A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN FPMT LAMA

Adalia Samten talked to Geshe Lobsang Dorje of Centro Terra di Unificazione Ewam in Florence, Italy, where he has been a resident teacher since May 1994. Geshe-la graduated from Sera Je Monastery in 1988.

What difficulties and what successes have you faced during your stay in Italy?

It has been almost four years that I lived in Italy and I must say that thus far things have gone very well. The only difficulty I have is language. When one does not know well the language, the communication exchange is rather difficult. The success, I must say, is not a success in the common sense. I have been able to give to many people the message of the Gradual Path as taught by Lama Tsong Khapa, and this for me is a real success.

How long do you think you will stay? Why have you chosen to be in Florence?

I don’t know how long I will stay; this does not depend on me but on the harmonious relationship between me and the Italian Buddhist centers that keep me here. If there is harmony, if the centers that have invited me want me to stay, I will stay, I have no problem.

It is not I who has chosen to stay in Florence, but in Florence many people have created the conditions that have permitted me to stay, such as having lodging and help for the necessary things. Now I am staying here very willingly because friendship has been created. For me it is very important to live in harmonious relationships and good will.

But there is no personal project for the future?

I have heard that in seven years at the Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa of Pomaia, at the end of the Master’s program, there will be a three-year retreat. I would like to do this retreat. Naturally, I will have to see if all the favorable conditions come together.

How do you pass your day?

Generally I get up between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. I practice the traditional offerings and the purification through prostrations. Then I sit for the sadhanas, the praises of Tara, and all the rest, until noon. After lunch, I go to a public high school for adults from 3:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. I study mathematics, history, English and other subjects. But I am thinking of changing, of going only to a school of Italian language in order to learn better the spoken and written language.

Have you had difficulty in teaching Western students?

From my side I have felt only the language difficulty. At times it is difficult to translate certain concepts from one language to another. Usually I teach in Tibetan, and there is an Italian translator, although twice a week, in Florence and in Bologna, I do questions and answers directly in Italian. Still the difficulty of understanding and making myself understood exists.

How many times do you teach per week?

Almost always I dedicate 4 days to teaching. During the weekend I hold courses in various centers; then during the week I teach in Florence on Monday and in Bologna on Thursday. At times they invite me to hold conferences in Buddhist centers of other traditions.

Which teachings seem to you most difficult to understand for the Western mentality? Which are the most useful?

There are no teachings that are easier or more difficult for Westerners. Westerners and Orientals are not different in this. If a teaching is complex, it is, whether for a Westerner or an Oriental.

Faith can be deep or superficial whether for the Westerner or for the Oriental, but for an Oriental faith is more spontaneous regarding certain basics such as the law of cause and effect, previous and future lives and so forth.

Westerners must work harder and put more care, to build faith, to build trust in the Dharma, because the Dharma is not part of their culture. While in the East, for example, it is enough to recount the tradition, but in the West to have faith, it is necessary to understand logically.

It’s an issue of different teaching methods. For example for the monks in a monastery it’s no problem to start instruction by speaking about the rapport between teacher and disciple, of the devotion to the teacher; but in the West, if you want to draw someone to Buddhism, you must start with other arguments because this teacher-disciple relationship is not easy for them to accept; it is something that hopefully comes after having understood other points of the Dharma.

The teachings that are more useful for everyone in general, I would say, are the Gradual Path and the Bodhicaryavatara.

Do you think that the interest in the Dharma is increasing or decreasing?

Without doubt, in these 4 years it seems that it has increased. People come willingly to teachings, even during working days. I see it more and more.

What advice would you give to a layperson on the best way to integrate the Dharma teachings in daily life?

To learn self-control from day to day. Not to abandon the normal life, the family and the work, but not to focus on success and on money as a principal aim of one’s life. To think in a more spiritual way, accepting the pleasant things in life but thinking that everything does not end here and that it is important to put the seeds of a positive energy for the future with good actions of the body, of the speech and of the mind. And day by day to diminish one’s violence if one is particularly violent; diminish hate if one hates particularly, attachment if one is particularly attached. Try day by day to develop more gentleness, more honesty, more heart. In social life people often have two faces and deceive others; but to be honest brings peace of conscience. One can die peacefully. I believe that a layperson could dedicate an hour a day in spiritual contemplation, praying, meditating, reciting sadhanas. Then during the year one could try to dedicate a few days in pursuit of a spiritual retreat, towards more intensive practice, at least for a week for two or three times a year.