Faces of Death

May 6, 2016 | Views: 1,632

Dear friends around the world,

There are many ways for us to see the fragility and also the impermanence of life. Sometimes we get so caught up with the rules, emotions, wants, goals, activities that we don’t realize our lives can be snuffed out in just seconds. I watched this film over three decades ago with a friend and since then a few times again. It really sets reality straight for me. It affected me very deeply. It showed me what our lives are about or should be about. It may seem gruesome or difficult to watch for some, but why would it be difficult to see a facet of life that we need to one day experience? In Buddhist practices around the world for 2,500 years, many students are asked to meditate on the fragility of life in a cemetery or near corpses in order to appreciate that we will be like that one day soon and to not waste our lives on pettiness, hatred and harmful actions. We should appreciate our bodies and the short time we have to occupy our bodies. At the same time others treasure their bodies as much as we treasure our own and we should never harm others. The pain we feel is the pain others can feel and therefore never inflict pain. Ultimately at the time of death our wealth, lack of wealth, friends, family, attachments, travels, favored foods, partners, spouses, pets, positions, rank and power will be of no help to us whatsoever. If it is of no help, why spend a life time pursuing those things? Spirituality and our spiritual growth is the key and only thing that can help us. It behooves us to engage in spiritual practice now and go all the way.

This documentary film is powerful, truthful and taboo. I highly recommend everyone to watch and go beyond the visuals but contemplate deeply how fragile our bodies are. To grab the essence of life, make things easier for others and ourselves and never harm another sentient being be it animal or human. 

Sincerely,
Tsem Rinpoche

 

Recently, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche had some of us: Pastor Antoinette, Pastor Shin, Joy, Beatrix and Vinnie to watch this classic taboo documentary entitled “Faces of Death”.

Faces of Death (also released more recently as The Original Faces of Death) is a 1978 American mondo (exploitation pseudo-documentary) horror film directed by Conan LeCilaire and written by Alan Black. The film guides viewers through explicit scenes depicting a variety of ways to die and violent acts. This is also listed by Entertainment Weekly in the “Top 50 Cult Movies of All-Time”.

It was first released specifically for the Japanese market and became a huge success in Asia, even outperforming “Star Wars” in some cities. While it didn’t get theatrically picked up for the United States initially, one distributor did release it on videotape and an eighties legend was born. “Faces of Death” became one of the most notorious, controversial and talked about titles ever released, spawning many sequels and ripoffs.

We would like to share our reviews and thoughts with you after watching this documentary. You can watch this here too and tell us what you think.

WARNING: This video contains content that some viewers may find disturbing.

 

Faces of Death

Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/FacesOfDeath1978.mp4

 

Pastor Shin Tan

After its release in 1978, “Faces of Death” became one of the most popular cult horror videos in history, and watching it became a rite of passage for young horror fans who had to sneak the tape past their parents.

I had watched this many years ago, and this time around, I still find this almost two-hour pseudo-documentary interesting till the end. The narrator in the guise of a doctor, Dr. Frances B. Gross added more depth to the documentary of what could be just a stream of shocking imageries on death.

Many scenes are quite haunting, one after another to keep you on your toes: from an open heart surgery procedure, slaughterhouse, police shoot out, and Larry De Silva going through his final moments of electrocution. Get ready for horrifying deaths of every shape and size, including animal attacks, wartime deaths, crashes and brutal murders. The scenes are disturbing and despite some being staged (as admitted by the producers), they make you ‘walk-through’ death, although some of us may be unwilling participants. There is also a segment on ‘life after death’. “Faces of Death” is something that I would watch again, as Buddhists are encouraged to meditate and contemplate on death and our mortality.

These are 5 things that came into mind when I sat through the documentary.

 

1. Negative emotions should not be taken lightly

We find out at the end of the shoot out scene that the shooter has killed his wife and children. There is also a scene of a woman leaping off a tall building. What has driven this man to killed his beloved wife and his own flesh and blood? Everyone avoids death at all cost, so what psychosis caused us to irrationally put our loved ones to their end or take our own lives? It is perplexing and I can only conclude that it’s negative emotions. Sometimes the inner enemy of negative emotions is scarier than an outside enemy attacking us. Like what the narrator said, we would do actions that we would regret very much later. Larry De Silva killed a defenseless woman because she gave him a hard time when he wanted her wallet, that was the reason that led him to the electric chair.

 

2. Unnecessary harming and killing of other beings, especially animals should stop

In this day and age, with a spectrum of distractions and entertainments and a more educated and conscious global society, we should not continue animal fighting. Also, do we really need to eat a monkey’s brain? Dr Frances’ decision to become vegetarian after watching how animals suffer in the slaughterhouse is a good prompt for all of us to rethink our diet. We make the choice of whether we want our stomach to be a green garden, or a ‘pet’ cemetery, a storehouse of rotten meat. I am also reminded of how warfare have killed so many countless beings. What did these ‘heroes’ die protecting? If people do not find ways to resolve conflicts, many lives will be wasted and many more will be devastated for the loss of these soldiers.

 

3. Wrong ideas and pursuits of happiness manifest in many ways

I think many, like me, will find the orgiastic cult’s practice of eating internal organs to achieve immortal life ridiculous. The community of “The Holiness Branch of the Church of God” who thought they are invincible because of their faith is also a reminder of how we can be misled easily.

I also thought about how much resources and finances were spent and gone to waste for cryonic. Preserving the ‘dead’ body or vessel in hope of reviving it without the knowledge of how to bring back the ‘essence’ of life – the mind or the soul, what use would that be? I doubt that medical technology in the next few hundred years can discover ways to achieve this. However, the existence of the cult and cryonic shows that some find these methods appealing, perhaps they are assured of their false sense of happiness and immortality.

 

4. We dig our own graves by not acknowledging the risks, but there is no way we can avoid death, and we have no control of it.

A victim of drowning who died falling into the water when he was drunk at the beach; a visitor to a park who went a little bit too close to a hungry bear; extreme sports enthusiasts and stunt men who were confident of their training and equipment which failed them; a flyer who wanted to impress his guests with his flying stunts; a game warden who underestimated the alligator he was dealing with; even our day-to-day travelling on the plane or motor-vehicles pose a threat to the continuation of our lives. We seem to take our lives for granted, or put ourselves in precarious situations, thinking that ‘it won’t be me next’. However, as the narrator reminded us, if it is our time to die, it doesn’t matter whether we are walking on the sidewalk or jumping out of a plane.

 

5. Since we cannot escape death, why not look for ways to ‘move on’?

The scene of parapsychologists tracking ghostly movement inside a “haunted house” suggests that ‘life after death’ is a possibility of what happened to us after death, and that death is not our final destination. This resonates with a statement made earlier in the film by an alleged L.A. county coroner who thinks that death is just a transition. The question posed that whether death is “the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end” is very apt. The ending of the documentary with a footage of babies being born, flowers blooming, deer running around in parks while an upbeat song entitled “Life’s a Stream” plays in the background also suggests the idea of reincarnation, which exists in many religions and culture.

Dr. Gross’ compulsion to understand death was much greater than just an obsession. Hence, for those who want a better ‘life’ after death (if you believe in reincarnation), perhaps it’s time to invest in learning and understanding death, just like Dr. Gross, “to discover the circle that forever repeats itself” instead of avoiding it.

The points above may have seemed common sense, but knowing something and doing something is a totally different ball game. Some scenes may be harrowing to watch or hard to stomach, but worse still is complacency of knowing the tragedy that will befall us and do nothing about it. This suffering of the circle of endless rebirth and death, as well as the causes of suffering are dependent on the state of our own mind, so if we can change our own mind, we can also eliminate suffering.

This documentary is an odyssey of death to remind myself of the reality that we live for a short amount of time and then, all of a sudden, we become nothing more than a memory. For the producers, “it was just an incredible adventure to go around the world and tell a story about death,” maybe just another exciting project in Hollywood, but my, his and our mortality is real.

Watching this, I rejoice that I had the chance to have heard the Dharma, Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha said 2500 years ago that “I teach suffering, its origin, cessation and path. That’s all I teach”.

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism are stated in simple terms as:

  • Suffering exists
  • Suffering arises from attachment to desires
  • Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases
  • Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path

This documentary explores the transitory death and events leading to it as a form of extreme suffering, but Buddhism teaches more, that our whole existence is plague with suffering, and the good news is there is a way out. This reaffirms my faith that what I have study and learnt is real and should put in more effort to study and understand Buddha’s teachings, and share them with more people.

 

Pastor Antoinette Kass

The film Faces of Death shows us the reality of our human life. Often we see ourselves as permanent and the situations we abide in will last for a long time. Yet, things can change suddenly in a split of a second.

In my opinion, it is very important to watch this documentary as it shows how lucky we are. This precious life can be taken away at any moment, we do not know how and when. This truth is undeniable.

This video may seem gruesome but it is the truth we have to eventually face. Life is short and yet we have very little control over it. When we are caught up in emotional break-downs s or difficult situations, we tend to forget the fact that everything is impermanent, including the difficulties we face.

Nowadays we do not physically witness death as much compared to olden days. Most of the people die in hospitals far away from their home and family and taken care of by professionals. So it is easier to forget the existence of impermanence yet this doesn’t change the fact.

We are shown how cruel people act in front of helpless animals, hurting them and killing them without mercy. It might be for greed, for fun, for their job or whatever it was, we even train animals to kill their own breeds. We have taken our capacity and rights for granted, using them to abuse others especially the animals.

What I have learnt:

  1. Our body is not ourselves. It is only a corpse, for us to use it well for others. Yet, we spend so much time to check on how we look, the cremes we use, the food we eat and so on, but eventually we will leave this body behind and it will rot.
  2. Sometimes we do things without taking into account of its results. We need to remember that everything we do or don’t so will have results. We do not have forever, therefore it is very important to take actions now. With the correct motivation, we can do much better and receive positive results to benefit others and ourselves.
  3. Humans have many different reasons to kill animals: for greed, culture… having no concern for the pain of the dying animal. It all arises from ignorance, attachment to have pleasure or driven by power.
  4. Accidents happen all the time. Anything can happen. We don’t know when we will die and we don’t know how. Our body can easily be destroyed. We have no control.
  5. We need to value this life as we have so many opportunities to do whatever that is necessary. We know that shopping and holidays will not give us what we really need, yet we procrastinate or just don’t do out of various reasons. We need to set our motivation firm so that we can improve and transform fir the better.

What will come after this life? The session with the medium, contact with a spirit, or rebirth as a baby. It depends on how we have lived our life.

I think this film will change my life as I will remember when I am caught in emotional struggles that the body is not me. My ego is not me, my emotions are not me. I feel very fortunate to have come across my teacher who teaches me the Dharma. I thought about the four noble truths as taught by the Buddha:

  • Life is suffering
  • There is a cause to suffering
  • There is an end to suffering
  • There is a way to the cessation of suffering

May this little write up encourage others to watch “The Faces of Death” so that they are inspired to do more and improve their live as long as they have the time.

 

Joy Kam

This movie is a good wake up call to the reality we will all face, which is inevitable– death. It showcases the many different ways we can all die and how fragile our human life is, and how we have also been giving death to others. Some scenes may appear quite gruesome, but for those who wish to go deeper in meditation, in Dharma, they will find this movie an opportunity to contemplate on ‘impermanence’, the true purpose of our being and the meaning of life. Below are five things that I realised from watching this and how it has created a difference in my life.

 

1. Our Body is Just a Shell

Seeing how people at the morgue are cut up, their heads being pulled out of their skulls just goes to show in the end this is what we will all end up being. Our body is just like a shell, and everything in it is actually quite disgusting. It is amazing how we deceive ourselves daily and work so extremely hard to literally preserve an ‘outer beauty’. All the make-up, plastic surgery and diets are all just a self-deception which makes us become more attached to a permanent self. In Buddhism we call this the self-projected false ‘I’ because it is based on our deluded projections, thinking we inherently exist. But truth be told, underneath all that skin covering our body; its guts, blood and organs, which are not something we would label as ‘beautiful’. Hence, when we meditate on corpses we can cut down our grasping on the self-cherishing ‘I’ and of this false projection that our body belongs to us. When we realise this we will be able to perceive life in a different perspective and appreciate it better and in this way we can live a more purposeful life.

 

2. The Human Ignorance

Humans are supposedly the most ‘intelligent’ creature on this planet, but we are also the most ignorant ones. We create technology to enhance our life, however this very same technology also creates ‘monsters’ that takes away life and harms others because we use them for the wrong reasons. For example a we create automobiles to bring us from point A to point B, this very object can also increase our ego which further increases our attachments, greed, jealousy, and even anger when we do not have this object which we perceive brings us ‘happiness’. This same object can also take away lives for example when we drive irresponsibly and kill someone by accident. This again is due to our selfish attachments to perhaps wanting pleasure for ourselves, e.g. drinking and driving, driving in a rush to go for a party and vacation and so on. So because of our careless driving due to our attachments which stems from our ignorant mind, we harm others. Due to this ignorant mind set we create a lot of suffering for others and ourselves because we would do everything in our power to be self-preserving. On top of that we would advertise this false concept of happiness to encourage more attachments in people, as we can see in today’s media.

Due to the ignorant mind, we put ourselves in situations that invite death or give death to others as shown in the video of people doing sacrificial rituals, where they would either kill an animal or another human being because it is perceived to get ‘closer to god’. How is it possible that harming and taking away someone else’s life can bring one close to heaven and ‘God’? This has always baffled me.

 

3. The Human Greed

The documentary also highlights human greed and how because of our greed, we kill for our food, for our clothes, for our livelihood. Because of greed we also destroy our own environment and we create more pain and suffering for ourselves. We prey on the weak like animals and we exploit them for our own benefit. Due to our greed and the need for profit we have been raping and robbing mother earth for her resources since day one, and even more so now with today’s technology. This greed of wanting more and never being satisfied fuels us to take and take while we destroy everything along our path, a great example is the meat industry. The need for eating meat has created huge slaughter houses where millions of animals are being killed each day. These slaughter houses produce green-house effect due to tons of animal waste that is being released into our environment. Believe it or not the meat industry produces more pollution than automobiles in over populated cities. This human greed will never end especially when materialism increases which directly increases our desires. Unfortunately it does not increase our ‘happiness’ otherwise all those who are wealthy would be ‘happy’ which is not the case 90% of the time. In fact most of the time those who are rich are the ones in deep depression. They spend their money and time either in therapy or they do more vice to pleasure themselves to cover their unhappiness.

 

4. Humans are the Most Inhumane

In the video Dr. Francis B. Gross said after seeing how meat is being processed, he himself would seriously consider being vegetarian. We, ‘the consumer’ will never ever see the gruesome, disgusting side of how our food is being produced, we only see them nicely packaged in glamorous supermarkets. So many animals die each day for our consumption because we think it is our right to eat them, or some may even say “God created them for us to eat”. How arrogant of us to think this way but when the tables are turned, I am sure we will not be spewing these same words.

For the people who work in the slaughter houses, it has become like a normal routine, killing becomes just another job no more no less and they do not even feel anything for the animals they kill. They become cold, they feel nothing, some will even torture these animals and this is how we humans become inhumane. When this happens we humans become the ‘animal’, we are the barbarians. Being the most intelligent life form on this planet, we are supposed to be the ones to protect those who are weak but instead we are the ones hurting them. When I first watch this movie it gave me a wake-up call to my conscience and hence encouraged me to cut down on my meat intake and it is from here I started becoming vegetarian. I believe for anyone who considers themselves an animal lover yet they still eat meat, they are not really animal lovers but they have a biased selective view on what is lovable and what is not for their own selfish attachments. Attachments are based on conditions we created mistakenly thinking it benefits us.

 

5. Death Does Not Discriminate

In the end death happens to everyone, rich or poor, young or old, it does not matter who you are, we cannot bribe death and it comes to us anytime, anywhere. It can happen to us if we walk down the street, if we cycle, even when we go for holidays and travel, like how the young boy who decided to go for a swim in the movie died. Our life can be taken in the blink of an eye as death really does not discriminate and when your time is up, it is up no matter how much you want to preserve it. This made me realise how fragile our human life is, and that our bodies are literally like huge egg shells that can be destroyed any time. It made me appreciate this human life more and how precious it actually is and because of this we can weigh what is truly important in life. In the end we have to leave everything behind, everything we earned, worked our whole lives for, the people we love, our so called friends and family are empty at the moment of death. Nothing and no one matters or can help us except our deeds and if we have Dharma, this is when the Buddha’s teachings become our guide.

When Rinpoche first made me watch this movie about 10 years ago, it gave a good shock to my system because, in all honesty, the world shelters us. Now the 2nd time watching, it gives me further affirmation that we should not cling on to our body and our self-cherishing mind that this body of ours is ‘permanent’, or that it even belongs to us, because if it did we will not have to leave it and our body will not rot. One thing is for sure, this life is not the only life but it is more like a stopping point as we journey to another rebirth. Although our body may be gone, our mind still continues. Hence our body is just a vessel and from the moment we are born we are like walking corpses heading into our inevitable future. This gives me a new perspective on life and death and I find it funny how we deceive ourselves daily and cause so much suffering to ourselves when we cling on to all our hang ups, projections and self-created conditions of how things should be or how the world should operate. Even when a new baby is born, we think we are celebrating life but in reality it is the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end, either way we look at it death and life are both ends of the same stick. Hence life and death is synonymous. This is why in Buddhism our aim is to get out of this vicious cycle of existence. This is the reason why I stuck to Buddhism and appreciate how the dharma has helped me re-evaluate what is truly important in life because everything else out there is truly quite empty and when you have heard the truth, you will not want to go back out there suffering through the same mundane cycle of existence, going through the motions aimlessly in life which was what I was doing before I met H.E. Tsem Rinpoche, my Guru who showed me the truth. I am truly fortunate to have met Rinpoche whom I am forever grateful and who woke me from all my inner and outer demons and to give me another perspective to look at things and life, so that I may let go, heal and focus out to lead a meaningful happy life.

 

Vinnie Tan

The movie film of “Faces of Death”reflects how unpredicted life is and that we have no control over what will happen to us. We may be the richest, poorest, fattest, skinniest, best looking, or ugliest person. But when we leave this earth, it does not matter how our body looks. We came to this earth with nothing, and when we leave, it is the same.

I enjoyed myself during the movie as the movie made me think on a deeper level on what life is about. We spent so much time letting our bodies enjoy, yet, when time is up, we leave instantly. There is nothing within our own ability to extend our lives when it is time to leave this body of ours. It is thought intriguing because it shows us facts and truths that usually we would not want to face. It shows us the truth of what really happens. It is something that we would usually brush it off and try to not think on a deeper level as we do not want to face the truth.

When we face and understand the truth that is shown, we will definitely feel lighter and there will be a change in us, because the film has helped us to understand a side of truth that we have not seen.

From this movie, these five points have stood out for me. Making me think on a deeper level, understanding that what we go through is all emptiness. Just like what Buddha has taught us.

 

1. Looks

In life, we have put in so much effort to dress for the occasion or to achieve a certain look to be accepted for who we are. Yet, this materialistic look that we are trying our best to achieve is all empty and pointless. Simple reason, we will all be lying lifeless one day. When that happens, our looks and material things that we once cared so much for will not make a difference anymore. What we have placed focus on in our lives no longer matters.

To add salt to the wound, we will look all the same when we die. With that thought, making ourselves the “best” is no longer a big deal, as we now know that it is all just an illusion and perception that we have for the things around us.

It has made me realize that no matter how much time we put in to “maintain” what we have, when our time is up all these work that we have done to “maintain” will not help us anymore. It is true that we can put in effort to make our bodies healthier, so that we will not be bound by our bodily conditions. However, when we pass away, what is left as a legacy will be based on the works that we have done that benefited the society. Nothing else will make a difference. Reason being that no matter how much effort we put in to “maintain” our bodies, it will rot anyway.

Through that, it inspires me use whatever limited time that I have left to do something that is beneficial.

 

2. Impermanence

Life and the things around us are not permanent. At any point of time, it is possible for us to leave this world, moving on to something that we are uncertain about.

This has made an impact for me as I now know that I should never take what I have for granted. Being alive in this world each day is considered as a blessing and we should be grateful for it.

In the film, it is shown how impermanent life is through the scene where the ranger was capturing the alligator. One minute he was alive and being interviewed, the next, he was dragged off the boat and torn into shreds by the alligator. With this, it shows how unpredictable life is.

With nothing being permanent, we can have wealth now that will be lost the very next minute. We should appreciate life and everyone that is around us. Although we may get angry with some people around us, but to have them in our lives it is considered as a blessing. Reason being that through them we are able to grow and mature in ways that we may think is impossible.

 

3. Control

Constantly in life, we think we have it all and we are constantly planning for our future. Planning to reach a certain goal at a certain age. What we tend to forget is, we are not in control of our life. How long we can live in this lifetime has all been decided by our karma. Although we are able to “extend” our lives by collecting merits, but we will never know exactly how much time we have.

Many people told me that I am still young, and I should be doing something else before I do dharma. They told me that I can do that when I am older. What they fail to recall is that we do not know when our lives would end. We can think that we will live up to 70, but the reality is that we can face an accident and be dead the very next minute. There is nothing that we can do to prevent that. So even if we have planned to do dharma or charitable work when we are older, if death comes, we have to leave everything behind. Nothing will be able to stop us from leaving.

Thus, as I understand and study more about the true facts in life, I have come to realize that we do not have any control over life. There is no use for us to make all the fancy plans that will happen 20 years later when we do not what is in store next for us. However, what we can do now is to make full use of our time doing things that we will be proud of.

 

4. Equality

In life, we constantly think that we are more superior compared to another person or being. What we fail to realize is that we are all the same no matter if we are a world leader, a road sweeper, a homeless, or an animal. What made us different is the projection that we have for the terms and labels that we have put in place.

When we pass away and our bodies are left lifeless, we are no different from anyone else. By that time, we are just all slabs of meat, no different from the meat that we consume. It is funny and weird for us to constantly think that we are more superior than another because of our background or status.

It is from all these perceived labels that have that made us forget that we are all the same. We started off with nothing, and we will end with nothing. No one is better than another.

Thus, with this in mind, we should never look down on someone because of their background or how they behave. We should reach out to all, not just the people that we love, but to strangers and all beings that we cross path with. Through our actions of no-discrimination, we will be able to help other beings ease their pain be it emotional or physical.

 

5. Our minds

The human mind is the most destructive “machine” there is on earth. It is because of our projections that we have for things that make us do things that are unspeakable. Due to the greed, desire, and attachments that we as human beings have, we kill, harm, cheat, and destroy what our environment has given us. We have not been grateful to all items that are being provided for us.

It is because of our desire of fulfilling our taste buds, we have created slaughter houses that kills millions each year. Because of our desire to have power, wars happen and people’s lives are sacrificed. All these killings happened because we want to be pleased in one way or another. We have never thought of how to help the environment, but we have destroyed what is given to us. Everything like this happen because we want this physical “meat” body of ours to have a good life. However, what we do not think about is how much we have cause pain to others because of our actions that are lead on by our desires to please this meat suit.

The film has made me understand why we exist in this world. The purpose of life that we learn from the media has all been wrong. What the media has taught us has made us destroy our surroundings, making us unhappier then we already are. We put in so much effort and time to maintain this body that we have, yet it betrays us by dying and giving out substances that are all negative.

The movie has made me understand that in life, there is a bigger meaning than what we think we are around for. We are able to do so much more than what we think we are able to when we set our minds to it. With logic and common sense, we are able to outweigh that curiosity that will lead us to do silly things in life that we will regret. It is only by helping others and focusing out we will be able to achieve more in life.

 

Beatrix Ooi

I first watched this documentary about 6 to 8 years ago, during that time it was Rinpoche who asked me to watch the movie, I remember very clearly that I watched it with my younger brother, Edward. People may ask why did Rinpoche encourage children to watch documentary like this? This documentary has certainly made a huge impact in my life, and I am very thankful that I was given the opportunity to watch and learn. Yes the video was gruesome, it was disgusting and horrible, well what can you expect from a 11 year old right? But now, at the age of 19, I have had different realisation watching it for the second time.

The 4 noble truths taught by the Lord Buddha is definitely real and it’s undeniable as the entire video has portrayed how fragile human life is. We go through birth, old age, sickness and  death. The very fact of our existence is suffering, we are made to suffer and some, depends on their individual karma, they have to suffer more. The nature of our human body IS suffering.

Therefore, no matter how much money we spend on our body, how much time we spend on travelling, how much delicious food we eat, how much fame we possess and so on; all of them will fade eventually because everything is impermanent, our existence, our body is built to suffer and it will never end as long as we continue to abide in samsara. Well people may say that how can we do that now since we are abiding in samsara? Start practising, start focusing out, start being kind and have integrity and so forth; This was what the Buddha did to achieve enlightenment, he ran away from home, abandoned his kingdom and his wealth to meditate in order to seek ‘the way out’. The only way was through enlightenment and he did it, he liberated himself from samsara and also taught others the path to enlightenment.

Yes enlightenment is a very big word, it’s easier to say than actually doing it, but if we don’t start practising now, how much more longer do we have to wait until we get over our projections and comfort zones? Time has never been on our side and it never will, there’s really no point wasting time hesitating and thinking whether we should, will we do it, can we do it or not.

People die every day, accidents happen every moment even when we are taking our own sweet time having a nice meal, a nice bath, a nice gym session and so forth, therefore we must not be so arrogant to think that it will never happen to us. It will, it’s just the matter of time. Hence, do we really think that we have control over time? Do we still think that we will never get into a fatal accident or get a heart attack and just drop dead? People may think that it’s taboo this and taboo that, well if we don’t recognise the truths now, it will be too late when it happens.

 

1. What is Right and What is Wrong?

When we think about these two words, what do they really mean? Most of the time, we would always find ourselves arguing with others and trying to get our points across, because we want to be right, we want to win and we do not want to be judged. Again, this shows how egoistic our mind is, we fight to the death to be right, but we  lost a lot of good people and things in the process. When the time comes for us to leave the body, it will not matter anymore whether we are right or wrong. So why do we care so much if we are right or wrong? It doesn’t matter as long as we can work harmoniously with our peers or colleagues and get things done.

 

2. Cult vs Dorje Shugden

In the video, there’s a section of it that shows a cult practice. They partake dead body as they believe that it will give them immortality. Now that is a real cult practice, what came immediately into my mind was how Dorje Shugden practice is being accused of a cult, but how much do these people really understand the word ‘cult’? We don’t eat dead people in this case, we don’t harm people and the lineage promotes nothing else but compassion and integrity. It is written in the scriptures that Dorje Shugden is an emanation of Manjushri, so if his practice is a cult, are these people saying they have more wisdom than all the great masters who practised and are still practising Dorje Shugden? His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was once a Dorje Shugden practitioner for 30 years, does it mean His Holiness was a cult follower too? It doesn’t matter if His Holiness has abandoned the practice or not. Take for example, when you stab someone with a knife, just because you stop stabbing it doesn’t mean you’re not guilty or the person is not hurt, the person still experiences pain. Yes the wound will heal overtime, but the scar is there and it will always be there even though that person has stopped stabbing. My point is, it doesn’t matter if it was a past practice or a present practice, the point is, it has been practised by His Holiness.

 

3. Cause and Effect

The very fundamental basis of why mankind are experiencing natural disasters is because we are selfish and greedy, we pollute the environment, we create conflicts and disharmony that leads to wars. When that happens, people bomb each other and by doing so, they further destroy the eco-system and environment. When we do not take care of our belongings, take for an example, they wear out very quickly. We are not taking good care of our mother earth and she is wearing out, therefore we should stop putting the blame onto others to avoid responsibilities. Whether we want to accept it or not, we still have to bear the consequences of our actions. We must start taking actions to protect the earth before it’s too late.

 

4. Appreciating What We Have

We must always have gratitude and be appreciative of what we possess. People who live in Africa especially, suffer from starvation and very often, they starve to death. Most of us have a pretty easy life, we can always get want we want and eat what we want. Having a good life like that has made most of us become greedy and unappreciative, it doesn’t make us a bad person but it’s a very bad habit to have. We become very picky over our food, the reason why we are picky is because we have a choice to not eat what is provided, we have the option to have something else. Whereas, those who are poor and do not have easy access to food, they have no choice but to eat whatever they can find. Sadly, many of them do not have the privilege to have food, not even as simple as a piece of bread or cracker.

 

5. Attachment vs Death

The very existence of spirits have proven how important it is to be freed of attachments so that when the time for us to leave comes, we can focus the mind on the practices we have done to take a better rebirth. The reason why spirits linger around is because they have attached themselves to an object or a person or a pet and so forth. Hence when they pass on, they are not ready to let go of these possessions, so they can’t move on and hang around. His possessions, her possessions, my possessions, possession is a very dangerous word. What is truly ours? All that we have will eventually fade away, even the body we have now is not ours. The body is just a vehicle for the consciousness/ soul, the body dies off but the mind will continue to reincarnate and take on the next vehicle aka a new body. Therefore I have realised that we must not be too fixated on what we have now because the nature of everything is impermanent, claiming ownership over things that we don’t have control of is what drives us down.

Watching the video has made me realised a lot of things, including of having a few new perspectives on human life and how it should be. It teaches me to be more appreciative, to put in my best in everything that I do, almost like there’s no tomorrow. To most of the people it may seems negative to think this way, but contrastingly, it makes me realise that time is not on my side. If I am going to die tomorrow, I do not want to die achieving nothing in my life. Dharma is very important in this modern era where all sorts of new attachments are being developed every day. Without the Dharma, we are like a tiny little fish who wanders in the great ocean of danger and obstacles.

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27 Responses to Faces of Death

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  1. Samfoonheei on Oct 16, 2021 at 3:37 pm

    The film Faces of Death shows nothing is more precious than being in the present moment, fully alive , fully aware . We won’t know what happening next. Death is a significant and inevitable part of life. Death teaches us that life is impermanent. There is no escape from death. We are all going to die some day. It doesn’t matter whether we are rich or poor, successful or ordinary, evil or good, we are going to die one day. Death refers to the end of life, we all go through this sad occurrence, and it is unavoidable. We have to accept death, but for as long as we are alive, we should live our life to the fullest meaningfully and make sure to enjoy it. Life is a lot more fragile than we think. So we should treat others in a way that leaves no regrets. Nothing is permanent in this world. Life’s impermanence.
    Buddhism emphasizes the importance of accepting the impermanence of life. Some scenes in the video appear quite gruesome, not to me as I have seen real ones as I been working and assisting surgeon in open surgeries before. Have seen thousands of births and many deaths occur while working . Life’s impermanence, I realised is what makes every single time and hour so precious. Its what shapes us our time and what makes it so important than not a single moment be wasted. We should not cling on to our body and our self-cherishing mind. It takes facing death to appreciate life and each other fully people die remains in the memory of those who live on. Everything must have its beginning and must have ending. We never know how much we really believe anything until its truth becomes a matter of life and death to us. The source of human suffering and discontent is that we crave and cling to the things of this world. Human life is brief, nothing does. Our hair , teeth fall our bodies decline and decay. Watching this documentary film is indeed powerful, truthful and tells us more, Life is certain , death is uncertain , I am glad to have across Rinpoche ‘s blog learning and practicing dharma . I have immersed myself in learning more and accepting that life is finite. All that exists is impermanent, nothing lasts. Therefore nothing can be grasped onto. Awareness of impermanence and appreciation of our human potential will give us a sense of urgency that we must use every precious moment. Profound teachings reading those comments.
    Thank you Rinpoche for this precious sharing.

  2. Jacinta Goh on Apr 16, 2018 at 2:56 pm

    Dear Rinpoche,
    I watched this with my daughters. At some points of time I found it unbearable to watch such as the scene where a policeman was scooping up the smashed organs of a lady after she was involved in a terrible accident and another one was hitting the monkey’s head in order to eat his brain, a delicacy and privilege just for a few but so gory.

    We can die I’m so many ways and life is so fragile and yet we still hang on with our daily slogan “for a better future”. *Sigh

    Practicing Lamrim is my refuge and I thank Rinpoche for showing us the reality.

  3. Wan Wai Meng on Sep 25, 2016 at 1:12 am

    The Faces of Death I watched about 10 years ago, and it is very enlightening. When any person is dead, the body will start decomposing. I remember scene of a person who kind of died alone, and maggots big ones kind of gotten to it, well thats what becomes of our body that we protect so much, food for the maggots and worms.

    Not to forget the smell that comes with it as well, of rotting flesh. Personally I have not smell human corpse before, but there was a cat who died at the my house once and the stench is quite unbearable to stay the least. The Lamrim always says that the very body that we cherish so much, we spend so much time in making it look nice, adorning it, feeding it and yet this body betrays us in the end. This video, shows us quite clearly whats important and that is we can’t take our body with us, so we have to be wise to invest our time into what can benefit us in future lives and our next ones.

  4. Pastor KH Ng on Jul 18, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    DEATH IS THE TRUTH…it is the undeniable truth. That is will happen to all beings. The only uncertainty is that we do not know when. It could be the next moment or years in the future. If could happen to us or to any of our love ones anytime.

    This is the UNDENIABLE TRUTH…..DEATH!

    Since that is the case, we must:

    1. value lives especially others’. True happiness lies in cherishing others.
    2. live this life meaningfully. Do something as best you can to improve others conditions and ultimate our state of mind.
    3. since death can happen any moment…always have a peaceful and happy state of mind. We do not want to die angry.
    4. have open mind. Do not fear death. We are all from the Earth and there are very little differences between a corpse and a living being. Ultimately, everything is biological, chemical, atoms and energy in that order.
    5. only the minds differentiate the living and the death and to think of it, between the living. Cultivate a compassionate and loving state of mind.
    6. repeat 1 to 5 again and again.

  5. yikming on Jul 18, 2016 at 1:32 am

    This movie really depicts how human life is fragile, It depicts the different paradigm of human towards the perception of death or the corpse. Some of us find human corpse dissected in the morgue scenes for post mortem to be disgusting and horrible. We will find it hard to execute the dissection ourselves, that is a matter of paradigm which is how they view death. For most of us, death is morbid and touching corpse is taboo. The other extreme is cannibals with the paradigm of consuming human flesh gives them the strength of the live taken, some cultures at the death of the parents, they consume the parents (especially the father) with the believe that they gain the father’s wisdom and strength.

    For me, this video have raised key reflective points to ponder. One is human reaction and response is based on our paradigm that is formed, which is a collection of our learning from our fore fathers, our parents , our environment, our life journey experience, society etc. Then what is the right and true paradigm? For me i choose to rely this faith to the teaching of Guru, Buddha & Dharma.

    Second, death cannot be avoided but yet we tend to avoid the thought or discussion. And worse of all we would not know when death will come. So if we can internalize this, we should optimize our every moments and do as much as we can. Yet a lot of us including myself gets deluded or suck in to the mundane daily life activities
    Thank you Rinpoche for this video and article.

  6. graceleong on Jul 18, 2016 at 12:45 am

    It is intriguing to know that the subject of Death relates to so many facets of Life.
    1) Death can be the end and also the beginning of a chapter in Life.
    2) Understanding the consequences of Death; the future after Death is determined by our Karma, what thoughts and actions we did whilst alive. Knowing this may help us to be more mindful of the way we go about life. If we want a better afterlife we got to work at it in the current life.
    3) When we are mindful of our karma we will be mindful of our speech, thoughts and actions. We will naturally become “better” people to other sentient beings. The environment would then be more calm and peaceful.
    4) If we study and practice the Dharma to a higher level, we will be able to control our Death and hence control our next Rebirth. Then we will actually have a CHOICE. We always assume Death does not provide choices, but in actuality it provides a whole cocktail of the type of life we would want to have.
    5) During Death the body goes through a sequence of disintegration all except for an atom of energy. This energy will finally assume its next role on the next being, bringing along all the karma of the past lives.
    6) Death is so uncertain, we don’t know when it will happen. So we really ought to take heed of its nature, its powers and its influence on others.

    Faces of Death movie is a valuable wake up call. Everyone should take the opportunity to watch it. Thank you Rinpoche for this straightforward and powerful display of Death !!

  7. Doreen Teoh LC on Jul 18, 2016 at 12:13 am

    When i was watching the video, i have a tremendous responses and experience the emotion of sacred, disgusted and and vision of my own death…as my body lays motionless, and what kind of pain and death experience i shall be facing, and when it happens how shall i response to death. I just brushed all this vision away, and just tell myself a lie that death will not happen soon, but it is so self deceiving. I have also have thoughts of what kind of pain the person had when death came upon them, and the mind of of the individual when they committed suicide and killing.

    We have watched this video in group, and one of our members, kept asking whether the scenes are real or an act….but it is the real things or reality of life that is capture in motion, and where the actor will not be alive after the recording is done.

    As mentioned by the writers, at the end of the video, it shows the scene of a birth of a child, …..in the beginning of the video, it shows death,….so does death comes first or birth comes first, or vice versa. Death is another beginning, but question will to me is where i shall be in the next cycle, and on which i have no control over.

    The question of death and where do we go next, as always been a question to me since i was 7 years old, and it has create a great fear in me. I am glad that i have the good karma on this birth to meet Tsem Rinpoche, my Guru to guide me on this questions and to reduce my fear of death, on which i have still have some.

    As such, I will continue to strive to learn and practice dharma, so that at the time of death (which may happen anytime), i will be in a position to handle my mind and to have a good rebirth to continue my path to enlightenment.

    Om Mani Pedme Hum

  8. NgJesvin on Jun 25, 2016 at 11:24 pm

    Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing.

    Yes, many of us think that we have prepared with regards to death as it is a part of all of us.

    One of my uncles just passed away two days ago. He is a Taoism practitioner. He suffered from diabetis for more than twenty years, he likes to travel around the world, he always come to my house to meet my parents bring my dad outing with their friends, every time I saw him, he always said life is so short and we ( him and my dad) have not much time to live so we have to enjoy our moment.

    In my eyes he seemed to have achieved a certain stage of readiness, and was prepared for his last moment. But my perception on him totally changed when I attended his funeral yesternight.

    According to my dad, a week before uncle died, he felt better and doctor allowed him go home. But just a day before he was discharged, one of the in-house routine doctor told him that he could go home because there was no more cure for him..is just the matter of time. After listening to what the doctor said, uncle had tears in his eyes. That night his condition suddenly went downslope and were not allowed to go home the next day. In his last week in hospital he suffered a lot, from uncontrollable pees and feces to vomiting blood.

    I feel so sad after hearing this from my dad. I started to recite DS mantra in my heart when attending his funeral.

    This morning I went home and picked my dad to see doctor for acupuncture, in the car my dad shared to me how fragile our lives is. I shared Rinpoche’s teaching with my dad, encourage him to recite Om Mani Padme Hung everyday.

    On our way back to home, I found out my dad took out one of the dharma books which I always place behind my car and read. I didn’t say anything, just let him read and gave him the book.

    Perhaps I can have a chance to share more on death meditation with my parents.

    I am happy that I have a chance to follow Rinpoche’s teaching. Thank you Rinpoche, Pastors and the team. Thank you very much.

    Humbly with hand folded,
    NgJesvin

  9. Boon on May 24, 2016 at 10:56 pm

    When we are young, we do not think much about death. We do not fear death. We know it happens but somehow still think that it is not real. A logic which is hard to explain with words. As we grow older, we see more and more death happening around us especially the people who are close to us. It starts to look real but we think we have prepared for it. When the time comes when we are facing our own death, we find that we could not let go of our possessions and love ones. What will happen to our wife or husband, our kids. Who is going to look after ours kids, our old parents? Only during this time that we find out that we have not prepared even a bit.

  10. Alice Tay on May 13, 2016 at 11:58 pm

    感谢仁波切分享有关死亡的纪录片,还有诸位的分享。

    我们可以从此纪录片里看到不管你是人类或是动物,在无法预料与控制之下,都必须面对死亡的那一刻。这可以说是一件非常可悲的事情。

    但我们也不要完全绝望或是放弃而觉得无论做什么都是徒劳无功。因为我们的身体虽然会老死、病死、或是其他的死因,唯一可以保存和连续的是我们的心识。

    从佛陀时代所传承下来的佛法,已经说明了有因果轮回。关于轮回或是转世回来已不再只是在佛法里所提起,现在也有一些医学例子可以证明人类是有可能遇到转世回来的状况。所以,如果一个人都相信有因果轮回,应该抛开一切以“我”为主的事情,视佛法为这个暇满人生里主要的修持,与每个人和谐相处。相信大家不再因为死亡而感到害怕,反而视死亡为一个过程。因为经过了这个过程,你又会重生。但是,你的重生后的遭遇都取决于你在身前所造下的善业或是恶业。

  11. Pastor Adeline on May 10, 2016 at 2:47 am

    Our body is fragile and does not belong to us. It is a rented property which we need to check out eventually. We cannot bring it with us neither can we hold on to it forever. The body will age, get sick and die when the time has come. No matter how hard we try to take care of it, it will betray us.

    When our body becomes a corpse, no one will want to come near us, they find our body disgusted, stinks and not pleasant to the eyes, not realised that their body will suffer the same fate eventually. Our body’s content is the same as the animals, so when we eat meat, we are eating dead corpse cooked with deception. If we cannot eat a human corpse, what makes it logically to eat the animals’?

    This video brings us what we would normally like to avoid and ignore; we wish not to be told what our body really is, we wish not to know blatantly what is inside our body and how disgusting it is. The sooner we face the truth, the easier it is for us to change our bad habits and reconsider to use our time for something beneficial instead. Life is too short to be wasted on meaningless things for sure!

  12. Pastor Elena Khong Jean Ai on May 9, 2016 at 2:01 pm

    The first time I watched this movie was when I was 16. The part that made the biggest impression on me was the body in the morgue. As the narrator pulled the skin off the person, their entire identity disappeared. Everything that would’ve identified that person as John, David, Sarah, Katie, whatever was gone in the blink of an eye and instantly, they could’ve been any other person lying there. There is no way that even their husband, wife, father, mother would’ve been able to tell that that slab of meat is the person they love most in the entire world.

    The skin was so pliable too, just a few millimetres thick. It made me think, “Is that all we are? When I look in the mirror and I think, “I am Jean Ai”, am I really Jean Ai or am I just reinforcing a false sense of self that in reality is no more than a few millimetres thick?”

    Even nowadays when I think about it, the feeling unsettles me a little and upon examining why I am unsettled, I realise I need to practise death meditation more! Because I have intellectually understood I am not the identity I craft for myself based on markers taught to me by society, but I have not realised (or rather, actualised) that understanding and therefore I still experience anger, frustration, disappointment, sadness because the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘me’ is still very strong in me. We should watch this over and over again, as a modern form of death meditation because the other thing that’s very apparent in this video is that there are literally thousands of ways a person can die, and that our lives that we cling on to SO strongly can be snuffed out just like a flame.

    Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this video. It is very important that people watch this, and also have a broad and open mind to look beyond the perceived grossness and morbidity.

  13. Stella Cheang on May 9, 2016 at 12:46 pm

    The Faces of Death is graphically unpleasant to watch. If we look beyond the gory images, we will see that the message is clear; it is our own projection that Death comes in a bed of roses. The images depicted in faces of Death are the truth / reality of death, and yet we chose to imagine death is an affectionate mandate of life, and we all have all the time we wanted before death summon us.

    How wrong.

    We are survivor in a modernized world but none any closer to true liberation. We place our faith on temporary outcome and our mind is always fascinated by perishable pleasures. As we oriented our live around these values, we are creating more cause for ourselves to perpetuate a cruel and degenerated world.

    While we understand clearly life is full of suffering, there is a way out of the suffering. Hence, we must commemorate our fortune be born with qualities and conditions suitable to practice the path out of suffering. We must be diligent and not hinge on to our attachment towards this treacherous world. We can start by contemplating our death and what will happen after it.

    Thank you very much, Rinpoche, and all the pastors and seniors here for reminding us how short life is and how little control we have over our life.

    Humbly, bowing down,
    Stella Cheang

  14. Pasto Loh Seng Piow on May 9, 2016 at 9:30 am

    The first time I watched this is around 10 years ago also in Rinpoche’s ladrang then, and I felt grossed out and had nightmares of the gory scenes after that, that showed how much ego I had and how I actually did not internalize the idea of impermanence, although I was in Dharma environment. After years of staying around Rinpoche, and with Rinpoche’s training, I could reduce my ego and also realize impermanence more, and this real-life documentary is not so disturbing anymore. I strongly recommend everyone to watch it from time to time, to gauge how much we actually realize the Dharma, this is a good yardstick to check.

  15. kb thapa on May 8, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    Few people have a clear picture of the other side like Rinpoche who always teaches the importance of developing a true awareness of death is one of the fundamental concepts behind Buddhism and believe that this awareness offers benefits to everyone. It can help release us from unnecessary attachments that cause suffering, create compassion for all living beings. The lack of understanding about what occurs before…during and after death unnecessary fear. have trust in guru and following his advise will take us to smooth Death with smile with no fear,, after death i don’t know la , it will depends on our good deeds meaning KARMA…

  16. Pastor David Lai on May 8, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    I watched Faces of Death years ago and I think it was a recommended video by Rinpoche that time. Although I had known about it even in my childhood but I think I was not allowed to watch it as my mom didn’t like the paranormal or anything gruesome as she felt it will invite bad energy and negative entities. Anyway, I must say that the video left quite an impression in my mind about about various aspects of death.

    I must say that a few footages in the video that left the deepest imprint in my mind was the autopsy scene were human corpses were dissected and one in particular had his skull cut opened and the brains removed to reveal the bloody and hollow cavity inside. Then, the skin of the face was slowly peeled off the skull. It felt disorientating and made me feel that our bodies are so unreal. For a moment, I imagine what my death would be like how it would go through the same process as well.

    It is at this time that the Buddha’s teachings on impermanence are recalled and how in this life, I – we spend so much time washing, cleaning, feeding and so forth but in the end, it betrays us and just remains a filthy and bloody meat bag since we were born. I don’t see all these actions as wrong or bad but as actions that would have no long term consequence. To be honest, I don’t think just upon viewing various dead bodies, we can develop renunciation but its a good first step.

    The other scene that seemed to have etched in my mind was the restaurant where diners are given a set of tools to kill a helpless monkey and they would later feast on the monkey’s brains. It is truly revolting but although extreme, I realize that we all have a hand in the killing of animals to satisfy our insatiable hunger for meat. It was a powerful footage that left me feeling quite funny in my tummy.

    In the end, I have to admit that although I have derived little realization upon viewing the documentary but nonetheless, it has fascinated me to no end. The first time I watched, I cringed as it definitely is a sign of a great ego and huge attachment to the body and the senses. In watching this, I am glad to be in the Dharma that offers so much knowledge on the meaning of this fragile and transient life and methods to develop special spiritual qualities that will benefit us in this life and the next.

    This is just incredible!

  17. Pastor Antoinette Kass on May 8, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    Our life is very fragile and we can loose our life – this body very easily. What I have learned in Buddhism is that our mind will continue. It will take rebirth in a new body and it depends on how we live our live, that determins in which form we take rebirth.

    Our body is like a hotel room – it is for us to use it in the best way so that we can benefit others, show a good example and not focus only on ourselves and our well-being.

    So much suffering is happening all the time. We should us this life to benefit others and teach others to use their life to benefit others.

    Life is suffering – this is the truth and through Buddhism we have found the way out! I will look this video again to remind myself to not waste my precious opportunity.

    Thank You Rinpoche.
    Pastor Antoinette

  18. Marissa on May 8, 2016 at 7:23 am

    The subject of Death is deemed taboo and the Chinese people especially avoid talking about it at all cost. Death comes to all and it is impossible to avoid it. It therefore seems foolish to be in denial of something that is such a certainty and yet many people refrain from acknowledging Death as if by doing that, they will not succumb to this certainty.

    From the Dharma we learn about our Ego and our Attachments and when we relate what the Dharma teaches us, then it makes sense why we have such strong aversions to even talking about Death. It is as if we instinctively know that Death will zerorize just about everything we have done, achieved and accumulated and given our lives to which will ultimately be futile, and yet we have no idea what else we are supposed to aim for in life. So we just avoid acknowledging it.

    Death meditation instead of being regarded unlucky and morbid, should be appreciated as something sobering and that which shakes us out of the chicanery we can ‘living life’. Death is not a final destination but merely a gateway and if understand what we need to help us pass that gateway smoothly, and if we can see what we cannot take through that gate, and if we comprehend what we need to bring with us to have a good life beyond that gate, then we will know how and what to adjust in the way we live this present life.

    If we are afraid to pass through that gate, it is only because we know we are not prepared for what is beyond. So what is really stopping us from learning and preparing? Preparing for life beyond Death does not in any way rob us of the joys of this life.

  19. Vinnie Tan on May 8, 2016 at 4:11 am

    Through the film, it reminded me again how fragile life is. We are not indestructible like we want ourselves to be. We do fail and there are chances for us to not be able to continue this life that we have right now.

    We should never be fixated on how life should be and how things should work for us. It It shows that we are not being able to do things that we want no matter how well we plan it because we are actually in no control of what is going on.

    It has reminded me that no matter what happens, we should always let go of our projections and not be bounded by that which will destroy ourselves from within.

  20. Sarah Yap on May 8, 2016 at 3:01 am

    Incredible documentary. A few things that no one can deny after watching such an eye opening documentary… That life is unpredictable, it’s very short and we have no control at all in regards to where or how we die.

    Just a few days ago, a nice young man I knew for the last 6-7 years just passed away. He was selling coconuts by the side of the road when a car crashed into his stall.

    It was just a few hundred years ago when humans were part of the ‘food-chain’ in this world. In the past, if you went out to hunt for dinner, there is a possibility that you may not come back alive. Sometimes I feel that we have grown too complacent, and spoilt by the world of consumerism, thinking that the acquisitions we got are bringing us somewhere in life, but reality is, it doesnt. And it can be easily be proven by the fact that although environmentally things have changed, but the needs and wants of people still remained the same throughout the centuries. No external condition can fix it.

    But what’s most interesting about this documentary is the ‘realizations’ that Frances Gross got from his deep research and contemplation on the subject matter of death. It is just like what Rinpoche have always said to us… that many people are able to see the faults of samsara, but without the Dharma, they lack the method to deal with samsara. And we can see it in this case as well.

    I hope many people would watch this video, and more importantly to contemplate on the subject of death just like what Rinpoche have advised. Often I would see people engaging on hazardous activities… particularly racing on the roads… which always left me wondering why do they not value their lives more.

    One blog post that I feel is totally applicable to us especially if we wish to develop desirable attitude for spiritual practic is Rinpoche’s talk on Death Meditation. (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/kechara-13-depts/last-night-i-spoke-about-death-meditation-in-more-detail.html)

  21. Beatrix Ooi on May 8, 2016 at 2:57 am

    Watching the documentary has again reminded me how fragile life is. We may be the richest man on earth, but if an accident happens, we can lose everything overnight. Most of the people may find the video gruesome but if we contemplate further, it is the reality. There are just too many ways of how a person can die but what truly matters is, have we done enough to move on to take a better rebirth?

    None of the wealth, fame, friends, relationship, travelling and so on will help us when the time comes. In fact, all these attachments will only drag us down and lead us to a not-so-good rebirth, only if we believe in afterlife and reincarnation.

    I have learnt a lot through watching the documentary, I have realised a lot of things that I didn’t even thought of before watching the video. I highly recommend everyone to watch this.

  22. Joy Kam on May 8, 2016 at 2:31 am

    We are not our bodies, it is merely just a shell. A box we occupy until our time is up. We are in reality just walking corpses, all that make-up and botox can never stop it. Death may be a taboo to many but in Dharma it is a realisation. A realisation that gives us a wake up call so that we may stop taking life for granted and live with purpose and meaning.

    Perhaps this is why in Buddhism, it is something we familiarise and meditate upon daily. This is why the best place is the carnal grounds, where great masters send their students to test their knowledge as well as application on emptiness and to further rid off the egos.

    Thank you Rinpoche for always bringing Dharma to the 21st century, don’t have carnal grounds? Not to worry, they are other means… like watch horror movies and this documentary… ‘Faces of Death’.

  23. Pastor Niral Patel on May 8, 2016 at 12:32 am

    Meditation on death and mortality is an integral path within various Buddhist traditions. It teaches much more than just death, as the reviews by Pastor Shin Tan, Pastor Antoinette Kass, Joy Kam, Vinnie Tan and Beatrix Oi have shared with us. Death is an important factor in all world religions but I have not come across another religion, other than Buddhism, which places so much emphasis on it. As well as preparing oneself for the moment of death, Buddhism uses death to create a very real and transformational change in one’s mindstream through the process of contemplation meditation.

    Traditionally speaking, practitioners were encouraged to meditate in charnel grounds and cemeteries since it was there that they witnessed death and various processes of bodily decomposition. Through this meditation on mortality, practitioners were able to comprehend and change their perception of life, breaking through limiting perceptions, developing compassion for sentient beings and beginning the process of dispelling the darkness of ignorance. All of these are taught within other Buddhist practices but none of them have so much of an impact than seeing the results of death and therefore the truth of life, like a meditation on the physical forms of death.

    In modern society where death itself has been hidden, away from the public eye, behind closed and somewhat institutionalised establishments, death has taken a back seat in the thoughts and minds of the average person. Rather than providing people with a stark reality, it is kept away as most people cannot deal with death in a proper manner. It is considered taboo to talk about these things, as it can be a touchy subject and considered gross or disgusting to think about or see. Even though I can see why most people would want to do this, it creates a society who only think about themselves, their needs and wants, rather than facing reality which would lead to kinder, more compassionate living. This can be achieved through understanding various teachings such as The Twelve Links of Dependant Origination (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/53605.html) which is used to teach the impermanent nature of the self as a means to realise the true nature of existence.

    The use of the charnel grounds and meditation on death has, due to its centrality in Buddhist practices, been incorporated into scared symbology and prayer. One such example is the use of the Eight Great Charnel Grounds, within the liturgies to various wrathful deities (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/twenty-four-holy-places-eight-great-charnel-grounds.html).

    Since we live in modern and ‘civilised’ countries, it would be almost impossible to train practitioners through the process of mediation in such places. Firstly, such charnel grounds do not exist within the borders of ‘civilised’ countries. And secondly, even if there were remnants of such places, it would be considered very inappropriate for practitioners to practice in such places as they would be considered pariahs. Rather, His Eminence 25th Tsem Rinpoche asking his students to watch such documentaries and videos is a skillful method in which they can gain some sort of similar understanding as the ancient yogis and yoginis of the past, simply through watching a video. It is testament to the fact that His Eminence teaches the real Dharma but using modern methods suitable and acceptable within society today, in the attempt to cause practitioners to have the necessary realisation to change their lives for the better and progress along their spiritual journey.

  24. chris chong on May 8, 2016 at 12:16 am

    Dear Rinpoche,

    Thank you for sharing this video to remind us of death and impermanence. Death is a big no no in the chinese culture. we dont talk about death, we dont even want to see anything related to death such as funeral or casket. It is considered inauspicious. Death is a fact of life and everyone bound to die someday. However, some people chose to ignore the truth and continue to live in their delusion. Then, when death comes they will have a hard time to accept and they will have regrets.

    When we accepts death as part of life, we can have a different view on life. We will appreciate the people and things around us more. We will not act like how we used to act. Contrary to what people believe, we will live much better when we accepts death.

    Humbly,
    Chris

  25. Li Kheng on May 8, 2016 at 12:08 am

    Thank you for the sharing your vast and thoughtful insight! It is mind opening to read the thoughts you all shared above. I truly appreciate the varied angles to view the documentary that ultimately share one core message: in looking at death in the face, we may learn to truly live.

    I watched this documentary when I was a little girl. I don’t even remember what age and it left a very deep impact on my mind. I believe that it unconsciously influenced my actions as I was always conscious of death. Today, with a bit of Dharma, the consciousness of death is not one that is only crippling. With a Dharma angle, death is humbling but also motivating for us to live every moment we are gifted with virtue and value.

    We are often so delusional. We think that the images in the documentary is gruesome and we cringe as we press the “play” button in preparation for the faces of death we will have to witness. Little do we know, we are looking at the faces of death every moment, every where and in every person around us. Below the perfect complexion foundation make up is skin that is withering away. When the fragrant perfume we dab on our skin wear off, we smell unpleasant…this is the smell of again and rotting as our body is dying every moment. Beneath the well ironed clothes, is a body that is excreting all things nasty from the mucus, to body fluid discharges, to urine and feces. If we left it to “natural beauty”, we would see it is really not that beautiful.

    So, our avoidance of faces of death is truly a delay tactic that is tiring and defeating.

    The best is to face death by understanding its nature and by living every moment wholesomely and with dignity and integrity.

  26. Valentina Suhendra on May 7, 2016 at 10:23 am

    Dear Rinpoche and team

    Thank you for this article. Almost 10 years ago, Rinpoche sent me a package from Malaysia. The package contains a Lamrim book – Stages of the Path to Enlightenement part 1 that I read immediately, 1 CD of the Dalai Lama’s teaching and 4 CDs of Faces of the Death. When I watched the Faces of the Death for the first time, I was quite shocked with the gruesomeness. We all know that we will die but to see such graphic descriptions of death is really eye opening. Sometimes we are caught up in the moment and forget that nothing is permanent. We let our anger linger, while we know within the a few years, it will not matter anymore at the time of death.

    I am glad to find this video again as it helps me to deal with several issues that I am facing at the moment.

    Valentina

  27. Lew Kwan Leng on May 7, 2016 at 6:32 am

    This is by far the video that I have ever watched with the most dead body. I feel it definitely gives some faces of death, but there could be much more.

    This video started with deaths of animals. As said in the video, I agree that many of the urban people do not realise the death process which the animals need to go through to satisfy our taste buds. There is really no humane way to kill an animal.

    The video then moved on the deaths of human, and there are indeed many ways to die. As mentioned in the Lamrim, we should contemplate on death daily, and (I think) it is mentioned that we should think of different ways of dying during the death meditation. This video sure gave me a lot of ideas.

    When I first learn about Buddhism, I don’t quite understand why Buddhism keep talking about death, which is a subject I am totally not familiar with when I grow up. But when I learn more about Buddhism, I realised that death is something we will definitely face when the time comes, and it is not something we can avoid. And since we can’t avoid it, why not learn to deal with it.

    Many people think Buddhism is pessimistic when it talks about death, but to me, it is the contrary. By understanding death is inevitable, it should drive us to be more compassion and kinder to others. Through Buddhism, I also learnt that during the time of death, our money, wealth, friends, relatives, career, position, ranks etc cannot help us, except our spiritual practice.

    I thank Rinpoche for sharing this video here, as it gives me a new perspective about death, and it reminded me to stay vigilant on my practice, to prepare the the “final day”.

    Lew

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Tsem Rinpoche


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  • Brent
    Tuesday, Mar 26. 2024 04:47 PM
    Living with my wife, whose world is meticulously painted with the hues of OCD, is a journey that intertwines the essence of love with the complexities of the human mind. Her relentless pursuit of cleanliness and order, transforming even the most negligible corner into a testament of organization, often dances on the fine line between admiration and frustration. The sight of her steering clear from trash bins as if they were labyrinths of chaos, serves as a poignant reminder of the battles she fights within. Yet, it’s through these very battles that I’ve learned the profound language of patience and the unspoken strength of support. Therapy, in its gentle embrace, has been a beacon of light for her, guiding her through the stormy seas of OCD. It has not only offered her solace but has also unveiled the strength of her spirit, teaching us both the beauty of resilience. As she journeys through the pathways of healing, I stand by her, a testament to the power of love and the enduring promise of hope. Together, we navigate the complexities of her world, discovering that within the challenges lie opportunities for growth, understanding, and an unbreakable bond. https://www.mindfullyaliveonline.com/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/
  • Samfoonheei
    Friday, Mar 15. 2024 07:31 PM
    Venerable Ajahn Chah was a Thai Buddhist teacher of the Buddhadhamma and a founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition. Well respected and loved as a man of great wisdom, he was also instrumental in establishing Theravada Buddhism in the West. Interesting life story, how he chose to leave the settled monastic life and became a wandering ascetic. Walking across Thailand, lived in forests, caves and cremation grounds while learning from the meditation monks of the Forest of various monasteries. He wandered through the countryside in quest of quiet and secluded places for developing meditation. He even lived in tiger and cobra infested jungles, using reflections on death to penetrate to the true meaning of life. After years of wandering, Venerable Ajahn Chah established a monastery where he taught simple, practice-based form of meditation, and attracted a numerous of students including western foreigners. He was one of the greatest Dhamma teachers of the modern era. His wise teachings have continued to guide thousands of people along the path of Dharma. Venerable Ajahn Chah’s teachings of the Thai Forest Tradition gradually spread across all over the world. Several of Ajahn Chah’s Western students have since established monasteries throughout the world. Just in Thailand itself, there are more than 300 branch monasteries in Ajahn Chah’s tradition. Ven erable Ajahn Chah used his ill health as a teaching point, emphasizing that it was a living example of the impermanence of all things and reminded people to endeavour to find a true refuge within themselves. The legacy of Venerable Ajahn Chah’s teachings and legacy continues into the modern age.
    Thank you Rinpoche for this great sharing.

    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/great-lamas-masters/venerable-ajahn-chah-the-forest-monk.html
  • Samfoonheei
    Friday, Mar 15. 2024 07:30 PM
    Wonderful blog written on the practice of Kalarupa for us to understand better. As an emanation of Manjushri, Kalarupa’s practice helps us to destroy ignorance and to develop wisdom overcoming our anger and suffering . Awesome Kalarupa manifested in multiple forms to help sentient beings who personifies enlightenment by the conquest of anger. Kalarupa also regard as one of the three main Dharma protectors of the Gelugpa is extremely fierce and ugly, and tames all kinds of spiritual ugliness. The fierceness of his iconography teaches us to remind ourselves that all the causes and effects of anger arising from ignorance are dreadful and distorted.
    Thank you Rinpoche and Pastor Antionette for this detailed sharing,

    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/kalarupa.html
  • Samfoonheei
    Friday, Mar 15. 2024 07:27 PM
    Nepal is a very spiritual country, having a huge Dorje Shugden mural in Kathmandu, is indeed a big achievement for Kechara. Located on Charkhal Road in Dilli Bazaar, the mural can be found midway between our two Dorje Shugden chapels which are in Putalisadak and Chabahil. It is also very close to one of Kathmandu’s largest shopping malls. Many locals , tourist will be able to connect them to a powerful deity that is so closely associated with their culture. Well the mural not only beautiful but also full of symbolism and everyone merely by seeing it is blessed. Thanks to those talented artists and generous sponsors making it a success.
    Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.

    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/travel/spectacular-dorje-shugden-mural-in-kathmandu-nepal.html
  • Samfoonheei
    Friday, Mar 15. 2024 07:24 PM
    All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. Letting go helps us to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. A reminder for us all to go of attachment and meditating on impermanence and emptiness. We are to relinquish the domination of our ego and its habits to transform ourselves. A great reminder not to waste our previous life.
    Quoted Ceasing to do evil, Cultivating the good, Purifying the heart .
    Thank you Rinpoche for sharing such a meaningful teachings with folded hands.

    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/pointing-the-staff-at-the-old-man.html
  • james belich
    Friday, Mar 8. 2024 09:43 PM
    Winning the lottery was part of my dreams, I tried so hard to win big but all to no avail, until I came across Dr Lucas online who made my dreams come through and made me win 10 million dollars. I was a logistics manager who lives in Lancaster, S.C. and works about an hour’s drive away, in Charlotte, N.C., I stopped at a store to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket during my lunch break, because Dr Lucas gave me all the assurance that the numbers are not going to fail after I did all he asked me to do. Dr lucas is a powerful Dr that is on a mission to eradicate poverty from people’s lives and i have confirmed that by winning $10 million with the numbers he provided for me, it is my promise to tell the world about my experience with Dr Lucas and that’s what I’m doing now, you can win the lottery fast with the help of Dr Lucas he is tested and trusted Email: Drlucasspelltemple@gmail. com or WhatsApp +234 904 794 3567 he will help you.
  • james belich
    Friday, Mar 8. 2024 09:42 PM
    Winning the lottery was part of my dreams, I tried so hard to win big but all to no avail, until I came across Dr Lucas online who made my dreams come through and made me win 10 million dollars. I was a logistics manager who lives in Lancaster, S.C. and works about an hour’s drive away, in Charlotte, N.C., I stopped at a store to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket during my lunch break, because Dr Lucas gave me all the assurance that the numbers are not going to fail after I did all he asked me to do. Dr lucas is a powerful Dr that is on a mission to eradicate poverty from people’s lives and i have confirmed that by winning $10 million with the numbers he provided for me, it is my promise to tell the world about my experience with Dr Lucas and that’s what I’m doing now, you can win the lottery fast with the help of Dr Lucas he is tested and trusted Email: Drlucasspelltemple@gmail.com or WhatsApp +234 904 794 3567 he will help you.
  • lee
    Thursday, Mar 7. 2024 07:06 PM
    We are members of the Buddhist Temple in Taman Desa Jaya, Kepong, Kuala Lumpur and we have been issued membership by the president (DATUK YIP KUM FOOK), we are very sad because we are the foundation of this Temple

    Now we can know who is always messing with people, and he always cheats money and women, he even uses Buddhism to find money.

    Also, need to be careful with his brother-in-law (Simon Low Kok Meng) because he is a spy (CID) for DATUK YIP KUM FOOK and we will write some letters to AGONG SULTAN IBRAHIM IBN ALMARHUM SULTAN ISKANDAR as soon as possible.

    From Jesmond Yap, Kepong Baru…Kuala Lumpur
  • Phoenix the Shaman Elder
    Thursday, Mar 7. 2024 01:40 AM
    The matriarchal cultures of the grandmothers have specific symbolism of animism shamanism, such as the horse, especially the blue horse, and the deer. These are two main symbols of a shaman woman and you can find them in many cultural folk lore, especially the Russian, Slavic, Siberian, Nordic, Finland, and Norway. It’s nice to see the Matriarchal Shaman Animism diety represented in Chinese.
  • Samfoonheei
    Monday, Mar 4. 2024 06:59 PM
    An inspiring act of a selfless Lama feeding strays whether its night or day. Truly an example for us all to feed those lonely strays . Yes I do agree compassion starts with feeding strays. Reading this blog again to refresh myself to do more. Strays animals generally lead a life of poor welfare on the street. Feeding strays is a compassionate act.
    Thank you Rinpoche and Anila for this sharing.


    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/one-minute-story/rinpoche-through-my-eyes-compassion-starts-with-feeding-strays
  • Samfoonheei
    Monday, Mar 4. 2024 06:56 PM
    nteresting revisit this blog again as truly inspiring reading over and over again . There’s so many inspiring nuns and female practitioner coming from different back ground, leading a more spiritual life. They are practitioners dedicated their life to religious observance and their path is illuminated by the light of compassion. Going against all odds to become one. Their devotion radiates like a thousand stars in the night sky. Here at Kechara Forest Retreat, Bentong Pahang we too have inspiring practitioners .
    Thank you Rinpoche for this great sharing.

    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/inspiring-nuns-and-female-practitioners.html
  • Samfoonheei
    Monday, Mar 4. 2024 06:55 PM
    H E Tsem Rinpoche’s Sungbum project aim to preserve the teachings and practices that have been passed from teacher to disciple in an unbroken line beginning with Lama Tsongkhapa himself . History has taught us the importance of preserving Buddha’s stainless teachings. Its important to preserve and safeguard the Buddhist tradition for future generations.
    Tsem Rinpoche is a clear and effective teacher where his stories and teachings are endlessly entertaining and inspiring. The preservation is very much needed. We are so fortunate given a chance to be involved in such a meritorious project .
    Thank you.

    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/current-affairs/the-tsem-rinpoche-sungbum-project.html
  • Samfoonheei
    Monday, Mar 4. 2024 06:55 PM
    Demons are disembodied spirits, supernatural being or spirit and unseen beings. We know they do exist and I believe they do. They have no physical form to them whatsoever. Demons do definitely exist. They are intelligent beings who are evil malicious spirits and are all dangerous entities. Valak is not to be summoned capriciously by anyone as they are dangerous beings when we invoke them having to face a heavy consequence. There are spiritual practices that we can ask for help a ritual of the wrathful Manjushri in the form of Trakze. Having a doing the practice daily without fail, consistently, as this Trakze practice has been proven to be efficacious to break the hold the Valak and other spirits. All thanks to our Guru bringing this practice to Kechara Forest Retreat, Bentong Malaysia.
    Thank you Rinpoche for this wonderful sharing for us to understand better.

    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/science-mysteries/valak-the-conjuring-2-demon.html
  • Samfoonheei
    Monday, Mar 4. 2024 06:53 PM
    Wow ,reading all these powerful quotes had me realised much better of giving even I have little. May H E Tsem Rinpoche’s sincere advice to reach the far shore of liberation to everyone reading this blog. The most truly generous people are those who give silently without asking any in return. There is no exercise better than reaching and lifting people up. A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal. Well creating and lighting for others we naturally light our own way. Helping others especially those unfortunate ones, make us feel more positive about our own circumstances.
    Thank you Rinpoche for sharing all these powerful quotes.

    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/inspiration-worthy-words/the-power-of-giving-18-quotes-from-tsem-rinpoche.html
  • Aarati Bhatt
    Wednesday, Feb 28. 2024 12:47 AM
    I have tried mine and my friend’s horoscope and it results same in both of our case, and not just that I have tried this on various friends and this horoscope is showing same for maximum date of birth, I think this is a bug.

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The Unknown

The Known and unknown are both feared,
Known is being comfortable and stagnant,
The unknown may be growth and opportunities,
One shall never know if one fears the unknown more than the known.
Who says the unknown would be worse than the known?
But then again, the unknown is sometimes worse than the known. In the end nothing is known unless we endeavour,
So go pursue all the way with the unknown,
because all unknown with familiarity becomes the known.
~Tsem Rinpoche

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According to legend, Shambhala is a place where wisdom and love reign, and there is no crime. Doesn\'t this sound like the kind of place all of us would love to live in? https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=204874
4 years ago
According to legend, Shambhala is a place where wisdom and love reign, and there is no crime. Doesn't this sound like the kind of place all of us would love to live in? https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=204874
108 candles and sang (incense) offered at our Wish-Fulfilling Grotto, invoking Dorje Shugden\'s blessings for friends, sponsors and supporters, wonderful!
4 years ago
108 candles and sang (incense) offered at our Wish-Fulfilling Grotto, invoking Dorje Shugden's blessings for friends, sponsors and supporters, wonderful!
Dharmapalas are not exclusive to Tibetan culture and their practice is widespread throughout the Buddhist world - https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=193645
4 years ago
Dharmapalas are not exclusive to Tibetan culture and their practice is widespread throughout the Buddhist world - https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=193645
One of our adorable Kechara Forest Retreat\'s doggies, Tara, happy and safe, and enjoying herself in front of Wisdom Hall which has been decorated for Chinese New Year
4 years ago
One of our adorable Kechara Forest Retreat's doggies, Tara, happy and safe, and enjoying herself in front of Wisdom Hall which has been decorated for Chinese New Year
Fragrant organic Thai basil harvested from our very own Kechara Forest Retreat farm!
4 years ago
Fragrant organic Thai basil harvested from our very own Kechara Forest Retreat farm!
On behalf of our Puja House team, Pastor Tat Ming receives food and drinks from Rinpoche. Rinpoche wanted to make sure the hardworking Puja House team are always taken care of.
4 years ago
On behalf of our Puja House team, Pastor Tat Ming receives food and drinks from Rinpoche. Rinpoche wanted to make sure the hardworking Puja House team are always taken care of.
By the time I heard about Luang Phor Thong, he was already very old, in his late 80s. When I heard about him, I immediately wanted to go and pay my respects to him. - http://bit.ly/LuangPhorThong
4 years ago
By the time I heard about Luang Phor Thong, he was already very old, in his late 80s. When I heard about him, I immediately wanted to go and pay my respects to him. - http://bit.ly/LuangPhorThong
It\'s very nice to see volunteers helping maintain holy sites in Kechara Forest Retreat, it\'s very good for them. Cleaning Buddha statues is a very powerful and effective way of purifying body karma.
4 years ago
It's very nice to see volunteers helping maintain holy sites in Kechara Forest Retreat, it's very good for them. Cleaning Buddha statues is a very powerful and effective way of purifying body karma.
Kechara Forest Retreat is preparing for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations. This is our holy Vajra Yogini stupa which is now surrounded by beautiful lanterns organised by our students.
4 years ago
Kechara Forest Retreat is preparing for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations. This is our holy Vajra Yogini stupa which is now surrounded by beautiful lanterns organised by our students.
One of the most recent harvests from our Kechara Forest Retreat land. It was grown free of chemicals and pesticides, wonderful!
4 years ago
One of the most recent harvests from our Kechara Forest Retreat land. It was grown free of chemicals and pesticides, wonderful!
Third picture-Standing Manjushri Statue at Chowar, Kirtipur, Nepal.
Height: 33ft (10m)
5 years ago
Third picture-Standing Manjushri Statue at Chowar, Kirtipur, Nepal. Height: 33ft (10m)
Second picture-Standing Manjushri Statue at Chowar, Kirtipur, Nepal.
Height: 33ft (10m)
5 years ago
Second picture-Standing Manjushri Statue at Chowar, Kirtipur, Nepal. Height: 33ft (10m)
First picture-Standing Manjushri Statue at Chowar, Kirtipur, Nepal.
Height: 33ft (10m)
5 years ago
First picture-Standing Manjushri Statue at Chowar, Kirtipur, Nepal. Height: 33ft (10m)
The first title published by Kechara Comics is Karuna Finds A Way. It tells the tale of high-school sweethearts Karuna and Adam who had what some would call the dream life. Everything was going great for them until one day when reality came knocking on their door. Caught in a surprise swindle, this loving family who never harmed anyone found themselves out of luck and down on their fortune. Determined to save her family, Karuna goes all out to find a solution. See what she does- https://bit.ly/2LSKuWo
5 years ago
The first title published by Kechara Comics is Karuna Finds A Way. It tells the tale of high-school sweethearts Karuna and Adam who had what some would call the dream life. Everything was going great for them until one day when reality came knocking on their door. Caught in a surprise swindle, this loving family who never harmed anyone found themselves out of luck and down on their fortune. Determined to save her family, Karuna goes all out to find a solution. See what she does- https://bit.ly/2LSKuWo
Very powerful story! Tibetan Resistance group Chushi Gangdruk reveals how Dalai Lama escaped in 1959- https://bit.ly/2S9VMGX
5 years ago
Very powerful story! Tibetan Resistance group Chushi Gangdruk reveals how Dalai Lama escaped in 1959- https://bit.ly/2S9VMGX
At Kechara Forest Retreat land we have nice fresh spinach growing free of chemicals and pesticides. Yes!
5 years ago
At Kechara Forest Retreat land we have nice fresh spinach growing free of chemicals and pesticides. Yes!
See beautiful pictures of Manjushri Guest House here- https://bit.ly/2WGo0ti
5 years ago
See beautiful pictures of Manjushri Guest House here- https://bit.ly/2WGo0ti
Beginner’s Introduction to Dorje Shugden~Very good overview https://bit.ly/2QQNfYv
5 years ago
Beginner’s Introduction to Dorje Shugden~Very good overview https://bit.ly/2QQNfYv
Fresh eggplants grown on Kechara Forest Retreat\'s land here in Malaysia
5 years ago
Fresh eggplants grown on Kechara Forest Retreat's land here in Malaysia
Most Venerable Uppalavanna – The Chief Female Disciple of Buddha Shakyamuni - She exhibited many supernatural abilities gained from meditation and proved to the world females and males are equal in spirituality- https://bit.ly/31d9Rat
5 years ago
Most Venerable Uppalavanna – The Chief Female Disciple of Buddha Shakyamuni - She exhibited many supernatural abilities gained from meditation and proved to the world females and males are equal in spirituality- https://bit.ly/31d9Rat
Thailand’s ‘Renegade’ Yet Powerful Buddhist Nuns~ https://bit.ly/2Z1C02m
5 years ago
Thailand’s ‘Renegade’ Yet Powerful Buddhist Nuns~ https://bit.ly/2Z1C02m
Mahapajapati Gotami – the first Buddhist nun ordained by Lord Buddha- https://bit.ly/2IjD8ru
5 years ago
Mahapajapati Gotami – the first Buddhist nun ordained by Lord Buddha- https://bit.ly/2IjD8ru
The Largest Buddha Shakyamuni in Russia | 俄罗斯最大的释迦牟尼佛画像- https://bit.ly/2Wpclni
5 years ago
The Largest Buddha Shakyamuni in Russia | 俄罗斯最大的释迦牟尼佛画像- https://bit.ly/2Wpclni
Sacred Vajra Yogini
5 years ago
Sacred Vajra Yogini
Dorje Shugden works & archives - a labour of commitment - https://bit.ly/30Tp2p8
5 years ago
Dorje Shugden works & archives - a labour of commitment - https://bit.ly/30Tp2p8
Mahapajapati Gotami, who was the first nun ordained by Lord Buddha.
5 years ago
Mahapajapati Gotami, who was the first nun ordained by Lord Buddha.
Mahapajapati Gotami, who was the first nun ordained by Lord Buddha. She was his step-mother and aunt. Buddha\'s mother had passed away at his birth so he was raised by Gotami.
5 years ago
Mahapajapati Gotami, who was the first nun ordained by Lord Buddha. She was his step-mother and aunt. Buddha's mother had passed away at his birth so he was raised by Gotami.
Another nun disciple of Lord Buddha\'s. She had achieved great spiritual abilities and high attainments. She would be a proper object of refuge. This image of the eminent bhikkhuni (nun) disciple of the Buddha, Uppalavanna Theri.
5 years ago
Another nun disciple of Lord Buddha's. She had achieved great spiritual abilities and high attainments. She would be a proper object of refuge. This image of the eminent bhikkhuni (nun) disciple of the Buddha, Uppalavanna Theri.
Wandering Ascetic Painting by Nirdesha Munasinghe
5 years ago
Wandering Ascetic Painting by Nirdesha Munasinghe
High Sri Lankan monks visit Kechara to bless our land, temple, Buddha and Dorje Shugden images. They were very kind-see pictures- https://bit.ly/2HQie2M
5 years ago
High Sri Lankan monks visit Kechara to bless our land, temple, Buddha and Dorje Shugden images. They were very kind-see pictures- https://bit.ly/2HQie2M
This is pretty amazing!

First Sri Lankan Buddhist temple opened in Dubai!!!
5 years ago
This is pretty amazing! First Sri Lankan Buddhist temple opened in Dubai!!!
My Dharma boy (left) and Oser girl loves to laze around on the veranda in the mornings. They enjoy all the trees, grass and relaxing under the hot sun. Sunbathing is a favorite daily activity. I care about these two doggies of mine very much and I enjoy seeing them happy. They are with me always. Tsem Rinpoche

Always be kind to animals and eat vegetarian- https://bit.ly/2Psp8h2
5 years ago
My Dharma boy (left) and Oser girl loves to laze around on the veranda in the mornings. They enjoy all the trees, grass and relaxing under the hot sun. Sunbathing is a favorite daily activity. I care about these two doggies of mine very much and I enjoy seeing them happy. They are with me always. Tsem Rinpoche Always be kind to animals and eat vegetarian- https://bit.ly/2Psp8h2
After you left me Mumu, I was alone. I have no family or kin. You were my family. I can\'t stop thinking of you and I can\'t forget you. My bond and connection with you is so strong. I wish you were by my side. Tsem Rinpoche
5 years ago
After you left me Mumu, I was alone. I have no family or kin. You were my family. I can't stop thinking of you and I can't forget you. My bond and connection with you is so strong. I wish you were by my side. Tsem Rinpoche
This story is a life-changer. Learn about the incredible Forest Man of India | 印度“森林之子”- https://bit.ly/2Eh4vRS
5 years ago
This story is a life-changer. Learn about the incredible Forest Man of India | 印度“森林之子”- https://bit.ly/2Eh4vRS
Part 2-Beautiful billboard in Malaysia of a powerful Tibetan hero whose life serves as a great inspiration- https://bit.ly/2UltNE4
5 years ago
Part 2-Beautiful billboard in Malaysia of a powerful Tibetan hero whose life serves as a great inspiration- https://bit.ly/2UltNE4
Part 1-Beautiful billboard in Malaysia of a powerful Tibetan hero whose life serves as a great inspiration- https://bit.ly/2UltNE4
5 years ago
Part 1-Beautiful billboard in Malaysia of a powerful Tibetan hero whose life serves as a great inspiration- https://bit.ly/2UltNE4
The great Protector Manjushri Dorje Shugden depicted in the beautiful Mongolian style. To download a high resolution file: https://bit.ly/2Nt3FHz
5 years ago
The great Protector Manjushri Dorje Shugden depicted in the beautiful Mongolian style. To download a high resolution file: https://bit.ly/2Nt3FHz
The Mystical land of Shambhala is finally ready for everyone to feast their eyes and be blessed. A beautiful post with information, art work, history, spirituality and a beautiful book composed by His Holiness the 6th Panchen Rinpoche. ~ https://bit.ly/309MHBi
5 years ago
The Mystical land of Shambhala is finally ready for everyone to feast their eyes and be blessed. A beautiful post with information, art work, history, spirituality and a beautiful book composed by His Holiness the 6th Panchen Rinpoche. ~ https://bit.ly/309MHBi
Beautiful pictures of the huge Buddha in Longkou Nanshan- https://bit.ly/2LsBxVb
5 years ago
Beautiful pictures of the huge Buddha in Longkou Nanshan- https://bit.ly/2LsBxVb
The reason-Very interesting thought- https://bit.ly/2V7VT5r
5 years ago
The reason-Very interesting thought- https://bit.ly/2V7VT5r
NEW Bigfoot cafe in Malaysia! Food is delicious!- https://bit.ly/2VxdGau
5 years ago
NEW Bigfoot cafe in Malaysia! Food is delicious!- https://bit.ly/2VxdGau
DON\'T MISS THIS!~How brave Bonnie survived by living with a herd of deer~ https://bit.ly/2Lre2eY
5 years ago
DON'T MISS THIS!~How brave Bonnie survived by living with a herd of deer~ https://bit.ly/2Lre2eY
Global Superpower China Will Cut Meat Consumption by 50%! Very interesting, find out more- https://bit.ly/2V1sJFh
5 years ago
Global Superpower China Will Cut Meat Consumption by 50%! Very interesting, find out more- https://bit.ly/2V1sJFh
You can download this beautiful Egyptian style Dorje Shugden Free- https://bit.ly/2Nt3FHz
5 years ago
You can download this beautiful Egyptian style Dorje Shugden Free- https://bit.ly/2Nt3FHz
Beautiful high file for print of Lord Manjushri. May you be blessed- https://bit.ly/2V8mwZe
5 years ago
Beautiful high file for print of Lord Manjushri. May you be blessed- https://bit.ly/2V8mwZe
Mongolian (Oymiakon) Shaman in Siberia, Russia. That is his real outfit he wears. Very unique. TR
5 years ago
Mongolian (Oymiakon) Shaman in Siberia, Russia. That is his real outfit he wears. Very unique. TR
Find one of the most beautiful temples in the world in Nara, Japan. It is the 1,267 year old Todai-ji temple that houses a 15 meter Buddha Vairocana statue who is a cosmic and timeless Buddha. Emperor Shomu who sponsored this beautiful temple eventually abdicated and ordained as a Buddhist monk. Very interesting history and story. One of the places everyone should visit- https://bit.ly/2VgsHhK
5 years ago
Find one of the most beautiful temples in the world in Nara, Japan. It is the 1,267 year old Todai-ji temple that houses a 15 meter Buddha Vairocana statue who is a cosmic and timeless Buddha. Emperor Shomu who sponsored this beautiful temple eventually abdicated and ordained as a Buddhist monk. Very interesting history and story. One of the places everyone should visit- https://bit.ly/2VgsHhK
Manjusri Kumara (bodhisattva of wisdom), India, Pala dynesty, 9th century, stone, Honolulu Academy of Arts
5 years ago
Manjusri Kumara (bodhisattva of wisdom), India, Pala dynesty, 9th century, stone, Honolulu Academy of Arts
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ASK A PASTOR


Ask the Pastors

A section for you to clarify your Dharma questions with Kechara’s esteemed pastors.

Just post your name and your question below and one of our pastors will provide you with an answer.

Scroll down and click on "View All Questions" to view archived questions.

  • March 28, 2024 05:40
    Jason asked: Continuing from the previous answer, how do we liberate ourselves from samsara if it’s impossible to not create further karma while existing in samsara? If we create karma just be existing, that means that we will keep reincarnating over and over again so it seems like we’re stuck in the cycle
    pastor answered: Dear Jason, You've asked a very interesting follow-up question. Generally speaking, yes if you are in samsara, then you are always creating more karma. That's why the goal of Buddhists is to be liberated from samsara. The Buddha and other enlightened beings achieved this and the practice of Dharma itself is geared towards achieving this. I'll try to explain it here, hopefully I can do so in such a short space. So, normally there is no way out of samsara, but when you practice the Dharma there is. Remember in my previous reply to you, I mentioned that there are differing levels of severity of karma? Some are heavier, some lighter, etc. When practising the Dharma, you reduce the amount of karma that you produce. When you have less effects of karma, due to less negative karma itself, you can focus more on the spiritual practices that lead to liberation. I'll take the examples of the Refuge vows. There are 10 of them, split into three categories related to the body, speech and mind. First is the body, which includes to abstain form killing, as killing creates negative karma. The in the speech section, it includes to abstain from lying. This is harder to do. What is easier - to abstain from killing another human being, or lying to another person. The easier one is not to kill. Hence, you train yourself in this manner, working from those actions that are easiest to avoid, working up to those that are harder. For example in the mind section, one of the vows is not to covet something that another person has. But this is harder to do than either not lying or not killing. In other words, in our spiritual practice, we reduce the karma that we create though the actions of our body, speech and mind. Since we have less karma, we suffer less. And then finally, we are get to really subtle levels of karma, which are like residue in our mindstreams. But it's still there. In order to get out of samsara, you need to realise what we call emptiness (which is way to complicated to talk about here). In other words, the very path of the Dharma is to reduce the karma we create, starting with the easiest and working up to the hardest, which is where it becomes the easiest to understand emptiness. This who journey is a process, that's why teachings such as the Lamrim are indesipensible as it shows us the actual way to practice. Normally, we are stuck in Samsara. But when we practice the Dharma and ultimately realise emptiness (there are many, many steps in between) we are able to get out of samsara completely. This may sound confusing, which is why in Buddhism study, understand and practice is very important. We have Dharma classes available, where you can learn and find out more: https://www.kechara.com/learn/dharma-classes/ I hope this helps.
  • March 27, 2024 06:10
    Jason asked: People-especially family put certain expectations on us and when we refuse, it causes them a lot of stress and anger and we make them suffer…. my family wants me to marry and have kids but I don’t want to be tied down to Samsara any further and just explaining that I want to shave my head drives my mom crazy and she starts speaking to me in a very loud and forceful manner saying that she doesn’t care what I have to say and that she knows better than me so she will do whatever it takes make me have a family even if she ends up becoming a villain in my eyes because it’s for my own good so that I won’t be alone and lonely when I’m old. When we say no to people, especially to people who care about us and want the best for us, do we accumulate negative karma from causing them emotional turmoil and pain
    pastor answered: Dear Jason, Thank you for your question. In essence, any action that causes another person harm or suffering whether physical or emotional generates negative karma. But karma is complicated and not as simple as we usually think about it. There are differences in level of severity of karma created, some can be very light and some can be heavy. These are due to the variables when creating karma, such as motivation, the actions, your feelings after it, etc. This can all be found in teachings that talk about karma, especially the Lamrim teachings. In Buddhism we teach that we need to avoid the creation of negative karma for sure. But simply by being stuck in samsara, there is actually no way out of creating karma. That is why Buddhists seek to be free from samsara altogether. Only when we are free from samsara, are we free from the creation of karma. In relation to your situation, if you are young and rely on your parents, for now you should try not to do things that are create division or disharmony within the family environment. That itself if the practice of the Dharma. Then later, when you are independent you can make more of an informed choice about what you want to do. Even in your current situation, you can practice the Dharma, it is not necessary to become a monk or nun to progress on your spiritual path. Dharma can be practiced in any environment, and actually practising towards our family is the best. When we transform our minds and our behvariours and they see just how beneficial this transformation is, this is the best way to show them that Dharma is good. This was a piece of advice that Tsem Rinpoche used to tell people in family situations all the time. I hope this helps you.
  • March 26, 2024 02:28
    Rojal Poudel asked: How can I meet my guru? Does one need a guru for initiation for tantra and other stuff on the path to enlightenment? Does one need a guru to attain enlightenment?
    pastor answered: Dear Rojal, Thank you for your question. In regards to meeting your guru, there are many different ways. These days you can meet your guru online as well. For example, many people did not meet Tsem Rinpoche personally, but they consider him to be there guru. You may find this article interesting: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-guru-protocol-a-guide-to-knowing-who-your-guru-is.html In regards to tantra, yes, one definitely needs a qualified guru to bestow initiation and teach us the path of practice once you have initiation. In regards to our tradition, it is also considered necessary to have a guru to attain full enlightenment. Hope this helps. The article lined above will definitely help to answer some of your questions on a deeper level. Thank you.
  • March 25, 2024 10:35
    Rojal Poudel asked: How can you deepen your spiritual progress while sleeping? I heard some people can go to pure lands and get teachings directly from Buddha’s, Bodhisattva’s, and Dharma Protecters. Are these possible from Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection?
    pastor answered: Dear Rojal, Thank you for your questions. It's always nice to see you here wanting to learn more. Yes it is definitely possible to deepen your practice in your sleep. This is done during practice of Highest Yoga Tantra, after receiving initiation and progressed along generation stage practice. This would obviously include everything before receiving such iniation such as having a basis and grounding in the Three Principle Aspects of the Path and the Lamrim teachings. In this practice you are able to use sleep to engage in meditation. This would need you to be able to lucid dream before hand. The ability to lucid dream itself can be developed a number of ways, but the most common is single-pointed mediation concentration during waking life. This is also known as Shamatha meditation. But in this case, the object of your meditation should be a mental one, rather than a physical one. The best would be a visualisation of the Buddha. All of this is outlined in the Lamrim teachings in the section on developing concentration. In terms of Astral Travel, yes it is definitely possible, and again there are different methods to go about this. Again this should be done only after having received the appropriate intiations and teachings from your guru. However, there are quite a few dangers involved with this. As Tsem Rinpoche mentioned before, the two main ones is that your consciousness is not able to return to your body and two that a spirit can take possession of your body if your protection is not strong and you have not invoked a Dharma protector to help with protection aspects. Another thing about astral travel, is that even if learn how to do it, it is not necessary that you can actually visit pure lands or receive teachings, etc. This is because, to do this, would require a lot of merit. So there are many things and practices to develop merit before you should engage in it. Often times, people who claim that they have received teachings or visited purelands, actually haven't though they may think that they did. It could simply be a projection of one's mind and in some serious cases perhaps even due to spirits mascarading. If you would like to learn lucid dreaming, please look into the teachings of single-pointed concentration normally. The ability of lucid dreaming comes naturally for those who progress in their shamatha meditation. As for astral travel practices, I would advise not to engage in such practices unless you receive the appropriate initiations, teachings from and under the strict supervision of a qualified guru. Hope this helps.
  • March 24, 2024 01:17
    Dirji asked: How can I see my kaytsa
    pastor answered: Dear Dirji, We are sorry, but we do not understand your question. Perhaps because you asked using the english phoenetics of the word. If possible, please post again using either the English translation of the word or using the Tibetan script, so that we can help you properly. Thank you.
  • March 23, 2024 12:11
    Marc asked: What is the direct translation of Tsem Rinpoche’s name mantra? Thank you 🙏🏽
    pastor answered: Dear Marc, Thank you for your question. You can find a translation of the meaning of Tsem Rinpoche's name mantra on Kechara's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=683136630510067. Hope this helps. Thank you.
  • March 22, 2024 20:27
    Rojal Poudel asked: I am about to leave everything behind. I am tired of this life where I do the same thing everyday. I see everything but dharma as an illusion. I want to attain some sort of realization so that I can benefit other sentient beings. I am very inspired by the story of Milarepa, who gave up everything to learn dharma. Even the Buddha gave up comfort and luxury in search for this supreme truth. I also want to follow the Please tell me what I should do.
    pastor answered: Dear Rojal, We can understand that you feel this way, and seeing the illusion of life should definitely motivate us to want to achieve something more spiritual. In the past when people asked Tsem Rinpoche the same question, he used to tell people a couple of things: > The first is that there are two methods to deal with our spiritual path. The first is to physically renounce everything and go into the wilderness, like Buddha Shakyamuni and Milarepa did. To cut yourself from everyone and everything and meditate continuously for years until you achieve realisation. But this is very hard to do in our day and age. We still need to have contact with people, there are the necessities of life to think about. Rinpoche said we need to think about things from a practice angle also. It takes a very great level of practitioner with an immense store of merit to be able to do this successfully. > The second method is to keep living within our a community and use them as a support for the transformation of the mind and spiritual progress. For example, that it why we have monasteries and nunneries, or Dharma centres and organisations to help with spiritual practice. This method is more measured, but you can still gain the same results. This is the more practical method. Especially according to the Mahayana path of practice, Bodhisattvas need to practice certain qualities in our minds and we progress towards enlightenment. Such qualities include the Six Perfections, but if we are not around others, how do we practice them? In order to practice generosity, we need others to be generous towards. In order to practice patience, we need others to be patient towards. In order to practice morality and ethics, we need to be in situations to be able to practice our vows. Enlightened beings like Buddha and Milarepa were able to do all of this in their minds during meditation but as mentioned before they were already high level pracitioners with immense merit. For example, Buddha Shakyamuni had three countless aeons of consistent practice life time after life time until his achieved enlightenment. > Another thing that Rinpoche shared, that while understanding the drawbacks of life and the benefits of becoming enlightened, a lot of the time what happens these days is that it is mixed up with emotion due to the challenges of life. People are looking for an escape, but not an escape from samsara into enlightenment, but simple an escape from their current problems. The need for escape, known as renunciation in Buddhism, is not to simply escape samsara, but developed in a certain way through contemplation and meditation. When we have such feelings, we should analyse them to see if they are in accord with the teachings and the methods of developing true renunciation. Many people also have a unrealistic way of thinking about physical renunciation and the spiritual path in general. Most people think it is easy, but it is not, is difficult because we need to deal with our minds, our emotions, our traumas, etc, from countless lives. If we don't have a firm foundation in Dharma practice and transformation before we attempt something like Buddha Shakyamuni or Milarepa, we will give up after a while because we find it too hard. And perhaps give up spiritual practice because the path did not actually match our expectations. So the key is to be as realistic as possible about our spiritual path. So our advice, rather than give up everything, as you may have family or other responsibilities, is to use your current situation to transform your mind, to practice the teachings right now in life, so that you can start progressing along the spiritual life. The best way to do this is to practice the Lamrim teachings, which give you a firm roadmap of how and what to practice in a sequential manner. Giving up everything is not necessary to make real progress on the spiritual path, as outlined in the Lamrim, but sustained and consistent practice is the key. Then use the situations in your life to actualise that transformation. We hope this helps.
  • March 21, 2024 00:44
    Jason asked: I listened to Tsem Rinpoche’s dharma talk and was inspired to be patient and kind towards other. For a while I felt like my mind had transformed and I started being more proactive in helping others and making sure to complete my responsibilities as perfectly as I can to not burden others and taking the initiative to help people that I see are struggling with their work but recently I have been feeling like I’m actually harming others instead of helping them by being kind because I feel like I’m enabling their bad behavior and rude attitude, especially one person in particular that I have to work with. No matter how much I help and show kindness, they don’t seem to change…and now I feel like a pushover for smiling and helping them even though they don’t show any appreciation or respect for it and instead take advantage of me and push even more of their responsibilities on me. I’ve been having thoughts that my kindness and patience has just become a cover for fear of confrontation now. What should I do? I feel like I’m gonna lose control and lash out even though I try to focus my mind on how the people around me must be struggling
    pastor answered: Dear Jason, Thank you for your question. We are very happy to hear that Tsem Rinpoche's Dharma talks have inspired you, especially to practice patience and kindness towards others. Please do keep it up, the benefits of both qualities are immense and are central to spiritual transformation. We should always try our best to practice both patience and kindness, but sometimes practising it in the way we think may not be the best option. For example, in the case that you mentioned, it is not having the right effect on your own mind and also you are enabling your co-worker to exhibit negative behaviours as well. In this case, actually practising kindness would not be to become a pushover, taking more responsibilities, etc. This isn't beneficial for your or the co-worker. So here, practising kindness would actually be not to allow the person to do such things, but it should be practised with patience and not out of emotion. So you would do this in a very skilfful manner. The best would be to have a talk with your co-worker in a very calm manner and explain how you are feeling and how they are making you feel in the work environment, and try to sort out the situation before it progresses. Especially since you are having such thoughts of anger and the posibility of lashing out. Practicing kindness and patience is not at all become a push over or allowing others to skip out on their responsibilities, etc. We really hope this helps. Thank you.
  • March 20, 2024 14:49
    Sok asked: Hello respected pastors. Is Kusha grass same as Durva grass? How to obtain kusha grass?
    pastor answered: Dear Sok, Kusha grass and Durva grass are two different types of grass, they are not the same. Kusha grass is also known as halfa grass, big cordgrass, or salt reed-grass. Its scientific name is Desmostachya Bipinnata. In shape, each blade of grass is long and straight. Durva grass is also known as bermuda grass. Its scientific name is Cynodon Dactylon. In shape, each blade looks segmented and has smaller leaves sprouting from it. You can google the scientific name to see the difference between the two. Generally, they can be bought at Indian religious stores if there are any nearby where you live. Alternatively, if you live in Asia, you can buy a traditional grass broom, which you can substitue for the Kusha grass. It is a close relative of Kusha grass and the lamas have said that it can be used as substitue if you cannot find the actual grass. I hope this helps. Thank you.
  • March 19, 2024 20:56
    Bhavisha asked: How to know wheather specific LOCAL deity is enlighten or not?
    pastor answered: Dear Bhavisha, Local deities are not enlightened. They are sentient beings who look after or take care of a specific area. There are different names for these types of beings, such as local deities, Land God, Landowner deities, etc. They belong to the God Realm, but as other beings in the god realm, they are not enlightened. Hope this helps.
  • March 18, 2024 09:57
    Rojal Poudel asked: What comes after attaining samatha or calm abiding meditation?
    pastor answered: Dear Rojal, Nice to see you back here! Shamatha is a tool, basically through this meditation you develop single pointed concentration. But after developing that, you use it to engage in Vipashyana meditation, otherwise known as Special Insight. Different traditions have different version of Special Insight. In our tradition, we use this type of meditation to analyse what we call "emptiness." The teachings on the emptiness are the actual teaching that leads to enlightenment. All other teachings or practices help to prepare your mind to be able to do this. Shamatha comes in, because the topic of emptiness is so deep, that we need single-pointed concentration to analyse it. If we don't have this type of concentration, we will not be able to understand emptiness. Hence, shamatha and vipashyana meditation are used in tandem to achieve enlightenment. This may seem a little abstract. The Lamrim teachings go into this in a lot of detail. They can be found in the chapters dealing with the Concentration and Wisdom as part of the Six Perfections in the Great Scope sections of the Lamrim. Hope this helps. Thank you.
  • March 17, 2024 23:16
    Jonathan Tan asked: Hi Dear Pastor, I am curious if H.E 25th Tsem Rinpoche had any heart disciples (son/daughter) Is there a difference between heart and root disciples?
    pastor answered: Dear Jonathan, Thank you for your question. There is no one heart disciple of Tsem Rinpoche. This usually refers to specific person who carries on the teachings and practices of a particular teacher. Tsem Rinpoche wanted something different for Kechara, hence we carry on his teachings and practices as a group, rather than one specific person. Rinpoche trained his students, who are either Sangha, Pastors or senior students in various ways of continuing his teachings, especially through the work that they do. In this way, we continue Rinpoche's teachings as a group rather than any one heart disciple. Hope that this helps. Thank you.
  • March 16, 2024 01:18
    Sirius asked: Hi dear pastors, I'd like to get recomendations on how to improve my actual sadhana. My morning starts by taking refuge and making offerings to the three jewls, followed by Lama Tsongkhapa's Guru Yoga. After this I usually study Lam Rim, and other Dharma Texts. During the afternoon I meditate for a about an hour or so, and somedays I do the Dorje Shugden sadhana given by Rinpoche. Finally at night I finish my day by doing Vajrasattva meditation and confession to the 35 Buddhas. What else can I do to improve my sadhana? What practices would you recomend me to do? Do you have recomendations on texts I could read? I would like to add that I live in Argentina, and I do not have any buddhist temple near sadly, so I cannot go there to practice, learm or collab. I would appreciate advice on this. Thank you in advance.
    pastor answered: Dear Sirius, Thank you for your question. In terms of practice, you are doing a lot. We are very happy to read that you are doing all these beneficial practices. They will be very beneficial for you. What you are doing is very good already, the only thing that I would say is to make the Dorje Shugden sadhana consistent as well as the others. If you are doing the short Diamond Path sadhana, it includes the Vajrasatta meditations, so you don't have to do it separately. We just have some points to help you improve your practice: > First is whenever you do any of the practices, is it vital to make sure you take refuge, generate bodhicitta and practice the four immeasurables before each session. And then at the end of the session, make sure to dedicate. This seals the merit generated from your practice. This is very important as if we don't have the correct motivation at the beginning and dedicate it at the end, since the merit is not sealed, the positive potential is destroyed when we have disturbing emotions, especially anger. > The second is to be consistent in your practices and do them daily. If you cannot be consistent with the practices you are doing at the moment, then reduce what you are doing to make it simple, for example just the Diamond Path (which includes Tsongkhapa's Guru Yoga anyway). Then once you are consistent daily, later you can slow add in other practices and become consistent with them. > The third is to keep revising the teachings on these practices, understand the motivation, deepen your visualisations, etc. > In regards to your meditation, if you are doing breathing or concentration meditation, again, revise the teachings again and again to make your practice stronger and understand where you are on your meditational path. > You can also spend some time every day, maybe five or ten minutes contemplating the Lamrim teachings step by step. This itself is extremely transformational and will propel you along the spiritual path. In regards to what else to study or read, here is a very good article: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/books-that-are-a-must-read.html If you consider Tsem Rinpoche to be your spiritual teacher, there are thousands of hours of teachings on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoTg0Wc5q3Gnz8ej3ETCdMQ You can watch and re-watch them to deepen your understanding and practice. I hope all of this helps.
  • March 14, 2024 05:53
    Alby asked: Hi, I was just wondering if spirits or ghost can possess Buddha statues and haunt the owner of the statue? I heard that before inviting a statue of the Buddha into your house, it has to be blessed by monks first. Is this a necessary requirement?
    pastor answered: Dear Alby, The physical form representations of the Buddhas, including statues, are very special as each form of a Buddha represents not only the path to enlightenment, but the state of enlightenment itself. In fact, even just seeing a Buddha image plants imprints in our minds that will open when the conditions are right, to help us further along our spiritual path. So they are powerful and protective in and of themselves, as long as they have been created according to correct iconography. This last point is very important. That being said, images or statues are just pieces of metal or clay, etc. When statues are consecrated, they actually become the embodiement of the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha). That's why making offerings and doing any virtuous activity (even cleaning them) generates merit for your spiritual journey. As embodiments of the Three Jewels there is no way that they can be possessed by spirits that haunt the owner of the statue. Traditionally, statues are made to be hollow and then filled with certain mantras and holy items, then consecrated. Following the traditional method will be the most effective to bless your statue properly. If your statue is hollow, at Kechara we offer a service to fill your statue properly with the correct mantras, etc. The service is part of Kechara Saraswati Arts. You can find out more here: https://www.kechara.com/services/buddhist-art/ We also have DIY kits available if you cannot send your statue in and would like to do it yourself: https://www.vajrasecrets.com/mantra-rolls-complete [Please note these mantras are inserted into specific parts of the statue, you can contact Vajrasecrets through the website to get more information on how to fill the statue yourself] https://www.vajrasecrets.com/mantra-rolls-anywhere [These mantras can be inserted anywhere within the statue] If you cannot do any of these, then at the very least, you should insert something into the statue so that it is not completely hollow. This can be a piece of paper with the mantra OM AH HUM written on it (either Tibetan or English is fine). Then roll this up and place in the statue. Otherwise you can use a pearl or semi-precious stone, etc. While statues themselves have protective power, when they are left empty there is a certain type of spirit that come to reside inside a statue as it is completely hollow. It's a spirit that likes hollow places. However, this type of spirit is not usually malicious or harmful. But that is one of the reasons a statue is never left hollow. Once the filling is done, the traditional ceremonies of consecration known as Soongdrup Puja (to bless the insertion items) and the Rabney Puja (to fully consecrate the statues) are performed, which we also offer https://www.vajrasecrets.com/rabney-soongdrup-consecration-puja-fund For those who cannot have the pujas done for whatever reason, you can actually bless the statues yourself. A comprehensive guide and the prayers necessary for doing this are available here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/how-to-bless-buddha-images-yourself.html Given all of this, yes there is a type of spirit that can inhabit statues, but only if they are completely empty and not consecrated (whether by a monk, lay practitioner, yourself, it doesn't matter). But this type of spirit cannot haunt the person, etc, in that sense. It simply resides in the statue. The reason why statues are blessed or consecrated is so that they embody the Three Jewels, they become immense objects of merit making and protection from spirits, negativity, etc. So, if you do have a statue or are thinking of an inviting a statue, the best would be to have it filled and consecrated properly. However, even if you cannot, you can do the blessing yourself. There is no need to worry about a statue being haunted if not consecrated by a monk before you invite it or bring home. In fact, if you have a personal practice, at the end of your practice you can dissolve your visualisation into the statue, to bless it. This actually makes your statue much more powerful than consecration alone. You basically bless your statue through your own daily practice. I hope this information helps. Thank you.
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CHAT PICTURES

Rejoice to the volunteers (also kind sponsors) who cleaned the Gyenze Chapel and made abundant offerings to Gyenze. ~ Alice
yesterday
Rejoice to the volunteers (also kind sponsors) who cleaned the Gyenze Chapel and made abundant offerings to Gyenze. ~ Alice
Offered beautiful flowers abundantly to Gyenze. ~ Alice
yesterday
Offered beautiful flowers abundantly to Gyenze. ~ Alice
Offered beautiful flowers abundantly to Gyenze. ~ Alice
yesterday
Offered beautiful flowers abundantly to Gyenze. ~ Alice
Our weekly Dorje Shugden Puja @ 23/3/2024 . William, as the umze is seen here burning incense powder as we are about to recite the Sangsol Prayer to Dorje Shugden composed by Ganden Serkong. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
4 days ago
Our weekly Dorje Shugden Puja @ 23/3/2024 . William, as the umze is seen here burning incense powder as we are about to recite the Sangsol Prayer to Dorje Shugden composed by Ganden Serkong. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
And here's Mr Wong of KSK Ipoh who dropped by to pray and offered some donation to the Chapel. Kechara Penang Study Group. Pic by Siew Hong & uploaded by Jacinta.
2 weeks ago
And here's Mr Wong of KSK Ipoh who dropped by to pray and offered some donation to the Chapel. Kechara Penang Study Group. Pic by Siew Hong & uploaded by Jacinta.
Today's puja (16/3/2024) ended around 420pm, Jacinta was the umze of the day. Pic by Siew Hong. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
2 weeks ago
Today's puja (16/3/2024) ended around 420pm, Jacinta was the umze of the day. Pic by Siew Hong. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
Group photo taken after the last session, sealed with King of Prayers. Come and join us next time! Sayonara - 9-10th March 2024 - Kechara Penang DS Retreat by Jacinta.
2 weeks ago
Group photo taken after the last session, sealed with King of Prayers. Come and join us next time! Sayonara - 9-10th March 2024 - Kechara Penang DS Retreat by Jacinta.
Abundance altar! Fruits, flowers, Mee Koo (traditional Penang buns), Bee Hoon, sourdoughs and snacks are some of the offerings to Rinpoche, Buddhas & Bodhisattvas. Kechara Penang Dorje Shugden Retreat 9-10th March, 2024 by Jacinta.
2 weeks ago
Abundance altar! Fruits, flowers, Mee Koo (traditional Penang buns), Bee Hoon, sourdoughs and snacks are some of the offerings to Rinpoche, Buddhas & Bodhisattvas. Kechara Penang Dorje Shugden Retreat 9-10th March, 2024 by Jacinta.
Siew Hong, one of retreatants and an active member of Kechara Penang group proudly presented her torma to be used during the Kalarupa puja. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
2 weeks ago
Siew Hong, one of retreatants and an active member of Kechara Penang group proudly presented her torma to be used during the Kalarupa puja. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
Torma making was taught by Pastor Seng Piow and held one day before the retreat. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
2 weeks ago
Torma making was taught by Pastor Seng Piow and held one day before the retreat. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
Penang Dorje Shugden Retreat cum Puja, 9-10th March 2024 led by Pastor Seng Piow with 12 retreatants. Uploaded by Jacinta
2 weeks ago
Penang Dorje Shugden Retreat cum Puja, 9-10th March 2024 led by Pastor Seng Piow with 12 retreatants. Uploaded by Jacinta
The celebration ended with a Dorje Shugden puja, dedicated to all the sponsors, our loved ones and as well as for the happiness & good health for all sentient beings. May Rinpoche return swiftly too and taking this opportunity wishing all Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai from all of us, Kechara Penang Study Group. Uploaded by Jacinta.
2 months ago
The celebration ended with a Dorje Shugden puja, dedicated to all the sponsors, our loved ones and as well as for the happiness & good health for all sentient beings. May Rinpoche return swiftly too and taking this opportunity wishing all Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai from all of us, Kechara Penang Study Group. Uploaded by Jacinta.
Seen here, Pastor Seng Piow set off firecrackers - welcoming of the upcoming year with enthusiasm and positive energy. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
2 months ago
Seen here, Pastor Seng Piow set off firecrackers - welcoming of the upcoming year with enthusiasm and positive energy. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
In this pic, Pastor Seng Piow is sharing Dharma with newbies ~ Sharyn's friends. It's always good to make light offerings at the beginning of new year. By making light offerings, you are able to dispel the darkness of ignorance and achieve wisdom. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
2 months ago
In this pic, Pastor Seng Piow is sharing Dharma with newbies ~ Sharyn's friends. It's always good to make light offerings at the beginning of new year. By making light offerings, you are able to dispel the darkness of ignorance and achieve wisdom. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
One the day of Losar (new lunar year), it is always beneficial for Buddhist practitioners to get together in making abundant offerings to Buddhas on the altar to usher in goodness, prosperity and well-being of our loved ones. It's more auspicious this year as Losar and the Chinese New Year begin on the same date, 10th Feb, 2024. Back in Penang, our Kechara members came together to decorate the altar with abundance offerings for Dorje Shugden puja @3pm. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
2 months ago
One the day of Losar (new lunar year), it is always beneficial for Buddhist practitioners to get together in making abundant offerings to Buddhas on the altar to usher in goodness, prosperity and well-being of our loved ones. It's more auspicious this year as Losar and the Chinese New Year begin on the same date, 10th Feb, 2024. Back in Penang, our Kechara members came together to decorate the altar with abundance offerings for Dorje Shugden puja @3pm. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
Mr. Dared Lim was offering water bowls on behalf of Kechara Ipoh Study Group. (Kin Hoe)
2 months ago
Mr. Dared Lim was offering water bowls on behalf of Kechara Ipoh Study Group. (Kin Hoe)
Jun from Ipoh was offering mandarin oranges to Mother Tara and The Three Jewels. (Kin Hoe)
2 months ago
Jun from Ipoh was offering mandarin oranges to Mother Tara and The Three Jewels. (Kin Hoe)
Prior to our puja in Ipoh, Mr. & Mrs. Cheah Fook Wan were preparing for the offerings to the Buddhas. (Kin Hoe)
2 months ago
Prior to our puja in Ipoh, Mr. & Mrs. Cheah Fook Wan were preparing for the offerings to the Buddhas. (Kin Hoe)
On Sunday afternoon, Kechara Ipoh Study Group has carried out Mother Tara prayer recitations in Ipoh. (Kin Hoe)
2 months ago
On Sunday afternoon, Kechara Ipoh Study Group has carried out Mother Tara prayer recitations in Ipoh. (Kin Hoe)
Some of the best shots taken during Thaipusam in Penang. Swee Bee, Huey, Tang KS, Nathan, Choong SH and Jacinta volunteered. Wai Meng came all the way from KL to help out. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
2 months ago
Some of the best shots taken during Thaipusam in Penang. Swee Bee, Huey, Tang KS, Nathan, Choong SH and Jacinta volunteered. Wai Meng came all the way from KL to help out. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
Simple yet powerful ally ~ Bhagawan Dorje Shuden. Kechara Penang Study Group consists of Chien Seong, Hue, Choong SH, Tang KS, Swee Bee and Jacinta. Wai Meng came all the way from KL to help out. Uploaded by Jacinta.
2 months ago
Simple yet powerful ally ~ Bhagawan Dorje Shuden. Kechara Penang Study Group consists of Chien Seong, Hue, Choong SH, Tang KS, Swee Bee and Jacinta. Wai Meng came all the way from KL to help out. Uploaded by Jacinta.
Thaipusam in Penang. Some of the best shots. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
2 months ago
Thaipusam in Penang. Some of the best shots. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
Nothing beats having a sacred audience with our lineage lamas. It's not selfie or wefie, but we have the best 'groufie'!!! 20th Jan 2024, Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
2 months ago
Nothing beats having a sacred audience with our lineage lamas. It's not selfie or wefie, but we have the best 'groufie'!!! 20th Jan 2024, Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
Welcoming our lineage Gurus to our Penang Chapel today! Pastor Seng Piow explained the significance of having Guru Tree and introduced to us our lineage lamas, Buddhas, deities, protectors and etc.
2 months ago
Welcoming our lineage Gurus to our Penang Chapel today! Pastor Seng Piow explained the significance of having Guru Tree and introduced to us our lineage lamas, Buddhas, deities, protectors and etc.
Umze for the day was Siew Hong. She's just been with us for slightly more than a year now but she's proven her capability in leading the puja. Our Penang group members are so proud of her and her commitment in attending the weekly puja. Despite being eloquence and smart, she has beautiful chant as well. When she leads, make sure you are there to hear her chant for yourself! Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
3 months ago
Umze for the day was Siew Hong. She's just been with us for slightly more than a year now but she's proven her capability in leading the puja. Our Penang group members are so proud of her and her commitment in attending the weekly puja. Despite being eloquence and smart, she has beautiful chant as well. When she leads, make sure you are there to hear her chant for yourself! Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
Umze for the day was Siew Hong. She's just been with us for slightly more than a year now but she's proven her capability in leading the puja. Our Penang group members are so proud of her and her commitment in attending the weekly puja. Despite being eloquence and smart, she has beautiful chant as well. When she leads, make sure you are there to hear her chant for yourself! Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
3 months ago
Umze for the day was Siew Hong. She's just been with us for slightly more than a year now but she's proven her capability in leading the puja. Our Penang group members are so proud of her and her commitment in attending the weekly puja. Despite being eloquence and smart, she has beautiful chant as well. When she leads, make sure you are there to hear her chant for yourself! Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
Tara Recitation is on now at KISG - Wai Meng
3 months ago
Tara Recitation is on now at KISG - Wai Meng
Photo from Wan Wai Meng
3 months ago
Photo from Wan Wai Meng
A sea of yellow ~usually in Tibetan Buddhism yellow represents growth. We prayed that our Penang group will grow in terms of people, wealth and attainments too. _/\_ Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
3 months ago
A sea of yellow ~usually in Tibetan Buddhism yellow represents growth. We prayed that our Penang group will grow in terms of people, wealth and attainments too. _/_ Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
After Dorje Shugden puja @3pm, we had Rinpoche's Swift Return puja too. We laughed as Sis Swee Bee was commenting that Tang should smile ~ here's the reason why we laughed.  Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta Goh
3 months ago
After Dorje Shugden puja @3pm, we had Rinpoche's Swift Return puja too. We laughed as Sis Swee Bee was commenting that Tang should smile ~ here's the reason why we laughed. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta Goh
3 months ago
Today's (9/12/2023)Dorje Shugden puja led by Gordon. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
3 months ago
Today's (9/12/2023)Dorje Shugden puja led by Gordon. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
4 months ago
4 months ago
Dharma sharing by Hue before we proceeded with DS puja & Rinpoche Swift Return puja. Hue is one of the long time Kechara Penang members and he comes to puja regularly. He shared that he truly believes that Dorje Shugden and Rinpoche always there guiding him. He shared how sometimes DS will give him hints to avert troubles ahead or to alert him when he 'misbehaved'. Hope many will come to know more about this powerful Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden aka DS. Having Dorje Shugden is like having a powerful ally that will protect us day and night. Just trust Him and have faith. Kechara Penang Study Group, 25/11/2023 by Jacinta.
4 months ago
Dharma sharing by Hue before we proceeded with DS puja & Rinpoche Swift Return puja. Hue is one of the long time Kechara Penang members and he comes to puja regularly. He shared that he truly believes that Dorje Shugden and Rinpoche always there guiding him. He shared how sometimes DS will give him hints to avert troubles ahead or to alert him when he 'misbehaved'. Hope many will come to know more about this powerful Dharma Protector, Dorje Shugden aka DS. Having Dorje Shugden is like having a powerful ally that will protect us day and night. Just trust Him and have faith. Kechara Penang Study Group, 25/11/2023 by Jacinta.
Kechara Penang Study Group had our weekly DS puja , led by our beloved sis Swee Bee and serkym by Mr. Lee. After that, we completed Swift Return puja also. 18th Nov 2023. By Jacinta
4 months ago
Kechara Penang Study Group had our weekly DS puja , led by our beloved sis Swee Bee and serkym by Mr. Lee. After that, we completed Swift Return puja also. 18th Nov 2023. By Jacinta
#Back2back 11th Nov 2023 Dorje Shugden puja & Rinpoche's Swift Return puja @Penang Chapel, 49 Jalan Seang Tek, Georgetown, Pulau Pinang. Every Saturday @3pm/5pm. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
5 months ago
#Back2back 11th Nov 2023 Dorje Shugden puja & Rinpoche's Swift Return puja @Penang Chapel, 49 Jalan Seang Tek, Georgetown, Pulau Pinang. Every Saturday @3pm/5pm. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
Pic: Rinpoche Swift Return puja ~ 21/10/23 Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
5 months ago
Pic: Rinpoche Swift Return puja ~ 21/10/23 Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
#Backtoback A few months back, Kechara Penang Study Group started to have two pujas consecutively on Saturday. Dorje Shugden puja @3pm and thereafter Rinpoche Swift Return puja. This can only be achieved due to the committed members from Penang. A big round of applause...... Pic : DS puja on 21/10/2023 Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
5 months ago
#Backtoback A few months back, Kechara Penang Study Group started to have two pujas consecutively on Saturday. Dorje Shugden puja @3pm and thereafter Rinpoche Swift Return puja. This can only be achieved due to the committed members from Penang. A big round of applause...... Pic : DS puja on 21/10/2023 Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
More pictures of the day! Kechara Penang Chapel & public blessings 3rd Oct 2023 by Jacinta.
6 months ago
More pictures of the day! Kechara Penang Chapel & public blessings 3rd Oct 2023 by Jacinta.
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Dorje Shugden
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