Gentle Voice March 2013
Subject: Gentle Voice March 2013 Date: 05/03/13 17:00
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March 2013 In This Issue
Editor's welcome
Lama Zopa - advice on driving
Hello, February feels like such a short month this year, which is great if you are waiting for the monthly pay check but also means we have less to say. You may well welcome that of course. If like me you have trouble on the road as a cyclist or a car driver then read Lama Zopa's advice - hang on - everybody should read Lama Zopa's advice! Our poetry challenge last month threw up some interesting results, see below. As well as the articles by Geshe Tashi and Roy consider that if there were as many Gentle Voice articles as there are grains of sand in the river Ganges then you would probably not read the interesting Dharma Bites article on this subject. Do enjoy reading this issue.
This month at Jamyang Geshe Tashi's column The Director's Column Dharma Bites - How big is the universe Poetry Corner Khadro-la set to visit the UK Jamyang Spring Walk Help Required at Jamyang Invite from FPMT Mongolia Nalanda Masters Programme About FPMT Your Thoughts for Gentle Voice
Quick Links Jamyang Website Current Programme Talking Buddhism The Foundation Study Course
Peace and Love, John
The Lamrim Chenmo Study Course FPMT
The Wheel Of Sharp Weapons Of My Negative Karma When Driving by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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ed - If you are not a driver this advice still applies. Maybe you are a cyclist or a pedestrian or just a mere sentient being; check out if you could apply this to your own situations.
When you are driving along in your car and suddenly some other car goes in front of your car, and then you get upset. Or the next car does something they are not supposed to do in front of you or next to your car. When this happens immediately: - Remember that this unfavourable condition is my negative karma created by my selfish mind, my ego. This is the wheel of sharp weapons, the negative karma I created when I harmed others circling back on me now. Without delaying for even a second, while the wheel of sharp weapons of my negative karma is turning on me, I immediately use it to cut my enemy, ego. - Rejoice how this is the happiest, most wonderful thing in life - using the wheel of sharp weapons of my negative karma, produced by my ego, to cut my enemy, ego. This is the happiest life, the most wonderful life [opportunity] to cut my ego using the sharp weapon of my negative karma. Cutting the ego with the wheel of sharp weapons produced by my negative karma circling back on me. - Feel unbelievably happy! Here first you are accepting the problem [as it is caused by your karma], so by doing that it pacifies the negative emotional thoughts, feeling upset or angry. The second thing is that you're looking at the shortcomings of ego, the harm given to you by ego. Third, you are using the harm given to ego to turn back on and cut the ego. That means destroying the ego, self-cherishing thought, so that then bodhicitta can rise. From that you can achieve enlightenment. Then you can liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and enlighten them. When that happens then that's the ultimate goal of your life, the very meaning of your life is completed. WOW! This is one example, and you must think similarly in daily life with anything that annoys you, which disturbs you suddenly. Think like this about something with which it's difficult to practice patience, like when anger suddenly arises. THIS MONTH AND NEXT AT JAMYANG CLASSES AND EVENTS IN NOVEMBER and December AT JAMYANG CLASSES and RETREATS with GESHE TASHI FBT Module 2: The Two
WEEK DAY EVENINGS Buddhist Meditation: Positive Emotions Mondays weekly until 25 March 7:30pm
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Truths Weekend 16 &17 March Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 10am - 1pm Registered Students Only Introduction to Tantra Weekend 2 &3 March and 10am - 5pm Sunday 24 March 10am - 1pm Easter Compassion Retreat Friday 29 - Sunday 31 March Friday, Saturday 8am - 5pm Sunday 9am - 1pm Consequence Middle Way Tuesdays 5, 12, 19, 26 March 7.30pm Buddhist Practice Wednesdays 6, 13, 20, 27 March and 10 April 7.30pm RETREATS and WEEKEND TEACHINGS and PRACTICE Buddhism in a Nutshell Saturday 8 April with Mike Murray 10am - 5pm Meditation 101 Sunday 7 April with Mike Murray 10am - 5pm Buddha Nature Weekend 13 & 14 April with Mike Murray 10am - 5pm Preparation for Refuge Saturday 20 April with Steff Hill 10am - 5pm Impermanence Weekend 27 & 28 April with Geshe Graham Woodhouse PRACTICE GROUPS Insight Meditation Practice Group 9 March, 6 and 20 April 10.30-12.30pm open to all Kalachakra Group
Medicine Buddha Puja Tuesdays weekly 6:15pm Silent Meditation Thursdays weekly 6.15 - 7.15pm Meditation for Beginners 7 March, 4 April 7:30 with David Ford Buddhist Meditation in Practice Thursdays 18 April with David Ford Transforming Negative Emotions Thursday 7 March 7.30pm With Steff Hill Lama Choepa Puja 7 March, 5 and 20 April 6 - 7pm Three Turnings Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 April with Roger Wright 7.30pm Moany Mondays Substance Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism? 8 April Restoring What? 15 April Sexy Teachers? 22 April Perfect Privileged Ones? 29 April 7.30 - 9pm with Mike Murray Tuesdays 16, 23, 30 April with John Bonell The Heart Sutra Wednesdays 17, 24 April, 1 May with Esther Garibay and Natascha Bolonkin Divine Dharmas WEEK DAY DAYTIME Tuesdays weekly 4pm set up for puja at 4.30pm Tara Puja COMMUNITY 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 Monday evenings Chi Kung and Tai Chi Taught by William Walker. For more information and to book call William (follow
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meets 9 March, 27 April 2 -5:30pm for initiates only Guhyasamaja Group meets 28 April 10am for initiates only
the link above) Yoga Tuesday evenings taught by Judy Watchman For more information and to book call Judy (follow the link above)
Vajrayogini group meets 28 April2:30pm for initiates only
Hridaya (Heart Centre) Yoga Wednesday evenings taught by Naz For more information and to book call Naz (follow the link above)
Please book for all weekend classes other than practice groups by calling the office on 02078208787 or email admin@jamyang.co.uk
Self Love Yoga Class Friday evenings Taught by Nicolette For more information and to book call Naz (follow the link above) SPECIAL EVENTS
You can drop in to all evening classes unless we state otherwise.
Jamyang Walk 20 April Peace in the City 21 April 12 noon - 4pm Free entrance. Various complematary therapy tasters at reduced rates (and fantastic cafe treats)
Geshe Tashi's column Hello everyone, It was so good to see such a big turnout for the Family Dharma day this month. It is something I really want to get established at Jamyang. It is so easy for people to drift away from the centre when they start having children, with all the work that entails. Then sometimes drifting away from the centre can so easily lead to a weakening of our practice. So it is very good that every now and then we get together as a community, with all the families and children to recharge our batteries and maybe to inspire the younger generation. There are so many influences in the lives of children encouraging them in a worldly direction that an occasional trip to Jamyang may act to balance these out a bit. Our format for these events has been changing as we try to see what works best. I
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think the last session was very good, with time for all of us to meet together and time and space for the children to engage in their own activities while the adults discussed the themes for the the day. It was very nice then to see all the work that the children had done and to celebrate with communal tea and cakes.So I encourage you all to look out for these dates and attend if you can. Also we will shortly be holding the Easter Retreat at Jamyang. This is another great opportunity to take some time to really reflect on the teaching of the Buddha. The theme of this retreat will be compassion and loving kindness. This is so central to the Buddhist path and, of course, it is extremely useful for all people to try to develop these qualities. I would really hope to see lots of you there, at the retreat, even if you cannot attend the whole three days. ed The Easter Retreat runs from Friday 29th to Sunday the 31st March. Contact Erika at Jamyang to book a place on 02078208787 or email admin@jamyang.co.uk
Director's Column Monday, the 15th day of the first Tibetan month, saw the end of the celebrations and prayer festival following the beginning of the Lunar New Year, Losar in Tibetan. Known as Chotrul DĂźchen,the Day of Miracles Great Prayer Day marks two important events in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. The first was the culmination of the days remembering Shakyamuni Buddha's victory over other masters in a display of magical feats at Sravasti and the second, the last day of the Monlam Chenmo, the Great Prayer Festival introduced by Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism. Whether in the company of other practitioners, in retreat elsewhere or at home, I hope it was a fruitful time for a pause, meditation, study, prayer and reflection. Lets all hope that as many of us as possible followed Lama Zopa's advice and that the merit of whatever practice or virtue we did increased 100 million times. It is really great to hear that Lama Zopa's health continues to improve and he is now able to complete full-length prostrations unaided. As we move closer to the coming spring here at Jamyang we continue to hope and pray for possible further visits from our precious teachers, the success of the FPMT UK meeting this weekend in Leeds and later in the year, the Europe Regional Meeting in London, and our colleagues from FPMT Training coming over from the US to deliver Foundation Training in Compassionate Service. On the staff front, Sue-Anne has returned to California and Violetta has moved from the hospitality team to replace her as the Jamyang supported 'cafe yogini'. Sue Anne will be much missed We are very grateful for all that she worked hard to do for the success of the cafĂŠ while she was here, we look forward to seeing
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her again and wish her every success back home. Our own Dr. Jane Flowers, currently one of the 3 month hospitality team volunteers at Jamyang had a very successful evening talk on 'Divining Woman: Feminist Spirituality and Religion' She informally presented the main findings of her own PhD research and shared stories from her own life, her studies, the energised, powerful women she interviewed as part of her research, and her own quest for spiritual development and empowerment. A small group of our Trustees recently visited the Triratna Buddhist Centre to look at the very successful modernisation and renovation of their 1889 Grade 2 listed old fire station building in Bethnal Green, as a part of the process of fact finding to aid consideration of the options for the potential development of our own Old Courthouse building. It was a fascinating visit and much was learned but the most important advice offered by our kind hosts was about the need to take time to be clear about exactly what we want to do and why, and also to have a dedicated project manager who is deeply committed to any project we undertake supported by an empathetic architect who really understands what we do and want to do to improve the use and experience of the building for all who come here. As ever, check out the programme. The Buddhist and Community programmes are in full swing and the next Peace in the City day is due on Sunday, 21st April. The December event was very popular. We plan to invite back the Gong therapy and also laughter! We are also into planning for our Community Day on Saturday, 11 May - so don't forget to save the date in your diaries. Roy
Dharma Bites: How big is the universe ... compared with a grain of sand? One thing I really love about the Buddhist scriptures is the sheer scale that they encompass when they talk about the universe. You know the type of thing; here is a quote from the Diamond Cutter Sutra that exemplifies what I mean. "The Bhagavän said, "Subhüti, what do you think about this? If there were also just as many Ganges Rivers as there are grains of sand in the river Ganges, would their grains of sand be many?" Subhüti replied, "Bhagavän, if those very Ganges Rivers were many, there is no need to mention their grains of sand." The Bhagavän said, "Subhüti, you should appreciate; you should understand. If some man or woman, completely filling with the seven kinds of precious things that many world systems as there are grains of sand of those rivers Ganges, were to offer that to the tathägata arhat perfectly completed buddhas, Subhüti,
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what do you think about this? Would that man or woman produce much merit on that basis?" Subhüti replied, "Bhagavän, much. Sugata, much. That man or woman would produce much merit on that basis." The Bhagavän said, "Subhüti, compared to someone who, completely filling that many world systems with the seven types of precious things, were to give gifts to the tathägata arhat perfectly completed buddhas, if someone, having taken even as little as a stanza of four lines from this discourse of Dharma were to explain it and correctly and thoroughly teach it also to others, on that basis the merit that itself would produce would be much greater, incalculable, unfathomable." OK, you get the idea - a vast, vast scale, and all envisaged at the time of the Buddha 2600 years ago. Now imagine my surprise to come across a talk entitled "How vast is the universe....compared to a grain of sand". This is a scientist attempting to capture the scale of the known universe by analogy to a grain of sand. To me it has an uncanny resonance with the analogies used by the Buddha. Click on the link below and enjoy! www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2013/feb/11/how-big-universe-sand-video1 Q
Poetry Corner ed - Last month we published the following poem by Chuang Tzu and asked if anyone was willing to write an additional line. The very courageous Snehy Gupta took up the challenge. Here we have the original poem and the new version by Snehy. It's great isn't it? However I couldn't resist the temptation to add a couple of lines myself. So here are the three versions of the poem. Any more?
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 ------------------The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,
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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. The purpose of ideas is to generate wisdom When wisdom is embodied, the ideas are forgotten. Where can I find a man who is Wise? He is the one I would like to talk to - Chuang Tzu and Snehy Gupta -----------------------------------------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. The purpose of ideas is to generate wisdom When wisdom is embodied, the ideas are forgotten. The purpose of wisdom is to attain liberation When liberation is attained wisdom is forgotten. When attainment and non-attainment are seen as equal A Tathagata is born. Where can I find a Tathagata? He is the one I would like to talk to - Chuang Tzu, Snehy Gupta and John B
Sponsors required for visit of Khadro-la this summer We're hoping to get Khadro-la to visit Britain this summer. As part of her tour we hope that she will teach at Jamyang. To do that we need approximately ÂŁ2,000 to secure visas for herself and her two attendants. Then there will be sharing the fares with European centres. All up we are looking at about ÂŁ10,000. We would really appreciate if people could help by sponsoring this tour directly with FPMT UK. If you would like to contact us about this, please email fpmtukcoordinator@hotmail.co.uk We really appreciate any help that can be given with what could be an invaluable visit. We'll let you know as soon as dates firm up but you need to know that sponsoring a
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tour like this does not guarantee it will happen. ...Things change... Who is Khadro-la? Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drolma, known to everybody as Khadro-la, is an extraordinary woman lay teacher who is teaching more and more at FPMT centers, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche has advised her to do. She is widely recognized as a dakini, an oracle, and is certainly regarded as somebody very special by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, Dagri Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. After perilously escaping Tibet, like many refugees, she stayed in Dharamsala in north India, the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She determined to return to Tibet, but Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche convinced her to stay and secured an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His Holiness, after a daily audience, asked for "the lady oracle" to be brought to him and so they finally met. He confirmed her as an oracle of the protector. Since then she has been extremely busy as an oracle and healer and more recently giving teachings. In a 2008 interview for Mandala magazine, she said, "About two years ago, His Holiness advised me that whenever the opportunity comes, I should give teachings or any kind of service that I can deliver to those who are in need. But I know I have nothing to offer to others. To tell you honestly, in my mind I have a very strong belief that the essence of life is only to have the realization of bodhicitta and emptiness. Though it is difficult to gain, my primary wish is to achieve indestructible faith in these two before I die." Then she continued, "If I cannot help people to generate these things, our meeting is just a waste of time. Other than that, I am the poorest by inner, outer and secret perspectives. The best side of me is only that I met the best Dharma, best practice and the best lamas." She has begun teaching in the West, most noticeably two ten-day retreats at Nalanda Monastery in the south of France, where she showed what an incredible teacher she can be, bringing the Dharma alive with her very experiential approach combined with an amazing intuitive wisdom and a huge compassion. For an in-depth interview with Khadro-la, go to: www.fpmt.org/images/stories/teachers /touring/pdf/Khadrola_biography.pdf
Jamyang Spring Walk Saturday 20th April 2013 "HAPPY VALLEY"
Now, who could resist a saunter to somewhere with such an evocative name! Celebrate spring with us on our Jamyang Walk in this pleasant part of the North Downs. It's a good time to spot some rare orchids, banks of cowslips, bluebells and blossom amidst the gentle hills and
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woodlands coming into leaf. We meet at East Croydon main line station ticket office around 10.45 am for an 11 o'clock start. There's a short walk to the 403 bus to Hamsey Green Pond where we begin the 6 mile, easy going walk. There will be a lunch stop at a convenient pub half way, or of course bring your own picnic. The walk has been described as a "something for everyone walk", not only for its views, but it also takes in Iron Age field systems, Saxon burial mounds and an almost intact Battle of Britain airfield as well as the flora and fauna. A one day zones 1-6 ticket covers all the travel. Return from Coulsdon South mainline station where we should finish around 4.45 pm. If you need any more information or want confirmation of the walk in case of bad weather, please call Robin on 0207 736 2771
Help Required at Jamyang We're in the process of upgrading the electricity circuits in the hall and the North side of the building (left side as you enter). Do you have any experience, flair or special interest in lighting design? We need some help with choosing new light fittings. Contact Roy if you can help via the admin email admin@jamyang.co.uk Many Thanks
FPMT Mongolia invites you What better place for a summer holiday?
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Keep an eye on their website for more information http://www.fpmtmongolia.org/
Call for applications for the Masters Programme at Nalanda
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Please forgive their spelling of programme!
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
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