Corona ki Karuna

The new Corona virus (COVID -19) has virtually thrown life out of gear in over 150 countries. And counting. Having originated in China due to reasons ranging from a lab experiment gone wrong to animal to human transmission and mutation, it has taken several thousand lives and disturbed millions others. Economies have been disrupted, businesses have been busted, cultural and sporting events of all kinds have been derailed, tourism knocked out cold and the list goes on. It has yet to peak in several nations and therefore the fear and anxiety it has generated is palpable and something like never seen since decades.

However, die hard optimists see a golden lining in every pessimism and adversity. And so have i. Lets try and look at it this way.

• Cities under lockdown have brought people together. Not physically for sure, but psychologically, mentally and with a sense of urgency in discipline, hitherto not seen at such scale.
• 'Work from Home’ diktat has brought family time within the four walls, especially working parents being able to give massive swathes of quality and un-distracted time to their kids, near and dear ones and probably neighbours.
• Family time also translates into pursuing indoor hobbies such as gardening, board games, family cooking, reading, clearing up house clutter, re-arranging wardrobes, video chatting with friends and family across the globe, common screen time, increased conversation and communication time, listening to music, yoga, meditation and prayers etc
• Countries and groups of nations have come together temporarily putting aside their politico-economic differences in offering help to each other.
• Multi-national companies employing from multi-ethnic backgrounds have suggested to their employees to get back to their country of origin immediately. What this translates into is welcome family time for jet-setting business managers, something this tribe forever seems to be in short supply of!
• Enhanced hygiene among people across the globe in washing their hands, keeping surroundings clean, reduced spitting, sanitization of vehicles and neighbourhoods etc.
• Preparing nations for disaster management; especially nations which hitherto were sen to be laggards in such situations.
• Uniting political parties in fighting one common enemy: the virus.

This is merely an illustrative list. Each of us can add to this list in making it an exhaustive one. Well, what is the take away for us from it?

In every adversity there is opportunity. An opportunity to change and transform. Opportunity to reflect and reform. Opportunity to reconstruct and rejuvenate our priorities. Opportunity to slow down and smell the roses! Opportunity to not merely make a living but in general to live life, to love life. It is natural to see every adversity as suffering. But suffering itself, in Buddhist teachings, is to be seen as manure. At the gross level it may well be foul smelling, obnoxious looking and unsavoury. But at the subtle level it is this very manure that is considered the very best for new seeds of crop to grow into a bountiful harvest! As HH The XIV Dalai Lama says “...for it is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.”

Let’s us change our perspective towards this unseen, unforgiving and dangerous adversity we currently face. Let our response be calm, optimistic and compassionate. Let’s try and use this windfall opportunity given to us into one for ushering in a new phase in our lives, irrespective of what age and stage of life we may be in. It’s not about how old we are, but about how we are old, said once a wise man.

Girish Deshpande

(The author is an ordained Ngakpa and follows the Palyul school of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. www.speakingtree.in)

THE INFALLIBLE RULE OF 70:20:10 - LIVING GOOD, DYING BETTER!

The Speaking Tree, Sunday, 05.01.2020
Looking around one sees all round stress in people trying to work harder and harder to acquire, own, accumulate and possess more and more wealth, comfort, luxury goods, ornaments, travel experiences, social media posts etc. Nothing to fault this except that depression, suicide, frustration, early strokes and heart ailments, are rising alongside this lifestyle revolving around wanting more and more in less and less time. This is a global condition. Result is the same: adverse impact on mental and physical health. Although people seem externally at peace, the calm exterior hides the uneasiness and fragility within. There’s forever pressure to showcase to the world what new and different we’re up to. It seems like if we don’t, we’d become socially irrelevant or worse, relegated as societal discards. ‘Too much in the window, too less in the house’, as HH the XIV Dalai Lama, terms it.

Something needs to be done about it. Advertising companies, brand developers cannot be blamed for enticing people to fall prey to their gimmicks. It is their job to do so. They’d fail in their fundamental task if they failed to seduce people’s gullible minds! As Buddhist Master Nagarjuna said: “Phenomena don’t bind us, it’s our grasping to them that does.” What’s the way out then?

Here’s and empirical formula I’ve come up with. It has been termed as The Infallible Rule Of 70:20:10. Sample this.

Each one of us has some skill that we have acquired either from education, training, genetics or any other influence. Armed with these skill sets and application of some of common sense and intelligence we’re able to secure ourselves a job or start an enterprise. Working smartly and diligently, we’re able to grow organically in our job or business. This growth takes care of our basic needs and wants, plus leaves us with some additional disposable income to invest, take vacations, acquire few goods, possessions and comforts; all the time taking care of a healthy work-life balance, joyful and happy family time etc. This situation one finds himself/herself in, is what i term as being in the Zone of 70, which essentially means we can take care of seventy percent of our needs, wants, desires and comforts.

Having achieved the full potential of the Zone of 70, driven by natural instinct of human desire, we work even more hard, expend more of our time, energy and effort at the workplace, go that extra mile to achieve target and deadlines, all in the quest for earning more. At this stage we have acquired several more comforts, leisure, possessions and have a lot more disposable income to invest and spend. However, in the process we put at risk knowingly or unknowingly, the neglect towards our health, quality family time and personal space to grow in emotional quotient. Our real happiness quotient goes down, even as economic development has taken a good leap. This is potentially a tinder-box situation. This situation one finds himself/herself in, is what i term as being in the Zone of 20, which essentially means that the additional twenty percent catapults us economically, but drains us considerably in other spheres of living a joyful, healthy, happy life. Work-life balance gets skewed.

Now we come to the zenith of The Infallible Rule. The race to achieve the last ten points, in order to reach one hundred percent! This is the most treacherous and unforgiving zone. Not many i’ve seen in my life have run to complete it and come out unscarred and unscathed in the process. Not because they fall short in their effort, strength and intelligence but because this ‘hundred percent’ is such a deceptive mirage, a forever moving target, that it leaves one clutching at straws, nothing more! In the struggle to reach the pinnacle of one’s career, so much of everything is put at stake that mental, physical, emotional and psychological disasters have taken place within and families and personalities left ruined in its pursuit.

My personal take for a well lived and well-balanced life would be to play near the point of eighty, sometimes peaking to eighty-five, seldom to ninety, rarely or never beyond. The rest of the time, space and energy could be invested in developing as responsible human beings, generating mental awareness in understanding nature of reality, exploring the true nature of our mind through a well guided scientific and spiritual process. Limiting our desire and making way for unlimited joy, is the name of the game. All this care and investment, so that we not only life a great human life but are spectacular also in death. So, try and follow the Rule of 70:20:10. It’s foolproof. It works inside us so it’s easy to control too.

Girish Deshpande

(The author is an ordained Ngakpa and follows the Palyul school of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. More on www.speakingtree.in 

July-Aug 2019 Namdroling Visit

To me it's always a matter of great pride and relaxation in returning here for my bi-annual visit. As resource person to PMTC, the English language arm of NNI/NNNI (monastery & nunnery), I've been at their service voluntarily since 2015.

The third batch of select monks and nuns now train under my guidance in a number of aspects mostly to do with English writing, public speaking, grammar, composition & comprehension, vocabulary building, listening skills, diction correction, personality development, confidence building, time and task management, conversation et al.

The love, affection and respect showered upon me is impossible not to reciprocate. So, it is a solid two way bridge in every sense!

And some wandering around the idyllic surroundings of Bylakuppe!

MOMENT OF HUMBLE PRIDE TO SEE ONE'S STUDENTS TAKE WINGS!

This time returning to my real alma mater Namdroling Monastery, Bylakuppe was different indeed. As visiting resource faculty i've been rendering services to the Padma Mani Translation Committee (PMTC) - whose vision is to create a team of English speaking dharma-teachers, translators, writers, interpreters and administrators - since 2015. 

This time around the news was that four of my students had been selected to attend a two week cultural exchange program in the USA and were invited by the University of Worcester, Massachusetts! This was a moment of humble pride for me for sure but not before due credit is given to the untiring efforts of the students themselves, the brain behind the PMTC itself - the indefatigable Khenpo Sonam Tsewang, the heart essences of the Namdroling Monastery and the wisdom laden guidance of its leading administrator, Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche, fondly called 'Khenchen Guru'.

Jr. nuns session in progress

Jr. monks engrossed in an assignment

Visiting and sharing a meal with wise old friend Choechok Gyatso at his swank new home, Sera University, Bylakuppe.

Sr. Monks at PMTC

Dining out with the chosen few. What a privilege!

Being felicitated by Khenpo Sonam Tsewang-1

Felicitation -2

One for the camera please!

A family that eats together, stays together.

Consecration of Relic Stupa, Namdroling Monastery, Bylakuppe, 28-29.4.2018.

A stupa by definition is a dome, mound or pyramid shaped commemorative monument erected as a Buddhist shrine containing the body relics of saintly Buddhist monks and nuns. A stupa is a representation of the body, speech and mind of a realized lama who has passed away and therefore acts as a living presence of the Buddha, his protective powers, compassion and wisdom. Stupas also act as powers of support to the seekers and followers for meditative practices. Such stupas in several forms - each shape bearing a specific significance - and sizes are found all over India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tibet and among other Buddhist nations and/or where Buddhism is gaining rapidly in embracing a way of life and living, death and dying based on studied faith, universal responsibility and secular ethics.

Recently i had the good fortune of attending the consecration of relic stupa of great relevance and significance at the Namdroling Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka.

Located 90kms from Mysore, this monastery is a must do on the local tourist circuit and is popularly referred to as ‘the Golden Temple’ by locals. Founded in the year 1963 and completed in 1979 by H.H. Padma Norbu Rinpoche after fleeing Tibet due to political instability and invasion by Chinese forces, this monastery of the Palyul lineage of Nyingmapa tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, today houses a total of 4000 monks and 800 nuns; in its junior school (lobdra), school of rituals (dratsang) and monastic college (shedra), all of who study under the umbrella of the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, a high calibre global university for higher Buddhist studies. A full-fledged Retreat Centre, set up in 1985, is where about 50 monks can engage in deep practice at one time, for the traditional cycle of three years, three months and three days. A similar retreat centre has also recently been set up for nuns. A large prayer hall - Padmasambhava Buddhist Vihara – with gigantic statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, Guru Padmasambhava (Founder of Tibetan Buddhism)and Buddha Amitayus (Buddha of Limitless Light/Long Life Buddha) is big enough for few thousand monks and nuns to perform prayers simultaneously, is the mainstay of Namdroling Monastery, the mother monastery of which is located in Tibet.

H.H. Padma Norbu Rinpoche was born in 1932 from prophecy of the 5^th Dzogchen Rinpoche Thubten Chokyi Dorji (1872-1935). Astounding signs appeared  - unseasonal blooming of flowers, rainbows encircling nearby hills and so on - as he was given birth to by mother Dzomkyid and fathered by Sonam. Over his lifetime until passing away into mahaparinirvana in 2009, HH accomplished tasks unimaginable and unfathomable to the ordinary across India, Tibet, Bhutan, Canada, the UK and USA, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Taiwan, Germany, Nepal, Singapore, Macau, Malaysia and others, conferring transmissions and empowerments of texts, practices and rituals to students, both ordained and lay practitioners, all along.

It was therefore only befitting that a stupa of his relics was erected and consecrated in the finest manner possible at Namdroling Monastery in South India. Reliquary stupas of HH have also been built in Palyul Monastery in Tibet, Bodh Gaya and Namdroling Nunnery, Bylakuppe in the recent past after his mahaparinirvana.

After two days of the puja ceremony, conducted by the senior most lineage holders and abbots of the monastery, the stupa was consecrated, blessed and dedicated to the people at large who then placed their offerings and prayers of deep devotion and pure aspirations before it. Representation of devotees and sponsors numbering over 300 from far flung places like Vietnam, Taiwan , the USA besides cities of India made it to the event. Monks and nuns worked day and night to make our stay comfortable with more than well laid out arrangements for food, stay and other venue arrangements. An impressive coffee table book titled “The Great Play of Infinite Merit” was released and distributed among attendees, showcasing the life and times of H.H. Padma Norbu Rinpoche with an elaborative commentary on stupa details.

H.E. Mugsang Kuchen Rinpoche, who oversaw the construction and subsequent consecration of the stupa says: “Although i had initial difficulty to study the authentic reliquary stupas in the Potala, Tibet and also find architects and sculptors for them, it is a matter of great joy for all of us that this task is successfully completed. It is an object of veneration for the sangha of Namdroling Monastery as well as a source of accumulating merit for his disciples who will come later. From a worldly point of view it is a memorial of his legacy. There is nothing called ‘distance’ as far as the blessing of one’s root guru is concerned, for there is a saying, “For those whose heart is filled with devotion, I, the Lotus-Born, have not gone astray. I am resting at your doorstep.”

Salient features of the Relic Stupa:

•       It is a Tashi Gomang Stupa – a stupa of many auspicious doors, symbolic of the first teaching of Sakyamuni Buddha’s Four Noble Truths in Sarnath
•      The supporting structure of the stupa is about 8ft tall made of finely engraved agarwood (aloeswood) 
•       Intricate carvings of eight lions on a base of lotus petals, sixteen Offering Goddesses holding sense offerings stand is majestic charm on lotuses
•     Pillars and shafts between the lions and the borders above are further highlighted by fine carvings of a artform called norzin patra, a Tibetan carving artform featuring jewels surrounded by flowers
•     Above these layers are attractive carvings of the Eight Auspicious Symbols, Eight Auspicious Substances, Seven Secondary Precious Objects and Five Sensory Objects
•     Above this base structure rests the chorten or stupa which is 14ft tall and nearly 7ft wide encircled by 3ft bronze statues of the Eight Manifestations of Guru Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), all made specially in Nepal
•     The stupa itself is made of agarwood and finished with silver sheeting with all of the carvings inscribed on gilded copper plates
•     Carvings of the main stupa are inlaid with coral and turquoise. The lower part of the throne appears to be held aloft by an elephant, horse, peacock, mythological shang-shang bird-half human and half eagle-and lions.
•     The four steps above this layer are symbolic of the Four Immeasurables (loving kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity) with the borders embellished with turquoise and coral
•     The topmost portion of the stupa (bumpa) symbolizes the seven elements of enlightenment is adorned with pendants and garlands with its four sides made of refined bronze with neatly arranged designs
  
•          The crown ornament is made of a blend of gold and copper elements with its surface emblazoned with the seed syllables of the five Buddha families, both male and female in the Ranjana (Lantsa) script
•       The parasol of the stupa representing the compassion of the buddhas is adorned by hanging tassels and wreath of flowers on top of which is the conjoined sun disc for compassion and moon disc representing wisdom
•       The ceiling above the stupa is the mandala of Gathering of Vidyadharas drawn in liquid gold encircled by a Tibetan mantra to the omniscient Lama
•        Inside the stupa is the central axis pole of red sandal alongside and within which are placed sacred mantras, dharinis, body relics, bodhisattva vase and other sacred, precious and medicinal items of great significance according to the scriptures

Memorabilia.

Temple by night.

With attendees.

The Reliquary Stupa

Stupa Post Card

LOVE AND ATTACHMENT: Getting it Right

Speaking Tree, Times of India, 15.02.2018

Easy Read:

A young student of mine wrote to me recently and enquired: “Is getting attached to anyone or anything bad? What is the difference between attachment and love?” It is not an uncommon question she had asked. Here’s my explanation:

According to Buddhist definition, there is a distinction to be made between loving someone or something and being attached to it. For this, fundamentally we must understand the difference between 'attachment' and 'love’.

Attachment (Tib: due pa) is based on desire - not necessarily limited to sexual – but one which is grasping in nature based on the ignorant state that things and people are permanent. Attachment is conditional love and is discriminatory in nature. This means that there is a pre-condition set in order to offer love eg: if the judgemental mind establishes a ‘closeness’ to someone or something then we tend to cling to it or grasp at it more and at times don’t seem to get enough of it! If not then we are less interested in it and may even begin to dislike or hate it. There is an ‘if-then’ conditionality linked to it. Attachment is based on 'object' of love arising from a selfish perspective of ‘i alone want to be happy’. There is an action we offer based on ‘subject-object’ duality. Attachment is binding. For these reasons attachment is based on wrong or impure consciousness. Attachment is a non-virtuous, afflictive or contaminated emotion (akushala bhava) leading to negative karma and suffering.

Nature does not support attachment. A tree is not attached to the flower or fruit it bears. Nor does the flower or fruit show any such tendency. On ripening, there is a spontaneous release from both. Same is the case in the animal kingdom. A tigress loves her cub no less than any mother would love her child; but once the cub is sufficiently grown up to fend for itself, there is natural and spontaneous release from the tigress and cub.  

Love (Tib: jampa) on the other hand is based on understanding of impermanence. That something which is born will pass away and hence there is need and reason to love.  This emotion is desireless for any reason whatsoever. It is unconditional and non-discriminatory i.e. there is no pre-condition of 'if-then' at play here.  Much the same way as a mother loves her child unconditionally. It is based on 'reason' for love arising from the basis that it’s not just me alone but all beings who want to be happy and not be in suffering; and therefore need our affection. Love is releasing. For these reasons it is seen to be coming from right or pure consciousness or we can say, mindful consciousness. Sanskrit words used often here are 'karuna', ‘metta’ and 'maitri'. Loving kindness is a virtuous, non-afflictive or uncontaminated emotion (kushala bhava) that leads to joy and positive karmic result.

So, it is clear that any and every kind of relationship should have a close bonding for one another based on love/loving kindness, care being taken that contamination of attachment does not seep in. This maintains the purity of the relationship which becomes stronger, long lasting and capable of weathering many a storm during one’s life.

Attachment is therefore a kind of emotion that needs to be purified and be replaced with its positive counterpart, that of loving kindness. There is danger of attachment becoming a habit if we are not careful to see the difference.

Go ahead! Expand your heart with real love and true affection upon all other beings!

Girish Deshpande(The author is a Pune based practitioner with Ngakpa ordination of the Nyingma tradition of Palyul lineage. More on www.urbanlama.blogspot.com and www.speakingtree.in )

Namdroling Monastery Visit Postcards, November 2017

 A place in NNI/PMTC history...Wow! what a feeling of privilege.

 Senior monks and nuns...

 Junior monks...with Khenpo Sonam Tsewang (sitting first from left)

 Junior nuns...

At TSD Nunnery, Namdroling