Gyumed Khensur Losang Jampa: Kalachakra Practice Instructions May 10 -12

Friday May 10, 7:30 to 9:30 PM
Saturday May 11 & Sunday May 12, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (with breaks for lunch and tea)

Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa will teach for this weekend on Kalachakra. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other high lamas have often given the Kalachakra Initiation for world peace in the West. But, it’s rare to hear detailed teachings on Kalachakra from a fully qualified lama. Over the course of this weekend, Rinpoche will explain the essentials of Kalachakra practice, noting how it differs from other tantric practices and how it can grant enlightenment in one lifetime!

These teachings are only open to those who have received a highest yoga tantra empowerment (whether into the practice of Kalachakra or another highest yoga tantra deity).

Registration is not required.

Suggested donation: Members $35, Non-members $50, no one will be turned away due to lack of funds

Location: 10875 Main Street, Unit 108, Fairfax, VA
Hosted by: Guhyasamaja Center
Questions? info@guhyasamaja.org

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Summer 2013 North America Dharma Courses

Here’s an incomplete list of summer Dharma courses taking place in North America this year. These are primarily FPMT Centers with a few other Gelukpa Centers and teachings from other traditions as well. For registration information and the most up-to-date information, please visit the links below.

Rejoice! We are truly blessed to have so many unbelievable opportunities to learn from incredible masters.

Tsechen Kunchab Ling. H.H. Sakya Trizin: Teachings and Empowerments. April – July, 2013. Walden, NY.

Land of Medicine Buddha. Jangtse Choje Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche Fri-Sat, June 7-8, 2013. Soquel, CA.

Vajrapani Institute. Summer Program – Jangtse Choje Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche Jun 12, 2013 – Jun 20, 2013. Boulder Creek, CA.

Land of Medicine Buddha. Lam Rim Teachings with Chöden Rinpoche – Day 1 Sun, June 30 at 3pm; Mon, July 1 at 7pm; Tue, July 2 at 7pm. Soquel, CA.

Guhyasamaja Center. Realizing Emptiness: Praise to Dependent Origination. July 1 to 7, 2013. Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa. Am Kolel Retreat Center, Beallesville, MD.

Vajrapani Institute. Open Your Heart to Others: Eight Verses of Mind Training. Choden Rinpoche and Jon Landaw. July 5 – 7, 2013. Boulder Creek, CA.

Jewel Heart. 2013 Jewel Heart Joyful Summer Retreat
Gelek Rinpoche. July 4 – Sunday, July 14. Ann Arbor, MI.

Deer Park Buddhist Center. Wisdom/Special Insight Chapter of Je Tsong Khapa’s Middle Length Lam Rim Monday, July 8th through Friday, August 2nd, 2013. Ganden Jangtse Choje Rinpoche. Oregon, WI.

Bodhicitta Chapter of Je Tsong Khapa’s Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path
Jangtse Choje Rinpoche. August 5th through August 16th. Oregon, WI.

Mindrolling Lotus Garden. Summer Shedra H.E. Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche. July 24 – August 4. Lotus Garden Retreat Center. Stanley, VA.

Vajrapani Institute. Teen Camp at Vajrapani. Jul 19,2013 – Jul 22, 2013. Boulder Creek, CA.

Namgyal Monastery. Kalachakra Six Session Guru Yoga Retreat July 28 – August 4, 2013. Geshe Lobsang Dakpa. Du Khor Choling, The Land of Kalachakra Study and Practice.

Six Yogas of Naropa & Hevajra Empowerment Chodon Rinpoche and Geshe Gyalten. August 2-11, 2013. Lasell College. Newton, MA.

Do Ngak Khunphen Ling. Nine-day Teaching on the Vajrayogini Generation Stage. Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa. August 17-25, 2013. New York City.

May our precious gurus never leave us, and may we always have opportunities to study and practice the holy Dharma.

Last updated: April 26, 2013

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Passing of the Abbot of the D.C. Vietnamese Buddhist Temple

Many of you have probably visited Giac Hoang, the beautiful Vietnamese Buddhist temple on 16th street in D.C.  The temple hosted the FPMT Maitreya Project Relics tour twice. You may have met him during these or other occasions.

Ven. Thich Thanh Dam, the abbot and founder of the temple, passed away at the age of 84 on December 4th, 2011.

My friend Lien wrote an article for the Washington Post memorializing Ven. Thich Thanh Dam. She and her family are part of the Vietnamese community who regularly visit the temple. Ven. Thich Thanh Dam truly made his life meaningful by helping so many people. His passing is a lesson in impermanence and a loss to our community.

The article appears here in the online edition and will appear on page B-2 of the December 7th print edition. Please keep Ven. Thich Thanh Dam in your prayers.

(Note: The Post included 17 gorgeous photos of His Holiness during the Kalachakra at the top of the article. Photo 10 is of Mrs. Hiep Lowman, a close friend of the Guhyasamaja Center and of Ven. Thich Thanh Dam. Photo 11 is Mr. Matt Regan, one of the main volunteers for the Kalachakra event.)

Please share your memories of Ven. Thich Thanh Dam.

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Kalachakra 2012 Live Webcasts

There will be live webcasts from the Kalachakra Teaching in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, from January 1-10, 2012. His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be teaching in Tibetan and there will be live webcasts in English, Chinese, Russian and Tibetan languages.

All times Indian Standard Time (GMT+5.30)January 1: Short Teaching
His Holiness will give a short teaching.
Time: 1:00pm – 3:00pmJanuary 4-6: Preliminary Teachings
His Holiness will give preliminary teachings on Kamalashila’s “The Middling States of Meditation (gomrim barpa)”, Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo’s “37 Practices of A Bodhisattva (laklen sodunma)”, Geshe Langri Thangpa’s “Eight Verses of Training the Mind (lojong tsik gyema)”, Nagarjuna’s “The Praise to the World Transcendent (jigten ley deypar toepa)” and Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen’s “The Precious Lamp in Praise of Bodhicitta (jangchup sem kyi toepa rinchen drolma)”.
Times: 1:00pm – 3:30pm each day

January 10: Long life empowerment and offering
A long life empowerment (tsewang) and a ceremony offering prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be performed.
Time: 9:00am – 11:00am (approximate time)

January 10: Ceremony honoring His Holiness the Dalai Lama
There will be a public felicitation ceremony for His Holiness.
Time: 1:30pm – 3:00pmLive English language webcast can be viewed here.
Live Chinese language webcast can be viewed here.
Live Russian language webcast can be viewed here.
Live Tibetan language webcast can be viewed here.More information and a full schedule of events at http://www.kalachakra2012.org/For times in your region 1:00pm Indian Standard Time (IST) on January 1st in India is the same as 7:30am on January 1st in London, England. NOTE: this is 2:30 am eastern standard time in the United States.

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Kalachakra 2012: Bodhgaya India

Here’s the link to the official website for the Kalachakra initiation that will be given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (December 31 – January 10).

Rejoice! Hope you will be among the 100,000+ attendees!

Please share your experiences here, if do you go. We’d love to hear about it. 

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Reflections on the 2011 Kalachakra

His Holiness the Dalai Lama was in such good health and spirits during the Kalachakra. He is in the prime of his life, brimming with good natured self-confidence and humor. In a sports arena packed with 14,000 people, he was able to perform the most profound tantric rituals, and generate himself into the deity Kalachakra, while still making jokes and not taking himself too seriously.

At one point during the empowerment ceremony when everyone was visualizing the mandala, he stopped and said with a laugh, “Now guru ji has to take his medicine”. He opened a bottle of Western medicine and popped some pills in his mouth and washed them down with some tea and biscuits while the monks continued chanting. Yet there was no question that His Holiness was manifesting as the powerful deity Kalachakra. The energy on the stage pulsated.

During the course of the ten days, His Holiness repeatedly emphasized the need for 21^st century Buddhists to understand the Dharma and the meaning of tantric rituals. No more repeating mantras or doing hand mudras without understanding the significance. Great compassion and wisdom are like two wings of a bird – both are necessary to soar to Enlightenment. This message was apparently lost on the people who fought over the kusha grass and other ritual items that the volunteers tried to distribute during the empowerment.

I found myself wishing that His Holiness would never leave and that his teachings would continue. I started becoming attached to my house guests – a group of wonderful monks. Then I quickly realized that this kind of clingy attachment is one of the three poisons that the Buddha taught us to watch out for and to avoid. As His Holiness commented, when viewed from the perspective of emptiness that penetrates the hallucinations of ordinary appearances, that type of attachment simply disappears – and what a relief indeed!

There’s no question in my mind that His Holiness is an enlightened being. When I tiptoed past the throne to look at the mandala on stage, he was smiling and radiating rays of love and compassion – it was palpable. What will happen to Tibetan Buddhism once he and the remaining Tibetan masters pass away over the next 10 to 20 years? Will we be able to preserve the lineages and keep Buddhism alive and relevant to contemporary society the way His Holiness has? What can we as individuals do to help?

On the last day of the empowerment, a man walked in front of the stage wearing a bright red top hat with stars. His Holiness saw the hat and immediately asked for it. To the delight of the audience, he put it on and smiled for the cameras before returning it. What a lesson in lightening up and enjoying life.

On Saturday in his closing remarks, His Holiness spoke of the spiritual ties that we have forged with him and how we had created the positive imprints to continue our relationship in the future. No matter how far apart we are from His Holiness, he is always within us. It is our choice and our responsibility to lead our lives to the fullest potential imbued with equanimity, love and compassion for all sentient beings.

Please feel free to share your reflections about the 2011 Kalachakra.

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Kalachakra: Kusha Grass

For all of you who are reading this late at night when you should be doing your daily practice instead, here’s a reminder about how to place the kusha grass. The smaller of the two pieces is placed under your pillow with the fluffy end toward the top. Likewise, the longer piece is placed under the mattress with the fluffy end toward the head of the bed.  Ideally, the head of your bed should point north.

Recite the mantra.

Before sleeping, set your motivation to make your sleeping state beneficial for all sentient beings. Dream that you are rescuing people from floods, poverty, forest fires, abuse.  In the morning, wake up gently and spend some time recollecting your dreams. Even if you have a nightmare instead of a good dream, it doesn’t matter, it’s just a dream. It’s not a big deal. The real trick is to sleep lightly so you can both be able to dream and recollect the dream.

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Kalachakra Coverage: Washington Post

The Washington Post has several articles online covering His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit in D.C. including the Kalachakra.

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Kalachakra: why am i sitting on the stage

For those few of you out there who know me, just in case you are wondering why someone as undeserving as me is sitting on the stage at the Kalachakra, His Holiness asked the organizers to include sangha representing different ethnic backgrounds and Buddhist traditions –  sort of an affirmative action policy (grin). So the only reason I am on stage is because I am Chinese-American. Holy ones on stage include:  His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ven. Geshe Lundhup Sopa (Deer Park Buddhist Center), Ven. Jangtse Choje Rinpoche, Ven Thubten Chodron,  Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa, and Ven Sofia (FPMT Taiwan).  Being new to all of this, I don’t know the names of the majority of the sangha, sorry!

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Kalachakra Preliminary Teachings Outline: 7/9 – 7/10

Here’s an outline of the main topics that His Holiness presented during the first two days of the preliminary teachings:

Saturday, July 9

Kamalashila’s Stages of Meditation – general introduction; explanation of the three ways in which Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths, quick overview of the 16 aspects of the Four Noble Truths; four mindfulnesses.

Sunday, July 10

People who live in accordance with ethical principles will be happier than those who do not; whether one is religious or not is not as important as whether one is ethical. There is  a moral crisis in society today.

Kamalashila’s Stages of Meditation – importance of understanding the law of causality, leading a sound ethical life creates the conditions for a precious human rebirth, based on understanding interdependent origination, we can attain Buddhahood.

Two types of ignorance, Two Truths – conventional and ultimate as understood by the Vaibashikas, Sautantrika Madyamikas, and Prasangika Madkyamikas.

text page 39 – three types of phenomenon – evident, hidden, extremely hidden. Three conditions for omniscience – compassion, awakening the mind of bodhicitta, skillful means. Three kinds of suffering. Development of equanimity.

After the mind has developed equanimity toward all sentient beings, meditate on loving kindness. Moisten the mental continuum with the water of loving kindness and prepare it as you would a piece of fertile ground. When the seed of compassion is planted in such a mind, germination will be swift, proper, and complete. Once you have irrigated the mindstream with loving kindness, meditate on compassion.

~ Kamalashila

37 Practices

Practitioners of three capacities; (verse 3) listening, contemplation, meditation; Four Principles of Nature; elements and derivative elements.

Society today places too much emphasis on sensorial pleasures – over reliance on listening to music, etc. thus decreasing our capacity for inner joy.

Four forms of distortion (mistaken understanding); different levels of consciousness ranging from gross sensations to sleep to the subtle and finally most subtle level.

Ended on verse 7

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