Dang Zang

Retreatants - photo Samye Ling

I don’t know how long this clip will remain available, but the determination of these people is really remarkable. Four years in close retreat is not to be sneezed at, though I dare say one could catch a cold on the Isle of Arran. The retreatants have gone off to Samye Ling to come down to earth.

One can’t help but be curious what other motives may drive some of these people, and it will be interesting to see what value they put on the experience in 10 or 20 years time. But for now – well done!

Or apropos the last post, I had earlier said I’d give a general report, so here it is: teachings clear, house pleasant, atmosphere very relaxed and friendly. All-round good.

That’s so boring, I offer a funny fact. Having mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago that the Australian Club website just might make one think that one had stumbled on an exclusive and very discreet brothel (quite incorrectly, I should stress), and having mentioned the Kagyu centre in Harris Park, the blog logs show me that yesterday Google directed someone in Sydney to this blog in response to a query for “Brothels in Harris Park, NSW”. What do you know!

For reasons not known to me, the E-Vam website still doesn’t carry even the briefest mention of the new centre in Sydney. So here is the contents of the flyer for the coming week-end.

“Mindfulness Living”

Weekend Course with Renowned Tibetan Buddhist Teacher and Author Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche.

16 & 17 MAY 2009 Harris Park NSW

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche was recognised as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg lineage at the age of two and was enthroned as Abbot of Tra’gu Monastery in Kham, Tibet. Rinpoche has undergone rigorous scholastic and meditative training under various Tibetan Kagyu and Nyingma masters in India. Rinpoche came to Australia in 1980 where he subsequently established Kagyu E-Vam Buddhist Institute in 1982. He regularly conducts courses and retreats and has travelled extensively in U.S.A, South East Asia and Europe conducting lectures and courses. Rinpoche is author of various books including the best selling The Essence of Buddhism and Practice of Lojong and has now established a number of Centres in Australia, New Zealand and U.S.A..

In this course Rinpoche will be discussing how mindfulness practice relates to all aspects of our life.

TIMES: Saturday 10am to 4 pm; Sunday 10 am to 12 noon

VENUE: 49 High Street, Harris Park, NSW 2150

COST: $65.85

Enquiries and Bookings: Yeshe Nyima Office Ph 02 9893 9008

Felicity: 0449579509, Email: yeshenyima@live.com.au

Pre booking is encouraged, Visa, Mastercard accepted.

Travel: Free Onsite Parking.

Yeshe Nyima is 3 minute walk from Harris Park Railway Station or 10 minutes walk from Parramatta Railway Station.

Lunch & Refreshments: available for purchase, complimentary tea and coffee.

Event proudly presented by Yeshe Nyima, Harris Park NSW.

I will report!

John Powers gave a presentation in Sydney University yesterday under the auspices of the AABS. Entitled “Tortured Logic”, he dealt with the presentation of Tibet and of Tibetan Buddhism as provided by the Chinese Communist Party, as against its mirror image provided by the Central Tibetan Administration. Very informative, very clear.

John P is the author of what I think is one of the best introductions to Tibetan Buddhism there is. It’s called Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, straightforwardly enough. I’ve often recommended it, as it is solid, sympathetic yet impartial, assumes no prior knowledge at all on the part of the reader but really does give you an introduction, not just a few hand-waving, good-feeling morsels. So it was nice to meet the author and see a sharp, open and greatly knowledgeable mind combined with a warm personality and an enthusiasm for communication. A real scholar.

Went yesterday to see Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche at the new Kagyu Centre in Harris Park (see this earlier post.).

I will confess that in the days of the tiny centre mentioned in the previous blog post, I got off to a bad start with Traleg Rinpoche’s talks. I had seen him teach once many years ago in Hamburg, but that was short and long ago, and I couldn’t remember very much about it.

The format in the days of the tiny centre in Rozelle was to have a half-hour or so of shiné (silent meditation), a touch of “chanting” in English, and then about half an hour listening to an unedited recording of Traleg Rinpoche taken from some previous course. Now the thing is that TR has a somewhat hesitant – if that’s the word – way of talking, where he will often start a sentence two or three times before it is complete. At the time, 2006, I suspected that in the flesh this would not be a problem, and I can now confirm that from experience. I think it is because he thinks, and formulates his sentences, with a great deal of care; in the flesh feels as if it is within the bounds of the hesitations, ums, ers and corrections that we all make when we are speaking rather than reading off a page. However, at the time that the tapes were made he was also suffering from some kind of chest infection which multiplied the effect, and the final result was a recording that should never, without a great deal of editing, have been inflicted on the innocent public. The waiting for one false start or another to finally move through the sentence and make a statement became excruciating! It was therefore very pleasing to confirm that the tape was a very unfair representation of the reality.

So after a vacuum that persisted for some four or more years, there are now not none, not one, but two Karma Kagyu centres in Sydney. It will be interesting to see what kind of relationship develops between them. Anyway, here are some devotees relaxing after listening to the talk on mindfulness:

And here is evidence that some people were still not as mindful as they might have been:

Well knock me over with a tossed feather! When I came to Sydney it appeared that Traleg Rinpoche, whose main centre is in Melbourne, had a finger in the pie here, and was the main Kagyu big-shot for the area. But then the tiny centre closed, he never came to Sydney to give any teachings, and I came to the conclusion that he just wasn’t interested in Sydney. He does, after all, have plenty of other things on his plate. The only positive upshot was getting to know Gary:

(Doesn’t he look respectable?) But I was wrong – quietly, they have got a centre together in Harris Park, soon to open, and yer man will teach there this week-end!

Well they spell it Dudjom Dorjee. He will be visiting Marpa House in England – first visit to the UK. They say that he:

is known for his sense of humor, as well as his skill in presenting the Buddhist teachings in a clear and practical way for westerners

which is all great (I really mean it), but doesn’t it make you yawn? I mean where are the lamas who teach straight down the line, deal with the complexities of Buddhist philosophy, and lead their students step by step over the years through the obscure and difficult techniques of tantric meditation as practiced by the sages in the Himalayas? It would come as a relief.