Tushita News 2017

Without exaggeration, we can say that our 2017 season running from February to November was the busiest (and hopefully most beneficial) Tushita Meditation Centre has ever seen.

Our season started with countless blessings by our precious guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who arrived after midnight of February 8th for a surprise visit. We all had very happily hurried back from our annual winter break to make preparations for Rinpoche’s homecoming and the re-opening of the centre for the new season starting on February 13th.

 
No doubt that due to the blessings of the guru we welcomed an unusual high number of students to our first Introduction of Buddhism course in the middle of February. Ninety-four enthusiastic students, including 28 Indians, came prepared to brave the winter in the Himalaya without heating. Their bravery was rewarded not only with relatively mild temperatures and much sunshine, but more importantly meeting Lama Zopa Rinpoche during many amazing activities.

During Rinpoche’s seventeen-day stay before the Tibetan New Year, Rinpoche very kindly and generously showered us all with inspiring teachings, lungs, and advice. Our students and many visitors were extremely fortunate to be present for four days of teachings with Rinpoche on February 19th-22nd including a most-special Guru Puja on the 21st.

See pictures of Rinpoche’s teaching events:

 
Rinpoche departed on the 24th, and we pray that He will return again very, very soon!

Special Guest Teachings

On March 10th (Tibetan Uprising Day), Khadro la (Rangjung Neljorma Khandro Namsel Drönme) blessed us by coming to Tushita and giving a teaching to a packed gompa filled with our Intro course students, prospective monks & nuns from our Pre-Ordination Course, and the fortunate public who faced the cold weather to be here early in the season. Just as Khadro la arrived, an enchanting snow began to fall as if coating Tushita in a gentle blanket of blessings.

 
Only a couple of days after this joyous event, more blessings showered down on us. On March 12th we celebrated the Day of Miracles and enjoyed our annual pilgrimage to His Holiness’ temple in McLeod Ganj to listened to His Holiness tell us stories from the Jataka Tales, warming our hearts in the unusually bitter cold. And to our great surprise and delight on short notice His Holiness added 2 days of amazing teachings on the following days, March 13 & 14.

The shower of warming blessing didn’t stop here, but continued on without break!! For those hardy ones who had braved the ongoing cold and were ready to face even lower temperatures higher up on our blessed Tushita hill, there was another amazing event waiting. On March 15-19 we were thrilled to host a very special 5-day non-residential course with Dagri Rinpoche on Shantideva’s “A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life”. We hope and pray that Rinpoche will return soon to continue teaching on this inspiring text!

 
In May, Yangten Rinpoche treated us to three days of teachings. Rinpoche first came on the 23rd and 24th to teach on Lama Tsongkhapa’s “Three Principle Aspects of the Path” and confer a Chenrezig Initiation especially for our Nyung Nay retreatants. Then, on the 28th, Rinpoche returned to honor a teaching request from a group from Vietnam. He gave teachings on the Chenrezig practice as well as the 12 Links of Dependent Arising.

 
On June 17th, His Eminence Ling Rinpoche came to Tushita to teach for the first time. Rinpoche taught in English on the Eight Verses of Thought Transformation to a packed audience. For most, it was their first time connecting with Ling Rinpoche and there was a pervasive and uplifting atmosphere of delight in response to Rinpoche’s warm humor and insightful wisdom.

Ling Rinpoche’s First Teaching at Tushita:

 
Also delighting hearts with humor and insight was Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche on June 23rd. Rinpoche gave a relaxed Dharma talk with Q&A with his special gift of accessible humility. It was a wonderful opportunity for students from both our Introduction and Advanced courses to ask clarifying questions on the last full day of their course.

 
August 31st was a very special day at Tushita! His Eminence Ling Rinpoche conferred His first initiation at Tushita – an Amitayus Long Life Initiation – followed by a Guru Puja. This was Tushita’s most highly attended event in our history with nearly 600 guests! We had many, many Tibetans and foreigners alike. Students were packed inside, outside and on the upper balcony of the Gompa, all eager to receive this special initiation and participate in such a special Guru Puja. This time Rinpoche spoke in Tibetan with English translation by Geshe Kelsang Wangmo. His demeanor was more serious this time, conveying profound qualities.

Ling Rinpoche’s Amitayus Initiation:

 
Between courses in October, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo came to offer two days of teachings on The Wheel of Life (Oct 9-10). Ever popular for her engaging teaching and incisive wisdom, Jetsunma filled the Gompa to overflowing with students eager to receive a transmission of her insight.

 
Our final special guest teacher for the year was Geshe Lhakdor Oct 22-27. Geshe la offered a special 6-day residential course on Atisha’s “The Lamp of the Path to Enlightenment” attended by 113 students! Having spent many years interacting with students from all over the world, Geshe la has a particular ability to connect to students both Eastern and Western. Students could often be heard erupting in laughter during teachings inside the Gompa, ensuring that Geshe la’s teachings were hitting them in a meaningful way.

Our Program

This year we hosted a total of 18 Introduction to Buddhism courses attended by a total of 1,734 students from 65 different countries! Incredible! We have now welcomed students from 96 different countries of the world since we began recording student demographics in 2009. Click here to read our full 2017 statistics report.

See the slideshow below for group photos of each of our Introduction to Buddhism courses, many of which were led by our new resident teacher Venerable Drolma who joined us last year in 2016.

 
In addition to our popular Intro courses, we also hosted a pre-ordination course for 13 new sangha members, 4 Intermediate/Advanced courses and 6 group retreats (including our biennial 3-month Vajrasattva retreat) with a total of 236 students.

This totals thirty residential courses and group retreats attended by 2,096 students. This is a new Tushita Meditation Centre record. Most of our courses again had long waiting lists, and once again our most numerous student nationality was India.

See the slideshow below for group photos of each of our intermediate/advanced courses and group retreats.

 
Our Vajrasattva retreatants were fortunate to have audiences with His Eminence Ling Rinpoche, Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche and Gen Gyatso during the course of their retreat.

 

In addition to all these incredible Dharma events, we also hosted a 2-day short course with Glen Svensson on The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Nov 11 & 12.

Our daily drop-in meditations continued to be a great success. This year our drop-in meditation attendance exceeded 24, 306! Wow Wow Wow Wow Wow! We rejoice deeply in the opportunity to introduce and guide so many in establishing a meditation practice.

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On behalf of all of the staff and students of Tushita Meditation Centre, we most humbly offer any merits that have been accumulated through these and all other Tushita Meditation Centre activities to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s perfect health, inconceivable long life, and the immediate, perfect fulfillment of every one of his holy wishes, particularly that the Maitreya statue projects will be completed swiftly and perfectly for the benefit of all sentient beings.

We pray that the merits accumulated here this year will ripen so that Tushita Meditation Centre will always flourish as a place of harmony helping to spread the Dharma exactly as Lama Zopa Rinpoche wishes. With minds going out with great compassion in whatever direction the most precious teachings have not yet spread, or once spread have now declined, may those who serve and study at Tushita Meditation Centre always uphold the Buddha’s teachings, and with every act of body, speech, and mind, may we always reveal this treasure of happiness and aid.