Tushita’s News Dec 2018

In August our Dharma wishes came true with our precious Spiritual Director Lama Zopa Rinpoche coming to Tushita, kicking off the second half of the 2018 season! (For highlights from the first half of 2018 see our July 2018 Newsletter, and for a summary of our spectacular year in numbers and graphs visit our 2018 Annual Report).

Rinpoche arrived at night on 29 August through a plume of incense to an array of candle light offerings and a large group of eager students to greet Him. We were thrilled to present Rinpoche with His updated and expanded living quarters which He described as a “wish-fulfilling room”! It was possibly the sweetest compliment Rinpoche could give us for our efforts. We beamed with happiness for His enjoyment.

The 110 students of our Introduction to Buddhism course had the great fortune on 31 August to receive a teaching from Rinpoche after their celebratory picnic marking the culmination of their efforts. What an auspicious way to complete their course! Rinpoche distributed blessed pills from Tibet and holy water brought from Mt Kailash to every student. Their big smiles broadcast their appreciation of this special opportunity.

The next day Rinpoche shared more blessed pills and water with our local staff and visitors before slowly circumambulating the main gompa while explaining the significance of the mantras and images painted on the outside of the hall. Rinpoche explained that just seeing the mantras (which are painted in red and gold) creates merit, and reciting them creates even more. As Rinpoche continued on His circumambulation He came to many of our monkey “landlords” to whom He offered prayers and blessings. Later on we greeted the arrival of the precious Dagri Rinpoche who came to visit Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

On Sept 2, Rinpoche welcomed Khadro la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drolma) to Tushita for a visit. Rinpoche later demonstrated great generosity in inviting all of Tushita staff, volunteers and visiting Sangha to an appreciation lunch with the precious Khadro la. We all walked together through the monsoon forest into Dharamkot (aka “Little Israel”), the village next door where we enjoyed a delicious vegan buffet at a popular local restaurant. Again, grins abounded as hearts and bellies were filled, and all rejoiced in all our efforts and accomplishments.

We all happily attended His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s four days of public teachings at His Temple from Sept 4-7. On September 5th we held an extraordinary Guru Puja with our Guru himself, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, seated on His throne. We were again blessed with the presence of Khadro la. The Guru Puja included a condensed Long-life Request for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, in which both Khadro la and Tushita offered mandalas. We earnestly pray for Rinpoche’s long, healthy life and for all of His Dharma wishes to instantly be fulfilled!

The next two days Rinpoche provided teachings, open to everyone, and began the transmission of the Sutra of Liberation which we hope He will continue upon His next return. We were so grateful that Rinpoche made time to offer these precious teachings to us with His schedule already so full. Once again, Rinpoche demonstrated to us his tireless efforts and devotion to benefit all beings.

On September 8th we bid Rinpoche farewell with eager hopes of a quick return to Tushita!

Even More Special Teaching Events!

Tushita continued the 2018 season with many special teaching events!

On August 30th, Venerable Thubten Chodron visited from Sravasti Abbey in Washington, USA and spoke on “The Foundation of Buddhist Practice” based her new book: the second volume of her collaboration with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The 110 students in our Aug 22-31 Introduction course were especially lucky to receive special teachings from both Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Venerable Chodron in the same course.

On September 18th our 125 course participants had the tremendous pleasure of receiving a teaching with Q&A from Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche. Holding a very comfortable and accessible presence and speaking with great humor and humility, Rinpoche was a hit with the students who surely benefited from His wisdom.

On Sept 21 – 26 we offered a special 6-day introduction level course led by Geshe Lhakdor on the Rice Seedling Sutra. It is always a treat to host Geshe la, the Director from the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives. This is now the third year that Geshe la has made time in his very busy schedule to teach a residential course. Once again Geshe la’s course was full of students who benefited greatly from Geshe la’s very humorous, down-to-earth, and accessible teachings on the deep topic of dependent origination. We were thrilled to welcome four Thai monks as residential students for the first time in Tushita’s history. We hope this is the beginning of a new trend!

Following closely on Sept 27 & 28 we hosted a special teaching from Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on “Getting the Mind Ready for Mahamudra”. As is typical for Jetsunma’s events, our meditation hall overflowed with students – some happily sitting outside. Students rejoiced in how particularly clear and effective they found Jetsunma’s teaching. There is a warmth that comes from her natural ability to offer practical and compassionate guidance to students of all levels which stems from her own unique experiences.

On October 8th, between teaching two huge residential courses, Venerable Robina Courtin generously offered to teach on “Tools for Happiness”, demonstrating again her tireless enthusiasm for sharing the Dharma. Even students who attended her previous course were in awe of her ability to consolidate the Lam Rim path in just two hours in a concise and applicable way. Her direct and energized teaching style empowered students by giving them tools to create a life of greater and lasting happiness.

On October 15th we had the tremendous honor to host His Eminence Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche for the the second year in a row for a special initiation. This year Rinpoche imparted a White Tara Long-life Initiation. Again we had a packed gompa including many Tibetans who came from the surrounding areas. We hope to have the merit to host many more events with His Eminence in the future.

On October 25th, 109 students in our Introduction to Buddhism course and Chenrezig Tonglen retreat had the valuable opportunity to have a Q&A session with Geshe Thupten Palsang towards the end of their course/retreat. Geshe la is known for his profound comprehension of emptiness and unique style of teaching, which transforms some of the most difficult philosophical concepts to become easily understood and accessible.  Geshe la invited students to present questions on subjects or concepts they found especially challenging. Later, on the 27th and 28th Geshe la spent two days focusing on the profound subject of emptiness. This was the first time our positive karma ripened to host Geshe la for teachings, and we hope it will be the first of many!

On October 31st, on the holy day of Lhabab Duechen, we were very excited to host special guest Khyongla Rato Rinpoche. Rinpoche taught on “The Three Principle Aspects of the Path” by Lama Tsongkhapa – Rinpoche being the embodiment of the very same qualities: renunciation, bodhichitta, and wisdom. Our many guests were delighted by Rinpoche’s humorous and humble interpretation of this important and condensed text detailing the path to enlightenment.

For our final special teaching event of the year on November 14th and 15th we delightedly welcomed back Geshe Lobsang Tsepal. Geshe la is one of the meditators at Trijang Rinpoche’s stupa nearby, and has done extensive research on pilgrimage places of importance to Buddhism. Accompanied by a slideshow, Geshe la taught on “India’s Pilgrimage Sites”. Geshe la offered valuable insight into each of the four main Buddhist pilgrimage destinations, enabling students visiting Bodhgaya, Lumbini, Sarnath and Kushinagar to really appreciate the significance of each holy location.

Our Residential Courses & Group Retreats

Our popular Introduction to Buddhism courses remained a success during the second half of the season. This year we held a total of 16 Introduction courses with 1589 students, making an average of 99.4 students per course – a new Tushita record!

See all of our Introductory course students with their teachers (Venerable Drolma, Venerable Tony Beaumont, Venerable Robina Courtin, and Glen Svensson) and meditation leaders (Maya & Julia) below. As group sizes increase our camera person gets more and more opportunity to practice not falling over the edge of the garden to fit them all in!

In the second half of 2018 we also held four intermediate courses: “Creating Bodhichitta” and “Buddhist Practices”, both led by our resident teacher Venerable Drolma, “No Time to Lose! Living Your Best Life & Preparing for a Peaceful Death” by Venerable Robina Courtin, and “The Gelug Tradition of Mahamudra” led by Glen Svensson. We had an average of 28 students in these intermediate courses, with a mind-blowing 58 students in Venerable Robina’s course. This makes a total of 8 intermediate/advanced courses with 251 students held in 2018!!

This year we had the special honor of hosting a total of 6 Thai monks as students in three of our courses. Some of them attended multiple courses as well as our special teaching events. We are so happy to welcome students and sangha from different Buddhist countries and traditions!

In addition to these intermediate courses, we hosted four group retreats: “Eight Verses of Thought Transformation: Chenrezig Retreat” led by Ven. Tony Beaumont, “Chenrezig Tonglen Retreat” and “Green Tara Retreat” both led by Jimi Neal, and for the first time in Tushita’s history a meditation retreat led by Alan B. Wallace on “The Four Close Applications of Mindfulness”. Unsurprisingly there was great interest in Alan Wallace’s retreat and we had our highest numbers on record for retreat attendance: 141. This makes a total of 7 group retreats with 241 students held in 2018!!

See the photos below of each of our Intermediate Courses and Group Retreats:

Our Drop-In Activities…

Short courses are a wonderful way to make teachings available to students unable to commit to longer, residential courses. We were pleased to add four more to the list of several short courses from the first half of the year: another popular “How to Meditate” course led by Shahar Tene, “The Heart Sutra” by Venerable Olivier Rossi, “The Essence of Buddhism” by Jimi Neal, and “Cultivating Mindfulness & Emotional Balance” with Glen Svensson. This makes a total of 10 short courses with a total of 840 students for the full year!! We look forward to offering short courses frequently again in 2019.

Our morning guided meditations proved so popular with drop-in students that attendance overflowed the Medicine Buddha Gompa. We even had to set up a speaker to reach the many eager students who could only find seating outside the meditation hall. We reached our highest attendance for the second half of the year in September, with a maximum of 135 attendees on the 10th. We rejoice at such high levels of interest in people taking action to become familiar with and tame their own minds, and in our ability to provide them with guidance.

Next Season – We hope to see you soon!