INDIA, Amravati in Andhara Pradesh

January 5 - 16  2006. KALACHAKRA.  As requested by the Japan-based Busshokai Foundation through the Norbulingka Institute, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has kindly consented to bestow the Kalachakra initiation in January 2006 at Amravati in Andhra Pradesh.  The small town in southeastern India is holy for the Buddhists as it was the place where Lord Buddha gave the first Kalachakra root tantra on the request of King Dawa Sangpo (Suchandra).

The 12-day gathering will begin on 5 January 2006 with the Kalachakra Ritual Preparations.  For three days from January 8-10, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will give teachings on Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. The actual Kalachakra Empowerment will be given on 13 and 15 January.  This Kalachakra is sponsored by the Busshokai Foundation and is organised by the Norbulingka Institute.

For more details and a daily schedule, please click here.
To go to the official Kalachakra website, click here.

2005-06 Sacred Art Tour Group

Back:  Tsultrim Sherab, Kunsang Gyatso, Chuchi Dhundup, Tsultrim Nyingpo, Longtok Gyatso, Lobsang Tenpa, Tenzin Dolma

Front:  Sopa Gyamtso, Khensur Rinpoche Tsultrim Phuntsok, Geshe Lobsang Kunga

The Sacred Art of the Land of the Snow 2005-06 Tour Group will be touring the USA from June 13, 2005 through January 6, 2006.  They will continue their tour in Canada from January 15 though April 30, at which time they will return to India.   Their mission is to spread a message of peace and compassion as they inform the public about the arts and culture of Tibet.  Most importantly,  the tour group hopes to raise money  for the monastery's Food Foundation Program and the Health Fund.

This latest tour focuses on the Sacred Arts of Tibet.  Featured will be a Visual Arts Display comprised of 60 works, including thangka art, paintings of  famous buildings and monasteries of Tibet--along with their founding lamas, and portraits of Traditional Tibetans.  In addition, the monks will present hands-on workshops to the public on thangka art, mask making, and sand painting.  They will also create sacred sand mandalas at galleries, museums, and health facilities.  As with past tours, the monks will present a Cultural Pageant with chanting, sacred dances, and a debate presentation.  This pageant will conclude with a slide show of Tibet and its monasteries.  The highlight of this slideshow are never-before-seen pictures of the monks who escaped from Lhasa in 1959.  Photos show how they overcame many difficulties to rebuild Gomang in India in order to maintain Tibet's religious culture.

Khensur Rinpoche Tsultrim Phuntsok, former Abbot of Drepung Gomang, will accompany the tour and serve as tour leader. Rinpoche will give retreats and teachings on the significance of the sacred art that will be displayed.

Geshe Lobsang Kunga, one of the monastery's Chanzoe, is directing the tour group from the monastery.  He will not accompany the group but will coordinate details with the USA Coordinator, Jennifer Harris, and the Canadian Coordinator, Laurel Antti.

For more details about the Sacred Art Tour, please go to the Sacred Tour website.

During the spring months, the student monks at the monastery take their examinations.  Much effort and study is exerted by the monks as they strive to excel in their studies.  When a student passes his exams, he looks forward to going on to the next level at his school.
 
 

Younger Students Memorizing Sacred Texts

Older Monks Studying Philosophy

At the end of May, the monastery celebrates Sawa Dawa which is considered the holiest of Buddhist festivals. It is during this month, on the full moon, in different years of his life, that  Buddha Shakyamuni took birth, achieved Enlightenment and passed away attaining Nirvana.  During Saga Dawa, the karmic results of virtuous and non-virtuous actions are magnified and it is believed that merit earned on this day is multiplied a million times. The monks hold buuter lamp ceremonies to celebrate this holiest of days.

During the summer months, the monastery serves  the larger Tibetan  community by holding classes for the children living in Mundgod.  Monks teach the youngsters Tibetan writing and grammar and encourage them to learn about their Tibetan heritage, history and culture.

Tenzin Drolma (Kristel Ouwehand) is a woman from Canada who teaches art and English to students at Drepung Gomang College.  She regularly takes notes on happenings at the monastery and has agreed to share some of them with those persons who may be interested in what occurs during daily life at a Tibetan monastery in south India.

At Norbu Ri (Precious Mountain)

As clouds of juniper incense (sahng) billow, the drifting earthy scent reaches me as I sit off to the side of the covered platform where the monks are seated. The open sides of the platform and the trees on the top of the lightly forested hill are strung with prayer flags which sway in the light breeze. It is still early morning, and the sun’s heat has not turned sweltering yet, but its rays filter through the cloth of the payer flags:  blue, yellow, green, red and white. Each colour has connections with the element and the chakras and represents certain properties and spiritual associations conveying the particular specific to each aspect of wisdom, yet their mutual relationships are more important than their individual qualities.  Partially obscured by the billowing white smoke of the burning incense, the flags printed with prayers and images of Dolma, Chenresig, the Kalachakra symbol or Guru Rinpoche flutter and sway while the sound of the monks’ chanting fills the air. There is no sound apart form the chanting and the quiet flapping of the flags, and at this moment, all the world seems compressed into one small space, powerful, ethereal and awe inspiring.
 

Chanting Amid the Prayer Flags

Tour Group Members Praying

One of the monks rises and begins to prepare the offering to the deities:  small balls of tsampa rolled with powdered juniper, fragrant oils and silk scarves. Another monk takes the long Tharchok flags we have brought with us, tucks it under one arm and begins the climb higher and higher up the long pole. I stare up, shading my eyes from the sun as he grows smaller and is often hidden from sight altogether by the hundreds of strings of fluttering flags suspended from the pole. He finally reappears, a mere speck of maroon against the blue of the sky, and ties the upper part of the Tharchok to the pole. As he slowly descends, I let out my breath in an unconscious sigh of relief The other monks are pleased – the omens are good. The clouds of incense rise high, and the brightly coloured new Tharchok flutters brightly against the older flags faded by years of sun and wind.

The chanting reaches its peak, slows and stops.  The prayers are over, and we rise to do “khora”   circumnambulating the hill three times. We hang birght new prayer flags of Dolma in each of the four corners and we pray as we walk past the cairns and mounds of carved mani stones. It is much warmer now, but the light here is still filtered through the trees and the prayer flags. Dry leaves rustle under our feet, and the murmur of “Om Mani Padme Hung” seems a part of the whisper of the leaves on the trees as they rustle in the breeze. Small molded “tsa-tsas” of deities and lamas--some faded and crumbling away to the earth they are made of, others still bright with dye--rest in small piles among the mani stones, prayer offerings from people with sick friends or family, study or financial difficulties.

We have made this trip here today for prayer to remove obstacles to the coming tour. As we descend the hill, the quiet is broken and the monks begin to talk and chatter again. It has gone well, they say. I look back over my shoulder at the colourful peace of the hilltop . As the full force of the sun’s heat beats down on our heads, we return down the dusty path back to the real world.

Maitreya Buddha

The Origin
The oldest reference to the practice of parading the Buddha’s statue in public can be found in the Collection of Discipline (Sans: Vinaya; Tib: Dulva). There it is stated that the Buddha’s statue should be paraded on a road around a city, that the area should have been cleaned and the road made smooth.  In Nepal, the Prophecy of Langru stated that in future, the statue of Maitreya would be put on a chariot, many people would make offerings to it, and that doing so would appease all harm.

Establishment of the Maitreya Procession in Tibet
In the 15th century, Tsongkhapa decided that since such a practice was mentioned in the Vinaya, it would be appropriate to perform it on the last day of the Great Prayer Festival. It was considered auspicious, for it enabled many people to see the statue and create predispositions to be reborn as Maitreya’s disciple when he appears in the world as a Buddha.

In Tsongkhapa’s time, the statue chosen for the procession was one of the four silver statues housed in the Jokhang, made by a Kashmiri artist several centuries earlier. It was very large, with a small statue resting on its lap, and was paraded in a chariot followed by a giant man and woman. These giants were played by two people, one wearing a mask and riding on the shoulders of the other, representing the huge people who will live for 80,000 years in the age of Maitreya. After them came giant caricatures of a Tiger, a lion and a yak followed by the seven emblems of a universal monarch, the excellent wheel, jewel, queen, minister, elephant, horse and general.

The Maitreya Procession Nowadays (Until 1959)
The Maitreya procession marked the end of the Great Festival. A standing statue of Maitreya was placed on a chariot covered with a canopy and decorated with umbrellas and victory banners. Preceding the statue, as it left the main entrance of the Jokhang were monks from Lhasa monasteries of Meru and Shide bearing victory banners and banners. Following the statue were the Gaden Tripa and the sixteen Geshes who had qualified that year. They circumambulated the Jokhang on the Bakhor, where people waiting in rows, threw Katas (White Scraves) onto the chariot. The procession then made its way over to the Sunju Ra where the Nechung Oracle went into trance and, before the statue, the bursar of the Prayer festival offered the oracle tea and a scarf.

When the procession reached the area west of Jokhang, a cannon was fired from the Potala and another from Punwa-ri. These indicated the beginning of the horse race. About two hundred horses took part in the race which covered a course of two miles. They belonged mostly to the government and a few aristocratic families. Written rules restricted the number of riders who could participate, thus there was usually one rider to every five or six horses. The order in which the horses finished the race was noted by a government official.

There were other similar events, such as a footrace near Marmari, further equestrian displays, wresting matches between two groups of infantrymen in ancient armour and weightlifting contests in which large boulders had to be carried around a flagpole. Prizes were awarded for all the events. Near the site of the ceremony of Throwing the ritual cakes was a tall flagpole around the base of which was a platform, from which an official announced the names of the various winners to whom the bursar awarded prizes.

Nowadays in India
In exile India, the Monlam Prayer is held alternatively at Gaden and Drepung. On the sixteenth of first month of the Lunar Calendar, the sacred statue of Maitreya Buddha is carried in procession around Gaden or Drepung, as done in Tibet.  Preceding the statue as it leaves the main entrance of the Prayer Hall are monks of both monasteries bearing victory banners, and blowing conch shells, followed by Gaden Tripa (the throne holder) and Abbots of various monastic colleges, and common monks reciting their prayers. People from all walks of life throw white scarves towards the tractor/chariot carrying the sacred statue, some pushing and pulling, trying to get a closer look and a blessing from the sacred statue, looking forward to being reborn in the age of Maitreya.

As the procession is completed, there is a cycle race, a short marathon race, and a weightlifting competition among the nine Tibetan villages. Once the prizes are distributed by the settlement officers, the monks gather at the weightlifting site and lift the boulder quite easily--which is rarely done by the laypeople.  Monks are constantly chased away by their discipline master while this is being done. All these activities usually end before lunchtime, and then concerned monks prepare for the next day ceremony:  "The Throwing of the Ritual Cake."

Offerings are a major part of the ritual of consecration and of many other Tibetan Buddhist rituals, but their nature clearly reveals their Indian origin. Offerings are made to acquire merit, but the recipient can be the poor and needy as well as lamas or deities. If the merit thus acquired is dedicated to the attainment of enlightenment, the offering becomes part of the practice of the perfection of giving.

Though elaborate offerings to deities who never seem to partake of them may seem wasteful to the skeptical, especially in the case of the ritual fire offerings during which everything is burned, such offerings are not merely meaningless ritual. The primary aim of Buddhist practice is to train the mind and this is the context in which the offerings should be understood. Whether physical offerings actually benefit the recipient or not, from the practitioners point of view they are an essential means of reducing the desire and greed which characterize our relationship with the physical world. Desire is to think that we would be satisfied if we were to obtain some object, and greed is to think we will be more satisfied if we can keep what we have obtained or gain more. Both passions tend to reinforce the notion of ourselves as real, independent selves to be satisfied. Making offerings accustoms the mind to giving, letting go of desirable objects, and serves to loosen our sense of clinging to a real and independent self. The merit derived from giving can be a cause in the short term for acquiring wealth, but ultimately for attaining enlightenment.

Fire Puja

Offerings directed to certain deities, Buddhas, or Bodhisattvas create connections with them. In Sanskrit the word for offering is "Puja" which means to please. Offerings please the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, not because they are pleased to receive gifts, but because they delight in the virtue of the givers, which is determined by the quality of their motivation in making the offering. Offerings need not even be material. Milarepa offered his spiritual practice, his most cherished attribute. The best offerings are of virtuous accomplishments. Thus, the offering of religious practice is what most pleases the deities and creates a bond between them and the practitioner, which provides a basis for his/her further development.

Several factors determine the quality of an offering. Prominent is the giver's motivation, though the status of the recipient and the nature of the offering also contribute. The giver acquires the greatest merit when he/she is motivated by a wish to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is much less if he/she aspires for his/her own enlightenment alone and even less if he/she wishes merely to obtain a good rebirth in his/her next life. The poorest motivation is the wish to gain some benefits in this lifetime, such as wealth and a long life, or to be completely mundane in seeking a reputation for generosity.

The status of the recipient is an important factor. The merit gained by making an offering with absolutely pure motivation to a Buddha is immeasurable. Since images and other manifestations of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are to be regarded as no different from them in nature, making offerings such as are made to the mandala deities in the consecration rituals is equivalent to making offerings to the Buddhas. The Buddhas are exalted objects of offering because they are the ultimate source of refuge, not because they will snatch us out of cyclic existence, but because the teachings they demonstrate enable us to do so ourselves. One's own lama or teacher is also an exalted object of offering, because it is due to his personal kindness and guidance that one can make any progress on the path of development for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Nevertheless, since pure motivation is so important, a gift made with a very pure motivation to a needy person is also very meritorious. One can reflect that this needy person has at sometime been one's own kind mother or consider the fact that one depends on others to attain enlightenment, for without them one would have no opportunity to practice giving, ethics and forbearance, which are essential in the quest for Buddhahood. Thus it could be said that the merit obtained from making a modest gift to a needy person with an exalted motivation is far greater than one made to a Buddha with a poor motivation.

Whatever is offered should always have been honestly obtained, for a wrongly acquired object severely detracts from the wholesome quality of giving it. Offerings should always be of the best one has. Food offered to the Buddha should not be bad or rotten on the pretext that no one will eat it. It is good to offer one's own food before eating it. Since the main purpose of making offerings is to reduce avarice, one should do so without a trace of regret. The Buddha recommended that avaricious people should initially accustom their minds to giving, by giving something from one hand to the other.

Water is also commonly offered. Water is pure, the Indian master Atisha, who visited Tibet with profound effect in the eleventh century, praised the purity of water in Tibet, saying that simply by appreciating its excellent qualities one could offer it joyfully to the Buddha. Water can easily and honestly obtained and when offering it one can imagine washing away the miserliness of all sentient beings.

Each issue of our newsletter will note the donors who have contributed to our projects and indicate how their contribution has been utilized.  In this manner, we can keep you up-to-date on what progress is taking place at the monastery to improve the living conditions of the monks and can inform you about the most immediate concerns that need to be dealt with. 

In this issue we are noting the contributions made by donors since February 2005. Donors are listed in alphabetical order. Contributions ranged from $5 to $20,000. 
 

Food Foundation	Monk Sponsorship
Nancy Beres	Kathleen Bernadette
Ray Clements	Rocky Black
Milton Greek	Janet Cohn
Woven Legends, Inc.	Lauren Cross
	Lois Greenberg
	David Jamie Heydt
	Jennifer and David Heydt
	Jason Holland
	Mary Pattison
	Kathryn Trudeau

All donors will continue to be remembered in the prayers of the monks.