A Message from Ringu Tulku

Rinpoche sends news of the funeral today of his uncle, Thondup Dorjee.   He writes:

"The funeral went very well today. We were worried about the weather as the monsoon is not yet left and it is all the time cloudy and rainy.  

But this morning the Kachenjunga was fully visible.  the sky was completely clear and blue.  The cremation was done at Taktse, where you could directly see the Kachenjunga mountains.  The fire offering was done by two groups of ten Lamas. The Nyingma group performed with Chenrezik sadhana and the Kagyu group performed with Amitabha sadhana.  There appeared all different forms of clouds in the sky, and when the fire was lit a group of eagles circled three or four times in the skyabove and then disappeared.   The smoke only blew towards the west all through the hours and the body also fell its head towards the west.Many well wishers from Sikkim as well as from outside Sikkim came and gave us support. I have received sympathy and good wishes from all over the world and I would like to thank them on this occasion.

Today the Sakya and Ngorpa Monastery in Gangtok also performed the name burning practice through the sadhana of Vairochana where about 70 monks were in summer retreat. We offered lunch and distributed donations."

Thondup Dorje,  Ringu Tulku’s uncle and head of the family, has died age 90 at their home in Gangtok.  He was the eldest brother of Rinpoche’s father, and their father (Rinpoche’s grandfather) was Urgyen Gönpo, one of the regents for the King of Lingstang in Eatern Tibet. According to Rinpoche,  Thondup Dorjee, (known fondly as ‘Uncle’ to us), had been a monk, but had disrobed when he felt that he could be more useful as a defender of his people once the Chinese began to invade Tibet during the 1950‘s. It is said he fought ‘like a warrior’ to defend his family, his villagers and Rigul monastery, which was unfortunately razed to the ground.  

'Uncle' Thondup Dorje with Ringu Tulku at the gates of Dublin Samye Dzong in 1993. Rinpoche 

blessed the new centre with a teaching on the Four Noble Truths.   

When it became clear that they would have to leave, Sechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche, Uncle and Rinpoche’s father led the people of Lingstang out of Eastern Tibet across the Himalayas to safety, firstly to Pema Ko and then to Sikkim.  According to Rinpoche about 500 people began the journey, and only 150 or thereabouts completed it.  Sechen Gyaltsap Rinpche was one of those who did not, he sacrificed himself as a captive to the encroaching Chinese, acting as a decoy to allow the rest of the party to escape. 

The Chogyal (king) of Sikkim was a distant relative of the King of Lingstang and was able to respond favourably to the refugees and provide some help allowing the party to settle in the kingdom, where Rinpoche and his family remain to this day. 

While Uncle never again took robes, he remained the humblest and most gentle of beings, an inspiration to the many who met him. At the great age of 70, in 1992 he began to accompany Rinpoche as his attendant, quietly protecting and attending to his needs throughout some very hectic teaching schedules, travelling throughout Europe, America, and Australia.  He always took an active part in helping Rinpoche decide his travel schedule and firmly held the role of mentor in the household, especially after the death of Rinpoche’s father.  

Rinpoche asks that we join with him in saying prayers for the safe passage of his Uncle, Thondup Dorjee.  Please see his personal message on the Bodhicharya website. 

Bodhicharya Summercamp 2012, Casa da Torres, Portugal

Casa da Torres

Thanks to Pat Little for giving us a lively account of the week in Portugal:

The Bodhicharya Summer Camp was hosted this year by the Portugese Bodhicharya Sangha at Casa da Torres, a retreat Centre near Braga, with easy access to Porto airport and other international transport. A Jesuit seminary, it consisted of an original small château -with chapel- dating from the 

18^th century. It had been extended to form accommodation for the seminary and, these days, for use as a conference centre. The buildings were surrounded by vineyards and maize-fields and an organic vegetable-garden producing produce for the table, and a garden devoted to the Seven Stations of the Cross was planted with fruit-trees: oranges, grapefruit, kiwis-vines. An annex five minutes down a road lined with cork-oak trees extended capacity, which meant that some 150 participants from all over Europe were able to meet for the annual teachings with Ringu Tulku Rinpoche in ideal surroundings.

Ringu Tulku had wanted to find a place which would combine several 
virtues: it should be accessible to as many people as possible, be family friendly, in the countryside not too far from the sea and, of course, have the right general atmosphere. We had all of those, with the addition of a splendid river beach within easy walking distance. A further element adding to the holiday mood, was that fact that Rinpoche’s 60^th birthday, on 16^th July, fell during our stay, and we celebrated in grand style, with wonderful hand-made chocolate cakes iced with the eight auspicious symbols, decorations of ‘birthday cards’ with greetings from the participants hung on strings to represent prayer-flags, the entire proceedings punctuated by the flashing of dozens of cameras from the most basically amateur to the real pros, recording the happy event. 

photo opportunity at the birthday party

Rinpoche was presented with a book of photographs that had been taken during his years of travelling and teaching in the West: hundreds of images were gathered by Bodhicharya Ireland from destinations all over the world, including some of the very earliest shots taken during his Dublin first visit in 1990.  Some of these were then selected  into a volume: A Travel Journal - Why Not?  by  Paul O'Connor who also had printed a lifetimes' worth of refuge cards designed under the guidance of by Ringu Tulku  as a birthday gift from his students. Other celebratory moments included the now-established tradition of a short sharing of performances – poems, songs, instrumental pieces – by representatives from the various participating countries. We also had a number of portrait photographs defining the span of Rinpoches life, and these were raffled in aid of the Rigul Trust Fund. 
A more austere, but very interesting, contribution came in the shape of a lecture by Laurent Nottale, astrophysician, who made a valiant attempt – twice, first in English, and then in French – to explain the mysteries of the Higgs Boson to an enthralled but not always very comprehending audience!

some of the Irish group in the tea bar

The oldest and the youngest participants

Real work towards the cohesion and forward direction of the Bodhicharya movement was also done. It was an ideal occasion for networking, renewing old contacts and friendships, and making new. The Publications Team met a couple of times, and many plans are going ahead for the dissemination of the teachings. 

   For the Irish contingent,   arriving from   our rain-soaked, wind-blown island, the greatest and most welcome shock to the system was the sunshine (although the weather-gods did let us in gently by sending rain on the first evening)! Thereafter, the temperatures soared, sun-screen was given its first outing of the season, and the cool of the cloister at midday was most welcome. There was even talk – and evidence – of mosquitoes! All refreshingly exotic, and we felt we were in a very privileged space indeed.

Resting in the warmth of the evening  on the roof terrace

Ringu Tulku’s teachings, over five days, continued the commentary on Dakpo Tashi Namgyal’s classic text, Mahāmudrā: the Moonlight. Quintessence of Mind and Meditation, that he had begun presenting last year in the Summer Camp in France. An exotic title indeed, but from the start of the teachings, Rinpoche’s lucid commentary made clear the fundamental human relevance of the text. Here was the universal human mind, in all its complexity, with all its obscurations, its delusions and its consequent sufferings, but also with its potential for happiness based on the perception of our true nature. Rinpoche constantly emphasised the Path in one form or another, giving us a means to work towards true understanding, means that are different for each individual. We felt that we were in the presence of a rare being whose heart was as big as the universe, but who was capable at the same time of understanding each individual with true impartiality and compassion. 

A joke about a bishop

He was relaxed, humorous, telling jokes and stories in his inimitable way, and
with his habitual sense of theatre, carrying the assembled company along with him: ‘I’ll tell you a story... No, you’ve heard this one already, no, I don’t think I’d better tell this one...’ bringing out the eager response ‘Yes, yes, tell it, please, please’, before he capitulated as ever to our pleadings and launched into yet another illustration of the point he wanted to make. But make no mistake: this was serious, very serious stuff, the jokes and the stories being merely skilful means for carrying the message.  

In this way, Rinpoche analysed the specificities of Mahamudra, again emphasising practicalities (practise positive things, things that bring joy to me and to others, while avoiding the negative), and pin-pointing the main thrust of the teachings (working on our minds). He did not seek to avoid inevitable difficulties, such as the fact that Mahamudra is not a ‘thing’ or a concept, but an experience, and as such, impossible to express in language, which is made for other purposes. Like so much of Buddhist thinking, for the Western mind at least, it seems to be constituted by paradox upon paradox: Mahamudra is very clear, but it is not a thought; it is there but not there, it is real, but it does not exist in any ‘normal’ sense. A parallel paradox can be seen in the fact of the suffering of beings: they suffer and yet they don’t wish to suffer, and they know they don’t wish to suffer, that their suffering is unnecessary and somehow ‘wrong’ in the overall scheme of things. But the key to let them out of suffering proves hard to locate. Characteristically, however, Rinpoche turns this gloomy scenario into light: the perception of other beings’ needless suffering generates automatic compassion, and a benevolent feeling that starts the process of dispersing the clouds.

the Guru in party mode

A section of the teachings dealt with the role of the guru, and guru yoga. Here his analysis was subtle, aware of the propensity of human beings in need to cast the responsibility for their spiritual well-being onto another, lacking sometimes in discernment and even common-sense in doing so. In fact, those five days we spent together with him in Casa da Torre were as ample an illustration as we could have desired of the nature and the function of the guru. 
Our teacher, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, gave us all, gently, compassionately, lovingly, with great modesty and awareness, in a way that will continue to work on our minds for years to come. May we disseminate the radiance of his teachings in the world that was not able to share that privileged moment! 

A very big THANK YOU therefore to Rinpoche for his great kindness in sharing his wisdom, and also to Tsering, Carmo and the whole Portuguese team, for their most able and welcoming organisation of the teachings.

Carmo and lama Tsering drive Rinpoche and Lama Shenga to the airport at the close of the week.

More photos of the week by Francois Henrard can be found here.  Next year's summercamp will be 15th - 21st July, again at Casa da Torres.

Click here for  vimeo and the recordings of Ringu Tulku's talks in Dublin KSD last week from Patrul Rinpoche's book called 'The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones'  with the commentary of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. 

"In this book, two great Tibetan Buddhist masters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries challenge us to critically examine our materialistic preoccupations and think carefully about how we want to spend the rest of our lives. At the same time, they provide practical guidance in following the Buddhist path, starting from the most basic motivation and culminating in the direct experience of reality beyond the reach of conceptual mind.
The root text is a teaching in verse written in the nineteenth century by Patrul Rinpoche, one of the outstanding teachers of his day. In the accompanying commentary, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–1991)—lineage holder of the Nyingma school and one of the great expounders of the Dharma in Europe and North America—expands upon the text with his characteristic compassion and uncompromising thoroughness. Patrul Rinpoche's fresh and piercing verses combined with Khyentse Rinpoche's down-to-earth comments offer a concise yet complete examination of the Buddhist path."
The book is available new and 2nd hand on amazon.uk

Bodhicharya Ireland: Ringu Tulku, Dublin Visit. June 2012

Please click here for details of Rinpoche's upcoming visit   23rd -24th June 2012

The weekend teaching venue is The Hilton Hotel, Kilmainham Dublin 8,  twenty minutes walk in a westerly direction  from Heuston Station, keeping to the south side of the river. Bus no 79 from Connolly Bridge via Heuston stops outside.
Red Luas line is 15 mins walk from Suir Road stop.
Last minute accommodation - The Sheldon Park Hotel on Kylemore Road, (Red Luas line) usually has very reasonable rates. 

Bodhicharya Britain Centre Update

Karma Rinchen has been discussing the potential for a Bodhicharya Britain  Centre (BBC) in the UK, the plan is to find central location  to create a base for Rinpoche when he comes to these Islands as well  as a residential centre and 'meet and retreat place'  for UK & Irish Sangha.  Rinchen plans to travel with Ringu Tulku and proposes meetings with interested parties along the way. Please see Rinchen's  mail below, and if you are interested to support  the project in any way, and would available to attend a meeting with Rinchen  between 21st - 24th June while he is in Dublin, please email Bodhicharya Ireland  and we'll do our best to choose a time that can include you. If that is not possible this time, more details on the project and a contact address can be found here

Invitation from Karma Rinchen

I am currently in Sikkim but hoping to attend all of Rinpoche's June meetings in UK and Ireland (excepting Dzogchen Beara) and so looking forward to meeting those interested in this venture to establish a Bodhicharya Centre in the UK.
So I should be in London, Oxford, Southampton,Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as Dublin, Minehead and Samye Ling.  
I'm planning on giving a brief talk at each of these meetings outlining our current proposals and seeing what interest and support there is in the Bodhicharya sangha at this time. 
At the end of Rinpoche's 2012 visit, in Samy Ling, I will ask if he thinks we have enough interest and support to make a start on this.  If he thinks so, the first thing we would do would be to register a Bodhicharya charity with the UK charity commissioners.  After that we would be in a position to start fund raising and perhaps even looking for property.
So I look forward to meeting with you soon.
With best wishes
Rinchen

Kalu Yoga weekend

Lama Tsultrim with some of the Kalu Yoga study group




Lama Tsultrim and his attendant Ani Palmo presented some simple yet deeply profound teachings during the two days last weekend near Greystones in Co Wicklow. There were twelve participants, including Ani Sherab Tso, from Glasgow. Unfortunately the low temperatures kept us indoors, but thanks to Lama Tsultrim's enthusiasm and relaxed attitude, we were given a wonderfully clear introduction to the Nangpé yogas as taught by Kalu Rinpoche. His experience and erudite transmission of the teachings were very much appreciated by us all, and the instructions went way beyond those of the physical movements. The yogas can be done regularly as an aid to meditation as needed, or on their own as a complete practice. The weekend participants plan to continue to meet and practice together and look forward very much to Lama Tsultrim's next visit.

More updates coming soon on the visit of Ringu Tulku from 20th - 24th June.

Lama Tsultrim is founder of  Bodhicharya France which has its base at the retreat centre in Lusse, in the Vosges dept. of Lorraine  under the spiritual direction of Ringu Tulku. The centre welcomes all those wishing to make short or long term retreats. Please see the link above for details.