News
Last updated on 2011-11-18
Pilgrimage Tour Nov. 20 - Dec. 3. 2011 with Most Venerable Khenchen Rinpoche
Mani Drupchen with H.E. Nubpa Rinpoche, December 15 - 26 at Rinchen Ling Monestary
H.H. Dalai Lama Confers Kalachakra, Dec. 31 - Jan. 10, 2012, BodhaGaya, India
Venerable Khenchen Rinpoche's teachings in Stockholm June 13 - 19 is now able at Dharma Media
News from Drikung Kagyu
Institute in Dehra Dun, India
Information and news about Jangchubling (DKI), Drikung Kagyu Nunnery,
Samtenling Retreat Center and Kagyu College:
http://www.drikung.org/
The Songtsen Library in
Dehra Dun
Information and news about the Songtsen Library in Dehra Dun, India:
http://www.songtsen-library.net/
News
from the Office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
Upcoming Teaching Schedule of His Holiness The Dalai Lama:
http://www.dalailama.com/news.htm
Most Venerable Khenchen Rinpoche on Reminding Dharma
|
I hope and pray that
you are well. I think of you in my meditations. We are very fortunate
having this precious human life and taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma
and Sangha and following the path. You have been writing me off and on
for the last couple of years and I'm grateful you are keeping in
contact and I cherish this opportunity. Usually I can't write long
letters because I don't know how to type but today I have a good
secretary so I'm taking the opportunity to say a few things.
Without the Dharma our life in samsara is only suffering or a condition of suffering and we create more causes of suffering. We are also very smart creating the causes of suffering. Since we have the Dharma in our life it gives us wisdom to penetrate the reality nature of the causes of suffering and causes of peace and happiness in this life and eventually for complete enlightenment. So it is for our own benefit and for others as well that we utilize this precious human life as best as possible. This precious human life is a venue to do all the good things. First, take a deep breath and release all the tension both physically and mentally and then contemplate all phenomena which are composite: The nature of impermanence and the nature of disintegration, including our human body. So by contemplating this, purify all attachment and anger. Second, this samsara is a state of suffering. Either suffering of suffering, suffering of change or in the condition of suffering. So contemplate this carefully and those who are suffering in the world, physically or mentally, including our enemies. Develop sincere compassion wishing them to be free from suffering and to achieve complete enlightenment. Third, these manifestations, happiness and suffering within impermanence, are based on causes and conditions. Nothing functions independently. All are in the constitution of causes and conditions. And all the causes and conditions are infallible. So it is to our own benefit using our empirical wisdom, avoiding and purifying all the causes of suffering and creating and accumulating all the causes of peace and happiness. As an example, avoiding the ten non virtues and practicing the ten virtues. With this understanding, we take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and keep the moral ethics. This makes the person pure and a subject of respect. And then, having kept the moral ethics well, for one’s own benefit to free from samsara, cultivate bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment for all others, based on sincere loving kindness and compassion. Remind yourself of this practice every day and every moment when you are working or sitting. This will give us wisdom and courage to do good things in our daily life and for others. This altruistic thought inspired all the Buddhas of the past and the present. They adopted this mind, the universal mind of bodhicitta, and they applied and practiced it in their lives and they attained Buddhahood and benefited countless sentient beings. We can also take that example and inspire ourselves and follow the path. So when we do these practices, our main focus is to purify all the mental afflictions. For example ignorance, anger, attachment, pride, jealousy and so forth. They are called the three poisons or five poisons and so forth. They are the root cause of all our suffering and conflict for the individual and for society. Without touching base on this no matter how much we try, real peace and happiness is impossible to attain. This kind of experience is shared by all sentient beings. So Dharma gives us this wisdom to understand the reality nature of suffering and happiness. Dharma has also great method and skill to tackle all these causes of suffering. To purify these obscurations and mental delusions, the Vajrayana teaching gives great skill. Through this method, one gets the opportunity to manifest into the form of the deities which is called Yidam practice, inseparable of appearance and emptiness. With this we repeatedly manifest into the Yidam deity and dissolve into emptiness based on ultimate bodhicitta that is supported by moral ethics. Here I mention a few words of the purpose of the practice. There are many books translated as a reference on how to practice. I want you to have real peace and happiness and to be free from confusion and ignorance which are the root cause of suffering. I will say prayers for your good health and successful meditation practice. If you'd like you may place this letter on your Facebook or web page. Sincerely, Khenchen K. Gyaltshen |
Pilgrimage in India and Nepal
Official site for Pilgrimage: http://drikung.org/index.php/component/content/article/303
| Update October 27, 2011:
We are sorry to inform you that His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang will be unable to join the pilgrimage tour. Please read our Urgent Announcement. Below we have updated the teaching program by Khenchen Rinpoche during the Pilgrimage Tour. There will be a
farewell party at Lumbini and end the program at Lumbini. Those who
wish to visit Kathmandu may proceed from there, and who wish to come
back to Delhi can come back directly from Lumbini. All the participants
are requested to inform the organizer whether they will come back to
Delhi from Lumbini or leave for Kathmandu. At the same time those who
have not given their Passport details are requested to give their
personal details as soon as possible. Soon the travel agent will
forward you the travel cost. Those who are attending the winter
teaching at Dehradun should contact the teaching organizing committee.
Those who are arriving on 19th or 20th of November at Delhi airport
should provide us their flight details. Email:
pilgrimnov2011@gmail.com
The Office
of H.H. the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Following the Winter
Teachings at Jangchubling Monastery, Dehradun, a Pilgrimage
Tour will lead to four major holy places of Buddhism in India and
Nepal, from November 20 to December 3, 2011. Itinerary of
the Pilgrimage Tour
20/11 Dehradun / Delhi (by A/C Coach – stay overnight in Delhi) 21/11 Delhi / Patna (by flight) Patna / Bodhgaya (By A/C Coach) At Bodhgaya tehre will be Guru Yoga Puja and Tsok Offering at the main Stupa. Khenchen Rinpoche will give the teaching on how the Buddha attained enlightenment and give the vow of Three Refuge. Bodhgaya is the place where Buddha
Shakyamuni attained full enlightenment (Tib. mngon par
rdzogs par sangs rgyas pa) and hence is regarded as the most
important of the four main pilgrimage sites for Buddhists related to
the life of Buddha Shakyamuni.
22/11 Bodhgaya: Visit Mahabodhi Temple, offering, prayers, evening session at main Stupa. 23/11 Bodhgaya: Day excursion to Rajgir and Nalanda(By A/c Coach) Visit of the Vulture's Peak (Gṛdhrakūṭa) near Rajgir (the ancient Rājagṛha), where the Buddha taught many important Sutras, like the Lotus Sutra (Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra), the Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra and many of the Prajñāpāramitā Sutras. At Rajgir Khenchen Rinpoche will give the teaching on the Heart Sutra and the origin of the Mahayana. Visit of Nalanda, the site of the eminent ancient monastic university associated with the famous Seventeen Masters of Nalanda, of utmost importance for the development of Mahāyāna Buddhism. At Nalanda Khenchen Rinpoche will
give the brief story of the origin of Vajrayana Buddhism, the life
story of Shantideva and brief teachings on the practice of the
Bodhisattva way of life.
At Varanasi there will be a Guru Yoga Puja and Tsok Offering at the Stupa. Khenchen Rinpoche will give the teaching on the Four Noble Truths and the origin of Theravada Buddhism. Visit of the Tibetan University and Library. Sarnath near Varanasi, is the deer park where the Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma (Tib. chos kyi 'khor lo bskor ba). 27/11 Varanasi: Boat Cruise
on the River Ganges (early morning sun-rise). After breakfast, Varanasi
to Kushinagar by A/C Coach. At Kushinagar there will be a Guru Yoga Puja and Tsok Offering at the Temple. Khenchen Rinpoche will give the teaching on Bodhicitta and receiving the Bodhisattva Vows. In Kushinagar
the Buddha passed into Mahaparinirvana (Tib. mya ngan las
'das pa). At Lumbini Khenchen Rinpoche will give the Long Life Empowerment. Lumbini in
Nepal on the Indian border, is the place where Buddha Shakyamuni took
birth (Tib. sku bltams pa). During the course of the Tour, the teaching on Prescription and Proscription, especially on the Chapter of "A Gury Yoga that Brings the Dharmakaya onto the Path", will also be given during spare time.
Email:
pilgrimnov2011@gmail.com
The Office
of H.H. the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang |
A History of the Tibetan
Empire by
his Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang is now available in English
His
Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang’s groundbreaking survey of the
Tibetan empire, published in Tibetan in 2010, is now available in
English. It can be ordered from
Vajra Publications.
Starting with an examination of the empire’s prehistoric origins, His Holiness traces the line emperors in Tibet’s Pugyal dynasty as their domain grows from a handful of assembled kingdoms into a powerful Central Asian empire, until its collapse following the assassination of the last emperor Uidum Tsenpo (Lang Darma) in the 9th century CE.
From the start, the Tibetan kingdom, centered in Central Tibet’s Yarlung Valley, was built by steadily consolidating territory. In the 7th century, Songtsen Gampo conquered the powerful Zhangzhung kingdom, stretching across what is now Western Tibet, and an empire was born. For a period of roughly 250 years, the Tibetan empire exerted itself in almost continual military harassment of its neighbors, most notably Tang China, even capturing the capital Chang’an (modern-day Xian) in 763; the Turks to the north, controlling the Southern Silk Road for the better part of a century; city-states in the Arab and Persian empires to the West, such as Gilgit and Balti; and Nepal and India to the South, at one point extending the Tibetan border all the way to the banks of the Ganges.
While Tibetan military might was steadily pressing outwards, the Tibetan empire at home was absorbing a wide array of cultural influences from the lands it was suddenly exposed to, which were eventually to fundamentally reshape Tibetan culture and alter the course of its history. Traditional histories described the different weapons added to the Tibetan arsenal with each new victory, as well as imported agricultural and animal husbandry techniques. By far the most influential and dramatic imports were religious—first Bön from Zhangzhung followed by Buddhism from South Asia, China, and the Turkic Silk Road. Along with Buddhism came writing, with the invention of the Tibetan script by Thönmi Sambhota, and numerous other artistic, intellectual, cultural, and social influences.
His Holiness’s work is structured around the Old Tibetan Chronicle, the Old Tibetan Annals, and others of the thousands of Tibetan manuscripts discovered in Dunhuang at the turn of the last century, the bulk of which are now preserved in the national libraries of England and France. Buried under the sands of a forgotten Silk Road oasis for a thousand years, these documents comprise the earliest and most reliable sources on the Tibetan dynasty.
Passages from relevant manuscripts are presented with an annotated transcription, an English rendering, and full-color images of the manuscript. Each chapter concludes with a critical essay examining problems of language, history, and myth for the period and rulers in question, as well as providing a contextual setting and filling in any lacunae in the manuscripts from more recent historical sources in Tibetan and Chinese. The English edition brings together full-color images of the manuscripts with the author’s commentary in an English translation aimed at a nonspecialist audience, while yet retaining the rigorous detail that will be appreciated by scholars in Tibetan studies. The appendices include bibliographic compilations of publications in Tibetan, Chinese, and Western languages, providing a unique resource to those engaged in the study of Tibetan history. The result is a valuable contribution to our understanding of Tibetan history and culture.
His Holiness Dalai Lama Confers Kalachakra for World Peace in BodhGaya, India, Dec. 31 - Jan. 10, 2012
Venerable Khenchen Rinpoche's teachings in Stockholm June 13 - 19 is now able at Dharma Media
The Four Nobles Truths http://dharma-media.org/mfs6.php?mediaID=00000161
Mind Training http://dharma-media.org/mfs6.php?mediaID=00000162
The Complete Buddha’s Teaching http://dharma-media.org/mfs6.php?mediaID=00000163
Mani Drupchen with H.E. Nubpa Rinpoche, December 15 - 26 at Rinchen Ling Monestary