the least “service” I can do to say “thank you all!”

I am planning a short gathering (tentatively some time on 31 August) for the statue donors on-site at KTD so that I can prepare you to obtain “your” statue after the 1 September puja.  All the statues will receive a new khata scarf to be wrapped around the statue, thanks to a dear friend who would like to make this offering to all our statue donors!!  If you will be at KTD to receive your statue, please bring along some packaging materials so that you can take the statue home safely.  For those who need me to ship the statue to your home afterward, please keep in touch if there is any address change.

Once again, thanks a lot for your participation.  Although KTD has no more rooms for accommodation, it is still not too late to register for the retreat/puja.  The donation toward the 24” White Tara statue will remain open until 1 September.  See this entry we posted on Facebook recently.  I am passing it along to share with you.– May Lein Ho, Coordinator of Friends of KTD, KKR Loving Kindness & Compassion

www.kkrinternational.org

To our beloved Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche: Words cannot adequately express our gratitude to you. Thank you for all you have done for the lineage; thank you for personally filling 155 White Tara statues, day and night, one by one, with boundless compassion and blessing! May all great Dharma teachers live with longevity and health like White Tara; may the blessing from all our precious gurus be with us all the time till nirvana!  Come join us at August 30 – September 1st to celebrate our beloved Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s 90th birthday!

Reprinted courtesy BuddhaDharma Magazine.

The finished White Tara Statues await placement on the Shrine.

Since its inception this spring, the story of the White Tara Shrine for Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s 90^th birthday has captured the imagination of (and inspired) many people. But how did this project come to be? We interviewed May Lein Ho, who recounted the amazing, funny, and heart-warming details of her experience ordering the statues for the White Tara shrine.

Part I. Difficult Beginnings

This story begins with a tragically sad event: the untimely early death of the great master Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche at age 59 on July 24th, 2012. After Traleg Rinpoche passed away, KTD held a special puja to request his return. In late August, 2012, May Lein, together with other Chinese students of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, went to Karme Ling retreat center for a week-long retreat, during which time Rinpoche taught on the lives of the Karmapas. The students practiced each day with the Karme Ling lamas, including Khenpo Rinpoche’s nephew Lama Karma Drodhul, and at every session, they recited the prayer for Traleg Rinpoche’s swift return.

The late Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche and Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche

One day, Lama Karma commented that they should diligently recite the prayer “Because our guru is very sad. Traleg Rinpoche is like his son. Rinpoche carried him on his back when they fled Tibet. He raised him like a son, and now in his 89th year, Traleg Rinpoche is gone.”  Lama Karma told them, “If you pray hard, Rinpoche will be comforted.”

Something struck May Lein in that moment. The years of working to benefit Karma Triyana Dharmachakra had tired her out, and she’d gone to Karme Ling that week intending to tell Rinpoche that she was finished with volunteering. She wanted to rest, and didn’t want to do anything anymore. But as she thought of Traleg Rinpoche’s students, bereft without their teacher, she realized that her own guru, at age 89, was still here, supporting her and all of us. In that moment, appreciation welled up, her heart shifted, and she suddenly wanted to do something to thank him, to show her appreciation. She thought, “I’m not enlightened.  What can I do?” Then she remembered that twice before, she had built an Amitabha shrine of precious statues for the annual KTD Amitabha retreat.  She had done this for the first retreat in the year 2000, and again for the 10th.

Part II. Rinpoche Changes the Plan

May Lein knew that the 15th Amitabha retreat was coming up in December, 2014. It was a perfect occasion for her new project. It would give her two years, just the right amount of time to order the statues and find sponsors for them. Hoping she’d still be alive then, and mindful of impermanence, she took her idea to Rinpoche.  But to her surprise, Rinpoche responded instantly that if she really wanted to do it, she shouldn’t wait so long; the shrine should be built for his 90th birthday in August 2013, just one year away, and it should be built of White Tara statues. In May Lein’s words: “So I said, ‘No, it is too soon, Rinpoche, I cannot do that.’ And he said, ‘Yes, you can, and that is what you have to do!’”

The finished 24 inch White Tara Statue

Next they discussed what statues to order. Rinpoche wanted 6″ statues for those who needed to travel or had small houses, 8″ statues for those with a standard size shrine in their home, and 12″ statues for the various dharma centers that might want one. When asked what Rinpoche would like for his own statue, at the top of the shrine, Rinpoche answered that it should be exactly 24″, no more or less. All told, May Lein calculated that she needed 155 statues. She doesn’t know why she chose that number; it just seemed right.

Last, Rinpoche gave three requirements for the project: the quality of the statues needed to be the very best, the base cost should be the lowest possible, and most importantly, Rinpoche directed that May Lein should not go out and try to promote or sell the statues. He felt that the owners of the statues should be very happy to have them; it should all occur naturally, without a big fundraising campaign.

Part III. The Mysterious Statue Maker and the Very Kind Lama

So May Lein began looking around for someone who could make so many statues of such high quality so quickly. She calculated that she had about five months; the statues should ship from Nepal (where most Tibetan dharma materials are now made) in February and arrive in March, in order to leave Rinpoche enough time to fill them with mantras and prayers before the August teaching. First she asked Peter (the manager of the KTD bookstore), but he said that for 155 statues in such a short timeframe, it would require at least three different statue makers. May Lein turned down that idea because she felt all the faces should be the same.  Out of ideas, she turned to friends and asked around.

Karma Lekshey Ling Institute, Kathmandu, Nepal. From the Institute’s website.

Finally, an auspicious connection occurred. One dear friend, Amy Wu, happened to meet three nuns at Kagyu Monlam a while ago.  They are from the Karma Lekshey Ling Shedra located at Kathmandu, Nepal.  They introduced Amy to their teacher, a lama at the Shedra who teaches courses on statue-making.  So that is how the kind lama heard that someone from the US was looking for a statue maker who could make 155 White Tara statues for a high lama who would be 90 years old in 2013, and who is from the Karmapa’s Kagyu lineage. This lama knew a great statue maker — so great that he had moved several times and preferred to work anonymously in order to avoid too much attention and impossible numbers of orders. To this day, May Lein still doesn’t know his name and has no way to reach him directly. May Lein later learned that this statue maker is no ordinary statue maker.  His craftsmanship has been highly praised and he is considered a “national treasure” in the profession.

Photo of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche by Anitra Brown.

Although he had never heard of Rinpoche before, the kind lama at Lekshey Ling developed great faith and enthusiasm for the project. He approached his friend the statue maker with a request for 155 White Tara statues of the very best materials in 5 months’ time, and with no initial down payment. The statue maker reportedly laughed out loud and told the lama that someone was playing a joke on him and he should go back and check his facts. He also said nobody made White Tara shrines full of statues. The lama countered that the statues were to mark the 90th birthday of a very great teacher in His Holiness Karmapa’s lineage.  Apparently, that information changed the statue maker’s heart.

Eventually they settled down to negotiate, and the statue maker asked about Rinpoche’s statue. The Lama came back to May Lein and conveyed his request: could she choose another size? He did not have a 24″ White Tara statue.  May Lein stood firm; the statue must be 24″. Amazingly, the statue maker agreed to make Rinpoche’s statue entirely from scratch. He said this process would take the full five months. He also said that for such an auspicious occasion, all the materials for the statues should be purchased new — nothing recycled from his workshop stockpiles. A new pot of gold powder also was purchased to add the final touch to the fine statues.

May Lein soon received sample photos via email, and Rinpoche approved them and told her to go ahead with the plan. She and Rinpoche both liked the faces very much, as they were quite full and beautiful. She still had no idea how she would pay for the statues, since she felt she shouldn’t start fundraising due to Rinpoche’s instructions, but she had some funds left over in the Friends of KTD account after the Friends of KTD helped retire the first of three KTD construction loans. Maybe she could use those?  She asked her guru, and Khenpo Rinpoche gave her a “go ahead” to proceed.

Part IV. Timing is Everything

Lekshey Ling Monks to the rescue!

It is difficult to send money to Nepal, especially a lot of money, and everything had to be done very quickly. Time was essential, for the government of Nepal had recently announced that on September 1, 2012, all pricing throughout the country would go up by 1/3.  It is indeed hard to believe, in retrospect, that the kind lama at Lekshey Ling could go so far out of his way to help get the project off the ground, without ever having met May Lein or anyone else from KTD — but that is exactly what happened. Somehow the money arrived, and he drove the two and a half hours to the statue maker’s workshop. Together, they bought everything needed before September 1st.  The statue maker asked his workmen to put all other projects on hold in order to meet the February deadline, and they all agreed to devote themselves to Rinpoche’s White Tara statues exclusively.

The monks affixed the precious stones to the statues.

The next issue was the precious stones. The statue maker said he usually only placed those on large statues, but May Lein wanted them placed on all the statues. Since the price had already been agreed to, the September 1 deadline had now passed, and the materials had been purchased, the statue maker decided to add the precious stones at no additional charge, provided he could get some help from the Lekshey Ling Shedra monks for the labor. So the lama asked his friends and colleagues at Lekshey Ling to help, and they agreed. The monastery crew handled everything that needed to be done.  They affixed the precious stones to the statues, they wrapped the faces as is traditionally done, and they packed the statues for shipping.  Rather than chatting while doing this work, they recited prayers and mantras with focus and concentration.

Part V. Auspicious Endings

May Lein Ho, finding White Tara Statue sponsors.

Now it was time to find donors for the statues. May Lein knew she could count on about 30 loyal students who always supported Rinpoche’s projects. Beyond that, she had no clue whether people would want them, and she told her husband, Lama Wu Fang: “We’d better make some shelves in our shrine room! If people don’t adopt these statues, we will work hard and adopt them, one by one, even if it kills us.” He agreed to this plan.

Meanwhile, in Nepal, a huge snowstorm had struck the statue maker’s village, closing the roads and trapping the Lekshey Ling lamas there. May Lein took her worries to Rinpoche, who laughed and said, “Don’t worry! You will get the statues!”

Peter van Deurzen, manager of Namse Bangdzo Bookstore.

Peter the KTD Bookstore Manager was an immense help. The statues were shipped through his regular shipper in Nepal. They arrived at KTD in March and were driven to Karme Ling for Rinpoche to fill. May Lein wanted to inventory them, but she wasn’t free for a couple of weeks. When she finally got to Karme Ling, she found out that Rinpoche had filled all of the smaller statues in just ten days, and they were already back up at KTD!  His hands were dark and discolored from all of the work, and she said he had done nothing but eat, sleep, and work, morning until night. Rinpoche had beaten the calendar carefully set out by May Lein — not by weeks, but by months.

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche in his workshop, working on one of his White Tara Statues.

May Lein still hasn’t seen the finished statues, nor been able to inventory them.  At this point, she won’t see them much before the rest of us do!

The 2013 Graduating Class of Lekshey Ling Shedra, from the Institute website.

As for the kind lamas at Lekshey Ling Shedra, May Lein recently heard that they finished their coursework this past year and have become Khenpos! This means that our statues were built by an impossibly great statue maker, and adorned, finished, wrapped, and prepared for shipping by the most knowledgeable and accomplished lamas and teachers in our tradition.

In finding sponsors for the statues, May Lein has made about 130 new friends, many of whom have recounted their stories to her, telling her how they met Rinpoche and got involved in the dharma. Some of the stories moved her deeply.

May Lein finishes her story with her own conclusion: “Thanks to the generous support from our statue donors, 154 fine statues have all found their home to go to. We’ve got donors from many states in the USA, donors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, China, and London. A couple of Karma Thegsum Choling centers and Lama Karma Drodhul’s Ngondro Group have pitched in. Individual statues have been obtained by students to pray for the longevity of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, and the precious lineage teachers such as the Twelfth Tai Situpa, the Fourth Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, the Twelfth Goshir Gyaltsap Rinpoche, the Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Garchen Rinpoche, and also for the swift return of our late Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche.

“Our sincere and special thanks go to Khenpo Raju from Karma Lekshey Ling Shedra who arranged everything for us to make the project a reality, Khenpo Loten who helped to put precious stones on the statues, and all the other lamas and students who helped the entire packaging and shipping process and got stuck at the statue maker’s shop for the unexpected snow storm this year in the area.

“However, our deepest gratitude and appreciation goes to our beloved guru, Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche – the driving force and everlasting support behind this entire project.  May our guru live long and continue to turn his Dharma wheel for many years to come.”

– Amy Schwartz

Photo of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche by Michael Erlewine; poster, Beth Keenan.

September 1, 2013

c

90 years ago,

about 7,503.7 miles from  here,

a baby boy was born in a remote place in Tibet.

His birth did not cause any pain to his mother,

instead, was accompanied with many auspicious signs

foretelling the unusual qualities that would gradually manifest throughout his life.

You might wonder what these qualities are,

but I cannot tell you

as it would exhaust the ink as vast as the ocean

to have them written down and

it would be much harder to recount them

than to figure out the number of sand in the River Ganges.

A more comprehensible approach though

would be recollecting the qualifies

that he does not have

in terms of body, speech, and mind.

There are 12 in total.

♦   ♦   ♦

To begin with, he has no attachment.

At age 12, he turned away from the nonsense of samsara,

entered Thrangu monastery to become a monk,

determined to cut the ties to this life

once and for all.

♦   ♦   ♦

Second, he has no flaws in moral disciplines.

At age 20, he received the full ordination

from the 11th Tai Situ Rinpoche.

Since then,

he kept his moral disciplines intact, and

would never compromise even at the cost of his own life.

♦   ♦   ♦

Third, he has no expectation.

By age 30, he had completed the traditional 3 year retreat

and 5 year academic study.

For several years, he trod across the boundless field of the snow-caped mountains, spreading the Dharma and performing rituals,

feeling life would be just as simple and sweet

as the taste of the water of a Himalayan stream.

But life took an unexpected turn, in which

♦   ♦   ♦

it shows that he has no hesitation .

At age 35, he had to quickly flee the political turmoil

that led to the deaths of half a million in Tibet.

Finally, at age 44, he arrived in Rumtek Monastery,

the Karmapa’s main seat in Sikkim,

and taught there among other places in India.

In less than 10 years, life took another unexpected turn

♦   ♦   ♦

that shows that he has no doubt .

At age 53, he boarded an airplane bound for New York to fulfill his role appointed by the 16th Karmapa, as the abbot of a yet-to-be-built monastery,

Karma Triyana Dharmachakra.

Coming to a country with drastically different culture and language from his own,

in this the Karmapa’s decision, he has no doubt,

and works diligently to fulfill the guru’s vision.

♦   ♦   ♦

Six, he has no fixed-identity.

He worked on every possible job to actualize the monastery.

He is an architect, an interior designer, and a geomancer;

he is a construction worker, mixing cement, cutting logs;

a tailor, fabricating cushions, dharma robes;

sewing brocade for thangka frames, tables, and statues.

♦   ♦   ♦

Seven, he has no vacation.

For the past 30 years continuing,

he has set his foot around the globe,

establishing dharma centers across the country

as well as in South America and Taiwan,

teaching, and bestowing refuge and empowerments,

placing beings on the path to liberation.

♦   ♦   ♦

Eight, He has no retirement.

At age 70, an already retirement age for most people,

he started incubating domestic lamas

by putting his most diligent students through the traditional three year retreat,

elevating the dharma practice of the lineage in this country to a different level.

At age 89, he traveled to Taiwan to teach as well as to fundraise.

Even now at age 90, his teachings and responsibilities are still in increasing demand.

♦   ♦   ♦

Nine, he has no enemies.

Since becoming a monk, he has never quarreled with any other monks,

young and old, always in harmony with all.

He extended that pure discipline in working with staff,

his equals or subordinates,

after all, for what enemy can possibly outlive him?

♦   ♦   ♦

The remaining 3 qualities concern aspect of body.

Apparently,

he has no wrinkles, freckles, and white hair.

♦   ♦   ♦

He is a fountain of immortality and liberation,

so drink from him, praise him, and pray to him.

Request teachings from him, for he will fill your cup to the brim

the amrita of transcendental knowledge.

Entreat him to remain on earth,

for a Buddha in a human form is difficult to come by.

♦   ♦   ♦

His name is so difficult to utter,

especially on this day of celebration,

that I only dare to refer to him as  ——

the Forever Abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra.

Amy Schwartz writes –

Hello all, here is my attempt to summarize Lama Karma’s beautiful short teaching on making offerings, for those who could not be at KTD this evening. It’s not a perfect transcription, so hopefully Lama Karma will correct me if I got anything wrong!

____________________________________________________________

Photo, Anitra Brown

When we look at samsara and nirvana, they are both empty. But the nature of samsara is suffering, while nirvana is totally beyond all suffering.

We aren’t as far from nirvana as we think.  It’s important to understand that we all have Buddha nature — blissful and full of all the qualities of the Buddha himself. This is great new for us.  If we make a full aspiration, we can achieve enlightenment.

We need to overcome our fears and other afflictive emotions.  There are many skillful means to do this.  Understanding our Buddha nature is a key method, because this nature is always ready to shine, as long as we put in an effort.  This is so hopeful.  Buddha nature is a cause for rejoicing.  As we feel joy and appreciation, this overcomes our fear instantly.  In fact, His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa told His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche that when he taught on the Buddhadharma, he should be sure to let everyone know they have this Buddha nature.

Photo, Anitra Brown

Once you really understand this, you will never look down on others, because we are all the same, and it makes no sense to look down on another Buddha!

So this is the basis of Buddhism.  All the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas realized their Buddha nature, so why not us?!

Once you understand this as the path, every practice, including making offerings, is a way to overcome the afflictive emotions and reveal our true nature.

In the wonderful teachings we received over the past few days on the ngöndro practice, Rinpoche mentioned making offerings three times.

In Vajrasattva practice, it was said that serving and offering to the sangha is a powerful form of purification.  In the Mandala practice, Rinpoche said that making offerings to the sangha supports our formal offering practice on the cushion, helping us to gather the accumulations.  And in Guru Yoga, the text described how we all need merit, and we need devotion, yet our devotion is so fragile and wavering.  To realize the nature of our mind, we need unshakable faith and devotion to the guru.

In Tibet, the first thing people do when they visit a temple is make offerings.  They might prostrate, light incense, or offer some money in the mandala plate.  For me, whenever I travel to India or Nepal, this is what I like to do.  Last year when I went to India I had a lot of money, more than $10,000, from all the offerings I receive when I travel and teach.  I went to a long empowerment and teaching with Gyaltsab Rinpoche and gave almost all of it away.  By the time I got to Nepal, I was almost broke, and I had to ask Rinpoche to buy my plane ticket home.  But it felt so wonderful.

With our ego, trying to satisfy ourself all day long, no matter how hard we work at it, we never really feel good.  But doing just a little something for someone else, we feel reworked. Because the merit from that virtuous deed has instantaneous effects.

Now with all these gurus and sangha members here, it is an especially auspicious time to give. We have Lodro Nyima Rinpoche here, all the way from Tibet! But don’t just do it because others are doing it.  Do it from your heart.

Including these kinds of meritorious actions in our practice will help us to feel deeper devotion, which swiftly connects us to our Buddha nature.

____________________________________________________________

Then Carla writes –

When I first read/heard about making offerings to all the sangha I was very resistant. How am I going to offer all the monastics/lamas 10 or 20 dollars?

Thanks to Amy McCracken, who explained to our group that even offering 1 dollar is sufficient – that it isn’t the amount, but the intention that matters – it changed my view and feeling.

Also the exchange between Anitra and Lama Karma -

Anitra Brown said, “Won’t they open the envelope and say (paraphrased) : a dollar??”

Lama Karma’s response was. “Maybe they’ll open the envelope and say – great! I can go to the dollar store!”

So I am thanking Lama Karma and Amy McCracken. And also Amy Schwartz for her blog postings on offerings.

Being able to make offerings – no matter how small – to all the sangha was an amazing experience. One I hope to be able to repeat many times.

And a HUGE thank you Anitra! you collected and dealt with all the group offerings. A complicated task during a very busy time.

It is very much appreciated.

Your state and dharma sister

Carla

____________________________________________________________

Dear Carla, Thanks for sharing your experience.

I never understood why some people, usually Asians, gave envelopes to all the sangha, while most of us gave just to our teacher and Karmapa.  Lama Karma let us know that the purpose is to let us practice OFFERING, even it it’s just $1 in the envelope. I think we are just at the beginning of this teaching, and we will come to understand better why and how to give sangha offerings.  Next time we will be more prepared, psychologically and from a practical standpoint.  And it really does feel good.

Those of us there experienced such blessings over the past ten days, including getting to know each other better through activities like rehearsing the song Lama Karma wrote for Rinpoche, and which we performed at the birthday party.

Our group was a strong presence through the White Tara pujas with our body, speech mind offering to Rinpoche, in which we offered beautiful gifts that Lama Karma had purchased in India last year.  It was so very moving.

We gave $450 in sangha offerings as a group and made a strong showing in the individual sangha offering thanks to Lama Karma’s instruction.  And we were the only group to sponsor four White Tara statues, contributing $7,500 towards the White Tara fundraising project, plus all the donations towards Rinpoche’s 24-inch statue.

Thank you all for your help, and thanks to Lama Karma for being such a good teacher.

in Dharma, Anitra Brown

____________________________________________________________

If you are currently doing ngöndro practice, and would like to join the KTD Ngöndro group, click here.

Here is a photo of Lodrö Nyima Rinpoche performing one of the many ceremonies he took part in while I was at KTD Monastery. He also offered all present the Chenresik Empowerment, that of loving kindness and compassion.

One of the treasured experiences of my recent retreat-intensive at KTD was the presence of Lodrö Nyima Rinpoche at KTD Monastery. He was visiting the United States for the very first time from the area of Kham in Tibet.

Lodrö Nyima Rinpoche is the 9th incarnation of Bengar Jampa Zangpo, who lived in the 14th Century and composed the Kagyu Lineage prayer that all Kagyu lamas recite, also called in Tibetan “Dorje Chang.”

I had the very good fortune to meet Lodrö Nyima Rinpoche in 2004 in Tibet at Thrangu Monastery in Kham where he is currently the main tulku (reincarnate lama). That 1,300-year-old monastery was completely destroyed by a large earthquake in 2010 and many lamas were killed. The monastery had been previously destroyed by a massive earthquake some 300 years earlier. At its peak, the monastery had over 10,000 lamas, but in the 13th Century Thrangu Monastery was seriously destroyed by the Mongolian attack.

Before this most recent earthquake, Thrangu Monastery was located near the city of Jyekundo, Qinghai, which (as I well remember) was at the end of an 18-hour bus trip from Xining that took us over desolate land that involved crossing mountain passes at 16,000 feet, and so on. At those altitudes there are no trees, so the great hawks that live there walk around on the ground with their wings extended.

The Chineses authorities refused to allow the monastery to be built a third time in this earthquake-prone spot and today Thrangu monastery is being rebuilt near the historic Wen-Chen Temple about six miles from the original monastery location.

I was amazed to find Lodrö Nyima Rinpoche at KTD Monastery in New York when I arrived there recently, as I expected never to see him again. I get so sick at high altitudes (pneumonia symptoms, antibiotics, and so on) that I will not be going back to Tibet again in this lifetime.

But there he was, as resplendent as ever as his name implies. Lodrö means wisdom/intelligence in Tibetan and Nyima means Sun, and Lodrö Nyima Rinpoche certainly shines like the Sun when you see him in person. And he is so humble.

In the Tibetan hierarchy, great attention is paid to spiritual rank and this is often measured by the height of the seat on which each lama sits. As a 9th-generation incarnate lama, Lodrö Nyima Rinpoche’s seat would naturally be a high one. Yet he so respects my teacher Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche (who is not a reincarnate lama himself) that when Khenpo Rinpoche gave the White Tara Empowerment for us at the monastery recently, Lodrö Nyima Rinpoche got down from his throne and sat in front of Rinpoche flat on the floor. I had never seen a high tulku (reincarnate lama) do this before and it brought tears to my eyes.

The whole tulku system of reincarnations is so remarkable. The contrast between it and how we do it in this country is dramatic. In the west, our brightest children have to fight to be known and many are lost along the way due to circumstances, while in Tibet, the lamas (and people) search high and low among the newborn for those infants or young children that show signs of intelligence, kindness, and compassion. When they are found they are given a special education, much like honeybees feed royal jelly to raise a queen.

When these specially raised children mature they become the hub around which the society rotates, and access to them is made available to everyone. What an efficient process of sharing the wealth of genius. Here we tend to hide our brightest ones under a bushel, so to speak.

With us it is “survival of the fittest,” not elevation of the best among us.

– Michael Erlewine, first published on his Facebook Page

Photo and story republished courtesy Michael Erlewine, from his Facebook Blog

I am going to tell a story I believe I have never told in writing before. It is about Lama Karma, who as a young monk managed to get out of Tibet and into Nepal. This is how my family and I helped to get Lama Karma out of Nepal and into the United States. It was high drama, and there was a time when I felt that I had to keep the following story about Lama Karma’s exodus from Nepal quiet, but since he is now a U.S. citizen, there is no reason that I can think of not to tell it, and it is an exciting tale.

Lama Karma was born and raised in Tibet. I have been to his home in the high Tibetan plateau and met his wonderful family. Their simple house is at the end of a road that turns into what here in Michigan we call a two-track, which two-track then becomes just slick grass with a little wear, hardly a road at all. When you finally get to their home, you see a small cinder-block style house and a large herd of yaks. I will write more on that trip another time.

The year was 1997 and Margaret, myself, and three of our kids were in Kathmandu, Nepal on our way home from our first pilgrimage to Tibet, the trip where we met His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa (Orgen Trinley Dorje) at Tsurphu Monastery, his ancestral home in Tibet, at some 15,000 feet of altitude. That too would be another story.

I had heard about Lama Karma sometime before I ever met him. We were staying in Boudenath, a section of Kathmandu where there is the large Bouda Stupa (perhaps a block wide), a Buddhist monument around which pilgrims and practitioners would circumambulate. Folks said that there was this young monk who would appear early in the morning and prostrate himself (a body-length at a time) around the stupa, even in the rain. The monk was obviously a very dedicated practitioner, because if you have ever been to Kathmandu, the streets and sidewalks are covered with everything you would not want to lie down on, to put it mildly. Back then there was no such thing as trash pick-up in that city, and at street corners you could find six-foot high mounds of garbage. Need I say more?

As it turned out, this dedicated monk who was doing the prostrations turned out to be Lama Karma, only back then he was not a lama, but just a monk, and his name was Karma Drodhul.

Anyway, my family and I were back in Kathmandu, wrapping up our Tibet trip after an additional week spent in Sikkim, India visiting monasteries and rinpoches. We were staying in the Happy Valley Guest House right across from Thrangu Rinpoche’s school for orphans when I received a note from my dharma teacher (Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche) asking would we please escort his nephew Karma Drodhul (a Tibetan Buddhist monk) from Kathmandu back to the United States. And sure enough, before we knew it there was this young monk waiting for us outside our hotel. He was perhaps twenty-years old and all smiles. Karma Drodhul and our kids bonded at once. But there is more to this story.

Karma Drodhul had escaped or somehow gotten across the border from Tibet into Nepal. He was an illegal and had a fake Nepalese passport that indicated he had been born in Nepal. The problem was that he spoke hardly a word of Nepalese, not what you might expect from someone born and bred in Nepal.

And the trick was to get him through customs and onto the plane to the U.S. It was certain that the officials would inspect his passport, grill him in Nepalese, and expect him to respond in what was supposed to be his native language. Hmmm. How could he do that when he knew no Nepalese?

If I remember right, there was some talk of his claiming he was born in “Namo Buddha” near Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery, a sacred pilgrimage spot and home to some 250 Tibetan monks. It might be plausible that he grew up there speaking only Tibetan and never learned Nepalese. Well, it might be…. and again, it might not be plausible. Our blue-sky wishes started to fade.

As the day for our departure drew nearer, we got more and more nervous about getting Karma Drodhul through customs and out of the country. All of our more ethereal hopes about his passing for Nepalese had kind of evaporated as we faced the reality of passing this monk off as a native-born Nepalese citizen to the authorities. It appeared that there was no simple way out.

When the day to fly out of Kathmandu finally arrived, I went to the local airport with Karma Drodhul and my family, followed by a considerable entourage of the monk’s friends and well-wishers who tried to stay out of sight so as not to draw undue attention to our guise. And at the airport we waited.

When it finally came time to board the plane, there were two lines, one for locals (like Karma Drodhul), and one for (I guess) VIPs and westerners. My family checked through customs and boarded the plane via the VIP line, but I chose to accompany the young monk in the “local” line, where I stood out like a sore thumb, an older Caucasian in a line of Asians.

Meanwhile, standing behind and peering through a nearby iron gate were all of the friends who had come to see Karma Drodhul off, and who wondered if he would actually be allowed to leave the country. They kept a low profile, to be sure, a bevy of faces peering through holes in the grating.

The line of locals moved slowly, but finally there we were, the young monk and I standing before several officials. And of course, the first thing they did was to address Karma Drodhul in Nepalese. I sure didn’t know a word of Nepalese and the officials must have known that, because they spoke directly to Lama Karma, pretty much ignoring me, but probably wondering what on earth I was doing in this line.

And that was my chance to play the “Ugly American.” Every time they spoke to Karma Drodhul (and before he could answer), I opened my mouth and started speaking. I would reach into my travel vest and pull out all the papers of invitation by our monastery in New York requesting the monk to visit, and lay them out on the table before me. The officials (one who understood some English) did their best to be polite to this loud American, but obviously they were trying to bypass me and access Karma Drodhul directly.

Meanwhile, out on the tarmac, the plane had been boarded and the propellers were running. There was no jetway, but just a plane sitting out there in the sun, some distance from the terminal. We were the last two passengers booked for that plane.

And so it went. Every time the custom officials would address Karma Drodhul, I would answer. And I would drag out all my papers and loudly announce that I was here to take this monk to visit America. And each time the officials would try to be polite, but my welcome was wearing thin and the plane was already delayed. Meanwhile, the crowd of friends behind the iron gate holding their breath, were wide-eyed, waiting. This was the deciding moment.

Finally, the senior official had enough of me. He just raised his hand and with a single motion waved us off. “Go, just go” he said, and so we went, hurrying across the tarmac, daring not to look back lest they change their mind. And we did not breathe easily until we were on the plane and the hatch was sealed.

And then we were airborne, hugging and laughing with one another. Later, on another and larger plane, we headed for the U.S., everyone looking at the strange young monk who put his robes over his head while he tried to get some sleep. When we finally arrived in the San Francisco Airport, the first words out of Karma Drodhul’s mouth were “Where are the monks?” He was used to being in a society where everywhere there were monks in maroon robes, and here there were was only one, himself.

We flew on to Big Rapids, Michigan and Karma Drodhul stayed with us for some days, getting used to America. Certainly his eyes were opened the first time we walked him through a large supermarket. He had never seen anything like what even a small town like ours has. He has forever since been like a son to me and a “brother from another mother” to the kids, just family. From Big Rapids he flew to New York and the rest is history.

Karma Drodhul went on to do two traditional 3-year closed retreats (back-to-back), emerging as Lama Karma, actually two times a lama, and has since travelled the world teaching and giving empowerments. This will be his third appearance at the annual Harvest Gathering near Lake City, Michigan, and if you want to attend the gathering and meet him in person, as well as say hello to me, here is the link.

The information for the 2013 Harvest Gathering is here:

http://earthworkharvestgathering.com/

Photo of Lama Karma at one of the Harvest Gatherings.

Tsurphu Monastery

The opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the Tibetan Autonomous Region is an incomparable blessing, especially a trip that includes a visit to the seat of H.H. the 17^th Gyalwang Karmapa in Tibet.  Located about 2 hours from the capitol, Lhasa, Tsurphu was established by the first head of the lineage, Dusum Khyenpa.

River at Tsurphu Monastery

Today, it consists of many magnificent buildings spread out in a beautiful valley near a roaring river.  Innumerable prayer flags cover the nearby mountains; they look like sanctified, multicolored spider webs.  Caves and retreat huts, perfect for prolonged meditation, also dot the mountains above the monastery.

Because the Chinese government forbids the open expression of devotion for H.H. the 14^th Dalai Lama in Tibet, as well as the fact that Ogyen Trinley Dorje secretly left Tsurphu in 1999 to escape Chinese control, I did not know what to expect when I arrived.

Library at Tsurphu Monastery

Gilded Refuge Tree at Tsurphu

I did not anticipate seeing pictures of His Holiness; on the contrary, I thought that his presence might be effaced.  So when I walked into the impressive, recently built library and encountered a 30-foot tall, three-dimensional gilded refuge tree, I was overwhelmed to hear a recording of our beloved Yizhin Norbu chanting “Karmapa Khyenno.”

Karmapa’s picture on throne at Tsurphu

Photo of Karmapa in restaurant at Gyantse

His picture graced the throne below the objects of refuge; indeed, we saw representations of Karmapa throughout Tsurphu and in many other places we visited in Tibet: shrine rooms of other lineages, restaurants, hotels . . . even our driver had a picture of His Holiness in his car.

His audience hall was intact, and the attendant lama there touched us with a tassel Karmapa had used to bless pilgrims when he was still in residence.  In his private quarters, I–and a handful of other pilgrims–saw his childhood library, filled with books about cars, natural history and the world beyond Tibet’s borders.

Attendent Lama in Karmapa’s audience hall, with footprints of the 14th Karmapa

When we noticed books of fairy tales on his shelves, we recalled his comment on his first visit to KTD—that we in the audience looked like the characters he had read about in his youth.  Such experiences made me marvel at the ingenious ways he finds to connect with his followers, to pull us ever more securely into his mandala.

As our group traveled into more and more remote regions of Western Tibet, as the atmosphere thinned, and Mount Kailash loomed before us, Karmapa’s protection extended far beyond the boundaries of Tsurphu.

– Photos and commentary courtesy Karen Lucic 

Western pilgrims and Tibetan staff, photo by Alex Smolowe

In Lhasa, about a dozen Italian adventurers joined our group of mostly American pilgrims, and with our large Tibetan crew, we piled into six Toyota Land Cruisers and set off for points west.

Barley fields, Tsang province, Tibet

For the most part, we left cities behind and traveled through an extraordinary landscape, impossible to capture in photographs.  Still, there were many in our group with better skills and more sophisticated equipment than I had, and so I’ve borrowed some of their photos in order to give you a better sense of Tibet’s unique environment.

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Always, a vast expanse of space spread out before us, sometimes desert-like, sometimes green with fields of barley and mustard. On top of every pass (and there were many!), an array of colorful prayer flags marked the summit.

Tsurphu monastery with prayer flags

Monasteries clung to the steep mountainsides or nestled in river valleys.  Often the architecture and the environment reminded us of the American Southwest–e.g., Mesa Verde or the Hopi Pueblos–but multiplied ten times in scale and vastness.

Takten Phuntsok Ling Monastery

Mural, Takten Phuntsok Ling Monastery

Shrine rooms brimmed with sanctified artifacts from centuries of religious observances, and indescribably beautiful murals graced the walls–battered by time and the effects of the Chinese invasion–but still a testimony to the potency of the Tibetan aesthetic imagination.

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How lucky we were to be there!

Doug and Karen, in the ruins of the palace above Takten Phuntsok Ling monastery

– Karen Lucic

A huge thank you (with many hugs) to all who helped make Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s 90^th birthday celebration such a stirring success!

When Linda and I met with Rinpoche a few days afterwards, he said, with a big smile on his face, that it had been the happiest birthday of his entire life! (We want to hear him say that again ten years from now.)

We all – students, donors, staff, and volunteers – deserve a pat on the back for showing Rinpoche our immense gratitude for his many decades of generosity, kindness, and hard work in spreading the dharma to the West.

In the process of doing so, we came together in all our diversity and individual differences as one community, as one sangha to celebrate Rinpoche’s long and productive life. To see us together and united as one body in our common purpose and love for the dharma was surely the best birthday present we could have offered him.

I’d like to recognize here our many donors, volunteer fundraisers, and even those who had no more to offer than their heartfelt prayers in support of KTD monastery. Rinpoche has expressed a wish to see KTD’s $3 million construction loan retired in his lifetime. Acting with Rinpoche’s blessing, Friends of KTD, under the direction of May Lein Ho, undertook the White Tara Rupa fundraising project which successfully raised $250,000 which will be used to pay down principal on KTD’s outstanding loan.

Following May Lein’s example, a group of volunteers headed by Amy McCracken with substantial support from long-time sangha member Patrick Wooldridge developed a fundraising campaign for Rinpoche’s annual 10-day teaching. We began by setting a fundraising goal of $25,000, approximately double the amount that was raised during last year’s ten-day teaching.

But then something wonderful and mysterious happened: an anonymous donor pledged up to $100,000 as a matching gift for any funds raised during the 10-day teaching and dedicated to loan principal payment.

We never thought we’d raise anywhere close to $100,000 – but guess what? We were are wrong!  We’ve now come very very close to reaching the $100,000 goal. Our anonymous donor has since agreed to extend the matching gift offer until the end of October or until the $100,000 goal has been reached, whichever comes first.

Why not write a check today? Perhaps it will be your check that takes us across the finish line. Make your check payable to “KTD” and be sure to write “loan repayment” in the memo line and mail to KTD, 335 Meads Mountain Rd., Woodstock, NY 12498. We’ll provide you with an in-depth report once we meet our goal. Thank you!

In the Dharma,

David Kaczynski

Executive Director

Sep 6, 2013, Karme Ling, the retreat center of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra

Introduction

The 9th Lodroe Nyima Rinpoche, a nephew of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, is the abbot of Thrangu Monastery, Thrangu Nunnery, and the Princess Wencheng Temple in East Tibet. This summer, he came to the United States for the first time in order to participate in Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s 90th birthday celebration. While staying at Karme Ling, he did a one-week White Tara personal retreat dedicated to Rinpoche’s longevity. During his retreat breaks with several people gathered at the lunch table, he candidly talked about his experience with Rinpoche during this visit, and this spontaneous exchange became a teaching so profound that we felt impelled to write it down to share with all of you.

Lodroe Nyima Rinpoche is the reincarnation of Bengar Jampal Zangpo, the root guru of the 7th Karmapa Chödrag Gyatso. Bengar Jampal Zangpo is the author of the well-known daily recitation text, the Mahamudra Lineage Prayer, written at the conclusion of his 18-year solitary retreat on an island in the middle of Sky Lake (Namtso) in Tibet more than 500 years ago.

Lodroe Nyima Rinpoche offered the blessing pills and long life amrita to Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche at the end of his week-long personal White Tara retreat at Karme Ling. (photo by Amy McCracken)

【Q】Would you please talk about the qualities that you have observed in Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche?

【A】I think the quality that most distinguishes Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche from others is that he conceals very well many qualities in his mind stream, always modest and never showing off. This fact itself is sufficient to prove that he is a being of the greatest stature.

When ordinary people like us do something good, we want others to know about it. Even though it is not necessary to talk about it, we simply cannot contain it and end up publicizing it in less than a week. Because of the pride in our minds, we want others to know that we have done something praiseworthy. That Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche has lived humbly to the age of 90 is really something extraordinary.

【Q】You are the abbot of Thrangu Monastery in East Tibet, and are busy with many responsibilities. If you did not have these responsibilities, what would you like to do the most?

【A】 There are two things that I would like to do the most: properly rely on a qualified teacher and master the Chinese language.

In my youth, I felt that study and contemplation were the most important things.  As I grow older now, I feel like relying on a good teacher, someone like Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, for practice instructions. We do not need to do many practices. Doing one practice well is enough.

Actually, being able to earnestly follow a good teacher requires a lot of merit. Because lacking merit, many people follow one teacher a few years, and then switch to another one for another few years. They wander around among several teachers and end up not learning anything well. A few of you here have been following Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche closely for ten or twenty years, which is really due to your good fortune.

As to mastering the Chinese language, Chinese is quite a marvel to me. In order to express something in Tibetan, one would need to use many words, whereas often in Chinese one character is enough. For instance, the three learnings [listening, contemplation, and meditation] in Chinese are wen, si, and xiu respectively, one for each learning and enough for its full expression.

【Q】 It seems impossible to study the Chinese language and rely on a qualified teacher at the same time. For instance, that you want to master the Chinese language would imply that you will start disseminating the Dharma among many of your Chinese students.  In that case, you will not have enough time to rely on a teacher and focus on your own practice.

【A】 Relying on a teacher does not mean you have to be around him every day. Rather it is to take his teaching and sincerely practice it throughout your whole life. This is extremely important.

Being able to earnestly do one practice and to rely on one teacher show that you have uncommon devotion to the teacher and the practice. For this reason, you will achieve accomplishment in this very lifetime. On the contrary, if you switch around, then it demonstrates that you do not have enough confidence in the teacher and the practice, and therefore you will not have attainment in this life.

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche cutting the birthday cake at his 90th birthday party with Lodroe Nyima Rinpoche on his right. (photo by Stephanie Colvey)

Take Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche as an example. In order to spread the Dharma and benefit beings, he built a monastery, travels everywhere to establish Dharma centers, and does not have much time for his own solitary practice. Nevertheless, none of these impacts his study, contemplation, and meditation, or his pure moral discipline.

During these days of being with him, I can easily feel his devotion to his guru. Every time Rinpoche and I spoke, as soon as we mentioned the 16th Karmapa, he wept. I believe that with this kind of devotion, even just for an instant, will immediately purify the negative karma of thousands of eons.

Without this kind of devotion, even reciting the six-syllable mantra or Vajrasattava’s one-hundred syllable mantra millions of times still does not compare to the merit of the former. Does it still have merit?  Yes. However, compared with the merit of an instant of devotion, the difference is like  heaven and earth.

We cannot say there is no one like Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, but people with his qualities are simply very rare today. In his presence, I really do not dare to mention the 16th Karmapa, nor do I dare to talk about the 3rd Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, because the moment I utter their names tears well up in his eyes and it makes me feel uneasy to see him cry.

When we have constant devotion to our guru, everything we do―walking, standing, sitting, and sleeping―will all be practice. For there is really no one in our hearts except our guru, therefore, for sure, everything we do is for the sake of our guru. However, before we reach that level, I feel it is very difficult to turn everything we do into practice.

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche was seriously ill when the 16th Karmapa sent him to the US to regain his health and eventually be the abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra. To apply for a passport for Rinpoche, the Karmapa asked him to have some photos taken. When the first set of photos was presented to His Holiness, he was not satisfied and requested a retake. After trying several more times with the same result, His Holiness said to him lightheartedly, “I want to put a nice photo on your passport, but you look so ill in all of them that I simply cannot find a good one.”

At another time, His Holiness called Lama Ganga and Rinpoche to his room and told them in a similar light way, “You think I am high up in the clouds, doing nothing. For the sake of beings in the western world and for you to spread the Dharma, I am personally dealing with the Sikkim government, personally selecting decent passport photos, and finally personally delivering the passports into your hands.”

Rinpoche said, over so many years, whenever he felt exhausted or faced with various obstacles, the thought of these words of His Holiness and his facial expression in saying this would bring up strength from his heart.

It makes me think that were ordinary people to hear the same thing, they might feel touched or inspired initially, but over time the feeling would gradually subside and would be completely forgotten in less than a year. For them, the words of His Holiness would simply have no blessing.

However, for Rinpoche, the statement from His Holiness 40 years ago is still fresh and alive, continuously motivating and inspiring him to accomplish his amazing activities. For him, His Holiness’ words even to this date still have blessing.

Therefore, when there is devotion, the guru does not need to say much. One sentence can set your heart trembling; one gesture can penetrate to the core of your being. This—is also a kind of realization.

【Q】 People in these modern days seem to be more sophisticated, and cannot be easily moved simply by one sentence or one gesture. I think it is due to the complex environment we live in. Though we could be near the guru, it still would be very hard to give rise to that kind of strong devotion or feeling.

【A】 Indeed, in the present time, referred to as the degenerate age, it is harder to recognize the qualities of a guru. In the past, those with true devotion to their gurus followed the gurus’ instructions strictly. When the guru said A, they would do A, or said B, they would do B, wholeheartedly obeying the progressive instructions given to them. Nowadays people do not practice according to the instructions in sequence. Right away they want to have the high teaching, or do what they regard as a better and more supreme practice.  Several such years can pass, during which many of them do not make much progress or have much experience. As a result of having violated the guru’s instructions and not having correctly and earnestly relied on the guru, they are not able to receive the guru’s blessings.

About 4 or 5 years ago in Damka monastery, a Sakya master in his eighties bestowed to an assembly the transmissions and empowerments of the Treasury of Quintessential Instructions, one of the Five Treasures. The event, which lasted for a few days, started out early in the morning and continued late, sometimes even to 10 o’clock in the evening, because teachings were given along with the transmissions and empowerments. One day near the end, a monk sneaked into the master’s room and beseeched him, “Master, can you give me the most supreme instruction?” “What did you say?” said the master, who did not have good hearing. “Master, can you please give me the best, the most supreme instructions?” the monk begged sincerely. The master was astonished to hear this, and said, “All along from the very beginning, that is what I have been giving you.  Were both your ears plugged up at that time?  There are no more supreme instructions other than the Treasury of Quintessential Instructions.”  He then scolded him even more.

Such a person regards public teaching as something for ordinary people, and does not take it seriously even when they are given many pith instructions. They want to hear something profound and unavailable to others.

A few days ago I was sitting in Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s teaching on the Torch of Certainty. I felt ashamed for not taking this text seriously in the past. As a matter of fact, with the Torch of Certainty, we do not really need other practices as everything is included in it. However, we regard it as something very simple, thinking that it is just a preliminary practice.

I think this kind of mentality is primarily due to lack of merit. Thus, when we encounter a supreme liturgy, though we have gone so far as to open up the book, we lose interest in reading it in the end.

【Q】 Many of us might have read a lot, have listened to many teachings, and have felt that we understand them pretty well. However, in reality it might not be the case. We actually might not have the realization that we think we have. In this situation, what can we do?

【A】 I think that having the opportunity to study and listen to the Dharma is very important.   If we keep on doing it, eventually a certain kind of realization will come. As it will not come all at once, I think we still need to study and listen to the Dharma every day. It might not make much of a difference initially, but as we grow older, along with the changes in our times and our work, gradually conditions start to allow us to see various sufferings of beings in the six realms. Joining this with the teachings we have learned, we will feel the tremendous benefits of study and contemplation, just as stated in the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, “Listening, contemplation, and meditation are the practice of a bodhisattva.”

【Q】So we just continue to study and contemplate?  When this accumulates to a point, will such realization naturally come?

【A】Yes. It will help tremendously.

By doing this, some kind of experience will gradually come, and little by little you will become confident in the teachings. The sutras say that all merit comes from spiritual friends. Hearing this for the first time, I did not have confidence in it, thinking it would be impossible that all my merit is given by the teacher. Not until much later was I truly convinced. However, before we encounter or recognize an authentic teacher, we can regard the Buddha Dharma as our spiritual friend, and cultivate confidence in and devotion to it through study and contemplation.  In this sense, study and contemplation are still very important.

As an ordinary person, I think that a book should be read multiple times, at least one hundred times. (laughter)  If that is impossible, 20, 30, or some multiple of ten times is necessary. Only then can you have a profound experience.

Taking the Torch of Certainty as an example, reading it once or twice will not result in full comprehension of its breadth and depth. Only after reading it one hundred times can we have certain understanding, certain realization, and a kind of ineffable experience. Moreover, after reading a book so many times, when reading another one, you will be able to remember clearly what is in the previous book and what is in the current one, and start to see the significance and to feel intrigued.

When reading a book, we feel that we understand everything in it. However, afterwards we forget everything about it, and nothing is left in our mind streams. This is because our concentration is poor, unlike Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s. Today at 90 years of age, Rinpoche can accurately recall the incidents that happened when he was 7 or 8 years old.

After reading the Torch of Certainty one hundred times, you would remember most of its language and content. Only then will you give rise to an uncontrived devotion to Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, and become aware that this text is so precious that you do not want to be separate from it. Only then will you recognize or realize that the first Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche was no ordinary being, but truly was a reincarnation of Manjushri, as well as an emanation of buddhas and bodhisattvas.

【Q】 So, as in sadhana practice,  in which we accumulate hundreds of thousands of mantra repetitions, can a similar approach be applied to reading books?

【A】Yes.  For example, you might aspire to properly and earnestly read a book some multiple of ten times, which in itself is definitely a form of practice. In so doing, you would undergo significant transformation. Even though you might not be able to renounce everything mundane for the sake of practice, when you see people who are able to, you will revere them from the bottom of your heart, thinking that they are truly fortunate. If you have this kind of experience in this life, then you have in fact planted a seed of wisdom and compassion in the Alaya Consciousness, and you will be able to encounter Mahayana Buddhism and spiritual friends life after life.

【Q】Is it harder to practice the Dharma in this degenerate age?

【A】Many people feel that it is impossible to practice the Dharma authentically in these dregs of time. I think this is due to the impact that the rapid changes of times and the disorders of people’s minds have on study, contemplation, and meditation. On the other hand, due to the advancement of modern technology, we are able to learn almost anything on computers through the internet. Even on a sleepless night, you can get online to listen to teachings. This kind of opportunity has never existed before, and because of this, it is fair to say today we have a better chance of study and contemplation. However, does this lead to a better practice?  It is not necessarily the case.

In the old days in Tibet, books were scarce and therefore very precious. If I had a copy of the Jewel Ornament of Liberation, then people would take turns borrowing it for reading. During that month of possessing the book, the borrower would read it many times and would have benefitted greatly from doing so.

On the contrary, with the many learning opportunities opened up to us today, we never pay any heed to them. Actually for serious practitioners, the simplest practice is the most supreme practice.

I heard a story. Once there was a Kadampa master whose disciple was about to depart.  When the disciple came to bid the master farewell, he made some offerings to the master and pleaded for the last, the most supreme instruction. The master replied, “I have taught you everything I know without any reservation.” The disciple then went back to bring more offerings to the master, beseeching again for the most supreme instruction. This time the master held the hands of the disciple and told him, “You will die, and so will I. My teacher gave me this teaching, and that is what I have been practicing. You too should go and contemplate well the same thing.”

This master achieved enlightenment simply by contemplating impermanence every day. Every day as well, we have been doing various practices, but still have no attainment. This is because we have not had a realization of impermanence.

【Q】 Some prefer meditation, and some prefer study and contemplation. For me, reading the Torch of Certainty one hundred times seems impossible. It is not that I have fully comprehended what’s in there, but rather after reading a little bit of it, I feel that I have to practice this right away, so I do not keep reading. Since people are different, how do we ourselves know the proper balance between study and meditation?

【A】 That is right. Different people have different propensities. For the few people we mentioned previously, they do not need much of study and contemplation. Simply by hearing of impermanence or the word death, they can achieve enlightenment and have such a profound realization that they cannot stand any waste of time even for one second. To them, a lot of reading is not necessary. However, what I just said is for ordinary people like us. Only when you have done much reading and contemplation, can your practice come from within. If you simply repeat after others, or are dragged to do meditation by friends, all these practices cannot be something coming from your heart.

【Q】 The three learnings are listening, contemplation, and meditation. After reading the Torch of Certainty many times, from which of these three does the naturally arisen devotion come?

【A】After reading the book lots of times, the devotion, faith, and renunciation will naturally arise in us. When renunciation arises, compassion follows. In this, all three learnings—listening, contemplation, and meditation―are included.

【Q】 Does meditation have to be done strictly on the cushion?  Can pondering and  repeatedly reflecting on a subject be a form of meditation?

【A】 Of course. For instance, when we are continuously reflecting on impermanence, it is an authentic meditation practice.

Lodroe Nyima Rinpoche made a Body, Speech, and Mind offering to Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche in the White Tara puja at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra. (photo by Stephanie Colvey)

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, has said that KTD Monastery is a sacred container for His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa’s activity in America; it is a place of pilgrimage on the order of Bodhgaya, seat of the Buddha’s awakening in India. Khenpo Rinpoche also has said that clearing away KTD’s construction debt will remove financial obstacles for the organization, so it can be free to pursue its mission of offering the dharma to all. So we, KTD’s dharma family, should try to do what we can to make Khenpo Rinpoche’s wish for a debt-free KTD come true.

“If we work together toward this goal, it will benefit us as a group far beyond what we can give individually,” said Anne Hulett of KTD’s Development Office. “I encourage everyone to participate as much as they are able during this giving season.”

Photo, Robert Hansen-Sturm

To help make this possible, Karma Triyana Dharmachakra has become part of the “Giving Tuesday” movement.

GivingTuesday™” (#GT) is a movement to create a National Day of Giving on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. Instead of focusing on holiday shopping, “Giving Tuesday” encourages people to give to their favorite non-profits.

This year, KTD is focusing its “Giving Tuesday” effort on two important KTD funds: the Vajra Fund (for Construction Loan Repayment); and the Karma Yarphel Fund (for Daily Operations).  All of KTD’s funds are important, but these two need the most immediate attention. The Vajra Fund will help us pay down the Construction Loan that helped us build the new Residence Wing; The Karma Yarphel Fund will help us pay the additional utility costs for heat and light during the cold upstate New York winter.

And if you give to either fund before Dec. 3, your gift will count twice: Anonymous donors say they will match Vajra Fund donations (for Loan Repayment) up to $10,000, and Karma Yarphel Fund donations (for Daily Operations) up to $1,000. Either way, your gift is fully tax-deductible, and you will have the joy and merit of knowing that your gift will help “keep the lamp burning” at KTD.

Additionally, KTD is hosting its own Giving Tuesday Special Event on Dec. 3: Executive Director David Kaczynski and Operations Director Linda Patrik are inviting friends, neighbors, townspeople, and the public at large to “Give Peace to the World” with them from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. during Daily Morning Meditation in the Main Shrine Room at KTD.

Photo, Elizabeth Fredeland

Daily Morning Meditation has been part of KTD’s schedule for more than a year, and is a way KTD “gives back” to the community by providing a place for local people to cultivate the compassionate heart within themselves.

Whether you give by donating funds or by giving your energy to ‘Give Peace to the World” by sitting with us on Dec. 3,  please know that your donation will help KTD continue its activities of kindness and compassion in the world.

May all beings benefit!

Give now, and give here.

Our Partner Page on the Giving Tuesday Website

First “Giving Tuesday” Video

Second “Giving Tuesday” Video

Khoryug Environmental Conference – Nov. 8^th to 12^th  2013

India International Centre, New Delhi

by Yeshe Wangmo

Tuesday, Nov. 12 — The 5^th Annual Khoryug Conference wrapped up in New Delhi today with an extremely informative and inspirational speech by His Holiness the 17^th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje in the morning session. The five-day intensive gathering of about 60 monastic delegates from 50 monasteries and nunneries in the Himalayan region powerfully reflected the Gyalwang Karmapa’s ongoing commitment to environmental activism in the 21^st century.

Khoryug (Eng. “environment”) was established by the Karmapa in 2009 and is headed by Dekila Chungyalpa, the founder of the World Wildlife Fund’s Sacred Earth Program. Dekila also is the main facilitator of this year’s conference, themed “Conservation of Freshwater Resources in the Himalayas.” Dr. Sarala Khaling, Regional Director at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), and Tenzin Norbu, director of the Environment & Development Desk at the Central Tibetan Administration, were co-facilitators.

Khoryug is comprised mostly of Karma Kagyu Monasteries and Nunneries, but membership is not limited to the Kagyu lineage. For instance, Gelukpa monasteries also are members of Khoryug.

Khoryug Coordinator Gyaltsen Sonam spoke briefly about the impact that great spiritual leaders like the Gyalwang Karmapa can have on environmental protection: “What is the reason for an organization like Khoryug in the Himalayan region? Many people here believe in science but not scientists. Likewise, Himalayan people have great faith in spiritual masters like the Karmapa, rather than in scientists. Therefore spiritual masters have a huge role to play in preserving and protecting the environment.”

In the morning of the very first session, Dekila summarized the topics to be covered at this year’s conference: “On the first day we will be providing the basics on Freshwater Science. There will be quite a lot of detail on the Freshwater ecological systems and biodiversity, and once the basics are there we will invite the monasteries to talk about their own experiences — about the uses of water in their monasteries, where it comes from, where it goes, and what the status has been if they are suffering from water scarcity. There will be a lot of focus on health, hygiene and sanitation, because this is a need, especially in the communities and our monasteries…. Following that, we will move into the solution section, which is all about how the monasteries can secure their own drinking water sources –whether they can do rainwater harvesting or springshed restoration and also whether they can engage in wastewater recycling.

“We hope that the outcome of the conference is that monasteries feel that this is an issue they want to engage in and that they actually design their own monastic projects and work together to create large projects as well, for freshwater conservation.”

The five-day conference was chaired by the 17^th Karmapa and included Power-Point presentations by scientists, roundtable discussions, films on freshwater problems and solutions, and question and answer sessions. On the fourth day, a field trip allowed the attendees to venture outside of the cloistered conference venue to visit an actual wastewater treatment site at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in South Delhi. The large group of monastics went on a guided tour of an ingenuous facility designed in 2006 to treat 8000 liters of wastewater daily. The tour also included a demonstration of rainwater harvesting. CSE offered to help set up pilot programs in both wastewater treatment and rainwater harvesting at a couple of the Khoryug-member monasteries.

In the afternoon, the conference attendees were joined by the Gyalwang Karmapa and his entourage on the banks of the Yamuna River to pray for the sentient beings struggling to survive in and around the dank, stagnant waters of this river, considered largely “dead” by scientific standards. Fortunately, the Yamuna comes back to life further downstream where it is joined and fed by tributaries running into the Ganges.

Lama Karma Drodhul attended the Khoryug conference on behalf of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra and made presentations when invited by the facilitators. One two separate occasions Lama Karma sang a spontaneous song of homage to the Gyalwang Karmapa in front of the entire group. Finally at the end, he joined the conference attendees in their pledge to bring Khoryug’s vision back home, to share the knowledge gleaned in Delhi for the benefit of all, to implement the techniques learned, and ultimately to realize the environmental goals of Khoryug at all of their respective monasteries.

Nothing sums up the purpose and goal of the conference better than the powerful and timely speech the Gyalwang Karmapa made today, on the last day of the conference, with Lama Yeshe Gyamtso from KTD translating. Here is the Karmapa’s speech in its entirety:

Over the last several days, you have spoken a great deal and heard a great deal about water [and] in particular the [general] situation, including how it has been protected. Although I haven’t had the opportunity to be with you continuously over the last several days, it has been reported to me that you have been working very, very hard and have done very well. So I feel that in spite of my absence things have gone well. Now you have heard from expert scientists who have both experience and knowledge regarding the environment from a scientific point of view. You also have undertaken a field trip which has enabled you to actually see with your own eyes the condition of water. So therefore I don’t think there is really much need for me to add to your knowledge. However, both Dekila and some of the journalists I have met with have asked me to explain the importance of water to Buddhism.

In a sense I think it is unnecessary to give a particular Buddhist take on the importance of water because the supreme importance of water to Buddhism and to everyone is that water is essential to life. We cannot survive without it. I think that is the best reason for its importance.

Now about water, if you look at this planet from the outside, you’ll observe that about two-thirds of this planet’s surface or more seems to be made up of water, which will give you the idea that there is a lot of water. However, 97.5% of the water on this planet is salt water found in the oceans. We cannot really use salt water. It is theoretically possible to move to desalinate it, to turn it into fresh water but doing so is impractical because it would be extremely expensive and would involve a great deal of technology as well as expensive energy.

Only 2.5% of the water on this planet is fresh water; 70% of that freshwater is found in the poles, the North Pole and South Pole, and what we now call the “third pole,” the glaciers in the Himalayan region. Most of the remaining 30% is found in groundwater in various parts of the planet. Only 0.3% is found in lakes and rivers. Now of this freshwater, 70% of our use of it is for agriculture, including irrigation; 22% is used in industry in various ways; and 8% is used domestically, which means personally. Now, that 8%, which is what we could call “the direct use of water “– what we usually think of when we think about our relationship with water — is used by us to drink, to cook and to wash.

Let’s look first of all at that direct use of water. If someone takes a 15-minute shower, and does not turn off the water during it, but leaves the water on during the whole 15 minutes, they’ll use about 22 gallons of water. In addition, most people use another couple of gallons brushing their teeth, shaving and whatnot. Most people use 6 gallons of water a day in flushing the toilet and if you have a dishwasher, the dishwasher probably uses 10 gallons a day. That means a minimum of 40 gallons a day per person, but in fact, in some developed countries, for example in the United States of America, people typically use for their personal, direct use more than 100 gallons of water a day.

Now I think there are ways to lessen this. For example, in a lot of hotels you notice that when you flush the toilet, it keeps on flushing for up to two or three minutes after its function has been performed and I think that there are ways of improving on this. Some people that I know accumulate the water they use for washing their face in a basin and then pour that into the reserve tank in the toilet or into the toilet bowl itself so that they flush the toilet without using additional water. And there are lot of things we can do like that to minimize our direct use of water.

However, far greater than our direct use of water, even though it may reach 100 gallons a day, is our indirect use of water. Now indirect use is the water that is used to create things that we use. So we don’t actually think of it as using water because it is not in front of our face. We don’t see the water. But nevertheless we use huge amounts of water. For example, in the case of those who eat meat, to create one pound of beef, 1,799 gallons of water will have been used. To create one pound of pork, 576 gallons, one pound of chicken, 408 gallons, and one pound of goat meat, 127 gallons. One pound of rice requires 449 gallons of water, one pound of barley 198, and one pound of wheat, 132. So, in that way, we can see that we need to think not only about our direct use of water, but also about our indirect use and considering the amount of water that is expended for the consumption of meat, this adds a second ethical concern to the eating of meat. The primary ethical concern remains the taking of life and so forth, but the impact of the consumption on the environment through its use of water must also be considered. In short, I think there are many, many things we can do to save water.

Now, with regards to the sources of water among these are, of course, rivers. Rivers, however, are not only water sources. They serve other functions as well. Rivers obviously are the living environment for many different species and they also, if left to their natural course and natural state, carry nutrients in the soil itself from the headwaters, down to where they flow. They create wetlands, which enable us to farm, and they also form the shape of the land through which they flow. We are destroying these rivers, destroying them through the building of dams, through horrific pollution, and through diverting the natural course of these rivers themselves. I think that all these environmental problems have resulted from our human behavior; one could say, misbehavior. Environmental problems have not descended upon us from the sky. We’ve created them through our own incorrect view and incorrect behavior. In particular, the unbridled, unlimited greed and desire of human beings, which is subject to limited resources, is the principal source of all of our environmental problems. Especially, the technology that we have achieved by now in this 21st Century enables us to impact the environment in a negative way to a degree that has never been possible for humans at any previous point in our history.

For example, those of you who live in Delhi, or all who certainly are here now, have observed the tremendous number of automobiles on the roads. There are always so many cars going that there are constant traffic jams, so that a journey that really should take just a few minutes could often take much, much longer. Now there are far more automobiles in Delhi than there were when I first came to India. And I think that everyone drives their car as a matter of personal choice because they are thinking of their own needs.

The problem is that each and every person has that same need to go somewhere, and therefore each and every person is making that choice based upon their own individual need, therefore creating a traffic jam. I think that this indicates a change we need to make in our choices and concerns. The choices we make, such as means of transportation, use of roads and everything else that affects the environment must not reflect our own needs alone as an individual. Our choices much reflect the common benefit of everyone. Our choices must not just reflect our own particular personal needs, they must be based upon what is best for the planet and the environment as a whole.

Ever since human beings have resided in this world, we have always been capable of doing things, including killing and so forth. I don’t think that killing and the results of killing are anything new. But nevertheless, technology has given us the ability to kill on a scale that we never, ever dreamed of before. Recently in Africa there was a mass slaughter of 4,000 elephants. In our parent’s day, it would have been difficult to even kill one elephant, but now we have the means to, in an instant, kill 4,000; with our guns and other weapon technologies, we can kill innumerable beings in a moment. And also in the same way, we simply are exhausting all of the resources in this world. To give another example, where fish used to be plentiful, it is said that in many instances, entire species of fish have been exhausted or used up by overfishing.

Yesterday we all visited the Yamuna River, which in the past was considered a very sacred place and was viewed with great wonder and great respect. In fact traditionally, the Yamuna itself is regarded as a pilgrimage site, for those who travel throughout India on pilgrimage. It has now become so filthy, so polluted, that it is a place that we seek to avoid at all costs and by every means at our disposal. For example, according to Buddhism, the Yamuna River is said to be the dwelling of one of the 16 elders, who is said to have dwelled there in the company or entourage of 1,600 other arhats. It seems unlikely given the state of the Yamuna that he is still there.

In the time of our parents, snow mountains, trees and rivers were all held to be sacred and any pollution of them was considered to be wrongdoing of itself. But now times have changed and many people regard the beliefs of our parents and our ancestors as meaningless superstition. They will tell you, “These things are not sacred. It doesn’t matter what you do with them. Do what you like.” Well this attitude is a problem and is one reason for our callous abuse of our environment. Another is the fact that the sheer population of human beings in this world has increased so greatly and so quickly, that whereas even if we abused the environment in the past, it had relatively, comparatively little impact.

Nowadays because of our sheer number, our abuse of the environment has a terrible impact. So because of the human population and because of modern technology, we are having a horrific impact on our environment, and we’ve become so jaded about this on the whole, that it is as if we are asleep. We are asleep in the sleep of ignorance of what we are doing to the environment. From one point of view, this 21st Century is an amazing time. We have amazing technology and we enjoy the benefits of that technology. But from another point of view it’s a horrible time because we are actually destroying the very basis of our existence and survival, such as water and other aspects of our environment. This is an utter contradiction. We are seeking to enjoy the benefits of our technology, while that technology is destroying our very means of survival.

Each and every one of the more than 7 billion people on this planet has a brain. We are all capable of understanding this and yet our ignorance about our misuse of the environment is shocking and the contradiction that what we want, and our self-destructive abuse of this planet, is horrific. We need to wake up from this ignorance, especially those who wish to practice spirituality must wake up. This is perhaps the greatest responsibility of us as spiritual practitioners. Therefore the main reason for offering environmental education to the monks and nuns of our many monasteries, is that our greatest hope as Mahayana Buddhists, our dream, our aspiration, is to bring about the happiness of all beings. If there is a way for us to do that, or make that closer to happening, surely that being our aspiration, we should engage in that with enthusiasm. Therefore, the conservation of our environment, which is the ground of the existence of billions and billions and billions of beings, must be our primary concern as Mahayana practitioners. And environmental conservation must be the very essence of our spiritual practice.

All of you gathered here, please make this intention central to your life. Especially as monks and nuns you are leaders and guides to the lay communities that you serve in the various regions within the Himalayas. If you can impart this message of environmental awareness and the importance of environmental conservation, it will bring tremendous benefit. Especially since, as you heard over the last five days, the Himalayan region is the water tower of all Asia.

I don’t want to say too much more because I don’t want to waste your time, and especially, it’s more important that you actually implement what you’ve learned here than that you hear more about it. In particular, make sure that you don’t separate your daily life from your acts of environmental conservation. Because it is, as we’ve seen, our choices in daily life, that impact the environment. If we do not change how we make these choices, and change the choices we make, simply attending this conference for a few days will not have much impact on the environment. So please implement what you have learned here and also explain what you have learned here to others. Don’t keep what you have learned hidden in your brains. Use it to help others. That is one of your responsibilities.

When we speak of the Tibetan cause – sometimes people mistake this as a uniquely political issue, but in fact it is much more than that and most importantly, it is an environmental issue. The Tibetan plateau is of great environmental importance to this world; we therefore call it the third pole and the water tower of Asia. In the past the Tibetan way of life, the way of life of our ancestors and our parents was one of environmental conservation, by which I mean, the Tibetan way of life was a way in which life was lived in harmony with the environment. Now this way of life fundamentally consisted of our religion, our spirituality and our culture. Therefore, since this way of life was a means of preserving or conserving the environment, this way of life must at all costs, be preserved, not only for the sake of Tibet itself, but because of the profound connection that the Tibetan environment has with all Asian nations, including Tibet’s adjacent neighbors. With regard to Tibet’s neighbors, of course China took over Tibet more than 50 years ago but that does not mean that China can do whatever it wants to the Tibetan environment. They must behave responsibly. With regard to the connection between Tibet and India, this connection is thousands of years old and is extremely profound. It is not simply a material or even a cultural connection; it is a spiritual one, the deepest possible connection. So therefore, India also is intimately connected with and bears some responsibility for this environment.

This is true of other Asian nations as well. Now as we are spiritual people, there is no need for us to dwell endlessly on political issues, but the happiness of beings, which cannot be entirely separate from politics, is very much our responsibility. Therefore, the environment and conservation of the environment is our primary responsibility. It is unnecessary for me to say much more but I would ask you all to keep this in your mind that we, all of us, bear a great responsibility for the environment and the environmental situation now is a state of emergency. Okay, now I’m really done.

As is written in the sutras, the end of birth is death. Departing from this world is a fact that all living beings have to face one day. If we are not prepared, death can be a confusing and terrifying experience. But if we are ready, the interim between death and rebirth (bardo) can become an opportunity for attaining higher rebirth and liberation. As Tai Situ Rinpoche writes in Primordial Essence Manifests,

“…once mind exits the body then it is into the universe and if we recognize it, if we are able to be in control of it, if we are able to be aware of it, to master it, then we are truly experiencing the relative limitlessness of the ultimate mind…. So in this state, if you are mature and if you master it, you have absolute freedom. Otherwise it will be the most terrifying thing because there is no limitation and no reference point. For example, you can’t close the window, the door or shut the curtains or lie down, you can’t do anything; it is all out there…we don’t have a body that can hold onto something if we are blown by the wind. Therefore, we are totally out of control and there is no limitation to all the sounds, all the light, all the feelings and everything, so that state is a very scary thing if we do not master it, if we are not aware of it. If we are aware of it then it is truly revealing the truth of the universe, the truth of everything, limitless.”

Given that ordinary people have very little control over the appearances that arise in the bardo, it makes sense that we would want to make use of every possible method for liberation at the time of death. And fortunately, thanks to sacred terma teachings discovered hundreds of years ago, we do have access to precise instructions on navigating the otherwise terrifying bardo state. There are six ways the consciousness can attain liberation in the bardo: liberation through hearing, liberation through wearing, liberation through seeing, liberation through remembering, liberation through tasting, and liberation through touching. These methods were taught by Padmasambhava and handed down through the centuries in an unbroken lineage.

According to Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, “The Bardo Thödröl (bar-do’i-thos’grol) is one of a series of instructions on six types of liberation….They were composed by Padmasambhava and written down by his wife, Yeshe Tsogyal along with the sadhana of the two mandalas of forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful deities.

Padmasambhava buried these texts in the Gampo hills in Central Tibet, where later the great teacher Gampopa established his monastery. Many other texts and sacred objects were buried in this way in different places throughout Tibet, and are known as terma, “hidden treasures.” Padmasambhava gave the transmission of power to discover the termas to his twenty-five chief disciples. The bardo texts were later discovered by Karma Lingpa, who was an incarnation of one of these disciples.

Liberation, in this case, means that whoever comes into contact with this teaching—even in the form of doubt, or with an open mind—receives a sudden glimpse of enlightenment through the power of the transmission contained in these treasures.

Karma Lingpa belonged to the Nyingma tradition but his students were all of the Kagyu tradition. He gave the first transmission of the six liberation teachings to Dödul Dorje, the 13th Karmapa, who in turn gave it to Gyurme Tenphel, the 8th Trungpa. This transmission was kept alive in the Surmang monasteries of the Trungpa lineage, and from there it spread back into the Nyingma tradition.” — Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

The Bardo Package

The bardo experience should be taken seriously because impermanence causes events to be precarious and unpredictable and the moment of death could occur at any time. The Bardo Package is an extremely rare collection of sacred items that have been produced with great care under the direct supervision of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD) in Woodstock, New York, the western seat of the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. Khenpo Rinpoche made sure that the traditional rituals for the dying as prescribed by Padmasambhava were rendered accurately, while distilling the profound instructions into a set of procedures easily accessible to anyone. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche personally consecrated the various items in the package and gave specific instructions on how to use each one.

The Bardo Package will bring benefit when the moment of death requires immediate action, and will enable us to take control of the death situation without fear or confusion. If we can apply what we have learned from Buddhist teachings regarding dying, death, and the bardo, and have The Bardo Package at our disposal, it will give us a greater opportunity for attaining higher rebirth and liberation. Thus, The Bardo Package is one of the most important items that we can have in this life.

For more information and to order The Bardo Package, click on the links below:

Namse Bangdzo bookstore

KKR International Loving Kindness and Compassion, click on the Bardo Project link

Additional Resources
A 5-CD set of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s concise teachings on “Dying, Death, and the Bardo” is available at http://www.namsebangdzo.com.  Rinpoche’s book, Bardo Interval of Possibility (KTD Publications 2007) is available from http://www.namsebangdzo.com. A Chinese translation is available here: www.kkrinternational.org.

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