MOMENT OF HUMBLE PRIDE TO SEE ONE'S STUDENTS TAKE WINGS!

This time returning to my real alma mater Namdroling Monastery, Bylakuppe was different indeed. As visiting resource faculty i've been rendering services to the Padma Mani Translation Committee (PMTC) - whose vision is to create a team of English speaking dharma-teachers, translators, writers, interpreters and administrators - since 2015. 

This time around the news was that four of my students had been selected to attend a two week cultural exchange program in the USA and were invited by the University of Worcester, Massachusetts! This was a moment of humble pride for me for sure but not before due credit is given to the untiring efforts of the students themselves, the brain behind the PMTC itself - the indefatigable Khenpo Sonam Tsewang, the heart essences of the Namdroling Monastery and the wisdom laden guidance of its leading administrator, Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche, fondly called 'Khenchen Guru'.

Jr. nuns session in progress

Jr. monks engrossed in an assignment

Visiting and sharing a meal with wise old friend Choechok Gyatso at his swank new home, Sera University, Bylakuppe.

Sr. Monks at PMTC

Dining out with the chosen few. What a privilege!

Being felicitated by Khenpo Sonam Tsewang-1

Felicitation -2

One for the camera please!

A family that eats together, stays together.

Consecration of Relic Stupa, Namdroling Monastery, Bylakuppe, 28-29.4.2018.

A stupa by definition is a dome, mound or pyramid shaped commemorative monument erected as a Buddhist shrine containing the body relics of saintly Buddhist monks and nuns. A stupa is a representation of the body, speech and mind of a realized lama who has passed away and therefore acts as a living presence of the Buddha, his protective powers, compassion and wisdom. Stupas also act as powers of support to the seekers and followers for meditative practices. Such stupas in several forms - each shape bearing a specific significance - and sizes are found all over India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tibet and among other Buddhist nations and/or where Buddhism is gaining rapidly in embracing a way of life and living, death and dying based on studied faith, universal responsibility and secular ethics.

Recently i had the good fortune of attending the consecration of relic stupa of great relevance and significance at the Namdroling Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka.

Located 90kms from Mysore, this monastery is a must do on the local tourist circuit and is popularly referred to as ‘the Golden Temple’ by locals. Founded in the year 1963 and completed in 1979 by H.H. Padma Norbu Rinpoche after fleeing Tibet due to political instability and invasion by Chinese forces, this monastery of the Palyul lineage of Nyingmapa tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, today houses a total of 4000 monks and 800 nuns; in its junior school (lobdra), school of rituals (dratsang) and monastic college (shedra), all of who study under the umbrella of the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, a high calibre global university for higher Buddhist studies. A full-fledged Retreat Centre, set up in 1985, is where about 50 monks can engage in deep practice at one time, for the traditional cycle of three years, three months and three days. A similar retreat centre has also recently been set up for nuns. A large prayer hall - Padmasambhava Buddhist Vihara – with gigantic statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, Guru Padmasambhava (Founder of Tibetan Buddhism)and Buddha Amitayus (Buddha of Limitless Light/Long Life Buddha) is big enough for few thousand monks and nuns to perform prayers simultaneously, is the mainstay of Namdroling Monastery, the mother monastery of which is located in Tibet.

H.H. Padma Norbu Rinpoche was born in 1932 from prophecy of the 5^th Dzogchen Rinpoche Thubten Chokyi Dorji (1872-1935). Astounding signs appeared  - unseasonal blooming of flowers, rainbows encircling nearby hills and so on - as he was given birth to by mother Dzomkyid and fathered by Sonam. Over his lifetime until passing away into mahaparinirvana in 2009, HH accomplished tasks unimaginable and unfathomable to the ordinary across India, Tibet, Bhutan, Canada, the UK and USA, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Taiwan, Germany, Nepal, Singapore, Macau, Malaysia and others, conferring transmissions and empowerments of texts, practices and rituals to students, both ordained and lay practitioners, all along.

It was therefore only befitting that a stupa of his relics was erected and consecrated in the finest manner possible at Namdroling Monastery in South India. Reliquary stupas of HH have also been built in Palyul Monastery in Tibet, Bodh Gaya and Namdroling Nunnery, Bylakuppe in the recent past after his mahaparinirvana.

After two days of the puja ceremony, conducted by the senior most lineage holders and abbots of the monastery, the stupa was consecrated, blessed and dedicated to the people at large who then placed their offerings and prayers of deep devotion and pure aspirations before it. Representation of devotees and sponsors numbering over 300 from far flung places like Vietnam, Taiwan , the USA besides cities of India made it to the event. Monks and nuns worked day and night to make our stay comfortable with more than well laid out arrangements for food, stay and other venue arrangements. An impressive coffee table book titled “The Great Play of Infinite Merit” was released and distributed among attendees, showcasing the life and times of H.H. Padma Norbu Rinpoche with an elaborative commentary on stupa details.

H.E. Mugsang Kuchen Rinpoche, who oversaw the construction and subsequent consecration of the stupa says: “Although i had initial difficulty to study the authentic reliquary stupas in the Potala, Tibet and also find architects and sculptors for them, it is a matter of great joy for all of us that this task is successfully completed. It is an object of veneration for the sangha of Namdroling Monastery as well as a source of accumulating merit for his disciples who will come later. From a worldly point of view it is a memorial of his legacy. There is nothing called ‘distance’ as far as the blessing of one’s root guru is concerned, for there is a saying, “For those whose heart is filled with devotion, I, the Lotus-Born, have not gone astray. I am resting at your doorstep.”

Salient features of the Relic Stupa:

•       It is a Tashi Gomang Stupa – a stupa of many auspicious doors, symbolic of the first teaching of Sakyamuni Buddha’s Four Noble Truths in Sarnath
•      The supporting structure of the stupa is about 8ft tall made of finely engraved agarwood (aloeswood) 
•       Intricate carvings of eight lions on a base of lotus petals, sixteen Offering Goddesses holding sense offerings stand is majestic charm on lotuses
•     Pillars and shafts between the lions and the borders above are further highlighted by fine carvings of a artform called norzin patra, a Tibetan carving artform featuring jewels surrounded by flowers
•     Above these layers are attractive carvings of the Eight Auspicious Symbols, Eight Auspicious Substances, Seven Secondary Precious Objects and Five Sensory Objects
•     Above this base structure rests the chorten or stupa which is 14ft tall and nearly 7ft wide encircled by 3ft bronze statues of the Eight Manifestations of Guru Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), all made specially in Nepal
•     The stupa itself is made of agarwood and finished with silver sheeting with all of the carvings inscribed on gilded copper plates
•     Carvings of the main stupa are inlaid with coral and turquoise. The lower part of the throne appears to be held aloft by an elephant, horse, peacock, mythological shang-shang bird-half human and half eagle-and lions.
•     The four steps above this layer are symbolic of the Four Immeasurables (loving kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity) with the borders embellished with turquoise and coral
•     The topmost portion of the stupa (bumpa) symbolizes the seven elements of enlightenment is adorned with pendants and garlands with its four sides made of refined bronze with neatly arranged designs
  
•          The crown ornament is made of a blend of gold and copper elements with its surface emblazoned with the seed syllables of the five Buddha families, both male and female in the Ranjana (Lantsa) script
•       The parasol of the stupa representing the compassion of the buddhas is adorned by hanging tassels and wreath of flowers on top of which is the conjoined sun disc for compassion and moon disc representing wisdom
•       The ceiling above the stupa is the mandala of Gathering of Vidyadharas drawn in liquid gold encircled by a Tibetan mantra to the omniscient Lama
•        Inside the stupa is the central axis pole of red sandal alongside and within which are placed sacred mantras, dharinis, body relics, bodhisattva vase and other sacred, precious and medicinal items of great significance according to the scriptures

Memorabilia.

Temple by night.

With attendees.

The Reliquary Stupa

Stupa Post Card

LOVE AND ATTACHMENT: Getting it Right

Speaking Tree, Times of India, 15.02.2018

Easy Read:

A young student of mine wrote to me recently and enquired: “Is getting attached to anyone or anything bad? What is the difference between attachment and love?” It is not an uncommon question she had asked. Here’s my explanation:

According to Buddhist definition, there is a distinction to be made between loving someone or something and being attached to it. For this, fundamentally we must understand the difference between 'attachment' and 'love’.

Attachment (Tib: due pa) is based on desire - not necessarily limited to sexual – but one which is grasping in nature based on the ignorant state that things and people are permanent. Attachment is conditional love and is discriminatory in nature. This means that there is a pre-condition set in order to offer love eg: if the judgemental mind establishes a ‘closeness’ to someone or something then we tend to cling to it or grasp at it more and at times don’t seem to get enough of it! If not then we are less interested in it and may even begin to dislike or hate it. There is an ‘if-then’ conditionality linked to it. Attachment is based on 'object' of love arising from a selfish perspective of ‘i alone want to be happy’. There is an action we offer based on ‘subject-object’ duality. Attachment is binding. For these reasons attachment is based on wrong or impure consciousness. Attachment is a non-virtuous, afflictive or contaminated emotion (akushala bhava) leading to negative karma and suffering.

Nature does not support attachment. A tree is not attached to the flower or fruit it bears. Nor does the flower or fruit show any such tendency. On ripening, there is a spontaneous release from both. Same is the case in the animal kingdom. A tigress loves her cub no less than any mother would love her child; but once the cub is sufficiently grown up to fend for itself, there is natural and spontaneous release from the tigress and cub.  

Love (Tib: jampa) on the other hand is based on understanding of impermanence. That something which is born will pass away and hence there is need and reason to love.  This emotion is desireless for any reason whatsoever. It is unconditional and non-discriminatory i.e. there is no pre-condition of 'if-then' at play here.  Much the same way as a mother loves her child unconditionally. It is based on 'reason' for love arising from the basis that it’s not just me alone but all beings who want to be happy and not be in suffering; and therefore need our affection. Love is releasing. For these reasons it is seen to be coming from right or pure consciousness or we can say, mindful consciousness. Sanskrit words used often here are 'karuna', ‘metta’ and 'maitri'. Loving kindness is a virtuous, non-afflictive or uncontaminated emotion (kushala bhava) that leads to joy and positive karmic result.

So, it is clear that any and every kind of relationship should have a close bonding for one another based on love/loving kindness, care being taken that contamination of attachment does not seep in. This maintains the purity of the relationship which becomes stronger, long lasting and capable of weathering many a storm during one’s life.

Attachment is therefore a kind of emotion that needs to be purified and be replaced with its positive counterpart, that of loving kindness. There is danger of attachment becoming a habit if we are not careful to see the difference.

Go ahead! Expand your heart with real love and true affection upon all other beings!

Girish Deshpande(The author is a Pune based practitioner with Ngakpa ordination of the Nyingma tradition of Palyul lineage. More on www.urbanlama.blogspot.com and www.speakingtree.in )