( Lama Surya Das is one of the minute number of western Buddhist Masters authorized to teach and transmit the Dzogchen teachings )

 

 

I met His Holiness one-on-one for about forty-five minutes in his interview room. That really was incredibly powerful

 

and inspirational for me, especially that he was so free from protocol and so intimate?athere wasn't that much

 

bowing, and I sat next to him on the couch and he shook my hand at the door.

 

 

Tenzin Geshe Tethong was the only other person in the room; he was partly translating, but His Holiness spoke

 

English and I had my little pidgin Tibetan coming along.

 

His Holiness was so impressive and in the most simple and humble way?aI don't mean pomp and

 

circumstance?areally authenti­cally, marvelously personal and beautiful and deep.

 

 

And I'll never forget what he said after we had talked a while, toward the end of the audience?ait was

 

more like an interview but let's call it an audience ?a he said, "Thank You so much, you and all the young people like

 

you who come from afar who are interested in the Buddha dharma, in this wonderful treasure, that you have

 

time to practice it and learn it and realize it. I myself am too busy; I have a lot of things to do for the people of Tibet, and

 

I hope one day, when I retire, I can go back to being a studious monk and meditator."

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

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The politics of reincarnation

 

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April 3, 2007

Economist.com

Our Tokyo bureau chief meets the Dalai Lama

 

 

OUTSIDE Dharamsala is the Tibet Transit School, a cluster of boarding houses

 

with a view over the valley. It offers four years of schooling to Tibetans

 

who missed out in China. Many students are in their 20s. They say they made

 

their way from Tibet with the intention of enrolling, and most say they will

 

return after they have finished, older and wiser.

 

 

 

The mood on campus is cheerful. A gaggle of young men are kicking up a

 

ruckus. They beckon me over. I ask what they are up to. In amazingly good

 

English, one replies that they are preparing for an English-language debate.

 

He is proposing the motion that money can't buy you happiness. "And I," says

 

a wild beaming long-haired Tibetan, "am opposing it." What did I think?

 

 

 

I am taken to the art rooms by one of the crowd. He shows me his meticulous

 

Buddhist wall paintings. Next to them is a finely rendered charcoal portrait

 

of a fellow art student, a young nun with a shaven head. And next to her is

 

a drawing of a naked Indian woman in the come-hither pose found mainly in

 

those kinds of magazines that tend to get circulated in male dormitories.

 

 

 

Tigers populate some of the wall paintings. Around Dharamsala, I had been

 

curious to learn more about tigers and Tibetans' attitudes to them. After

 

all, in Tibet the finest young blades would wear fabulous chuba, long

 

traditional coats adorned with tiger skins and exotic furs. Until, that was,

 

the Dalai Lama issued an edict during an important tantric teaching held a

 

year ago in southern India. Tibetans' taste for tiger and other skins, the

 

Dalai Lama said then, made him ashamed. Not only did it ravage wildlife

 

populations; it was against Buddhism.

 

 

News of the Dalai Lama's statement spread literally like wildfire in Tibet

 

and in Tibetan-populated parts of Chinese provinces. Great piles of chuba

 

were set alight, sending up acrid plumes of smoke. The street prices of rare

 

tiger, snow leopard and otter pelts plummeted. Chinese officialdom was at

 

first utterly confused by this bonfire of the vanities. And then alarmed.

 

The arson was deemed unpatriotic. The Dalai Lama was denounced, yet again,

 

for "anti-social" tendencies. Tibetan newsreaders were ordered to appear

 

wearing fur trim. In Qinghai province, the television station sent out an

 

urgent plea for skins to the local natural history museum.

 

 

 

At the transit school it is clear that the Dalai Lama's word is revered by

 

the young as much as by the old. It has ensured that Tibetans' struggle for

 

their own voice is uniquely non-violent-something the Chinese appear

 

incapable of acknowledging.

 

 

 

Yet late-night conversations with younger political activists around

 

Dharamsala, many of them western-educated, bring out a strident

 

impatience-not with the Dalai Lama, but with counsellors who advise on his

 

"middle way" approach. This amounts to a compromise whereby the Dalai Lama

 

would renounce Tibetan independence in exchange for real autonomy for his

 

people in Tibet and in neighbouring provinces. But to open with this offer,

 

some of the younger crowd say, is to give away the store to China.

 

 

 

The following day I see the Dalai Lama himself, who talks for a while about

 

non-violence. Then, leaning forward, he fixes me eye-to-eye, and discusses

 

the question of restlessness among the young. He says: "There are

 

indications of frustrations among the new generation. In the 1980s it was

 

mainly monks and nuns who protested in many parts of Tibet. Now it's

 

students. Inside and outside Tibet, these younger ones are more

 

critical.There's an idea floating around. While the Dalai Lama's alive, we

 

have to follow his advice. But once he's gone, we have to find different

 

ways to carry on."

 

 

 

Certainly, the Chinese Communists want to be rid of this turbulent priest,

 

now 72. They want, in effect, the right to control the process of his

 

reincarnation, which is to say, they want to be sure his successor will be

 

tame. "There's something quite strange about these people taking an interest

 

in my reincarnation," says the incumbent, and pauses, looking indignant.

 

"It's none of their business!". Another pause, and then the Dalai Lama falls

 

back into his armchair with a trademark guffaw.

 

 

 

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With a CAS Being

 

( Series 1 )

 

 

 

hi beng, thanks. =) Edit it fo me if possible. My puncuation is atrocious. =)

 

I first come across CAS when Trisur Rinpoche (then Ganden Tripa) first came to Singapore. I remembered calling

 

Boon Beng (Wen2 Ming2 also meaning civilized) up and wondered if anyone in this world will be named "Ye3

 

Man2" (barbaric). Hahahha.

 

 

 

I went for the teachings and met the very enthusiastic team running around setting up the place and doing

 

everything possible to ensure smooth running of the event. Since they welcomed all help offered (which we still do!)

 

I jumped in and did what I am able.

 

 

 

It was truly an enriching experience. I remembered Trisur??£¤s toothy smile while he was looking at us on his throne.

 

The kind grandpa look of compassion, so normal, ordinary and earthly. It was only much later did I realized that

 

this grandpa is, in fact, one of the most respected teacher in the Tibetan Buddhism circle. This incident made me

 

think about how a person??£¤s cultivation is visible through his every actions of body, speech and mind. In this case,

 

Trisur-la had given a teaching on humility and the fact that teachers should embody the teachings they are teaching.

 

*Many prostrations*

 

 

 

I like CAS as it is a Rime (non sectarian) organization, I believe that Buddhists should unite and help each other in

 

their different approaches to benefit all in samsara and gain enlightenment. Master Ching Kong of Pureland

 

Buddhism said that one should praise and rejoice in another sect??£¤s practices so as to encourage one another on their

 

journey out of samsara. This will also ensure the flourishing of Buddhism as a whole.

 

 

 

In the same line of thought, during this degeneration age, when the Dharma is twisted by various cults?so as to

 

satisfy their thirst for glory and wealth; how can we students of the compassionate masters turn against each

 

other and create schism among ourselves directly or indirectly? If we do this, then how do we differ from the

 

children of Mara who tries to pose as Buddhists and erode Buddhism from within?

 

 

 

HH Dalai Lama taught, "if you can??£¤t help someone, at least do not harm them" and emphasize many times that "there

 

is no one in samsara who will not appreciate compassion." Thus I believe to be a Buddhist, the very basic thing is to

 

be a good human being. This lazy student is still trying very hard to do so, especially when it come to difficult

 

situation where the habitual reaction seems overpowering. It is like the title of the book, "After the Ecstasy, The Laundry". Hahaha.

 

 

 

However, I am sure all will agree that this may be a tough journey but it will be one that will benefit self and

 

others, from the beginning till the very end.

 

 

 

I sincerely beseech the various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in flesh, H.H Dalai Lama, Penor Rinpoche, Shakya Trizin,

 

Gyalwa Karmapa, Master Ching Kong and many others who holds the great victory banners of Buddhism to remain

 

long and firm. May they continue to be the beacon for all beings in samsara so that we will be guided away from

 

darkness of ignorance and place our mind in accordance with the Dharma.

 

 

 

Written with the mind slightly more sane due to the blessings of the Masters,

 

Togma

 

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P/S:

 

Togma wants to show all friends @ CASonline the picture in the attachment.

 

Look at it.