Dang. Now that’s a torma.

Final torma at Vajrakilaya retreat, Tashi Choling, Oregon

Seems scary, but it's meant to avert negativity, outside and inside

{Um, sure, Bitterroot—what’s a torma?}

Here the monk got to wear a stylish chapeau and heft said torma in procession out to a triangular fire. He and Ven. Jampel had the job of tossin it upside-down into the fire at the right moment, symbolizin the final dispelling of all outer and inner negativity. Hope it worked; it’ll be a long winter once he gets back.

The monk get named cardinal or somethin?

Seems Portland’s welcoming him nicely. This here’s the stupa on the grounds of Dorje Ling, nicely framed to take in a rainbow over the Happy Valley.

Locals insist there are days when you can see Mts. Rainier and St. Helens and other Cascade peaks on t’other side, but there’s scant evidence, frankly.

Monk says he’s headin out to someplace called Sauvie Island to see a Cackling Goose and try to scare up somethin called a Red-breasted Sapsucker. What is his major malfunction about birds, anyway?

{Title ref}

Tashi Choling -- Edge of Winter -- WS

Tashi Choling, November 14, 8:15am

Bitterroot’s a bit busy these days, but I wanted to get this up with links to further readin if you got the inclination.

A lotta times when you study the history of the 9th c. dharma transmission from India to Tibet, three fellas get the major headlines: Padmasambhava, Shantarakshita, and King Trisong Deutsen. Perfectly well-deserved, a course, but another lama was just as significant: Pandita Vimalamitra. This sublime master spent 13 years in Tibet transmittin the very highest teachings of the Great Perfection. These teachings have been preserved, passed on, and practiced as the Vima Nyingthig, the ‘Heart Essence of Vimalamitra,’ resultin in the enlightenment a countless individuals.

When he felt his work was done, Vimalamitra trudged off to Wu Tai Shan, the sacred mountain of Manjushri in eastern China. It’s said that he was no longer subject to ordinary death, and thus meditates there still, fulfilling a promise to send out a major emanation every 100 years to clarify his teachings. Within every century, though, other emanations are identified; Vimalamitra’s enlightened activity is truly beyond comprehension.

HHPR_Monlam_Chenmo_2005One well-known emanation this century was the incomparable Drubwang Penor Rinpoche. The first lama to invite him to North America was Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche, way back in 1985. Before he even had a temple to welcome him in, Gyatrul Rinpoche and his students set up a big ol tent on the land at Tashi Choling and Penor Rinpoche spent a month giving the transmissions of his heart practice, the Nam Cho treasure revelations a Terton Migyur Dorje. At the end of the event, Penor Rinpoche said it would be auspicious to maintain the teaching throne on that site. They did so while it lasted, building a concrete throne to replace it when the elements wore it down.

Now, on this past Monday’s Lha Bab Duchen holiday, Lingtrul Rinpoche, himself recognized as an emanation a both Vimalamitra and Longchenpa, presided over the consecration of a gorgeous new shrine to Vimalamitra on that site. Our monk was present, and instead a prayin, ran around taking a buncha snaps. But OK, now we can share them with you. Here’s the shrine itself, the statue created by the superb dharma artist Sonam Tsering (nice pics here a him at work):

Tashi Choling -- Vimalamitra Consecration -- Shrine and Statue -- WS

New Vimalamitra Shrine, Tashi Choling, Oregon

The VIP’s seem pleased…

Tashi Choling -- Vimalamitra Consecration -- Lama Quartet -- WS

Lingtrul Rinpoche, Lama Chonam, Sangye Khandro, and Ven. Jampel at Vimalamitra Consecration, Tashi Choling, Oregon

Tashi Choling -- Vimalamitra Consecration -- Lingtrul Rinpoche Closeup -- WS

Lingtrul Rinpoche, the face of wisdom and kindness

…then get to work with the ceremony, even as a cold, light rain fell:

Tashi Choling -- Vimalamitra Consecration -- Lingtrul Rinpoche -- Rice Offering  1 -- WS

Lingtrul Rinpoche and Lama Drimed offering rice

The students at Tashi Choling have learned all the traditional instruments…

Tashi Choling -- Vimalamitra Consecration -- Horns Heika and August -- WS

Yamantaka and Colleen on horns, statue sponsor Heika, and son August, who chants through whole retreat sessions without fidgeting!

…and play them with style:

Tashi Choling -- Vimalamitra Consecration -- Yamataka Closeup -- WS

Yamantaka gets a gig with Vimalamitra

Tashi Choling -- Vimalamitra Consecration -- David Conch Shell -- WS

David sportin the Col. Henry Blake look as he rocks the conch shell

Pamela from Montana seemed to be working security, Bond Girl style…

Tashi Choling -- Vimalamitra Consecration -- Pamela Bond Girl -- WS

Pamela on the alert for rogue mamos and rudras

…but really all the gathering needed afterward was a hot cuppa tea:

Tashi Choling -- Vimalamitra Consecration -- Two Cold Girls -- WS

Enduring hardship for the dharma

Monk says so many things’re impressin him about Tashi Choling, but none so much as how the young people there are in charge of most of the temple’s important spiritual functions. Here they are makin all the tormas—symbolic offering cakes—for the retreat; they also do take care of all the ritual details during the practices, play most of the instruments, do their practices (and conversin with the lamas) in fluent Tibetan, and Keith, not much past 20, is the umset (chant-leader), having memorized the dozens of complex tunes. Whew! Bitterroot’s thinkin about a nap just typin all that out. Monk says he’s a little bit embarrassed how little he knows by contrast, but bein around them is inspirin him to step up his game.

Tashi Choling -- Torma Making -- Group -- WS

Prodigies making tormas for Dudjom Tersar Vajrakilaya retreat, Tashi Choling, Oregon

Tashi Choling -- Torma Making -- Shashi -- WS

Tashi Choling -- Torma Making -- Keith -- WS

Tashi Choling -- Torma Making -- Closeup -- WS

Tashi Choling -- Torma Making -- Ila -- WS

 

If you’re part of a dharma center, what are things like where you are? The young people steppin up and learnin more than the first generation? Not so much?

There ain’t much I envy about humans, but one thing for sure is their mobility. I’m basically confined to wherever these four stubby (but powerful!) legs’ll carry me. Humans can go just about anywhere and see anything. And that monk finally divulged where he trotted off to—Tashi Choling, outside a Ashland, Oregon. Seems he had a long-standing itch to see its aging lama, Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche, who he describes as “sublime,” and will also take part in their 10-day Vajrakilaya retreat. Threatens Promises he’ll come back to Montana later this month.

Also seems his route took him down new trails for him. He whooped about the mystical mountain across the Idaho panhandle, and the Columbia River gorge, where local showers produced several rainbows along the way. Didn’t figure him for a rainbow ‘n’ unicorn kinda fella, but you never really know a person inside out, do you?

Oregon -- Rainbow Over Columbia -- WS

Rainbow over Columbia River, Oregon.

He sent a few more snaps to share. Tashi Choling’s in the Colestin Valley right near the California border, and the land is mostly what they call oak chaparral.  Monk says he’s getting the autumn that blew by us in Montana. Here’s the temple entrance; you can just make out the top of a stupa on that distant hill.

Prayers flags, grazing horse and distant stupa at entrance to Tashi Choling, Ashland, Oregon.

Down below the temple, and near where the monk is staying, is this shrine to Vajrasattva, the Buddha of Purification:

Tashi Choling -- Vajrasattva Shrine -- WS

Vajrasattva shrine at Tashi Choling, Oregon.

And this here’s the monk’s view of Tashi Choling’s main temple:

Tashi Choling -- View of Temple -- WS

Main temple, Tashi Choling, Oregon.

He says ‘cause a all the oaks and acorns, the place is crawlin with critters, includin remarkably tame deer that seem to have worked out there’s nothin to fear from a bunch a unarmed Buddhists. Monk took this snap…

Tashi Choling -- Deer and Temple 2 -- WS

Deer fearlessly grazing on lawn of Tashi Choling, Oregon.

…then the deer wandered right into his little yard, not five feet from his window:

Tashi Choling -- Deer in Yard -- WS

Yard deer tasting venison for the first time.

This here’s the moonrise last night over the cabin where he’s stayin.

Tashi Choling -- Moonrise Over Cabin -- WS

Moonrise in Colestin Valley, Oregon.

That means today’s the full moon day and I hope he’s doin sojong, the traditional confession ceremony for monks and nuns. I don’t know for sure, but he just looks like the kinda fella’d need to get a thing or two off his chest on a regular basis.

Halloween. The monk (who ain’t here—where’d he skip off to?) likes to joke that it’s the only day of the year when folks either don’t look at him twice, or admire the ‘authenticity’ of his costume and slip a little Three Musketeers in his monk’s bag.

Since the scariest thing around here is the crossfire aimed at any sizable mammal that moves (don’t dress up as a moose, kids!) I thought I’d offer a little antidote.

Brother Dhammika, an Aussie monk ordained in Sri Lanka and livin in Singapore, recently touted a Sri Lankan film called Suriya Arana. Donning his Roger Ebert cardigan, he summed up the plot thus-wise, among other cinematic musings:

…I would go so far to call [Suriya Arana] a minor masterpiece and it’s a pity it is so little known beyond Sri Lanka.

“The story line is an interesting one. Sediris, a hunter in a remote jungle village accompanies his 10 year old son, Tikira, on a hunting trip to teach him the tricks of the trade. Other villagers keep clear of the forest because Sediris has scared them off with false rumors of ghosts and yakkhas. The sudden appearance of a monk with a young disciple in the forest becomes a threat to Sediris. His various attempts to remove the monks fail. Meanwhile a secret friendship developed between the hunter’s son and the monk’s disciple, challenging the adults’ hostility. Inspired by the little monk, the hunter’s son Tikira gradually learns to love animals instead of killing them. Villagers begin to accept the monks despite Sediris’ threats. One day while fleeing from villagers Sediris accidentally runs onto one of his own gun-traps and loses a limb. With two wives and six children Sediris is helpless but the monk he hated and tried to discredit comes forward to help them all and the two boys friendship blossoms.

“Senior Sri Lankan monks, those paragons of conservativism and lack of imagination, were outraged by the film and demanded that it be banned. Showing a little monk standing on his hands and wrestling with another boy (and a lay boy at that!) is of course a major threat to the Sangha’s dignity…The public took no notice, Suriya Arana became the highest grossing film in Sri Lankan history and the monks backed down, eventually giving the film their ‘blessing’ (Others Lead, We Follow)(lol—ed.). No doubt part of the films success was due to its two young stars, Sajith Anuththara (Tikira) and Dasun Madhusanka (the little monk), the cutest little guys you’ve ever seen and both very credible actors.

“Have a look at this scene from the film. As it happens most of these scenes were shot in Meemure, one of my old stomping grounds. How fondly I remember the time I and the former Venerable Pajalo spent in this lovely place. We never saw the leopard. Perhaps she was hiding.”

Curiously, this Aussie Theravadin monk just returned from Mother Tibet, and has declared that November will be ‘Tibet Month’ on his blog, with pix and tales from his travels. Should be very interestin and I recommend tunin in.

Now seriously, where’re that monk and Jack at? Lights’re on, but no one’s home. You know that feeling, right?

(post title ref for the culturally bereft)

Monk took off this morning to the MSU campus to take in Ven. Ngawang Chojor’s beginning creation of a sand mandala at the Helen Copeland Gallery. He reports that the folks he met from the sponsoring organization, the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation, were so nice and friendly. He wanted me to encourage you to pay em a visit and drop a couple coins in their can if you’re so moved.

Seems some forward-thinkin teacher from the Irving International School thought it’d be a bright idea to bring her third-graders (the school’s motto is a Chinese proverb: Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.) She was right on; monk tells me they were totally involved and had an endless stream a great questions. Well, see for yourself (in the first one, some a the kids’re listenin to the translator, out-of-frame; if the last one don’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what to do with you):

Montana -- Bozeman -- Mandala Maker and Crowd -- WS

Ven. Ngawang Chojor creating Chenresig mandala, Helen Copeland Gallery, MSU, Bozeman, Montana

Montana -- Bozeman -- Mandala Maker and Kids 2 -- WS

Montana -- Bozeman -- Mandala Maker and Kids -- WS

If you’re in the area, you can also watch Ngawang Chojor create this sacred artwork, an image of the abode of Chenresig, the Buddha of Limitless Compassion, Friday and Saturday between 11am and 5pm, and Sunday from 11am to 3pm. At that time, the mandala will be ritually dismantled and the blessed sand buried. Earlier in the comments, Sister Leamur asked how come they’re gonna bury it, since mostly the sand is offered into a local river. The monk asked, and they said because in this case, they couldn’t get all vegetable or mineral dyes, and the synthetic dyes might not be so nice in the water. Nice they think this way.

toleranceAnd related to compassion and loving-kindness as antidotes to mindless hatred, a local group calling itself Bozeman United has organized a “Hate-Free BoZone” march and rally for Nov. 1, from 2-4pm, to counteract the recent noxious activities of the so-called “Creativity Movement” of white supremacists. I hope all my fellow Buddhists will attend. I think the monk will be out of town or he’d be there for sure. The march will initiate at 2pm from 8th and Cleveland on the MSU campus and end in a rally at the  Willson School gymnasium. There’s a bit more about it all here.

As I’ve mentioned several times before, it’s big game huntin season here in Montana, a time that makes critters like me more than a little jumpy. I’m personally OK. Badgers ain’t on the list, and I’m on private land. But I feel real empathic toward my fellow critters dodgin bullets, and now, with some understanding of the Buddha’s teachings, the hunters themselves. I’ve been waitin until what felt like the right time to write this, and finally it was triggered by the followin. There’s a kinda group bulletin board for Montana birdwatchers and the monk, who’s one a that peculiar tribe, sent me this excerpt from a longer post:

…[m]y lifer was an AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER!!!!! AMAZING looks from 10 feet away!!! first and maybe not last lifer seen through a rifle scope(didn’t grab the binoculars from the truck)

Later that day, we almost hit a RUFFED GROUSE, and got out to bag it, but found our selves staring at 3 SPRUCE GROUSE in the trees above us!!! SPRUCE GROUSE!!! WAY COOL!! I have only seen one before and it too was hunting in the same area, but this time we got to hold them. :) One of the males was a pure “FRANKLIN’S” subspecies but the other male and the female are a mix of the nominate subspecies and the the “Franklin’s” I called them ‘tweeners. I have there tails curing to be mounted. The subspecies variation in them is very cool and interesting!!

Didn’t bag a deer or elk, but came home with 3 grouse and the satisfaction of a great day of hunting, with some birding in the mix.”

This is reproduced as-was; please don’t get on the guy for syntax, typos or what have you. That ain’t the point. What struck Bitterroot was how in one mind there could be both an obvious fascination with, and aesthetic appreciation for, birds in general, as well as an unbridled enthusiasm for killing them. Now please don’t get all superior and bash this one guy in the comments. That also ain’t the point. From the Buddhist point of view, the fella’s himself prey to his own ignorance, and shouldn’t be faulted for it, but rather considered with compassion. Unknowingly, he, and however many others deliberately ending the lives of critters, are setting in motion the very thing they would like to avoid: their own future suffering.

pelts on a wall

The creation of karma

Many Montanans will be quick to tell hunting critics several things: hunters these days are among the most ardent land conservationists; that because of widespread human colonization, there’s now an imbalanced environment in which humans now fill the role of predator, instead of wolves, say, and without thinning the burgeoning herds such as elk, many would starve to death in the winter due to too many animals for too little forage; and that a good percentage of the hunters are poor and really depend on the meat to feed their families during the winter.

Bitterroot finds these arguments pretty reasonable, given the relative reality of the situation here. But the Buddha’s wisdom proceeds from his perfectly enlightened view of the ultimate reality of our situation, understandin in a very precise way how we suffer and how to get out.

The operative word here is ‘view’. If we have a view that animals were placed on this earth by a benevolent Creator for the judicious use by people, then not only is killing them OK, it can be conceived as an almost sacred act, at least in terms of gratitude toward the Creator, etc. Alternatively, if we have a view (or unconscious assumption, really) that there’s no pattern to our existence and no effect from our actions save possible violations of man’s artificially created laws, well, then, who gives a hoot? Life’s purpose is just to grab as much fun as you can get away with, and killing animals is “awesome”.

The Buddha saw things different. First off, he saw that we ain’t lived just this life. In fact we have lived too many lives to even count, in every conceivable form. I’ve been human, you’ve been badger, for instance. And he saw that everything that comes about in this or any other world does so through exacting cause and effect relationships. Most of those causes and effects are karma, the actions of previous lifetimes that have left imprints on our mindstreams and, given the right conditions, ripen as experience. In other words, don’t get all sentimental about Bambi in the rifle scope. In some previous life, Bambi was the hunter. Conversely, in some future life, the hunter’s gonna be Bambi. That’s a simplification, but not by much.

Monk and TigerSo how do we break this cycle? Again, through view, and it’s gotta be ours, ‘cause humans are (mostly) the only ones fortunate enough to be born with rational faculties. Because you humans have the marvelous power of choice, most karma is created during a human lifetime, so it behooves us to take some care.

First, we gotta consider what, when you get right down to it, makes all beings equal to one another. There’re two things. The first is our equality in terms of our drive to secure happiness and be free from suffering. What do all beings value and protect the most? (Who said “their i-phones”?) Their lives, of course. And who can honestly say that one’s right to live is superior to another’s? The second is our ultimate nature, indivisible in our fundamentally awakened state and potential to realize it.

Based on this way a thinkin, the Buddha kicks it up another notch: given all beings’ innumerable past lives, each and every being, at one time or another, has shown us unparalleled kindness as our mother. Carefully nourished us in her own body, cleaned away the filth we could not clean ourselves, sacrificed in so many ways to sustain our very lives and bring every possible benefit.

If this is true as the Buddha taught, is it possible to sight down a rifle barrel and kill your own mother? Mount her head on your wall? (Please, no mother-in-law jokes here.) Or should our way of life change? I’m talkin about entering into a sacred covenant with other living beings, vowing to repay their kindness and care for them in both ordinary and extraordinary ways.

The Dalai Lama once offered an oft-quoted summary a the Buddhist way of life: “If you can help others, do so; if you can’t, at least don’t harm them.” You hear that? As someone tuned in to spiritual life, not harming others—giving up huntin and fishin, say—is the least you can do. Helping others in ordinary ways, maybe adopting a pet or two from your local shelter, is pretty good. But best of all is cultivating what we call bodhicitta, the awakeneing mind that seeks perfect enlightenment solely to have the capacity to lead all other beings to that perfect state beyond all sorrow.

Now I’m hoping for some discussion about this, especially from those who have some knowledge of the ethical understanding within the hunting culture. But hear this: Bitterroot ain’t gonna be very tolerant at all of comments along the lines of, “Hunters are stupid, macho murderers!” Let’s try to delve a little deeper and recognize that we all have the potential to bring something positive to the table (man, Bitterroot’s startin to sound like Obama, ain’t he?).

Update: Wow, after sayin that, and since it’s the 10th day of the moon, let’s let Padmasambhava speak on the matter in his usual forthrightness: “To take the life of another is no different from murdering your own parents and children!” That’s from Advice from the Lotus-Born. Now, if you have Padmasambhava’s perfect realization, you go ahead and talk like that too. Otherwise, please be polite and well-reasoned in the comments like I asked.

Montana -- Namdroling -- Jack on Lawn -- WS

The not-so-rare Domesticated Montana Shortgrass Prowler

Well, suddenly it’s Tibetan Buddhism week round here in Bozeman. And that’s a good thing, maybe counteract some a this fever to slaughter animals.

Books offered by Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche at World Peace Ceremony in Bodh Gaya, India

Books offered by Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche at World Peace Ceremony in Bodh Gaya, India

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 27th, fella name a Barry Schieber droppin in to offer a slide slow and talk titled “Forty Years Out of Tibet: A Visionary Lama’s Work in America.” That’s at 7pm at the Emerson Center for Arts and Culture. Not sure exactly where, but you’re bright people, you can work it out. Here’s from the press release:

[Tarthang Tulku] Rinpoche left Tibet on the brink of the Chinese occupation in 1959 and lived in India for the next decade, teaching as a professor of Buddhist Studies at Sarnath University and establishing the first small Tibetan press in exile.  He arrived in Berkeley in 1969 and in the following years built a network of philanthropic foundations that have emerged as the leading Tibetan cultural preservation efforts in the world. Among them is Dharma Publishing, a nonprofit, volunteer- based press that has given away 3 million sacred Tibetan texts to Tibetans in exile, hailed as among the largest free distributions of books in history.  The books are given away every year at the World Peace Ceremony, founded by Rinpoche and held in Bodh Gaya, India, the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment.  The ceremony is attended every year by over 7,000 monks and nuns in the region and has become one of the largest annual events of Tibetan life in exile.

The center of the work has been preservation and production of the ancient texts of Tibetan masters to give directly into the hands of the Tibetan people in exile.  This year, another massive offering of texts at Bodh Gaya will include 1,000 sets of the Narthang Tibetan Buddhist Canon, a 327-volume collection, to distribute to monasteries throughout Nepal, India and Bhutan. The sacred texts are the pillars of Tibetan culture.

‘A whole body of ancient knowledge could have disappeared,’ Schieber said. ’It would have been destroyed. He saved it with a monumental effort and a vision that was extraordinary.’”

That ain’t small potatoes, and it seems this talk is part a Schieber’s fundraising efforts to produce a documentary about Tarthang Tulku’s colossal achievements, so leave your teevee off and pay em a visit. If you got questions, email em to gunagoodness at gmail dot com.

Ven. Ngawang Chojor creating Tibetan Buddhist sand mandala

Ven. Ngawang Chojor creating Tibetan Buddhist sand mandala

And that ain’t all. Seems on Thursday the 29thVen. Ngawang Chojor, a senior monk with Namgyal Monastery, bein called here “the most accomplished sand mandala constructor alive today,” is gonna, well, construct a sand mandala at the Helen E. Copeland Gallery on the MSU campus. It’ll all start with a blessing ceremony Thursday at 11am, with public viewing of the process until its completion Sunday afternoon at 3pm, at which time there’ll be the traditional dismantling and offering to the environment. You can read all about it here, but the gallery’s on the 2nd floor of Haynes Hall “on 11th Avenue near the duck pond.” Monk’ll be there for the Thursday morning ceremony, assume he’ll send snaps. This event/tour’s bein sponsored by the very worthy Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation outta Helena. You got questions about this locally, give Erin a ring at 994-2562.

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