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C O N T E N T S

Enthronement Ceremony of the 42nd Sakya Trizin & Pilgrimage to India. Page 2 Prayers for Her Eminence’s improved Health, Seven Year Cycle of Teachings & Working Bee Upcoming Dates

Page 3 Upcoming Shamatha Retreat, Open Day Fair, Teachings in Cairns QLD & Sydney NSW Page 4 Richmond NSW & Brisbane QLD Page 5 Sakya Centres, Singapore Page 6 Teacher’s Corner

E: [email protected]

0403 779 099

www.drogmi.org

‘The Wisdom Age’ Newsletter of Drogmi Buddhist Institute

A Tibetan Buddhist Centre in the Sakya Tradition

ISSUE 31 September/October

2016

The religious Enthronement Ceremony and Tenshug (Long Life Offering) to His Holiness Ratna Vajra Rinpoche the 42nd Sakya Trizin will be followed by teachings on the ‘Sage’s Intent’ by Sakya Pandita, on 9 March 2017 in Dehra Dun India, given by His Holiness the 42nd Sakya Trizin. March 10, there will be official addresses and other related programmes. March 11, a Grand Tenshug to the Great Vajradhara His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin. The respected kind Guru, Your Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin, we all wish you a happy 71st birthday for the 7th of September, we pray for your perfect health and to

remain in the sublime state of joy of long life for the happiness of all living beings…

ANNOUNCEMENT of PILGRIMAGE

Khenpo Ngawang Dhamchoe la will be leading pilgrimage to India during February - March 2017. The pilgrimage will culminate in a visit to Dehra Dun for the Enthronement of His Holiness Ratna Vajra. The itinerary will be visiting the holy sites of Bodhgaya, Varanasi, Tsol Pema (Lotus Lake) and Dharamsala, concluding in Dehra Dun.

Further details and bookings will be available shortly. Please send us expressions of interest in

participating in this wonderful trip: [email protected]

The Enthronement of the 42nd Sakya Trizin - His Holiness Ratna Vajra Rinpoche

2 Drogmi Buddhist Institute www.drogmi.org www.facebook.com/DrogmiBuddhistInstitute [email protected] / 0403 779 099

Dear Friends,

Her Eminence Jetsun Kushok la has had to postpone her visit to Australia due to some minor health issues. At this stage, we do not have a proposed date for a future visit but will let you know in due course.

We know you will join us in our prayers for Her Eminence’s health to improve and that She can visit Australia in the near future.

All people who have made bookings will be refunded in full. Thank you for your understanding.

Jack Heath President on behalf of Drogmi Buddhist Institute

THE COMPLETE PATH (7 YEARS OF TEACHINGS) AT KTBC 2017

Next year Khenpo la will be teaching in the special programme for the International Buddhist Academy (IBA) The Complete Path (7 years of teachings) at Kamalashila Tibetan Buddhist Centre (KTBC) in 2017. This is an extraordinarily special programme that Khenpo la has been asked to run. For 3 years students around the world will study set texts under the guidance of a local teacher, and then for the following 4 years attend IBA and receive the rest of the teachings from His Eminence Ratna Vajra Rinpoche. Khenpo la was chosen to be the teacher for Australia. He plans to structure it as comprising 2 terms in the 1st year - 2017, each with an extensive 7 day retreat, taking place at KTBC in mid - May and the 2nd retreat in September 2017. He will also run a monthly online 2 hour tutorial.

Image of IBA, Kathmandu, Nepal

WORKING BEE

At Kamalashila Tibetan Buddhist Centre, we recently had a very successful working bee with Khenpo la in residence. Please enjoy the images below of this weekend. Thank you to Matt for these really beautiful photographs. He has managed to convey the wonderful natural environment that the centre rests on. Thank you to all who came, and all your hard work.

THE NEXT 2 WORKING BEE DATES 2016:

Saturday, 24 September Saturday, 15 October

Please come and assist in the flourishing of KTBC. A hearty lunch will be provided and accommodation available upon request.


UPCOMING RETREAT

at Kamalashila Tibetan Buddhist Centre

Annual Shamatha Retreat 30 September - 4 October

Shamatha (Calm Abiding) Meditation is the foundation of peace and happiness, both spiritually and worldly. The Buddha used this technique over 2,500 years ago. Science now recognises that many health problems are related to stress, and increasingly recommend meditation. These five days can be a life changing experience, and the most precious gift that you can receive.

Cost: $500 / $450 members or concession Bookings essential: www.drogmi.org

Drogmi Buddhist Institute, Sydney - a day teaching

On a beautiful, sunny Saturday, a small group of us gathered in Croydon for Khenpo la’s wonderful workshop on Geshe Langri Thangpa’s ‘Eight Verses of Training the Mind’. Khenpo la reminded us that the main practise of Buddhism is to train the mind so we can help others. That this practice of training the mind – of practicing the Six Paramitas – of ultimately, achieving Buddhahood: we cannot achieve any of this without other sentient beings, without treasuring others, and that helping others brings the greatest happiness. We often judge others and discriminate against them in our effort to protect ourselves or make ourselves feel superior, but this is not right wisdom: right wisdom is recognising that sentient beings are a treasure and that they provide the greatest opportunity in our daily lives. He reminded us that Dharma practice is not wearing robes or saying words: it is changing the mind, that everything in our daily lives is our Dharma practice; everything in our daily lives provides an opportunity for us to truly practise mindfulness, generosity, patience, and ethical discipline. I think what touched me the most was when Khenpo la talked about exchanging ourselves with others. He reminded us to really think of your mother from your heart: how much she did for you and how selflessly she did it: this is an immeasurable gift; no one will ever be as kind and selfless as a mother. He reminded us of a Tibetan saying, that if you carry your mother on your back and walk around the world, even that is not enough to repay her. Every sentient being was your mother at some point, so practicing this “directly and indirectly” – practising this genuinely, not just out of duty – brings true joy. Thank you so much, Khenpo la, for this precious teaching. Darrah

Teachings at Khacho Yulo Ling Centre - Cairns, QLD


RICHMOND, NSW WORKSHOP

Khenpo returned to North Richmond on the 30th of July to give teachings about changing your mind from negative habitual patterns. It was a much anticipated visit by Khenpo’s old (and new) friends from the Hawkesbury. I have missed his wise words and gentle smile since he moved to his new home in Tilba. It was a relaxing yet inspiring day as Khenpo reminded us that happiness can be found in training our mind to think positively and to have kind thoughts. He encouraged us to identify our mental afflictions and transform them into positives through meditation and mindfulness. I am grateful to Khenpo for making the long journey to give his precious teachings and would also like to thank Wendy and all of the organisers for a wonderful lunch and morning tea. Chris

Khenpo is brilliant and a very wise man! A very insightful workshop on the ‘Eight Verses of the Mind’. Khenpo’s science of the mind is well worth consideration for anyone searching to apply new perspectives and modes of thought in their everyday life. Kelly

WHITE CONCH - BRISBANE, QLD.

Khenpo’s clear, logical and detailed explanation of the Buddha’s teachings show us how we are totally responsible for everything we have created in this life and will continue to create in future lives. He explains gently and clearly the methods we can use to progressively change our conditioning and negative habits; and to acknowledge and show loving kindness and gentleness towards ourselves - and not criticise - to use ego in the right way. Cheryl

Khenpo la has the ability to make everyone feel warmly welcome and included. His teachings are clear and concise, distilled into simple and direct language and easy to understand, with the added benefit of being delivered in English. Thank you Khenpo la for coming to Brisbane. Holly

Khenpo la’s talk was fantastic. He explains everything so clearly and at ground roots level. So good! Such an Inspiration. Marilyn

Wonderful teachings, lovely and kind-hearted spirit. Meg

Brilliant sound - made the teachings very immediate, easily accessible, so important. Teachings and teacher beyond comment. Food delicious and sustaining. Hospitality warm and inclusive, the organising brilliant, the room was just beautiful, cosy and comfortable. A wonderful weekend. Raelene

The teachings were complex, in-depth, yet simply presented. Plus the relaxed atmosphere and the help of volunteers, it was an excellent session, thank you. Kam

Dear Khenpo la, thank you so much for giving us this precious jewel. It really helped me to get a greater understanding of our constant dwelling i.e. being carried by the delusions of my projections and perception, and will make constant effort now to overcome, be aware of my mind and hopefully be able to help others overcome this as well. With great gratitude. Liliane

I found it very interesting. I have spent a lot of time focussing on the body’s health and haven’t given much time to the minds health which by this teaching is the most important thing. I had a lot of reflection and know which areas I need to focus and change. Sally

Thank you. Appreciated the practical examples of how to apply the meditation techniques. Karen

I am feeling so blessed, to be able to sit in the presence of such a wise and dear soul. It is an experience that will bless me forever. Thank you to those who organised it. Anonymous

Thank you. Wonderful, beautiful and penetrating teachings. I would be grateful to attend longer sessions and learning opportunities. Ian

Very well organised, thank you. Annemare


SAKYA CENTRES, SINGAPORE

Mind is the most valuable and priceless thing we have in our life. Therefore we need to protect it. With the same mind we can either go to a hell realm or we can achieve Buddhahood. Therefore we need to make this mind healthy by practicing Dharma. Whatever practice we do, the aim is to make this mind a better mind. There is no difference between the Buddha mind and sentient beings’ mind, it is all in how we use this mind.

Khenpo la reminded us of the importance of others. Without others we cannot practice compassion and loving kindness. In fact the most difficult person is the best teacher as he/she allows us to practice patience. Without others, we don’t have the opportunity to practice generosity, etc. The most difficult people are our best teachers because they allow us to practice dharma that will lead us to enlightenment. Therefore to thank these people for giving us Buddhahood, instead we tend to be angry with them. He spoke then of our monkey mind, that needs to be trained, so then this mind can not cause trouble to others and oneself. Then to have the right motivation to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. Most of the time our mind is controlled by our defilements, therefore we always are suffering. To realise this we need to be aware of the importance of meditation. In knowing the importance of meditation, we will have the genuine motivation to meditate.

Khenpo la pointed out that dharma is actually easier to practice because there is a finish line, whereas samsara has no ending. Which one would we prefer - doing something that takes a long time to do but eventually leads us somewhere or doing something that leads us nowhere? The mind we are dealing with is very complicated. We are supposed to be taking care of ourselves, yet we are actually hurting ourselves all the time. Once we are awake, we will stop hurting ourselves and stop hurting others too. Shamatha meditation is the only way to turn this unhealthy mind into a healthy and virtuous mind. Everyone wants happiness, nobody wants suffering. Thank you Khenpo la for the wonderful teaching that shows us how to see ourselves and how to become a real Buddhist. Rosa

Khenpo la has a great command of language and able to deliver his teaching in a clear and succinct manner. He uses many analogies and examples in the life of lay people to drive through the important messages, or to explain key concepts. Through the series of teachings, he led us through a gradual path from the essence of modern Buddhist living, to Shamatha and finally to higher sadhana practice. His interaction with each student is warm and sincere and following the Buddha’s doctrine of equanimity, loving kindness and compassion. I pray for Khenpo la’s good health and Long Life, to continue turning the Wheel of Dharma in every world in every direction. Jampa

One who can switch my mind back to positive in seconds and one who carries and clearly presents the Six Paramitas… Khenpo Ngawang Dhamchoe, hope to see you soon. With metta, Ngawang Samten Dolkar

Khenpo la’s teaching on modern Buddhist living and Shamatha meditation helps us to recall and reflect why we are called Buddhist... By offering flowers, chanting, circumambulations, etc., are not enough if our mind doesn’t transform it into a virtuous mind. Khenpo la reminded us the importance to be a good human being, living a meaningful life and choosing the right friends. A student

Khenpo la has the great ability to explain key concepts behind each teaching extremely well. Always mentions the great masters of each teaching, mentioning the lineage to give us the confidence of the effectiveness of the teaching, to clear any doubts so we can move forward. Khenpo la is a great teacher. He gave many interesting examples/stories that ignites the motivation for me to go further and excel in meditation. The teaching was mainly on Shamatha meditation, which I strongly recommend to all new and experienced meditators. Andy

Above right images, a Release of Life Outing


TEACHER’S CORNER

An excerpt from Shamatha Retreat 2015

Beginning with the right motivation: I must attain full enlightenment for the sake of countless mother sentient beings and for that purpose we are studying this precious Buddhadharma.

We will begin with a brief review and summarise from yesterdays talk. The most effective way to practice the Buddhadharma we need to go through the reasons, so important. In the beginning why is it so important to take refuge in the Triple Gem? Briefly the first reason are the difficulties that we are going through in the present life and we also are concerned what is going to happen in the future. Whatever challenges we may face in the present, none of them come from nowhere, neither is it because we are unfortunate, no one has created this trouble towards us, the prime reason is that we create the cause, either in the present life or from the previous life. If you don’t eradicate this cause, just keep it in our mental storage, when the condition comes, then germination will arise. In order to understand how cause and effect works, we need to learn. So who can really teach these things, it is the person who has perfected this, so that person is the Buddha. Through three countless aeons He studied, He contemplated, He meditated and He perfected Himself. This very perfect person has inconceivable compassion, because the whole reason He entered the path and had the goal to attain Buddhahood was not for the sake of His own benefit, yet to help all sentient beings. When He reached the Buddhahood He was the symbol of the Great Compassion. In the compassionate eyes there is nothing to discriminate, He sees every being as equal. Out of this Great Compassion He turned the Wheel of Dharma, every single detail of what we are going through emotionally, experientially, whatever, once we know about these things then we are better equipped with the tools to fix these things. In this way, taking refuge means I completely follow the guidance of the Buddha.

Then secondly, the real method to prevent and not to ripen suffering in the present and the future we need to have the wisdom, we need to have compassion. Wisdom and compassion are no other than one’s own mind. This very mind we need to develop the wisdom and compassion, and through this wisdom and compassion we need to implement in our everyday lives, is the medicine. This very medicine with whatever we imprint in our mind from the past we delete it, or can be transformed, this is what

we call the Dharma. This is why it is so important to take refuge in the Dharma.

The third, even if one had actually met the Buddha and found the Dharma, we all know that inspiration comes, and then is lost. So we always need someone there as a reminder, someone always there to consistently supporting and encourage. If someone is always reminding us, this will keep our practice alive. It is said if we practice Dharma , this is much harder than to find the Dharma. We all know that we must have enormous good fortune to find the Dharma, to even meet the Dharma, then to practice Dharma we need much more than that. If you have such great fortune , then we don’t have the time, we don’t have the energy, we don’t have the courage to practice, even though we know that it is so precious. So this kind of support comes from the Sangha. Therefore, we always take refuge in the Sangha. These are the reasons why we need to take refuge in the Triple Gem. In order to make us feel really confident to take refuge in the Triple Gem again is so important to know the Buddha is a perfect person He is free of all the faults and omniscient.

Many sutras and shastras state the Buddha is the Great Teacher, that He taught the entire nature of conventional truth and absolute truth, there are no mistakes, everything perfectly spoken. There are many that you may say are a great teacher but no one is capable to speak of the entire nature of the world as the Buddha. Therefore we call Him the Supreme Teacher/ Perfect Teacher. His mind we say is the omniscient mind , meaning that again we talk of subject phenomena and object phenomena. Object phenomena is all the inanimate phenomena's, so vast. So many realised beings and many great spiritual teachers , their wisdom is too small to cover the entire object phenomena, but the omniscient mind, the Buddha’s mind, the subject, is the Buddha’s mind and object the

entire inanimate phenomena are the same size. No one has that kind of wisdom to cover the entirety of conventional and absolute truth, great amazing being. This is the person who was human like you and me and through the guidance of His own teacher and practiced for countless aeons He reached this. So what this tells us is don’t be lazy, don’t be wasting your time, you have exactly the same potential to reach such a great person. In this way comes clarity mind which is another reason to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

When we look at our self , of course there are so many challenges in our own life, or we look at our own family - we have lots of challenges, but then we sometimes get caught up with this very small kind of an area, but if you look from a bigger perspective I’m not the only one, not just my family, everyone in samsara has problems. And in comparison to many other humans we see the problem , our problem is actually quite irrelevant.

Then think of even a much worse condition than us, such as animals, hell beings and hungry ghost beings which are beyond us. Just even the animal realms, how many are suffering out there. So in this way there is lots you can do not just to help yourself, your family there are so many out there that you can help. In order to help other sentient beings , no matter how many millions or billions of dollars you have it will not be enough, no matter how powerful you are in the world it won’t be enough, only one thing that can be helpful to countless sentient beings is when you are perfected and when you have Great Compassion. Because wisdom and compassion will never be exhausted; power will be exhausted, money will be exhausted, your possessions will end, but the one thing the more you use and will increase is the Great Compassion.

So with this reason if you sincerely can feel the suffering of all sentient beings and you really want to help them , the required equipment is that one must be perfected. If you are perfect like the Buddha then you are in a position to help countless sentient beings. This is achievable, were not just dreaming something that is unachievable, it is achievable. In this way if you have the courage, three countless aeons is not a long way to go, if you don’t have the courage even just one day it is very hard to last to practice Dharma. So it is all based on the courage, it is so important.

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