Tibetan Buddhism Vajranaya by Lama Glenn

The following article is from the Summer, 1999 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

Meditations to Transform the Mind

By The Seventh Dalai Lama
Translated and edited by Glenn H. Mullin
 

The Seventh Dalai Lama is often considered to be one of the greatest of the early Dalai Lamas. He wrote extensive commentaries on the Tantras, and over a thousand mystical poems and prayers.

His Meditations to Transform the Mind is a highly valued collection of spiritual advice for taming and developing the mind. These inspired writings are an outpouring of Himalayan spirituality, a unique presentation that appeals to the heart as well as head.

The Seventh Dalai Lama's rich spiritual writings are direct and arresting, giving clear advice on the essence of Buddhist practice.

"inspiring of immense importance to all the major Tibetan Buddhist sects." —Prof. Janice D. Willis, Wesleyan University

In this book, Glenn Mullin provides valuable and fascinating introductions to each piece, making them even more accessible. Also included is a biography of the Seventh Dalai Lama.

The following excerpt from the book is a song which the Seventh Dalai Lama wrote at the request of one of his disciples, Changkya Rinpochey, better known as the third incarnation of the Changkya Tulku.

As author Glenn Mullin points out in the introduction to this section, the song is very tantric in nature, and therefore makes use of a specialized and esoteric language,

"I suspect that some of it will float over the heads of non-initiates. Nonetheless, as the Tibetan saying goes,

'If you don't have any teeth, at least you can work on it with your gums.'

For those with a background in tantric literature it perhaps will be appreciated as one of the most profound and powerful pieces in the volume."

Song of the Tantric Path  

Homage to Jey Rinpochey, a second Buddha,
Manifestation of Vajradhara, lord of all buddhas,
In whose body reside the awakened ones past, present, and future,
As well as their retinues and buddhafields.

Homage to the feet of my own root guru,
Who is in true nature inseparably one with Father-Mother Heruka,
The wheel composed of all objects of knowledge,
Whose essence is great bliss, clear as the autumn sky.
  
In the hands of one's spiritual master
Lie the roots of every mystical experience.
All happiness and suffering from now until enlightenment
Are his responsibility alone.
  
See the physical world as the guru's body;
Take sounds as the guru's teachings;
Mix thoughts and memories with his bliss and insight;
Rely on this practice, king of all paths.
  
Fortunate are they who meet with the doctrine
Of all-kind incomparable Tsongkhapa,
Who showed as precepts all sutras and tantras.
Fortunate indeed an opportunity obtained but once.
  
Yet breath, like mist, is delicate;
And life, seemingly strong, is ever near to passing.
Quickly pluck the essence of Dharma,
For definite it is you will die at the hands of the great enemy Death.
  
Have not the three doors stood open to negativity?
Then the inconceivable misery of the lower realms
Certainly will fall upon you,
And, if still weak, you will not be able to bear them.
  
Some look, and see; in the innermost way they turn
To a guru-deva, an embodiment of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
With attentive concentration they focus
On cultivating the white and dispersing the black.
  
Reveling in objects of greed and attachment
Is drinking poison mistaken for nectar.
The luxuries, securities, and comforts of the world
Are like dramas enjoyed in a dream.
  
No lasting happiness can be found
In any samsaric position,
And how foolish to sit complacent
In a hole filled with misery.
  
Turn the horse of the mind upward,
Rein him with the three higher trainings,
Strike him with the iron whip of fierce effort,
And cut unto the open road of liberation.
  
All beings, mothers who lovingly have nurtured us,
Are floundering in the seas of confusion.
The son who cares not for their anguish,
Are the waters of his heart not bitter?
  
Wholly discarding selfish thoughts,
Hold close the ways that better the world
And strive to live the six perfections
That yield buddhahood, ultimate benefit for all.
  
Sever the mind from chaotic wandering;
Fix it firmly on its object with mindfulness.
Without falling prey to agitation or dullness,
Train in meditation blissful and clear.
  
The manifold things we perceive
Are deceptive projections of deluded thought.
When we search for their ultimate essence,
Emptiness free of an essence appears.
  
The things that manifest also fade
And only footprints of names remain;
The other side of this is called dependent arising.
What else need be known?
  
The teachings of Nagarjuna and his disciples
Aryadeva, Buddhapalita, and Chandrakirti
Were thus by Jey Rinpochey understood
A most wondrous view free from extremes.
  
Having first trained in these foundation practices,
Seek out a tantric master, embodiment of Buddha Vajradhara,
Lord of the Paradise Beneath None;
Gain the four ripening initiations
And enter into the mystic circle.
  
The body transforms into a great vajra-mandala,
And, in the inconceivable mansion of joyful repose,
The real deitythe subtle mind held between the
Kiss of the male and female drops
Manifests as the blood-swilling Father-Mother.
  
The dakas and dakinis dance a blissful dance
In the mystic channels and secret drops;
Mundane perception is severed from consciousness
And all emanations become ultimately pure.
  
Visualize yourself as Heruka with consort,
Luminous yet void, body empty,
Energy channels of three qualities vibrating within;
At your heart a Dharma wheel with eight petals
  
Bears the indestructible drop in the form of HUM
Between the sun of method and the moon of wisdom.
Mind firm on this, tremulous misconceptions are cut,
And the clear light, sheer as the autumn sky, arises.
  
The outer consort, in nature fire,
Melts the life-drops that course
Through the 72,000 channels,
Bringing them into the central channel,
Giving rise to the four ineffable joys.
  
Outside, all sensory movement of mind and energy ceases;
Inside, mundane views, ignorance, and darkness disperse.
Thus by yoga even sleep is transformed
Into the nature of Dharmakaya's clear light.
  
By cultivating these yogic methods,
We can in general see through all distorted appearances
And in particular know the body as dreamlike,
Thus building the dancing form of an endowed deity
And maintaining the according emanations.
  
By mentally reciting the secret mantras of the vajra dharmas
Of entering, resting, and dispersing energy at the heart
While controlling the life-drop made of five clear essences,
The knots of ignorance are easily untied.
  
The tip of the vajra is placed firmly in the lotus
And mind as the syllable HUM is brought into the central channel;
One drinks and drinks the essence of nectars
And goes mad with innate joy unmoving.
  
By thus settling the mind in the subtle vajra letter
And bringing the drop to the four chakras and sensory gates,
One directly sees all aesthetic objects
Found throughout the three worlds.
  
Thus one opens the windows of the six miraculous powers,
Sees the faces of innumerable deities,
Masters the meanings of the words of the teachings
And gains the delightful company of an immortal lover.
  
In the tip of the vajra between the eyebrows,
The light of the sun, moon, and stars swirls in the drop.
By bringing mind and energy to that point,
The white bodhimind is forever increased.
  
Then with the fine brush of samadhi paint
A masterpiece incorporating all beauties of life,
One gains the aid of a fully qualified consort
And one's experience of the blisses blazes higher and higher.
  
Mind fixed on the bliss and mudra of the consort,
A rain of innate joy pours down.
Again and again seducing the beautiful one,
Symbol of the mind embracing reality itself,
One melts into the sphere of spontaneous bliss.
  
From the center of the navel chakra where meet the three energy channels,
Shine lights from white and red pyramids.
Looking through the nucleus of five drops therein,
The mind's nature is seen as five buddhas.
  
White and yellow energies shape into a vase
And the all-destroying fire rages.
The letters AH and HAM flare, fall, and vibrate,
Transporting one to the end of the primordial path of great bliss and wisdom combined.
  
Lights from the mystic fire flash into the hundred directions,
Summoning the blessings of buddhas boundless as space.
Once again the five natures of mind arise as sounds,
Releasing a rain of ambrosial knowledge.
  
The apparitions of people and things
Dissolve into light, and the waves
Of misconception are stilled.
No longer is the radiance of clear light obscured.
Even post-meditation mind maintains immaculate view.
  
In the sphere of semblant and innate Mahamudra,
Empty images appear as rainbows.
Flawless method emanates phantom circles,
Erecting the perfect mandala of deities and abodes.
  
The illusory body merges with clear light
Like clouds dissolving into space.
The fires of innate wisdom arise
And consume the seed of grasping for self.
  
This great union of the radiant vajra body
With the vast clear light of mind
Is called "the samadhi moving magnificently,"
A stage not touched by the ordinary intellect.
  
This consciousness, purified of all transient stains,
Gazes clearly and directly at the sphere of truth.
Like a magic gem it manifests the Beatific Body
Of Heruka Chakrasamvara for the sake of others
And sends out countless emanations,
Each in accord with the needs of the world.
  
Thus in this age of short life span,
Buddhahood is swiftly and easily attained
By turning lust for sensual objects
Toward the friend who instills great bliss.
  
Think: "By studying, contemplating, and meditating
Upon the flawless Vajrayana teachings,
The highest path, the esoteric way of all tantric
Adepts of the past,
May I in this very lifetime attain with ease
That point most peerless and supreme.
  
And if in this life ultimate power is not found,
At my death may the dakas and dakinis protect me
And lead to the rainbow palace of Vajrayogini
In the pure land Kajou Shing, there to enjoy clouds of transcendent offerings.
  
May I and all practitioners of this tantra
Soon complete the esoteric path of secrets
And, within ourselves ever perfecting the practices
Of the sutras and tantras taught by the Buddha,
May we master this mysterious way.
  
Until then, may the mighty dakas and dakinis
Who dwell in the twenty-four Heruka grounds
Care for us in every time and situation
As a mother watches over her only child.

https://youtu.be/C8GhaVHXZJk

In this episode I am once again joined by Tibetologist, author, and Tantric Buddhism teacher Glenn Mullin.

In this fascinating, story-filled episode we focus on Glenn’s career as an author and translator. 

Glenn has authored over 30 books on Tibetan Buddhism, which themselves have been translated into many languages. He has translated an extremely wide range of classical Tibetan literature from some of the greatest minds of that tradition, including many Dalai Lamas, Tsongkhapa, and more. 

We discuss Glenn’s personal journey with the Tibetan language, from gaining fluency in the bars and tea houses of 1970s Dharmsala to studying classic texts with Geshes and Tulkus in exile.

We explore the fascinating history of the art of translation in Tibet, and the evolution of the Tibetan writing system. 

Glenn also reveals his stylistic influences as an English language writer, and lays out his process when approaching a new work of translation.

Topics Include:

0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Glenn’s beginnings as translator in Dharamsala
18:03 - Glenn’s work translating the Dalai Lamas
23:59 - Influences as an English-language writer 
28:35 - History of Tibetan language and translation
47:12 - Difficulties learning colloquial Tibetan
49:15 - Unusual advice and gaining fluency 
54:10 - Tibetan humour 
58:49 - Glenn’s process for approaching a new translation 
1:16:13 - Working closely with lineage holders
1:21:11 - The intellectual greatness of Ling Rinpoche, Trijang Rinpoche, and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
1:23:52 - The effect of intense meditation on memory power
1:25:15 - How great masters retain multiple lineages 
1:35:22 - Glenn’s favourite of his translations
1:41:55 - Glenn’s opinion of translators today

The following article is from the Spring, 1989 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

SECRET VISIONS OF THE FIFTH DALAI LAMA
by Samten Darmay
Serindia Publications, London

For centuries Tibet has served the planet as a nation dedicated to spiritual art, literature and practice. In an era when Europe was busy sending its armies around the world to pillage, rape and colonize, Tibet was engaged in studying, cataloging and eulogizing the stages of enlightenment and the varieties of mystical experience. Its GNP was not measured in materialistic terms alone, but in the number of yogis and sages that blossomed forth from within its precincts.

Thus when in 1642 the saintly Fifth Dalai Lama rose to become both spiritual and secular chieftain of the Tibetan nation, echoes of a destiny fulfilled rang throughout the mountains and valleys of Central Asia.

The Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682) stands as perhaps the singularly most striking figure in Tibetan history. He was one of those rare men who seem bigger than life itself, a superman who accomplished in one short lifetime the deeds of a thousand ordinary heroes. From the literary viewpoint he was colossal, writing as much as all other Dalai Lamas put together. As a builder he left us with numerous marvels that can compare with the world's greatest architectural achievements, the Potala of Lhasa being perhaps the most well-known of these. His poetry is considered by Asian intellectuals to be among the most inspired verse ever composed in the Tibetan language; and his reputation as a philosopher, historian, artist, doctor and teacher far exceeds that of anyone else of the period. Moreover, he was not some mere artist, intellectual or mystic; his work as a statesman laid the very foundations for the emergence of Classical Tibet, the Tibet that rapidly came to serve as the cultural grandparent to all Central Asia.

Yet he did not accomplish all this without giving rise to some controversy. In the fulfillment of his dreams and ideals, much of the old and stagnant had to be swept aside in order to make way for the new; and although he was a man of great compassion, he was never one to hesitate on the borders of apathetic sentimentalism. His gentleness in no way rendered him indecisive or impotent, and in sculpting his image of a new Tibet he did not fear to strike with the political artist's chisel wherever and whenever it seemed appropriate.

The COLLECTED WORKS of the Fifth Dalai Lama is comprised of twenty-eight bundles of texts, and contains more than a thousand titles. These twenty-eight are divided into three categories Outer, Inner, and Secret with twelve bundles in the first of these categories, eight in the second and eight more in the third. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama points out in his Foreword to the volume under review, traditionally only the first two categories of works were ever printed in Tibet. Generally the texts in the Secret category were only available to high initiates, and were not allowed to be mass-produced or openly marketed; anyone wanting a text in this category would have to request special permission to have a hand-copy made.

Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama by Samten Karmay is a study of one of these eight Secret Volumes. The Tibetan text of the volume contains sixteen individual titles, the first of these being the Fifth Dalai Lama's catalog of the numerous visions that he experienced during his life.

The edition by Serindia Publications is remarkable in that it is based upon an original and priceless manuscript prepared during the lifetime of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama himself, with hundreds of exquisite color illustrations executed under the Fifth's direct supervision. The Serindia edition, as well as carrying high-quality reproductions of all the illustrations, contains a reducted photographic reprint of the entire Tibetan manuscript. Thus as well as being an excellent work on classical seventeenth century Tibetan art, it is a valuable addition to the library of any Tibetan scholar.

Samten Karmay's contribution is his brief Summary of the contents of the Tibetan texts, and an Introduction that provides the reader with a general picture of Tibetan history and the Fifth Dalai Lama's life.

Although his Summary deals with all sixteen Tibetan texts, the bulk of his commentary focuses on the first of these, Secret Visions itself. The remaining fifteen texts-ritual and liturgical works mainly of an exorcistic nature are given only a paragraph or two each.

A disappointing feature of the Summary is that Mr. Karmay satisfies himself with merely listing the various 'beings' (gurus, buddhas, bodhisattvas, tantric deities, etc.) whom the Fifth saw in his visions, and does not deal with any of the prophetic (and highly poetic) conversations that ensued, nor with the meaning or significance of the visions. By cutting the material to a mere skeleton of events, we are left with something that reads almost like a list or diary of daily appointments. However, it may be argued that for him to attempt to take the material further would have opened a whole other dimension to the work, and would have expanded the volume prohibitively.

Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama is an elegant and enticing edition. Undoubtedly it is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the complex character of the Fifth Dalai lama, and to the many facets of his personality. It could stand as a landmark work merely on the strength of its artwork, just as it could for the Tibetan texts that it contains, it is the type of publication that does not need to be read to be admired and appreciated; merely holding it and letting one's eyes flow over its pages suffices to bestow upon the beholder the sense of being in the presence of beauty, greatness, the mystical and the very sublime.

- Glenn H. Mullin

https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/reviews/

https://youtu.be/CdpKdPBBwdc

In this episode I am once again joined by Tibetologist, author, and Tantric Buddhism teacher Glenn Mullin.

We discuss tukdam and rainbow body, the mysterious after-death phenomena in which accomplished yogis can remain in suspended animation for days or weeks after death or dissolve their bodies into their elemental constituents. 

We hear about the remarkable death of one of Glenn’s own gurus, which he witnessed first hand, as well as discuss the means of communicating with deceased masters through relics and dreams.

We also discuss the practices of phowa, consciousness projection at the time of death, and drong juk, the forceful projection of one’s consciousness into a fresh corpse.

And finally we discuss the Tibetan tradition of reading omens about the time of one’s own death, and how to listen for signs and guidance from the natural world.

Topics Include:

0:00 - Introduction
0:55 - Tukdam, suspended animation of the body after death
11:54 - The death of Glenn’s guru, Namgyel Khensur Rinpoche 
18:53 - Being a role model to others
20:57 - Cultural attitudes towards death
27:25 - Chakrasamvara Tantra teachings on death
31:12 - Rainbow body, another way to die
35:09 - Tukdam vs rainbow body, and relics (ringsel) of a deceased master 
39:38 - Communicating with deceased masters through their relics 
47:32 - The relics of the Buddha
50:54 - Phowa, consciousness projection at the time of death
55:39 - Drong juk, the forceful projection of consciousness into a corpse
1:01:00 - Ancient civilisations and pan-Asian energy techniques
1:02:27 - Death rituals of the Lamas
1:04:30 - Tantric methods of foretelling one’s own death
1:10:08 - Glenn’s personal approach to divination 
1:12:08 - Listening to messages from birds, clouds, and nature

The following article is from the Spring, 1950 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

The Science and Lore of Tibetan Medicine

by Dr. Yeshi Dhonden translated and edited by B. Alan Wallace
214 pages, #HEFRSO $16.95 Available Now!

Review by Glenn H. Mullin

In 1642 the great Fifth Dalai Lama became spiritual and temporal head of a newly formed Tibetan nation. A few years later he established the Mentsikhang, or Medical Academy, on Iron Mountain in Lhasa. Prior to this era the traditional healing arts of Tibet had largely been passed through privately owned clinics and hospitals, usually run as small family enterprises, and with medical knowledge being passed from parents to children.

From the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama until the Chinese takeover of Tibet forty years ago the Mentsikhang served as the most important medical school in the country, dedicated to training young doctors in the traditional healing arts. It quickly developed into the basis of a national medicare system; student doctors would come from all over Central Asia, train for a dozen or so years, and then return to their homelands, where they would operate a small clinic for the people. Within a few decades the network of facilities born from the activities of Lhasa's Medical Academy extended to Tibet's furthermost borders and beyond. Family clinics continued to offer training programs for aspiring young doctors, as well as offer medical care to the sick, but the prestige of the Mentsikhang soon eclipsed them all. A graduate degree from the Mentsikhang was held in a higher stead than one from any other institution.

Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, whose transcribed lectures form the body of Healing from the Source (subtitled The Science and Lore of Tibetan Medicine) is one of the few doctors trained in Lhasa's Mentsikhang to escape into India after the Chinese crackdown of 1959. He therefore was regarded by the Tibetan refugees in India as an embodiment of the highest knowledge of traditional Tibetan medicine. Consequently in the early 1960s when His Holiness the present Dalai Lama wanted to establish a Tibetan Medical Academy in exile, he turned to Dr. Yeshi Dhonden. Dr. Dhonden helped establish this important institution, and also served as the Dalai Lama's private physician for almost twenty years. Some readers will be familiar with his name; his earlier book with Snow Lion Publications, Health Through Balance, has become something of a primer on Tibetan medicine; and also the spin-offs from his various lecture tours in Europe and Americaappearances in several documentary films and television specials, as well as interviews published in newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals (one such article even finding its way onto the pages of Reader's Digest)have made him something of an ambassador not only of Tibetan medicine but also of the Tibetan people in general.

As Dr. Dhonden points out in Healing from the Source, the Tibetans consider the historical Buddha to be the ultimate source of the Tibetan medical system. The earliest Tibetan medical texts are said to be translations of Indian Sanskrit works. Readers therefore will notice a distinct similarity between the language of Tibetan medicine and that of Indian ayurveda, the traditional healing system of India. Dr. Dhonden states, as do all Tibetan texts, that the Buddha taught ayurveda (perhaps best translated as knowledge of life) when he expounded The Ambrosial Heart Tantra for Healing. The rest of the Indians (i.e., the Hindus, Jains, etc.) acquired the system from later Buddhist monk doctors.

This is a refreshing and challenging assertion; Indian ayurveda today as well as most Western academics would have us believe that the cross-fertilization went the other way, i.e., that the Buddhists borrowed the ayurveda system from the Hindus. If Dr. Dhonden is right, the probable scenario is that the Hindus borrowed ayurveda from the Buddhists somewhere in the third century BCE, when the Buddhist king Ashoka ruled an empire that covered all of north India and modern-day Pakistan, from the bay of Bengal to the foothills of Afghanistan. King Ashoka spent a large portion of the national surplus on building and maintaining not only Buddhist temples and monuments, but also hospitals, health care and rest centers along remote highways, and educational institutions, including those dedicated to the training of young doctors. Modern day India uses one of the heads from a pillar created by Ashoka as its national emblem; this appears on coins and paper currency, as well as on stamps and seals, bearing testament to the impact that his rule had on Indian history.

Tibetan medicine also shows some similarities with traditional Chinese medicine. Dr. Dhonden states that this came about as a result of the high status given to Tibetan doctors during the Mongolian and Manchurian rulerships of China. Known respectively as the Yuan and Ching Dynasties, the emperors who ruled much of the Far East during these periods were largely Tibetan Buddhist by spiritual persuasion, and kept Tibetan doctors in their courts, as did much of their aristocracy. Marco Polo, the thirteenth-century Italian adventurer who stayed in the court of the Yuan emperor Kublai Khan for some months, mentions how well the emperor treated the Tibetans in his court.

Because of the similarities between Tibetan medicine and the medical traditions of India and China, Healing from the Source will be fairly easy reading for anyone familiar with either of these two systems. Newcomers to the Asian healing arts will perhaps have to make more of an effort to penetrate the material. The lectures on which the book is based were delivered to a group of health care professionals at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, and thus don't presume specialized knowledge of oriental medicine. There is therefore much in Healing from the Source that will be of interest to the general reader. Dr. Dhonden's frank discussion of his work with cancer and AIDS patients, and of Tibetan medical ideas on the treatment of these and other modern afflictions, provides considerable food for thought. His presentation of the fundamental principles of Tibetan medicine is succinct and clear. In addition, Dr. Dhonden packs his discussion with anecdotes from his own medical training and practice, thus providing a glimpse into the world of Tibetan medicine as a living tradition.

https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/healing-from-the-source/

https://youtu.be/d3XLzAnD67w

In this episode I talk with Tibetologist, translator, and Tantric Buddhist meditation teacher Glenn Mullin about the fascinating subject of dream yoga.

We begin by discussing Glenn’s own training in the 6 Yogas of Naropa, with specific detail about his own solo retreats including a special dream yoga retreat in which Glenn remained upright for weeks - never lying down - to deeply penetrate the world of dreams.

We also talk about how to unlock the historically suppressed human inheritance of deep states of consciousness and extra-ordinary abilities such as dream travel and ancestral communication. 

Topics Include:

00:46 - Differences between Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelugpa training methods 
04:00 - Glenn's training in the 6 Yogas of Naropa and solo retreat history 
10:01 A typical retreat day schedule 
11:45 - Individual variations on a daily schedule  
15:10 - The best ages to do retreat practice 
17:04 - Group retreat vs solo retreat 
20:48 - Integration difficulties after extended retreat
24:00 - Choosing what to practice on retreat 
25:04 - Why Glenn never became a hermit or monk
28:23 - Relating to a Lama 
32:07 - The 4 practices of Chöd  
34:00 - Yogic lucid dream practice 
37:50 - Special dream yoga retreat format 
41:19 - Attainment in dream yoga
42:20- First stage of dream yoga 
46:50 - Illusory body yoga 
49:00 - Further stages of dream yoga 
51:27 - Stories of dream travel 
56:58 - Dreaming of ancestors 
58:56 - Unlocking the human inheritance of the deep mind
1:02:10 - Witch hunts and the plastic society

2013.10.17
Just returned from two and a half weeks in Tibet, shooting at Padma Sambhava places. In Nepal for two days, and then leave for Bhutan for a week. Attached are a few photos.

2013.10.17
With Tritych Journey film crew in front of the Potala, Oct 10th, 2013

2013.10.22

2013.10.28

2013.10.30
— Marc Wennberg

2013.11.22
A Kailash khorra in mid May. It is the Year of the Horse. One Kailash walkaround is equal to twelve. The lazy person's way NOT to be lazy. 22 days all told. I'll have the itinerary on my website soon. No tenting this time. But we will take three Sherpas for high altitude safety reasons. Photo by Wayne Jex, from an earlier Kailash adventure.....

2013.12.17

2013.12.19

2013.12.20
— 조원희, Frank Michael Tedesco

2013.12.27

2013.12.27
Happy Boxing Day. Ahhh, the horse I bought my sister 12 years ago or so. He likes to say hello to humans.

2014.1.3
New Year dinner in Gatineau (across the river from Ottawa) with my sister Denise (to my right) brother Karl (her right) and four of their six kids. My brother Karl and his wife Gisele hosted the event. A good time was had by all.

2014.1.20
Just returned from Changwon, an ocean-side town in the deep south of South Korea, where I taught tantric Buddhist attitudes and practices based on the Bardo Todol ("Tibetan Book of the Dead") to a group of Jungian / Zen enthusiasts. 19 beautiful women and two men. A bit one sided, gender-wise, but such a balance has its charms. Then, back in Seoul, over the weekend I gave Yamantaka initiation to 25 or so aspirants Seoul tantrikas. Such is life in early 2014.

2014.2.22
Just arrived back in Atlanta a few hours ago, after a 14 hour flight from Korea. Now for 20 cities in nine weeks.... Mostly teaching the Six Yogas of Niguma on this tour. Here's a photo of when the Double H visited Oglethorpe a decade or so ago. He has a more flexible back than I do, it would seem. I tried to bow lower than he, but he won the competition. Olympic Gold to the Double H.

2014.2.22
I did a one hour interview with the Double H that day in the museum, for an art exhibit I had curated "Mystical Arts of Tibet, featuring personal sacred objects of the Dalai Lama." After the interview, we took this photo of him. I did a catalog of that exhibit with Andy Weber ("The Mystical Arts of Tibet").

2014.2.25

2014.3.1

2014.3.19
Still leading an eight day Chakrasamvara retreat in Upper State NY. All goes well. Then off to Chicago, for a weekend at the Theosophical Society in Wheaton, near Chicago, for a workshop on "The Six Yogas of Niguma."

2014.3.28
Tantric Yoga at the Theosophical Society in Wheaton.

2014.3.31
Nice group for the weekend workshop at the Theosophical Society in Wheaton (Chicago) over the weekend.

The following article is from the Spring, 1989 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.


Life in a Tibetan Monastery in Exile By Hilary Shearman

The tour of eight Drepung Loseling monks, Sacred Music, Sacred Dance completed its seventh successful month of performances in North America and continued for another month and a half on before heading for Europe. The lamas' performances have created a tremendous surge of interest in the Dharma and in Tibet.

How "Sacred Music, Sacred Dance" Tour Started

Three years ago Glenn Mullin and I were able to successfully coordinate a small tour of the Gyume Tantric College in Canada, in cooperation with Snow Lion Publications. As a result of this we were asked by Doboom Rinpoche of Tibet House, New Delhi, if we would consider doing something else, on a larger scale.

Both Glenn and I were excited at the prospect and decided that the rich tradition of sacred dance was something as yet unknown to western audiences. With that in mind we made a quick tour of some of the great monasteries of Tibet, now settled in Karnataka, South India.

Celebrating Losar at Tibetan Monasteries

Our timing was perfect, as being Losar, Tibetan New Year, many of the monasteries have elaborate dance rituals to send off the old year and herald in the new with auspicious fanfare. We were able to witness an amazing variety of dance styles and costuming, all accompanied by the deep blasts of the long horns and shimmering of cymbals, common to all the rituals.

Choosing Drepung Loseling

In the final outcome, none of those monasteries which we had visited were chosen, but considering all the possibilities, the multi-faceted styles of Drepung Loseling seemed the most appropriate, and perhaps due to Doboom Rinpoche's devotion to his own monastic tradition, this group was selected.

Creating Foster/Sponsorship for the Monks

One of the most beneficial side effects of the tour has been the large number of people who have agreed to foster-sponsor a young monk from Drepung Loseling monastery. We set in process a scheme whereby anyone wishing to write to a young monk and share in the responsibility of his daily welfare could send a donation directly to the monastery, in the amount of $15 or $20 per month, depending on the age of the monk.

This needed the details and photo of every child involved in order to be implemented, and it was suggested that I should make a quick trip to South India and help with the process. I purchased a Polaroid camera and a vast quantity of film at a special charity rate, and made hasty arrangements to travel.

Arriving to the Monastery

My arrival at the monastery was unannounced. Telephone calls from Delhi had been ineffective and on my arrival at the tiny airport of Belgaum I hired a taxi to drive me to Mundgod, three hours away. We bounced along at a stately pace of fifty kilometers in that wonderful legacy of British India, the Ambassador, and honked and swerved to avoid the alarming number of trucks, ox-carts, tractors and hay-wagons one encounters on rural Indian highways.

Finally the taxi turned onto a fairly deserted road and after few kilometers we could see the traditional carved and painted Tibetan archway through which one passes into Tibet. This transition is remarkable; the landscape is the same, but now four story Tibetan temples, with golden deer and Dharmachakra adorning the roofs, appear as if in a dream. Prayer flags flutter in the soft breeze and the narrow road is crowded with monks walking, or riding bicycles, their maroon and saffron robes changing the colorscape dramatically.

Though unannounced, I was immediately welcomed, my luggage taken from the taxi and I was led upstairs to the main office of the administrator, Dakpa Topgyal. We became a good working team right away and decided we should photograph as many young monks as possible for the next few days. We started quite early the next morning and having decided on the coolest place to set up, (the temperature would be reaching 40-42 degrees Celsius by mid afternoon), we started the process.

400 Photos in Two Days

The children would line/crowd up and give their name, age etc. to Dakpa and one other monk, one writing in English, the other in Tibetan, and then I would take the photograph.

Naturally, a photo to any child is fascinating, but Tibetans, in particular, love to have their photos taken. It is a cross between a thrill and a threat, somehow exciting, and when the camera actually spits out the photograph, that seals the experience. It was one of the most joyful times of my life, seeing all these quite solemn little faces breaking into a look of sheer incredulity as it took place.

The Tibetan smile is renowned the world over, and to have the privilege of capturing four hundred of them over the next two days was like being given a magical elixir.

Daily Life at the Monastery

During the course of our activities the daily life of the monastery was progressing all around us.

There were nine hundred and fifty monks in Drepung Loseling, two-thirds of whom are under the age of twenty.

Every morning they rise before dawn, and assemble outside the main prayer hall, sipping their first cup of Tibetan tea for the day. At the sound of the gong signalling sunrise, they all move swiftly into the temple aisles and the daily prayers begin.

Halfway through the sound of small, pounding feet can be heard, as the very young monks who have been assigned tea duty for the day run back and forth between the main kitchen and the temple, wildly swinging large teapots. At this time each monk is also served with a large, flat fried Tibetan bread, which is breakfast.

During the rest of the morning the young monks attend school where they are taught mathematics, English, Tibetan and science subjects, the older monks study the five main divisions of Buddhism, according to age and in a systematic style. Lunch follows at 11:30, which is more Tibetan tea, and another flat round bread.

The hot hours of the afternoon at this time of the year are for rest and personal chores, followed by more studies. Later on, when the rains come in June, the routine is much different, with all the monks being required to work in the fields, tending the crops of maize and rice. This is for six hours a day, until Sept.

Cultivating the Land

The rice crop is mostly all consumed by the monastery, but the maize is their only cash crop which is sold as animal fodder. The money is one of the main supports for the institution, and a failed crop (which has happened in recent years due to drought), can be disastrous.

When the Tibetans were given this land by the Indian government it was wild, jungle-type terrain. The monks had to clear the land and prepare it for cultivation. Many wild animals lived here, and those years were exceptionally hard. They are still bothered by wild pigs, and one of the jobs the monks dislike the most is to stay up all night, guarding the maize from these voracious creatures. The monks still have to do their other work as well so it becomes very exhausting.

Reciting Buddhist Texts and Tibetan Debate

Evening comes and after their daily dinner of rice and dal and Tibetan tea, there are more prayers or chanting and recitation of scriptures.

Everywhere the sound of shrill little voices can be heard, reciting text by memory, which is a fundamental practice for all monks.

By mid-evening when the heat subsides, the debate courtyard starts to fill up, and the subjects which have been studied that day, are tested and tried in heated debate. The sounds of whoops and shrieks and hard hand claps accompany this mass of voices, challenging each others' understanding of the intricacies of Buddhism.

This continues until past midnight, and every night I would fall asleep to this mass of sound outside my room.

Monastery Hardships

The life in the monastery is hard, and there is serious deprivation in terms of diet, medicine, facilities and general hygiene. Disease is very hard to contain, with a variety of skin problems, intestinal infestations and, more seriously, 5% of the monks suffer from tuberculosis, for which they have to receive constant medical attention.

Many monks do not have proper rooms: they inhabit old cow stalls or makeshift huts leaning up against other buildings for support. Walls are bamboo covered with plastic; beds, rough wooden platforms. This has come about due to the enormous quantity of monks and young boys who keep arriving from Tibet.

The existing facilities were constructed by grants from the government to provide for two hundred and thirty monks. Now there are nine hundred and fifty.

As Dakpa said, There is a Tibetan proverb which says, 'Now I must stand on my own two feet, even though my belly is heavy and swollen.'

As an administrator, he is keenly aware of the shortcomings of the existing facilities.

Performing Sacred Music, Sacred Dance

The monks who are performing Sacred Music, Sacred Dance are also keenly aware of the plight and conditions of their fellow monks in South India.

Sharing the Dharma

Their amazing tenacity in maintaining a grueling pace on the road, travelling for hours in a small van with large quantities of equipment, constantly being on demand, yet never failing to have a smile or a word of encouragement for anyone who wishes to talk to them, can only be fueled by the desire to help their monastery survive, so that those who are able to leave their strife-torn homeland will be able to find a real refuge in the Three Jewels, to have the freedom to study and practice the Dharma for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Giving Support to the Monks

Anyone who would like to help the monastery in some way, like:

Foster/sponsoring a young monk
Contributing to the Building or Medical Fund

For more information contact: Canada-Tibet Friendship Society

Glenn Mullin is the author of over thirty books on Tibetan Buddhism, many of which have been translated into a dozen foreign languages. His earlier titles focus on the lives and works of the early Dalai Lamas. Other titles of his elucidate practice traditions such as Lam Rim, Lojong, the Six Yogas of Naropa, Kalachakra, and so forth. He has been an international teacher of Tantric Buddhist meditation for the past twenty-five years.

Glenn lived in Dharamsala, India, for some fifteen years. There he studied under twenty-five of the greatest masters of Tibet, including the Dalai Lama and his two main gurus.

Glenn now divides his time between writing, teaching, and leading pilgrimages to the power places of Tibet.

https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/life-in-a-tibetan-monastery-in-exile-by-hilary-shearman/

https://youtu.be/G1ni9iPao_k

Glenn Mullin is a Tibetologist, translator, and Tantric Buddhist meditation teacher, who studied for many years in Dharmsala with the Dalai Lama’s own gurus. 

Continuing on from our previous discussions on the 6 Yogas of Naropa, we move beyond tummo into the illusory body yogas - including the illusory nature of appearances, the yogas of dream and sleep sleep, and bardo yoga.

Glenn lays out how to practice tantra in all aspects of life, explores the differences between the tantra and sutra application of emptiness, addressees imbalances between the male and female energies and how to remedy them, and reveals the difference between tantric dream yoga vs modern lucid dreaming techniques.

Topics Include:

00:58 - The death process and the five signs of tummo accomplishment
21:07 - Practicing tantra in all aspects of ordinary life 
29:46 - Glenn’s sleep yoga practice  
30:46 - Illusory nature of reality
42:08 - Emptiness in tantra vs sutra 
52:34 - Illusory body yogas of sleep and bardo 
54:13- Tantric visualisation in daily life 
1:00:56 - Imbalances in the male and female energies 
1:06:32 - Modern lucid dreaming vs Tantric Dream Yoga 

"Tsongkhapa's treatise on this system of tantric practice ... became the standard guide to the Naropa tradition at Ganden Monastery, the seat he founded near Lhasa in 1409. Ganden was to become the motherhouse of the Gelukpa school, and thus the symbolic head of the network of thousands of Gelukpa monasteries that sprang up over the succeeding centuries across Central Asia, from Siberia to northern India. A Book of Three Inspirations has served as the fundamental guide to Naropa's Six Yogas for the tens of thousands of Gelukpa monks, nuns, and lay practitioners throughout that vast area who were interested in pursuing the Naropa tradition as a personal tantric study. It has performed that function for almost six centuries now.

Tsongkhapa the Great's A Book of Three Inspirations has for centuries been regarded as special among the many. The text occupies a unique place in Tibetan tantric literature, for it in turn came to serve as the basis of hundreds of later treatments. His observations on various dimensions and implications of the Six Yogas became a launching pad for hundreds of later yogic writers, opening up new horizons on the practice and philosophy of the system. In particular, his work is treasured for its panoramic view of the Six Yogas, discussing each of the topics in relation to the bigger picture of tantric Buddhism, tracing each of the yogic practices to its source in an original tantra spoken by the Buddha, and presenting each within the context of the whole. His treatise is especially revered for the manner in which it discusses the first of the Six Yogas, that of the 'inner heat.' As His Holiness the present Dalai Lama put it at a public reading of and discourse upon the text in Dharamsala, India, in 1991, 'the work is regarded by Tibetans as tummo gyi gyalpo, the king of treatments on the inner heat yoga.' Few other Tibetan treatises match it in this respect."

https://www.shambhala.com/tsongkhapa/