Photographs from His Holiness Karmapa's UK visit 2017

Saturday 22 September 2018

The latest edition of Many Roads, Bodhicharya's e-magazine includes some retreat inspired haiku from Dublin poet, Maeve O'Sullivan. This one has an especially Irish flavour.


discarded crisp bag:

faded Mr. Tayto

still smiling



For more of her work and many other interesting articles please go to the link above. The e-magazine is edited by Albert Harris and all contributions are welcome.

Friday 21 September 2018

2018 Dublin teachings are now available.


The teachings that Rinpoche gave in Dublin for KSD and the Bodhichaya group last week are already available to listen to in the Bodhicharya Archive.  Please log in to view : https://bodhicharya.org/teachings/archives/.
The smoke offering to the local Wicklow deities
With a magnificent Suffolk Punch
Rinpoche's visit to Ireland this year also included a trip to Glendalough and Laragh in County Wicklow to perform Riwo Sangcho for a new organic farm project, and an invitation to lunch with Palpung Ireland, before a weekend at Dzogchen Beara with the Rigpa Community.                                    

A picnic, and blessing the land
            
Some of the  Palpung Ireland group in Banteer, Co. Cork, with director Ani Chodron to Rinpoche's left, visiting lama Ani Dechen, from Sherab Ling.   
                 
  
Prayers for an injured sheerwater gull that has been resting
at the Allihies Donkey Sanctuary, before the bird takes flight.
On the drive to Dzogchen Beara       
        


Friday 31 August 2018

And now the Yoga of Action

We are very pleased to be able to confirm the public programme for Ringu Tulku Rinpoche's visit to Dublin,  hosted by Bodhicharya Ireland and Kagyu Samye Dzong, Dublin.


Rinpoche arrives on Monday 10th September  and will give teaching that evening at KSDD on the Five Mind Poisons.  7.30 - 9 pm.


On Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th September Rinpoche will continue his teaching on  the root text of  Patrul Rinpoche's  'The Practice of View, Meditation, and Action - A Discourse Virtuous in the Beginning, Middle and End*  which is  published as 'The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones', a commentary by Dilgo Khyentse. 
Bookings for all public teachings can be made through Dublin Kagyu Samye Dzong on 01 4537427 or email, info@buddhism.ie

 A white dove sits on Rinpoche's microphone
during the 2018 Paris Monlams in August.
Photo credit  Bernie Hartley
On Friday 14th September Rinpoche will begin his weekend of teachings at Dzogchen Beara, West Cork.

This week Ringu Tulku is leading the Kagyu Monlam (Wishing Prayers) at the Grand Pagoda in Paris.
*Shambhala Books, Boston and London 1992. Translated from the Tibetan by  Padmakara Translation Group.

Wednesday 29 August 2018

The Yoga of Non Action


On August 28th Rinpoche gave a teaching on The Yoga of Non Action that was live streamed from Amsterdam. If you missed it you can listen again (along with many other of Rinpoche's talks) by clicking on this  Bodhicharya Archives  link.

Wednesday 4 July 2018

Roisin Ingle Interviews Rinpoche for The Irish Times Online Programme



 At the Bodhicharya Centre, Berlin, Germany.
On a visit to Ireland in 2015 Ringu Tulku was interviewed by journalist Roisin Ingle for the Irish Times.  It is an interesting conversation, covering incarnation, death and karma- and using the internet, amongst other things,  so here it is again  as we prepare for this year's visit to Dublin, Ireland  from the 10th September. Enjoy! 

Wednesday 30 May 2018

The Bodhicharya Teachings Archive



The Bodhicharya Teachings Archive is constantly being updated with new transcripts and recordings. Behind the scenes many dedicated volunteers are working together with Rinpoche to make them accessible to everyone, the project is ongoing and will eventually hold every teaching that Rinpoche has given (that was recorded, which is most of them) since 1990.  Please go to link https://bodhicharya.org/teachings/  to see what is available to view so far.  Rinpoche's 2018 teaching tour in Europe and the US has begun and talks are already available.
Thanks so much to everyone involved, this is amazing work, and so valuable.

Monks in training, Pemayangtse Monastery,  Pelling, Sikkim.   Photo Annie Dibble. 2017.

Wednesday 23 May 2018

"My greatest Wish Is To See the Monlams Light Up All The Countries Of The World, Like Butterlamps". Karmapa 2014

Ringu Tulku Rinoche will be leading a Monlam in Paris, France this year at the Great Pagoda of Vincennes, beginning 1st September.   https://www.kagyumeunlamfrance.org/



The word Monlam [Tib] means wishing or aspiration prayers, and so the focus of the week is to bring together  nuns, monks and lay people to pray together for peace and harmony in the world. 

In Samye Ling this week, the very first United Kingdom Monlam is taking place, led by Drupon Khen Rinpoche Karma Lhabu, who is the long term retreat master at Sekar Monastery in Nepal, retreat house of one of the world's greatest living Buddhist teachers, Thrangu Rinpoche. 
The days include teachings by Drupon Rinpoche  on ‘The Hundred Verses of Advice From Padampa Sangye to the People of Tingr’. To attend the teachings there is a a commitment to all sessions, but Rinpoche's instructions are more relaxed regarding the prayers sessions.

The First United Kingdom Monlam prayer sessions are being livestreamed on Facebook video and begin mornings 6.00 am, 10.30 am and afternoons 2 pm.  

The Karma Kagyu Annual Monlam is historically held in Bodhgaya, India, with thousands in attendance, and until this year, it has been led by His Holiness Karmapa in person.  




Rinpoche begins his 2018 teaching schedule -dates for Ireland 10th -16th September

Rinpoche and Lama Shenga have arrived in Berlin  to begin this summer's series of teachings around Europe.
Rinpoche will be in Ireland, Dublin and Dzogchen Beara between 10th and 16th September.
the full schedule can be found here.

The Stupa in the photograph above was consecrated by His Holiness Karmapa at Bodhicharya Berlin Centre during the 2014 visit is nearing completion and looking wonderful.

We look forward to hearing more very soon.
PHOTO: Karma Changchub

Tuesday 17 April 2018

A RECENT VISIT TO DUBLIN OF TSERING PALDRON FROM PORTUGAL



Over the weekend of 23th – 25th February, Annie welcomed a dozen or so of us into her cosy front room to hear Tsering Paldron give a teaching on Patrul Rinpoche’s text entitled ‘The Nine Considerations and Criteria for Helping Sentient Beings’, referring also extensively to Ringu Tulku Rinpoche’s teaching commentary on the text, given at the Purelands Retreat Centre at Samye Ling in 2007.
Tsering’s style was open and inviting, and our little group responded readily to her invitation to interrupt, ask questions, make comments, and there was an easy to and fro among participants.
The text is aimed at bodhisattvas, but Tsering assured us that we were all potentially bodhisattvas, whatever we thought of our attainment level! The text is directed therefore towards us.
As is suggested in its title, the ‘Nine Considerations…’ are rooted in action, and the choices we have to make in order to be most effective in the samsaric realm in which we operate.
The first of the ‘Considerations’ therefore directs us to examine ourselves. We must accept that we are ‘trainee bodhisattvas’, not even yet at the stage of the ‘First Bhumi’, and protect ourselves as one might protect a tender plant, from over-ambitious notions of ‘helping others’. Thus, if an action might be good for others but not good for ourselves, we should refrain, as in our frail state we might well not be able to withstand the consequences.
The second Consideration concerns the status of beings. The implications of this were a surprise to many of us, imbued as we are with notions of the absolute equality of all beings. But no, in the traditional view of these teachings, we are told to privilege ‘higher beings’, so that if an action would harm these but benefit lower ones (their life-span also comes into play here) we should not act. Humans versus mosquitoes and bed-bugs.
Several of the Considerations presented a real conundrum to a Western way of thinking. How do we know that an action will benefit (or not) ourselves or others in the next life? The ‘Consideration of vows and non-virtue’ sets us out on the lonely road of deciding for ourselves whether a certain negative action (stealing, killing, sexual misconduct, uttering falsehoods, for example) can be justified in the name of the higher interest of benefiting other beings. The scope for simply feeding the ego and self-deception is obviously very great.
Likewise, generosity is not as simple as giving away what one has. We should always be asking ourselves how, or even if, this is going to benefit other beings. A further complication is the question of long- or short-term. If we give to a drug-fuelled beggar in the street, might we not simply be putting off the day when the addiction will be squarely faced?
And so on and so forth. It soon became obvious in the course of the weekend that this apparently simple text was strewn with pitfalls and that, most especially, what it was doing was confronting us with our responsibilities in the sphere of action. Buddha never told us what we should do in such-and-such a situation; he knew in his infinite wisdom that the cultivation of a pure and compassionate heart was the key to right action. There are no ‘Commandments’ in Buddhism, no ‘Thou shalt’, ‘Thou shalt not’. Every act is unique, and draws on reserves of discrimination and ethical thinking cultivated over numerous lifetimes. It is for us to use these reserves, even though we are not at the level of seeing that is informed by Emptiness. At the same time, every being is unique, and each must learn to know him- or herself before ethical conduct is possible.
Tsering negotiated this forest of sometimes apparently impenetrable complications with skill, knowledge and unfailing good humour. We thank her warmly for sparing the time in her busy schedule to come and give us this profound yet eminently practical and rooted teaching, while regretting for her sake the snow episode that closed down Dublin Airport and prevented her from returning for her next engagement! We thank also, and equally warmly, Annie, for her hospitality and indeed for making the visit happen.
Pat Little
Arklow, 02/03/2018
Tsering will be teaching next weekend in the UK, to celebrate the 5th anniversary of  Bodhicharya Kent on 22nd April, at the Heugenot Museum, Rochester.


Catching up on the latest news from Bodhicharya

We are very happy to announce that Ringu Tulku Rinpoche will be returning to Ireland this year. He will be in Dublin for four days Friday 10th - Monday 13th September, and Dzogchen Beara 14th - 16th September.

You can register your email address at Bodhicharya.org to receive the latest news for  Ringu Tulku's  travel schedule or go directly to  https://bodhicharya.org/ringu-tulku/schedule/
Very occasionally Rinpoche has to make changes in his schedule, we will  do our best to keep you notified on this page as well. The programme details are not yet fixed, and Dzogchen Beara have their own website where  his teaching topics will be made public when decided.

The Teachings Archive team have been working hard for many years to make Rinpoche's talks available at https://bodhicharya.org/teachings/archive/ and there are new ones being added all the time.  It is a fantastic resource, including translations into languages other than English;  Ringu Tulku has given hundreds of teachings that have almost all been recorded  since his first visit to the West, some topics have been repeated many times, but each has its own signature and freshness, and each warrants a separate hearing.

The most recent is the teaching on the topic How to Be a Good Scholar-Practitioner  given by Rinpoche at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal, at the request of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche on 6th April 2018, and as a public talk it is freely available.  It is a really informative and helpful talk for anyone who has any doubts or questions about balancing their practise with study and reflection, and includes anecdotal accounts of traditional tibetan styles of practise within Buddhist schools and sanghas in the past, as well as discussing how we Westerners perceive and understand the concept of Practise.  

Some talks on the site request a login, and some are restricted teachings, requiring access
permissions from Rinpoche himself. 

Lastly - in a separate post, is an account from contributor Pat Little of a recent visit and weekend teaching in Dublin with Tsering Paldron who runs Bodhicharya Portugal as well as teaching in other Bodhicharya Centres.

Annie Dibble, Dublin.  April 2018


Friday 2 March 2018

Regular Online Teachings from Karmapa to Begin Today - Chotrul Dawa


Ringu Tulku has received good news today form His Holiness Karmapa:

'The Karmapa Foundation Europe have been requesting His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa to grant a regular set of teachings online so that we can all study and practice together where ever we are. We also requested that HH would kindly lead us step by step so that we can learn and practice in a systematic way and eventually can form a curriculum for Dharma Study and Practice that we can use in all the Dharma Centres as well as groups that are not Buddhist but like to study and practice Dharma. His Holiness has most graciously agreed to start a monthly teaching starting from today on Chotrul Dawa, the auspicious day on which Buddha helped countless beings with his display of miraculous manifestations. The time will be at 8pm Central Europe time. The date has come as a surprise and without much notice in advance but we will try to make sure that these teachings will be available online for many days so that people can listen time and again as well as be translated in many other languages. These teachings will be available in English translation today'. 

KARMAPA FOUNDATION YOUTUBE CHANNEL:  https://www.youtube.com/KarmapafoundationEurope

TIME:        8 pm      Continental Time 

GMT -     UK, Ireland and Portugal 7pm    tonight 2nd March 2018

Please look for further notices on our KFE website and Facebook page etc.

Saturday 27 January 2018

A Fresh Look at Tonglen - From Bodhicharya Publications


Radiance of the Heart: 
Kindness, Compassion, Bodhicitta

To bring you some warmth this wintertime, Bodhicharya Publications is very happy to announce the publication of a new Heart Wisdom book.

Radiance of the Heart presents Ringu Tulku’s teachings on Kindness, Compassion and Bodhicitta. Following on from the publication last year of the Lazy Lama booklet Lazy Lama looks at Loving-Kindness, this text develops this core topic further. Drawing on five teaching sources, the text first encourages us with a practical look at how to bring kindness and compassion into our daily lives. Ringu Tulku discusses themes of meditation and the practice of tonglen; and answers a wide range of questions.

The text then looks towards kindness and compassion from a more ultimate perspective: Ultimate Bodhicitta, the heart essence of enlightenment. Embodying such understanding brings an ever purer expression of kindness and compassion, imbued with deepening wisdom. Thus, the text aims to present a wide-ranging, but pithy, contemplation of this subject, central to the hearts and lives of us all.

Copies will be available in February and you can pre-order your copy from Bodhicharya Publications here in the Book Shop.

https://bodhicharya.org/store/products/radiance-of-the-heart/