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Teaching
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama-
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 "I offer these teachings for those who do not have much
time or opportunity for extensive study. I have nothing to say that has not
been said before, so try to use what I will explain to transform your mind.
It is not enough simply to have heard or read something before; you should
make repeated efforts to put it to use in your spiritual practice, for only
then will these teachings be of true benefit.
The Buddha himself said, "Do not commit any evil deeds; collect all
virtuous qualities; completely transform your mind - that is the teaching
of the Buddha." The reason we should follow his advice is that
in our hearts, none of us wants suffering; we all want happiness.
Suffering is the result of misguided and negative deeds, but happiness is
the result of positive actions. However, eliminating negativity and
cultivating positive activities is not possible merely by changing our
physical or verbal behavior. It can only be done by transforming the
mind.
In our lives, the intelligent way of doing things is to set goals and then
determine whether these goals are feasible. In the practice of
Buddhism, our goal is to attain nirvana and the state of Buddhahood.
As human beings we are fortunate to have the ability to achieve these
goals. The state of enlightenment we seek is freedom from the burden
of disturbing emotions. The intrinsic nature of the mind is pure; the
disturbing emotions that afflict it are only temporary flaws.
However, we cannot eliminate negative emotions by removing certain brain
cells. Even the most advanced surgical technology cannot perform this
task. It can be achieved only by a transformation of the mind."
Buddhism teaches that the mind is the main cause of our being reborn in the
cycle of existence. But the mind is also the main factor that allows
us to gain freedom from this cycle of birth and death. This
liberation is achieved by controlling negative thoughts and emotions and by
promoting and developing those that are positive. It is important to
realize that this task entails years of perseverance and hard work.
We cannot expect instant results. Think of all the great adepts of
the past.
Suffering is not something that always comes from the outside. It
does not only involve problems like famine and drought. If these were
the case we could protect ourselves from suffering, for example, by storing
food. But sufferings like sickness, aging, and death are problems
related to the very nature of our existence, and we cannot overcome them by
external conditions. What is more, we have within us this untamed
mind, susceptible to all kinds of problems. It is afflicted with
negative thoughts like doubt and anger. As long as our minds are
beset by this host of negative thoughts, even if we have soft, comfortable
clothes and delicious food to eat, they will not solve our problems.
Even though we have been born as ordinary people, we must try to use this
precious opportunity before we die to gain a secure realization of the
Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha. If we can do the, we will not
have to fear death. A good practitioner can die peacefully without
regret because his or her human potential is fulfilled. On the other
hand, if, as human beings, we are unable to leave any positive imprint on
our minds and only accumulate negative activities, our human potential will
have been wasted. To be responsible for the pain and destruction of
humans and other sentient beings is to be more like an evil force than a
human being. Therefore, make this human life worthwhile, not something
destructive."
Extract from the book: "The Joy of Living and Dying
in Peace"
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
His Holiness will be teaching in Europe during the next
couple of months, to see his teaching schedule please click here.
Geshe Tashi will be teaching on the topic of Finding Inner Peace, on
Wednesdays in May and June. All are welcome to attend.
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Updates to the programme-
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 Next week we start the Summer programme in full force - with
classes Mondays to Thursdays and every weekend, including two retreats with
Geshe Tashi, and various visiting teachers: Andy Weber, Gareth Sparham,
Yangsi Rinpoche and Robert Beer.
We also have a few additions that you might want to put into
your diary:
*Music for soul healing and relaxation-
Saturday 16th of May 7.30pm (£10 / £7 concession)
An evening of world music featuring Tibetan healing bowls and
devotional Bajans.
*An introduction to
Lama Yeshe's Vision for Kids-
Thursday 9th of July 7.30pm (Suggested donation £10)
Please book in advance.
Since 1989, Pam Cayton and staff at Lama's Vision for Kids,
Tara Redwood School, California, have researched, created and implemented
strategies for awakening compassion, wisdom and social responsibility in
the minds and hearts of children.
Inspired by the late Tibetan teacher Lama Thubten Yeshe, the programme
blends the best of Eastern and Western approaches in education and is
suitable for children of any faith or culture. It will be experiential,
engaging and fun for all. See www.lamasvisionforkids.org
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THIS
MONTH AT JAMYANG
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Wednesdays @ 7.30pm
Thursdays @ 6.15pm
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VISITING
TEACHERS
29, 30,
31
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Director's column-
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 Esther and I arrived back from the week-long meeting of FPMT
Centre Directors & key personnel from around the world, to a very busy
Jamyang - Khensur Jampa Tegchok Rinpoche had arrived and the teachings were
in full swing. I was very happy to see so many people attending the
teachings, and, with a scholar of Geshe Tashi's standing as translator, and
Khensur Rinpoche's excellent teachings, the Dharma experience and benefit
can't get much higher!
I want to say a huge thank you to Anil, who really shouldered a lot of
responsibility while both Esther and I were away, and to all the staff and
volunteers who stepped forward after our plea for help during Rinpoche's
visit, and who have been fantastically helpful. You are all sincerely
appreciated - thanks to you, everything has run very smoothly (and Anil is
still sane!).
Esther and I are keen to share some of the CPMT meeting experience with
everyone, so we will be sending out a separate Egroup about this later.
But suffice to say it was such an inspiring and uplifting meeting,
with 80 of the 155 FPMT Centres/Projects represented, covering 26 different
countries, giving a total of 188 delegates, and including Lama Zopa
Rinpoche of course. We also had the exciting experience of being
quarantined for several days when a Swine Flu scare hit Institute
Vajrayogini in southern France, where the meeting was held. Complete with
police guards at the front gate!
 And Jamyang is currently hosting two special visitors -
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, who is briefly in London giving teachings at other
venues, and yesterday we welcomed back Geshe Sopa, also staying for a few
days. So it's a very satisfyingly "full house" at Jamyang
right now.
Work has begun on repairing the Parinirvana statue in our Courtyard.
Unfortunately, the statue surface has deteriorated over the years,
since the stone does not resist the weather well. A group of
students and their tutors from City & Guilds College are doing the work
as a College project, so their time is offered, but we do need to raise
funds for the materials, particularly the gold leaf for the statue. Offering
gold to the statue creates lots of merit and also protects it from the
weather ... more on this later.
We also said goodbye to our Cafe Manager, Michelle, who had to return to
Australia for family reasons. Michelle put so much energy into
Jamyang and getting the in-house cafe up and running, so it was very sad to
say goodbye to her. And almost the same week Michelle left, Pete
finished his time cooking at Jamyang to go and cook at another Buddhist
Centre in Scotland, so there was another sad goodbye.
Comings and goings, impermanence ....
Looking forward to seeing some more sun, and sending love to you all,
Sally
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474 Words on Lojong by Dave Benn-
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 Dave Benn is back as a regular contributor to Gentle Voice, he
will be giving suggestions on books to read that relate to the topics being
taught at Jamyang. We hope you enjoy his words.
Buddhism with an
Attitude (The Tibetan Seven-Point Mind Training) by Allan
Wallace fits easily alongside the Lojong (mind training) teachings from
Khensur Geshe Jampa Tegchok Rinpoche. Tibetan Buddhist practice isn't just
sitting merely in silent meditation; it is developing fresh structures
aligning our minds with reality. Here Allan Wallace uses his knowledge of
western psychology due to his involvement in the Mind Science debates
instigated and participated in by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and here
presents another approach to this core seven point mind training practice
of Kadampa teachings of (Dipankara Shrijnana) Lama Atisha (980-1054 CE.)
Mind Training
Like the Rays of the Sun is a traditional Lojong teaching
by Nam-Kha Pel. Translated by Brian Beresford, this text was considered so
important by Jamyang's own Geshe Tashi Tsering that he used it for one of
his first teachings in the UK when Jamyang was still in a small house in
Finsbury Park near to the old Arsenal football ground; then, we had to
transform our minds away from sounds of the cheers and boos of the nearby
soccer fans! The special feature of mind training (lojong) is the
instruction enabling us to transform adversity into advantage; these
instructions help open us to other beings, with the added advantage of a technique
to transform whatever difficulties come our way.
Transforming
Adversity into Joy and Courage is by Lama Khensur Geshe
Jampa Tegchok Rinpoche returning to UK - he originally spent three
years in England before going to Nalanda Monastery in France in 1983. This
book is a detailed commentary of lojong from a text by Gyalsay Togme Sangpo
(1295-1369) which is studied by followers of all schools of Tibetan
Buddhism. This extraordinary commentary by Geshe Jampa Tegchok clearly
explains the popular practice of exchanging oneself with others to develop
love and compassion for all living beings. It lays open the methods for
doing glance, stabilizing, and analytical meditations, and offers an
in-depth discussion of the nature of emptiness.
But what is lojong? It is not a topic merely to read teachings then put
aside; it is a core practice of introspection that continues until the time
that death comes creeping around the mountain top. Then after this, like
Dante in his Inferno of some Hellish region, there will be those tormented
around us who need us to shine a little light which may relieve their
suffering and turn them on a path towards awakening.
Lojong is just like the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha who, when in a hellish
region in a previous birth as a young Brahman girl, because she was afraid
of the fate of her mother who had slandered the Three Jewels, undertook a
journey to hell to plead her mother's case. Ksitigarbha, Earth Store
Bodhisattva, then vowed that as long as there was still one suffering soul
in hell, she would not attain full Buddhahood.
From The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows; "The
Buddha said to Manjusri, 'I, too, cannot complete the counting even with
the vision of my Buddha eyes. Altogether they constitute those beings
already delivered, those not yet delivered, those still to be delivered and
also those representing work already accomplished and yet to be
accomplished by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva throughout infinite, long Kalpas.'
"
The Ksitigarbha mantra is OM PRA MA NI DA NI SO HA and will
guarantee that you will never be unemployed because, as a Bodhisattva, you
will find work helping sentient beings until hell freezes over.
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Jamyangers walk to Happy Valley by Alison Wertheimer-
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 A sunny Saturday in April - who could resist a walk to Happy
Valley?! Perhaps that was why an excellent turnout of fifteen
sentient beings set out from the more urban setting of East Croydon
station: fourteen of the two-legged species and Gypsy - she of the four
legs which is quite an advantage on a six-mile walk with some steep climbs.
Croydon Council's website lived up to expectations: "As Happy Valley
awakes from its winter slumber, the woods and slopes come alive with
bluebells, anemones, cowslips and violets" - add warm sunshine and
blue skies and little wonder that less than half an hour after a friendly
welcome for our lunch stop at The Fox on Coulsdon Common, everyone was
enjoying the first sunbathing of the year. (But we did walk six miles
as well!)
I managed a few quick vox pop interviews at the end of the walk, so here's
what some of the walkers had to say:
Happy Valley lives up to its name ... One of my most favourite days -
outside Jamyang! (Anil)
Happy Valley - amazing, vibrant, sunshine - and I've got thirteen new
friends and a couple of special connections (Nicola)
We visited the happiest valley in London - a great day. I feel
fantastic, invigorated (Corinne)
As a regular at Jamyang it's nice to do something outside the Centre with
Jamyang (Alex)
I loved it - all the running - a great time (Gypsy)
Wanderous ... trains formative (Robin)
A lovely refreshing and uplifting walk through the Happy Valley (Esther)
A nice walk, good start time (11 a.m. for those who like a lie-in at the
weekend) - and I learned where the Oyster cards do and don't work! (Ian)
So many thanks to Robin for organising a great day out, our
next Jamyang Walk will be on Sunday the 21st of June. We hope to see
you then!
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Courtyard garden: a work in progress-
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With the summer on our doorstep, Steve Sinclair has been
applying his new gardening skills to Jamyang's courtyard garden. You will
notice some nice samples next time you come into Jamyang! If you have time
and skill to help Steve maintain and improve the garden please contact him
at: dharma_steve@hotmail.com
We are also working on the Paranirvana statue, more information about this
project to follow in the next few months.
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Improving our Library-
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 Help us to sort the books in the Jamyang Library and improve
the Library system for all readers. We will do the work on Friday 15th and
22nd of April from 10.00 a.m. till 6.00 p.m. The help of 5 volunteers
would be needed to complete this mission within two days.
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Events in London-
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1) Tibetan
Peace Garden 10th Anniversary
 Tibet Foundation is pleased to announce a series of events to
mark the 10th Anniversary
of the Tibetan Peace Garden. His Holiness the Dalai Lama opened the Tibetan
Peace Garden, commissioned by Tibet Foundation, on 13th May 1999. Ever
since, it remains as a symbol, reminding us that, "human survival
depends on living in harmony and on always choosing the path of
non-violence in resolving our differences". Today, the Tibetan Peace
Garden, next to the Imperial War Museum in London, has become a Buddhist
landmark where many go to contemplate and pray for peace.
There will be various celebrations. For more information click here
2)
World Cinema with a Buddhist Edge
Thursday 7th - Sunday 17th May 2009
The world's leading resource for Buddhist cinema, the US based IBFF
(International Buddhist Film Festival) comes to the UK, and the Barbican,
for the first time. Part of The Many Faces of Buddhism series, the line-up
of programmes here at IBFF 2009 LONDON includes forty-six films from
eighteen countries, with twenty-seven UK premieres and three discussion
events. Themes of happiness, redemption, reconciliation, simplicity,
forgiveness, generosity, community, creativity, humour, and personal
transformation are explored in many ways.
For more information visit: http://www.barbican.org.uk/ibff/home
3) Buddha Mind Creative Mind
For those of you who might be interested, we received the following
email from the Network of Buddhist Organisations in the UK about a weekend
workshop on Buddhism and creativity.
The weekend will explore the
links and relationship between the creative life, artistic expression
and Buddhist thought and practice. Areas that will be considered will
include: what aspects of Buddhist thought and practice have artists drawn
on in their artistic practice and how they influence and
challenge each other. Does Buddhism offer anything unique to the creative
process? In what ways is creative practice used within Buddhism both
today and historically?
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FPMT-
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 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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Your thoughts
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What do you want to see in Gentle
Voice? We would love to hear your ideas and comments
about Gentle Voice,
please contact Esther at: spc@jamyang.co.uk
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