A Yogi’s Perspective on Dharma

The Dharma lives within the yogi,

The yogi follows the Dharma.

If you really follow the Dharma, nothing can harm you.

Even if they take this life, they can’t take your next life.

~ Drupon Samten Rinpoche

(source: the film, The Secret Yogis of Tibet)

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Ven. George Churinoff’s Teachings Begin Feb 13 2013

The Guhyasamaja Center is delighted to host Venerable George Churinoff. He will be teaching on a variety of subjects including meditation and the FPMT Discovering Buddhism course Death and Rebirth.

Venerable George Churinoff (Gelong Thubten Tsultrim) was born in Chicago and graduated from MIT in 1967 with a B.Sc. in Physics. He was ordained in India with Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche in 1976 and later with Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in 1977. Ven. George Churinoff will teach on various subjects, from Discovering Buddhism (Death and Rebirth) to mediatations to more advanced subjects (Calm Abiding) from February through March 2013.

Basic Talk – Introduction to Meditation; Date: February 13, 2013; Time: 7:00 PM

Basic Talk – Calm Abiding; Date: February 27, 2013; Time: 7:00 PM

Lama Chopa with Tsog – Dates: February 20, March 7, 2013; Time: 7:30 – 9:30 PM

All classes will be held at our Center: 10875 Main Street Unit 108, Fairfax, VA.

For details, please visit our website.

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Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa: Dissolving the Guru at Your Heart

One of the practices common to the sutrayana and tantrayana traditions is visualizing your lama dissolving at your heart. Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa described the feeling:

“When you dissolve the lama at your heart, this experience should be palpable, even overwhelming, like when you suddenly acquire something very valuable. Or, like when a son is re-united with his mother after a very long time.”

Mahamudra Retreat, NYC, August 12, 2012
Translator: Art Engle

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Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa: Meditation on the Breath

During his Mahamudra commentary, Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa explained the 8 point Vairochana posture. The first seven points describe the physical body posture. The 8th point is the meditation on counting the breath. After describing how to do the meditation, he said that we should not underestimate the effectiveness of this practice. Done correctly, it can lead to the generation of calm abiding.

Rinpoche advised us to do the practice in the morning. By counting 1,000 cycles of breath (one cycle being an inhalation and exhalation) for ten days in a row, we will definitely experience a cumulative effect — it will prevent illness, extend our life span and cause joy and a sense of ease.

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Book Review: Bodhisattva Attitude by Lama Zopa

Bodhisattvas want to be used by sentient beings. That is what the bodhisattvas’ attitude is. They actually accept it. The worldly mind things that being used by others is bad, it is the worst thing, but bodhisattvas are most happy to accept this. If you want to achieve enlightenment, you have to practice bodhicitta and this is EXACTLY what the bodhisattvas’ attitude is. Their happiest practice is to be used by sentient beings. It is what they are always looking for. ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Ven Sarah Thresher has carefully designed a collection of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings on bodhicitta. She is one of Rinpoche’s most devoted, and most self-sacrificing students. Her respect and love for him is evident in the effort she put into transcribing his teachings, editing and organizing them. Designed for busy practitioners, the book presents the subject as a series of meditations of varying lengths.

Part one presents selected verses from Shantideva’s Guide to a Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Part two contains five of Rinpoche’s teachings titled:

1. Everything Depends on Your Attitude: an introductory talk
2. Cutting the Concept of Permanence: bodhisattva motivation for life 1
3. Give Up Stretching the Legs: bodhisattva motivation for life 2
4. Bodhisattva Attitude: how to dedicate your life to others
5. Four Wrong Concepts: a motivation for taking the eight Mahayana precepts

The teachings sparkle with Rinpoche’s humor and reflect the radiance of his wisdom. Reading them brought back memories of being with Rinpoche during the Light of the Path retreat in North Carolina.Part three contains a long version of the motivation based on the teachings. Finally in part 4, based on her many years of teaching, Ven Sarah distilled each teaching to its essence. She presents it in an easy-to-read format to gently guide the meditator’s stream of thoughts.

The appendices contain the mantras that Rinpoche suggests we offer every morning to multiply the merit of our virtuous acts. Other short teachings and advice on practicing bodhicitta are also included. In short, everything you need to support your meditation on bodhicitta is brought together in this single volume.

You may wish to progress through the sections sequentially. For example, you could read one of the teachings several times until you developed a sense of ease with it and then use the long version of the motivation. Or, you may already be so comfortable that you could just meditate on a short motivation before your daily practice.

In some ways, Bodhisattva Attitude is more accessible to a general audience than The Heart of the Path, the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive’s publication of Rinpoche’s guru devotion teachings. Everyone feels the benefits of cultivating a mind of loving kindness towards oneself and others to some extent. Relatively few people, however, deeply understand the role a spiritual teacher teacher plays, and even fewer have a guru. The two books complement each other for by practicing bodhicitta with a pure motivation, we create the causes and conditions that will enable us to find and serve a guru.

Bodhisattva Attitude is an expression of Ven Sarah’s guru devotion. She shares the Dharma so we may recognize that every moment of consciousness is a fleeting opportunity for serving others. We can’t attain Enlightenment without serving others, and there’s no reason to seek Enlightenment other than to help others.

Bodhisattva Attitude is one of many books available for free on the LYWA website. Donations to support LYWA’s publication efforts can be made online: http://www.lamayeshe.com, or by sending a check to:

Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive
PO Box 636
Lincoln, MA 01773 · USA

Please share your comments about the book.

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Upcoming Retreat Opportunities 2010

Recently several people have asked about opportunities for group retreats. Here are a few in our area that I’m aware of that represent a variety of traditions and subjects:

Guhyasamaja Center: Stages and Paths of Tantra with Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa — June 14 – 20, Beallsville, MD.

Lotus Garden: Shedra with Khandro Rinpoche — July 15 – 25, Stanley, VA.

Mindfulness Practice Center of Fairfax: Anh-Huong Nguyen and Thu Nguyen — check for upcoming weekend retreats.

And no list would be complete without Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Light of the Path retreat in North Carolina (September 12 – 26).

Please check individual websites for details as the dates are subject to change.

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Sitting Quietly, Doing Something

From the NY Times Happy Days blog about the Kagyu master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche:

Sitting Quietly, Doing Something

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Interview with Visiting Teacher, Ven Sean Price

Ven Sean Price will be teaching a four-part series, Stepping Stones to Freedom beginning this Friday, December 7th in Reston, VA. (details at: http://www.guhyasamaja.org/calendar.html#Dec)

He’s a close friend of Amanda Noonan, the Chairman of the Center’s Board of Directors. I called Ven Sean, who had just arrived in D.C. after spending several months on retreat in Bhutan and Nepal and was recovering from serious jet lag. Ven Sean is friendly and easy to speak with, so I overcame my initial shyness and asked him a few questions about his upcoming series.

Q: How did you become interested in Buddhism?
A: When I was seventeen, I wandered into a bookshop in London and happened to pick-up John Snelling’s book, A Buddhist Handbook in part because it had a lovely picture of Amitabha on the cover. It really captured my interest. I then studied with Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen (who was then the Dalai Lama‘s translator) in Tokyo when I was 20 to 24. Many visiting teachers visited the small center in Tokyo during that time including Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The FPMT Center was officially founded during his visit in 1992 and is still active today.

Q: Could you please tell us a little more about your series of upcoming classes?
A: The classes are loosely based on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, from the Theravadan tradition. The first three of these simple meditation practices provide a grounding in single pointed concentration which serves as the basis for analytical meditation discussed in the fourth foundation. I will also introduce a Shakyamuni Buddha meditation, and we’ll practice it together during some of the sessions. I will also introduce several of the key concepts that underlie the Buddha‘s path to enlightenment such as the Four Noble Truths. The classes will also include plenty of time for informal questions and answers, and I welcome a lot of audience participation.

Q: Gampopa’s Jewel Ornament of Liberation is one of the texts that inspires you. For students who might want to learn more about this text, is there a particular translation or commentary that you’d recommend?
A: Yes, Snow Lion has a good publication,
THE JEWEL ORNAMENT OF LIBERATION: The Wish-fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings by Gampopa, translated by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche, fore. by H.H. the Dalai Lama, ed. by Ani K. Trinlay Chodron. http://www.snowlionpub.com/search.php?isbn=JEORLI

* * *
The last two classes of “How to Meditate” will be going on at the same time as Ven Sean’s series, and Ven Sean will be teaching the class on Dec 15th. I think you’ll find that Ven Sean’s series complements the “How to Meditate” series very well and provides a natural bridge to the next Discovering Buddhism class which starts in early January, “Presenting the Path”, an introduction to Buddhism.

I wanted to ask Ven Sean a lot more questions about his life, but I guess that will have to wait for another blog entry. To learn more about Ven Sean’s very interesting background, please see his short biography on our website: http://www.guhyasamaja.org/Bio_Teachers.htm#venprice.

Posted by: Dina Li, Spiritual Program Coordinator

Copyright @ 2007 The Guhyasamaja Center

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