NEWS LETTER

Apr/May 2012 NEWSLETTER Founder: Ven Khensur Kangurwa Lobsang Thubten Rinpoche

Thekchen Shedrub Choeling Tibetan Buddhist Institute

If Kyabje Khensur Kangurwa Rinpoche was

the sun then Geshela would be his flames.

GESHE JAMPA GYALTSEN

presents

TWELVE LINKS OF DEPENDENT ORIGINATION

6th, 7th, 8th April

How life arises, exists, con-tinues and ceases

The Buddha said there are twelve links in the chain of Dependent Or iginat ion (everyth ing i s interconnected). Everything affects everything else. Everything that is, is because other things are which is the Buddhist teaching on how things come to be, are, and cease to be. According to this teaching, no beings or phenomena exist independently of other beings and phenomena. The Twelve Links are Ignorance, Karma (out of ignorance come thoughts, words and actions that sew the deeds of Karma), Consciousness, Name and Form, Faculties (sense organs), Contact, Sensation, Craving, Clinging, Becoming, Birth, Old Age and Death and shows us how Dependent Origination ‘works’. Registration Essential

Kyabje Khensur Kangurwa

Lobsang Thubten Rinpoche

These pics below were taken at Sera Jey in July 2010. The one above was a couple of days before our Precious

Teacher left for India on 19th Dec ‘11

1 2 3

4 5 6

1. Kyabje Rinpoche offering text 2. HH Dalia Lama looking intently 3. Acknowledging & respecting the text 4. Thank you, thank you 5. Two phenomenal minds touch 6. Would love to know what was so funny!

In the background, our Tenzin, and Geshe Jamyang and Geshe Dorjee beside Kyabje Rinpoche

2

Thekchen Shedrub Choeling Tibetan Buddhist Institute Inc

Spiritual Head His Holiness Dalai Lama

Founder and Teacher Kyabje Khensur Kangurwa Lobsang Thubten Rinpoche

Chanzoe (Private Secretary of Total Affairs ) and

Founders Representative Nawang Thubten (Tenzin)

Teacher Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen

Sangha Ven Jampa Tenzin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Translator and Director of Publishing Ilia Durovic

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Management Committee Director: Chris Ridley Assistant Director: Aaron Trott Treasurer: Tania Bell Centre Manager: Carole Armstrong

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Transcribing: Malvin Artley Newsletter: Carole Armstrong Librarian: Ven Jampa Tenzin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tibetan Sponsorship Schemes www.monksponsorship.org Administrators: Nawang Thubten (Tenzin) and Carole Armstrong Manager: Chrys Dombroyannis Finance Officer: Carole Armstrong

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TIBETAN BUDDHIST INSTITUTE

Thekchen Shedrub Choeling

8 Ross Avenue Flinders Park SA 5025

Office: 08 8351 8788 Centre Manager: 0404 839 293 tbi@internode.on.net www.tibetanbuddhistinstitute.org

DIRECTORS NEWS “Let me see that proper devotion to my kind Master, Foundation of all good qualities, is the root of the Path, And devote myself to him with great Respect and many efforts

– inspire me thus!” (Lamrim Prayer)

As the days give rise to weeks and 2012 becomes established, the program at TBI is opening like a beautiful flower with the scent of the Dharma delighting young and old alike! The soil is enriched as the manure of our collective minds is steadily turned and mixed with the transformative chemistry of the teachings and the various medita-tional practices. We are so fortunate to have a specialist gardener of such renown who, although appears as a humble, affable friend, is so qualified in his craft that he is honoured and revered in his homeland where heads are scratched as to why he should want to try and grow anything, here in this desert! I of course am referring to our esteemed resident teacher, Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen. In February, the opportunity to steady the mind at the Calm Abiding Day with Ven Jampa Tenzin, celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year with Geshela and a wonderful Guru Puja offering, together with the clarity, simplicity and yet profound transmission of the essential Buddhist texts, the Lam Rim and Mind Training like the Rays of the Sun, has encouraged and inspired all who have had the good fortune to participate, to keep cultivating our own gardens and so to feed ourselves and with plenty to give to others! In his thought provoking seminar, “Why be religious at all?” Ilia illustrated the challenging environment in which we find ourselves in terms of spiritual practice by way of a comparison with the priorities of the small community of 9,000 which built the Cathedral of Chartres (France) in 1260 at a cost $630 million (adjusted) and the Sydney ANZ sports stadium built in 1999 at a cost of AU$ 624 million. Perhaps the current build up for the Olympics is a further example of where our priorities lie! Into March, the healing rays of Medicine Buddha Day

continue to shine while the auspicious Day of Miracles, Guru

Puja with Geshela deeply moved all who could attend. Ilia’s

seminar on Death and its Aftermath will present special foot-

age from New Zealand Television of Thupten Rinpoche

(Kyabje Khensur Kangyur Rinpoche's disciple). He spent

three weeks in death meditation (thugdam),under medical

supervision in Dunedin before being cremated, and this

challenges our sceptical minds regarding the

existence of past and future lives. This is a perquisite for

genuine Buddhist practice and as Geshela said recently, the

only reasonable basis for ethical behaviour. You may

disagree - informed debate is at the heart of sharpening our

thinking, wisdom being the antidote to our sluggish deluded

minds. Continued on page 12

3

SATURDAYS

MEDITATION for HEALING 14th and 28th April; 12th and 26th May 2-3pm

MEDICINE BUDDHA PRACTICE 14th and 28th April; 12th and 26th May 3.30-4.30pm

COMPASSION DAY

Saturday 5th May 9.30am to 4.30pm Members $10 Non Members $12. Please bring lunch to share

SUNDAYS

LAM RIM DISCUSSION SESSIONS

1st, 15th, 22nd April

6th, 13th, 20th May

All classes: 1.30 to 3pm

Donations always gratefully received

for all these classes

Ven Jampa Tenzin is running the

Introduction to Buddhism class for April

and May. See page 7 for further details.

Ven Jampa Tenzin

RESULT OF SURVEY

Thank you to those people who answered the survey asking for preferred times for the

following practices. The majority preferred to leave it as it is.

DEITY PRACTICE TIMES

Vajrasattva Practice 6pm every Friday. Yamantaka and Vajrayogini Practice alternate eve-ry Friday at 7pm. These last two practices are only for people who have taken the initiations. Medicine Buddha Practice every second Saturday at 3.30pm. Green Tara and Four arm Chenrezig practice alternate every Sunday morning at 9.45am Please check the calendar for dates and times as occasionally they change if other classes are being held. Other than Yamantaka and Vajrayogini practices, everyone is welcome to come to all other practices.

COMPASSION DAY

A day of Meditation and Practice including Four and One Thousand Armed Chenrezig and

Meditations on developing the awakening heart of compassion

Led by Ven Jampa Tenzin Saturday 5th May

9.30am to 4.30pm

$10 members $12 non members Please bring lunch to share

4

“Some people need so little, but they need so

little so much” $10.00 a month sponsors Monks (at Sera

Je Monastic University in India); Nuns ( at

Nyagye Nunnery in Tibet and Jungchub

Choeling Nunnery in India); Lay Tibetans

(mostly in camps and villages surrounding

Sera Monastery and mostly children);

Students (Gyalten Charity School, Tibet,

operates entirely from donations. These

children travel far to attend this school, so

that they can learn, as well as the

usual curriculum, English, Tibetan,

Tibetan Medicine and Culture).

Donations are gladly accepted for the

Emergency Medical Fund, which was set up

by Ven Khensur Rinpoche for any monk at

Sera or anyone in the nearby lay communi-

ty , who is in urgent medical need. Any do-

nations to this fund are most gratefully

received.

For 33 cents a day, can you really afford NOT to sponsor a Tibetan?

info@monksponsorship.org

www.monksponsorship.org

08 8351 8788

TIBETAN SPONSORSHIP SCHEMES TIBETAN SPONSORSHIP SCHEMES

Do you know ....... what a Bell (Dorje and Bell) is?

The bell, is rich in symbolic meaning and power. Mainly the bell is the mandala of Prajnaparamita, the Great Mother, she from whom all reality comes forth. By its sound, the bell invites or attracts the deities to attend or participate and warns or drives away obstructing forces. The ringing of the bell can remind one of the emptiness of phenomena or bring the mind into greater awareness. As a musical instrument, its sound can be an offering to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

The hollow of the bell represents the void from which all phenomena arise, including the sound of the bell, and the clapper represents form. Together they symbolize wisdom (emptiness) and compassion (form or appearance). The sound, like all phenomena, arises, radiates forth and then dissolves back into emptiness.

If you look closely at the bell, you will see many markings or designs on it. Each of these has a meaning. On the rim of the bell is the disc of space that gives rise to the sound of emptiness. The vajra fence, the indestructible circle of protection which encircles the bell is bordered on both sides by a ring of pearls. The bottom ring is a ring of wisdom flames, representing the five primordial wisdoms. The top ring of pearls is another protective circle symbolizing the development of the higher states of consciousness which allow one to enter the celestial palace of Prajnaparamita. The flames are associated with Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, the vajras with Vajrapani, the Bodhisattva of Power, and the lotuses with Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. This indicates that spiritual qualities are the true protection.

Above the protective border are the makaras holding loops of jewelled pendants with vajras in between them. The jewelled pendants decorate the celestial palace. The vajras in between symbolize the eight charnel grounds within the mandala. Above the jeweled loops and between the makaras are eight lotus petals representing the eight Bodhisattvas. The lotus petals are marked with syllables representing the eight consorts or offering goddesses. Above this is another double row of pearls with a row of vajras in between. These represent the inner walls and inner protection circle of the mandala.

The stem of the bell rises above this. At its base are lotus petals, representing Prajnaparamita’s lotus throne. On the stem there are two sets of pearl rings, a lower set and an upper set. Together these represent the six perfections. In between them is either a square or round base. The square base represents the earth, the round a long life vase. The long life vase symbolizes the nectar of accomplishment and represents the nectar-filled body of the goddess Prajnaparamita whose face is above. Prajna-paramita represents the perfection (paramita) of the absolute non-duality of all the Buddha’s wisdom or discriminating awareness (prajna). The binding of her hair represents the binding of all views into non-dual reality. There are five wisdom-jewels on her crown, which overlap onto the five front petals of the upper vajra’s eight-petaled lotus pedestal. The bell is crowned at the top with a five or nine-pointed vajra.

These two instruments give us much to con-template and meditate upon. Deepening in our understanding of what they represent and using them in our practice with that deepened understanding give them the potential of being very valuable tools for our path. As we become more familiar with the various Buddhas and their qualities, and participate in ritual ceremony and empowerment we move closer to the realization of our own Buddha nature, which is, after all, the point.

5

Rob Hattam

Saturday April 21st

World religions: similarities and differences It is important to understand clearly the similarities and the differences in the answers proposed by the great world religions to be able to make an educated and sensible choice which will be able to help us throughout our life.

Saturday May 19th

The Buddhist specificity Buddhism is unique in many respects among the world's great religions: this conference will ad-dress the Buddhist difference through a presen-tation of the Four Seals and the Four Noble Truths.

Everyone is most welcome to come along and hear

this extremely well informed speaker on

Buddhism from the Western view.

Facility fee: $12.00

TBI Members $10.00

All classes 2—4.00pm

PRELINIMARY NOTICE 2012 Symposium

11th and 12th August

TBI's forthcoming 3rd Annual Symposium is dedicated to

"Buddhist Ethics in the 21st century" and promises to be quite exciting with speakers who are both long-term Western Buddhists and successful professionals in their respective fields addressing the issue of how they relate Buddhist teachings to their professional lives and how to live Buddhist ethics in the 21st century. The speakers will include: Graham Meadows, Professor of Adult Psychiatry, Monash University (Melbourne)

Sylvia Barber, Psychiatrist and psychotherapist (Sydney)

Pamela Lyon, ARC Postdoctoral fellow, University of Adelaide

Richard Bradshaw, Director of Johnston Withers (Adelaide)

Ralf-Yves Zurbrugg, Deputy Head of the University of Adelaide Business School

Ilia Durovic, Translator at the Tibetan Buddhist Institute (Adelaide) We hope numerous students will attend the symposium as in 2010 and 2011 and bring their own personal touch to what promises to be a fascinating and thought-provoking gathering.

The latest pictures of the reincarnate of Ugyen Tsetan Rinpoche, Tulku Ugen Tenzin Chonye Rinpoche.

6

REMINDER:

Tibetan Sponsorship

Schemes

If you are not up to date with your sponsorship pledge, could you please make every effort to send in your contribution as soon as possible. The DUE DATE is 1st June and December each year. In the month of December 2011, sponsors paid in for 377 sponsees, making a lot of work in a single month, so making payments before June and December eases the work load. Payments can be made at any time during the year, so please don’t wait till Jun or Dec. Apart from the data entry onto the spreadsheet to enter all payments, there were arrears letters (1, 2, & 3) to be sent out, of which over half were posted (at 60cents each for the stamp if within Australia) or TXT (again an ex-pensive exercise). So, we would really love it if you could make sure that you are up to date by 1st June and December. Last distribution (December 2011) 79 sponsees received either a nil amount or less than $60.00. If you can’t make the payment, then please let us know. In case you have forgotten or don’t know, the entire $10.00 a month goes to your sponsee….nothing is kept back for running costs of the scheme. We depend on the kindness of a few people who send extra with their pledge, to keep the scheme going. We endeavour to keep costs down by using email, that is IF WE HAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS ! So, two things to remember: in by the due date or any time beforehand and please give us your email address, and if you change it, please let us know. Carole Armstrong (Administrator)

FOUNDATION DAY 25th April (Anzac Day)

CELEBRATING OUR SEVENTH YEAR

If the community park opposite TBI is complet-ed by 25th, and if the weather is pleasant, we will have a BBQ picnic in the park. If the weath-er is not so good, then it will be held at TBI…..just walk across the road!!! Please bring food to share (BBQ available for meat lovers) and drinks . We will start the day at 12 noon, with our Director, Chris Ridley welcoming everyone. This will be followed by short prayers, after which we will begin lunch. Mid way, Geshela will say a few words, and whilst we hoe into cake, Chris will give a brief chat, oh and by the way, any volunteers for baking cakes?? If finished, the basketball court will give ample opportunity for those with expertise with a round ball to show us what they can do. We could have, say the TBI Tibetan Class versus the rest of TBI, or maybe management committee versus the under four year olds. Speaking of little tots, there is a playground in this park which looks great for little ones to play on, bearing in mind that TBI does not take any responsibility for any mishaps, however very happy to supply cuddles, bandaids and panadol.

THE GEM SHOP SALE for the MONTH OF

APRIL

Bags, bags and more bags !!! $25.00 down to $19.00 $22.95 down to $18.00 $17.50 down to $12.50 Grab one for yourself, or give as a present. Too good to miss, so get

in quick!

7

MONDAYS 6.30 pm It is important that we have a tamed,

disciplined mind and a warm heart. The mind

is intrinsically pure, with a positive motivation,

and our verbal and physical actions can

become positive, producing wholesome

results, results that are pleasant and

beneficial. On the other hand, when the mind

remains coarse, we commit harsh verbal and

physical actions, which by nature harm or

hurt others, with the result being unpleasant

and painful. Meditation helps to calm the

mind and we can then become more peaceful

and disciplined.

Everyone is most welcome to come and learn

to calm the mind, body, feelings and

thoughts. Lead by experienced students on a

monthly roster.

Leaders:

April: Neal Powell

May: Sam Pons

LEARN TO MEDITATE

INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM

Mondays 7.30 pm with Ven Jampa Tenzin

Eight week course

April 2,16,23,30

May 7,14,21,28

Are you curious about Buddhism? Would you

like to know more about the Buddhist way of

life? Buddhism has been around for 2500 years

and is a philosophy that offers a way of life that

promotes the potential of the individual and

offers ways of understanding ourselves and the

world around us. Introduction to Buddhism is an

eight week course which will give you an

overview of the Buddha’s teachings, and how to

apply them in daily life

Respectful Behaviour

Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen

We would like to remind you of the courtesy and respect that

we should show to our Precious Teacher, Geshe Jampa

Gyaltsen.

Please stand when Geshela enters an area like the reception, library, shop or kitchen. If you are sitting outside in the courtyard, and Geshela appears, then again, please stand. It is impolite to stay seated, especially if he is greeting you and you remain seated. If you have already greeted Geshela that day, then there is no need to stand again, unless he has initiated a conversation. Some people are now using the term Gen or Genla. This word means Respected Teacher, so it is appropriate, however, it is perhaps too soon to use it with Geshela. The term signifies a solid long term relationship between Teacher and Student, and therefore takes time to develop. As Geshela has only been teaching here for 7-8 months, it is probably too soon. Gompa: You may have noticed that we now have five minutes of silence followed by five minutes of Shakyamuni Mantra before the start of Wednesday teachings. If you come into the Gompa before 6.50pm, please speak quietly and be mindful that it is a consecrated space. It is ideal if everyone can assemble in the Gompa before 6.50pm to bring ones mind into focus on the forthcoming teachings and therefore be present and prepared when Geshela enters. If you are running late, which I understand can be unavoidable at times, please come in the foyer door as quietly as possible. Outings: If you would like to take Geshela out, you need to ask either myself, Carole Armstrong or Neal Powell. A weeks notice would be appreciated as Geshela does have a busy schedule. You will be given a form to fill in and sign, so that we can monitor the number of times Geshela is taken off the premises, where he is going, contacts for the person taking him etc etc. This is to ensure respectful care and safety of our Teacher.

Carole Armstrong

Donations

are always

gratefully

received for

both classes

8

News from Sera! Well, the news is somewhat the same. We are currently in the off period after the Tibetan New Year which is a time traditionally used for memorisation retreat. So, inspired by a recent quote from Sakya Pandita currently posted on the kitchen wall we are all using our

time to memorise and prepare for the year ahead. The quote in brief is that the texts one has memorised is equivalent to taking wealth with you to your next life, quite a strong message. Here at Sera the context of ordination provides uncommon benefits for the ordinary minded individuals like myself. Combined with the environment of an almost counter-culture to western idealism found in the 'community not I' Tibetan culture and the spiritual depth of India herself and you have the makings of something potentially amazing. That being said it's the difficulties we face, we being all of us, monks, nuns and laity, that is the ideal context for our practice. Buddhism/dharma isn't easy and it was never going to be. The challenge of confronting our minds is the hardest endeavour we face. We often hear stories of extreme adventurers who have climbed Mt. Everest or its equivalent only to be told more often than not that their motivation was not simply climbing a mountain but in fact the challenge of pushing themselves so hard that the pure knowledge gain about themselves is in and of itself their main reward/goal. Some may say its a worldly dharma and that its not a spiritual practice but perhaps that is a little hasty. We, ourselves need to do the same at work, at home, with friends, with family. Taking ourselves to uncomfortable places with the question, why? or with a healthy doubt that fuels one's investigation is spiritual given the right motivation. For example, we often say "All beings want happiness and wish to be free of suffering, and like that we are the same" His Holiness often brings this point up at teachings.

I remember Khensur Rinpoche saying "it's a nice idea, but its needs to be more that just that". For myself, and this might sound weird, I'm trying to see if in actuality that's true Do I really want happiness?. Do I really want happiness when I re-enforce a negative self-image? or Do I really want happiness when I yell at someone? An easy answer is yes, but it can sometimes be used purely to avoid that fact that we have a short temper or we think about ourselves in a negative way which for some reason we don't want to look into. No one likes thinking negatively about themselves, even though we may do it. That dwelling on our imperfections is not the aim of investigation about our minds, our condition. Depression, sadness or frustration is not the antidote to anything. It's our job to move beyond faith, it's our responsibility. Even our faith towards our teacher should be support-ed by reason. Like two hands when climbing a ladder. The exchange that happens between our faith and reasoning is important. Faith, many people have. Those who have Reasoning, Experience, is perhaps smaller in number. From my limited time here and very small experience it is evident that study is important for us all in order to develop these two (faith and reasoning) together. I urge all of you back home to appreciate the teacher you have with you and not be fooled by the Tibetan expertise of humility. How do we strengthen our reasoning and faith? We strengthen it through listening. which here pointed out by a friend, subsumes reading, attending teachings, memorising, recitations and study, not just "listening". This is the gateway into our reasoning and faith. So engaging like this with Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen's teachings is necessary, and to enhance our capacity to do that we must study. We must engage in the 'listening' from within the three fold division of listening, thinking and meditating. I know time is much more of a problem back home in the life of 9 to 5 but nonetheless anytime spent investigating the d h a r m a , G e s h e l a ' s teachings or whatever you may be looking at is time well spent. In the s a m e w a y a s memorisation is like making an investment, so is anytime we put an effort into our 'Listening'. Warm Regards, Jampa Ben

News from Sera with Jampa Sherab

9

We gladly accept donations of dharma books for our growing library. Our librarian is Ven. Jampa Tenzin frandrake449@gmail.com

Face about the Place

Sam Doherty Part 1

Tibetan Buddhist Institute is extremely fortunate to have two people, in Ilia Durovic and Sam Doherty, who can translate the Dharma with the skilful blend of deep understanding, empathy and clarity. Those who attended Geshela’s wonderful teaching on the Four Noble Truths at the start of the year greatly appreciated Sam’s considerate and thoughtful translation…which is kind of interesting when you learn that a few years ago Sam vowed never to translate again! We’ll get to that part of his story later on…but first…back to the beginning. One of Sam’s professors at Melbourne University was a great follower of the philosopher Krishnamurti, so at the end of 1984 he suggested Sam should go to India to see Krishnamurti give teachings at the Theosophical Society in Adyar.

“I was very enthusiastic to go and I was sure that it was all going to be wonderful, but when I got there I was very unimpressed because it was a very strange organisation, Sam recalls. Krishna-murti always taught you didn’t need a teacher and you didn’t need a path but he was treated as if he was a god in this ashram environment and it didn’t sit well with me. So I took off by myself and travelled around India for six months and ended up at Kopan Monastery in Nepal in 1985 where I met Geshe Lama Lhundrup and took refuge.”

Sam remembers that travelling alone around India as a 19-year-old, and seeing what the country had to offer, was quite shocking so by the time he arrived at the monastery he was quite open to someone explaining the meaning of life to him.

“I spent almost a month at Kopan and did a course, and it was after that I met Geshe Lama Lhundrup and had a chance to talk with him. Following that I signed on the dotted line!”

Sam came back to Melbourne and started going to Geshe Doga’s teachings at Tara Institute twice a week and reading everything he could in between.

“After about a year of that I thought I knew everything there was to know about Buddhism and so the next step obviously was to go off into a solitary retreat and hit all the buttons to see what happened. I bought a forest block in Northern New South Wales and after a year of being there I realised that it was a hopeless case and that without instruction I was never going to get anywhere, so I sold my car and went back to India.”

It would have been pretty interesting to have bumped into Sam back then!

“I had the long beard, long hair that I wore in a topknot and a loincloth and I travelled with saddhu’s for a little while. Then it became pretty obvious how easy it was to fake being a yogi or a spiritual being – especially in the Hindu tradition where it was more about disengaging from the world – and I came to the conclusion that the whole thing was a bit of a con!

“I also felt that before I left India, I needed to find a Tibetan and tell them that it was a load of rubbish, so I went to Dharamsala.”

Sam met an American monk who was about his age and told him his great visions of meditating had lead to nothing and that the saddhu’s he’ d encountered were “all idiots” and that he was looking for a lama to pay out on for wasting so much of his time!

“This American monk told me about a lama he’d met who had just come out of a 10-year solitary retreat and said; ‘If you want to have a crack at a Tibetan do it to this guy!’ so we found someone to translate and he took me to meet the lama. Continued next

If you would like to make an appointments to have an interview with Geshela, please contact the office. Times available are on Mondays & Fridays from 3.30 to 5.30pm (1/2 hour timeslots). It is appropriate to make a monetary offering to both Geshela and the translator and questions should focus on spiritual/dharma matters. Having made an appointment, it is important that you ring if you are delayed or need to cancel, and also to be aware that occasionally an appointment may go over time and there may be a delay. Patience is required:) Interviews will not be available in February, and will begin when Tenzin returns from India, probably in April.

10

Face about the Place “I told him how I was feeling and he told me that’s quite normal when you meditate.

“He talked about doing a lot of meditation in solitary retreat…that at the start it does all seem hopeless and it does all seem nihilistic and it does all seem like it’s a big game and that it seems like there’s nothing there once you strip everything away. He said that could make you feel unhappy and despondent and that it’s common to a lot of people at the very start of learning to meditate – I was in my early 20’s at this stage. He pointed out that he’d kicked on through another 10 years of meditating after feeling like that and said ‘let me tell you it’s worth doing that.”

After that Sam went up to the Tushita Meditation Centre above McLeod Gang. He remembers at that time it was just the meditation room and a couple of huts.

“I had a dormitory to myself for a few weeks and after the way I’d been living in India I felt like a king! Then Gen. Lobsang Gyatso, the Head of the Dialectic School, gave a two week course on ‘Praise to Dependant Arising’ that was later turned into a book. This man was like the Muhammed Ali of debate! If you were going to ask a question you had to make sure that you’d thought it through and that you were also pre-pared to get slapped around. He really instilled in me the awareness that you had to be tough to understand it intellectually and that it wasn’t just negating things…it was about negating and then reconstructing. It was easy to negate and hard to reconstruct and the battle was to reconstruct.”

Then Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, the Tibetan lama whom Sam had talked with just after arriving in Dharmasala, came and did a course and he asked him for advice.

“He suggested a Dorje Sempa (Vajrasattva) retreat and much to my embarrassment he cancelled his teachings one day so that I could have the initiation for that. Then he told me to go and learn the practice and think about how deeply I would accept the notion of studying with a teacher.”

Sam came back to Australia and travelled around for a year with the mindset of ‘surely as an Australian my spiritual connection must be here in this country’ so he went searching for it through traditional lands and in hundreds of places with Aboriginal rock art.

“In the end, I got to Alice Springs, sold the car, and went back to India!”

Once there Sam ploughed through as many translated books on Tibetan philosophy that he could get his hands on, found out where Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche was going to be, and readied himself to go and say that he was prepared to study properly.

“I was set for him to ask me any question about Buddhism and that I’d be able to show him that I’d done my study and knew what it was all about so I asked him if he’d be the spiritual friend and instruct me on meditation. Do you know the only question he asked me was; ‘Don’t you get afraid when you swim in really deep water…what would do you if a shark swam up to you?’

“From that point on I started living around him and I wanted to enrol in a course at the Dialectic school but he forbade me from doing that. He said if I was going to live in India I should seek out meditators and spend time with them and learn from them because I could study anywhere in the world. I spent about six months doing that and living in quite humble conditions but then I tried to get out of that commitment and go back to study. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche said to me that when Westerners do too much study they begin to think they know what the Dharma is but the more you meditate, the more you realise how hard it is to know what the Dharma really is. He then said that if you’re wanting to give up because you’ve realised that you just don’t get it then you should keep going because that’s a sign that you’re on the right path! That’s what kept sustain-ing me…trying to do stuff for which there were no re-sults. I kept going back to Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche and saying ‘look, I’m living in a cow shed and it’s tough and there are no results’ and he kept saying to me ‘you’ll experience the results in decades from now but if you meditate for results now you’ll lose heart.” Next issue…a life in the New York spotlight…and the moment when Sam vowed he would never translate again! An Interview with Grant Cameron

REFUGE CEREMONY

Saka Dawa 7am on 4th June

Taking Refuge is an important commitment, the Buddhist version of baptism: one becomes Buddhist for life and one should attend the teachings regularly thereafter, as it is in the teach-ing one is taking refuge.

"Saka Dawa” an auspicious day in Tibetan Buddhism, is the celebration of Buddha Shakyamuni's birthday, enlightenment and Parinirwana (passing away). In Tibet, this is the most important holy day of the year, a day to remember Buddha. During this month practition-ers place special emphasis on Dharma practice like circumambulation of monas-

teries and stupas, prostrations, taking precepts,

reciting mantras, offering mandalas, doing sadha-nas and saving animals lives, etc. We encourage students to take the Eight Mahayana Precepts at home.

TBI will hold a Guru Puja at 7pm to mark the occasion. Everyone is most welcome to come along, and please bring healthy celebratory food along to offer.

11

COOKING UP A STORM A regular column from Natalie Playford on nutrition and vegetarian cooking for healthier, happier Buddhists. Each newsletter we’ll examine a different topic and you’ll get a free recipe.!!

Natalie Develops a Sort-Of Low GI Eating Plan

A couple of weeks before Christmas last year, I noticed a heading on a magazine: “Lose 5k before Christmas!” That made me laugh! How on earth could you lose weight in the lead up to and over this traditional period of parties, relaxation and feasting?

Around the same time, a friend who was overweight asked me about a vegetarian weight loss “eating plan” – he wanted to lose quite a lot of kilos. I confess I was at a loss here (definitely no pun intended!) as there didn’t seem to be a lot of vegetarian weight loss diets around – and I’ve never “dieted” since becoming a vegetarian. I considered trying to adapt a meat-based diet to a vege-tarian version. Then I read about results from recent Australian research that shows a low GI (Glycaemic Index) vegetarian diet is considered one of the best ones to lose weight – gradually and with good long term results. The Glycaemic Index is a measure of how food affects your blood glucose levels: how quickly the food raises your blood glucose level, as it is broken down and digested. To “register” on the GI, the food has to contain carbohydrates (which are starches and sugars) so foods with little or no carbohydrates, such as oils and fats, fish and cheese, don’t have a GI rating. A “Low GI” diet means you eat healthy foods that slowly release energy, and so you stay fuller for longer and have more balanced and sustained energy levels. I looked at the range of low GI food and realised, with a few additions, I could put together an easy diet to follow - a lot less restrictive than a typical weight loss diet is.

Foods with Low GI include: * most fruits, except for dried figs, raisins, canned, mel-ons, dates * most vegetables, except for broad beans, potatoes, cooked carrots and beetroot (raw is fine), sweet potatoes, parsnips, pumpkin, swede (I included these oc-casionally) * wholegrain breads, crisp bread, corn thins * pasta: durum wheat pasta, buckwheat and mung bean noodles * grains: barley, oatmeal, traditional oats, bran, quinoa (basmati rice – white or brown has a medium GI rating – I included it in the diet)

*nuts and seeds, including nut butters (limit if using the diet to slim) *pulses and legumes: all, including canned ones – always rinse and drain canned legumes before using * sweeteners: apple and pear juice concentrates, stevia (you will find all of these in your health food store); note: no refined sugar or any products containing this – refined sugar is a serious contributor to weight gain So, here’s Natalie’s Easy To Do, Not Quite Low GI Eating Plan: eat foods from the above list – 3 meals a day, preferably one of those is a leafy green salad; go easy on all grains, and limit nuts and seeds in first 3 weeks; eat as much fruit, vegies and pulses as you like; have some protein with each meal; use organic fresh full-cream milk and milk products, but go easy on cheese (white cheeses like feta and quark are good choices; also yoghurt); eggs, tofu, unsweetened soy milk and tempeh are all fine to include; start the day with half a lemon squeezed into a glass of lukewarm water, followed by a cup of hot white or green tea; drink 4-6 glasses water a day; have 1 tsp flaxseed oil every day; cook with olive oil and cold-pressed oils; a squeeze of lemon juice will help reduce the GI of a food eg. baked potatoes tossed in lemon juice, fresh herbs and olive oil; tea and coffee (not instant, and one per day) are ok; exercise – like a 30 minute brisk walk - five times a week; get a minimum of 7 hours sleep each night; no alcohol for the first 3 weeks and very limited until you have reached your goal weight; weigh yourself, once a week only, same scales, same day and time, nude (keep a note of your weight each week); after 3 weeks have a day of “free eating” choices, then go back to the eating plan until you have reached your goal weight, which should be within Body Mass Index (BMI) guidelines for your height. And what happened? My friend started the eating plan in the second week of January, this year, followed it exactly and has lost 10 kilos to date. He has 5 more kilos to go to reach his goal weight. It’s the first diet he has ever been able to stick to and the first one he has tried that has actually achieved any results. He feels and looks better, has more energy, is sleeping better and has found the eating plan very easy to do. Cheers everyone from Cooking Up A Storm!

J u s t s o m e o f Geshelas students in House 53 at Sera Jey Monastery. See if you can find Geshela and some other monks you might recognize. We shou ld be ever thoughtful of the sacri-fice made by Geshela to leave his students to come to Adelaide and teach us. That’s just one

reason to make sure we attend his teachings.

12

Making offerings is extremely important for our own personal practice and also of course, for our Resident Sangha. Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen was chosen by Kyabje Rinpoche, because of his immense knowledge of the Dharma, and amazing ability to impart this to his students. In the words of Jampa Sherab (Ben) “If Kyabje Khensur Kangurwa Rinpoche was the sun then Geshela would be his flames” We need financial help to ensure our Sangha are cared for in the manner that they deserve.

Concession $120.00 and Waged $180.00 yearly Dharma Wheel Membership $588 a year. Payments can be made by: Cash at TBI in an envelope with your

name and Membership written on it;

Netbanking: email for details;

EFTPOS at TBI;

Cheques and Money Orders made

payable to:

Tibetan Buddhist Institute

Quote from His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama O u r n e e d f o r l o v e

Ultimately, the reason why love

and compassion bring the

greatest happiness is simply

that our nature cherishes them

above all else. The need for

love lies at the very foundation

of human existence. It results

from the profound interdepend-

ence we all share with one

another. However capable and

skillful an individual may be, left

alone, he or she will not survive.

H o w e ve r v i g o r o u s a n d

independent one may feel dur-

ing the most prosperous periods

of life, when one is sick or very young or very old, one must

depend on the support of others.

Inter-dependence, of course, is a fundamental law of nature.

Not only higher forms of life but also many of the smallest

insects are social beings who, without any religion, law or

education, survive by mutual cooperation based on an innate

recognition of their interconnectedness. The most subtle level of

material phenomena is also governed by interdependence. All

phenomena from the planet we inhabit to the oceans, clouds,

forests and flowers that surround us, arise in dependence upon

subtle patterns of energy. Without their proper interaction, they

dissolve and decay.

It is because our own human existence is so dependent on the

help of others that our need for love lies at the very foundation

of our existence. Therefore we need a genuine sense of

responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others.

BECOME A MEMBER

SANGHA SUPPORT

Directors Report continued from page 2

An excellent opportunity to clarify our doubts in the context of “how it all fits together” will be at the forth-coming three day Easter Retreat with Geshela on, The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. It is only by understanding how life arises, exists, continues and ceases, what keeps all of us locked into suffering, samsara, cyclic existence, that we can find our way out. Geshela’s teachings in January on The Four Noble Truths was a resounding success. We’re in for a treat indeed as he takes us further on a journey that will definitely change our lives and benefit others – not just in this life but in the many lives to come! With love and best wishes, Chris Ridley