Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche was born in Eastern Tibet in 1904 and became abbot of Ganden Shartse Monastery in 1937. He was the first principal of the Central Institute of Tibetan Higher Studies in Sarnath. David Molk began to study with Zong Rinpoche twenty-five years ago and has translated for many Tibetan lamas. He lives in Big Sur, California.

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche was born in Eastern Tibet in 1904 and became abbot of Ganden Shartse Monastery in 1937. He was the first principal of the Central Institute of Tibetan Higher Studies in Sarnath. David Molk began to study with Zong Rinpoche twenty-five years ago and has translated for many Tibetan lamas. He lives in Big Sur, California.

1 Item

Set Ascending Direction
per page

1 Item

Set Ascending Direction
per page

SNOW LION NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Chöd In the Ganden Tradition: The Oral Instructions of Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

Chöd In the Ganden Tradition

How do we deal with fear?

The following excerpt is taken from Chöd in the Ganden Tradition, the long-waited first book in English by the extraordinary master Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, one of the greatest teachers of our time. He speaks of chöd, a potent practice designed to transform fear and use it to move towards enlightenment.

Initially, we should practice chöd alone in our room at night, quietly, with less fear. It is by gradually developing bodhicitta and wisdom realizing emptiness—not by just becoming more brave—that we can confidently realize that whatever appears or happens can be transformed into the path. At that point, we should become more determined in our place of practice. Do not, under any circumstances, endanger your life in the choice of place. Unless we have great experience, we should never do this practice anywhere endangered by falling rocks or trees, possible floods, or the threat of a collapsing house. Eventually, when we achieve full confidence in chöd, there is no need to go to violent places at all. This is because terrifying visions will appear wherever we are. That is important because we need terrifying visions of spirits if we are to practice chöd sincerely.

People have different mental capacities for fear. Some are too brave, some are too afraid. Both of these types of people will find chöd difficult. We must have some fear for this practice to be successful. A desperate search for the “I” causes fear to develop. To overcome this fear the best method is bodhicitta and the wisdom realizing emptiness. It is because of the need for fear that practice should be done alone. Any group retreat on chöd lessens the fear involved. Engaging in the practice at night also increases the “necessary” fear.

If we are going to practice in a cemetery or elsewhere, we must avoid “unnecessary” fear. Carefully examine the place in daylight so as to distinguish what is there. One graveyard in Tibet had a reliquary house for tsa-tsa statues that was surrounded by nettles. A chöd practitioner did not examine this cemetery beforehand, so when he experienced fear during his practice, he mistook the reliquary house for a spirit, and the nettles and branches for the spirit’s arms. As a result, when he fell into the nettles and felt his robe caught by the branches, he experienced such fear that he ran away, leaving his damaru next to the reliquary house!

We should not be too afraid. We must train the mind carefully. Whatever appears to us, our mind should remain calm. We may see images and hear sounds. Developing fear, our hair may stand up and we may want to flee. But it is precisely at this moment of fear that we should search carefully for the “I” that is afraid. We should then give up this “I” by offering our body to our fears and mixing our mind with space. In this way we will find that the “I” does not exist and we will realize emptiness.

It is difficult to identify the object negated in emptiness if we only do this practice in our rooms, however. We need to go to frightful places to clarify the “I” that is to be negated. It is through examining our fear that we attain a precious result. If our mind is mixed with space and our body has been offered to spirits, then where is a concrete, independent “I” or self? It seems that it must be there with the body or the mind, yet both of these no longer exist in the way they did before. Realizing space-like emptiness, all our fears will be pacified.

The purpose of doing chöd practice in frightful places is not only to realize emptiness but also to develop bodhicitta. Having offered our body to the spirits, there is no longer any need to care about it. We should really visualize our blood as an ocean for the spirits to drink, our body as food for the spirits to eat. It is for the sake of all mother sentient beings that we give up our body. “Exchanging self for others” in a graveyard is a very powerful method for developing bodhicitta because all attachment to the body ceases.

Without fear, chöd cannot be practiced. It is fear for the “I” that causes the desperate search for an “I” to hold on to. When the non-existence of an inherently existent, independent “I” is directly perceived then we are realizing emptiness. The antidote to such fear is bodhicitta motivation. This is very significant. The place of chöd practice amplifies the “necessary” fear.

—Excerpted from Chöd in the Ganden Tradition: The Oral Instructions of Kyabje Zong Rinpoche

Books Related to Chöd

...
Continue Reading >>

Widening the Circle

The following article is from the Spring, 2001 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

 

New-look Mandala magazine hits the newsstands

BY NANCY PATTON

Imagine being asked to exchange the semi-tropical paradise of a seaside home, a network of loving family and friends and an absorbing job in the Australian magazine world for a tiny adobe house in Taos, New Mexico (7000 feet above sea level) and a modest salary.

My karma had ripened. A prognostic "mo" thrown by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Spiritual Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), indicated that it would be very beneficial for me to take over the editorship of Mandala magazine from the redoubtable Ven. Robina Courtin.

FPMT, founded 30 years ago by the late Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, is today an international organization with more than 130 centers worldwide. It was time for Mandala. to go out to a much wider audience.

The first issue of Mandalain its new guise full color, perfect bound and with a March dateline came out in February to much acclaim. The credit for its content goes mostly to the long-time staff, Julia Hengst and Jaffa Elias, and the ghost of Ven. Robina, who has left behind a strong and Dharma-rich heritage.

The job of editor is one continuous Dharma teaching. The product, Mandala, is a tangible way of showing general and already-Buddhist readers how we really are experiencing Buddhism in our Time (the magazine's slogan). It's full of real-life stories of the profound impact that Tibetan Buddhism is having on the lives of Westerners and Tibetans living in the West.

To succeed in the marketplace, we have to stay lively, relevant and faithful to the tradition of the great yogi, Lama Tsong Khapa (1357-1419). Our first issue, emblazoned with the extraordinary smile of Ven. Robina, walked off the shelves because people who saw the cover must have said, If that's what Buddhism does for you, I want some of it.

Find out more about Mandala, at: www.mandalamagazine.org or: Mandala magazine, 125B La Posta Road, Taos, NM 87571, 505-758-7766.

Related Books

Yeshe Lama

$59.95 - Paperback

By: Lama Chonam & Jigme Lingpa & Sangye Khandro

Yeshe Lama

$85.00 - Hardcover

By: Lama Chonam & Jigme Lingpa & Sangye Khandro

The Six Yogas of Naropa

$39.95 - Paperback

By: Glenn H. Mullin & Tsongkhapa

...
Continue Reading >>

The Lama Project: Documenting the Teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist Masters

The following article is from the Spring, 1988 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

Documenting the Teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist Masters

Since 1959 Tibetan Buddhist masters have travelled to the West, teaching extensively and establishing Buddhist centers throughout the world. However, in recent years, many of the great teachers have passed away, taking with them their unique understanding of the Dharma. In 1986, His Holiness the Dalai Lama suggested as a matter of urgency that the Meridian Trust document the teachings of many of the remaining older Lamas living both in India and the West as a resource for Buddhist scholars in the future. In the long term, some of these teachings will be translated into English. A project was set up whereby the Meridian Trust would intensify its committment to preserving the oral teachings of the Tibetan tradition by donating further video equipment and video tapes to the Tibetan communities in India and providing facilities to train Tibetans in all aspects of video production. A London businessman generously agreed to donate a salary for a five-year period so that a Tibetan in India could co-ordinate the project.

In March 1987, Meridian Trust personnel went to India for an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and meetings with members of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. Great priority was given to the projectthree areas in India were designated to be allocated video equipment, and a Project Co-ordinator selected to research and supervise the video-taping.

image

H.H. Song Rinpoche

The project will cover a 5-year period, and will, in fact, not merely be limited to video-recording the teachings of masters of the four Tibetan Buddhist traditions both in India and the West, but will include masters of the ancient Bon tradition and significant cultural events as well as teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Meridian Trust urgently seeks your donations towards this project. Contributions may be sent to The Meridian Trust, 330 Harrow Road, London W9 2HP England.

image

Namkhai Narbu

image

H.H. Sakya Trizm

...
Continue Reading >>