Newsletter February 2009

 Content:

:-)  Happy New Tibetan Year
:-)  November course 2009 - what a success
:-)  The oldest and the youngest - a different perspective on the people attending the November course
:-)  Course programs - Spring/Summer 2009
:-)  The new accommodation at Kopan - now available
:-)  A Thank you for the Mount Everest School Headmaster, Geshe Sherab
:-)  Geshe Sherab on Tour in Europe
:-)  Khenrinpoche Lama Lhundrup's visit to Taiwan
:-)  Window on Tibetan culture - Losar - Tibetan New Year

The November course 08 - a great success
Even the statistics are impressive - 240 people from 33 countries came together for a month to meditation and teaching, living in crowded accommodation, putting up- with very early mornings, cold water only most of the time, widespread flue and cold.
The most amazing part was the discipline, the harmony of the group, their determination to make this month meaning full, to open their hearts to the messages of patience, tolerance, effort, up to the deep need for loving compassion and  wisdom that is needed to liberate ourselves and others, and bring true happiness.
The course had the largest ever age span of students. There was 60 years between its youngest participant, sixteen year old Felix from Melbourne and Noel, also Australian, who had traveled to Asia to hear the Buddha's teachings for the first time at 76. Amy Rayner, one of the course students, wrote this about the teachings during the course.
The course leader, Venerable Dhondrup who had been teaching the one month course now a total of six time (another record), brought each Lam Rim topic alive, making the dharma ever relevant to our “daily enlightened life.” Over the month as we encountered each subject, he showed us how the purpose of our lives is to take care of our mind, our purpose is inner cultivation.
The beauty of the Kopan November Course is the way in which each teaching is complemented by meditation. It gives you the opportunity to bring the Dharma downstairs, from the brain into the heart. Venerable Dhondrup and Ani Karin Valham, Kopan’s resident teacher, guided us through the Lam Rim, giving helpful advice on how to improve our concentration.
Khenrinpoche Lama Lhundrup, patiently answered our many questions, constantly redirecting our minds towards Bodhicitta and cherishing others. With great clarity, Geshe Thubten Sherab explained the Twelve Links of Dependent Arising; Geshe Tenzin Zopa prepared us for the arrival of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, teaching from the heart on Guru Devotion.
On the day that Lama Zopa Rinpoche arrived we waited with the three hundred monks of Kopan, holding our katas eagerly in our hands. Horns sounded, incense burned and the anticipation amongst the crowd built. It was so lovely to watch Rinpoche give blessings, especially as this year he had the help of Kopan’s three young tulkus Tenzin Phuntsok Rinpoche, Lama Rinzin, and Thubten Kundol. Young monks, geshes, older western students and those new to Buddhism all glowed in his warmth of Rinpoche’s presence. By the end of the afternoon Kopan shone with the light of five hundred smiles!
Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught the course participants for 5 days, morning and afternoon, - it felt just like in the old days. 

The final three days of the course were filled with rejoicing. A spectacular long life puja for Lama Zopa was followed by the launch of his new book, 'How to Be Happy', and a wonderful drama performance by the young monks. All the 240 participants of the course were sent the next day to visit Swoyambunath and Boudha Stupas  following Rinpoche's instructions on how to collect the most merit by seeing the object as a manifestation of your Guru's holy mind. On the final day a big 'thank you' was offered to the teachers and workers, with flurries of khatas and envelopes for all those  who had worked so hard to make this course possible, followed by some Monastic dancing and a wonderful performance of one of the songs of Milarepa by some Kopan monk.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche had been requested to teach the Kopan geshes, monks and nuns, and did so for the next 8 days.The teaching days were interspersed with a visit to the new home of the animal sanctuary (see photo) on a remote mountain ridge near Pharping.  During a pilgrimage to the 1000 Buddha Temple in Patan, Rinpoche offered khata and light on behalf of everyone - a very moving moment. During the visit to Svoyambu Stupa, the circumambulation path  presented it self in total darkness for the circumabulation and turning of the prayer wheels.

The oldest and the youngest participants

A great group of young people attended the course this year, with quite a number of them second generation dharma kids.  A lot of bonding happened, discovering common friends who had 'done' Kopan before, and exchanging email adresses. The possibility of setting up a Kopan face book group was bandied about  - lets see where this leads.
The age difference between the oldest and the youngest, Noel and Felix, was about 60 years. Felix thought the course was pretty cool (see the interview with Noel and Felix in the next issue of the mandala magazine). The group of older people, all of them over  60, deserves highest praise for putting up with the hardships of the course - long lines at meal times, cold showers, colder mornings. And there were no complaints from any of them!

Course program for spring and summer 2009

Ani Karin is leading more introductory courses, starting with a seven-day course from February 13 - 20

Ven. Fedor is teaching Year 3 of the Basic Buddhist study program, from August 8 - September 25

The New Delux Accommodation

Some lucky November course participants were the first ones to use the rooms in the new accommodation block, and instantly it was renamed 'Kopan Hilton'. The rooms have AC, a private bathrooms, and some even have a sitting room with kitchenette, and all have the famous Kopan view down to Boudhanath.
If you are used to the old style accommodation at Kopan, and have sometimes dreamed of a very comfortable bed, and heating in the winter, then these new double rooms will surprise you.
You can book for these rooms now on our website.

A Thank you for the Mount Everest School headmaster Geshe Thubten Sherab

In the last newsletter I asked for help from Teacher Trainers to improve the training of the teachers at the Mount Everest School. I have received a great number of answers - generous offers of personal time, suggestions for improvement - and it t was very encouraging to see so much interest to help our monks.
I wanted to thank all of you who answered for their great enthusiasm and sincerity.
At the same time I want to express my thanks to all those who volunteered during the November course for the Reading support programme. Again it was very successful.
The monks enjoyed it very much, and the teachers reported a marked improvement in the language skills of the monks who participated.
(please look at our picture gallery below for some impressions and memories taken home by the participants.)

Khenrinpoche Lama Lhundrup's visit to Taiwan

Khenrinpoche Lama Lhundrup had been invited to visit the Taiwan centers for many years. In January this year finally all the favorable conditions ripened. Khenrinpoche spent about two weeks at each of the three center, and many many people came to listen to the extensive teachings.
At the end of the visit, a long life puja was offered by all the students during this joyful occasion.
Judy Lin, a student of Khenrinpoche from Taiwan,and participants of the Basic Program course at Kopan was overjoyed in meeting

Window on Tibetan Culture - Losar (Tibetan New Year)

Tibetan Losar The Earth Ox Year 2136
Losar is Tibetan for New Year. The Tibetan calendar is based on Tibetan astrology, a synthesis of Indian and Chinese astrology.
The Tibetan calendar is lunar, which means it follows the cycles of the moon, so the New Year begins on a new moon. The losar rituals have many Buddhist elements, but it primarily has a secular function and flavor. The Tibetan Losar tradition contains elements and values that we share as human beings and, as in our own western cultures, the New Year here means a fresh beginning. Non-Tibetans are always welcome in these celebrations; the specific rituals are not exclusive. Anyone, Tibetan or foreigner, can rejoice in the universal quality of giving life a fresh start.
As Buddhists, Tibetans believe that if you want good circumstances, you need to establish good conditions yourself. Losar rituals are concerned with inspiring a creative attitude, to establish a basis for a good new year. On these first days of the year Tibetans engage in specific virtuous actions, and acts that are considered auspicious.
Moreover, in the days that precede losar, the last days of the old year, everyone in the community is concerned with pacifying and removing left-over negativity. During this time, Tibetan monasteries and temples undertake specific rites to expel negative habits from the old year, so these will not be carried into the New Year. The lamas and monks will do a week of rituals, some of which culminate in the well-known lama dances. Families in their homes prepare for the New Year by cleaning, and making new clothes.
On the first day of Losar, everyone gets up long before dawn, gathers in the temples with the monks and lamas, and participates in making good wishes for the New Year. Everyone is clean, and wears their new, (or at least freshly washed), clothes. And also, although this is not a central theme, it is a communal birthday: everyone is one year older. For the rest of the day most people will stay home, or visit the lamas they feel closely connected to. It is a day of relaxation and fun.
On the second day Tibetans visit each other and this too is a day of being with family and friends. Tibetans are very fond of the good life, and this is an occasion for good eating, drinking, telling stories, laughing, and playing dice, cards, or mahjong. The kids are in charge of fireworks, and during Losar one is regularly awakened to the present moment by powerful detonations.
On the third day, the Tibetans in Boudhnath gather at the Great Stupa for a large communal offering. Everyone will wear their new clothes, and the Stupa will be very crowded. First there will be the ceremony of lhasang - which is essentially an offering of smoke from medicinal and fragrant herbs, directed at pleasing both the ordinary worldly beings such as non-humans, i.e. gods, nagas, and spirits, as well as the sublime beings such as the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Also a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is carried around the Stupa (this has been discontinued in later years, due to pressure from the Chinese embassy). This initial section of the ceremony will be lead by lamas and monks. At the end everyone will take roasted barley flour, known as tsampa, and everyone joining into a common chant, and will then hurl the tsampa into space, also as an offering. This practice increases the prosperity, health and happiness of beings, and 'raises windhorse', a Tibetan concept that implies uplifting the human spirit and its outer manifestations of good circumstances. This concept also occurs in the Tibetan practice of hanging up prayer flags, which will be done in the days following Losar.
Keep in mind that during this ceremony there may be a lot of goodhearted tsampa throwing, and you may possibly emerge covered in tsampa flour! A useful greeting to all the friendly people you run into is 'Tashi deleg!'. Originally a New Year greeting, this is now the standard Tibetan 'hello'.
According to some traditions this third day is the last day of the Losar, while other traditions have Losar lasting for up to two weeks.

Job Opportunity

If you are a qualified doctor (preferably female) and are interested to help a local community, can handle remote areas, and living in isolation, you might be interested in a job in Dolpo, a very remote region of Nepal. The job would start middle to end of March, and minimum commitment is for one year.. All expenses will be paid, and the salary is appropriate to the challenges of the job.
It is an ideal opportunity for a qualified Dharma practitioner who sincerely wishes to benefit the people in this remote area, and also  appreciates having plenty of time to practice.
If you are interested, send us an email and we will forward you more information.

Picture Gallery