Dharma in the Modern World | Mandala Publications

March 4, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

‘The Benefits of Wearing Robes,’ a conversation with Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Ven. Lobsang Kalden

Taken from a conversation with Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the benefits of wearing one’s monastic robes in public:

“If you were sangha but you didn’t wear robes, then people would not know [that you were ordained], but with robes on there is no question. That is how the robes have such incredible benefit for the mind. It is planting the seed for enlightenment when people show respect to your wearing of the robes, or to the robes themselves: This is planting the seed of liberation, and is a way of benefiting sentient beings…”

Read the full conversation online …

From Mandala August-September 2007

February 15, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

No Victim, No Perpratrator

Art by Shirley Dodge

“I was sexually abused by a daycare worker the year before I started kindergarten. It was one of those situations that are often reported in newspapers, except this time no one was caught and there was no story. I forgot all about it until I was in my early thirties, yet it colored every aspect of my life, and when I started to remember the abuse, it ruled my life,” writes Ven. Gyalten Mindrol. “… Although I was fortunate to find a deeply gifted psychotherapist, who gave me a place to talk and didn’t overload me with theory and advice, it was the Dharma that helped me assimilate the abuse into my conscious life, and it was the abuse that radically deepened my understanding and practice of the Dharma, my faith in it, and my longing for it.”

From Mandala June-July 2006

February 6, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Open Letter to George W. Bush

Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

After the terrorist attacks in the United States in September 2001 and the beginning of war in the Middle East, Lama Zopa Rinpoche wrote an open letter to former U.S. President George W. Bush about the effectiveness of spiritual solutions for the crisis the world was facing.

“War is what ordinary people in the world regard as the solution,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche wrote. “The problem is that war, even if it is won, is like a medicine that has side effects. It may temporarily help the situation but afterwards there will be continual complications. Why? Because the people you defeat generate hatred towards you and in future generations they harm you back. In the natural law of actions, called karma in Sanskrit, the action of harming leaves an imprint on the mental continuum and that imprint is like a seed. When it ripens later, the person experiences the result of receiving harm from others.”

From Mandala March-May 2002.

January 24, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

Book Review: The Black Hat Eccentric

“The Black Hat Eccentric: Artistic Visions of the Tenth Karmapa by Karl Debreczeny is at once a fascinating story of an unconventional artist and his times, and a landmark contribution to Tibetan studies. Debreczeny writes, ‘The life story of the Tenth Karmapa provides insight into the lives of Tibetan artists, who are typically absent from discussions of Tibetan art (65).’ This book addresses this curious state of art history within Tibetan studies by offering the first publication about a single Tibetan artist, with a strong focus on ‘the hand of the master.’

“The Tenth Karmapa, Chöying Dorjé (1604-1674), head of the Karma Kagyu school, was not a professional artist, but in Debreczeny’s words ‘painting and sculpture was his passion (65).’ Chöying Dorjé’s painting style was very different from ‘the mainstream Tibetan painting of his time (69),’ which was dominated by the Menri style from the mid-fifteenth century. Menri is known for its predominance of blue and green palette, strict iconography and iconometry [artistic conventions for the proportions of buddhas, deities and so forth], and a symmetrical composition crowded with details that fill the canvas. Chöying Dorjé was trained in part by his religious teacher, the Sixth Shamar, as well as a master painter of the Menri tradition, but seems to have developed most as an artist through the viewing and copying of Buddhist art encountered in his wide-ranging travels. Chöying Dorjé was especially interested in archaic styles and the art of Tibet’s neighbors, developing a highly personal idiom that incorporated features from what Tibetans called ‘Kashmir’ (northwest India), Nepal, and China and was unusually versatile in styles from the Tibetan Yarlung (7^th – 8^th century), Chinese Song and Yuan, and fifteenth century Tibetan master artists. He was especially fond of the Chinese theme of the Sixteen Arhats, and painted sets of the subject multiple times.”

From Mandala January-March 2013

January 15, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

The Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, Addressing Drug Trafficking in Mexico

Caravan for Peace participants at Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., August 2012. Photo: www.caravan4peace.org.

Within the FPMT mandala, there are many practitioners witnessing first-hand the violence, suffering and chaos that result from war, poverty, crime, corruption and other destructive social forces. In Mexico, the trafficking of illegal drugs has wrecked havoc on Mexican society. Karla Ambrosio, FPMT’s national coordinator for Mexico, shares how the teachings of Buddha are offering peace, insight and direction to those impacted by this violence and how a movement has developed that calls for compassion and love instead of retaliation and hate.

“Rafa is the brother of Juan Carlos and their lovely mother is Doña Mary, who is looking for her four lost sons. Two years ago, Jesús and Raúl made a journey from Michoacán to Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, where they were kidnapped. A year later, Gustavo and Luis disappeared in Veracruz on the Atlantic Coast. The four brothers used to travel to maintain the family business. They are four of the 10,000 desaparecidos (missing people) and the 70,000 murdered when the war against drug trafficking began in Mexico in 2006.

“Doña Mary and her sons Rafa and Juan Carlos are members of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, a citizens’ movement that was born in 2011 when a Mexican poet named Javier Sicilia raised up his voice after his son was murdered and said fearlessly: ‘No more blood! We are sick and tired!’”

From Mandala January-March 2013

January 14, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

The Mummification of His Holiness the 9th Bogd Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche

Mummification box of 9th Khalkha Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche, July 2012

Mongolia, while a traditionally Buddhist country, faced decades of religious oppression in the 20th century. The importance of Mongolia’s spiritual leaders during that period, however, did not decrease. Özer Rinpoche explains the significance of His Holiness the 9th Bogd Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche and the mummification of his holy body.

“His Holiness the Dalai Lama made the decision that the 9th Khalkha Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche should be mummified, a process not decided on or performed by just anyone. Mummification is not used for all lamas, only for the very highest of the high Lamas. Rinpoche’s mummification will be finished around March or April 2013 and his holy body will be placed in the former library of Ganden Monastery, which will be open for the public to receive blessings.”

From Mandala January-March 2013

January 10, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

Paul Donnelly on the Creation of “Like a Waking Dream” [Audio Interview]

Geshe Sopa at Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s house in Aptos, California, 2009. Photo by Kalleen Mortensen.

Wisdom Publications has just published Geshe Lhundub Sopa’s autobiography, Like a Waking Dream. In it, Geshe-la shares detailed memories of his youth and early days in the Tibetan monastic system and offers a first-hand perspective on exile and establishing Tibetan Buddhism in the West.

Paul Donnelly served as the editor of Like a Waking Dream. In 1989, Donnelly entered the Ph.D. program in Buddhist Studies at U.W. and became a student of Geshe-la. He graduated in 1997 and now is an associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University.

Mandala managing editor Laura Miller talked to Donnelly from his home in Flagstaff, Arizona, about working on the book with Geshe-la. The conversation took place over Skype in October 2012. They began the discussion talking about how the book came to be.

Listen to the audio interview on mandalamagazine.org.

From Mandala January-March 2013

January 9, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

His Holiness at Kurukulla Center Photo Gallery

On October 16, 2012, His Holiness the Dalai Lama spent part of the afternoon at Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies in Medford, Massachusetts, in the United States, near Boston. His Holiness’ visit was the fulfillment of a request made by Geshe Tsulga, the center’s much-loved resident geshe who passed away in November 2010.

An enthusiastic crowd of nearly 2,000 people of all ages – including Kurukulla Center members, Boston-area Tibetans and Kurukulla Center neighbors – listened to His Holiness speak on universal human values and inter-religious harmony. For part of his talk, His Holiness spoke directly to the gathered Tibetan community in Tibetan. He expressed his admiration for how they have preserved their language and culture in exile and said that this, along with the strong spirit of Tibetans in Tibet, serves as grounds for hope for the future.

You can read the complete story of His Holiness’ visit in the print edition of Mandala January-March 2013.

Kurukulla Center has kindly provided Mandala with photos of the event, which we are happy to share here.

From Mandala January-March 2013

January 8, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

Geshe Lama Konchog, “An Extraordinary Modern-day Milarepa”

Geshe Lama Konchog. Photo by Nick Dawson.

Geshe Lama Konchog came to Kopan Monastery in 1984, where he spent nearly 18 years devoting himself to teaching the monks and nuns there. Before arriving at Kopan, Geshe Lama Konchog had spent twenty-five years meditating in caves in the Tsum region of Nepal. Geshe Lama Konchog was born in Tibet in 1927 and educated as Sera Monastery. He was known then for his profound commitment to Dharma practice. But it was only after his death in 2001 that his extraordinary qualities were revealed to a wider circle of Dharma practitioners and students. His disciple Geshe Tenzin Zopa detailed the accomplishments of this modern-day Milarepa and shared them with Ven. Robina Courtin for this story published in Mandala March-April 2002.

January 7, 2013 by Michael Jolliffe

Ancient Philosophy in Everyday Life at the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Centre, Nepal

Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Centre, 2012

In 1982, the Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Centre (HBMC) was founded in Kathmandu as the Himalayan Yogic Institute (HYI) by Pam and Karuna Cayton, long-time students of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Thirty years later, their daughter Arya became the spiritual program coordinator there, bringing her experience and fresh perspective to the city center.

“It wasn’t my plan to work at the center my parents were involved in starting 30 years ago. I came to Nepal in 2011 with an idea for starting a social/creative business venture and with an undeniable interest in connecting more with the country where I was born and where spiritual practice is encouraged and accessible.

… After finishing college and doing the November course for the first time in 2009, I was amazed by how many people my age were there at Kopan. Up until that point, if I went to teachings at a center, I was usually the youngest person in the room and because of this I never really had Dharma friends my age. As my personal connection with Buddhism developed, the need for support from peers became more important. At the 2009 November course, I found it really refreshing and inspiring to meet so many young people from all over the world who had a genuine interest in the Dharma. Since then, I have noticed that many people my age are interested in Buddhism, but they just haven’t met with the right situation to learn more. Now as the current SPC at Himalayan Buddhism Meditation Centre, my wish is to help create a really welcoming and comfortable community space for people of all ages and backgrounds to explore Buddhism.”

From Mandala January-March 2013