Bhutanese Object to the Commercialisation of Culture

Thankas (painted scrolls) as wall decorations, religious figures on calendars and T-shirts, and düngs (religious trumpets) as door handles — Bhutanese religious artifacts have found novel functions today.

While these roles are admired and gel well with the cultural diversity of Bhutan, Bhutanese cultural experts believe that these religious artifacts should be kept in appropriate places.

According to experts, the only place for religious icons like thankas and düngs is the altar room. “Of course, the düng is a musical instrument, but using it for decoration is not appropriate nor is hanging thanka everywhere. You should respect it as it’s only used for religious purposes,” says the culture secretary Dasho Sangay Wangchug.

But using religious figures on calendars, says the secretary, has both pros and cons. He said that it’s good as it makes people understand better, but bad when the calendars are dumped after their use is over.

Do we commercialise culture by using religious icons as decorative pieces?

Observers feel that, although cultures do evolve over time in response to the needs of the time, the political will and popular determination to preserve culture should adequately curb cultural dilution.

“It’s in our hands to preserve the sanctity of our religious art, which we know has no connection with individual expression but rather is guided by religious regulations and considered sacred,” says a Thimphu resident, Tshering Dolkar.

“However, if we choose to commercialise it, we’re to blame if it’s abused by buyers, who may not necessarily share our sentiments but view the items as beautiful aesthetic pieces for decoration.”

Says another observer, who works in an international organisation, “I’m hurt when religious icons are used in the wrong place with the wrong connotation. Using them in public places is one way of promoting it, but I still feel there is some need of restriction required.”

A corporate employee feels that the value of religious figures diminishes when used in calendars. “It may be effective, but once they see it everywhere, you stop feeling the sacredness of these symbols.”

What we need at this time, say observers and culture officials, is an intervention by the government. “There are no rules and regulations in place now. We need to have some guidance in place to direct people, to make people aware that religion should be respected and to consult if they don’t know,” says Dasho Sangay Wangchug.

By Sonam Pelden, kuenselonline.com

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Dalai Lama Opens Inter-Religious Symposium in Sarnath

Varanasi, India, January 7: His Holiness the Dalai Lama today arrived in Sarnath, Varanasi, where he is scheduled to give a week-long teachings from tomorrow on “Kamalashila’s The Middling Stages of Meditation (gomrim barpa) and Shantideva’s A Guide To the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (chodjug)”.

His Holiness inaugurated a six-day world religious symposium in Bhavnagar district in western Indian state of Gujarat yesterday. His Holiness considers promotion of religious harmony as one of his three commitments. The Tibetan leader said it is very important to practice religious tolerance for a peaceful world and that all religious faiths preach the same goals. Also present at the symposium was Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, the Prime Minister of the exile Tibetan government.

Tibetan sweater sellers from nearby cities attended the opening function to get blessing of His Holiness.

After the teachings in Sarnath near the Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, the Tibetan leader will attend the opening session of the “International Conference on Buddhism and Science” beginning January 16, 2009.

Source: www.phayul.com

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Pictures from Kagyu Monlam 2008

The Great Kagyu Monlam of 2008 took place at Bodhgaya from 1st December to 7th December.

The purpose of Kagyu Monlam is doing aspiration prayers for the benefit of others. It was told by Nagarjuna that if aspiration prayers are done together with great bodhisattvas, the resulting prayer is so powerful that it can avert natural disasters and can remove all kinds of bad karma.

Reciting aspiration prayers is also tremendously important in order to give the full meaning of this precious human body. That’s why to be in Bodhgaya and to make these prayers is a great opportunity, as planting the seed of enlightenment in one’s mind.

The tradition of these great Monlam was established in Tibet in the eighth century. During the following centuries these gatherings grew more and more popular. In the 13th century the 3rd Karmapa introduced the monlam to the Kagyu Lineage. The first Kagyu Monlam in exile with the 17th Karmapa took place in 1996, in Bodhgaya and was conducted by the 17th Karmapa Thaye Dorje and Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche. Today, representatives of the four lineages of Tibetan Buddhism are making prayers in Bodhgaya.

Article by H. H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa about Kagyu Monlam read here.

Pictures from Kagyu Monlam 2008:

Beru Khyentse Rinpoche’s monastery
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H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa about Kagyu Monlam

The Great Kagyu Mönlam in Bodhgaya

Corresponding to the individual aspirations and inclinations of his students the perfect Buddha, Buddha Shakyamuni, gave an immense variety of dharma teachings. Yet all of these serve the purpose to gather the two accumulations and to purify the two types of obscuration.

The foremost among these methods enabling a practitioner to gather the two accumulations is bodhicitta based on great compassion and the virtue accrued thereby. On this basis, the fruition of the enlightened state with its two buddha-kayas is attained and the unsurpassable method to accelerate this attainment is the practice of dedication and aspirations (mon-lam).

A spiritual path comprising the practices of dedication and aspirations is not found in any other religion. It is thus an extraordinary feature of Buddhism: virtue is dedicated towards all beings’ complete enlightenment and aspirations form the link to this unsurpassable fruit.

Ascertaining this practice to be specific to the Mahayana, the noble Nagarjuna once said: "The bodhisattvas’ aspirations, their vast conduct and their dedication were not taught in the shravaka-path".

As to the difference between dedication and aspirations: dedication requires roots of virtue to be dedicated whereas mere aspirations don’t. The original Sanskrit term for (the Tibetan word) "sngo ba" (which in English translates to "dedication") is “parinamana”. It literally means "complete change". The original Sanskrit term for (the Tibetan word) "smon lam" (which in English translates to "aspirations") is “pranidhana”. It literally means "fully settled", "one-pointed", "accumulated", "accumulate" and "aspiring this for that purpose".

The practice of dedication and aspirations is extremely important in that they change even a tiny amount of virtue into something extremely vast and inexhaustible. The Buddha taught this for example in the Arya Akshayamati Nirdesha Sutra: "Venerable Shariputra, if, for example, one drop of water falls into a large ocean it will not vanish, but become inexhaustible, never-ending until the all-consuming fire at the end of an aeon. Likewise the roots of virtue fully dedicated to enlightenment will not vanish, but become inexhaustible, never-ending until one’s achievement of the heart of enlightenment".

In general, whatever type of virtue one practices on the Mahayana path, one sets out with generating great compassion and bodhicitta. One then does the actual practise based on wisdom which does not conceptualize in a perceiver, perceived and perceiving, and finally, one has to seal the virtue by means of dedication and aspirations.

Furthermore, the Buddha taught in the vinaya-sutras that whatever minor or major virtue is practiced during the various days commemorating great dharma-occasions such as the Month of Miracles, the Month of Vesakh, the Descent from Heaven etc. at sites associated with the Buddha’s activities such as Bodhgaya, Lumbini etc. is – due to the power of the place and time – multiplied a hundredfold, a thousandfold etc. Therefore, to practice the accumulation of virtue such as making offerings to the Three Jewels with a large monastic sangha-community is said to be especially powerful. In the same sutra it is taught that the monastic sangha symbolizes the Three Jewels, that they are authentic recipients of offerings and the main reference for the accumulation of merit.

Thus it is extremely important to make offerings at special places to the monastic sangha, to seal the accumulations of merit deriving from teaching, debating, meditating, gathering and reciting by means of practicing the dedication and the aspirations, and to do so carefully and sincerely.
It is just as Milarepa, the foremost of siddhas, said: “The great meditator who practices in a cave and the benefactor who provides for his living will – due to dependant occurrences – attain buddhahood together, and the heart of dependant occurrences is dedication."

Likewise, regarding the practice of aspirations: Shantideva taught in his Shiksasamuccaya that the ten types of countless aspirations of bodhisattvas as taught in the sutras are subsumed in the “Aspirations for Excellent Conduct”. Then there are further great aspiration prayers such as the “Aspirations from Maitreyanatha’s Hagiology” directed towards the attainment of enlightenment once the ten paramitas are fully perfected. Furthermore there are the “Mahamudra-Aspirations” associated with the Vajrayana etc. They all consitute the skillful path enabling oneself and others to attain enlightenment swiftly. Thus they are held in high esteem by the buddhas and the bodhisattvas.

On April 10th, 2007, I, Trinley Thaye Dorje, who is blessed by carrying the name of the 17th Karmapa, have made these aspirations and wrote this at my residence in Kalimpong so that all participants who are fortunate to take part in the great Kagyü Mönlam at the supreme place Bodhgaya (in India) will generate a pure state of mind.

Photo: © mattbalara

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Circling Kailash and Manasarovar

by Uden Sherpa 

The Legend of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar

Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar are the only two places in the whole of Tibet that were visited by Lord Buddha, accompanied by five hundred Arhats. During the turning of the Three Wheels of the Dharma, Buddha Shakyamuni extensively explained the merits of building images. So Indra (the king of gods) offered precious articles of the gods, Ananda (the king of Serpents or Nagas) offered precious articles of the Nagas and Bimbisara (the king of Magadh) offered gold and silver, etc. to the Buddha and requested him to have three images of the Buddha made, as a means of generating merit for the sentient beings in the future.

On the instructions of the Buddha, the master craftsman Viswakarma made three images of the Buddha that were blessed by Buddha Shakyamuni. A fifteen-foot image was taken to realm of the gods, a ten-foot image was taken to the realm of the Nagas and a two-foot image of the Buddha was kept at Magadh, in order for the devotees to make offerings and pay homage.

One day, Mahakala miraculously took the image of the Buddha from Magadh to his palace at Lake Lanka, located at the foot of Mount Kailash, and made offerings. Then he thought a special place was needed to keep such a sacred statue and attempted to carry Mount Kailash on his back to the realm of the Nagas in Lake Lanka.

Buddha Shakyamuni and the 500 Arhats flew from Bodhgaya to Mount Kailash and landed on the rock known as Kyil Khor Teng, or ‘Ganachakra Basin of Arhats’, on the western face of Mount Kailash. Buddha left his footprint on four corners of Mount Kailash and prevented Mahakala from carrying Mount Kailash to the realm of the Nagas. These four footprints of the Buddha are known as the ‘Four Nails Holding Mount Kailash’, because they prevented Mahakala from carrying the mountain away. Then Buddha sat on the rock in front of Mount Kailash and gave teachings to the Nagas residing in Lake Manasarovar and Lake Lanka. Today, Buddhist pilgrims call this rock the ‘Throne of the Buddha’.

Mount Kailash is the only holy place in the world that is regarded as equally sacred by Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Bonpos. To the Theravadan Buddhists, it is the abode of Sthavira Angaja, with an assembly of 1,300 Arhats; and to the Vajrayana practitioners it is the mandala or palace of Chakrasamvara. The sacred nature of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar is mentioned in the Sutras.
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