Gentle Voice March 2013

Subject: Gentle Voice March 2013Date: 05/03/13 17:00

March 2013In This Issue

Lama Zopa - advice on driving

This month at Jamyang

Geshe Tashi's column

The Director's Column

Dharma Bites - How big is theuniverse

Poetry Corner

Khadro-la set to visit the UK

Jamyang Spring Walk

Help Required at Jamyang

Invite from FPMT Mongolia

Nalanda Masters Programme

About FPMT

Your Thoughts for Gentle Voice

Quick Links

Jamyang Website

Current Programme

Talking Buddhism

The Foundation StudyCourse

The Lamrim Chenmo StudyCourse

FPMT

Editor's welcomeHello,February feelslike such ashort monththis year, whichis great if youare waiting forthe monthlypay check butalso means wehave less tosay. You may well welcome that of course.If like me you have trouble on the road as a cyclistor a car driver then read Lama Zopa's advice - hangon - everybody should read Lama Zopa's advice! Our poetry challenge last month threw up someinteresting results, see below.As well as the articles by Geshe Tashi and Roy consider that

if there were as many Gentle Voice articles as thereare grains of sand in the river Ganges then youwould probably not read the interesting DharmaBites article on this subject. Do enjoy reading this issue.

Peace and Love,John

The Wheel Of Sharp Weapons Of My Negative Karma When Drivingby Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Gentle Voice March 2013

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ed - If you are not a driver this advice still applies. Maybe you are a cyclist or a pedestrian orjust a mere sentient being; check out if you couldapply this to your own situations.

When you are driving along in your car andsuddenly some other car goes in front ofyourcar, and then you get upset. Or the next cardoes something they are not supposed todo in front of you or next to your car. When this happens immediately:

- Remember that this unfavourablecondition is my negative karma created by myselfish mind, my ego. This is the wheel of sharp weapons, the negative karma Icreated when I harmed others circling back on me now. Without delaying foreven asecond, while the wheel of sharp weapons of my negative karma is turning onme, Iimmediately use it to cut my enemy, ego.- Rejoice how this is the happiest, most wonderful thing in life - using the wheelofsharp weapons of my negative karma, produced by my ego, to cut my enemy,ego.This is the happiest life, the most wonderful life [opportunity] to cut my ego usingthe sharp weapon of my negative karma. Cutting the ego with the wheel ofsharpweapons produced by my negative karma circling back on me.- Feel unbelievably happy!Here first you are accepting the problem [as it is caused by your karma], so bydoing that it pacifies the negative emotional thoughts, feeling upset or angry.The second thing is that you're looking at the shortcomings of ego, the harmgiven to you by ego. Third, you are using the harm given to ego to turn back onand cut the ego. That means destroying the ego, self-cherishing thought, so thatthen bodhicitta can rise. From that you can achieve enlightenment. Then youcan liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferingsand enlighten them. When that happens then that's the ultimate goal of your life,the very meaning of your life is completed. WOW! This is one example, and you must think similarly in daily life with anything that

annoys you, which disturbs you suddenly. Think like this about something withwhich it's difficult to practice patience, like when anger suddenly arises.

THIS MONTH AND NEXT AT JAMYANG

CLASSES AND EVENTS IN NOVEMBER and December AT JAMYANG

CLASSES and RETREATSwith GESHE TASHI

FBT Module 2: The Two

WEEK DAY EVENINGS

Buddhist Meditation: Positive EmotionsMondays weekly until 25 March 7:30pm


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TruthsWeekend 16 &17 MarchSaturday 10am - 5pmSunday 10am - 1pm Registered Students Only

Introduction to TantraWeekend 2 &3 March and10am - 5pmSunday 24 March10am - 1pm

Easter Compassion Retreat Friday 29 - Sunday 31 MarchFriday, Saturday 8am - 5pmSunday 9am - 1pm

Consequence Middle Way Tuesdays 5, 12, 19, 26March 7.30pm

Buddhist PracticeWednesdays 6, 13, 20, 27March and 10 April 7.30pm

RETREATS and WEEKENDTEACHINGS andPRACTICE Buddhism in a NutshellSaturday 8 April with MikeMurray 10am - 5pm

Meditation 101Sunday 7 April with MikeMurray 10am - 5pm Buddha NatureWeekend 13 & 14 April withMike Murray 10am - 5pmPreparation for RefugeSaturday 20 April with SteffHill 10am - 5pm ImpermanenceWeekend 27 & 28 April withGeshe GrahamWoodhouse PRACTICE GROUPS Insight Meditation PracticeGroup9 March, 6 and 20 April10.30-12.30pm open to all Kalachakra Group

Medicine Buddha PujaTuesdays weekly 6:15pm

Silent MeditationThursdays weekly 6.15 - 7.15pm

Meditation for Beginners7 March, 4 April 7:30 with David Ford

Buddhist Meditation in PracticeThursdays 18 April with David Ford Transforming Negative EmotionsThursday 7 March 7.30pmWith Steff Hill

Lama Choepa Puja7 March, 5 and 20 April 6 - 7pm

Three TurningsTuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 April with Roger Wright7.30pm

Moany MondaysSubstance Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism? 8 AprilRestoring What? 15 April Sexy Teachers? 22 AprilPerfect Privileged Ones? 29 April7.30 - 9pm with Mike Murray

Tuesdays 16, 23, 30 April with John Bonell The Heart Sutra

Wednesdays 17, 24 April, 1 May with Esther Garibayand Natascha BolonkinDivine Dharmas

WEEK DAY DAYTIME

Tuesdays weekly 4pm set up for puja at 4.30pmTara Puja

COMMUNITY

MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction)Thursday am and evening. You must book for thesecourses. Next courses start summer term.Contact [email protected] or [email protected],uk

Monday evenings Chi Kung and Tai ChiTaught by William Walker.For more information and to book call William (follow


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meets 9 March, 27 April2 -5:30pm for initiates only

Guhyasamaja Group meets 28 April 10am for initiates only

Vajrayogini groupmeets 28 April2:30pm for initiates only

Please book for all weekendclasses other than practicegroups by calling the officeon 02078208787 oremail [email protected]

You can drop in to allevening classes unless westate otherwise.

the link above)

Yoga Tuesday evenings taught by Judy WatchmanFor more information and to book call Judy (follow thelink above)

Hridaya (Heart Centre) YogaWednesday evenings taught by NazFor more information and to book call Naz (follow thelink above)

Self Love Yoga ClassFriday evenings Taught by NicoletteFor more information and to book call Naz (follow thelink above)

SPECIAL EVENTS

Jamyang Walk20 April

Peace in the City21 April 12 noon - 4pmFree entrance. Various complematary therapy tasters at reduced rates(and fantastic cafe treats)

Geshe Tashi's column Hello everyone,It was so good to see such a big turnout for theFamily Dharma day this month. It is something Ireally want to get established at Jamyang. It isso easy for people to drift away from the centrewhen they start having children, with all thework that entails. Then sometimes drifting awayfrom the centre can so easily lead to aweakening of our practice. So it is very goodthat every now and then we get together as acommunity, with all the families and children torecharge our batteries and maybe to inspire theyounger generation. There are so manyinfluences in the lives of children encouragingthem in a worldly direction that an occasionaltrip to Jamyang may act to balance these out abit. Our format for these events has beenchanging as we try to see what works best. I


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think the last session was very good, with time for all of us to meet together andtime and space for the children to engage in their own activities while the adultsdiscussed the themes for the the day. It was very nice then to see all the workthat the children had done and to celebrate with communal tea and cakes.So Iencourage you all to look out for these dates and attend if you can. Also we will shortly be holding the Easter Retreat at Jamyang. This is anothergreat opportunity to take some time to really reflect on the teaching of theBuddha. The theme of this retreat will be compassion and loving kindness. Thisis so central to the Buddhist path and, of course, it is extremely useful for allpeople to try to develop these qualities. I would really hope to see lots of youthere, at the retreat, even if you cannot attend the whole three days.

ed The Easter Retreat runs from Friday 29th to Sunday the 31st March. Contact Erika at

Jamyang to book a place on 02078208787 or email [email protected]

Director's Column

Monday, the 15th day of the first Tibetanmonth, saw the end of the celebrations andprayer festival following the beginning ofthe Lunar New Year, Losar in Tibetan.Known as Chotrul Düchen,the Day ofMiracles Great Prayer Day marks twoimportant events in the history of TibetanBuddhism. The first was the culmination of the daysremembering Shakyamuni Buddha's victoryover other masters in a display of magicalfeats at Sravasti and the second, the lastday of the Monlam Chenmo, the GreatPrayer Festival introduced by Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelukschool of Tibetan Buddhism.

Whether in the company of other practitioners, in retreat elsewhere or at home, Ihope it was a fruitful time for a pause, meditation, study, prayer and reflection.Lets all hope that as many of us as possible followed Lama Zopa's advice andthat the merit of whatever practice or virtue we did increased 100 million times. Itis really great to hear that Lama Zopa's health continues to improve and he isnow able to complete full-length prostrations unaided.

As we move closer to the coming spring here at Jamyang we continue to hopeand pray for possible further visits from our precious teachers, the success ofthe FPMT UK meeting this weekend in Leeds and later in the year, the EuropeRegional Meeting in London, and our colleagues from FPMT Training comingover from the US to deliver Foundation Training in Compassionate Service.

On the staff front, Sue-Anne has returned to California and Violetta has movedfrom the hospitality team to replace her as the Jamyang supported 'cafe yogini'.Sue Anne will be much missed We are very grateful for all that she worked hardto do for the success of the café while she was here, we look forward to seeing


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her again and wish her every success back home.

Our own Dr. Jane Flowers, currently one of the 3 month hospitality teamvolunteers at Jamyang had a very successful evening talk on 'Divining Woman:Feminist Spirituality and Religion' She informally presented the main findings ofher own PhD research and shared stories from her own life, her studies, theenergised, powerful women she interviewed as part of her research, and herown quest for spiritual development and empowerment.

A small group of our Trustees recently visited the Triratna Buddhist Centre tolook at the very successful modernisation and renovation of their 1889 Grade 2listed old fire station building in Bethnal Green, as a part of the process of factfinding to aid consideration of the options for the potential development of ourown Old Courthouse building.

It was a fascinating visit and much was learned but the most important adviceoffered by our kind hosts was about the need to take time to be clear aboutexactly what we want to do and why, and also to have a dedicated projectmanager who is deeply committed to any project we undertake supported by anempathetic architect who really understands what we do and want to do toimprove the use and experience of the building for all who come here.

As ever, check out the programme. The Buddhist and Community programmesare in full swing and the next Peace in the City day is due on Sunday, 21st April.The December event was very popular. We plan to invite back the Gong therapyand also laughter! We are also into planning for our Community Day onSaturday, 11 May - so don't forget to save the date in your diaries. Roy

Dharma Bites: How big is the universe ... compared with a grain ofsand?One thing I really love about the Buddhistscriptures is the sheer scale that theyencompass when they talk about theuniverse. You know the type of thing; hereis a quote from the Diamond Cutter Sutrathat exemplifies what I mean.

"The Bhagavän said, "Subhüti, what do youthink about this?If there were also just as many GangesRivers as there are grains of sand in theriver Ganges, would their grains of sand be many?"Subhüti replied, "Bhagavän, if those very Ganges Rivers were many, there is noneed to mention their grains of sand."The Bhagavän said, "Subhüti, you should appreciate; you should understand. Ifsome man or woman, completely filling with the seven kinds of precious thingsthat many world systems as there are grains of sand of those rivers Ganges, were to offer that to the tathägata arhat perfectly completed buddhas, Subhüti,


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what do you think about this? Would that man or woman produce much merit onthat basis?"Subhüti replied, "Bhagavän, much. Sugata, much. That man or woman wouldproduce much merit on that basis."The Bhagavän said, "Subhüti, compared to someone who, completely filling thatmany world systems with the seven types of precious things, were to give giftsto the tathägata arhat perfectly completed buddhas, if someone, having takeneven as little as a stanza of four lines from this discourse of Dharma were toexplain it and correctly and thoroughly teach it also to others, on that basis themerit that itself would produce would be much greater, incalculable,unfathomable."

OK, you get the idea - a vast, vast scale, and all envisaged at the time of theBuddha 2600 years ago. Now imagine my surprise to come across a talkentitled "How vast is the universe....compared to a grain of sand". This is ascientist attempting to capture the scale of the known universe by analogy to agrain of sand. To me it has an uncanny resonance with the analogies used bythe Buddha. Click on the link below and enjoy! www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2013/feb/11/how-big-universe-sand-video1

Q

Poetry Cornered - Last month we published thefollowing poem by Chuang Tzu andasked if anyone was willing to writean additional line. The verycourageous Snehy Gupta took up thechallenge. Here we have the originalpoem and the new version by Snehy.It's great isn't it?

However I couldn't resist thetemptation to add a couple of linesmyself. So here are the three versions

of the poem. Any more?

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.

- Chuang Tzu-------------------

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,


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and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.The purpose of ideas is to generate wisdomWhen wisdom is embodied, the ideas are forgotten.Where can I find a man who is Wise? He is the one I would like to talk to

- Chuang Tzu and Snehy Gupta------------------------------------------ The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish,and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.The purpose of ideas is to generate wisdomWhen wisdom is embodied, the ideas are forgotten.The purpose of wisdom is to attain liberationWhen liberation is attained wisdom is forgotten.When attainment and non-attainment are seen as equalA Tathagata is born.Where can I find a Tathagata? He is the one I would like to talk to

- Chuang Tzu, Snehy Gupta and John B

Sponsors required for visit of Khadro-la this summerWe're hoping to get Khadro-la to visitBritain this summer. As part of her tour wehope that she will teach at Jamyang. To dothat we need approximately £2,000 tosecure visas for herself and her twoattendants. Then there will be sharing thefares with European centres. All up we arelooking at about £10,000. We would reallyappreciate if people could help bysponsoring this tour directly with FPMT UK.

If you would like to contact us about this,pleaseemail [email protected] We really appreciate any help that can begiven with what could be an invaluable visit.

We'll let you know as soon as dates firm upbut you need to know that sponsoring a


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tour like this does not guarantee it willhappen. ...Things change...

Who is Khadro-la?Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drolma, known to everybody as Khadro-la,is an extraordinary woman lay teacher who is teaching more and more at FPMTcenters, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche has advised her to do. She is widelyrecognized as a dakini, an oracle, and is certainly regarded as somebody veryspecial by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, DagriRinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.After perilously escaping Tibet, like many refugees, she stayed in Dharamsala innorth India, the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She determined toreturn to Tibet, but Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche convinced her to stay and securedan audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His Holiness, after a dailyaudience, asked for "the lady oracle" to be brought to him and so they finallymet. He confirmed her as an oracle of the protector.Since then she has been extremely busy as an oracle and healer and morerecently giving teachings. In a 2008 interview for Mandala magazine, she said,"About two years ago, His Holiness advised me that whenever the opportunitycomes, I should give teachings or any kind of service that I can deliver to thosewho are in need. But I know I have nothing to offer to others. To tell youhonestly, in my mind I have a very strong belief that the essence of life is only tohave the realization of bodhicitta and emptiness. Though it is difficult to gain, myprimary wish is to achieve indestructible faith in these two before I die."Then she continued, "If I cannot help people to generate these things, ourmeeting is just a waste of time. Other than that, I am the poorest by inner, outerand secret perspectives. The best side of me is only that I met the best Dharma,best practice and the best lamas."She has begun teaching in the West, most noticeably two ten-day retreats atNalanda Monastery in the south of France, where she showed what anincredible teacher she can be, bringing the Dharma alive with her veryexperiential approach combined with an amazing intuitive wisdom and a hugecompassion.

For an in-depth interview with Khadro-la, go to: www.fpmt.org/images/stories/teachers/touring/pdf/Khadrola_biography.pdf

Jamyang Spring Walk Saturday 20th April 2013"HAPPY VALLEY"

Now, who could resist a saunter tosomewhere with such an evocativename!

Celebrate spring with us on ourJamyang Walk in this pleasant partof the North Downs. It's a good timeto spot some rare orchids, banks ofcowslips, bluebells and blossomamidst the gentle hills and


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woodlands coming into leaf.We meet at East Croydon main line station ticket office around 10.45 am for an11 o'clock start. There's a short walk to the 403 bus to Hamsey Green Pondwhere we begin the 6 mile, easy going walk.There will be a lunch stop at a convenient pub half way, or of course bring yourown picnic.The walk has been described as a "something for everyone walk", not only forits views, but it also takes in Iron Age field systems, Saxon burial mounds andan almost intact Battle of Britain airfield as well as the flora and fauna.

A one day zones 1-6 ticket covers all the travel. Return from Coulsdon Southmainline station where we should finish around 4.45 pm.

If you need any more information or want confirmation of the walk in case of badweather, please call Robin on 0207 736 2771

Help Required at JamyangWe're in the process of upgradingthe electricity circuits in the hall andthe North side of the building (leftside as you enter). Do you have any experience, flair orspecial interest in lighting design?We need some help with choosingnew light fittings. Contact Roy if youcan help via the admin [email protected]

Many Thanks

FPMT Mongolia invites you What better place for a summer holiday?


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Keep an eye on their website for more information http://www.fpmtmongolia.org/

Call for applications for the Masters Programme at Nalanda


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Please forgive their spelling of programme!

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

FPMT is based on the Gelugpa tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taughtby our founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe and spiritual director, Lama ZopaRinpoche. If you would like to receive FPMT's monthly newsletters pleasesubscribe here.

Your ThoughtsWhat do you want to see in Gentle Voice? We would love to hear your ideasand comments about Gentle Voice, please contact Johnat: [email protected]

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Gentle Voice March 2013

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