August 2008

In This Issue

Geshe Tashi's Column

FPMT Monks and Nuns

This Month at Jamyang

Sutra of Golden Light

Director's column

Manager's bit

Jumble sale

Keeping the Buddha's teachings alive- by Alice Hunter

Quick Links

Audio Teachings
The Foundation Study Course

Editor's welcome

This month FPMT celebrates ordained Nuns and Monks with the International Sangha Day (5th August). You will find lots of the contributions in this edition of Gentle Voice refer to that date, including Geshe Tashi's column, which explains the role of the International Mahayana Institute (IMI) and the importance of keeping pure the true practice of Buddhist monastic ordination in the 21st century.

Alice Hunter, student at Jamyang, took on the task of interviewing 3 of Jamyang's sangha to find out a little more about how they live their lives and what are their biggest challenges; don't miss her contribution.

By reading Sally's and Anil's columns you will find out what is going on at Jamyang behind the scenes, including an update on the financial situation.

And, of course, it is time for Jamyang's annual JUMBLE SALE! Yes, we need your jumble. Read specifications below.

Finally, don't miss the update on events this month: from the 2 additional Monday meditation sessions, the Golden Light sutra Recitation, Ven. Rita, Gareth and Marisol's classes, the Jamyang walk and more.

Enjoy the summer and get ready for a very active autumn programme at Jamyang!

Much love,
esther g.

Geshe Tashi's Column-

Next Tuesday 5th August has been chosen as International Sangha day by the International Mahayana Institute (IMI) to celebrate the role of the monastic sangha in Buddhism and the mutual benefit and interdepence of the Monastic sangha and the lay Buddhists. The IMI is the organisation set up by the FPMT to take forward into the 21st century and beyond the valid and authentic tradition of Buddhist monastic ordination and to look after those people who have courageously chosen to be monks or nuns.

On the day the monks and nuns of the IMI will offer prayers for world peace, as they have done since the full moon of the month of miracles. The 5th of August is also the day we celebrate the first teaching of the Buddha at Sarnath, the teaching on the four noble truths. I think it is a really good idea to have a day every year where we all remember the preciousness of the monastic sangha and very skilful to use that day for prayers for world peace in this troubled planet we live on.

In advance of that day I would like to share four things with you:
* My deep appreciation to Kyabje Thubten Zopa Rinpoche for all the hard work and effort he has put in to creating and maintaining the IMI and to make the IMI capable of providing for the needs of monks and nuns: their needs for education, their needs for help in keeping vows and their needs for monasteries and nunneries;
* The great work done by the IMI to ensure the transmission of authentic forms of monastic ordination for men and women and "a big thank you" for the support and help they give monks and nuns in the FMPT worldwide; and
* My appreciation of the sincere efforts of our FPMT monks and nuns to take up, uphold and maintain the precious vinaya of the monastic ordination lineages;
* My thanks to the friends of the western monastic sangha who have been supportive in helping this tradition to come to the West.

The IMI very skilfully and thoughtfully follows the traditions of the ordained orders which Buddha himself introduced to the Buddhist monks and nuns. All this is done very thoughtfully and skilfully to help to introduce Buddhist ordinations in this 21st century for western men and women who are interested in becoming Buddhist monks and nuns. Many conferences, discussions and trainings have been held and more will be held in the future initially for each and every centre under the FPMT organisation so as to give information to the centres and centre teachers, particularly how to give support and provide information to meet the needs of individuals who are interested in becoming Buddhist monks and nuns. Not only that, but IMI have taken great care and thought to introduce valid and authentic traditional Buddhist monastic ordination. Starting with giving the pre-ordination training for 2 to 3 weeks and after that taking the ordinations. Again, giving the ordinations gradually and according to the Vinaya that Buddha himself introduced to his monastic community. The Buddha himself said on a number of occasions that the measure of whether the true teachings of the Buddha continue to exist in the world will depend on whether the traditional authentic lineages of monastic ordinations continue to exist in the world. When Buddha was near to parinirvana he was requested to say who would be the guide of the monastic sangha once he had passed away. Buddha answered that "the vinaya will be your teacher". So a very strong emphasis is given to the Vinaya.

If you then come to the Tibetan traditions, when Buddhism came to Tibet, the monastic tradition was one of its key pillars. All the four Buddhist traditions follow the same monastic Vinaya for ordaining men and women as monks and nuns. Lama Tsongkhapapa strongly emphasised the importance of the monastic vinaya and its practice. In some sense and for certain reasons many past and present great Buddhist practitioners and scholars understand that one of the main contributions of Lama Tsongkhapa to Tibetan Buddhism was in his re-emphasising the key role of the authentic Buddhist monastic tradition based on the Vinaya. Therefore it is something really joyous and really to be admired that the sangha members under the IMI go through the process to take the ordinations based on the traditional monastic Vinaya.

Not all groups called sangha are monastic sangha. This is something understandable because the term sangha has different meanings in different contexts. The Sangha Jewel of the Three Jewels refers strictly to the community of people who, as minimum, have full direct realisation of selflessness. So in that context sangha does not have to be ordained monks and nuns as long as that person has direct realisation of selflessness. More generally four sanghas are talked about: the community of Monks, the community of nuns, the community of lay women and the community of lay men.

But when we talk of the monastic sangha, the communities of ordained monks and nuns, then we are talking about communities of people who have been ordained following authentic valid traditions of ordination coming from the Buddha himself, the vinaya. The vinaya tradition followed by all monks and nuns in all the Tibetan schools is the ancient Indian vinaya of the Mula Sarvastivada. The Theravada vinaya is followed in the Theravada tradition found in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burma. The Dharmaguptaka vinaya in the far Eastern traditions of China and so on. These traditions differ but they are all authentic vinaya traditions with long practice and transmission lineages traditions stemming from ancient Indian Buddhism and the time of the Buddha. Based on those we carry on the process of becoming an ordained member stage by stage up to becoming fully ordained monks and nuns. Although we all know that at the present the Tibetan Vinaya tradition does not have the full ordination for nuns but HHDL and other great teachers are investigating if there is any possibility to introduce a full ordination for nuns in the Tibetan tradition.

With that I would like to say a few words about the thinking that these days as it is the 21st century we need to modernise the Buddhist teaching. There is no argument that it is the 21st century and that there is a need for modernisation in the Buddhist teachings and practices. However we must be careful that based on saying we need modernisation we do not weaken the entire authentic tradition of how to become monastic sangha; how to validly ordain men and women as Buddhist monks and nuns. There is a risk here that in "modernising" we damage the continuity of very thing that is the mark of whether the true practice of Buddhist monastic ordination and teaching exists in the world.

Recently I was informed that in a website which related to ex NKT students, it was stated that as an FPMT Geshe I approve NKT ordination. I would like to clarify that I never made such a statement. Within FPMT, as in all other Tibetan Buddhist traditions, in the mula-saravastivada system, novices hold 36 vows. This is the system I uphold.

As a monk or nun, wearing the monastic robes in whichever tradition, Theravadan, Chinese or Tibetan, when you wear those robes you will feel that you wear those robes because you have received the ordination introduced by the Buddha and taught by the Buddha himself and that up to the 21st century the continuation is there, and that you have received this from such and such a master. Therefore you can be very proud and feel very fortunate to receive this monastic ordination that comes from Buddha up to your present teacher. In this way you can proudly think that you are able to hold some of the Buddha's teachings, that you are able to contribute to the continuation of the genuine Buddha's teachings into this 21st century and beyond, and not something artificially made up by one or two persons for their own purposes.

I know this article is a bit long, but to me this is very important - that in the 21st century we maintain and transmit the pure vinaya tradition coming from Buddha. Finally I want to say in general that all the sangha in the IMI should rejoice in what you have been doing and continue to do these kind of great activities. So on the 5th of August we will all do our prayers for peace together.

Monks and Nuns in the FPMT- extracted from the FPMT's website

>From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank very much all the Sangha who for so many years, not only living in, guarding, your vows, but able to benefit others - doing retreat continuously for many years or doing social service, doing hard work at the centre, doing service to sentient beings and teachings of the Buddha, which is service to our guru, His Holiness Dalai Lama.

-Lama Zopa Rinpoche, April 2007

The Sangha, the community of Buddhist monks and nuns, is the oldest monastic tradition going back to the time of the Buddha, nearly three thousand years ago. By becoming a monk or a nun, one abandons the ways and appearance of a lay person and adopts the appearance and ways of an ordained person by keeping a number of vows.

The first community of monks established by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche was at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 1971 when 25 monks moved down from the Solukhumbu region of Nepal to the small hill overlooking Boudhanath to pioneer a program of study, meditation, and communal living; this was the beginning of the largest community of FPMT monks today. The core of the Himalayan Sangha remains at Kopan Monastery , the original monastery of the FPMT. Nearby is the

Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery , home to the community of nuns associated with Kopan Monastery. Monks and nuns from the age of seven come from all over Nepal and the Himalayan countries such as Tibet, India, Bhutan, Sikkim, and even Mongolia to attend this Gelugpa monastery, one of the best in Kathmandu valley, to receive a classical monastic education.

From the early days of the FPMT organization, students have been inspired to dedicate their lives to the practice of the Buddhist path by taking the vows of monks or nuns. In the years since the founding of International Mahayana Institute (IMI) in 1974 at Kopan Monastery, several monastic communities have been established around the world, in Australia, France, India, Italy and Taiwan. The monks and nuns of IMI continue to serve as teachers, retreat leaders, centre directors, spiritual program coordinators, editors and counsellors in FPMT centers worldwide. They tirelessly help bring the benefit of Buddhist teachings to all of us.

Links:
FPMT
International Mahayana Institute
Lama Yeshe Sangha Fund Donation

For advice from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and other teachers on the topic of ordained sangha visit the IMI site at: www.imisangha.org/publications/articles.html

For more information on Lama Zopa Rinpoche's schedule and for advice visit his official website.

THIS MONTH AT JAMYANG

THIS MONTH AT JAMYANG
REGULAR CLASSES Mondays @ 7.30pm (2 new sessions) Buddhist Meditation VISITING TEACHERS 7 and 9 August Ven. Rita Riniker- Understanding our emotions Does forgiving mean forgetting? 28 to 31 August Gareth Sparham- The Bodhisattva's Path		WEEKENDS 23 August Inside - Out Yoga Workshop EVENTS 25 August Jumble Sale GROUP PRACTICE 5 August Golden Light Sutra recitation for world peace 11/ 26 August Lama Chopa Practice