March 2014

In This Issue

Death and Bodhisattva Training

This Month at Jamyang

Geshe Tashi's column

The Director's Column

Programme News

Community Day

Volunteers Needed

Jamyang Walk

Turning Every Moment into Joy

Volunteering at Jamyang

Dharma Bites

Ganden Jangtse Choje Rinpoche Programme

Medidian Trust Request

Jamyang Salisbury Programme

FPMT Job Opportunites

About FPMT

Your Thoughts for Gentle Voice

Quick Links

Jamyang Website

Current Programme

Talking Buddhism

Editor's welcome

Dear friends,

It's good to bring you another Gentle Voice packed with news and features.

Check out the programme news for details about Lama Zopa Rinpoche's visit to Jamyang.

We also include a talk from the 13th Dalai Lama an excursion into Zen Buddhism. Do enjoy this edition of Gentle Voice.

John

Detail from 'The Joy of Sanskrit' e-text cover (ANU)

Death and the Bodhisattva Trainings by Gyalwa Tubten Gyatso, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama

The following fragment is taken from a public talk given by the 13th Dalai Lama in 1921 on the first full moon of the Tibetan New Year. This was the climax of the Great Prayer Festival held every year at Lhasa. The full sermon is available in translation in 'Living in the Face of Death' details below.

As was stated by Jowo Atisha, crown ornament of all the Buddhist sages of India and source of all the Kadampa oral transmissions: This life is short And the objects of knowledge many. Moreover, when we shall die Is something unknown to us. Be therefore like the swan, Which can separate milk from water. We living beings are in a difficult situation. Helplessly overpowered by the three psychic poisons of attachment, aversion and misknowledge, we are propelled and guided largely by negative karma and afflicted emotions. In our constant craving for samsaric indulgence in the repeated cycle of birth and death since begininglessness, we have again and again drawn ourselves into situations of frustration, suffering and pain. Again and again we have died and taken rebirth on the basis of ignorance and the twelve links of causation. However, amidst the suffering and confusion that predominates in the lower forms of life, we humans have managed, as a product of previous positive karmic instincts, to find an auspicious life form: that of a human being blessed by the eight freedoms and the ten endowments. Not only have we been reborn as humans, we have also met with spiritual teachings and thus have the opportunity to accomplish the paths to higher being, enlightenment and eternal happiness. Yet this auspicious human form that we have found will not last for long. Even the Buddhas themselves were unable to prophesy the length of life of each individual human being. Although we bring forth scriptural quotations from the sutras and tantras taught by the Buddha, or set out a great display of reasoning, or rely upon other conventional means of persuasion, nonetheless our lives will not last forever. Before long our existence as part of humanity shall cease. As our lives will be short, we should be like the swan, which if given milk mixed with water can, due to a special faculty of its beak, separate the two and drink only the milk, spitting out the water. When we know how to practice the spiritual path, each day provides us with the ability to extract the milk of goodness and joy and to spit out the ways of negative being that lead to frustration and misery. At present we have the inner and outer conditions by which the path to enlightenment and everlasting happiness may be accomplished. We should not

The 13th Dalai Lama

let the opportunity slip by, thinking, 'I will practice tomorrow or the next day.' Do not be deceived even for a moment by the laziness of self-indulgence, which becomes entranced by the alluring images of the eight worldly concerns and loses sight of the spiritual path in its attachment to the ephemeral, transient pursuits which benefit this life alone. One should strive with utter concentration, to take the essence of this precious human incarnation by accomplishing the path to enlightenment and higher being. Then when the time comes for us to die we will be able to do so with confidence and serenity instead of regret and confusion, and thus will be able to find our way to a conducive rebirth. We should make our prime concern the accomplishment of the spiritual path and, to this end, should endevour to practice the Dharma as intensely and purely as possible. The practices to be accomplished are collectively known as the Dharma. It is said that the Buddha, seeing that living beings were afflicted by 84,000 delusions and emotional disturbances, expounded the 84,000 aspects of Dharma as a remedy to these..... The full talk is available in 'Living in the Face of Death' by Glenn Mullin, published by Snow Lion

April 2014 highlights at Jamyang

CLASSES AND EVENTS IN April AT JAMYANG Full information about these and all our events can be found here on the

Jamyang Website

CLASSES and RETREATS with GESHE TASHI Middle Length Lam Rim Wednesday 2, 9 April Easter Compassion retreat 19 -22 April Community Dharma 11 May 2-4pm Jewel Lineage Tuesday evenings 13 May - 24 June Refined Gold Wednesday Evenings 14 May - 25 June FBT Tantra 10 - 11 June Enrolled students only VISITING TEACHERS Meditation, Stability, Clarity with Alan Wallace 11 - 16 April

WEEK DAY EVENINGS AND AFTERNOONS Meditation for Beginners with David Ford 3 April 7.30 - 9pm Giving and Taking (Tong Len) With Steff Hill Tuesdays 1, 8 April 7.30pm Buddhist Meditation in Practice with David Ford Thursdays 7:30 1-22 May, 5-26 June Tara Puja Tuesdays except 15 and 22nd April 4.30 - 5.45pm Medicine Buddha Puja Tuesdays except 15 and 22nd April 6:15 - 7pm Silent Meditation

Chenrezig Practice with the 8 Verses of Mind Training with Ven Angie Muir Thursdays 1 and 8 May 7.30pm Nyung Nay with Ven Angie and Steff Hill 29th May - 1st June RETREATS, WEEKEND TEACHINGS and PRACTICE GROUPS Insight Meditation Practice Group 26 April, 3 May 10.30-12.30pm open to all Guhyasamaja Practice Group 26 April, 3 May For initiates only Vajrayogini Practice Group 6, 13, 27 April, 4 11 18, 25 May For initiates only Kalachakra Practice Group 26 April For initiates only Full details of these and all other events are on our website Please book for all weekend classes or retreats other than practice groups on-line if you can. If you can't call the office on 02078208787 or email admin@jamyang.co.uk You can drop in to all evening classes unless we state otherwise

Thursdays weekly except 17th April 6.15 - 7.15pm Lama Choepa Puja 9, 24 April, 22 June check website for times COMMUNITY Dying Well Group 5th April 10am - 4pm Compassion in Action: Dalai Lama Awakening Vol. 2 with Directors Q&A Wednesday, 23 April at 6 pm (see article below for details) Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) weekly 15 May - 10 July. Booking now open (see below) Chi Kung and Tai Chi Monday evenings taught by William Walker. For more information and to book call William (follow the link above) Satyananda Yoga Tuesday evenings taught by Judy Watchman For more information and to book call Judy (follow the link above) Hridaya (Heart Centre) Yoga Taught by Naz Wednesday evenings 7.30pm For more information please call Naz (follow the link above) Chair Yoga Taught by Cathy Brebion Tuesdays 10.30am - 11.30am

Jamyang Walk 26th April 10 - 4pm Andy Weber Art Workshop weekend 23 - 25 May Full details of these and all other events are on our website

Geshe Tashi's column

Hello Everybody,

I am really looking forward to the next month with all the special activities that we have. First I will be leading the Jamyang Leeds Shamata Retreat at Ackworth. I hope that some of the London Jamyang members can make it to this retreat as well. It is always good to meet up and share with each other. Then we have the Easter Retreat on Compassion here at Jamyang. This is always a special time and I very much enjoy this retreat.

I was very pleased to hear that Lama Zopa Rinpoche has approved the building that Land of Joy are thinking to buy. Now we all need that final push to get the last of the money to make that happen. A retreat centre makes a lot of sense for all of us here in the UK. It is very important to make time for retreats to help us take the dharma understanding out of the head and into the heart. It is very easy to understand with the head and very difficult to really make that part of us, in our very heart. In our tradition, the tradition of lama Tsongkhapa, retreat plays a very important role. Meditation and the intense periods of meditation that we can practice in a retreat are central to this effort to make us into more compassionate and wiser individuals. We really need to gain a strong inspiration from retreat, to make strong merit with strong aspirations to work for the benefit of all. So I encourage you to attend one or more of the retreats on offer and to support the Land of Joy in their efforts to establish a retreat centre.

Director's Column

At last! We have dates for Rinpoche's much awaited visit in July. Hopefully, the work on the front of the building will be finished, the weather will be kind to us and the garden will be restored to its former glory and in full summer bloom. Time to think about paying us a visit and enjoy relaxing outside in the Courthouse Garden and sample some of what the cafe has to offer. The response to the request for volunteers for the cafe has been good but there is still a need for one or two people who know their way round a kitchen, like serving others and can offer one or two shifts on fixed days a week or say every two weeks on a regular basis for a few months. If you think you can offer that, have a chat with Ilaria in the cafe. We a busy here making preparations for Rinpoche's visit, finalising the arrangements for Alan Wallace's retreat next week and Geshe-la's retreat over the Easter weekend.

Speaking of retreat and the cultivation of a retreat culture here in the UK there is an opportunity to rejoice. Thanks both to your donations and the merit you helped to create there has been tremendous support for the purchase of Greenhaugh Hall So far, with matched funding, Land of Joy donors internationally have given them over £689,000 and have pledged over £136,000 - this raises their total funds to £825,000. Keep up the good work, keep dedicating the merit and share this news with others so that Land of Joy can raise the funds they need to make this purchase as soon as possible! After Easter we have the Jamyang Communities Day coming up on Saturday, 17 May. A good time in the run up to that to reflect on "community" and what it means to us. What makes for a sense of community? The wider Jamyang community is in many ways a cluster of communities and that community or those communities serve a wider community in Kennington, London and much further afield. Save the date, bring your thoughts and ideas, come and see how Jamyang's communities offering is growing and developing. The May programme is now out, take look. Geshe-la has lots to offer, Rinpoche is coming in July, Jangtse Choje will also be here in August offering precious teachings and empowerments and other visiting teachers are offering us an opportunity to enrich and better inform our understanding, practice and experience of the Dharma. While still reflecting on community and what it might mean, don't forget the many wonderful opportunities here to join with others in pujas and group practices for the benefit of ourselves and others.

Programme News

Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the UK

Lama Zopa at Jamyang Leeds.

5-6 July. Leeds, Venue to be confirmed.

Public Talk

10th of July. London, Venue to be confirmed.

Heruka 5 Deities Initiation

11 - 13 July. London, Venue to be confirmed.

We are very busy making all the arrangements and finalising this programme and we will write out as soon as we have more information. Please exercise patience and do not bombard the office with requests for information in the meantime!

Jangtse Choje Rinpoche Lobsang Tenzin in the UK

Wisdom of Emptiness 16 -19 August

Vajrasattva Jenang Initiation 20th August

White Tara Initiation 21st August

Dr Alan Wallace Meditation, stability, clarity: Experiencing the liberating power of full attention

A six day training in meditation co-hosted by the Consciousness Network and Jamyang Friday 11 April - Wednesday 16 April

Following some last minute cancellations there are places available on this retreat.

Easter Compassion Retreat with Geshe Tashi

3.5 days - 9am Saturday 19 April through to 1pm Tuesday 22 April

Saturday 19 April 9am - 5pm, Supporting Land of Joy

Coming up

Chenrezig Practice with the 8 Verses of Mind Training with Venerable Angie Muir Thursdays 1 and 8 May 7.30pm The Practice of Chenresig with one thousand arms, hands and eyes is one of the most profound of the Tantra practices transmitted in Tibetan Buddhism. It addresses our core human need to love and to be loved and smashes down our DIY prison of misery making self centred behaviour. The 8 verse Mind Training text is short pithy and extremely useful to memorise and then use to check up on our daily thoughts and actions, helping us work skillfully with ourselves and others and maximise our potential for full enlightenment. Join the venerble Angie Muir to explore this beautiful and inspiring practice for turning the mind towards loving concern for all and for developing unconditional impartial unbiased loving care. Jon Landaw talk in the Jamyang library 7.30pm Thursday 5 June We are really pleased to announce that our long standing dharma friend Jonathan Landaw will give an informal dharma talk in the Library at Jamyang from 7.30pm on Thursday 5 June. Jon is a heart disciple of both Lama Thubten Yeshe and of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. A skilled writer and author he has a very kindly agreed to fit us in to his upcoming UK tour. Jon is an absolute delight to meet, charming, relaxed, full of fun. He is a very engaging story teller and has plenty of stories from the earliest days of the FPMT when he spent much

time close to the lamas. The full summer programme will be available on our website soon.

Community Day Saturday 17 May

Join Geshe Tashi Tsering, the Jamyang Board, the Jamyang Director, Community Manager, SPC, staff to: Celebrate the renovation of the front of the building and to share your ideas with thems for the future of Jamyang Buddhist Centre and our Courthouse Community Centre activies. Arrive at 12 noon for greetings and talk by Geshe-la, followed by a shared lunch*** and an afternoon of information and sharing - a chance to play your part in developing plans. More details will come nearer the time. Please note your diary now. Looking forward to seeing you there. *** Please email the office (admin at jamyang.co.uk) for lunch (offered free), so that we can get catering numbers right. Thank you

Jamyang prior to the renovation

Special Film Screening: Compassion in ActionVol 2

'Compassion in Action: Dalai Lama Awakening Vol. 2"

with Directors Q&A

at Jamyang on Wednesday, 23 April at 6 pm. £7 on the door with concessions. Light refreshments by donation.

Iluminating insights about the essential problems of our world today and how we might solve them, shared by HH Dalai Lama and revolutionary thinkers. What truly brings us happiness? What are the essential problems facing our world today, and how can we solve them? In this inspiring and thought-provoking film, Compassion in Action: Dalai Lama Awakening Vol 2, HH Dalai Lama and some of the most innovative and revolutionary thinkers of our time explore the sources of unhappiness and happiness in our world. This film is a deeper exploration of the ideas presented in the internationally successful documentary film 'Dalai Lama Awakening' (narrated by actor Harrison Ford), directed by award-winning Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich which was

Picture from isthisanything.org

shown at Jamyang in March.

Jamyang Walk - Saturday April 26th

Now that the long,wet winter is behind us, here's a chance to get out and explore the delightful Lea Valley in East London. We'll meet for an 11 am start in the ticket hall of TOTTENHAM HALE tube station (Victoria Line) and head for the River Lea where we join the towpath. Away from the busy roads the water's edge lined with poplars and willows, with houseboats and water birds is a peaceful haven, and shortly we'll come to the Walthamstow Marshes Nature Reserve. This Site of Special Scientific Interest, barely 6 miles from central London is a rare remnant of ancient marshland that has never been ploughed, and home to a diversity of wildlife. The Olympic Park development alongside our route will hopefully be open for us to explore before proceeding to Three Mills a Grade 1 historical site of 18th century buildings and the largest tidal mill left standing in Britain. We leave the river and cross to the Limehouse Cut which opened in 1770 to provide easier navigation to the Thames, and a short diversion to St. Anne's Church gives a picture of how the area looked in bygone times. The end of the walk at Limehouse Basin on Narrow Street has some delightful 400 year old pubs and warehouses backing on to the Thames with extensive views of London. The Limehouse DLR station and buses are nearby. The walk is on the flat and a little over 5 miles with ample connections to transport links on the way. Comfortable shoes are recommended-Lunch stop at Three Mills or bring your own picnic. All are welcome. For further information call Robin on 0207 736 2771

Turning Every Moment into Joy through Mindfulness

With our Spring Mindfulness course (MBSR) coming to an end this week, we the facilitators wanted to say a very big thank you to all the "students", who were really the life force of the classes with their inspiring commitment to the practices.

We had a wonderful "full practice day" last Saturday where we observed silence

for most of the day and practiced many different types of meditations ranging from walking and sitting meditations to eating meditations. In the incredible eating meditation, we used most of our senses, including the "6th sense", our minds, to take in the delicious and colourful food prepared lovingly by the Cafe staff. Our mindfulness classes very often take on a life of their own, usually based on the collective energy of all present, with the classes providing a sort of Sanga that carries a momentum. This motivates and carries all into a deep rewarding practice throughout the 8 week duration of the course. It is a secular meditation course so there is no mention of Buddhism, scripture, mantra and/or rituals despite the form of the course lending from Vipassana and Zen. Mindfulness is essentially a practice that gives us tools to "step out of clock time and into the present moment", as Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course puts it. When we look at our lives, we are often interpreting the present moment through the filters of accumulated pain and past experiences. Most of us, if not all of us also project ourselves into the future worrying or thinking about some future event that may never arrive. One fact is that we can never really deal with anything from the future because it is an abstract construction of our mind that remains in the future. We can only deal with the present moment so worrying about the future is quite a futile and draining exercise. Mindfulness can introduce one to practices that can give new perspectives to our daily lives. It can bring a fresh start into our daily lives, with an innocence and "newness" where we learn to let go of the past in a loving way to embrace and welcome every real and present moment life brings to us with a non-judging mind and the excitement and innocence of a child. This also means releasing the minds projections into the future, with the ability to recognise when this happens. Mindfulness introduces one to practices to learn and experience how we can see our thoughts not as facts but for what they are - projections into the future or past that filter and often distort or wrongly interpret how we experience life. Awareness of this allows us to go beyond (often negative) judgement and see things for what they truly are. It teaches us how to See again, all that is around us with the stillness, harmony and peace behind it. Mindfulness practices can turn often mundane and "mindless" or often automatic tasks such a eating, drinking, walking or a shower into deep and joyful meditations that infuse one with peace and paths into this stillness deep within. A taster in mindfulness: A nice way to start is by finding an activity that you enjoy such as consuming a favourite drink or listening to a favourite piece of music. Gently close your eyes once you are able to, and then taking a few deep and slow breaths can help bring you into the present moment. Now slowly bring all your attention to your breath. Noticing the sensations of your breath as the air

flows into your body through the nostrils, or perhaps the sensations of breath through the raising and falling of the stomach walls as you inhale and exhale. Take a few minutes just doing this and allowing yourself to relax, with each breath going deeper within and slowing down in pace as best you can. Our breath can be a wonderful bridge to link your outer world into the inner stillness deep within. The formless breath, as still and peaceful as the formless Self deep within each of us. Once ready, bringing our whole attention and awareness to the senses that you are using or are about to use - for example if drinking, becoming aware of the whole process involved in drinking, right from the sense of sight, touching the glass/mug, all the muscular movements involved in holding it, and then bringing the mug or glass up to the lips, the touch of the mug against the lips. Observing the expectation and reactions within the mind to the object and then the actual sensations of taste, perhaps closing your eyes as you truly taste all that is to be tasted, the temperature and how it interacts with the senses and so on as the food or drinks moves down into your digestive system as you swallow. In the same way, if you are experimenting with a favourite piece of music, being aware of all the sounds in its entirety. The sounds and the silence underneath the sound without which the music would not be audible. Noticing all that is to be heard, giving it your full attention. In both experiments, allowing thoughts to surface as they almost certainly will, but gently becoming aware of these thoughts, welcoming them in a non-judgemental way and simply letting them go as you bring your attention back to the present. Such are the fruits of mindfulness - the ability to turn every moment into a timeless one full of peace and joy. Learning how to enjoy all that life has to offer to the fullest without the filter of the mind. Life is so full of little moments that add up the 24 hours we have. Start enjoying all life has to offer and not delaying happiness by waiting for conditions to be fulfilled - conditions such as more wealth, better relationships or even enlightenment. Joy is right here for us to enjoy in this very timeless moment. For details on our next Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course, please see the details below: Dates: 15th May - 10rd July 2014 inclusive (with a full practice day on Saturday 28th June). Thursday Weekly Morning (10.30am-12.30pm) or Evening (6.30pm-8.30pm) classes. The course fee is £200.00 with concessions available. The fee includes a delicious vegetarian lunch during the full practice day, a collection of guided meditations on CD/MP3 and a coursebook. For further details, enquiries and booking forms, please see www.londoncentreformindfulness.com or email Vinod or

Jane at info@londoncentreformindfulness.com

Volunteering at Jamyang - School Visits

As part of the volunteer group I wanted to tell you all about the benefits of offering time in our small ways to the larger community. At the moment we have 5 or 6 of us who welcome and facilitate the visits of both local schools and schools from further afield. Their visits follow a loosely laid down pattern which includes showing them the two Gompas, our courtyard garden and Jamyang's unique historical building. We also offer information and details of the many objects, thangka's, statues and Buddhist beliefs and traditions applicable to our centre. The children and young people are always very keen to hear about our own personal understanding and practices so we find we are able to make a real connection. We would like to continue to expand this connection by offering other means of communicating the fundamental core of Buddhism (and many other religions), our common humanity. To this end we are looking to increase our number of volunteers who would be interested in not only helping with school visits at Jamyang but also in helping run workshops in schools, taking school assemblies, designing and making work sheets, publicity leaflets and information packs which we could offer to schools. For those of you who would love to offer help but feel inexperienced or not confident we are also considering running training sessions for volunteers at Jamyang so that together we can learn and benefit from the experience of those in the know. If you feel inspired to help or support us do get in touch by phoning Jane or email. Together we can achieve so much more.

Contact Jane via email jane@jamyang.co.uk

Dharma Bites

This month we pay a brief visit to the tradition of the zen koan. This is laid out formally as follows: Changsha's "Returning to Mountains, Rivers, and the Great Earth" Main Case Zen master Jingcen of Changsha (Zhaoxian) was once asked by a monastic, "How do you turn the mountains, rivers, and the great earth and return to the self?" Changsha said, "How do you turn the self and return to the mountains, rivers, and the great earth?" Commentary

Responding to the myriad things from the perspective of the self is delusion. Manifesting the self from the perspective of the myriad things is enlightenment. From ancient times to the present, people have regarded the myriad things as separate from themselves, not realising that the universe is the body of the Buddha - this very body and mind itself. What do you see when you behold the mountain? Can you see the real form of truth? What do you hear when you listen to the river sounds? Can you hear the subtle gathas of rock and water? Or are you trapped in the superficiality of sound and form? Mountains, rivers, and the great earth are ceaselessly manifesting the teachings, yet they are not heard with the ear or seen with the eye. They can only be perceived with the whole body and mind. Be that as it may, how do you turn the self and return to the mountains, rivers, and the great earth? What is it that you are calling mountains, rivers, and the great earth? Indeed, where do you find your self? Capping Verse There is no place to hide the true self. When the universe disintegrates, "it" remains indestructible. This gigantic body ultimately has no abode. Published in "The True Dharma Eye" by John Daido Loori, Shambala

Ganden Jangtse Choje Rinpoche's Programme in the USA

We are happy to pass on the following details of Jangtse Choje's summer schedule.

Vajrapani Institute, California

Vajrayogini Blessing and Commentary

13th June 2013 - 19th June 2014 Vajrapani Details Here

Deer Park Buddhist Centre, Wisconsin 30th June to 25th July 2014 Nagarjuna's Precious Garland 28th July to 8th August 2014 The Four Noble Truths based on Je Tsong Khapa's Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path (Lam Rim Chenmo) plus The Seven-Limb Practice (with visualizations and meditations) based on Pabongka Rinpoche's Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand / Liberation in Our Hands Deer Park Details Here

Meridian Trust and Kickstarter

The Meridian Trust has just launched a project on crowd-funding platform 'Kickstarter' and we really need to get the message out there. Is it possible for you to help spread the word though your connections? We have already had some great support from the the LYWA but we need all the help we can get.

The Trust was set up following an urgent request from our Patron, The Dalai Lama, that we help preserve the wisdom of elderly Buddhist teachers before they passed away.

We made a promise and over the last three decades have amassed an archive of more than 2,500 hours of footage, collectively making one of the largest and most authentic resources of Buddhist film in the world.

The final hurdle is to get the archive online; to transform it into a free learning resource, where Tibetan Buddhist teachings and culture can be accessed at the click of a button.

Will you help me finish this project? by sharing the Open the Vaults: The Promise link on Facebook and Twitter and (if you like what you see!) by supporting the project. You can also download a banner for your own website, blog post or news feed.

Together we can fulfill our promise, giving Tibetan's access to their cultural heritage: giving back to those who have lost so much. This website will be of benefit to people from all walks of life, many of whom desire to enrich their lives through a deeper knowledge of Buddhist wisdom.

Many thanks for your help!

With very best wishes,

Dolma Beresford

Director Meridian Trust

P.S. Show your support, download one of our Facebook banners and liven up your Facebook page in under 30 seconds...

Summer 2014 Programme at Jamyang Salisbury

We share with you the summer programme that the kind folk at Jamyang Salisbury are offering. If you live locally why not connect with this satellite group of Jamyang London and meet fellow practitioners, FPMT wallahs and spiritual seekers. MAY Monday 5th - 'Buddhism in a nutshell' with Mike Murray. Monday 12th - Medicine Buddha puja. Monday 19th - Mindfulness and Meditation with Ian Cushing. Monday 26th - Buddhist Thought with Robin Bath. JUNE Monday 2nd - 'Buddhism in a nutshell' with Mike Murray. Monday 9th - Medicine Buddha puja. Monday 16th - Mindfulness and Meditation with Ian Cushing. Monday 23rd - Buddhist Thought with Robin Bath. Monday 30th - Mindfulness and Meditation with Ian Cushing. JULY Monday 7th - Mindfulness and Meditation with Ian Cushing. Monday 14th - Mindfulness & Meditation with Ian Cushing Monday 21st - 'Buddhism in a nutshell' with Mike Murray. Monday 28th - Buddhist Thought with Robin Bath. AUGUST Monday 4th - 'Buddhism in a nutshell' with Mike Murray. Monday 11th - Medicine Buddha puja. Monday 18th - Mindfulness and Meditation with Ian Cushing. Monday 25th - Buddhist Thought with Robin Bath. SEPTEMBER Monday 1st - 'Buddhism in a nutshell' with Mike Murray. Monday 8th - Medicine Buddha puja. Monday 15th - Mindfulness and Meditation with Ian Cushing. Monday 22nd - Buddhist Thought with Robin Bath. Monday 29th - 'Buddhism in a nutshell' with Mike Murray The folk at Jamyang Salisbury are putting on a busy summer programme. Please help them raise their visibility on Facebook and Twitter by liking their pages and tweets website: www.jamyang-salisbury-buddhist-group.co.uk/about-us/ Facebook: @Salisbury Jamyang Buddhist Group

Twitter: @salisbuddhist

Tibetan monk rescues German teenager from the streets of Cardiff

From the Tibetan news agency Phayul [Tuesday, March 25, 2014 03:24] DHARAMSHALA, MARCH 25: Tibetan monk living in Wales, UK, has helped a teenage runaway from Germany reunite with his family, reported Wales online. Tibetan monk, Lama Lobsang Topgyal, spotted Tilo Yaye, 18, sleeping outside Cardiff Market two months ago. Tilo's mother Christine Schueler told Wales online that she was relieved to finally hear her son was safe. "One day he just ran away. He didn't tell anybody. I was so relieved when I got a call from Lama Lobsang because he picked up Tilo. "I couldn't believe he was travelling to the UK. I thought, 'how did he get there?' We were all really worried and are really grateful to Lama Lobsang for taking care of Tilo so much," Schueler was quoted as saying by the Wales online. Tilo, who has mental health problems, had fled his home in Lüneburg, Germany. With no money on him in a country alien to him, Tilo resorted to eating rubbish from city bins and scouring for scraps of food that had been dropped on the street. Lama Lobsang told Wales online that he saw the boy and knew he was hard up on life. "As a monk, I support people who experience difficult circumstances. "I saw him near the market eating rubbish. It was very sad because he is only young. He had no good clothes. "I took him some food. We were eating and having a cup of tea. Then I said to him, 'come to my home'. I helped him buy clothes from charity shops, T-shirts, shoes, everything. He had nothing. Everything he had was lost. "I gave him food and a place to sleep. He is a good boy but I knew if I left him outside the market he would end up in trouble with drugs or the police. That's why I invited him to my home." Tilo is not the first person Lama has helped off the streets. He offers refuge at his flat to people he meets who are experiencing marriage problems and family fall-outs, Wales online reported.

Lama Topgyal Lobsang with Tilo and his mother in Munich (Walesonline)

Lama came to Cardiff seven years ago from Lhasa, Tibet, where he had joined a monastery when he was 15. "I pray and I help people with these types of problems. That's my life. Caring for each other is our life," he told Wales online.

FPMT

Jamyang is affiliated with FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) and is one of more than 150 centers and projects worldwide.

FPMT is based on the Gelugpa tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught by our founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe and spiritual director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. If you would like to receive FPMT's monthly newsletters please subscribe here.

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