A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN FPMT LAMA

Geshe Tenzin Tenphel has joined the teaching staff at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Pomaia, Italy. A lharampa geshe, he studied at Sera Je Monastery and entered Gyuto Tantric College, where he spent nine months before touring the USA and Europe, performing ritual dances and constructing sand mandalas with other Sera monks. Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested Geshe Tenphel to come to the institute. Geshe-la spoke to Joan Stigliani.

How did you become a monk?

I was born in Tibet in 1956. When I went to India at the age of three I stayed in Buxa where, at the time, all the monks from the various monasteries were housed. At the age of nine I began to attend school in south India. The school was like a branch of the monastery and I started to think of becoming a monk. I told my father that I wanted to become a monk rather than go to school and my father agreed that I could become a monk but only as long as I kept ongoing to school until I turned 17. In school the class was a mixture of Tibetans and Indians and I began to note the difference between how Tibetans and Indians think. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to south India, I went to see the monks studying and debating, and after that I decided to leave to join monastery.

When I joined the monastery I was put in a very good class. In my class were many geshes who are now teaching in the West: Kelsang Wangdu and Thubten Tendhar in the US, Lobsang Sherab in Taiwan, and Jampel Sengye in Australia. Each one of us helped the other and if one was seen to be standing to the side during debate we would encourage him to persevere. In the end, in spite of different levels of intelligence and motivation, everyone became good scholars; of the 13 of us, nine became lharampa geshes.

In 1994 I went to Gyuto where I spent nine months. My idea had been to study for two to three years and then do the approximation retreats of Guhyasamaja, Heruka, and Yamantaka but after only nine months there I received a letter from Sera asking me to study dance, chanting, and take part in tour of Europe and US to help raise funds for the monastery. I thought that although this would take me away from my studies it would be an opportunity to repay the kindness of the monastery.

What is your opinion of Western Dharma practitioners?

I don’t yet have a clear understanding of the Western mind yet, but it seems like Westerners have a very good attitude toward studying Dharma and a keen interest in practicing Dharma.

How did you experience teaching your first Dharma course here in Italy?

It is different in the monastery because feedback from the students is immediate and come in the form of debate. In this way the teacher is able to examine their level of listening to and understanding of the text. Here it is difficult to understand what people know. At the course there were many new people and I found it difficult to judge what they actually understood and how deep my teachings should have been.

How did you resolve this?

I set aside about ten or fifteen minutes for questions and answers and I found that the questions were good and showed a good level of understanding.

What have you found different from your life in the monastery?

In the monastery the day is much more busy. The monks generally get up at 5 a.m. in time for the morning puja. Then at 8 a.m. they go to the debate courtyard where there are hundreds of monks shouting and milling around.

Here, from early morning throughout the day, it is very quiet and tranquil. In the monastery if you are not an expert in meditation you might be able to meditate in your house but when you go outside you find yourself surrounded by much activity, which distracts the mind. The institute resembles a retreat place in Dharamsala.

What do you think you can offer to the institute?

Having a big voice I can maybe teach you how to chant properly (Geshe-la was a candidate for the position of Sera Je chant leader.) In the monastery they pay much attention to the tune of chanting, maybe I can help with that. Although someone asked me to teach how to play the trumpet and drum, I could not do so as I did not learn this. I was busy studying in the monastery while in general the monks who play music are the ones who do not study. There are some older monks who are expert in both the texts and the playing of the instruments but this is because after 1959 when the Tibetans went to Buxa all the new monks, whether they were good or bad in their studies, also studied trumpet. Some of the older monks also learned to play the instruments. However, when we established monasteries once again the emphasis was put on learning the texts and not much attention was given to playing the ritual instruments.

What is your daily schedule like?

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I teach lam-rim on the basis of Pabongka Rinpoche’s text Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. This past weekend I also gave an introductory course on the Four Noble Truths. I also have been asked to lead the monthly pujas.