May My Mind Turn Towards The Dharma

Just received this link to youtube.

It is a wonderful short teaching from Ringu Tulku Rinpoche on The 4 Reminders [also known as the 4 Causes of Renunciation].

These four lines encapsulate the whole Buddhist approach.

So if you are wondering, or someone close to you, WHAT is Buddhism? or WHY Buddhism? or even HOW to practise it? then, these four pithy daily contemplations are just what is needed.

It could even be helpful for non-Buddhists who wish to understand why their loved ones are now practising Buddhism.

The topics for the 4 Contemplations are:

1. This Precious Human Life

2. Impermanence [Change]

3. Samsaric Mind [Suffering]

4. Karma [Cause and Effect]

Finally, here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITjAejzyOSA

Enjoy!

PS whoever recorded and edited this teaching did a great job - really inspiring, thank you!

General Meeting, October 4

If you haven't already heard, by email, Bodhicharya Ireland has established itself with a core group of dharma volunteers and is about to have its Annual General Meeting on October 4 in Dublin.

We will meet at Annie Dibble's house at 1230 for a 'pot-luck' lunch and meeting to plan the year 2008/2009.

Please show your support by making every effort to attend.

If you are NOT on our email list - ie if you are keeping yourself informed ONLY via this blog - then please email us asap bodhicharya.ireland@gmail.com so we can keep you in the loop about the address, agenda etc., and above all so we know how many to expect.

Sangha living in the Dublin area are kindly invited to bring some prepared food to share with those who will travel from further afield - their offering will be the journey to Dublin.

We all look forward immensely to being together again in October.

Fast and Pray for Tibet, August 30, 7am - 7pm.

Dear Friends,

Please consider taking part or supporting in whatever way you feel appropriate.

Here is the mail from RTR...


"Dear All,
We had a special meeting of Lamas of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism
with His Holiness the Dalai Lama yesterday morning at 9 am before the
inauguration of the Lerab Ling Temple [Rigpa, France]. He asked all Tibetan Lamas in the
west to work together and gave very specific advices on various important subjects. I will write about them all soon when I will be able to transcribe it.
The most urgent request that he made was to observe the Fasting Prayer Day on Aug 30th. from 7 am to 7 pm. for Tibet and all such problems like that of Tibet.
I hope all the centers and groups connected with me will be able to
observe this and pray for all the problems of the world.
I will be driving from Austria to Munich on that day and will observe the
fast and prayers.
Wish you all the best,
RT"

Incidentally, I watched the inauguration of the Lerab Ling Temple live online, thanks to Rigpa Dublin, and was very inspired to hear HH Dalai Lama teach so inspiringly.

He spoke about the essence of Buddhism being Wisdom and Compassion - in order to benefit beings, longing to attain complete enlightenment.

It was rather shocking and saddening, however, to hear HHDL speaking about Tibet...

He said that during the most recent uprising, March 2008, he felt China's brutal clampdown signalled the beginning of the very end for Tibet.

He recalled how, in his lifetime, various cultures had been wiped out by the Han Chinese - the Manchurians, the Inner Mongolians - and how Tibet would be the next catastrophic disappearance.

Perhaps most sobering of all was when His Holiness likened the current situation in Tibet to a prisoner who has been given the death sentence -

The final outcome is now clear and inevitable.
There is nothing that can be done to avoid it.

HHDL spoke about how the Buddhist approach of non-violence and compassion for the Chinese has led paradoxically to Tibet losing her country.
He also mentioned that all the glorious Tibetan masters of the past [themselves living Buddhas] could not do anything to avoid losing their country.
How sad to see most of today's masters living as refugees in exile, including HHDL himself who concluded -

People look to me for guidance and leadership towards a free Tibet.

But what can I do?

...Nothing!

It's too late!

Bodhicharya Ireland's Dharmawork Areas

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather, wherever you may be today.

Here is a very positive update...

We have now identified key volunteers for all of the areas of dharmawork we identified for Bodhicharya Ireland at its inception, almost 3 months ago [see earliest blog posts and emails].

This includes all the main areas of recording, transcribing, archiving, publishing etc.
We are also delighted to announce there will be small informal Study and Practice groups based in sangha-members' houses in Dublin, Cavan and the Sligo/Leitrim area.
Details to come later.

We are now close to inviting a new Director who will have main responsibility for planning RTR's schedule and main teaching in Ireland, 2009.

This new Director will require lots of support and encouragement from the whole sangha, beginning with a general meeting of sangha in the early autumn.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO OFFER SOME OF YOUR TIME AND ENERGY to support RTR's work in Ireland. And contact us directly to say what work areas you are most interested in, if you haven't already.

Many many thanks to those of you who have.

Hopefully this humble beginning to Bodhicharya Ireland will blossom into something extraordinarily vital and beneficial over the coming years and lifetimes.

If you are attending Rinpoche's teachings in France and elsewhere you might like to share some inspiring photos or key phrases via this blog. Keep in touch via email.

Love and best wishes always,

Bruno

Happy Birthday Rinpoche!

Wednesday 16 July is Rinpoche's birthday!
He was born in 1952 - which makes him.... well, you do the maths.
We will send him a group email on all our behalfs to wish him many happy returns.

It has been suggested that we might like to include his Long Life Prayer in our practice, especially on this day as we send him every good wish for continued well-being and that all his aspirations for his work [and ours] are fulfilled.

Prayer for the Long Life of Ringu Tulku Rinpoche

DU-SUM JAL-WAY CHI- ZUK KAR-MA PAY
I pray for the long life of the one who accomplishes changeless activity,

TEN-PAY KUR-CHEN DEK-LA MI-NGAL-WA
Who has trained his being with the armor of pure conduct,

NAM-DA TSUL-TRIM GO-CHAY JYU-JANG SHING
And who is untiring in carrying the great burden of the Teachings

JYUR-MAY TRIN-LAY CHAY-PO SHAB-TEN MÖN
Of the Karmapa-embodiment of the Buddhas of the three times.

This brief long-life prayer for Tulku Karma Tsultrim Jyurme Trinlay was written, in accordance with the request of his pupils, by the Taisitupa.
(The order of the words in the translation does not coincide with that in the phonetics, the English lines being in the reverse order to the Tibetan, Jyurmay Trinlay/changeless activity, Tsultrim/good conduct.)

some nice photos of Rinpoche

I came across these beautiful photos of Rinpoche recently and thought you would like to have them too.
As you may know, RTR also teaches the Rigpa Shedra [Study College].
This advanced studies course in Buddhist Philosophy is the equivalent to a Master's or PhD programme and has taken place annually at various locations.
It began in Dzogchen Beara, West Cork. Then it moved to Lerab Ling, France. And now, it happens in the stunningly gorgeous Pharping area, north of Kathmandu, Nepal [where the first picture was taken just a few months ago].

In a recent entry on this blog, you were invited to volunteer your energy and time to support Ringu Tulku Rinpoche's dharma work through Bodhicharya Ireland.

Thank you for your response so far.

Please continue to consider how you may contribute, if you haven't responded yet, in the following areas-

Practice and Study
Transcribing and Archiving
Publishing
Film-making
Recording Irish teachings
Organising and Promoting teachings

If you don't mind, we will also contact some of you directly to request you to 'hold' some of these areas - based on your expertise and previous experience supporting Rinpoche's work.

Another area that will soon be open is Director of Bodhicharya Ireland as Bruno's 3 month tenure is coming to a close.
However, by then, all the key work areas will be up and running and the new director will mainly be involved in planning and organising events for 2009.

So, Bodhi- buddies...
as you look at these photos and remember your connection with Rinpoche, please allow your heart and mind to soar and fill up with inspiration that will lead you to step forward and contribute some time and energy to support him.

Finally, we have now sent off our financial offering to the Rigul Projects. If you would like to do the same as an individual, you can do it via the www.rigul.org website.

Rigul update

The charity launch www.rigultrust.org I mentioned recently is, in fact, intended for the UK zone especially.

As we in Ireland are still part of the Euro-zone [at least for the time being LOL!], I wish to clarify things a little and let you know that we fall within the mainland European Rigul charity's scope, run by Ines Wooters.

Their website is www.rigul.org

On it, you will find lots of inspiring photos such as these and details of the various projects RTR has set up such as the lay school, the shedra and the clinic.

Above you can see Rinpoche, wearing the Gampopa Hat, during a ceremony on his return to Rigul, Kham in 2005 - his first visit to his homeland Tibet since his forced exile as a child.

This is the lay school they built

And these are some of the children enjoying lunch!

This is the Tibetan herbal store-shelf at the clinic.

If you look at their site www.rigul.org
you will notice there is a way for you to contribute financially directly, by yourself.

However, if you wish to be part of Bodhicharya Ireland's first group donation, then please contact me asap on 087 686 7062 as I intend doing this the first week in July.

Rigul Trust

Dear Friends,

Rinpoche's charitable activity in Tibet is no called the RIGUL TRUST.

Please enjoy www.rigultrust.org
This is the new charity's website.

Shortly, I will be donating on behalf of Bodhicharya Ireland [B.I.] in early july.

You remember we had that wonderful plant sale at our inaugural meeting? Well, thanks to Pat Little, her green fingers, and her kind smile, we very quickly raised 120 euro!

If you have any ideas about how you could quickly raise some funds for Rigul, then please do that asap - and simply [if you trust me, that is, of course] get the donation to me and I will send it all together in one sterling draft to the UK where the charity is based.


As i was saying, i will send the grand total of whatever we gather in the first week in july.

So take a good look at their site and if you are inspired to make a one-off donation through B.I. please please contact me asap

Bruno [087 686 7062]

Hi Ho... Hi Ho... It's off to work we go!

Dear Friends,

It is time to follow up with you and put some of our aspirations into action.

Rinpoche mentioned to us before that he was very pleased and excited to see that we had identified the following areas of dharma work for Bodhicharya Ireland:





you may recall we said-

1. study and practice
2. publishing and archiving RTR's teachings
3. film-making
4. organising and promoting RTR's teachings in Ireland
5. exploring dialogue with other faiths and the sciences

Now I propose we break this list down into more manageable parts :

1. practice [maybe organising a regular informal group meditation in your own area]

2. study [maybe exploring what RTR materials exist for individuals/small groups to study together]

3. transcribing RTR's Irish teachings

4. archiving those teachings

5. publishing various dharma materials and teachings [especially RTR's]

6. film-making

7. recording RTR's teachings in Ireland

8. organising RTR's teachings in Ireland [holding the overview, planning and co-ordinating]

9. promoting those teachings [PR especially for public programme]

10. organising opportunities for RTR to dialogue when in Ireland with those of other faiths [and none] and the sciences

Please take this opportunity to examine your aspiration to assist Rinpoche with his dharma work.

Really bring it into your practice, if you wish - hold the aspiration clearly in your heart.

Then, identify one or more areas from the above list of 10 that you feel inspired to engage in.

Please let me know what you wish to devote your energy to.


For starters, please could you consider sharing some of your personal practice time and space with others in your area?

You might like to welcome others to join you once a week/month etc for group meditation.

This session could be done in silence without any leading/instruction whatsoever, thus enabling each person to do whatever is their particular practice [but with the added dimension of sangha around them]
All you would have to decide now is how regularly you would host a session, when, and for how long [1hr etc].

if you live in a region where other Bodhicharya students live [but not in your immediate area] you might consider inviting the others to visit you to practise together however infrequently
if you live in an area where there are no other Bodhicharya students, you could consider inviting practitioners from any tradition to come sit with you


Finally, Rinpoche mentioned there were other students of his not on our email list.
Please encourage any people you know may be interested to email us and to subscribe to the blog.

So, lots to digest and consider.
For now, let's establish some shared practice time wherever we live.
Once you've had some time, please then let me know what dharma work you may like to give some energy to.

Never underestimate your abilities and how much spare time you'd have for the right project.
Never assume that someone else will volunteer [so you don't have to bother replying]

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love and Best Wishes,

Bruno

latest news and good wishes from Rinpoche

Just had another email from Rinpoche...

He was saying how happy he is that Bodhicharya Ireland has formed and that we have established a 'good connection' with eachother.

In my email report to him about how our first meeting and dinner went, i told him who was present and the names of everyone interested throughout ireland.
He also mentioned that there were many others in ireland who he knows consider themselves to be his students - although he doesn't himself know their names for certain

so we may take that as a hint to do some discreet detective work and inform anyone we know who would like to be in the loop... just tell them to email the official address for ireland, and to subscribe to the blog for further updates [most important!]

Rinpoche was also very interested and excited in the areas of dharma work we identified as our initial focus [see previous blog post and emails]

I had asked RTR to elaborate on his original direction for the sangha to be 'Rimé' [ecumenical]
This most recent reply addressed that point by saying, as well as being open in our sangha to people from every tradition, we might also become a core group within the emerging Buddhist Network Ireland www.buddha.ie - which, as you may know, i have set up and to which i am offering most of my dharma work energy these days

Margaret Ford, who runs Bodhicharya International for Rinpoche, also sends her love and best wishes for this new sangha and offers her support in whatever way we may need it

So, Bodhi-Buddies, we are off to a very auspicious, clear and heart-warming start

Love, Bruno

Our First Meeting!

On May 17th, there was a meeting and dinner for some of Ringu Tulku Rinpoche's students and friends in Ireland where, with Rinpoche's blessing, Bodhicharya Ireland was officially formed.
There were 8 people present and some others who couldn't attend phoned us to share their opinions on our agenda and to send their best wishes.
Altogether, there are 19 students so far in Ireland - with many more expected once word gets around of the existence of Bodhicharya Ireland.

Rinpoche has given us very clear guidance of how to proceed. This will be a sangha comprising RTR's existing students in Ireland and there will not be a dharma center, open to the public, in Dublin.
We established some of our own aspirations for the sangha, and to support Rinpoche's work, during the evening in the following areas-

1. study and practice
2. publishing and archiving RTR's teachings
3. film-making
4. organising and promoting RTR's teachings in Ireland
5. exploring dialogue with other faiths and the sciences

Rinpoche recognised that many of his students already attended well-established dharma centers in their local area such as Rigpa and Kagyu. He was very clear that they should continue to attend them and follow their study and practice programmes as there is no difference between them and whatever RTR would teach.
Furthermore, Rinpoche encourages us to explore a Rimé [ecumenical] approach to the Buddhadharma and be as inclusive as possible.

So, if you or anyone you know is interested in exploring these areas further with us please get in touch by email
bodhicharya.ireland@gmail.com

and subscribe to FeedBlitz [above] which will email you any updates to this WebBlog - this will be our main way of communicating with you.

Bruno agreed to co-ordinate for the first 3 months to help establish Bodhicharya Ireland. Everyone is very happy to have formed this sangha in Ireland and we are dedicated to supporting Ringu Tulku Rinpoche's work [and eachother] in whatever way we can.