Geshe Ngawang Wangyal: America’s First Pioneering Buddhist Lama

Oct 15, 2018 | Views: 2,466

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Geshe Ngawang Wangyal (1901 – 1983) led an incredible life. His story is all the more inspiring not because he had a comfortable life or an impressive title, but because he persevered in his spiritual journey despite the challenges he faced.

Born in Russia, Geshe Wangyal received his monastic education in both Russia and Tibet. He worked as a guide, translator and, at one time, even worked for the CIA’s Tibet Task Force.

Geshe Wangyal persevered to become the first lama to play a pivotal role in introducing Tibetan Buddhism to the West. He was also the one who brought His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the United States.

 

Early Life

Geshe Wangyal, a Kalmyk (Mongolian), was born Lidjiin Keerab on October 15, 1901 in the Astrakhan Province of south-eastern Russia, to Leiji and his wife Bolgan. His father, Leiji, passed away when he was less than one year old. His mother took him to a temple, where she had the following conversation with her son:

Mother: Buddha is a special being to whom we bow and pray. He will bless you when you bow down and pray, you must do so for the sake of all living beings.

Geshe Wangyal: If I pray for others, how will I get what I want?

Mother: By helping others your own aims will be achieved incidentally.

Source: Geshe Ngawang Wangyal, The Door of Liberation: Essential Teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition, p. xiv

Geshe Wangyal was the youngest of four siblings. Gunsang, one of his brothers who was eight years older than him, was a monk. His family often praised Gunsang for his choice, and this inspired the young boy to be ordained too. At the age of six, he entered a local monastery where his elder brother, Gunsang was a resident monk. From then on, Gunsang became responsible for his brother’s education. Gunsang was a good teacher. The young Geshe Wangyal was immediately assigned to learn the Tibetan language and memorise many Tibetan texts, and he excelled in whatever learning tasks that were assigned to him.

When he was 16 years old, Geshe Wangyal entered a medical school. His teacher was very proud of him due to his intelligence and thirst for knowledge; Geshe Wangyal was able to study a two-year curriculum within one year. However, the young teenager lost interest in medical studies after his teacher passed away at the end of the year.

Lama Agvan Dorjiev was Geshe Wangyal’s teacher

Lama Agvan Dorjiev was Geshe Wangyal’s teacher

Around this time, he met his root teacher, Lama Agvan Dorjiev, a famed diplomat and a debate partner of His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama. Although Lama Dorjiev was very much involved with the political situation at the time, he remained committed to promoting the Tibetan Buddhist studies of the Yellow Hat (Gelug) tradition in Kalmykia, Buryatia, and Mongolia. Geshe Wangyal entered a monastic college that Lama Agvan Dorjiev had established in Kalmykia, and also received his main initiations and vows from Lama Agvan Dorjiev.

One summer, the teenage Geshe Wangyal contracted typhoid. His condition was so dire that his fellow monks lost all hope for his recovery. His mother came to the monastery to take care of him. She sucked the phlegm and pus out of his lungs and throat to prevent him from suffocating. When Geshe Wangyal regained consciousness, he found out that his mother had contracted typhoid through her efforts to save him and passed away on the same day that he recovered.

Geshe Wangyal was devastated by his mother’s death and tremendous sacrifice. At the same time, he was overwhelmed by a sense of thirst after his fever. He was appalled by this sense of selfishness and became determined to dedicate his life to liberate himself and others from such self-centred impulses. Throughout his life, Geshe Wangyal always spoke lovingly of his mother and said that he had never encountered such unconditional compassion in his life.

Lhasa in the 1920s

Lhasa in the 1920s

Lama Agvan Dorjiev recognised Geshe Wangyal’s intelligence and passion for Buddhist studies. He predicted that Geshe Wangyal would be able to complete a Geshe (Doctorate in Buddhism) curriculum at the Gelugpa monastic universities in Tibet, and helped him to travel there. Geshe Wangyal received the opportunity to travel to Tibet when Sergey Borisov, an official of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was given a secret assignment. The USSR’s foreign ministry had tasked him with going to Tibet to look for opportunities to proselytise communism. Their travel group posed as religious pilgrims and included genuine Buddhist pilgrims to bolster the façade. Borisov even presented himself as a Buryat Mongol lama during the months-long trek to Lhasa.

Lama Dorjiev arranged for the 21-year-old Geshe Wangyal to be included in Borisov’s group. He was aware of Borisov’s intentions and mission, so he advised the young Geshe Wangyal to separate himself from the group before entering the holy city of Lhasa to avoid being identified as a member of Borisov’s party. Like many geshe aspirants before him, Geshe Wangyal left with the full intention of returning to his hometown one day and spreading the Buddhadharma among his fellow Kalmyks.

 

The Scholar Who Earned His Living

In Lhasa, Geshe Wangyal continued his studies at Drepung Gomang Monastery. Between 1934 and 1935, driven by the need for financial resources, Geshe Wangyal decided to return to Kalmykia to raise the necessary funds to complete his studies. He returned home only to discover that the ruling communist government was persecuting the religious clergy, so Geshe Wangyal decided to return to Asia.

Sir Charles Alfred Bell

Sir Charles Alfred Bell

Geshe Wangyal found a way to earn a living through his friend and confidant, the British statesman and explorer Sir Charles Alfred Bell. Through Bell’s recommendation, Geshe Wangyal served as a guide, interpreter, and assistant during Bell’s Manchurian and Mongolian tour. Once his assignment with Bell was complete, Geshe Wangyal went to China where he compared the different editions of the Kangyur, the spoken words of the Buddha, and the Tangyur, the treatises of the Indian Buddhist commentators, for a publishing house. During this time, Geshe Wangyal taught himself the English language. He also travelled to Vietnam to work for a French diplomat.

His travels allowed him to save up enough funds to return to Tibet and re-enter Drepung Gomang Monastery. Once he obtained his Geshe degree, Geshe Wangyal divided his time between Kalimpong and China in the winter and Lhasa for the rest of the year. He also briefly visited England at the invitation of Marco Palis, a Greek-British author and mountaineer. This idyllic existence, however, was about to be cut short.

Drepung Monastery in Tibet

Drepung Monastery in Tibet

 

Escape to India

By the end of 1951, the Chinese Communist forces had expanded their presence from the eastern provinces to Central Tibet. Geshe Wangyal could not remain in Lhasa because he was known to be a Russian national. His status as a lama and a trader also put him at risk during a time when Communist forces sought to purify society of its bourgeois elements. Geshe Wangyal escaped to Kalimpong, India, where he came across a New York Times article about a group of Kalmyks who had established a community in Freewood Acres, New Jersey, USA. The article inspired him to move to the United States. Freewood Acres later became known as Howell.

Kalimpong in India

Kalimpong in India

 

The Background of Kalmyk Immigration to the United States

After World War II, during Joseph Stalin’s rule, many of the Kalmyks who opposed Communism sought refuge in the United States. In 1948, the United States government issued the Displaced Person (DP) Act, a humanitarian immigration program that authorised 200,000 displaced Europeans’ admission to the United States for permanent residence.

Countess Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya and her famous father, Leo Tolstoy

Countess Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya and her famous father, Leo Tolstoy

At first, there were some doubts as to whether the Kalmyks could be classified as Europeans. Fortunately, the Kalmyks received assistance from Countess Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya, the youngest daughter of the famous Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, and her Tolstoy Foundation.

Countess Alexandra shared her father’s belief in non-violence. She was briefly imprisoned following the Bolshevik Revolution but was later released and installed as the director of the Tolstoy Museum. In 1929, Countess Alexandra emigrated to the United States. Ten years later, she established the Tolstoy Foundation. The original objective of the foundation was to assist refugees from the USSR and Europe, but it grew to include a larger charitable scope.

The Tolstoy Foundation

The Tolstoy Foundation

Through the Tolstoy Foundation, Countess Alexandra testified in front of the immigration tribunal that Kalmyks are Europeans. She argued that the Kalmyks had stayed in European Russia for many centuries and this fact far outweighed their Asian origins.

The tribunal initially rejected the idea that Kalmyks are Europeans but the decision was reversed a few months later by the United States Attorney General and the Board of Immigration Appeals. With their status as Europeans confirmed, the Kalmyks became eligible to enter the United States under the DP Act of 1948. Less than a year after their arrival in the Unites States, the Kalmyks established their first Tibetan Buddhist temple, Rashi Gempil Ling, which is also the first Kalmyk Tibetan Buddhist temple in the United States.

Rashi Gempil Ling, the first Kalmyk Tibetan Buddhist temple in the United States

Rashi Gempil Ling, the first Kalmyk Tibetan Buddhist temple in the United States. This temple was 10 minutes walk from Tsem Rinpoche’s family home in Howell, New Jersey. Tsem Rinpoche as a youth would often come to this temple to receive teachings, initiations and attend Buddhist services.

 

VIDEO: Mongol History – Kalmyks in the USA, 1960s

Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/MongolHistoryKalmykintheUSA1960s.mp4

 

Early Days in the United States

Geshe Ngawang Wangyal, aboard La Liberté, arrives in America, February 3, 1955. John Lent/Associated Press

Geshe Ngawang Wangyal, aboard La Liberté, arrives in America, February 3, 1955. John Lent/Associated Press

Thanks to the intervention of the Tolstoy Foundation, Geshe Wangyal’s application for a visa was finally granted by the American Consulate in New Delhi, India, in 1954. He boarded the La Liberté in France and arrived at the port of New York in January 1955 to become the first Kalmyk Mongolian lama in the United States.

Upon his arrival, Geshe Wangyal attempted to join both Rashi Gempil Ling and the newer Tibetan Buddhist centre, Tashi Lhunpo. Membership in either temple meant that Geshe Wangyal would not have to engage in fundraising activities to purchase the property needed to accommodate the Buddhist Studies and Tibetan Language program that he hoped to start. Geshe Wangyal aspired to establish a program similar to what his teacher, Lama Dorjiev, had created many years before in Kalmykia. Unfortunately, his requests to join Rashi Gempil Ling and Tashi Lhunpo were rejected due to the intervention of Dilowa Khutuktu (Telo Tulku Rinpoche), a Mongolian Tulku who came to the United States in 1949.

 

The Monk Who Worked for the CIA

Geshe Wangyal at Columbia University

Geshe Wangyal at Columbia University

Despite the rejection, an opportunity to raise the necessary funds to establish his education program fortuitously presented itself. From 1956 to the 1970s, Geshe Wangyal taught the Tibetan language at Columbia University.

Takster Rinpoche

Takster Rinpoche

Around the same time that he started teaching at Columbia University, the eldest brother of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Thubten Jigme Norbu (Takster Rinpoche), helped Geshe Wangyal to secure a position on the CIA’s Tibet Task Force. Geshe Wangyal was assigned to develop the telecode used to communicate with the Tibetan Resistance movement.

Eight months before Geshe Wangyal’s arrival, the CIA sponsored Takster Rinpoche’s visit to the United States. Takster Rinpoche had previously visited the United States in 1951 to present an eyewitness account of the Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet to the American foreign policies and intelligence communities. On the second of such visits, Geshe Wangyal served as Takster Rinpoche’s interpreter during his meeting with the CIA.

According to Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison in their book The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet:

“Having dissected Tibetan grammar during years of poring over Buddhist texts, he had a particularly deep appreciation for its written form. His extended time as Bell’s interpreter had left him with reasonably good English skills. The U.S. government, for one, found his linguistic talents more than adequate: among his first Tibetan students at Columbia were two from the U.S. Army.”

Source: Conboy, Kenneth and Morrison, James, The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet, p. 51

The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet (click to download PDF)

Geshe Wangyal’s involvement with the CIA gave them the opportunity to play a significant role during the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet to India.

The guerrilla fighters assigned to ensure the Dalai Lama’s safety during this escape journey used the telecode developed by Geshe Wangyal to keep the CIA informed of their movements and to request Prime Minister Nehru to grant political asylum in India for the Dalai Lama, his family, and entourage.

After the Dalai Lama arrived in India, Geshe Wangyal focused on the next task, which was to bring the Dalai Lama to the United States.

The Dalai Lama when he entered India in 1959

The Dalai Lama when he entered India in 1959

 

Spreading the Dharma in the United States

Geshe Wangyal’s work with the CIA enabled him to secure a property and build a ranch-style home in Freewood Acres in 1958. The property would go on to become the Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America (LBMA), the first centre of Tibetan Buddhist academic studies in the United States.

Geshe Ngawang Wangyal and a boyhood friend from Kalmykia, Dorji Purview, in the new altar room of the Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America, 1964. Courtesy of the David Urubshurow

Geshe Ngawang Wangyal and a boyhood friend from Kalmykia, Dorji Purview, in the new altar room of the Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America, 1964. Courtesy of David Urubshurow.

The year 1960 held several milestones for Geshe Wangyal. He resigned from the CIA task force which continued without him for over ten years. He was also granted American citizenship and an American passport. That summer, Geshe Wangyal travelled to India for an audience with the Dalai Lama, who decided to send four Tibetan Buddhist lamas to Geshe Wangyal’s Freewood Acres centre to learn English and later teach Buddhism to receptive audiences. The four lamas were:

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  • Geshe Lhundup Sopa, who later became a professor of Buddhism at the University of Wisconsin;
  • Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche, the founder of the Ewam Choden Buddhist centre in California; and
  • Sharpa Rinpoche and Kamlung Rinpoche, two teenage tulkus.

LBMA continued to sponsor many Tibetan lamas from the Tibetan settlements in India and provided them with English language lessons so that they could serve the Buddhist community in the United States. Geshe Wangyal also took on resident American students who gave English language lessons to the monks in exchange for classes in the Tibetan language and Tibetan Buddhism.

Wangyal016a

Many of the teachers under this alumni program would go on to establish their own centres and attract many followers. One example is Geshe Lobsang Tharchin who arrived in the United States after the program began and became the longest-serving abbot at Rashi Gempil Ling. Through his sponsorship of Tibetan monks, Geshe Wangyal played a significant role in spreading Tibetan Buddhism in the United States.

Geshe Wangyal was also involved in the translation of two volumes of popular Tibetan and Sanskrit stories: The Prince who became a Cuckoo and The Door of Liberation. Geshe Wangyal also translated Illuminations: A Guide to Essential Buddhist Practices with Brian Cutillo, a scholar and translator in the field of Tibetan Buddhism.

 

The Expansion Continued

Not long after the arrival of the first batch of lamas from India, LBMA received its first group of Harvard students: including Jeffrey Hopkins, Christopher George and others. Geshe Wangyal taught them Buddhism and, in return, his students from Harvard provided English language lessons to the newly-arrived monks and helped out at the centre. Jeffrey Hopkins would go on to receive his doctorate degree and teach Buddhism at the University of Virginia. He also wrote many books on Tibetan Buddhism.

Geshe Wangyal with his students, Jeffrey Hopkins, Robert Thurman, and Christopher George

Geshe Wangyal with his students from Harvard, including Jeffrey Hopkins and Christopher George

In the 1960s, more Americans came to study with Geshe Wangyal and the Tibetan monks. To accommodate the situation and his wish to retire, Geshe Wangyal bought land in Washington, New Jersey, and left his Howell monastery in the care of the resident Tibetan monks. The retreat house was completed in 1968 and, in 1975, Geshe Wangyal and his students built the Schoolhouse.

In 1979, Geshe Wangyal sold the Howell monastery and moved the Tibetan monks to a newly-purchased property in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Aside from fundraising, building, and teaching his students, Geshe Wangyal was also closely involved in the planning of the Labsum Shedrup Ling or Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center’s physical facilities, which was his centre in Washington, New Jersey.

TBLC in Washington, New Jersey

The Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center (TBLC) also known as Labsum Shedrup Ling in Washington, New Jersey

 

Inviting the Dalai Lama to the United States

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In 1964, Geshe Wangyal took one of his American students to India and introduced him to the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. This student was the first Westerner ordained by the Dalai Lama, and he served briefly as a Tibetan Buddhist monk.

Two undergraduate students from Harvard, Joel McCleary and Joshua Cutler, who took an introductory course on Tibetan Buddhism expressed their interest in continuing with their Buddhist studies, so were introduced to Geshe Wangyal in the summer of 1971. McCleary recalled that Geshe Wangyal’s first assignment to him was “Bring the Dalai Lama to America.”

Geshe Wangyal and the Dalai Lama in 1979

Geshe Wangyal and the Dalai Lama in 1979

By this time, Geshe Wangyal had successfully brought over many Tibetan lamas to the United States. Bringing the Dalai Lama over, however, proved to be an undertaking of Herculean proportions made worse by obstacles of a political nature. In December 1959, President Eisenhower rejected the Tibetans’ request to meet with the Dalai Lama. Some people viewed this rejection as a sign that the United States saw the Dalai Lama as Persona Non Grata, or an unwelcome person.

Once he was given the task of bringing the Dalai Lama to the United States, McCleary began a relentless campaign of writing to various leaders of Congress to request their support. In 1977, McCleary became the Deputy Assistant to President Carter’s Administration. He succeeded in obtaining the help of Deputy Assistant Tom Beard to help him reverse the State Department’s policy on the Dalai Lama issue. Through their lobbying efforts, McCleary and Beard gained many staunch supporters who later became the Dalai Lama’s best friends when he finally arrived in America.

David Urubshurow, age 11, lights a butter lamp in the original altar room of the Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America while Geshe Ngawang Wangyal reads and translates sutras, 1959. Courtesy of David Urubshurow.

David Urubshurow, age 11, lights a butterlamp in the original altar room of the Lamaist Buddhist Monastery of America while Geshe Ngawang Wangyal reads and translates sutras, 1959. Courtesy of David Urubshurow.

McCleary and Beard managed to bring the issue of the Dalai Lama’s visit to the highest level of the government. They presented it as an extension of President Carter’s commitment to human rights and a hallmark of his foreign policy. The issue soon became the agenda for the National Security Council where McCleary and Beard, accompanied by Hopkins and Tenzin Tethong from the Office of Tibet in New York City, made a compelling argument in favour of the visit.

Another beautiful picture of the Dalai Lama and Geshe Wangyal taken in August 1981

Another beautiful picture of the Dalai Lama and Geshe Wangyal taken in August 1981

In September 1979, His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in the United States for the first time to commence a seven-week nationwide teaching tour. His first lecture took place at the LBMA in New Jersey, and his first private audience was given to Joel and April McCleary. The Dalai Lama’s maiden visit to the United States marked the beginning of the world’s and America’s love affair with him. The Dalai Lama would visit LBMA a total of eight times.

In 1981, after the Dalai Lama concluded his second teaching visit to LBMA, Geshe Wangyal gathered all his closest friends and disciples at the LBMA’s schoolhouse library to bid farewell to His Holiness. When the Dalai Lama arrived, Geshe Wangyal burst into tears as His Holiness hugged him and playfully tugged at his long goatee. Finally, His Holiness also started to weep. That was the last meeting between the Dalai Lama and Geshe Wangyal.

 

Later Life

A picture of the older Geshe Wangyal

A picture of the older Geshe Wangyal

Four months before his death, Geshe Wangyal offered the building in New Brunswick where he housed the Tibetan monks to the Dalai Lama’s charitable organisation, The Tibet Fund. He then arranged for the monks in New Brunswick to be moved to the Washington centre.

He also appointed his long-time students, Joshua and his wife, Diana Cutler, as his administrative successors. He gave them the assignment of building a temple on the TBLC grounds in memory of Alice Scudder Rayburn, Geshe Wangyal’s student and sponsor, who had passed away six months earlier. It was his wish that this temple would become the residence of the Dalai Lama whenever he visited.

On January 30, 1983 Geshe Wangyal passed away peacefully.

 

Legacy

In the summer of 1991, David Urubshurow, one of Geshe Wangyal’s longtime students, had the privilege of accompanying His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his visit to Kalmykia in southeastern Russia where he received a warm welcome. A person asked him, “Your Holiness, why are you here?” His Holiness immediately replied,

“I am here because of my friend Geshe Wangyal.”

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Addendum: H.E. Tsem Rinpoche & Geshe Ngawang Wangyal

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https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/TsemRinpocheOnGesheNgawangWangyal.mp4

Transcript
When I was adopted over, back in 1972, to the United States, I was six going on seven years old. I was given over to a Mongolian family, which is also part of my heritage, and the particular group of Mongolians that I was given over to were called Kalmyks or Kalmyk Mongolians. They were situated in the tri-state area in the eastern part of the United States, which is namely Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey. So, in this tri-state area, the Kalmyk Mongolians were living and made it their home, because it was very difficult for them to live in their homeland and practise their religion, with the onslaught of the Stalinist regime and the communist regime in Russia at that time.

Tsem Rinpoche as a young boy and the Kalmyk family he was adopted into

Tsem Rinpoche as a young boy and the Kalmyk family he was adopted into

So the Kalmyks, who were traditionally Buddhists, immigrated to Europe and from Europe immigrated to the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. The Kalmyks are very strong in their practice and faith of Buddhism, as they have been for many centuries. Therefore, in New Jersey itself, they had established four very beautiful Buddhist temples, and they also have it in Philadelphia.

When I was adopted over to the United States, I went to Howell, New Jersey. And Howell, New Jersey had a large community of immigrant Mongolian people, Kalmyk people, Kalmyk Mongols, and they had settled there and built their temples. In Howell New Jersey, there were three Kalmyk Mongolian Buddhist Temples and then in North Jersey, in Washington, New Jersey, this was in the northern part of the state of New Jersey, there was a Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center that was opened and developed by the Mongolian Geshe, Geshe Wangyal.

Kalmyk Mongols preserved their ancient practice of Buddhism in America

Kalmyk Mongols preserved their ancient practice of Buddhism in America

So what happened was, all of the Mongolians would attend regular temple service, rituals, holidays, prayers. Whenever there was a Buddhist holiday, such as Tsongkhapa’s Day, then people would attend and engage in prayers, the monks would chant and do rituals, and the lay people would sit in the temple and recite mantras, while they turned the prayer wheel. That was one of my favourite times of going to the temple.

I visited all three temples in Howell, New Jersey, and whenever I had free time, I would particularly go to Nitsan Temple, and Rashi Gempil Ling Temple. Rashi Gempil Ling Temple is the seat of my first teacher, Geshe Lobsang Tharchin. Later, he became the abbot and he was known as Kensur Lobsang Tharchin Rinpoche. So Rashi Gempil Ling Temple, which is built by the Kalmyk Mongolian people in the community there, was built, sustained, maintained by the Mongolian Kalmyk community there. It’s a very beautiful temple. And I would go there for services, for prayers, for classes, and what not, and that was literally five minutes bike ride from my house. If I was to walk, it would be about ten to fifteen minutes, because it was very, very nearby, so I was very, very fortunate.

The Mongolian community in Washington, New Jersey, well, the Mongol Geshe in Washington, New Jersey, of the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, Kalmyk Mongols of New York and Philadelphia, and New Jersey, all combined, and invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1979 to the United States. This was spearheaded by the great Mongolian master, Geshe Wangyal.

So, Geshe Wangyal made the arrangements, he made the request, and he made the preparations. And naturally, all of the Mongolian people who have been connected to the Dalai Lama for many centuries, all the various Dalai Lamas for many centuries, were very excited. I remember His Holiness came in 1979, he visited all three temples of Nitsan, Tashi Lhunpo and Rashi Gempil Ling Temple. He visited all the three temples in Howell, New Jersey, and he graciously also visited the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in Washington, New Jersey.

What was very exciting was we all took a bus, the Mongolian people chartered a bus, many buses actually, many buses to Washington, New Jersey. I think it was about a two-hour ride, not too far, pleasant ride, to Washington, New Jersey, which has a large piece of land up at the base of the Appalachian Mountains, and it was very green, and forested.

Geshe Wangyal's centre was at the base of beautiful Appalachian Mountains

Geshe Wangyal’s centre was at the base of beautiful Appalachian Mountains

Geshe Wangyal had a special house and residence built for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, that had his own temple, he had his own residence there, and while we were there, they were in the process of building a lake, and he had tents set up all over the land, and he had reception centres. He had a beautiful area to receive His Holiness the Dalai Lama and all the people there.

I can’t remember exactly how many people because back then in 1979 I was 14, so at least there would be at least 400-500 persons there, maybe even more. Because I know among the Kalmyks, Kalmyk Mongols, there were at least 300-400 persons. And so, we were very excited because Geshe Wangyal invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Washington centre, and under the auspices, the sponsorship and the spearheading of Geshe Wangyal. It was really exciting because when we arrived by bus there, we had a chance to meet Geshe Wangyal, and it was the first time that I had met this Kalmyk Mongolian master, and he gave me his blessings, and by that time he was already much older, I don’t know how old, but he was much older. I remember his distinctive white goatee, and of course he spoke fluent Mongolian, and Tibetan, and some English, and the whole place was set up so beautifully.

A depiction of Buddha Nageshvaraja, with white face and blue body

A depiction of Buddha Nageshvaraja, with white face and blue body

The main picture that was set up outside was the Buddha Nagaraja, who had a white head, and a blue body, and who is one of the Buddhas of the Thirty-five Confessional Buddhas Sutra. There were many offerings everywhere, beautiful tents, and a throne was set up outside, and it was absolutely a beautiful, cool day. I think it was around September, so it was already early fall. So, it was not cold, but it was cool, and it was very crisp, very clear, and very nice.

His Holiness had already been resting in his room, and the next thing we knew was Geshe Wangyal in the traditional manner, with incense, invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama out of his room, to the throne and dais where he was going to give the teachings, under a tent, outdoors. It was a very beautiful moment, and His Holiness came out, and he sat on the throne, and Geshe Wangyal made the traditional prostrations and offerings, and everybody sat down.

I remember, when His Holiness arrived, there was a very light, misty rain. Nobody got wet. It was just a very light mist appeared, and there were rainbows all over the place. Then there was a little white butterfly that kept hovering around His Holiness’ head, not landing on the Dalai Lama’s head, or not falling on the Dalai Lama’s head, but just hovering around it, for, you know, I think about fifteen, twenty minutes, and then flew away.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama proceeded to give us teachings on the “Eight Verses of Thought Transformation”, and he gave explanations on each of the eight verses, and on top of that, he gave an explanation on how to meditate on it, and he advised us to recite the “Eight Verses” every single day, which I started to do from that time onwards. He also gave us the oral transmission of Avalokiteshvara’s mantra, Chenrezig’s mantra – Om Mani Padme Hum.

It was very, very beautiful and if I remember the teachings were about two to three hours, and I cried throughout most of the teachings because I felt very happy to receive these teachings and they felt very familiar, and they felt very appropriate. I felt that the teachings were very appropriate and very familiar, and comfortable, for lack of a better description of how I felt. Afterwards, we all lined up and we had the fortune to go up personally and offer a khata, a white silk traditional greeting scarf to His Holiness, and receive his blessings, and he gave each of us a hand blessing, which is he places his hand on our head, and also a red string that has been tied in a knot in the centre, which contains blessed mantras, blown on by His Holiness.

Four-armed Chenrezig

Four-armed Chenrezig. Click to enlarge.

So, I was extremely excited, and I remember before this, I had taken two or three weeks to paint a poster of the Four-armed Avalokiteshvara. I painted the Avalokiteshvara, and I painstakingly put a lot of details and all that on it, and on the back, I composed a prayer. I composed a prayer to praise His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and his indivisibility with Avalokiteshvara, and I prayed that I will be close to him and not be separated from him in this life and future lives. So I had composed that prayer in my little childish writing, and then I wrote it at the back of the painting, and I had this all prepared.

So, when I went to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama, I’ve offered this painting up, and he graciously accepted it, and I flipped it to the back and he was reading it. I was holding people up in line, and people were kind of giving me that look that I was holding people up in line, so I said to His Holiness he can read it later, he doesn’t have to read it now because there is a lot of people waiting. He smiled, and so he accepted the painting, and that was my first meeting with His Holiness in New Jersey, besides meeting him in Howell, of course, briefly.

After that was done, we had our lunch there and there were so many Kalmyk people there, there were so many Kalmyk kids, all of my relatives were there, and it was just a very beautiful, wonderful day. We went to say thank you to Geshe Wangyal for all of this, and we took our bus, and went back to New Jersey, and that was that. You have to understand that for many years, I had, for many years, since I was nine, ten, eleven, twelve years old, wanted to study Buddhism very deeply, I wanted to become a Buddhist monk, I wanted to go to the mountains to meditate, and for years, I would be in my house in Howell, New Jersey, my family house, and I would often paint or draw, or use crayons to colour in different paintings, different drawings, different illustrations of mountains, and people meditating in mountains and people seeing Buddhas while they are meditating, having visions of Buddhas, having visions of their personal yidams or meditational deities.

So I’d be drawing this and I’d be visualising this, and fantasising about this for many, many years, even as a child. I felt very familiar with meditating in the mountains, I felt very familiar with monks, and I felt that I should be wearing robes. I felt that robes were the appropriate clothes for me, and also, that I should be among monks. I felt very much like an outsider to be with lay people, and I felt very comfortable to be with monks. So I would often go to the nearby temples, the Kalmyk temples, to be with monks, talk with the monks, and visit them as much as possible, as much as my mother would allow me. She was very restrictive on that.

After I saw the Washington temple, it made a very deep impact on me, and I thought, what a beautiful place to live, what a beautiful place to stay, because it’s in the Appalachian Mountain base, it’s filled with trees and it’s green, and how lovely it would be if I can go there, and live there, become ordained as a monk and study there. And I thought about that.

A young Tsem Rinpoche with his adopted mother

A young Tsem Rinpoche with his adopted mother

So, what happened was I’ve had many, many problems with my parents, due to a lot of issues my mother had with my father, which I will not get into at this time. She was a very disturbed, and unhappy, and very angry woman, although she was a very kind woman. She was a good person, but because of her tumultuous relationship with her husband, my stepfather, it often disturbed her mental equilibrium. It often disturbed her mind, and she was not at peace. I would be the brunt of her unhappiness, where I would receive a lot of, I would say, scolding and physical abuse, beatings and all that for many, many years. I took it because I did love her. But my yearning was to go to the temple, was to study at the temple, and she was 100 percent against that.

Although being a very staunch and strong Buddhist herself, I was her only son, she adopted me to be her son. It is not Kalmyk tradition to allow your only son to be a Sangha. If you had three, four, or five sons, you can perhaps spare one son, for lack of a better word, to the monasteries, as it was Mongolian tradition, and also Tibetan tradition. In any case, as being the only son, I wasn’t allowed to become a monk, or study Buddhism. I would have to stay in a secular way of life, which I totally rejected.

My conflict with my mom also became stronger because of that. As a result, I ran away from home many times, where I literally packed my stuff when she wasn’t around, and I would get on the bus and go to various parts of the United States. One of my first, one of my earlier attempts of running away was when I was fourteen. I mean I had run away earlier than that, but that was an earlier attempt of running away, because I had run away at eleven, I had run away at twelve, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, I run away many times because I really wanted to go study Buddhism.

When I was around fourteen, fifteen, around that time I remember, that I had a fall out with my mom. She wouldn’t allow me to go to the temple to receive teachings from my teacher anymore, the temple was Rashi Gempil Ling, so I decided to leave. When she wasn’t around, I packed my bags and I had left home. When I’d left, it was in winter, and it was snowing, and it was a lot of snow in New Jersey, the snow is very, big amounts, you know, it could be two or three foot of snow back then.

What I had done was, I had packed my bags and I wanted to go to Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, and that’s what I did. I packed my bags and I went to Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, and I got on the bus, and then I somehow arrived in Washington, New Jersey. When I arrived in Washington, New Jersey, this was like half a year, one year later, when I had run away, I forgot the name of the place where Geshe Wangyal was, and I forgot the name of the centre and all that.

Tibetan Buddhist Learning Centre

Tibetan Buddhist Learning Centre which is also known as Labsum Shedrup Ling

I went to the public library in Washington, New Jersey, and it was open. There was a very lovely librarian there. I had not told her I had run away or anything, I just said that I am looking for a Tibetan Buddhist temple in Washington, New Jersey, and she had heard of it. So, she went on to do some search. You know, back then they had microfiche, and they had these microfiche machines. She went on a search, and she found some newspaper articles, and from that she found the location of Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, and the telephone number and all of that, and she gave it to me. I was ever so grateful.

I went to a phone booth, and I called up the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in my youthful innocence, and I requested to talk to Geshe Wangyal. The lady on the phone was very kind, she said to me Geshe Wangyal is not here at this time because it is winter, and that he had gone to Florida, where he usually goes every winter, because it’s drier and hotter, and it was easier for his arthritis. So needless to say, I was very disappointed, but I still spoke to her, she asked me what did I want, and I said I wanted Geshe Wangyal’s permission to join the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, and become a monk, and study and stay there. So, the lady on the phone said to me she couldn’t make that decision for me, and that I should call back in a short while, that she would call Geshe-la and seek his advice.

So I think I waited for about an hour, and I called back and the lady said that she had contacted Geshe Wangyal la in Florida. And he had said that he is very happy to see my energy and my strength of will to practice Buddhism, but in America I would need my parents’ permission, since I was a minor, to stay at his centre. Without my parents’ permission it would be illegal for him to allow me to stay at his centre, although he was very happy to hear that I wanted to study Buddhism.

He had said to me to promise him to go back home and seek my parents’ permission and not stay in Washington, but to be safe at home and then study at a later time and that he would lend me $50 dollars to do so. The $50 dollars were for me to stay in a hotel and the next day to take a bus trip back to Howell, New Jersey, which was in the south.

Because such a great master had said this to me through his assistant, this lady – I don’t remember this lady’s name, I reluctantly agreed. So this lady drove down to the centre of Washington Town, because they are in the outskirts, in the mountains. She talked to me and she listened to me. I told her how much I wanted to study Buddhism, how much I wanted to become a monk, and how disappointed I am that I cannot join the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Centre.

She said to me that Geshe la is sympathetic to my plight, very sympathetic to what I wish to do but that America has strict laws and this would not be allowed. She said to me that she was instructed to “pass $50 to you. Are you going to take this and stay in a hotel and rest? And then take a bus back tomorrow and be safe? Do you promise to do this? Geshe la wants you to promise.” So, I said to her that “I promise.”

She gave me $50 dollars and I went to a hotel, a cheap hotel, at that time to stay. I think it was 20-30 dollars. I thought that although I had promised this master, although he is not my teacher, that I would have to do that. The next day I took a bus back to Howell, New Jersey. I went back home and well, I was in big trouble. There was scolding and beating and screaming and shouting. The usual which I have endured for many years. I told my mother what I did and she was not pleased, needless to say.

So that was my first encounter and second encounter, or association with Geshe la. It was many, many years later that His Holiness the Dalai Lama again visited Geshe Wangyal’s centre, back in 1987. So, it was eight years later that he visited the Tibetan Learning Centre again in Washington, New Jersey. I went up there and this time I was 21-22 years old. I had a short blessing from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and at that time I requested him that I wish to become a monk and if he can ordain me. This has been captured on video, which I will include here.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama accepted and he was very happy. He was very pleased and he said that if I come to India, it would be no problem, he would ordain me into the Buddhist monkhood. I accepted and I was very, very excited. In Geshe Wangyal’s Tibetan Buddhist Learning Centre, in Washington, New Jersey is where I met the Dalai Lama again in 1987 and where I requested to become ordained. So it was right at that spot in Tibetan Buddhist Learning Centre. It was in Geshe Wangyal’s centre that I requested to become a monk and later I flew to India in 1987 to become a Buddhist monk.

When I arrived in India, I went to Dharamsala and I had audience with His Holiness and I was official ordained. So that was my little bit of association and connection or interaction with the great Buddhist master Geshe Wangyal. I thought I would share that here on this blogpost, it would be somewhat appropriate. Thank you very much.

Tsem Rinpoche

 

VIDEO: Tsem Rinpoche requesting H.H. Dalai Lama for ordination in 1987


Postscript
Tsem Rinpoche requested His Holiness the Dalai Lama for ordination in 1987 at Geshe Ngawang Wangyal’s centre in Washington, New Jersey. During another earlier visit to the centre, before Geshe Wangyal passed away in 1983, Tsem Rinpoche found Geshe Wangyal’s assistant who had given him $50 at the instructions of Geshe Wangyal when he tried to run away to the centre previously. Tsem Rinpoche had not forgotten that the money was borrowed, so explained to the assistant who he was and that he was returning the $50.

She was happy to see that he was well and insisted that he give the money back to Geshe Wangyal himself. She led him over to Geshe Wangyal, who by that time was in a wheelchair and hard of hearing. She asked Geshe Wangyal if he remembered that a young boy had wanted to join his centre and that he had instructed her to give him $50 so that he could stay in a hotel before returning back to his parents. Geshe Wangyal replied that he did indeed remember. So, the assistant introduced Tsem Rinpoche as that boy and Tsem Rinpoche returned the money to Geshe Wangyal.

Geshe Wangyal was very pleased that Tsem Rinpoche was well. He accepted the money and was happy that Tsem Rinpoche had used the money to get back to his parents successfully.

 

Sources:

  • Conboy, Kenneth and Morrison, James. The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet. The University Press Kansas, 2000.
  • Wangyal, Geshe Ngawang. The Door of Liberation: Essential Teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition. Wisdom Publications, 1995.
  • http://www.tricycle.com/feature/russia-love
  • https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/from-russia-with-love.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngawang_Wangyal
  • http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Geshe_Ngawang_Wangyal
  • https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Geshe_Ngawang_Wangyal
  • http://www.labsum.org/welcome.html
  • http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/collections/ethnology/asia/tibet/charles-bell/related-person-51105-1.aspx

 

For more interesting information:

 

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6 Responses to Geshe Ngawang Wangyal: America’s First Pioneering Buddhist Lama

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  1. Hi on Feb 20, 2020 at 10:35 am

    Geshe Ngawang Wangyal is a Kalmyk-Mongolian lama who was the first to come to America. He established the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in 1958 in New Jersey as the first Tibetan Buddhist Dharma centre in the West. Geshe Ngawang Wangyal, was the first Tibetan Buddhist lama in the United States to take on American students. He built a monastery in Howell with his own funds earned through teaching during his first years in this country. Geshe Ngawang Wangyal sponsored many Tibetan monastic scholars to come to the US and to assist with monastery activities by giving teachings and performing religious ceremonies. Geshe Ngawang Wangyal had successfully brought over many Tibetan lamas to the United States including His Holiness The Dalai Lama. He also took on resident American students, who tutored the monks in English language in exchange for classes in Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan language. He sold the monastery in Howell and brought the Tibetan monks to a newly purchased building in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Before his death , he offered this building to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in whom he had great faith, by donating it to His Holiness’s charitable organization, The Tibet Fund. Beside that, Tsem Rinpoche and Geshe Ngawang Wangyal also a Kalmyks-Mongolian.
    As Tsem Rinpoche said, “When I arrived in India, I went to Dharamsala and I had audience with His Holiness and I was official ordained. So that was my little bit of association and connection or interaction with the great Buddhist master Geshe Wangyal”. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this great story.

  2. Yee Yin on Oct 7, 2019 at 2:57 pm

    Geshe Ngawang Wangyal has contributed so much to the spread of Buddhism in the west. He was very determined to learn Dharma. Even when he was facing financial difficulty, he worked his way to get his funding in order to accomplish his study.

    His mother had affected him in his spiritual practice. Through his mother’s unconditional love, he realised he had to do the same in order to repay the kindness of his mother.

    Geshe Ngawang Wangyal was also the person who brought the Dalai Lama over to the US despite the difficulties he faced. If it was not for Geshe Ngawang Wangyal, Tsem Rinpoche would not have met the Dalai Lama and eventually ordained by him.

  3. Pastor Shin Tan on May 17, 2019 at 10:05 am

    The great Protector Manjushri Dorje Shugden depicted in the beautiful Mongolian style. I hope many Mongolians will print out this image and place in their houses to create an affinity with Dorje Shugden for greater blessings. To download a high resolution file: https://bit.ly/2Nt3FHz

    The powerful Mongolian nation has a long history and connection with Manjushri Dorje Shugden, as expressed in the life of Venerable Choijin Lama, a State Oracle of Mongolia who took trance of Dorje Shugden among other Dharma Protectors. Read more about Choijin Lama: https://bit.ly/2GCyOUZ

    Mongolian Dorje Shugden 2

  4. Samfoonheei on Oct 20, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    Geshe Ngawang Wangyal was a Buddhist priest and scholar of Kalmyk origin born in the Astrakhan province,Russia. Folowing his brother footsteps he became a monk at a young age , he was able to learn the Tibetan language and could memorised many Tibetan texts. Geshe Wangyal’s intelligence and passion for Buddhist studies lead him working hard to continue his studies. His struggles paid off and during the Chinese invasion he has helped in the escape of HH Dalai Lama to India. The rest is history and later he made his way to New Jersey his home , working for CIA and as a translator then. In the later years he managed to established and built a Buddhist monastery. He gave teachings to many students of Western background and sponsoring many Tibetian Lamas and monks from India to serve the Buddhist community in the United States. He played a significant role in spreading Tibetan Buddhism in the United States. He has worked tireless to benefit many people , had translated two volumes of popular Tibetan and Sanskrit stories illustrative of Buddhist teachings. His legacy still lives on till today.
    Thank you Rinpoche for this interesting read with folded hands.

  5. Tsa Tsa Ong on Oct 18, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    It’s always a wonderful blessing to read Rinpoche’s sharing personal life experiences about Rinpoche’s Gurus. Especially about Geshe Ngawang Wangyal. It’s very inspiring and a lovely write up. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for this interesting article. ????

  6. Datuk May on Oct 17, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    Through a very diverse journey from USSR to the United States, Geshe Ngawang Wangyal never wavered from being a Buddhist scholar and a Lama Monk.

    It is inspiring to read of the life Geshe Ngawang Wangyal who always learnt in all his situations whether good or bad.

    It is the will to always hold the Dharma and to teach others to benefit from Buddhism, that Geshe Ngawang Wangyal succeeded in all his endeavours including being the first American Pioneering Buddhist Lama to having the H.H the 14th Dalai Lama’s first visit to USA.

    Inspiring story of a Leader among men.

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  • 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.
  • Samfoonheei
    Thursday, Jan 4. 2024 04:11 PM
    Lama Tsongkhapa was an influential Tibetan Buddhist monk, philosopher and tantric yogi, whose activities led to the formation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism . Lama Tsongkhapa was hailed as the second Buddha by contemporary Buddhist masters of his time. Famous for reviving Buddhism in Tibet and revered for elevating the Dharma to all its present glory. Hence having a 12 ft Lama Tsongkhapa Statue at new Kechara Gompa (Prayer Hall) is indeed a blessing. Its truly beautiful. Merely by looking at it is a blessing .
    Thank you Rinpoche and team effort making it possible.

    https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/kechara-13-depts/10-ft-tsongkapa-here.html

1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · »

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Technical: Lew Kwan Leng, Justin Ripley, Yong Swee Keong
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I must thank my dharma blog team who are great assets to me, Kechara and growth of dharma in this wonderful region. I am honoured and thrilled to work with them. I really am. Maybe I don't say it enough to them, but I am saying it now. I APPRECIATE THESE GUYS VERY MUCH!

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  Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch

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

Photos On The Go

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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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    6 years ago
    Casper is such a cute and adorable. I like him.
  • Dorje Shugden Monastery Amarbayasgalant  Mongolia's Ancient Hidden Gem
    6 years ago
    Dorje Shugden Monastery Amarbayasgalant Mongolia's Ancient Hidden Gem
  • Don't you love Hamburgers? See how 'delicious' it is here!
    6 years ago
    Don't you love Hamburgers? See how 'delicious' it is here!
  • Such a beautiful and powerful message from a person who knows the meaning of life. Tsem Rinpoche
    6 years ago
    Such a beautiful and powerful message from a person who knows the meaning of life. Tsem Rinpoche
  • What the meat industry figured out is that you don't need healthy animals to make a profit.
    6 years ago
    What the meat industry figured out is that you don't need healthy animals to make a profit.
    Sick animals are more profitable... farms calculate how close to death they can keep animals without killing them. That's the business model. How quickly they can be made to grow, how tightly they can be packed, how much or how little can they eat, how sick they can get without dying... We live in a world in which it's conventional to treat an animal like a block of wood. ~ Jonathan Safran Foer
  • This video went viral and it's a must watch!!
    6 years ago
    This video went viral and it's a must watch!!
  • SEE HOW THIS ANIMAL SERIAL KILLER HAS NO ISSUE BLUDGEONING THIS DEFENSELESS BEING.
    6 years ago
    SEE HOW THIS ANIMAL SERIAL KILLER HAS NO ISSUE BLUDGEONING THIS DEFENSELESS BEING.
    This happens daily in slaughterhouse so you can get your pork and Bak ku teh. Stop eating meat.

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CHAT PICTURES

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 days 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 days 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.
6 days 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.
7 days 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
7 days 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
7 days 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
7 days 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.
1 month 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
1 month 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.
1 month 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.
1 month 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)
1 month 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)
1 month 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)
1 month 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)
1 month 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.
2 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.
2 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.
3 months ago
3 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.
4 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.
5 months ago
More pictures of the day! Kechara Penang Chapel & public blessings 3rd Oct 2023 by Jacinta.
Some pictures of the public blessings taken right after the puja was completed by the monks. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta. 3rd Oct 2023.
5 months ago
Some pictures of the public blessings taken right after the puja was completed by the monks. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta. 3rd Oct 2023.
3rd Oct 2023, Tibetan monks came to Kechara Penang for chapel & public blessing, in conjunction with the arrival of H. E Tsem Rinpoche's holy statue. Thanks to Pastor Henry & Pastor Seng Piow, who guided us throughout the event. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
5 months ago
3rd Oct 2023, Tibetan monks came to Kechara Penang for chapel & public blessing, in conjunction with the arrival of H. E Tsem Rinpoche's holy statue. Thanks to Pastor Henry & Pastor Seng Piow, who guided us throughout the event. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
Tsem Rinpoche's holy statue is here! 3rd Oct 2023. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
5 months ago
Tsem Rinpoche's holy statue is here! 3rd Oct 2023. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta.
29th Sept 2023. Kechara Penang Dorje Shugden puja adjourned at 4.30pm with 9 attendees. Thereafter, a Rinpoche Swift Return puja was completed too. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
5 months ago
29th Sept 2023. Kechara Penang Dorje Shugden puja adjourned at 4.30pm with 9 attendees. Thereafter, a Rinpoche Swift Return puja was completed too. Kechara Penang Study Group by Jacinta
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Dorje Shugden
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