~ August 2007 ~ Shabda 1 ShabdaMonthly Newsletter of Losang Dragpa Center Eight Verses of Thought Transformation by Geshe Tenzin Zopa An excerpt from Geshe la s weekend teaching at Losang Dragpa Center, PJ August 2007 The Mind Training teaching is an advance practice Many of us regard the Mind Training teaching is only for the new comers, for the lower capable beings, when we talk about philosophy, we think it is for the advanced ones, it is for the senior students who have learned so much, this is completely wrong; it is a complete misconception, it is an invalid conception philosophical word. Including those who claimed themselves tantra practitioners, first we have to check carefully: the realization of the three principle aspects of the Path is there or not? That is a crucial point. In the Madhyamika teaching, one of the extensive practices of the philosophical teachings such as bodhicitta is so important and crucial. While you are at the beginner s level, without that there is no realization in the middle capable being. It is so important and crucial even at the
2 Shabda ~ August 2007 ~ ~ August 2007 ~ Shabda 3 time when you finally achieve the result Buddhahood. Even when you attain Buddhahood, without the practice of bodhicitta, you can t function the blessing of the Buddha! In Tibetan it is said Tog-thar-par-sum-la gyal-che-wa. Tog: first, the beginning; thar is the end when you achieve Buddhahood; par is the intermediate, when you are in the training, i.e. such as after receiving initiation and Mahayana teachings, you are involved in the extensive practices, this is the middle. Sum: is three; gyal-che-wa: extremely important, most important. levels. The Mind Training teaching is also for the students of all levels, especially those who practice tantra and Mahayana teaching, especially those whose practice focuses on bodhicitta. You cannot separate yourself from the teachings of Lam Rim and Mind Training in your everyday life. The So the Mind Training teaching, not only us here in Malaysia, everywhere somehow, I don t know why, the Mind Training teaching or the Lam Rim teaching is regarded only for the beginners - NO! This is completely wrong! The Mind Training and Lam Rim teachings are for the highest, smartest, most senior students, including the teacher. I think this message/ statement must go out very widely. In philosophical teachings we find many different new words/ new terms because you haven t studied it before. These terminologies sound difficult because they are new to you, but they are for students of all moment you are separated from them, as I said before, there are so many stories about those who practice tantra, mantra or deity yoga without a strong base/ foundation renunciation, bodhicitta, emptiness - which you can only know so well, so complete from the teachings of Mind Training and Lam Rim, not from the initiation; it is from Lam Rim, from the Mind Training teaching. Doing the deity yoga practice can be very powerful. In the tantric teaching we talk about the divine pride we are suppose to develop divine pride but it has so much danger. There are many stories in Tibet and the Himalaya where many tantric practitioners resided. They have not achieved the divine pride but they became so proud. Divine pride is something like this: the more realization you gain, the more humble you will become, including your body, speech and mind. The higher you achieve in divine pride, the more humble your body, speech and mind will become. The more realization you attain, the more humble you will become, the softer, more polite and sweet your speech will become. The sign of your body language when you achieve
4 Shabda ~ August 2007 ~ ~ August 2007 ~ Shabda 5 realization is you ll become more respectful to everybody. Look at His Holiness the Dalai Lama the best living example. Every corner he goes he shows respect. Otherwise it s like a bamboo stick: leaves are all cut, no expression, even wind can t blow. You cannot be like that. It should be so fl exible, just like a piece of rubber, your body, speech and mind have to be so fl exible. Flexible and soothing, soft, nice, gentle, then you will get the realization of divine pride. Another best example is to take a look at Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. All of you have seen him: the way he talks, the way he responds even here he does so much like that, so much feeling of bodhicitta. Otherwise in the non-buddhist teachings there are also serious tantric practitioners, and they can be so powerful. Their mantras are so powerful they can even destroy you immediately. That s where the black magic comes about: they use mantra without bodhicitta. Then at the time of death, there is so much suffering, their mind are so disturbed. Although the tantric path is suppose to bring liberation in one lifetime, but that one lifetime brings you straight down to the lower realms. This is fact, and the only reason it happened is because there is no knowledge, no realization in Lam Rim and Mind Training; you have never trained your mind. Mind training is not a subject you simply called Mind Training ; it is for training the mind, so that you don t simply jump into deity yoga. First you train your mind well, make sure your mind is so fl exible then you do the deity yoga. In fact I don t know how many lamas or teachers have said or emphasized this message. I have no idea, my sight is very narrow and I don t see much, but what I wish is for this message to be seen by everyone. It is so crucial. If you are kind of representing/ acting like you are teaching to someb ody, for me I feel this is one of the most important messages people should know from the very beginning, only then every step you will see the progress in body, speech and mind. Otherwise there is one phrase called dharma pollution the more you know, the more disturbed and unhappy you are. Without setting up the foundation properly, you can become a very disturbing, irritating person. You can look around, and see that there are people, even after ten or twenty years of practicing dharma, are very irritating and unpleasant people. This is because of not having used this message. So we have to be the intermediate person to pass this message around. This message, you could say, is the source of the entire Buddha s teaching. Healing our mind is crucial, because o therwise our problems, which are beginningless, become endless. We may use medicine or some other external means to heal a particular disease, but the disease will return unless we heal our mind. July Review Words of Wisdom ~By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche~ Mandala Workshop & Teaching through the webcam to students in Penang Mandala offering is one of the easiest ways to accumulate the most extensive of merit in the shortest time possible. Although there are the 7 heaps, 23, 25 and 37 heaps of mandala offering, the amount of merit accumulated depends on how clear and extensive our visualization is, and how sincere we are in offering the entire universe to the Guru and all the holy beings. In the afternoon of 7th July, Geshe la laid out his own mandala set and painstakingly guided the students from the fi rst step of constructing the mandala offering until the end and offered it with strong dedication. Geshe
6 Shabda ~ August 2007 ~ ~ August 2007 ~ Shabda 7 la began the session with blessing the students new mandala set and explained the importance of making mandala offering. There he extracted a story from the Lam Rim teaching about how Lama Tzongkhapa was practicing very seriously but he couldn t gain realization on the wisdom realizing emptiness until the Buddha of great wisdom Manjushri advised him to make mandala offerings to accumulate merit. After practicing for some time Lama Tzongkhapa was able to achieve the realization. Geshela also illustrated another story about a young boy who saw the Buddha went around with begging bowl. Not knowing that the man is an enlightened being the Buddha, the boy offered him a handful of sand by thinking that it was a handful of gold. Due to that sincere offering the young boy created extensive merit and in his next life he became the powerful King Asokha. While Geshela was giving the details on the mandala offering to the students at Losang Dragpa Center, the students in Chokyi Gyaltsen Center, Penang, simultaneously received his teaching through SKYPE with a webcam! This marks a new milestone in LDC s development with the use of technology we now not only can offer our regular teachings to the locals but also to those who are living hundreds of miles away! Rinpoche has always advised the use of technology as an effective tool to aid us in studying Dharma, and now we are one step closer to fulfilling His holy wish! Uncovering the amazing hidden potentials of LDC members @ Selesa Hill Resort in June & July, 5-6:30pm! A weekend getaway in Selesa Hill Resort in Bukit Tinggi with LDC Sangha, members and family brought us an amazing new discovery of the hidden potentials of many of our members! Many of those daddies who normally look quite stern when coming to the Center turned out to be the best performers in our water polo games in the swimming pool! Eric Gan, the best shooter and one of the highest goal scorers, was ever sharp and attentive in the water and was always singlepointedly aiming at shooting the ball into the goal. He and his son Chad was the best duo in the team. Mr. Chua and Candy Tan, the best male and female goal keepers respectively, surprised everyone with how good they were at catching the ball before it hits the goal! We also got to see the sporty, fun-loving and wild side of our office administrator William Foong! And the gentleman who normally sits quietly with his family while attending pujas and teachings at the Center Jason Tan? Phewww we don t really know him do we?! He was everywhere in the water pulling off his wits and at the end of the water polo, we heard him saying, I forgot I was not 16 any more! Jason and his team also beat the rest and won the top prize in the Water Polo Match as well as the Amazing Race LDC s version! While some mothers and aunties stayed relax in their rooms, others enjoyed by just watching their kids and hubbies competing on the adults playground. We also spent a whole morning in the river just behind where we stayed and explored the nature a bit before someone shouted, Hey, so and so is still dry! How can?! There was a second s silence, and then all hells broke loose everyone started splashing the river water at each other and laughed and
8 Shabda ~ August 2007 ~ ~ August 2007 ~ Shabda 9 shouted and at the end, everyone was soaking wet! While in the water we also called out the mantra of the wealth deity Dzambala and pretended to do Dzambala water offering! That night we blocked booked the Resort s mini Karaoke lodge and the Best Singer Award went to Clearance Chua, who sung a few evergreen songs accompanied by our best guitarist Chung Han. In the following day the Best Spouse Award went to Margaret Khoo who beat all the men in a highly challenging game with the blind fold on her eyes she was able to identify her husband s hand among 20 over men s hands! During our farewell lunch party, Mr. Lim, with his great sense of humor, was the emcee who announced the award winners for this year s LDCFA (Losang Dragpa Center s Fellowship Awards). Every winner of the various games received a prize and eventually every participant received a special small gift in addition to bringing home with them a beautiful and sweet memory. Special thanks must go to Ven. Ang Losang la for organizing the games which brought so much fun and laughter to this special outing, and our sincere appreciation goes to all LDC sangha for preparing the prizes and gifts for everybody. Countless thanks to Anthony Tham for looking after the meals for the group, and very special thanks go to Shirley Yeo for organizing the logistic of the trip. We are already looking forward to the next outing with our members very soon! Young People Program The first YPP Sunday of the new semester was indeed a special one. It was graced with the presence of our new beloved Geshela. The children were all chatter and excitement as they waited for the clock to strike ten. Their first encounter with Geshela kept them anxious. Between them, you could hear their nervous questions, Is he scary? or What s he like? As a man that respects punctuality, Geshela had already made his way down the stairs at 9.55. The hall hushed when he appeared, and all eyes were trained on him. The children dared not make any noise as they nervously watched him. Only when he broke into a grin, the twinkle in his eyes made the children realize how gentle and approachable Geshe Zopa is. Being able to breathe easier, the children then happily took their places on the floor after Geshela sat down. Good morning. He greeted the children warmly and began the chat. The first thing he spoke about was the types of prostration and the significance of each of them. Every position, every action was important in its own right, and that how vital it is to concentrate and focus on every movement. He then demonstrated how a proper full prostration should be like, urging the children to follow his lead. Obediently, the children then got up to their feet and watched Geshela carefully, imitating his every move. After making sure the children got the concept right, he went on to teach the children how to recite the mantras as they prostrated. It was an invaluable lesson learnt that day a lesson that will be etched into the children s memory for life. Even the adults were impressed at how coolly Geshela handled the children and how he held their attention for so long. After about an hour of prostration, Geshela sat everyone down again and taught them the famous yoga lotus position. The adults were quite amused at the younglings trying their best to position their feet above their thighs, bursting into laughter every few minutes. Geshela then proceeded to chat with kids, sharing with them stories from his life, and of Phuntsok Rinpoche. All in all, that was one interesting YPP Sunday, leaving a memorable mark on YPP history. 22nd July 2007 Request to turn the wheel of Dharma It was a pleasant Sunday morning when Geshela joined us again for our usual YPP program. That day s lesson was on the 5th Seven Limbs Prayer requesting to turn the wheel of Dharma. Geshela began the lesson by taking the children around the gompa and refreshing their memories on the figurines and manifestation of Buddha. After a good 20 minutes on praying and prostrating, he led the group back to their seats in the hall. Requesting to turn the wheel of Dharma Geshela explained what the phrase meant and demonstrated how to request our Guru to bless us with teachings and educate us in Dharma. Kneel on one knee, keep your eyes on our Guru s feet, show your utmost respect and sincerity by holding the wheel above your crown as an offering to your Guru. The students (both children and adults) followed his lead to make sure they got their positioning correct. Geshela also explained the stories behind the wheel so the children could understand better the origin of the phrase. Keeping things simple, he managed to transmit the message across to the children and taught them how to request for teachings the next time Rinpoche come to KL.
10 Shabda ~ August 2007 ~ ~ August 2007 ~ Shabda 11 LDC NEWS Thanksgiving Party to Ven. Ang Losang It has been 3 years since Ven. Ang Losang serves LDC with his skills and experience in translating the numerous teachings, giving teaching himself, conducting prayers, consecrating statues, and etc. Notably of all the qualities he displayed, his sociable nature has won him many friends and brings a lot of fun and laughter whenever he is around. Ven. Ang Losang has dedicated his time and energy fully in serving LDC over these three years. He is by far the longest-staying translator in LDC. Without his translation, it wasn t possible for anyone to receive and understand the teachings from Geshe Losang Sherab in year 2004 and subsequently Geshe Tenzin Deyang, year 2006. In between these activities in the Center, whenever there is a group going for pilgrimage to Nepal or India, Venerable would, without hesitation, always volunteer to stay back and look after the Center. He has also conducted group discussion, taught preliminary practices and occasionally meditation in the Center. Many people have found him easily accessible and down-to-earth, and many have also come to seek his advice and suggestion which often inspire them to continue their dharma practices. Ven. Losang has been away from his monastery, teachers, family and friends, and while living in a foreign environment having to face people of different mind-sets and cultures, he has never made a slight complaint about any discomfort over these years. His quiet service and devotion to the Center has definitely contributed to LDC s success today. Ven. Losang is planning to return to Kopan Monastery on 10th August, 2007 for good to focus on his personal practice and retreat. LDC is offering a Thanksgiving Party to him on 29th July, 2007 at LDC to express our deepest gratitude for all his support and hard work at the Center over the years. Please make sure you are free on that evening and bring along your family and kids. We want to sincerely THANK YOU VERY MUCH Ven. Losang from the very bottom of our heart for all that we have received from you! And we look forward to your quick return again soon in the future. Extension of LDC Gompa Inspired by the thought to establish a central place of Buddhist Study here in KL, LDC Director Lillian Too seeked blessing from our precious Guru Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche to begin a Buddhist college at our very own LDC. Rinpoche very delightfully granted His permission and expressed His high interest in supporting this endeavor. It is also Geshe la and Ven. Dechen s wish to establish the Basic Program in the center in 2008 for the students who are interested in studying the complete set of Buddhist curriculum. We envisioned it to be a 2-year study program which will provide the students an overview of Buddhist philosophy based on the five major texts used by the students in the monastic universities in south India. The launch of the Basic Program will then set the foundation to actualize our dream of eventually establishing a Buddhist University here at KL! However there are many preliminaries to look into, and the first step toward actualizing this plan is to extend our gompa and to build a few classrooms. We are now in the process of drawing the plan and arranging the necessary documentation for approval. We will therefore soon call upon an EGM with all the members to share more news on this exciting project! Inviting Wealth Vase to your home In Tibetan Buddhism the wealth deity Dzambala is the manifestation of the Great Compassionate Chenrezig. Once Lama Atisha came across a dying man whose hunger was so great that it made him impossible to even stand up to beg for food. An upswell of compassion arose within Lama Atisha, and without any possession to help this man, Lama Atisha decided to cut off his own flesh to fill the hunger of the man. The man however did not had the urge to take up such an offer, indicating that he would rather die of hunger but not to accept such an offer from the great noble man. Upon hearing this, Lama Atisha wept that he could do nothing to alleviate the suffering of this man. Just then, Chenrezig appeared before him and from Chenrezig s tears of compassion, one tear turned into Tara and the other into Dzambala. Dzambala thus gave instruction to Lama Atisha on practices to garner material wealth to save this suffering man. It is for the sake of ensuring that practitioners be free from concerns about physical needs and dwell in a good condition so as not to be deterred from Dharma practice and activities, the practice of Dzambala wealth vase passed down until today. During Khenrinpoche s visit to LDC on September, LDC is organizing a day to re-consecrate the wealth vase of the Center. For people who has wealth vase at home, you can bring along your wealth vase to re-consecrate in the Center. For people who would like to invite wealth vase to your home, please contact LDC office for further information.
12 Shabda ~ August 2007 ~ ~ August 2007 ~ Shabda 13 Program Highlights AUGUST A NEW series of Dharma classes on the 37 Practices of A Bodhisattva by Geshe Tenzin Zopa on ALL Saturdays (3-4:30pm) in August 2007!! This short text is composed by Togme Zangpo, a great yogi who spent his whole life studying and practicing Dharma, and who was known to have generated bodhicitta. Born in 1295 and passed away in 1369, Togme Zangpo lived a little more than 70 years. He composed many texts during his lifetime, one of them was the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva which he wrote in a cave in Ngulchu Rinchen, Tibet. These 37 stanzas of advice are the summary of the essence of all the teachings Togme Zangpo had practiced and mastered throughout his life. This work by him is about training the mind - this means ridding ourselves completely of all disturbing emotions and their imprints. At the very least it will help us to prevent their coarser forms and gradually to decrease them. ALL are welcome to attend this teaching! Ven.Dechen is invited to Potowa Center, Indonesia Upon the invitation from Rinpoche s students in Potowa Center, Indonesia to Ven.Dechen to lead a weekend Nyung Nay retreat in their Center, Ven. Dechen has finally been able to spare her busy time in LDC to go to Jakarta on the first weekend of August. Many people in Indonesia has expressed strong interest to study Buddhism yet they lack of resources to receive the teaching. During the recent Tara Retreat with Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, many students from Potowa Center flew all the way to KL just to attend the retreat and receive teaching. Rinpoche mentioned to Geshe Tenzin Zopa that it would be very beneficial if Ven.Dechen from time to time is able to assist Potowa Center in giving teaching and leading retreat. LDC is indeed fortunate to be able to share our resources with our sister Center in abroad. After the nyung nay retreat, Ven dechen will be away to kopan monastery for a month to do self study and retreat. YPP August Programme From the month of August to the Thousand Light Offering event in September 28th the children after each session will be making cards, book marks, red packets, malas, jewellery etc so they can participate in fund raising for charity at the event. 5th August The 12 deeds of Buddha and the significance of these deeds. Arts and craft making ear rings. 12 August The story of Milerapa. The children will perform a drama on Milerapa in December. Art and craft small and large greeting cards. 19th August Guru Devotion a sure way to showered with the Guru s blessing. Art and craft - malas 26th August A great way to be a beautiful person inside and out. Art and craft - book marks and individually designed red packets. Note to Teacher : 5th August Planting the seed to achieve all the qualities of the Buddha. ( Complete 5th and 7th verse of the Seven Limb Prayer ) 26th August A great way to be a beautiful person inside and out. ( 8 Verses of Thought transformation and we may need more than one session) SEPTEMBER Khenrinpoche Lama Lhundup s visit to LDC The abbot of Kopan Monastery, Khenrinpoche Lama Lhundup is returning to LDC on 18th September until 12th October. Program of Khenrinpoche s visit include our yearly Thousand Offering Event in the Chinese Assembly Hall, teachings and pujas at LDC, Chokyi Gyaltsen Center in Penang, Hospice and Jangsem Ling retreat Center in Triang. Khenrinpoche will also be giving Chenrezig and Green Tara initiations. In addition there will be a day dedicated to the extensive consecration of wealth vase. Most importantly we are offering a Long Life Puja to Khenrinpoche on 7th October 07. Geshe Tenzin Zopa to Tibet Our Center resident teacher Geshe Tenzin Zopa will be away from the Center on 2nd 17th September. Geshe la is visiting Tibet with a pair of film maker and director to video several holy places in Tibet which related to the late Geshe Lama Konchog. Many of you may have known that the entire procedure for the search of the unmistaken reincarnation of the late Geshe Lama Konchog Tulku Tenzin Phuntsok Rinpoche is recorded, and it will be produced into a series of documentary and movie, it is targeted to release before Olympic 2008. The filmed
14 Shabda ~ August 2007 ~ ~ August 2007 ~ Shabda 15 is given the name of Unmistaken Return. When the filmed presented their 10mins footage in a recent Film Festival in the West, it has stirred huge interest in several prominent TV channel such as BBC & Discovery Channel. Prayer for the Deceased in the Seventh Lunar Month Every year during the seventh lunar month the Chinese makes prayer and dedicate it to our ancestors or those who have passed away. This year LDC is greatly honored to be requested by the Hawker Association of Section 17 in PJ to lead their annual Prayer to the Deceased at Section 17 s open market area on Sept 7-9 (Fri-Sun). The president of the Association has approached LDC and requested the sangha from LDC to lead the prayer session. This prayer session is opened to anyone who is interested to participate. The location of the event is the open space which is directly opposite the Kuan Yin Vegetarian Restaurant in PJ Sec 17. OCTOBER 2nd Oct His Holiness Sakya Trizin s visit to LDC It s our great honor to be requested by the Vajrayana Buddhist Council of Malaysia (VBCM) to host a one-day event with the spiritual head of Sakya tradition in Tibetan Buddhism - His Holiness Sakya Trizin on 2nd October 2007. His Holiness Sakya Trizin is one of the gurus of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. When this news was brought to Rinpoche, Rinpoche was very delighted to hear that LDC is hosting His Holiness here. A public lecture by His Holiness in the afternoon of 2nd October is being arranged. We will keep you posted on the details of time and topics. NOVEMBER 2nd November 2007 Dinner Fundraising for LDC LDC has always been able to provide all the activities within the Center premises free of charge to all interested participants, although the monthly donation which the Center received barely covers the expenses of that month. Overtime LDC is very fortunate to be sustained by many well-wishers and sponsors who donated to the Center from time to time to support our activities and the maintenance of the place, but this alone is not enough. It is now the time for many of us to come forward to help to raise fund for LDC. On 2nd November, Friday, at Thean Hou Temple LDC is organizing a fundraising dinner with 80 tables available for sponsorship. We ll inform you the details of the ticket sponsorship and program as time gets nearer. Please keep your diary marked to support LDC on this important day. DECEMBER 8th 18th December 2007 Pilgrimage to Nepal Another exciting program of the year is the tour to Nepal in early December to attend our precious Guru Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche s teaching in Kopan Monastery, and then a pilgrimage to the major holy sites in Kathmandu. Many people who attended the pilgrimage to Kathmandu in year LDC is organizing the first deity retreat in Kopan Monastery for people who has received Yamantaka Initiation. As it is compulsory for those who has received the initiation to do the deity retreat so that you are qualify to do self initiation to restore any broken samaya at any time. The period for the retreat is schedule for two weeks. We have chosen Kopan Monastery as the ideal location for this retreat due to the conducive environment and resources there. At the end of the retreat all participants will be 2005 with Geshe Tenzin Zopa found it a very memorable, wonderful and educational trip in Nepal. It is with the special presence of our precious guru Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the holy place Kopan Monastery, and the well guidance of Geshe Tenzin Zopa in explaining the history of each holy site conjoined with many holy prayers made that filled everybody s heart with only bliss and peace. Please register with LDC office SOON as the year end is always the peak season for traveling and seats are sold out quickly. A payment of RM500 is required to secure your seat. Please book immediately if you are interested in joining the group. Yamantaka Retreat 2008 performing Fire Puja in Kopan Monastery with Khenrinpoche and tantric ritual monks. The retreat is schedule sometime in between mid-february to mid-march 2008. While we are checking out the possibility for those who has interest to participate in the retreat yet hasn t received the initiation, please mark in your diary the possible date to take leave from your work and family, and we will keep you posted of the updated details from time to time.