Pathgate News

Family Reunion in Shanghai

Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje was at a family reunion in China recently to meet up with several family members in Shanghai including his uncle who is in his eighties. The occasion was attended by his cousins from Hong Kong and the UK, as well as friends and students from China and Singapore. Apart from spending time with his family and students in Shanghai and taking an excursion to the world renowned West Lake in the historical city of Hangzhou, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje also, on request, gave Dharma teaching and refuge to local students during his stay.

Pathgate Offers Water Tank to Palyul Choekhorling Monastery in Bir

Palyul Choekhorling Monastery is situated in Bir - a village in the Dhauladhar foothills of the Himalayas in the western region of the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. It was established in 1980 by Ven. Rigo Tulku Rinpoche and follows the Palyul Nyingmapa tradition as taught by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche.

Home to over 200 monks, the monastery offers free education, lodging, food and medical care to all the ordained sangha there. Water supply to the monastery has for years been relying on water collected directly from the mountain stream. With the number of monks living at the monastery increasing year by year, water shortage has become a pressing issue that needed to be dealt with urgently. In response to a request from the monastery to Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje, the Pathgate sangha in Singapore has collectively raised the funds needed to sponsor the construction of a water tank at the monastery. The completion of the new water storage facility will for certain play an important role in easing the problem of water supply at the monastery.

Inter-faith Talk at Allen Memorial Methodist Church

In response to a request from the Women’s Group at a local church in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje gave a talk at the Allen Memorial Methodist Church in September to an evening meeting of the group.

Highlighting the common ground between all religions, of encouraging followers to become a better person and to develop their capacity for love; Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje gave the example of Mother Teresa and her many years working in India. Speaking of different paths followed in all religions, be it in helping others directly or in adopting the life of a hermit in retreat, they all share the common goal of transforming everyday activity into a living action of love for the benefit of both others and ourselves.

Giving an explanation on the Buddhist perspectives on the Five Vehicles of Spiritual Practices, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje used examples from the Bible to show that the teachings of Jesus were no different to the Buddhist teachings which encourage their followers to be a good person, to be helpful to others, to love thy neighbour, and to share our good fortune with others. Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje went on to explain the benefit of seeing the world without putting labels on it; recognising that all beings are the same, we all want happiness and all want to be free of suffering.

After the Talk, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje was given a tour of their church during which more questions were put forward by members of the women’s group wishing to know more about the daily practice of a Buddhist and about how to promote happiness in one’s life. Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje answered all their questions and finished by describing the great work of his Root Guru, the late Holiness Penor Rinpoche and giving everyone in the group a gift of the DVD ‘The Compassionate World of H.H. Penor Rinpoche’.

H.E. Kyabje Trulshig Rinpoche Passed into Parinirvana at Age 88

His Eminence Kyabje Trulshig Rinpoche, who has served as the Head of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism since 2010, passed into Parinirvana on 2nd September 2011 at 8:30 am at his monastery at Sitapaila outside Kathmandu. He was 88 years old.

Kyabje Trulshig Rinpoche Ngawang Chokyi Lodoe, was born in Yardrok Takloung, Tibet in 1923. He was recognized at the age of four, as the reincarnation of his own Heart Lama, Trulshig Tendru Dorje by Abbot Ngawang Tenzing. He was regarded as the reincarnations of many great masters of the past which include Ananda, Aryadeva, Thonmi Sambhota, Shantarakshita, Vairotsana, Dongak Lingpa and Rechung Dorje Trakpa.

His Eminence Kyabje Trulshig Rinpoche studied at Dza Rong Phu with Ngawang Tenzin and took novice vows at the age of 10. Upon the death of his teacher whose wish was for his disciple to succeed him, Trulshig Rinpoche at age 19 took his teacher’s place as Khenpo (abbot) of Dza Rong Phu Monastery. Shortly after, he went to Mindroling College for further teachings. He took gelong vows from Chung Ngawang Chodar Rinpoche and Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche who were his two main teachers at Mindroling. He also studied with many of the most prominent teachers of the time including Chusep Jetsun Rinpoche, Mindroling Dechen Choenzing and Dudjom Rinpoche.

In 1959, Trulshig Rinpoche went to Nepal and stayed at the monastery in Thame for one year, then moved to Chiwong Monastery for 5 years. He spent many years in retreat and established a monastery at Sengye Puhk (the lion cave), above Thupten Choling on the lower slopes of Shyorung Yul Lha. He later founded the Tubten Choling Monastery which is the largest Nyingma monastery in Nepal today, with 130 monks and 350 nuns.

His Eminence Kyabje Trulshig Rinpoche holds the lineage to some of the rarest teachings, such as "Pacification of the Suffering", first introduced in Tibet during the 11th century by the Indian yogin Padampa Sangye. His ability to find and learn these rare texts has given him the reputation as a treasure hunter.

Having ordained nearly ten thousand monks and nuns over the years, the presence of His Eminence Kyabje Trulshig Rinpoche will be much missed by his devotees from around the world.

Update on the East Africa Famine Appeal

As the drought in the Horn of Africa continues, an estimated 13 million people now face starvation in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. The continued absence of rain is causing the famine to worsen day by day, and with failed crops and dead livestock, millions have left their homes to seek aid.

In Somalia alone there are an estimated 8 to 10 million people displaced and needing food aid, with thousands crossing the border with eastern Kenya every day to flee from violent civil war and to seek aid and shelter at the refugee camps in Dadaab, which were built to house 90,000 refugees and currently support over 460,000. In Ethiopia, a further 4 million people need food aid, as they struggle to cope with both the starvation of its people coupled with the arrival of refugees from neighbouring countries.

Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje continues to see the humanitarian disaster as a priority of urgent attention, and has already sent funds to the amount of £10,000 (over 16,000 US dollar), from the proceeds of this year’s Pathgate Summer Retreat and from offerings by his students around the world.

Donations in aid of the East Africa Famine Appeal can still be made to Pathgate Institute or you may make your donation directly to the aid agencies which have authorised representation in the region of the Horn of Africa. To make a donation through the Pathgate Partnership Programme, you may do so by clicking Make a Donation.

Pathgate offers friendship and food to the Homeless

The People’s Kitchen is a charity started in 1985 by Alison Kay, then in her 70s, in response to a news report about the lonely death of a homeless man on wasteland. From a humble beginning, she sought to bring ‘friendship and food’ to the homeless and lonely in Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje’s home city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The charity has many volunteers who cook and serve food six days a week, throughout the year, regularly feeding over 100 homeless at their main premises and through outreach programmes which bring soup and hot food to the streets of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Since hearing about the work of the charity, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje has instructed his ordained sangha responsible for puja that the large amount of fruit, snacks and bakery items that are used as food offering for the numerous puja performed on request each week at the Pathgate Dharma Centre should be donated to the People’s Kitchen in support of their feeding programme. Other donations he has since authorised for the People’s Kitchen include the supply of meats and all kinds of vegetables.

To support the charity further, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje now sponsors weekly delivery of fresh food direct from the wholesalers to the People’s Kitchen. Read more about the good work of the People’s Kitchen by clicking here.

Students from 24 Countries attend Pathgate Summer Retreats

Following the success of last year’s Pathgate Institute Summer School, which offered three separate retreats tailored to the needs of students; the programme for this summer was extended to include seven separate Retreats. All the retreats took place at the Pathgate Dharma Centre – Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

This year students from 24 countries of origin attended the Pathgate Summer School. They include Australia, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Ireland and the UK.

The first of the seven retreats was the Namcho Dzogchen Ngondro Bum Nga Accumulation Retreat, which was open only to students who had previously attended the Namcho Dzogchen Ngondro Level One Retreat held in Greece last year, or who had attended the one month Namcho Ngondro Retreat at Namdroling Monastery in India.

Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan Level One and Level Two Retreats then followed. The daily programme included early morning prayers, Taijiquan practice, Tara puja, Audio Dharma Teaching, in addition to receiving instruction from Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje on the finer points of Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan. Supervised sessions on revision practice were available at the end of each teaching day so that students could recap what they had learned that day.

At the Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan Level One Retreat, students were introduced to the fundamentals of Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan and to the practice of how to attain the meditative state of Chan Ding – a calm-abiding mental state where one is aware of everything yet undisturbed by anything, whether their origin is of external phenomena or those of inner phenomena that arise in the mind.

The Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan Level Two Retreat was attended only by students who had previous instruction in Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan; and the importance of perfecting one’s discipline in replicating what one has been shown by one’s master was highlighted. Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje described discipline as an act of sincerity and consistency that is composed of two vital components: the specific instruction that one has received and the specific execution one is required to implement. It is through the perfection of discipline that the mind begins to get settled and the true state of Chan Ding is attained.

At the Classical Medical Qigong Study Level One Retreat, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje explained the aim of all medicine is to remove suffering, and that lasting freedom from suffering can only be attained through the practice of Buddha Dharma when the true causes of sufferings are identified and removed. In addition to daily instruction on the foundations of Medical Qigong, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje gave Dharma teachings and answered questions on how to bring true the benefit of Dharma in daily life.

For the Dharma Foundation Study Level One Retreat, the majority of students attending had already taken refuge with Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje, but recognised the need to improve their existing understanding on the fundamentals of Buddhism before advancing on to the study of more in-depth practice.

The Dharma Foundation Study Retreats for Level Two and Level Three introduced students to the teaching of the Mahayana Path, comprising extensive explanation by Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje on the Awakening Mind of Bodhicitta, the True Nature of Compassion, Equanimity, Bodhisattva Vows, and the different stages of Samadhi Meditation.

For the students on the Dharma Foundation Study Level Two and Level Three Retreats, instruction on the Meaning of Tibetan Prayers was available each day. Students were further benefitted by the presence of a native Tibetan from the Pathgate sangha who corrected the students in their pronunciation of Tibetan in the chanting of prayers.

During the whole two-month retreat, students had the opportunity to attend various puja such as those for the Medicine Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, and Shakyamuni Buddha; and also tsog practices (feast offering) such as Rigdzin Dupa on Guru Rinpoche Day, Yumka on Dakini Day, and A Shower of Blessing on the day of Chokhor Duchen which commemorates the First Turn of the Wheel of Dharma by Shakyamuni Buddha at Sarnath in India.

The running of the Pathgate Summer Retreat was supported by a team of local lay and ordained sangha who worked tirelessly in the Pathgate Kitchen to provide food and refreshments for the retreatants. Special events were also arranged on the rest day between retreats, that ranged from Mediterranean-style barbeque and Japanese sushi to Tibetan delicacies such as momo (steam dumpling), tingmo (steam bun), sha balep (fried meat pasties), and thunthuk (hand-tear pasta soup). Day trips were also arranged for students to visit many local attractions such as the coastal region of Marsden Rock, the ancient city of Durham, famed for its cathedral dating back over 1000 years, and many other places of interest.

Having spent the summer teaching in the UK, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje will be travelling for much of the rest of the year. His schedule for September will take him to Hong Kong, Singapore and the Netherlands. For details, please click Teaching Schedule.

Retreat Commenced at the Kunzang Yoedseling in Bhutan

While the Pathgate Summer Retreat has started in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK in July and will continue until the end of August, a separate retreat has also started for the Dharma friends of Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje at the Kunzang Yoedseling Retreat Home in Paro, Bhutan.

Formally opened on the 10th April 2011, Kunzang Yoedseling is a retreat home jointly established by Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje and his Dharma friends Khenpo Sangay Wangdi (former Principal of Ngagyur Nyingma University at the Namdroling Monastery) and Khenpo Jurme Kunzang (former Abbot of the Singapore Palyul Centre), with financial support from the Pathgate Partnership Programme.

Located beneath the Taktdang Palphug Monastery, which was built on the cliff-side of the upper Paro Valley close to the Taktsang Senge Samdup Cave where Guru Rinpoche is known to have meditated for three months in the 8th century, the first phase of its construction commenced in November 2009. Once fully completed, it will have five separate retreat houses sited around a prayer hall in the middle within a walled enclosure. Pathgate students will have the opportunity to visit and participate in retreat at the Kunzang Yoedseling Retreat Home in the future when they visit the Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan.

New Pathgate Study Group in Bucharest, Romania

Venerable Lama Dondrup Dorje was in Bucharest, Romania in June to give two days teaching to a gathering of enthusiastic students from Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The subjects he covered include instruction on Buddhadharma, Buddhist Meditation, Classical Medical Qigong and Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan. Due to the success of the weekend and also in response to the requests from the local students, a Pathgate Study Group has been formed in Bucharest which will offer regular meeting for Dharma Foundation Study, Meditation, and Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan practice. Kalsang Tenzin, the facilitator of the Bucharest Study Group is a long-time student of Venerable Lama Dondrup Dorje. It was at his invitation that Venerable Lama Dondrup Dorje paid his first visit to the capital of Romania known to many with fondness as the “Little Paris of the East”.

For details of the Pathgate Study Group in Bucharest, please click on Study Groups. For latest information of Venerable Lama Dondrup Dorje’s teaching schedule, please visit Teaching Schedule.

Pathgate Easter & May Day Retreats

The recent Pathgate Retreats during the Easter holiday and the May Day public holidays attracted students not merely from the UK but also from a diversity of countries of origin such as Italy, Denmark, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Israel, Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Mexico, Uruguay, New Zealand, Tibet, China, Singapore and Japan.

At the six-day Easter Retreat, the main subject was Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan. For the three-day May Day Retreat, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje gave a discourse of commentary on the dynamics of the 12 Links of Dependent Origination. As always, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje’s commentary at both retreats was full of real-life examples and individual guidance to students on how to implement Dharma practice in their daily lives whether it is dealing with issues at home, at work or simply interacting mindfully with others.

Lama Dondrup Dorje Visits the Ancient Capital of Holland

In response to long-standing invitation extended by students from the Netherlands, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje visited the city of Dordrecht in April at the beginning of the Tulip season. Dordrecht is the ancient capital and the oldest city of Holland. While he was there, Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje gave several teachings on Meditation, Dharma Instruction and Buddhist Medical Qigong. He also performed the ceremony of Tse Thar: the Practice of Ransom and Life Release at the request of local students.

Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje will return to Holland in June to give further teachings on Dharma Instruction, Buddhist Meditation, Classical Meridian Qigong and Classical Chan Ding Taijiquan. For details on this and other forthcoming teaching of Ven. Lama Dondrup Dorje in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Greece, Romania and England, please click on Teaching Schedule.