Gendun Rinpoche wearing the Maitripa Hat
This spontaneous vajra song by Lama Gendun Rinpoche is from the recently publishd book “Heart Advice from a Mahamudra Master“.
All phenomena,
the outer world and all its inhabitants,
are appearances of our own mind.
Lama Gendun Rinpoche
We are all looking for happiness and trying to avoid suffering, every one of us doing what we can to make life comfortable and get rid of everything we find unpleasant or that makes us suffer. In the midst of this conflict of interests, no one has much freedom of choice. Each situation has been woven by the thoughts, words and deeds accumulated throughout countless previous lives that have sown the seeds of the karma we experience at the moment. All of us now find ourselves caught up in this web of ripening karma, so that whether we like it or not, we are carried along by the force of events, suffering even more because what happens is happening despite our wishes to the contrary.
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Lama Ole Nydahl
Inspired by Manfred Seegers’ fascinating weekend course on 5-6 June 2010 (as part of the Space for Mind event held by our London Buddhist Centre), this entry is dedicated to the famous treatise on differentiation between consciousness and wisdom (Tib. namshe yeshe) by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339). This text is very important to Karma Kagyu Diamond Way practitioners as studying it can help to support one’s meditation practice and the development of the pure view.
Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339)
This famous article is by Karola Schneider, a close student of Lama Ole Nydahl who has been invited to the UK on numerous occasions to teach in our Diamond Way Buddhist centres. It was published in the magazine Buddhism Today in 1998 and is also held on the fantastic Kagyu Asia website.
Karola Schneider
Lama Gendun Rinpoche (1918-1997)
Lama Gendun Rinpoche (1918-1997) was the meditation master and the spiritual leader of the Four Dhagpos. He spent over thirty years of his life in solitary retreat in Tibet and India. Lama Gendun Rinpoche was one of the last great masters of the old generation of Tibetan Lamas. Everything he taught, had been experienced first hand during his numerous retreats in caves in the Himalayas and in India. He represented the quintessence of the fully realized yogi and the perfectly pure monk. It is said that he practiced prostrations every day of his life, even in his 70s.
Prostrations are done in connection with the first of the Four Foundational Practices (Tib. Ngondro): “Taking Refuge and Developing the Enlightened Attitude.” We hope that these teachings are inspiring for those who are doing this practice. Please note that the information here is not a substitute for the full oral explanations on the practice, which can be received from experienced friends in your nearest Karma Kagyu Diamond Way Buddhist Centre. (more…)
The following text is the transcript of an interview with the Third Jamgon Kongtrul in the USA in 1988 which was published in the journal “Material For Thought”, issue number 12.
Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche
Lodro Chokyi Senge, the third Jamgön Kongtrül, was born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1954, in accord with the predictions of the second Kongtrül Rinpoche. During his childhood he was recognized and enthroned by the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa and later taken to safety to be educated in his monastery in Sikkim. The Karmapa, head of the Kagyü lineage — which follows the traditions of Milarepa — raised him as one of his four “heart sons.” These four individuals direct the study and practice within the 39 centers established throughout the world during the Karmapa’s lifetime.
In continuing the Buddhist tradition, Jamgön Kongtrül, Rinpoche, is currently building two major centers. Rigpe Dorje, a center for study and meditation, is being established at Sarnath, India, where Buddha first taught. Pullahari, located on the southern slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal, will serve as a three-year retreat facility.
Jamgön Kongtrül, Rinpoche, visited Far West Institute in October of 1988, at which time conversations ranged from the difficulties of bringing an ancient tradition to the Western world to the nature of mind and of meditation.
Several members of Far West participated in the following discussion. Replies were given through a translator. (more…)
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