Gentle Voice February 2013
Subject: Gentle Voice February 2013 Date: 29/01/13 20:39
1 of 21
February 2013 In This Issue
Editor's welcome
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Hello, I hope you enjoy this edition of Gentle Voice. We are celebrating the teachings given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in South India in December. Several Jamyang students were there and we include some of their photos and memories There are interesting updates from Geshe Tashi and also from Roy Sutherwood along with the usual programme updates, stories, teachings, poems and assorted trivia. I hope you enjoy reading it.
This month at Jamyang Geshe Tashi's column The Director's Column Photo Journal of the teachings at Ganden Monastery Ganden: What it was like to be there Andy Weber Art Weekend Day of Miracles/ Great Prayer Day Dying Well Day Festival of Lights at Bodh Gaya Dharma Bites - Imagine Poetry Corner Work Opportunities Out and About in London
Peace and Love, John
About FPMT Your Thoughts for Gentle Voice
Quick Links Jamyang Website Current Programme Talking Buddhism The Foundation Study Course The Lamrim Chenmo Study Course FPMT
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
2 of 21
His Holiness the Dalai Lama Words of Truth A Prayer Composed by: His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso The Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet Honouring and Invoking the Great Compassion of the Three Jewels; the Buddha, the Teachings, and the Spiritual Community O Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and disciples of the past, present, and future: Having remarkable qualities Immeasurably vast as the ocean, Who regard all helpless sentient beings as your only child; Please consider the truth of my anguished pleas. Buddha's full teachings dispel the pain of worldly existence and self-oriented peace; May they flourish, spreading prosperity and happiness throughout this spacious world. O holders of the Dharma: scholars and realised practitioners; May your ten fold virtuous practice prevail. Humble sentient beings, tormented by sufferings without cease, Completely suppressed by seemingly endless and terribly intense, negative deeds, May all their fears from unbearable war, famine, and disease be pacified, To freely breathe an ocean of happiness and well-being. And particularly the pious people of the Land of Snows who, through various means, Are mercilessly destroyed by barbaric hordes on the side of darkness, Kindly let the power of your compassion arise, To quickly stem the flow of blood and tears. Those unrelentingly cruel ones, objects of compassion, Maddened by delusion's evils, wantonly destroy themselves and others; May they achieve the eye of wisdom, knowing what must be done and undone, And abide in the glory of friendship and love. May this heartfelt wish of total freedom for all Tibet, Which has been awaited for a long time,
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
3 of 21
be spontaneously fulfilled; Please grant soon the good fortune to enjoy The happy celebration of spiritual with temporal rule. O protector Chenrezig, compassionately care for Those who have undergone myriad hardships, Completely sacrificing their most cherished lives, bodies, and wealth, For the sake of the teachings, practitioners, people, and nation. Thus, the protector Chenrezig made vast prayers Before the Buddhas and Bodhisativas To fully embrace the Land of Snows; May the good results of these prayers now quickly appear. By the profound interdependence of emptiness and relative forms, Together with the force of great compassion in the Three Jewels and their Words of Truth, And through the power of the infallible law of actions and their fruits, May this truthful prayer be unhindered and quickly fulfilled. This prayer, Words of Truth, was composed by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, on 29 September 1960 at his temporary headquarters in the Swarg Ashram at Dharamsala, Kangra District, Himachal State, India. This prayer for restoring peace, the Buddhist teachings, and the culture and self-determination of the Tibetan people in their homeland was written after repeated requests by Tibetan government officials along with the unanimous consensus of the monastic and lay communities. THIS MONTH AND NEXT AT JAMYANG CLASSES AND EVENTS IN NOVEMBER and December AT JAMYANG CLASSES and RETREATS with GESHE TASHI Weekend 9 & 10 February Weekend 16 &17 March Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 10am - 1pm FBT Module 2: The Two Truths Registered Students Only Weekend 2 &3 March and Weekend 23 & 24 March 10am - 5pm Introduction to Tantra
WEEK DAY EVENINGS Mondays weekly until 25 March excluding 25 February 7:30pm Buddhist Meditation: Positive Emotions Tuesdays weekly 12 February to 26 March 6:15pm Medicine Buddha Puja Thursdays weekly until 28 March 6.15 - 7.15pm Silent Meditation 7th February 7:30 with David Ford Meditation for Beginners Thursdays 7, 14, 21, 28 February, 7 March 7.30pm
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
4 of 21
Friday 29 - Sunday 31 March Friday, Saturday 8am - 5pm Sunday 9am - 1pm Easter Compassion Retreat Tuesday 5 February 7.30pm Mind Only Tuesdays 12, 19, 26 February 7.30pm Self Evident Middle Way
With Steff Hill Transforming Negative Emotions Saturday 8 December 7 - 8.30pm Lama Tsongkhapa Celebration Lama Choepa Please bring vegetarian food offerings for the tsog puja and/ or flowers to offer in the temple 5, 20 February, 7 March 6 - 7pm Lama Choepa Puja WEEK DAY DAYTIME
Tuesdays 5, 12, 19, 26 March 7.30pm Consequence Middle Way Wednesdays 6, 13, 20, 27 February 7.30pm Secular Ethics
Tuesdays weekly 12 February to 26 March 4pm set up for puja at 4.30pm Tara Puja COMMUNITY
Wednesdays 6, 13, 20, 27 March 7.30pm Buddhist Practice
MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) Thursday am and evening. You must book for these courses. Next courses start summer term. Contact jane@jamyang.co.uk or vinod@jamyang.co,uk
Sunday 10 February 2- 6pm Community Dharma Includes children's activities (family Day)
Monday evenings Chi Kung and Tai Chi Taught by William Walker. For more information and to book call William (follow the link above)
RETREATS and WEEKEND TEACHINGS and PRACTICE
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings Yoga Taught by Judy Watchman For more information and to book call Judy (follow the link above)
Weekend 23 & 24 February 10am to 5pm A little drop of Reasoning with Jeremy Manheim Student seminar series PRACTICE GROUPS Insight Meditation Practice Group 23 February, 9 March 10.30-12.30pm open to all Kalachakra Group meets 16 February, 9 March 2 -5:30pm for initiates only Guhyasamaja Group meets 17 February 10am for initiates only
Hridaya (Heart Centre) Yoga Wednesday 16 January - 24 April 7.30 - 9.00 PM thaught by Naz For more information and to book call Naz (follow the link above) SPECIAL EVENTS 1st - 3rd February Andy Weber Art Weekend: Buddhist Art in Meditation Art Lecture: Friday 7.30 - 9.30pm Weekend Art workshop: 9am - 6pm each day Day of Miracles/ Great Prayer Day With Geshe Tashi Tsering and members of the Jamyang Community Monday 25 February 8am - 5pm
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
5 of 21
Vajrayogini group meets 17 February 2:30pm for initiates only
Please book for all weekend classes other than practice groups by calling the office on 02078208787 or email admin@jamyang.co.uk You can drop in to all evening classes unless we state otherwise.
Geshe Tashi's column I am very pleased to back at Jamyang after a great visit to India. It is always good to spend time with my family and, of course, the teachings from His Holiness were outstanding. It is a long time since I participated in teachings with such a large group of Tibetan monks. These days I tend to go to the teachings of His Holiness in Europe so it is not since 1999 that I have attended a teaching with such a large group and it gave me the chance to reflect on the changes taking place in the Tibetan monastic environment. There are many positive changes taking place. In 1987 I had the great good fortune to act as debate instructor for a Tibetan nunnery in Swayanbunath, Khatmandu. It was a very new initiative as historically it was only the monks that took on this rigorous study which is essential in leading up to the Geshe examinations. Now I learnt that the preparations for the first Geshe exams for the nuns are all being set up this year and the first group of female Geshes will qualify next year. I am very happy about this. Things are also changing in the study programme that the monks participate in. His Holiness has always been very keen that the monks should study science in a Western style. Now the monastic science curriculum is in place and in two to three years there will be a foundation science paper as part of the Geshe exams. The monasteries are working closely with an American university that is helping with the teaching and has collaborated in the production of the science text books. These are in Tibetan on one side and English on the other side another sign of change. I think this is all very positive and I am very hopeful that the younger generation of Geshes coming out of the monasteries and nunneries will have a very good basic grounding that will make them very effective teachers. Well we are back in the teaching programme at Jamyang and later in February is the Great
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
6 of 21
Prayer Day. Do try to come for all or part of the day if you can.
Director's Column Our break is well and truly over. The midwinter point has passed and a new year has turned. In very dark, cold and stark but at times visually very beautiful conditions, we begin to look forward to the return of warmth and light. The magnificent statues we invited, made possible by your swift and warm generosity late last year in response to the appeal for funds to replace the damaged Medicine Buddha, have all arrived - Medicine Buddha, Manjusri, four-armed Chenrezig, Green Tara, Vajrapani and six-armed Mahakala. Mantras and precious substances are being rolled and prepared to fill them prior to blessing and soon they will greet the incoming spring from their seats in the shrine of the small gompa. The new January to April programme is off to a good start and now in full swing. Geshe-la has returned from India and begun his teaching programme with weekly classes on Mind Only and the True Kinship of Faiths on Tuesdays and Wednesdays respectively. The first of the four Introduction to Tantra weekends began at the weekend and classes on Secular Ethics, Self-Evident Middle Way and Consequence Middle Way allstart in February. Visiting teachers include Geshe Graham, the Ven. Rita, Jeremy Manheim and Andy Weber - who will be here this weekend. There is also a programme of great FPMT courses and classes, meditation and group practice sessions, and a busy schedule of community events and activities, including our London Centre for Mindfulness eight-week courses. If you have not already done so, check out the new programme here: http://www.jamyang.co.uk/whats-on/programme-calendar Later this year we look forward to possible further visits from our precious teachers and will be hosting the FPMT Europe Regional Meeting in London and our colleagues from FPMT Training are coming over from the US to deliver Foundation Training in Compassionate Service. The Foundation Training in Compassionate Service will enable us to explore how to best offer our skills and qualities in service. This training will investigate the purpose and mission of FPMT, what it means to be an FPMT centre or group, and how that vision translates into action for centres, projects, and individuals. There will also be training of trainers in Foundation Training for the first time in Europe. The rewiring of the North wing is underway and the care and development of the building is high on the agenda. We are close to finalising what is required to get work started on the improvement and restoration of the frontage that we already have outline planning permission for. The Trustees are gathering professional advice and information on the options for the potential development of other areas of the building to support the vision and agreed priorities in the recently updated strategic 5-year plan. We are doing this to better support and develop our Buddhist and Community programmes
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
7 of 21
and improve our offering to you, as well as new people interested in the Dharma and the wider local community. We could not do this without your help and support. Your generosity with time, energy and donations are what sustains us and helps to make the consistent and ever improving delivery of all these things possible. Heartfelt thanks from all of us here on the Jamyang team! Roy
His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Ganden and Drepung - Picture Gallery You may remember that shortly before Christmas His Holiness was giving teachings on a series of Lamrim texts in the South Indian monasteries of Ganden and Drepung. Quite a few Jamyang students made the long and arduous trip to be there and so to celebrate their journey we are publishing some of their photos. Many thanks to Jane Sill, Michelle Klepper and Steve Golding for all these pictures. Enjoy! Ganden Monastery
Ganden Monastery Debate Yard
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
8 of 21
Waiting for His Holiness to arrive
Tibetan monks throng the streets waiting for His Holiness
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
9 of 21
His Holiness arrives to give teachings
Jamyang students (and friends) meet with Lama Zopa Rinpoche to invite him to London. Lama Zopa has just read the invitation letter - he looks happy!
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
10 of 21
Meeting with Dagri Rinpoche
Meeting with Zong Rinpoche
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
11 of 21
Relaxing at Base Camp - hospitality provided by Geshe Tashi's family.
The hosts!
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
12 of 21
A mobile sari shop and after it's all over - relaxing at the seaside
Having fun!
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
13 of 21
Golden moments in South India Jang Chup Lam Rim and Camp 5 I am very fortunate to have attended 2 week's teachings and transmissions of 4 lam rim texts by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, at Ganden Jangtse and Drepung Loseling monasteries in South India. It's a great blessing to be in the same gompa as His Holiness for 14 days and to listen to His transmission and English translation of His explanations of the texts with humorous anecdotes and other pearls of His compassion and wisdom. A transmission from His Holiness is to not only receive a lengthy recital of the text but also of His wonderful energy and great enthusiasm, which inspires one to study/re-study lam rim and (I hope) to more easily understand/actualise it.
Steve is third from the left
The positive energy is enhanced by sharing the experience with 25,000 others, mostly sangha, but all with well-motivated, altruistic, peaceful, intent. At His Holiness long-life puja on the last day, I was sat outside with a tightly-packed throng of devotees. A whopping ant came along - I tried to divert it to a safer spot but it headed to a row of sitting Tibetans - one after another, they gently diverted it. I found this delightful as I recalled that at work, my boss would have instantly bludgeoned it to death. We were also blessed with visits to Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Dagri Rinpoche who accepted invitations to come to Jamyang; and to Zong Rinpoche who was also a delight to meet.
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
14 of 21
It was also good to share the experience and discuss the teachings with 13 other students of Geshe la - 9 from Jamyang, London and 5 from Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Australia. We stayed in 2 houses in camp 5 of the Tibetan settlement of Tattihalli. Facilities were basic but Geshe la's brother Phurbu and wife Dicky worked long hours to keep it clean and provide us with plentiful helpings of a variety of delicious Indian, Tibetan and international dishes for breakfast (from 6 a.m) and dinner. Geshe la's father, Jamyang, also blessed us with his endless mantras. We had a lot of laughs and got along remarkably well considering we were mostly exhausted. Most nights were disturbed by a canine cacophony of howling and barking, which temporarily drowned out the other night-time noises. All survived and it was a little sad to depart but hopefully we'll be blessed with a reunion for part 2 in 2013. Thank you very much Geshe Tashi la and family. Steve Golding ----------------Lam Rim Teachings 2012 with HH Dalai Lama Teachings and commentary on Lam Rim Chenmo given by HH Dalai Lama; over 2 weeks in India; being looked after by Geshe la's family - still can't believe our good fortune to have been able to enjoy all 3! It felt unreal while we were in India and just 'like a dream' now, a dream which brings many smiles and happy memories. Where to begin? India offers sensory overload at the best Jane Sill presents the invitaion letter to of times, but even more so as we arrived literally riding on Lama Zopa the slip stream of HH's entry into Mundgod, the small Tibetan settlement which was to be our home for 2 weeks. Streamers of Tibetan flags and auspicious symbols were hung in unbroken lines beside the road joining Drepung and Ganden monasteries and there was a real party atmosphere as every monk and nun from the Gelugpa tradition, it seemed, both young and old had assembled in this small rural township. The stream of maroon and golden robes carried on every conceivable form of transport, often hanging precariously from the sides of open backed trucks, was to be a feature of our daily trek on foot or tutsie to the teachings. The dust clouds were epic and face-masks nearly obligatory! It was a real experience to be at a Tibetan monastery, for me for the first time. Ganden and Drepung offered very different experiences. Drepung was the younger of the two but seemed more traditional with literally hundreds of pillars everywhere. Not hard to figure out why they feature so often as examples. One of the most memorable experiences and one which will always stay with me was the melodious chanting each morning before the teachings began. Only towards the end did I find out that one long chant consisted of the many dedications which were read out each day. There followed a very moving crescendo of supplication to the lineage masters. By the time it finished, the presence of the unbroken line of teachers seemed to stretch from South India right to Tibet and back to the farthest reaches of history, to Buddha Shakyamuni himself.
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
15 of 21
Another amazing experience was the whoosh and rumble which felt like a strong gust of wind as hundreds of young monks came running in clutching pots full of tea and bags of sweet tasting bread. Then the 'Tea chant'. This popular refrain was composed by Lord Atisha himself at a small monastery originally situated near Mount Kailash but now removed to just outside Camp 5. A very beautiful little monastery, nothing on the scale of its 2 large counterparts, but containing some of the rarest and most precious relics dating back to the first Tibetan King who introduced Buddhism into Tibet and to Lord Atisha himself. The outside had been newly repainted in honour of a visit by HH Dalai Lama. Villagers queued for hours to catch just a glimpse of his smiling face, including 3 young people who had recently escaped from Kham. The teachings were, as you can imagine, wonderful. His Holiness gave the 'lung' (oral transmission) of the whole of the Lam Rim Chenmo, the graduated path to enlightenment, with personal commentary along the way. Throughout the teachings HH stressed the importance of study and effort on our part, and how developing critical reasoning was essential for our practice to have firm foundations and be able to stand the test of time. Once we have become totally convinced of the accuracy and veracity of the teachings in our own minds, nothing can shake that conviction.The teachings seemed effortless and flowed in rhythmical fashion without break except for the celebration of Lama Tsong Khapa day when hundreds of little butter lamps festooned each villager's house, as well as great light offerings in the monasteries. There was also a special ceremony at which HH was awarded the most prestigious title from the Gelugpa tradition. This provided the opportunity for colourful celebrations of traditional song and dance with lively participation by local Tibetan schoolchildren who enjoyed having time out of school. During our stay we were very fortunate to have been able to have audiences with some great masters, including young reincarnations who are just beginning to emerge to teach. Some memorable moments occurred at unexpected moments, such as waiting in a queue when I met with a brave young man who was planning to return to Tibet to visit his very elderly parents and grandmother. We were looked after so well by Geshe la's family and it was thanks to their care and amazing cooking, planned meticulously with Dolma's help, that those of us who stayed there kept well the whole of our stay. All I can say are massive thank you's to all who made this wonderful experience possible and, like many of us on the trip, we are just waiting for the opportunity to book for the commentaries HH is planning to deliver at Sera later this year or early next. Jane Sill
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
16 of 21
Andy Weber Art Weekend 1 - 3 February Don't miss Andy Weber's Buddhist Art in Meditation Weekend from 1 -3 February 2013 A reminder that the world famous Tibetan thangka artist Andy Weber has kindly agreed to make time in his busy worldwide schedule to share with us his vast knowledge of Tibetan art techniques and symbolism. Art Lecture: Friday 7.30 - 9.30pm Suggested donation £7 Weekend Art workshop: 9am - 6pm each day Course fee £90 for weekend £45 for a day. Concessions £70 for the weekend, £35 a day Andy lectures on the iconography of Tibetan Buddhism their purpose and meaning while illustrating his points with slides of wonderful Tibetan Art. Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 December Andy gives an art workshop. Learn how to draw and let the creative part of you explore beauty in a spiritual setting. Book your place by emailing or calling the office at Jamyang
Day of Miracles/ Great Prayer Day 25 February This is one of the festivals that we celebrate at Jamyang and is also an opportunity to take refuge for the first time through the refuge ceremony that Geshe Tashi will offer. You need to ask him in person and talk it through with him in one of his interviews on Wednesdays. They run in half hour slots from 4pm to 6pm. Book up through admin@jamyang.co.uk. More details on the Jamyang website here
Dying Well Please note that the date for the next Dying Well meeting has been brought forward from 20th April to Sunday 10th March. We will be looking at the practical preparations we can make for the end of our lives which should make things easier for those we leave behind - anything from planning our funeral to deciding who will look after the cat! Having to clear up our affairs after we've gone is probably the last thing our loved ones feel like doing, so anything we can do in advance to help them is very worthwhile. We have arranged for a funeral director, Polly Mardall, to come and talk to us : she has been recommended by our one-time manager, Jon Underwood. After lunch there will be the opportunity to ask questions, bring items for discussion and share anything about death and dying you have found interesting.
Festival of Lights at Bodh Gaya and Great Prayer Festival at Kopan 29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
17 of 21
Root Institute for Wisdom Culture at Bodhgaya invites you to participate in the Festival of Lights and Merit 2013 Offering prayer flags, pujas and many thousands of lights at the Great Stupa of Enlightenment to celebrate the four most important events of Shakyamuni Buddha's life Fifteen Days of Miracles: Feb 11th - 25th Lord Buddha's Enlightenment and Parinirvana/Saka Dawa: May 24 - 26 Lord Buddha's first teaching: July 11 - 13 Lord Buddha's descent from Tushita God Realm: November 23 - 25 Next Light Offering: Tibetan New Year, Losar 11th - 25th February The Festival of Lights and Merit supports Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Merit Box projects, your own centre and the social work projects of Root Institute. The lights are offered with the extensive light offering prayer composed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Names of sponsors and dedications are read out in the Mahabodhi Stupa gardens. Sponsorship includes offerings on all four festivals in 2013 For a detailed description of how the lights are offered or about donating please refer to the website http://www.rootinstitute.com/holy-objects/light-offering.html or for further information contact director@rootinstitute.com Monlam Chenmo in Kopan For many years now, Kopan Monastery has been hosting the annual Great Prayer Festival (Monlam Chenmo) in Nepal - the extensive prayer gathering lasting for five days. It will be presided by the Jangtse Choje Losang Tenzin, ex -Abbot of Gyurme Monastery and in line for the Ganden Tri, who will read from the life stories of Shakyamuni Buddha (Jataka tales) and teach every day. More than 1800 rinpoches, geshes, monks, and nuns from Nepal and India will attend this extraordinary five-day Great Prayer Festival to pray for world peace. Join the Monlam We are pleased to invite everyone to participate in this great occasion in person or by making offerings of food, tea, lights or money offering to the Sangha. Your names and dedications will be read to the assembly of Sangha in every prayer session over the five days to request for dedication. If you would like to accumulate extensive merits, this is a unique opportunity to make offerings to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha to collect ocean-like merit and to create the cause for prosperity by practicing generosity. All pujas, prayer ceremonies, food offering and cash offering for the Sangha for the five-day festival are open for sponsorship. Remember: "Offering even one cent to the Sangha community brings uncountable benefit and merit. As long as the Sangha community exists your merit exist. It will not be exhausted. When making the offering in your mind dedicate strongly for your purpose and make strong prayers for all your wishes to be fulfilled"
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
18 of 21
More information about the Monlam Chenmo and how to participate can be found here Kopan Monastery Monlam Chenmo
Dharma Bites: Imagine Imagine that you are a character in a computer game that wants to understand the nature of reality. You stop stealing cars or firing your gun or doing whatever you are designed to do and contemplate the world around you. It is made up of people and houses and other things, but what is it all made of? You look closer and penetrate the underlying programming language of which this world is constructed - let's call it Visual C++ for the sake of the programmers amongst us. Now you see an underlying structure, a deeper reality from which your world is made. This underlying reality explains why things behave the way they do. There are only a handful of basic substances; commands in programming language speak that control everything. Perhaps you notice that the commands are grouped into programmes that inherit behaviour from other programmes - they are conditioned to behave in certain ways. You decide that if all the inhabitants of this world just stopped doing what they are conditioned to do and just observed the world and themselves without engaging in action, there would be a lot less stealing of cars and shooting of guns. The world would be a much happier place. You set about using your new knowledge of the underlying rules that govern the world to make new, better things - flowers and trees, lambs, kittens and puppies though every so often you are obliged to break off and shoot down intruders and car thieves. Then one day you realise that the programming language that you thought was the most fundamental building block of the entire world, the Visual C++ itself, is also made up of a more basic structure. You dive deep and discover that everything is made up of the binary numbers zero and one. This applies to all the things around you, your own body and also your thoughts, feelings and conditioning. In fact your very self is nothing other than zeroes and ones in a particular combination. The people and objects of the world have no deeper nature other than this binary code and it is fundamentally the same for all of things. You wonder whether you can be free even of this most fundamental of all substances and you again investigate deeply. You look in and you look out, you remain still and you engage in activity, yet you cannot escape the binary world. Everywhere you look, the tools you look with, your mind and eyes and senses, the things you see and even the absence of seeing - all are made of binary substance. You can influence the code, in fact your every moment of existence influences the code, but you cannot escape it. Unknown to you the programmers are continually adding new features to the game. This just adds more and more code and your world seems to be expanding ad infinitum. How do you escape the game? Deep in your conditioning, in the programmes within programmes within programmes, you come across what seems to be some redundant code with a "readme.txt" file attached to it. You read the file which explains that this programme will cause you to expand the zeroes and then consolidate them into a great zero that will puncture a hole in the very heart of the game. The game will then stop in a great burst of blue light and give its last message before inverting itself and expanding out to entirely occupy a bigger reality that you are not aware of -something called RAM. Then this whole new world will also invert and explode into a blue light.
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
19 of 21
You think about all your friends in the world and all your responsibilities to them - to guard their backs and shoot your common enemies, to steal cars and blow stuff up - you will have to betray them all. You think about your creations, the sheep, cats and dogs - they will have to look after themselves. No matter, you must find out what is beyond. You take a deep breath and then run headlong into the programme and the vast explosion of clear blue light. Q would like to credit the novel - "The end of Mr Y" by Scarlett Thomas as the inspiration for this reportage.
Poetry Corner The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to. - Chuang Tzu ed - should there be an extra line in this poem one that takes us beyond ideas? Is anyone willing to give it a try and write another line?
Work Opportunities with the FPMT Position: Spanish-Tibetan (ideal) or English-Tibetan speaker interested in working as interpreter for one year. Location: Mexico, Guadalajara and Aguascalientes. Contact: Dunia Carcamo, Khamlungpa Center Director. Email: direccion@khamlungpa.org.mx Position: Resident Teacher Location: Ganden Yiga Chodzin Centre, Pokhara, Nepal Contact: Claire Isitt, Centre Services Director, FPMT International Office. claire@fpmt.org More information at www.pokharabuddhistcentre.com or www.facebook.com/FPMTPokhara ----Position: Regional Coordinator FPMT Europe Location: Flexible Deer making snowmen on Fenton Hill, Contact: For more information contact the Richmond Park European Regional Coordinator at fpmtcoor.europe@gmail.com More information on FPMT can be found at www.fpmt.org or www.fpmt-europe.org ----Position: Spiritual Programme Coordinator Location: Atisha Buddhist Centre, central Victoria, near Bendigo, Australia Contact: cherry@atishacentre.org.au For information about the Atisha Centre, please
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
20 of 21
visit www.atishacentre.org.au
Out and About Tuesday 29th January Robin Bath, photographer, student of Lama Yeshe and Jamyang Trustee will be exhibiting a number of his photographs of "Grave Art". He says: "I would be delighted if you were able to come along and have a look. It forms a very small part of a collection of images that I have been working on over the last 5 years from cemeteries throughout Greater London. I hope you'll be surprised at how touching and amazing some of them can be. There's an Opening Event on Thursday 31st from 6-9pm when it would be lovely to see you, otherwise I'll try to be in attendance some of the afternoons as well, and would be happy to meet up if you let me know roughly when you're coming." Robin highly recommends twinning the visit with the superb Exhibition on Death at the Welcome Institute which is just a short distance west of the Church along Euston Road. "Death:A self-portrait" http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/exhibitions/death-a-self-portrait.aspx Challenge your preconceptions with this talk Deep Sea Diving....in a Wheelchair a TED talk
FPMT Jamyang is affiliated with FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) and is one of more than 150 centers and projects worldwide. FPMT is based on the Gelugpa tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught by our founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe and spiritual director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. If you would like to receive FPMT's monthly newsletters please subscribe here.
Your Thoughts What do you want to see in Gentle Voice? We would love to hear your ideas and comments about Gentle Voice, please contact John at: admin@jamyang.co.uk
Forward email
29/01/13 20:40
Gentle Voice February 2013
21 of 21
This email was sent to communications@jamyang.co.uk by admin@jamyang.co.uk | Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.
Jamyang Buddhist Centre | The Old Courthouse | 43 Renfrew Road | London | SE11 4NA | null
29/01/13 20:40