So our six summer Tibetan Passage Program students have arrived in Kathmandu, and I've been busy helping them with an orientation program in the town of Bhaktapur and moving them into their homestay families today in Boudha. They are enthusaistic and open; I think the six weeks we will be together will be a fun learning experience for them, as well as myself. Although my job title is coordinator, I honestly consider myself a student on the program as well.
In a month I will have the distinct pleasure of escorting the group on a two week trip through central Tibet (U Tsang).
In the meantime I am busy living in Boudha, working for the program as a co-coordinator and assistant Tibetan teacher. I am also deep into another side project, translating a short text about the four main ritual festivals in the Tibetan calendar year. I hope to have it finished before we leave for Lhasa Tibet on July 13. A group of Nepali (Newar Buddhists) have requested me to translate it from the Tibetan for them so that they can translate it into Nepali to make a book for general distribution this summer.
I'm also still working on improving the education at our monastery in Chapagaon. I've been charged with introducing basic instruction in international languages to select groups of monks. We are looking desperately for teachers and volunteers in Nepal for English, French, Spanish, German and Chinese languages. We also need a variety of language study materials like easy to read books, magazines, comic books, CD's, DVD's, kids books, etc. New or Used is fine. Actually, if you have any of this kind of old lanugage study stuff lying around or want to help out and purchase something, you can send it to the following adress, and we would all be extremely grateful:
VajraVarahi Gompa
PO Box 12212
Chapagaon, Lalitpur, Nepal
00977 1 5570037
00977 1 2334837
00977 9851003819
please include the phone numbers on the address. Thanks!
Showing posts with label chapagaon monks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chapagaon monks. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Happy Nepali New Year! Nepalko Nayabarsha Subhakamana!
I've been in Chapagaon at the monastery there for most of the last two weeks. My schedule has been pretty ideal, except that I sleep a little too much I guess. I've been teaching English every morning to the 3rd grade monks, and attending the 2nd grade Tibetan class with them as a student. I'm thinking I can skip up to the 3rd grade class after a few weeks. Back into Kathmandu for the day, for the internet, some lemonade and a few international phone calls, all luxuries unavailable in the village.
Last week brought us the Nepali New Year, welcome to year 2064 of the Bikram Samvat Calandar! I saw it in with some Patan friends with a short pilgrimage:
Actual New Year was spent in Patan, hanging out with some monks friends:
An old temple, in the Shikara style (I think) on a busy street corner. Children play all over it, the motorcycles zip by, and every morning early, before we're out for school or work, neighborhood devotees will come by for some quiet puja to greet the day.
Even in the middle of a city, busy and crowded, dusty and noisy, sometimes if you remember you can look up and catch an awesome display of cloud psychedelia over the skyline.
From the City to the Cheap Showiness of Nature:
After getting up at 5:30am at the Gompa in Patan (south of Kathmandu) to make ritual offerings (ganacakra) to the liberator-ess Arya Tara Bodhisattva, we caught a bus to the base of Shivapuri, the forested mountain north of Kathmandu and hiked up to Nagi Gompa, a nunnery I have blogged about before. The next morning we rose at 4am (not my idea) to head up the mountain to try to again make ritual offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisatvas in the holy site Baghdwar.
At the peak of the Shivapuri mountain, one of the 4 holy mountains that surround the Nepal Mandala (the Kathmandu Valley perceived as a abode of the Bodhisatva...), with a monk from Nangchen, who now lives at the White Monastery in Boudha. For an amazing glimpse into the land of Nangchen in Kham, Tibet, one of the strongholds of the BuddhaDharma in Tibet for hundreds of years, the birthplace of Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche, one of many realized masters of the last century from Nangchen, check out the book Blazing Splendor. This is the best book about Buddhism I've read this year.
BAGDWAR, THE SOURCE OF THE HOLY BAGMATI:
The source of the Bagmati river, after the New Year festival which saw thousands of pilgrims and holiday pleasure seekers (what's the difference, sometimes?).
Offering light to the water spout at Bagdwar.
A local Buddhist tantric practitioner (ngagpa) cleaning out the accumulated offerings of flowers, rice, incense and candles from the Bagdwar spout, the source of the holy Bagmati river in Kathmandu. In South Asia, rivers are very holy for their function of purification, so their sources are even holier, often conceived of as the actual abodes of gods, goddesses and Bodhisatvas.
Second ritual feast offering in two days performed with the Newar friends from Patan, Jyatha Bahal, the sangha at the Padmavarna Mahayana Mahabihar. This group is one of the focuses of my research, because they have completely integrated Tibetan teachings into their traditional style of Newari Buddhism, and they are dedicated practitioners, especially of the SIX PERFECTIONS in daily life.
The main image of the historical Buddha of our age, the Buddha Sakyamuni, in the old hermitage at Bagdwar, near the Shivapuri peak.
Typical offerings to the above statue of Buddha Sakyamuni. Obviously devotees don't actually believe that the statue is going to spend the money or eat the food in a physical sense, but some things are considered auspicious to offer (because they are useful to us, they please the five senses, they are valuable), so by giving them up to the representation of enlightenment it both creates an enormous amount of merit and plants the future seed of enlightenment in our mindstream. The money will be used for the benefit of the hermitage.
THE SELF ARISEN TARA:
We took a side hike from the Bagdwar hermitage near the peak of Shivapuri mountain to have darshan (holy viewing) of Tara. The Newar Dharma brothers and sisters are here straining to see the image of Tara that is naturally emergent from the rock. This site, the confluence of two streams, is the site where Tara first revealed herself and her practice in Kathmandu. See Todd Lewis' Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal for the story.
A photo from below of the "rangjung drolma" or "swayambhu tara," which means "self-arisen Tara." According to tradition, there is an image of Tara on this face of this rock overhang which emerged naturally.
Can you see her now that I've circled the head? Tara is the female Buddha, whose compassionate action is liberation from negative circumstances. For this reason her practice is associated with removing obstacles, specifically those to long-life.
A more traditional portrait of the Bodhisatva the Noble Tara.
A more modern, sexy version of Tara... yeah...
MONKS:
My close monk friend Sakya trying one of the many suitable meditation caves on the Shivapuri mountainside out for a minute.
And finally, your cute monk picture of the week! Oh, the age old game of grab-ass is certainly universal.
Last week brought us the Nepali New Year, welcome to year 2064 of the Bikram Samvat Calandar! I saw it in with some Patan friends with a short pilgrimage:
Actual New Year was spent in Patan, hanging out with some monks friends:
An old temple, in the Shikara style (I think) on a busy street corner. Children play all over it, the motorcycles zip by, and every morning early, before we're out for school or work, neighborhood devotees will come by for some quiet puja to greet the day.
Even in the middle of a city, busy and crowded, dusty and noisy, sometimes if you remember you can look up and catch an awesome display of cloud psychedelia over the skyline.From the City to the Cheap Showiness of Nature:
After getting up at 5:30am at the Gompa in Patan (south of Kathmandu) to make ritual offerings (ganacakra) to the liberator-ess Arya Tara Bodhisattva, we caught a bus to the base of Shivapuri, the forested mountain north of Kathmandu and hiked up to Nagi Gompa, a nunnery I have blogged about before. The next morning we rose at 4am (not my idea) to head up the mountain to try to again make ritual offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisatvas in the holy site Baghdwar.
At the peak of the Shivapuri mountain, one of the 4 holy mountains that surround the Nepal Mandala (the Kathmandu Valley perceived as a abode of the Bodhisatva...), with a monk from Nangchen, who now lives at the White Monastery in Boudha. For an amazing glimpse into the land of Nangchen in Kham, Tibet, one of the strongholds of the BuddhaDharma in Tibet for hundreds of years, the birthplace of Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche, one of many realized masters of the last century from Nangchen, check out the book Blazing Splendor. This is the best book about Buddhism I've read this year.BAGDWAR, THE SOURCE OF THE HOLY BAGMATI:
The source of the Bagmati river, after the New Year festival which saw thousands of pilgrims and holiday pleasure seekers (what's the difference, sometimes?).
Offering light to the water spout at Bagdwar.
A local Buddhist tantric practitioner (ngagpa) cleaning out the accumulated offerings of flowers, rice, incense and candles from the Bagdwar spout, the source of the holy Bagmati river in Kathmandu. In South Asia, rivers are very holy for their function of purification, so their sources are even holier, often conceived of as the actual abodes of gods, goddesses and Bodhisatvas.
Second ritual feast offering in two days performed with the Newar friends from Patan, Jyatha Bahal, the sangha at the Padmavarna Mahayana Mahabihar. This group is one of the focuses of my research, because they have completely integrated Tibetan teachings into their traditional style of Newari Buddhism, and they are dedicated practitioners, especially of the SIX PERFECTIONS in daily life.
The main image of the historical Buddha of our age, the Buddha Sakyamuni, in the old hermitage at Bagdwar, near the Shivapuri peak.
Typical offerings to the above statue of Buddha Sakyamuni. Obviously devotees don't actually believe that the statue is going to spend the money or eat the food in a physical sense, but some things are considered auspicious to offer (because they are useful to us, they please the five senses, they are valuable), so by giving them up to the representation of enlightenment it both creates an enormous amount of merit and plants the future seed of enlightenment in our mindstream. The money will be used for the benefit of the hermitage.THE SELF ARISEN TARA:
We took a side hike from the Bagdwar hermitage near the peak of Shivapuri mountain to have darshan (holy viewing) of Tara. The Newar Dharma brothers and sisters are here straining to see the image of Tara that is naturally emergent from the rock. This site, the confluence of two streams, is the site where Tara first revealed herself and her practice in Kathmandu. See Todd Lewis' Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal for the story.
A photo from below of the "rangjung drolma" or "swayambhu tara," which means "self-arisen Tara." According to tradition, there is an image of Tara on this face of this rock overhang which emerged naturally. 
Can you see her now that I've circled the head? Tara is the female Buddha, whose compassionate action is liberation from negative circumstances. For this reason her practice is associated with removing obstacles, specifically those to long-life.
A more traditional portrait of the Bodhisatva the Noble Tara.
A more modern, sexy version of Tara... yeah...MONKS:
My close monk friend Sakya trying one of the many suitable meditation caves on the Shivapuri mountainside out for a minute.
And finally, your cute monk picture of the week! Oh, the age old game of grab-ass is certainly universal.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Apologies for the delay in updating. I have been busy with a group of 11 Singaporean dentists who flew into Kathmandu a week ago. I've been volunteering with them, and I feel like I haven't had a break since I met them at the airport. Besides showing them around Kathmandu, I've been helping organize the 6 days of free dental clinics we are conducting around the villages of the Kathmandu valley. My job during the clinic has been to organize our volunteers, register our patients and do crowd control, which has been exhausting, but very rewarding. We have seen about 800 patients in four days.
The entire group of dentists (11 Singaporean, 2 Nepali) and volunteers at the Shenpen Dental Clinic 2007.
I also escorted the dentists to the Shivapuri National Forest north of Kathmandu on a holiday between our clinics in Boudha and Chapgaon. It was nice to get into nature in a vast forest filled with the blessings of previous Buddhas and years of meditating yogis.
The view from a meditation cave in the Shivapuri forest. Oh, the virtue of the happy life of the hermit!
Rhododendrons in full bloom in Shivapuri forest.
A tree-dwelling near the peak of Shivapuri, used by those looking for solitude in the forest.
SHOTS OF THE 2007 SHENPEN DENTAL CLINIC, CHAPAGAON:
A Nepali (Newari) villager in traditional dress getting his teeth cleaned.
A Nepali woman having minor dental surgery done behind our monastery in the village.
Another Nepali villager having her teeth worked on.
Dan Bahadur, the gate keeper at our Chapagaon monastery, smiling after getting a teeth cleaning.
Dan Bahadur's beautiful wife.
A beautiful village girl who came from her home nearby the monastery in Chapagaon for a teeth cleaning.
The beautiful village girl with her beautiful friend.
A local schoolgirl crying as she gets two of her heavily decayed lower molars extracted. Dentistry is pain!
Our smallest monk at the Chapagaon monastery getting his teeth checked by one of the Singaporean dentists, Cheung.
Elderly village men, in traditional attire, waiting for a checkup.
HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA, MARCH 2007:
A few images from my trip to India in the first two weeks of March, where I attended teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and visited the reincarnation of Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche in Bir.
An abandoned bike rickshaw at the bus station in Paharganj, Punjab, India.
OM AH HUNG VAJRAGURU PADME SIDDHI HUNG! A mantra written on a stone at the Chokling Monastery in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India. Homage to Guru Rinpoche!
His Eminence the Neten Chokling Rinpoche conducting the Tsegar Drupchen, associated with Amitayus, the Buddha of Long Life, in his monastery in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India. He is the lama that made the milarepa movie.
SHOTS OF CHAPAGAON MONKS:
My monk friend Tsultrim, who at the age of 17 pretty much runs the daily operations of the monastery in Chapagaon where I live.
Some Chapagaon monks smiling.
Some of the younger monks in Chapagaon in assembly for afternoon prayers.
The entire group of dentists (11 Singaporean, 2 Nepali) and volunteers at the Shenpen Dental Clinic 2007.I also escorted the dentists to the Shivapuri National Forest north of Kathmandu on a holiday between our clinics in Boudha and Chapgaon. It was nice to get into nature in a vast forest filled with the blessings of previous Buddhas and years of meditating yogis.
The view from a meditation cave in the Shivapuri forest. Oh, the virtue of the happy life of the hermit!
Rhododendrons in full bloom in Shivapuri forest.
A tree-dwelling near the peak of Shivapuri, used by those looking for solitude in the forest.SHOTS OF THE 2007 SHENPEN DENTAL CLINIC, CHAPAGAON:
A Nepali (Newari) villager in traditional dress getting his teeth cleaned.
A Nepali woman having minor dental surgery done behind our monastery in the village.
Another Nepali villager having her teeth worked on.
Dan Bahadur, the gate keeper at our Chapagaon monastery, smiling after getting a teeth cleaning.
Dan Bahadur's beautiful wife.
A beautiful village girl who came from her home nearby the monastery in Chapagaon for a teeth cleaning.
The beautiful village girl with her beautiful friend.
A local schoolgirl crying as she gets two of her heavily decayed lower molars extracted. Dentistry is pain!
Our smallest monk at the Chapagaon monastery getting his teeth checked by one of the Singaporean dentists, Cheung.
Elderly village men, in traditional attire, waiting for a checkup.HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA, MARCH 2007:
A few images from my trip to India in the first two weeks of March, where I attended teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and visited the reincarnation of Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche in Bir.
An abandoned bike rickshaw at the bus station in Paharganj, Punjab, India.
OM AH HUNG VAJRAGURU PADME SIDDHI HUNG! A mantra written on a stone at the Chokling Monastery in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India. Homage to Guru Rinpoche!
His Eminence the Neten Chokling Rinpoche conducting the Tsegar Drupchen, associated with Amitayus, the Buddha of Long Life, in his monastery in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India. He is the lama that made the milarepa movie.SHOTS OF CHAPAGAON MONKS:
My monk friend Tsultrim, who at the age of 17 pretty much runs the daily operations of the monastery in Chapagaon where I live.
Some Chapagaon monks smiling.
Some of the younger monks in Chapagaon in assembly for afternoon prayers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
