Special Edition 2012
YESHE NYIMA TRIBUTE NEWSLETTER
Commemoration of the life of
Tral raleg eg Kyab yabgon gon Rin Rinpoch poche e IX IX INSIDE THIS ISSUE
• Rin Rinpoc poche’ he’s Last Days Days • The Life of Traleg Rinpoche IX • The Cremation of Traleg Rinpoche IX • The Relationship between Relative and Absolute Bodhicitta • Ny Nyim imaa Tas Tashi hi • Refuge Refuge and and Bodhi Bodhisat sattva tva Vows • Prayer Prayerss for the Swif Swiftt Return of Traleg Rinpoche • Traleg Rinpo Rinpoche's che's Centr Centres es
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ur treasured and beloved teacher, Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX passed into parinirvana at 12.10 am on 24 July 2012, being the fourth day of the sixth month of the Tibetan calendar in the Year Year of the Water Dragon. Rinpoche, who was devoted devoted to maintaining the essence and purity and of the dharma, passed away on the auspicious day of Chokhor Duchen, the observance of Lord Buddha's first teaching. Rinpoche’s ability to communicate the dharma and his wide range of dharmic activity benefitted thousands of people around the world. We pray for Rinpoche’swift return. n
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Rinpoche’s Last Days
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understand the importance of sharing with everyone the circumstances that led to the passing of Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX and will attempt to explain this to the best of my ability. Rinpoche was at his Melbourne home in Australia on 23rd July 2012 having returned from his centre in New Zealand around a week earlier. Despite being unwell, he had led the opening ceremony at the new premises for his Nyima Tashi Kagyu Buddhist Centre, in Auckland. As events were to transpire, the teaching Rinpoche gave at Nyima Tashi was to be his last as the 9th incarnation of the line of Traleg tulkus. For a number of weeks prior to Rinpoche’s trip to Auckland he fatigued very easily. Despite his ill health, Rinpoche wished his health would improve enough to enable him to travel and teach as previously planned at his beloved E-Vam Buddhist Centre in upstate New York. Around 1.00 am on 23rd July 2012, Rinpoche awoke in some discomfort, and looked extremely pale and unwell. He was unwell enough for me to immediately call for an ambulance, which arrived within five minutes. Rinpoche was calm and composed but there was no doubt something was terribly wrong. The ambulance officers established that Rinpoche’s blood pressure was extremely low and that he could have been at risk of cardiac distress. He was then quickly taken on the short trip to the emergency department of a nearby hospital and was attended to by specialist cardiac staff. Over a period of around 13 hours, the doctors and nurses using intravenous drips and some drug therapy worked to normalize Rinpoche’s blood pressure. By around 3.00pm that day the staff had successfully achieved this and all Rinpoche’s vital signs were then at a satisfactory level. Beside some moments of arrhythmia, the doctors were satisfied that Rinpoche was out of immediate danger. Around 5.00pm, Rinpoche was moved into a lovely private room in an “observation ward”. Patients are taken to the observation ward after a significant
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Traleg Rinpoche with His Holiness 17th Karmapa
health incident so they can be monitored closely to ensure their condition remains sufficiently stable for it to be safe for the patient to return home. Rinpoche appeared to be relaxed and peaceful and said the bed was very comfortable. We talked a little, but after such a long day Rinpoche was understandably tired and was drifting in and out of sleep. The staff allowed me to stay past visiting hours, but were making gentle hints I should be leaving soon. Rinpoche insisted I agree to a time to leave that evening so as not to disturb the hospital routine so we decided that I would leave at 9.00pm. I kissed my dearest Rinpoche good-bye and we shared loving remarks with one another. He settled back to sleep almost immediately. I returned home somewhat exhausted but glad that somehow that the worst had been averted. It had been a very close call and I was shaken. I felt that it was time for Rinpoche to retire, though I knew he would never stop working for the benefit of others. For all the time I had known Rinpoche, he had worked tirelessly and
endlessly for all beings. His dedication to benefitting others was complete and enduring. He was never off duty! I packed a bag for Rinpoche ready to take to hospital the next morning. I was only at home for a short time when I received a terrifying call from one of the doctors at the hospital telling me to return to the hospital as Rinpoche had had some kind of a turn. I knew it was not good and I remember thinking our sweet good-bye may have been our last. Then I decided to be both realistic and optimistic. I arrived at the hospital sometime after 10.00pm. I went straight to the Intensive Care Unit as the doctor doctor had instructed. I was not allowed in to see Rinpoche immediately. As I understand the timing now, Rinpoche’s heart stopped at 10.30pm on 23rd July 2012. I was given the briefest of moments with Rinpoche. When I saw Rinpoche lying so still, and with many staff surrounding him, it seemed clear to me he would not make it, but still I hoped with every piece of my heart for a miracle. I was then ushered out of the unit and the medical staff worked tirelessly to try and restart Rinpoche’s heart. Rinpoche was declared deceased at 12.10am on 24th July 2012. Kal Kingi, Rinpoche’s personal assistant who now runs Rinpoche’s Melbourne Centre and Maitripa Centre and his wife Jennie had joined me in the hospital that evening. We were devastated beyond belief when the doctor broke the news to me that Rinpoche’s heart could not be restarted. Kal and Jennie’s support and care was remarkable. After the doctor delivered the news, at my request she let me sit with Rinpoche and I watched his peaceful body at rest. As I was sitting with Rinpoche it appeared to me that I observed the final descent of his chest as if I had witnessed the release of his h is final breath. breath . To To this day, I question whether that is what I saw or if that was an illusion I created to help me believe Rinpoche waited for me to be there before he released his final breath. The attending doctor came to me again and said how sorry she was. She explained that she was bewildered as to
why Rinpoche’s heart wouldn’t restart as the normal conditions that accompany a heart attack were not present. As far as I could tell, it seemed Rinpoche had suddenly but quietly slipped away with the same type of calmness, dignity and stability of mind with which he lived. I was able to stay with Rinpoche in a private area in the unit until the morning. The Forty Nine days Kal and I had begun to contact senior members of the Kagyu Sangha and then the wider dharma world and began to make arrangements for the appropriate activities in the 49 days following a high lama’s paranirvana. Messages of shock, sorrow and condolences flooded in from around the world. We heard that a double rainbow had appeared at Thrangu monastery in Tibet at the time of Rinpoche’s passing but before the monks had received the actual news and rainbows were sighted by students over the Carlton centre and at Maitirpa Contemplative Centre at Healesville over the following days. Double rainbows also appeared at Evam Institute in New York and at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra on the day they performed Karma Pakshi puja for Traleg Rinpoche. The blessings of the Kudung
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pon hearing the news, Sam and Ami Bercholz who were students of Thinley Norbu Rinpoche and close friends of Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche, took the first plane to Australia from America as did Rinpoche’s monk assistant, Nyima Gelek who had been working on renovations at E-Vam Institute, New York. Together with Kal and Jennie, we received the kudung, the precious body of Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche home with great reverence. The staff member from the funeral home who was assisting with the arrangements was a student of Tibetan Buddhism and showed a depth of concern, skill and sensitivity beyond her professional responsibility and ensured the kudung was as undisturbed as possible. Rinpoche’s kudung was placed on an appropriate platform in his personal shrine room at home. I was then asked to check the heart region for warmth. I prepared myself as I knew that when facing medical
intervention in hospital that Rinpoche might have selected to eject his consciousness and thus the heart region might already be cold. My breath was taken away when I felt a strong vibrant warmth at Rinpoche’s heart region. Our teacher was residing in the kudung and those present all spontaneously began to prostrate, pray and recite mantras. The warmth remained in Rinpoche’s heart region for many many days. That Rinpoche chose to come home was an extraordinarily compassionate and generous act and reflected how Rinpoche always thought of the well being of others. We were profoundly blessed to care for the kudung of Traleg Kyabgon while his consciousness was still residing with us in this world.
“We heard that a double “We rainbow had appeared at Thrangu monastery monaster y in Tibet Tibet at the time of Rinpoche’s passin pas sing g but but bef before ore the mon monks ks had received the actual news and rainbows were sighted by students over the Carlton centre and at Maitirpa Contemplative Centre at Healesville over the following days. Double rainbows also appeared at Evam Institute in New York York and at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra on the day they performed Karma Pakshi puja for Traleg Rinpoche” Once the heart region cooled, thus indicating Rinpoche’s consciousness had left, it was time to prepare for the next stage. The skin was covered in the
traditional manner and the kudung enshrined appropriately as we awaited the auspicious date for cremation. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche from Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in New York York was remarkably caring and generous: giving many details regarding appropriate prayers; providing instructions regarding management of Rinpoche’s kudung; and giving ongoing support throughout the 49 days. Sam Bercholz’s son, Ivan, who had cared for Thinley Norbu Rinpoche’ Rinpoche’ss kudung after he passed into parinirvana just months earlier, was able to give extremely helpful advice too. Heart offerings of the Sangha So many people across the world offered prayers, support and assistance in many forms during this period. All of Traleg Rinpoche’s Centres commenced pujas for 49 days within a day of Rinpoche’s passing. The Amitabha, Calling the Guru from Afar and Chenrezig pujas and Vajrasattva mantras were performed over the period. His Holiness, the Gyalwa Karmapa and the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche forwarded profound and beautiful “swift return” prayers within days of Rinpoche’s passing so we could pray from the depths of our hearts for the swift return of our precious teacher. Traleg Rinpoche’s students undergoing training in the practices of the traditional three year retreat, in particular Belinda Kelly and Lyn Hutchinson, took care of all details regarding the daily pujas at the Melbourne Centre and all the retreatants participated in the t he Vajrayogini Vajrayogini Puja prior to and during the cremation day. The retreatants put in a tremendous effort on a daily basis with every puja being prepared with love and care. With equal devotion and care, Daniel Blaze and Marianne Mustrand co-ordinated all pujas in Chatham and New York City. Jasper Eames led pujas at Maitripa Centre in Healesville, Victoria; Ani Zangmo, and Garry Gadsby led pujas in Sydney; and Ani Jangchub and the New Zealand Shedra students led pujas in New Zealand. Lena Vizzone managed the Melbourne E-Vam staff who worked extraordinary hours daily to support all aspects of the 49 days activities and preparation for the cremation. A special thanks must also go out to Lyn
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ritual master and head of Palpung Centre in Auckland and Lama Tenzin from Palpung Centre in Gisborne, New Zealand. Lama Dorjey assumed the leadership position to manage all aspects of preparation leading up to and after the cremation day. Lama Dorjey’s efforts and energy appeared endless, with him managing all aspects Traleg Rinpoche with His Holiness the Dalai Lama of the preparations from the construction of the cremation Hutchison’s sister, Barb, who worked stupa to the fine detail required to around the clock for days with a handful decorate tormas. Lama Tenzin was a of Rinpoche’s students to fashion the wonderful support to Lama Dorjey and most beautiful brocade and silk styled they were soon joined by Lama Tsewang Tibetan flags, banners and curtains to Lhakpa of Palpung Centre, Tasmania. decorate the cremation environment at Maitrepa. While awaiting the confirmation of the auspicious date for the cremation, Margaret Hassett began the complex task of securing approval from appropriate government departments to hold a traditional cremation ceremony at Traleg Rinpoche’s Maitrepa Centre. Margaret was successful in her efforts. It was the first time such approval had been given in Australia and this cleared the way for all the necessary arrangements to proceed. David Bennett constructed a beautifully detailed traditional enshrinement for the kudung. Ani Jangchub made her way over from Auckland providing me and so many Sangha members with support and care. She also provided indispensible support in looking after the needs of the many lamas who came from across the world, as did Ani Zangmo from the Sydney Centre. The leadership of the Lamas Lodro Nyima Rinpoche and Drupen Rinchen provided the auspicious date of September 2 for the cremation while still in Tibet and then went through the difficult process to secure passports and visas to attend the ceremony. The first lamas to arrive in Australia to assist with the preparations were Venerable Lama Karma Dorjey, senior
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“His passing created a collision of despair for our loss, appreciation for the pure offerings offerings of the teachings he gave so freely, and the joy of celebrating and reflecting upon his magnificent life. To realize the gift of his presence in our lives become overwhelming as we knew an era had ended.” As we moved closer to the day of the cremation, lamas and rinpoches continued to arrive. Drupen Rinchen, the retreat master from Thrangu Monastery with whom local students had established a close relationship over many previous visits to Melbourne then arrived from Tibet. His spiritual guidance and purity further enriched our daily offering of prayers and activities. Many of Thrangu Rinpoche’s lamas began to arrive from different parts of the world: Lama Pema Tsewang of Vancouver; Lama Tashi Dhundup of Toronto; Lama Lodro from Malaysia; Lama Kunchen from Taiwan; and Lama Sonam and Lama Dawa from Hong Kong. Importantly, despite their extraordinary responsibilities and
challenging schedules the Most Venerable Zuri Rinpoche and Lodro Nyima Rinpoche, two of the four Rinpoches of Thrangu Monastery, Kham, Tibet arrived days before the cremation. They provided further spiritual support and invaluable advice. The preciousness of the presence of these two rinpoches cannot easily be put into words. They bought a strength, compassion and clear mindedness to our despair and reminded us all of the invaluable lessons we must as Buddhist practitioners learn from such a potent experience of impermanence. On the day of cremation, Zuri Rinpoche led the Red Chenrezig puja and Lodro Nyima Rinpoche led the Vajrayogini puja. These were performed simultaneously as the cremation began, 40 days after our supreme Nirmanakaya entered parinirvana. From the day Rinpoche’s parinirvana commenced we were blessed with the opportunity to express our deep devotion, appreciation and love for our teacher. His passing created a collision of despair for our loss, appreciation for the pure offerings of the teachings he gave so freely, and the joy of celebrating and reflecting upon his magnificent life. To realize the gift of his presence in our lives become overwhelming as we knew an era had ended. I witnessed the beauty and reverence of a sangha in mourning. It is beautiful to see your teacher and his teachings living and breathing within each devoted sangha member’s being. Nothing was more important than for each of us to honour our teacher in any way we could. Every single sangha member conducted themselves with kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity. They supported one another and dignified one another’s grief. People conducted themselves in a way that Rinpoche would have wished and I have no doubt he would have been proud of his students. I want to assure everybody that Ani Jangchub, Kal and I are fully committed to the ongoing fostering of Rinpoche’s teachings, centres and activities. We pray with all our hearts and minds for the swift return of our beloved Traleg Kyabgon. n Traleg Khandro
The Life of Tral raleg eg Rinp Rinpoche oche IX
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he child who was to become Traleg Rinpoche IX was born in the wood sheep year of 1955 in the independent pastoral kingdom of Kham Nangchen, where his father collected taxes for the principality. He was given the name Tenpa Rabgye Trinley Nyima which can be translated as sun that melts the ice of confused mind, whose enlightened activity propagates the teachings. He was recognised as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg Kyabgon lineage and enthroned at the age of two as abbot of Thrangu Monastery Monastery,, close to the upper Yangtze River. When the small child was put on a high throne other lamas said he looked so happy, he smiled, looked around, was totally fearless, and at the end he fell asleep, all of which was regarded as auspicious. At Thrangu Monastery he began the intensive education that prepares a child reincarnate to resume the work of the lineage, under the tutelage of great lamas. However, the times were changing, monasteries in Kham suffered aerial bombardment, and precious teachers, young and old, fled across Tibet to the safety of the monastery of the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, near Lhasa. This too became exposed to the political violence of the times, leaving no choice but to flee south, through the Himalayan mountains, to seek refuge in another country. Although Traleg Rinpoche was under four years old, the group of almost 100 people fleeing had faith in his ability to protect. He sensed when the guns were
closing in on them, saying, “the wolves are coming.” Sometimes they fled so hastily many precious things had to be left. In unfamiliar mountains far from home, sometimes they were unsure where to go, but the three-year old discerned the direction, and they had learned to trust him. Finally, they were able to enter the Drukpa Kagyu kingdom of Bhutan. In the lowlands at the foot of the Himalayas an old army camp at Buxaduar was made available to the refugees, who had no previous exposure to heat, humidity and infectious diseases. Traleg Rinpoche’s mother died there. His father was determined that, no matter what, his son should have the full training of a high tulku, not easily done in the chaos of exile and a refugee camp. His Holiness, Gyalwa Karmapa made Rumtek monastery, in Sikkim, his new seat. The young Traleg Rinpoche went there, as did other young lamas including Tai Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Sharma Rinpoche and Gyaltsap Rinpoche. All were educated by His Holiness. At nine he went to Sang-ngak Choling monastery near Darjeeling and studied under the guidance of His Eminence, Traleg Rinpoche (left front) with His Holiness 16th Karmapa Thugsey Rinpoche. While and young Kagyu tulkus at Rumtek Monastery
Enthronement Enthron ement of Traleg Rinpoche Rinpoche IX
there, he was taught by Khenpo Noryang and Khenpo Sodar who devoted themselves solely to his education for many years. In order for Rinpoche to receive training in Karma Kagyu tantric ritual practice, His Holiness Karmapa sent Lama Ganga. Thus Rinpoche received both Drukpa Kagyu and Karma Kagyu training at Thugsey Rinpoche's monastery. At sixteen, His Holiness Karmapa sent Traleg Rinpoche to study at the Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies at Varanasi close by the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment, where he studied with khenpos and geshes of all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism until he was nineteen. During this time Rinpoche was under personal care of Khenpo Chodar, of Sang-ngak Choling monastery. He was subsequently put in charge of the hidden land copper-coloured mountain Zangdog Palri Monastery in remote eastern Bhutan with monks from his own Thrangu Monastery, including Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche. After Khenpo Karthar’s departure, Rinpoche was placed under the private tutelage of Dregung Khenpo by His Holiness Karmapa in order to continue his study of sutra and tantra. When Rinpoche was twenty-two he returned to Rumtek to be with His Holiness Karmapa, and as translator for international visitors and film crews. His intention that Buddhist practice should take root in the West West manifested at
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an early age, by learning English in remote Himalayan mountains where, in the 1960s, there were almost no English speakers. He learned through airport novels, and a Canadian Jesuit missionary in Bhutan.
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n reaching Australia in 1980, he took time to dress and mix casually with anyone, to gauge the minds of the times, but not as an observer, rather as a participant. He taught companionably, taking care not to appear as an authority. This modesty suited an individualistic and rebellious generation, who mistrusted authority. He was so low key, or self-effacing, that he signed himself simply as “T.K. Rinpoche.” Only gradually did it dawn on his students that he was not only explaining, simply and clearly, what is said in root texts and commentaries, but was a living embodiment of the teachings. Having already mastered Tibetan, Hindi, Sanskrit and English, he plunged into the great texts of Hinduism and early Buddhism, and of Christianity, discovering in them depths and subtleties not emphasised in the classical education of a young tulku. He developed a strong interest in Western understandings of mind, and how to help mental distress. With extraordinary patience, he worked with those who gathered round
Traleg Rinpoche at Rumtek Monastery, Sikkim, 1978
He returned to key texts and retranslated, in his determination to find a contemporary language that effectively turns minds. For decades, teaching transcripts piled up, until he was sure they were ready to be published. His emphasis was always on clarity, making inner meaning accessible. His English was better than any of his students. Making Buddhism accessible, meaningful and effectively transformative, for a culture new to the dharma, was his vocation, as it was for the original hearers of the Buddha, among them Ananda, to whom the Traleg lineage of incarnate lamas traces its lineage roots. His openness to other faiths, and the helping professions, manifested in the establishment of a Buddhist Summer School, held every year since 1984, at which a wide range of teachers, therapists and artists were offered a platform, enabling the curious a taste of various traditions. Openness Traleg Rinpoche and Drukpa Thugsey Rinpoche at Sangnog Monastery, plus clarity made for Darjeeling, West West Bengal, 1981 an approach that him and subtly encouraged open discerned differences as well as mindedness and learning. He taught the commonalities. He was, for example, entire spectrum of Buddhism, usually as critical of the fashion for a spontaneous translator of a specific psychotherapeutic cultivation of text, whether the subject was meditative mindfulness, as a stand alone path concentration, awareness and insight, or divorced from the main body of Buddhist the tantras, but always inflected with a practice. Dzogchen or Mahamudra perspective. His own approach to encouraging
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people to awaken always used multiple perspectives, switching from path to fruition, relative to absolute. He created the motto emblazoned on the logo of the Kagyu Evam Buddhist Institute: ethics, concentration, wisdom. To those inclined to see Buddhism only as a philosophy, he emphasised the importance of practice, and the power of faith to effect transformation. To those of devotional inclination, he emphasised the value of cultivating right view and knowledge of the path so as to be alert to dead ends and minor alleviations of distress appearing to be major spiritual accomplishments. To those inclined to see Buddhism as purely mental training, he emphasised physicality physicality,, embodiment, with practical yoga exercises, especially pranayam postures and breathing. He called his approach Integral Buddhism. Ground, path and fruition; body, speech and mind; ethics, concentration and wisdom were all emphasised. As his Australian students gradually discovered integral Buddhism to be transformative, a batch of nine undertook the three-year retreat, in annual instalments of three winter months, an experiment in adapting intensive practice to a country with no tradition of community support or even appreciation of monasticism. He was able to travel more frequently, responding to the flow of invitations to teach in Europe and the United States. He returned to Thrangu monastery in 1998 and 2004, providing protection and blessings to thousands of monks, nomads and townfolk who, though they could seldom see him, always held him in their hearts. He had firm conviction that the place of your birth is part of you, that you are actually made from the materials of that physical space and physical substances. This enabled him to eventually return and fulfil the wishes of those he met. Turning to a younger generation of practitioners, he was able to instigate a more structured approach, and establish a shedra for intensive study of the great texts. He established Yeshe Nyima Centre in Sydney, Nyima Tashi Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, and E-vam Buddhist Institute at Chatham in upstate New York. York. In 1996 he established a rural retreat centre in bushland at Healesville, Australia, named after the mahasiddha
Maitripa. He also instigated multi faith activities and conferences relating to Buddhism and psychotherapy as well as publishing several books, covering the spectrum of Buddhist teachings. This flourishing of activity reflected the growing number of people who appreciated the luminous clear colours of his teachings and translations, enabling him to mobilise the energies of many, to more firmly establish the Buddha Dharma in several countries. These accomplishments mirror those of his predecessors, who were similarly dedicated to doing everything as perfectly as possible, so as to make Buddhism as useful as possible.
benefited beings by developing Buddhism in general, and the tantrayana in particular, in all the ten directions of the world. His next rebirth was as the mahasiddha Dapa Sherab, principle disciple of mahasiddha Tilopa. Having firmly stabilised the very H.H. Khyentse Rinpoche Rinpoche and Traleg Traleg Rinpoche, Rinpoche, 1981 transmission and teaching of mahasiddha Tilopa, his next Thrangu Monastery. His name was rebirth was as Siddha Dogon Lotsawa, Nyima Tashi.” disciple of glorious Naropa. He Eight successive incarnations in the translated many unavailable Traleg line bearing the name of Nyima teachings of the lesser and higher benefited beings and taught in all vehicles, particularly the Vadirections as a fully ordained monk jrayana teachings. fulfilling the prophecy of Guru His next incarnation was as a Padmasambhava. disciple of Lotsawa Marpa, The ninth incarnation of the Traleg named Ngod Choku Dorje, who Rinpoche line passed into parinirvana in translated tantric teachings from the water dragon year of 2012, on the Sanskrit into Tibetan language. auspicious day of Chokhor Duchen, the He was skilled at both learning observance of Lord Buddha's first and meditation, and carried out teaching. n the sedgyerd (learning) transmission. Gabriel Lafitte His next incarnation was as a disciple of Gampopa, Saltong Shogom, one of the ‘Three Men from Kham’. Likewise, his next incarnation, Pandit Wangchuck Dorje, was famous and skilled in both sutrayana and tantrayana. His next rebirth was during the time of the third Karmapa, H.H. Drukchen and Traleg Traleg Rinpoche at E-V E-Vam am Institute Rangjung Dorje, as Toden in Melbourne Tachug. Tac hug. He developed and taught Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, also Kagyu teachings. Later, for many generoriginally from Thrangu monastery ations, he incarnated as a bhikshu (a fully describes the Traleg lineage: ordained monk) “When Buddha Sakyamuni turned the called Chokyi Wangwheel of Dharma in this world, this being chuk, who enriched known to us as Traleg Rinpoche was and liberated limitless born as Ananda. Perfecting Buddhahood, living beings. he worked to develop the Buddha Then Chokyi DragDharma. pa incarnated in the He next incarnated as Tulku Tsermed second seat of the Oden, inseparable with glorious Sangwai Kagyu order in KarDagpo, lord of tantrayana, and taught mai Gon where he tantrayana in the unsurpassable dakini taught and developed realm. Having developed such teachings the Buddha Dharma. in all directions through endless times, Then, in order to dehis next rebirth was as the mahayogi velop and carry on Thogmed Yonten, skilled in all miracuthe Buddha dharma, lous powers. This mahayogi was the dishe was requested to Thrangu Rinpoche, Traleg Rinpoche and Khenpo Kharta Rinpoche at Woodstock, ciple of Saraha and lord Nagarjuna. He be head of the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, 2003
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The Cremati Cremation on of Tral raleg eg Rinp Rinpoche oche IX
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ibetan horns sounded through the valley that is home to the Maitripa Contemplative Centre near Healesville, Australia Australia on the crisp spring morning of September 2nd. The sky was clear blue as members of the sangha began the proceedings for the cremation ceremony for Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX. The precious body relic or kudung of Traleg Rinpoche was carried aloft in a silken palanquin for its last earthly journey from the gompa, a site symbolising how Rinpoche had practiced and taught gatherings of his students in this lifetime. The procession made its way slowly up the hill to the purkhang, the crematorium stupa
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constructed on the formal lawn area. Beyond is a view to the tall trees of the state forest and falling away to the right, the soft folds of the valley and hills above the township. The white vase-like purkhang richly decorated with Tibetan iconography also symbolised a throne supported by images of two fearless snow lions in each of the four directions. Rinpoche’s kudung was carefully placed inside the centre of the stupa in the middle of two painted mandalas, one of Vajrayogini, and the other of Gyalwa Gyatso, Red Chenrezig. Members of the sangha and guests filed past the front of the purkhang to pay their respects to Rinpoche, with many making
offerings of khatas which they threw into a small upper window- like opening, in the hope of making a connection with Rinpoche in future lives. Two pujas ensued on either side of the purkhang: the Vajrayogini puja presided over by Lodro Nyima Rinpoche; and the Gyalwa Gyatso puja presided over by Zuri Rinpoche. These two yidam practices along with that of Chakrasamvara have been performed by the Kagyu masters from the time of Marpa and Milarepa, and in an unbroken line from the time of Gampopa in the 11th century to the present day. Vajrayogini fire puja is performed for high tulkus on their cremation and for the ceremony for
Traleg Rinpoche IX there was the special significance of honouring the relationship of Rinpoche’s earlier incarnation, Saltong Shogom, as a disciple of Gampopa. As the pujas proceeded, the cremation fire was lit, as is customary, by someone who had no karmic links with Rinpoche. Deep resonate chanting, the ringing of bells and cymbals mingled in the air as the smoke rose. Inner and outer offerings of all kinds of beautiful things were made to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and amongst those offered physically were various grains, oils, flowers, fruit and water. Auspicious woods of juniper, sandalwood and argha were added to the wood fuelling the cremation fire over
several hours. The drupen, at certain points, poured oils onto the fire igniting great whooshes of rising flames and smoke. There were sightings by students during the pujas of auspicious cloud formations including one that was similar in shape to that of the body of Guru Rinpoche that is imprinted in a rock in Bhutan, a scorpion symbol of Vajrakalaya tantra or Kongchuk Chidu as well as a perfectly formed Zen circle. A group of dancing dakinis was also seen. All of these remained for quite some minutes before they simply faded away. After the sealing of the stupa to
extinguish the fire, the whole assembly participated in a beautiful chanting of ‘Calling the Guru’ from afar, the puja composed by Jamgon Kongtrul the Great, which gives voice to the longing for the teacher’s presence, blessings and for liberation. Several days later, following further prayers and practice, the stupa was opened so that the precious relics of Traleg Rinpoche IX could be collected. They were then placed onto Rinpoche’s throne in the gompa. Even though Rinpoche is no longer in this life, prayers were said that Rinpoche will once again sit on this throne in his next incarnation. n
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The Relationship between Relative Relativ e and Absolute Bodhicitta Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoch Rinpoche e IX Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche presided with great joy over the opening ceremony of the new Nyima Tashi Centre in New Zealand on June 30, 2012 but was unable to teach as scheduled on the following day due to ill i ll health and the strain on his back from the previous day’s activity. However, despite his pain and discomfort, Rinpoche was determined to meet his commitment to teach on the relationship between relative and absolute bodhicitta and delivered this talk, which was to become Rinpoche’ss final public teaching on the Rinpoche’ following Sunday, July 8.
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odhicitta, as you know, is essential, not just as an essential concept of Mahayana Buddhism, but as an integral part of Mahayana Buddhist practice. Bodhicitta should not just be thought of as some kind of metaphysical thing, but as a kind of moral compass that will guide us through life and as the principle that we can actually live by. That is what bodhicitta really should mean because sometimes we may think bodhicitta simply means you should have a kind heart or loving kindness and that if you have that, then you have bodhicitta. Actually it is not like that. There are many kind-hearted people in this world, as you would know, but not every kind-hearted person has bodhicitta. So what would be lacking in these people, who actually care about the world and have concerns about social justice and things of that kind, and yet they do not possess bodhicitta? What is lacking is the bodhi part, the enlightened quality.. It is one thing to be kind-hearted, quality loving, caring, doing good work for the betterment of other people's lives and even trying to sort of improve social conditions, to bring about political changes and things of that kind. But if we do not have bodhi (we can have the citta as such), but if we do not have the bodhi element then we could be misguided in terms of how we are expressing our love and compassion, how we are trying to liberate or emancipate other people from bondage or whatever and we may 10 • The Wheel of Time Timess
actually end up shoving our own version of social justice down the throat of those whom we think we are helping. They may not want it, but we insist, “You should have this. This is a good thing.” When we talk about bodhicitta then, you have to think of bodhicitta in that context: both bodhi and citta. So bodhi represents, if you like, the absolute aspect of bodhicitta, and citta represents the relative aspect of bodhicitta. Bodhi means enlightened. So in Mahayana Buddhism, it is said that our own inherent nature is awakened, but it is shrouded over by all kinds of superfluous and adventitious defilements. So for that reason, even if we care and we want to do the best we can in life, we end up doing the wrong thing, because that bodhi aspect has not yet been cultivated, or has not been found. So that is the absolute aspect. Citta is the heart, the compassion aspect. So wisdom and compassion, in other words, must go together. Bodhi is wisdom and citta is compassion, the heart. So wisdom and compassion must be in balance. It is not helpful simply to
be guided by wisdom or by compassion, they must be brought together. And in Mahayana literature, it is said that it is like a bird needing two wings to fly. You You need wisdom and you need compassion to fly, or to sail through life. To basically stay afloat you need wisdom and compassion. In other words, mentally you have to be insightful and also you need to have some kind of richness in terms of your emotional life. In Buddhism, the citta aspect, the compassion aspect does not simply mean feeling pity for others. It is not as simplistic as that. It actually covers all aspects of positive emotions. So if we have that, then we will have compassion. Compassion is not just feeling sorry for somebody's miserable life, but compassion has to do with learning about how to deal with one's own suffering and pain in such a way that the positive emotions that one is able to generate then allow us to overcome the pain and misery that we feel within ourselves. So compassion should be seen as a transformative emotion rather than seeing compassion as sharing other people's misery. Somebody has become divorced, let’s say, and you have been divorced ten times. t imes. You You can relate to t o that, “Oh you poor thing, I've been through that many times. This is a horrible thing.” But that is not real compassion. Real compassion is powerful, and I do not like to use the word, but it is proactive. Otherwise you think of compassion as a passive thing, something that you share and people feel helpless, you feel helpless and so you then share that feeling of helplessness together and celebrate that over a bottle of wine or something. So that sense of feeling desperation, frustration, despair, sharing that is not compassion. Compassion should have an element of joy, should have an element of willfulness, and it should have an element of hope and vision. So when you have those things then the compassion you feel will be empowering instead of disempowering. You know, often it is not like that, the compassionate person is supposed to be someone who just feels sorry for
everybody, and if somebody is feeling dispossessed, oppressed, trodden on, treated with disdain, all kinds of things like that, then a compassionate person is supposed to say something like, “You should feel those things. You You know those idiots or whoever are responsible for what you are feeling... so you have every right to feel that way.” As if that is empowering. It is not empowering. What is empowering is to say that yes, life’s circumstances have been really dreadful for you, and I myself too have experienced such and such a thing, but I have learned to overcome these adverse circumstances and situations, so I became more empowered. If you are able to share that experience with other people then you'll be compassionate. See, when you do that you are bringing the bodhi aspect into what you are doing, in other words, the wisdom aspect. Otherwise there is no wisdom, all you have is just this overwhelming feeling of wanting to help people and you yourself feel very pained by everything that has happened in the course of your life, your family situation, your employment circumstances, how the bosses have treated you, and in terms of political systems that you may have to live under... the list goes on and on, which is not to say that you should grin and bare it. Actually, what I am saying is the opposite, when you are empowered then you do not feel like a victim and when you are not feeling like a victim, then you are able to look after yourself more and then you are able to look after other people better as well. Otherwise the blame game, as it were, can go on forever. It is always somebody else's fault. My misery is caused by somebody else. It does not mean other people cannot make you miserable. That we know.. But just simply thinking that other know people are to be blamed for our misery does not empower us, that is what I am saying. So compassion should be seen as an empowering force, the power which nurtures us, as Shantideva has said in Bodhicaryavat Bodhica ryavatara ara, compassion should be seen as water that we need like irrigation when we are cultivating something. If you want to grow vegetables, if you want to grow wheat or barley or whatever whatever,, you need irrigation. So he says, if you have compassion then everything, all the things that we want in life will grow. If
we do not have compassion, then nothing would grow. So he said, compassion is the root of all the virtues. It is that which allows all the things that we want in life to grow. If we do not have it, it won’t happen and we will live a miserable life. So I think that is a very important thing to think about and contemplate on because it is the root of all the things that we need in life. You see, in Buddhism the virtuous qualities and the moral principles and so forth are not laid down as something to be obeyed, but to be cultivated. Why? Because they are useful for us, they help us to live our life more fully. We don't abide by the moral principles that Buddha spoke about simply because Buddha said, “You should abide by these rules.” Those rules and moral principles are helpful, not to be followed
“Compassion should have an element of joy,, should have an joy element of willfulness, and it should have an element of hope and vision. So when you have those things then the compassion you feel will be empowering instead of disempowering.” dogmatically. And also in Buddhism, as you know, it depends on what sort of individual you are, what you want to do with your life, whether you want to be celibate or not celibate, all kinds of things like that. Buddhism does not have one single rule for everybody. It has to do with what that particular person's objective is in life; what that person wants to do with his or her life. For example, somebody wants to be celibate then Buddhism has rules for those people. If somebody doesn't want to be celibate then it’s a different thing. But I think sometimes, even on that level people can get confused by all of that because sometimes people think that almost every single Buddhist should be a celibate monk or nun, or something like that, which is absurd, it’s never been like
that in Buddhist countries. “If you’re Buddhist you should not eat meat… if you’re a Buddhist you should not smoke cigarettes…if you’re a Buddhist...ah... whatever!” But anyway I’m not saying that people should be smoking or eating meat or anything like that, all I’m saying is that Buddhism sets different kinds of moral guidelines.
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he Buddha set different kinds of moral guidelines for different kinds of people. And this goes with what I was saying about compassion because you know, whatever moral guidelines and principles that we live by have to be in relation to compassion, either compassion for oneself or compassion for others. And even in terms of restraint, to not do harm to oneself and not to do harm to others or to benefit others. So in Buddhism again, we make a distinction in that regard as well. To refrain is one thing and then actively engaging in beneficial activity is a separate thing. So for instance, if you do not take life then that means you do not want to harm another sentient creature but if you try to save somebody's life that is a different form of moral action. You are not just restraining yourself from harming others but you are actually actively engaged in wanting to save lives of others. So compassion has to be practiced in that way; seeing the ways in which we can be compassionate. It is not just one thing so that is where the bodhi aspect comes in. You need wisdom; it is not just enough that you care about other people or that you do not want to do harm. What does it really mean? What it means is that you have to really study, you have to go into the teachings more deeply. And I think that part is lost sometimes in the West. Wisdom and knowledge are related but wisdom and knowledge are not the same. Knowledge leads you to wisdom. Wisdom you already possess. You already possess wisdom. But if you have no knowledge, you do not know how to exploit or explore or discover that wisdom that you already possess. So prajna and jnana , they go together: prajna means knowledge and jnana means wisdom. So via accumulation of knowledge you discover wisdom. But the wisdom never increases like your knowledge does. You will learn more if you study more, if you cultivate your mind, if you learn how to become more
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alert with your mind, use your intellect and so forth. But as the Buddhist teachings say, wisdom does not increase or decrease. The fact that we are confused, lost, doesn't mean our wisdom mind has now become doomed or that we have lost it or something. It’s always there. So what Buddhism then says that it is because we have wisdom in ourselves, we can even think of cultivating our mind and becoming more knowledgeable about such and such subject matter and so on. Knowledge would not be there if we did not have wisdom. This is the Buddhist view. Without Without wisdom we would have no knowledge. Any kind of pursuit of knowledge is based on the fact that we have this inherent sense of knowingness, if you like, wakefulness, alertness. It's some kind of intuitive way of understanding the world around us, and knowing something about oneself as well. So knowledge then is used to activate that wisdom, as it is said in Buddhist teachings, and compassion is a way of doing that.
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ompassion also is part of that activity of bringing wisdom into effect. Because when we are using compassion with intelligence, as I was saying before, when we do that then we become more knowledgeable about ourselves and about other people. If we use compassion in the right way, what does it generate? It generates understanding, you understand yourself more, you understand other people more, you understand your feelings more, you understand other peoples’ opinions more, you understand your needs more, and you understand other peoples' needs more. So you understand more, that's knowledge. Right, so that's the thing. So understanding and compassion, they go together if you like; knowledge, understanding, all these things have to go together with compassion. That’s the relative aspect of bodhicitta. So that’s why in Mahayana Buddhism, relative bodhicitta is presented in the form of the six paramitas, six transcendental actions as it were: generosity; moral precepts; patience; vigour; meditative concentration; and wisdom. In this case, wisdom is more like knowledge not jnana (wisdom), it’s prajna (knowledge). So you have to bring all of these things together to practice compassion because if you do that then you develop understanding. You know how to be generous, how to interact with people in relation to moral principles, when to be patient, when not to be patient, when you should focus your mind and when you should not be focusing your mind, and what sort of things your mind should be focusing on and not on, that's also very important; and what sort of things you should be pursuing in terms of knowledge and not pursuing things that are not helpful. So it’s also called discrimination, discriminating mind, which in Buddhism is encouraged. Sometimes Somet imes people say, “Oh Buddhism teaches you to be totally indifferent to things and not discriminate and be sort of at ease with everything,” or something like that; that’s not at all true. Buddhism says you should discriminate but you 12 • The Wheel of Time Timess
should discriminate in the right way, and that’s how you accumulate knowledge, because knowledge is about knowing. So... that's a truism to say that. But when you want to know then you have t o know. Just knowing about all kinds of facts and figures and things like that, well that could be helpful but that's not the main thing. What is the main thing is what is really beneficial or not. So it’s called discriminating mind. You learn to discriminate what really would help you in your life, if you like, practical knowledge; and what is really not going to be helpful even if you know so much. If it’s not going to help your life then it is useful but not all that helpful. I hope that makes sense. There are a lot of things that we should know and if we do know those things, like general knowledge, you know like, “Who’s got the biggest moustache?” If you know that, it is part of having general knowledge, that’s a good thing but it’s not going to help your life. Knowing that is not going to help you. But if you knew other things like: what is the cause of people's sadness; or why things in the world in terms of political systems could be causing all the disturbances, that may be more helpful. Anyway I don’t want to go into that sort of thing too much, but it’s true, really. really. So knowledge, having knowledge will lead to having wisdom. Without knowledge, you cannot have wisdom. We have wisdom but as I said, we don't have the key. It’s like, this is actually the classic Buddhist example used in the Uttara Tantra, it’s like a poor person living in poverty in a hut but underneath is a huge nugget of gold covered up. But he doesn’t know, know, so that’s the thing. If he knew that it was there then he could get to it. In a similar way, we are in possession of the treasure but we do not have the
key. Now what is the key? The key is compassion, that’s what I'm saying. If we have compassion and if we use compassion in an intelligent fashion, by experiment, by learning, by using our mind and not just simply feeling compassion and things like that then we’ve got the key, then we'll have wisdom. That’s how it is. Wisdom is not something to be cultivated but to be discovered. Knowledge on the other hand has to be cultivated. Knowledge and compassion, as I've been saying, should go together and we should not think they're different. Because I think often, even in that regard, we have a very dualistic attitude that emotions and intellect do not go together or that emotions are one thing, intellect is something different. It doesn't have to be like that. It can be like that but simply because it can be like that does not mean it has to be like that. So if we use our emotions in an intelligent fashion, we will flourish and be more useful to other people. And when we do that then we have bodhicitta. Bodhi and citta have come together. Otherwise, we don’t have bodhicitta you know. That’s really true. So absolute bodhicitta and relative bodhicitta then have come together. As I said absolute bodhicitta is the wisdom aspect and relative bodhicitta is the compassion, feeling aspect. Not just feelings but feelings and emotions guided by understanding and knowledge. And we should not think about knowledge and understanding purely in intellectual terms. There is another thing that Buddhism has taught us: how to bring those two together. Experiencing
emotions in an intelligent fashion is a good thing. If we don’t do that then we get lost, confused but if we experience emotions with intelligence then we don’t get confused. Actually, emotions will enrich us. That’s the fundamental thing so when we express compassion it should be the same way: compassion is expressed with intelligence.
“Without wisdom we would have no knowle kno wledge. dge. An Any y kind kind of pursuit of know knowledge ledge is based on the fact that we have this inherent sense of knowingness, if you like, wakefulness, alertness. It's some kind of intuitive way of understanding the world around us, u s, and knowing something about oneself as wel1.” wel1.” As Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche used to say, ‘Idiot Compassion is no use to anybody’. So it’s really like that. Idiot compassion – by that, what he meant was that you just feel sorry for every Tom Dick and Harry and try to do all kinds of helpful things but the outcome is often not very beneficial. So it’s very important
to use one’s own mind … again using life experiences and knowledge to really do that. That’s very important. So that’s all I have to say really. So we practise generosity, moral precepts, patience, vigor, meditative concentration or transcendental knowledge. When we practice those things as part of our compassionate activities then we should do that with a sense of understanding and intelligence because that would be helpful. If not, then we can be generous and not be patient. We could be vigorous or energetic but not generous. And we could be very focused and all that but not patient, not generous and so on. So bringing all these ingredients together would allow us to be compassionate in an intelligent fashion. So that’s the relative bodhicitta aspect: to be generous; to be patient; to be vigorous; to be attentive; to use one’s own mind and to have some biding moral principles. Bringing all those things together will then help us. That’s the relative bodhicitta aspect. And if we have that then we have the key to discover the absolute bodhicitta. You just can’t realize absolute bodhicitta without the key. You have it but you don’t know how to have it. It’s like your grandmother has left you a fortune but you don’t know which room it’s in so you’re still poor. But anyway thank you so much for coming today. I really am happy I could do this. I really wanted to last Sunday but couldn’t and I was very disappointed so I’m really happy to be able to do this. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it. n
NYIMA TASHI TASHI CENTRE
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he new Nyima Tashi Centre came about with an air of urgency.. Rinpoche’s directness urgency was the catalyst that propelled us from a rather complacent comfortability to one of engaging vigour. Rinpoche simply awoke one morning earlier in the year with the view that the new centre needed to be found in the next few weeks and we achieved this just two weeks after beginning the search. The new Nyima Tashi is one of stylish beauty, simple in its accent on space, warming with an understated elegance which seems comparable to
Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche’s noble demeanour. Rinpoche presided over the centre’s opening on June 30 and gave a teaching,”Absolute and Relative Bodhicitta” on the following Sunday, July 8. In this time of profound, incomparable loss there is also joy in the acknowledgement that the new Nyima Tashi Centre is everything that Rinpoche had asked for and that we have been undeniably fortunate to have been able to achieve this. We were so glad to have been able to offer Rinpoche a centre that he simply
loved. He said that it was more than he had expected. As with all of Rinpoche’s centres, we also held the various pujas per instructions from Khenpo Kharthar Rinpoche. As Traleg Rinpoche’s vision is extremely vast, it is therefore our responsibility to ensure that his instructions relating to Nyima Tashi are upheld in accordance with Rinpoche’s view for the centres growth and prosperity under Rinpoche’s direction. We hold these instructions to be undeniably clear. n Ani Jangchub
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HIS HOLINESS 17TH GYALWANG KARMAPA
REFUGE REFU GE AND BODH BODHISA ISATTVA TTVA VOWS
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raleg Kyabgon Rinpoche IX gave refuge in the Three Jewels and bestowed Bodhisattva vows to a group of around 50 people on Wednesday Wednesday,, June 6 2012. Rinpoche’ Rinpoche’ss great happiness at performing these rites was evident to all present. This was to be Rinpoche’s final public engagement at Evam, Melbourne before his passing into parinirvana. n
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TRALEG RINPOCHE'S CENTRES Yeshe Nyima, Sydney, Australia:
[email protected] E-Vam Buddhist Institute, New York: www.evam.org Evam Institute, Melbourne, Australia and Maitripa Centre: www.evaminstitute.org Nyima Tashi Centre, Auckland, New Zealand: www.nyima-tashi.org.nz Thrangu Monastery, Tibet: www.thrangu.net
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