Kindness of the Lama
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Life or death, to me, is the same.
Light or darkness, to me, is the same.
Morning or night, to me, is the same.
My mind is not the same like you, sentient beings.
Although I may look like all of you externally,
Internally, I am not like ordinary beings at all !!"
"I have realised the Mahamudra -- the ultimate Nature of Reality. And the first person whom i saw after i realised Mahamudra is His Holiness the Dalai Lama....."
"I have informed His Holiness that I wanted to show nirvana. But His Holiness wants me to stay on for the good of beings and Dharma. I cannot refuse His Holiness. His Holiness told me that my "time has come to benefit others". Therefore, i have agreed to stay in this world for about another 10 years or so. All these will depend on karma and merit...... Everything then has happened exactly like what His Holiness had told me. .... !!"
His Eminence Drubwang Konchog Norbu Rinpoche
( Extract of Teachings given then at Karma Choying Kunkhyab Ling, Singapore, 1998 / 99 )
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dearest Friends @ CAS,
The beings @ CAS have had some of our most memorable experiences with Drubwang Rinpoche since 1998 / 99 when we first met Rinpoche in the local Kagyu centre.
It was in 1998 / 99 when Drubwang Rinpoche informed us that all the students should "fastest" go to India to see our late teacher, Khensur Dorje Tashi, remarking that we are very fortunate to have such an excellent Teacher.
When Rinpoche heard that CAS was then sponsoring His Holiness the Dalai Lama's trip to Sera Je Monastery, He bent forward in His usual forthright way and proceeded to forcefully connect His forehead to bb's forehhead more than ten times with such great emotion and affection that all the beings broke down in tears, completely overwhlemed.
Rinpoche told us His Holiness the Dalai Lama must have trusted us very much to have given us so many of His personally thumb-printed holy pictures. Rinpoche whole-heartedly thanked CAS for arranging for accumulation of MANI with our more than eight thousands monks in India.
We managed again to meet Drubwang Rinpoche to update Him of CAS's work a few times through the years in Singapore and Malaysia as well as offering -- with CAS's "all-important", "all-blessed" Dharma Propagation Fund -- towards His and His monks' tickets for His first MANI retreat in Singapore.
Everytime, Rinpoche blessed us in His unique way and promised us His full blessings for CAS. CAS, through all her works and projects, has never felt far from Rinpoche and His powerful blessings and Rinpoche has always resided in His special place in our hearts.
It is, therefore, with considerable shock, disbelief, grief and pain when we received news from our friends in the wee hours of 26 December 2007, that our precious Venerable Master has decided to manifest nirvana...... with all of us.......
in Singapore !!
The world, somehow, appeared darker for us when Drubwang Rinpoche left. He is an undisputed senior Upholder of the Precepts, an elder-ordained sangha of the Buddha and one of the very few precious Masters who had passed important transmissions to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Supreme Head of the Drikung Kagyu -- the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang.
HH the Dalai Lama, in recognition of Rinpoche's great accomplishments, bestowed the title of "Drubwang" ( literally meaning what else, but "Accomplished One" !! ) and this stays as the title whom all of us know Rinpoche as: Drubwang Rinpoche -- the great accomplished precious Master.
Amidst the painful sense of loss, the Buddha offers considerable re-assurance and solace:
"To save all creatures,
By tactful methods I reveal nirvana,....
All looking on me as extinct
Everywhere worship my relics,
All cherishing longing desires,
And beget thirsting hearts of hope.
When all beings have believed and obeyed,
In character upright, in mind gentle,
Wholeheartedly wishing to see the Buddha,
Not caring for their own lives,
Then I with all the Sangha,
Appear together on the Divine Vulture's Peak......
Again i am in their midst
Preaching the supreme Dharma....
Throughout asammkhyeya kalpas,
I abide always on the Divine Vulture's Peak
And in every dwelling place. .....
I, being Father of this world,
Who heals all misery and affliction,
For the sake of perverted beings,
Though truly alive, say i am extinct"
-- The Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law ( Chapter 16: Revelation of the Eternal Life of the Tathagata. )
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A message from one of CAS's Drikung Kagyu Teachers:
Dear Students in CAS,
Drubwang Rinpoche has always recite the Om Mani Pemay Hung mantra all his life. All of us should recite this mantra as much as we can.
Actually, Rinpoche is already fully enlightened but in order to fulfill all his wishes for all mother sentient beings, we must recite this Mani matra. That is my request to all of you.
With lots of prayers.
Khenpo Rangdol
Principal
Kagyu College
Dehra Dun, India
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Milarepa taught that the best way to honour one's Teacher is to sincerely put into practice what He has taught.
We are hence attaching to our friends, from Rinchen Gyalpo, a collection of Teachings from Drubwang Rinpoche:
http://drubwangrinpoche.preciousteaching.org
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A short note: Drubwang Rinpoche ( from Richard -- Ratna Shri ):
Our beloved , Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche passed away yesterday.
( 25 December 2007 ).
The great accomplished practitioner Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche
was born in Drikung, Tibet in 1921. He entered Drikung Thil Monastery
at a very young age and studied Buddhist philosophy at the Drikung
Nyingma Changra Buddhist Institute.
After his graduation, Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche became the disciple of
Drubwang Pachung Rinpoche (1901-1988). Under the guidance of Drubwang
Pachung Rinpoche, Rinpoche went on many years of retreat and eventually
gained the supreme experiential understanding of Mahamudra.he
overcame great difficulties and traveled all the way from Tibet to
India.
In India, he met up with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama who
requested him to travel to different places to give teachings for the
benefit of all sentient beings. Drubwang Rinpoche's compassion and
kindness is so vast that he often gives up everything he owns to the
sangha community.
Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche did not give tantric Dzogchen. He encouraged
and inspired people to do the simplest of all dharma practices: to extend kindness
to all sentient beings and to do the practice of the three kayas by reciting:Om Mani
Peme Hung.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Tribute --
His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche
Please scroll to see more quotes from Drubwang Rinpoche
If on the one hand, we chant the [Mani] mantra and on the other hand,
we eat the meat of another sentient being,
then our words and actions do not tally with one another. - Drubwang Rinpoche
One of the greatest obstacles to the birth of Bodhicitta
in our minds is our craving for meat. - Shabkar
In his final years, the late great His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche (1921-2007) repeatedly touched upon two teachings in his talks during the popular Mani retreats that he held. The first is the urgency of upholding the Mani mantra (Om Mani Padme Hung), and the second is the urgency of abstaining from eating meat. At first glance, these seem to be unrelated subjects. However, they are closely linked indeed. The Mani mantra, if chanted well, invokes one's compassion. The more it is invoked, the more perfectly all-encompassing it becomes. It would include compassion for all animals too.
Compassion is important because it is seen as the root of all virtues in Buddhism. While compassion has to balance with wisdom, it precedes wisdom in priority. Even the seeking of wisdom for self-liberation is possible only when one has compassion for oneself. Without the perfect compassion of the Buddhas, who aspire to guide all beings to liberation, there would be no widely taught Dharma at all. Any other virtue, when lacking in compassion, renders it a fault too. Thus is the quality of compassion central and crucial.
Was helping out at the wake of Rinpoche yesterday. There was little grief on my part - because there is faith that he is a well-accomplished spiritual practitioner. His passing was peaceful too. Seeing what seemed to be thousands paying their final respects to him, there is rejoice at his great merits instead. With overwhelming compassion, surely, he is likely to re-manifest in Samsara to continue helping all beings, in one way or another. For great practitioners of the Bodhisattva path, when the body expires, there is the need to change a new one. It is as simple as that.
Despite being born in Tibet with scarce vegetation, Rinpoche was indeed courageous in going against the expected "rationale" that it is perfectly blameless for those practising Tibetan Buddhism to not try harder not to eat meat. There was simply nothing to gain on his part by speaking up continuously for the plight of animals going under the knife. It was out of pure compassion. Those of us who have seen and heard Rinpoche's heartfelt beseeching for retreat participants to go vegetarian will know what I mean.
Today, with the wide availability of more vegetarian options, Tibetan monasteries around the world are increasingly going vegetarian. Even His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the international Tibetan Buddhist community, who once wrote a long life prayer for Rinpoche, strongly advocates the vegetarian cause. This is simply the way it has to be - for if even the leaders of Buddhism do not encourage compassion for voiceless animals, the heart or core value that is compassion would be lost. "Heart-less" then would Buddhist practice be - with the hypocrisy of wishing all beings to be well and happy while wishing to eat some of these beings. Vegetarianism is no must for all Buddhists, but surely, it ought to be mindfully considered.
At the wake, I saw some devotees shedding tears of grief. If we truly believe Rinpoche to be a liberated being, even before he passed away, then the truth is that there is no need to grieve for him. Perhaps, we should grieve for ourselves instead - to the extent that we have yet to perfectly practise what he taught - such as the two urgent teachings, as listed in the opening paragraph. We need to get over this grief though, to simply live the teachings. I see what seemed to be hundreds of khatas and flowers offered at his shrine. The offering of khatas symbolises the giving of goodwill, auspiciousness and compassion. The offering of flowers is to remind us of the reality of impermanence.
Surely, Rinpoche had already amassed great goodwill and auspiciousness with his compassion in action. Surely, he is already at peace with the impermanance of his body. All the khatas and flowers in the world would not be as great an offering, as the practising of what he taught. The way to truly honour his passing is to not let his teachings pass us by - to truly take his advice to heart, to truly practise what he preached, to truly spread the teachings that he taught. Surely, Rinpoche would rather one to uphold the Mani mantra, and to go vegetarian for life, than to make a one-time offering to him. May Rinpoche swiftly return to help more beings! Om Mani Padme Hung. - Shen Shi'an
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teachings by His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche
on 8 Dec 2003 at Than Hsiang Temple, Penang, Malaysia
during 100 Million Six-Syllable Mantra Recitation Retreat (on Meat-Eating)
1. As Buddhists, we practise so as to benefit oneself and others. Hence, we do the six-syllable (Om Mani Pad Me Hung) mantra practice. However, when we eat meat - be it chicken, pork, fish or eggs... in our daily lives, we are creating immense negative karma.
2. If on the one hand, we chant the mantra and on the other hand, we eat the meat of another sentient being, then our words and actions do not tally with one another. We are not practising as we preach. Can this be considered as loving-kindness and compassion towards sentient beings? Is this doing good and abstaining from evil? We take refuge in the Buddha because His teachings could benefit all sentient beings. As Buddhists, we should understand the essence of the Buddha's wisdom and teachings, which is to do good and abstain from committing evil deeds. Abstaining from evil means that we have to keep our [Bodhisattva?] precepts. Hence we should not take meat.
3. When we are sick, old or near death, we would go to a doctor - we would practise and do anything possible and extend our life span. However, when we take meat, we are killing sentient beings that are healthy. How great is our compassion and loving-kindness if we treat sentient beings in such a manner? We should abstain from killing because it generates immense negative karma. Instead, we should develop loving-kindness and compassion towards all sentient beings.
4. In countless rebirths, all sentient beings have been our parents. When we took rebirth in the human realm, we had human parents; when we took rebirth in the animal realm, we had animal parents and so forth. Samsara is such. We need to generate a sense of gratitude towards our parents in this lifetime and those of our past lives. Hence, we should be vegetarians and abstain from taking meat. In such a way, we would do good and give meaning to our practice. By doing so, our practice of the six-syllable mantra would be able to benefit ourselves and others, and also aid in the flourishing of the Dharma.
5. There are some people who say that their doctor has advised them against becoming vegetarians, as they would suffer from malnutrition. [The truth is a balanced vegetarian diet is much better than a non-vegetarian diet.] This is a sign that the determination of these people is not strong enough. For if one has strong determination, one would avoid doing evil deeds at all cost and under any circumstances.
6. Hence in our daily lives, we should stop committing the negative deed of eating meat. On this basis, the merits generated from our refuge and practice of the six-syllable mantra would be inconceivable. We should try to change our lifestyle towards vegetarianism. We would certainly face difficulties in becoming full vegetarians. However, when such obstacles arise, we should remember how every sentient being had at one point or another been our parents. When we remember this, then we would not take meat just as we would not eat the meat of our parents of this lifetime.
-Translated by Konchok Tenzin Drolma
Slightly corrected and restructured by Shen Shian, with notes in parentheses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to satisfy one human stomach, so many lives are taken away.
We must promote vegetarianism. It is extremely important.
- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vegetarianism As Buddhist Way of Life: www.shabkar.org : Shabkar.org is a non-sectarian website dedicated to vegetarianism as a way of life for Buddhists of all schools. The site takes its name from Shabkar Tsodruk Rangdrol (1781-1851), the great Tibetan yogi who espoused the ideals of vegetarianism.
Irrefutable Rationale to go Vegetarian: www.viva.org.uk/goingveggie
Irrefutable Rationale to go Vegan: www.viva.org.uk/goingvegan
Trying Harder to be More Vegetarian: http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=1886
Buddhist "Bad Faith" to Animals?: http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=1485
Must Buddhists Be Vegetarian?: www.moonpointer.com/vege
Meat Causes 18% of Global Warming: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/zeph/message/1092
Being Vegetarian in Singapore: www.vegetarian-society.org
Free Vegetarian Starter Kit: www.vegetarianstarterkit.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche
- Completed studies of 13 major texts in the Tibetan Traditions, e.g. The Bodhisattva Way of Life by Shantideva.
- Exponent of the Mind Only school and the Madhyamika school philosophies.
- More than 30 years of meditation retreat experiences at times taking only 1 petal of flower and a drop of honey water per day during his retreat.
- Personally completed 12 X 100 million times of Six-Syllabled Mantra.
- An accomplished practitioner with high realization & a retreat master of Mahamudra
- Led the completion of tens 100 Million Mani recitation retreats in Nepal and India.
- Led the completion of several 100 Million Mani recitation retreats in Singapore at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.
"A very powerful and accomplished practitioner" as praised by HH 14th Dalai Lama, he was specially appointed by him to propagate the Guanyin Practice of Om Mani Padme Hung to the whole world to benefit all beings.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Om Mani Padme Hung... Please help circulate this mail to benefit more.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Life or death, to me, is the same.
Light or darkness, to me, is the same.
Morning or night, to me, is the same.
My mind is not the same like you, sentient beings.
Although I may look like all of you externally,
Internally, I am not like ordinary beings at all !!"
"I have realised the Mahamudra -- the ultimate Nature of Reality. And the first person whom i saw after i realised Mahamudra is His Holiness the Dalai Lama....."
"I have informed His Holiness that I wanted to show nirvana. But His Holiness wants me to stay on for the good of beings and Dharma. I cannot refuse His Holiness. His Holiness told me that my "time has come to benefit others". Therefore, i have agreed to stay in this world for about another 10 years or so. All these will depend on karma and merit...... Everything then has happened exactly like what His Holiness had told me. .... !!"
His Eminence Drubwang Konchog Norbu Rinpoche
( Extract of Teachings given then at Karma Choying Kunkhyab Ling, Singapore, 1998 / 99 )
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dearest Friends @ CAS,
The beings @ CAS have had some of our most memorable experiences with Drubwang Rinpoche since 1998 / 99 when we first met Rinpoche in the local Kagyu centre.
It was in 1998 / 99 when Drubwang Rinpoche informed us that all the students should "fastest" go to India to see our late teacher, Khensur Dorje Tashi, remarking that we are very fortunate to have such an excellent Teacher.
When Rinpoche heard that CAS was then sponsoring His Holiness the Dalai Lama's trip to Sera Je Monastery, He bent forward in His usual forthright way and proceeded to forcefully connect His forehead to bb's forehhead more than ten times with such great emotion and affection that all the beings broke down in tears, completely overwhlemed.
Rinpoche told us His Holiness the Dalai Lama must have trusted us very much to have given us so many of His personally thumb-printed holy pictures. Rinpoche whole-heartedly thanked CAS for arranging for accumulation of MANI with our more than eight thousands monks in India.
We managed again to meet Drubwang Rinpoche to update Him of CAS's work a few times through the years in Singapore and Malaysia as well as offering -- with CAS's "all-important", "all-blessed" Dharma Propagation Fund -- towards His and His monks' tickets for His first MANI retreat in Singapore.
Everytime, Rinpoche blessed us in His unique way and promised us His full blessings for CAS. CAS, through all her works and projects, has never felt far from Rinpoche and His powerful blessings and Rinpoche has always resided in His special place in our hearts.
It is, therefore, with considerable shock, disbelief, grief and pain when we received news from our friends in the wee hours of 26 December 2007, that our precious Venerable Master has decided to manifest nirvana...... with all of us.......
in Singapore !!
The world, somehow, appeared darker for us when Drubwang Rinpoche left. He is an undisputed senior Upholder of the Precepts, an elder-ordained sangha of the Buddha and one of the very few precious Masters who had passed important transmissions to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Supreme Head of the Drikung Kagyu -- the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang.
HH the Dalai Lama, in recognition of Rinpoche's great accomplishments, bestowed the title of "Drubwang" ( literally meaning what else, but "Accomplished One" !! ) and this stays as the title whom all of us know Rinpoche as: Drubwang Rinpoche -- the great accomplished precious Master.
Amidst the painful sense of loss, the Buddha offers considerable re-assurance and solace:
"To save all creatures,
By tactful methods I reveal nirvana,....
All looking on me as extinct
Everywhere worship my relics,
All cherishing longing desires,
And beget thirsting hearts of hope.
When all beings have believed and obeyed,
In character upright, in mind gentle,
Wholeheartedly wishing to see the Buddha,
Not caring for their own lives,
Then I with all the Sangha,
Appear together on the Divine Vulture's Peak......
Again i am in their midst
Preaching the supreme Dharma....
Throughout asammkhyeya kalpas,
I abide always on the Divine Vulture's Peak
And in every dwelling place. .....
I, being Father of this world,
Who heals all misery and affliction,
For the sake of perverted beings,
Though truly alive, say i am extinct"
-- The Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law ( Chapter 16: Revelation of the Eternal Life of the Tathagata. )
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A message from one of CAS's Drikung Kagyu Teachers:
Dear Students in CAS,
Drubwang Rinpoche has always recite the Om Mani Pemay Hung mantra all his life. All of us should recite this mantra as much as we can.
Actually, Rinpoche is already fully enlightened but in order to fulfill all his wishes for all mother sentient beings, we must recite this Mani matra. That is my request to all of you.
With lots of prayers.
Khenpo Rangdol
Principal
Kagyu College
Dehra Dun, India
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Milarepa taught that the best way to honour one's Teacher is to sincerely put into practice what He has taught.
We are hence attaching to our friends, from Rinchen Gyalpo, a collection of Teachings from Drubwang Rinpoche:
http://drubwangrinpoche.preciousteaching.org
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A short note: Drubwang Rinpoche ( from Richard -- Ratna Shri ):
Our beloved , Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche passed away yesterday.
( 25 December 2007 ).
The great accomplished practitioner Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche
was born in Drikung, Tibet in 1921. He entered Drikung Thil Monastery
at a very young age and studied Buddhist philosophy at the Drikung
Nyingma Changra Buddhist Institute.
After his graduation, Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche became the disciple of
Drubwang Pachung Rinpoche (1901-1988). Under the guidance of Drubwang
Pachung Rinpoche, Rinpoche went on many years of retreat and eventually
gained the supreme experiential understanding of Mahamudra.he
overcame great difficulties and traveled all the way from Tibet to
India.
In India, he met up with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama who
requested him to travel to different places to give teachings for the
benefit of all sentient beings. Drubwang Rinpoche's compassion and
kindness is so vast that he often gives up everything he owns to the
sangha community.
Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche did not give tantric Dzogchen. He encouraged
and inspired people to do the simplest of all dharma practices: to extend kindness
to all sentient beings and to do the practice of the three kayas by reciting:Om Mani
Peme Hung.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Tribute --
His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche
Please scroll to see more quotes from Drubwang Rinpoche
If on the one hand, we chant the [Mani] mantra and on the other hand,
we eat the meat of another sentient being,
then our words and actions do not tally with one another. - Drubwang Rinpoche
One of the greatest obstacles to the birth of Bodhicitta
in our minds is our craving for meat. - Shabkar
In his final years, the late great His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche (1921-2007) repeatedly touched upon two teachings in his talks during the popular Mani retreats that he held. The first is the urgency of upholding the Mani mantra (Om Mani Padme Hung), and the second is the urgency of abstaining from eating meat. At first glance, these seem to be unrelated subjects. However, they are closely linked indeed. The Mani mantra, if chanted well, invokes one's compassion. The more it is invoked, the more perfectly all-encompassing it becomes. It would include compassion for all animals too.
Compassion is important because it is seen as the root of all virtues in Buddhism. While compassion has to balance with wisdom, it precedes wisdom in priority. Even the seeking of wisdom for self-liberation is possible only when one has compassion for oneself. Without the perfect compassion of the Buddhas, who aspire to guide all beings to liberation, there would be no widely taught Dharma at all. Any other virtue, when lacking in compassion, renders it a fault too. Thus is the quality of compassion central and crucial.
Was helping out at the wake of Rinpoche yesterday. There was little grief on my part - because there is faith that he is a well-accomplished spiritual practitioner. His passing was peaceful too. Seeing what seemed to be thousands paying their final respects to him, there is rejoice at his great merits instead. With overwhelming compassion, surely, he is likely to re-manifest in Samsara to continue helping all beings, in one way or another. For great practitioners of the Bodhisattva path, when the body expires, there is the need to change a new one. It is as simple as that.
Despite being born in Tibet with scarce vegetation, Rinpoche was indeed courageous in going against the expected "rationale" that it is perfectly blameless for those practising Tibetan Buddhism to not try harder not to eat meat. There was simply nothing to gain on his part by speaking up continuously for the plight of animals going under the knife. It was out of pure compassion. Those of us who have seen and heard Rinpoche's heartfelt beseeching for retreat participants to go vegetarian will know what I mean.
Today, with the wide availability of more vegetarian options, Tibetan monasteries around the world are increasingly going vegetarian. Even His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the international Tibetan Buddhist community, who once wrote a long life prayer for Rinpoche, strongly advocates the vegetarian cause. This is simply the way it has to be - for if even the leaders of Buddhism do not encourage compassion for voiceless animals, the heart or core value that is compassion would be lost. "Heart-less" then would Buddhist practice be - with the hypocrisy of wishing all beings to be well and happy while wishing to eat some of these beings. Vegetarianism is no must for all Buddhists, but surely, it ought to be mindfully considered.
At the wake, I saw some devotees shedding tears of grief. If we truly believe Rinpoche to be a liberated being, even before he passed away, then the truth is that there is no need to grieve for him. Perhaps, we should grieve for ourselves instead - to the extent that we have yet to perfectly practise what he taught - such as the two urgent teachings, as listed in the opening paragraph. We need to get over this grief though, to simply live the teachings. I see what seemed to be hundreds of khatas and flowers offered at his shrine. The offering of khatas symbolises the giving of goodwill, auspiciousness and compassion. The offering of flowers is to remind us of the reality of impermanence.
Surely, Rinpoche had already amassed great goodwill and auspiciousness with his compassion in action. Surely, he is already at peace with the impermanance of his body. All the khatas and flowers in the world would not be as great an offering, as the practising of what he taught. The way to truly honour his passing is to not let his teachings pass us by - to truly take his advice to heart, to truly practise what he preached, to truly spread the teachings that he taught. Surely, Rinpoche would rather one to uphold the Mani mantra, and to go vegetarian for life, than to make a one-time offering to him. May Rinpoche swiftly return to help more beings! Om Mani Padme Hung. - Shen Shi'an
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teachings by His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche
on 8 Dec 2003 at Than Hsiang Temple, Penang, Malaysia
during 100 Million Six-Syllable Mantra Recitation Retreat (on Meat-Eating)
1. As Buddhists, we practise so as to benefit oneself and others. Hence, we do the six-syllable (Om Mani Pad Me Hung) mantra practice. However, when we eat meat - be it chicken, pork, fish or eggs... in our daily lives, we are creating immense negative karma.
2. If on the one hand, we chant the mantra and on the other hand, we eat the meat of another sentient being, then our words and actions do not tally with one another. We are not practising as we preach. Can this be considered as loving-kindness and compassion towards sentient beings? Is this doing good and abstaining from evil? We take refuge in the Buddha because His teachings could benefit all sentient beings. As Buddhists, we should understand the essence of the Buddha's wisdom and teachings, which is to do good and abstain from committing evil deeds. Abstaining from evil means that we have to keep our [Bodhisattva?] precepts. Hence we should not take meat.
3. When we are sick, old or near death, we would go to a doctor - we would practise and do anything possible and extend our life span. However, when we take meat, we are killing sentient beings that are healthy. How great is our compassion and loving-kindness if we treat sentient beings in such a manner? We should abstain from killing because it generates immense negative karma. Instead, we should develop loving-kindness and compassion towards all sentient beings.
4. In countless rebirths, all sentient beings have been our parents. When we took rebirth in the human realm, we had human parents; when we took rebirth in the animal realm, we had animal parents and so forth. Samsara is such. We need to generate a sense of gratitude towards our parents in this lifetime and those of our past lives. Hence, we should be vegetarians and abstain from taking meat. In such a way, we would do good and give meaning to our practice. By doing so, our practice of the six-syllable mantra would be able to benefit ourselves and others, and also aid in the flourishing of the Dharma.
5. There are some people who say that their doctor has advised them against becoming vegetarians, as they would suffer from malnutrition. [The truth is a balanced vegetarian diet is much better than a non-vegetarian diet.] This is a sign that the determination of these people is not strong enough. For if one has strong determination, one would avoid doing evil deeds at all cost and under any circumstances.
6. Hence in our daily lives, we should stop committing the negative deed of eating meat. On this basis, the merits generated from our refuge and practice of the six-syllable mantra would be inconceivable. We should try to change our lifestyle towards vegetarianism. We would certainly face difficulties in becoming full vegetarians. However, when such obstacles arise, we should remember how every sentient being had at one point or another been our parents. When we remember this, then we would not take meat just as we would not eat the meat of our parents of this lifetime.
-Translated by Konchok Tenzin Drolma
Slightly corrected and restructured by Shen Shian, with notes in parentheses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to satisfy one human stomach, so many lives are taken away.
We must promote vegetarianism. It is extremely important.
- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vegetarianism As Buddhist Way of Life: www.shabkar.org : Shabkar.org is a non-sectarian website dedicated to vegetarianism as a way of life for Buddhists of all schools. The site takes its name from Shabkar Tsodruk Rangdrol (1781-1851), the great Tibetan yogi who espoused the ideals of vegetarianism.
Irrefutable Rationale to go Vegetarian: www.viva.org.uk/goingveggie
Irrefutable Rationale to go Vegan: www.viva.org.uk/goingvegan
Trying Harder to be More Vegetarian: http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=1886
Buddhist "Bad Faith" to Animals?: http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=1485
Must Buddhists Be Vegetarian?: www.moonpointer.com/vege
Meat Causes 18% of Global Warming: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/zeph/message/1092
Being Vegetarian in Singapore: www.vegetarian-society.org
Free Vegetarian Starter Kit: www.vegetarianstarterkit.com
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About His Eminence Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche
- Completed studies of 13 major texts in the Tibetan Traditions, e.g. The Bodhisattva Way of Life by Shantideva.
- Exponent of the Mind Only school and the Madhyamika school philosophies.
- More than 30 years of meditation retreat experiences at times taking only 1 petal of flower and a drop of honey water per day during his retreat.
- Personally completed 12 X 100 million times of Six-Syllabled Mantra.
- An accomplished practitioner with high realization & a retreat master of Mahamudra
- Led the completion of tens 100 Million Mani recitation retreats in Nepal and India.
- Led the completion of several 100 Million Mani recitation retreats in Singapore at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.
"A very powerful and accomplished practitioner" as praised by HH 14th Dalai Lama, he was specially appointed by him to propagate the Guanyin Practice of Om Mani Padme Hung to the whole world to benefit all beings.
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Om Mani Padme Hung... Please help circulate this mail to benefit more.
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posted by squiiirrel at 5:48 AM
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