Pathgate News

Pathgate Sponsored Building at Namdroling Near Completion

The construction of a brand new 3-storey building for the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute at the Namdroling Monastery in India is at the final stage of completion. Sponsored entirely by Pathgate Institute, the new building will provide seven good-sized classrooms and accommodation for over one hundred students with bathroom facilities available on each floor. The sponsorship also provides funding for a brand new transformer to be installed, which will reduce the monthly expenditure on electricity usage for the Shedra in the coming years.

The proposal of having a new building for the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, which has at present 850 students undergoing a nine-year programme of Higher Buddhist Study, has been in discussion for several years. As the need for additional classrooms and student accommodation became increasingly urgent, request for the project to start was made to His Holiness Penor Rinpoche by the faculties of the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in the autumn of 2007. Out of compassion for their plight, His Holiness Penor Rinpoche granted them permission for the construction to commence and promised them financial support if they could not secure outside funding for the project. The faculties then approached Lama Dondrup Dorje to enquire his willingness to take on the task of sponsoring the entire cost of construction. With encouragement and blessing from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, Lama Dondrup Dorje managed to raise the full amount needed for the construction before 2007 came to close. By the beginning of March 2008, the third floor of the building was almost ready to be roofed while the classrooms on the ground floor were at the final stage of interior outfitting, ready to be used for holding classes by the start of the new academic year.

On the 20th March 2008 (14th day of the 2nd Tibetan month), Khenpo Pema Sherab, the most senior Khenpo at Namdroling Monastery, performed an official ceremony to declare the opening of the building for classes on behalf of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, who was unable to attend due to overseas commitment in Hong Kong. The construction of the new building for the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute is one of many projects sponsored by the students and friends of Pathgate Institute from around the world. If you wish to support the various on-going projects of Pathgate Institute in propagating Dharma worldwide for the benefit of all sentient beings, you may do so by becoming an active partner in the Pathgate Partnership Programme. For details, please visit the Donation Page.

Pathgate Students From England Receive Ordination Vows

On the 19th day of the first month of Tibetan New Year, three students of Lama Dondrup Dorje from the Pathgate Institute of Buddhist Studies in England received the ordination of Getshul Vows at the Namdroling Monastery in South India. Arrangement was originally made for the ordination to be given by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. Out of concern for His Holiness’s health, Lama Dondrup Dorje made the request to His Holiness not to give the ordination himself. The ordination was eventually given by Khenpo Pema Sherab – the most senior Khenpo at Namdroling.

The latest members to join the ordained sangha of the Pathgate Institute are Thubten Tenzin Sangpo, Thubten Sonam Sangpo and Thubten Sherab Palmo. All three have received extensive instruction from Lama Dondrup Dorje over a period of several years. During their stay at the monastery, Lama Dondrup Dorje arranged several audiences for them to pay respect to some of the most senior Tulkus and Khenpos at Namdroling. They were warmly received by Gyang Khang Tulku, Musang Tulku, Ajam Tulku, Orgyen Tulku, Khenpo Tsewang Gyatso, and Khenpo Pema Sherab.

On their first meeting with Khenpo Pema Sherab, the students received teaching on the importance of Vinaya in relation to the preservation of Buddha’s teaching. Khenchen talked about the difficulties experienced by the ordained in the west and the importance of following the precepts to protect one from wandering off the path. He explained the Ordination Vow is a life-long commitment and by taking the Vow, one promises that one will protect this vow until the end of one’s life. He spoke of the three practices of Morality, Concentration and Wisdom. He said that the most important thing was the renunciation of worldly life and that the motivation should be to achieve liberation for oneself, freedom from Samsaric suffering.

The trip to the monastery has been a most fruitful experience for the students, who included two other ordained members of the Pathgate Institute – Thubten Yeshe Gyurme and Thubten Wodzer Drolma. Not only did they receive precious advice from Tulkus, Khenpos and Lopens they met, they were also able to experience the atmosphere of celebrating the Losar and the Drubchen at the monastery. On the first day of their arrival, they were invited to accompany Lama Dondrup Dorje to attend a dinner given by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche. During the remainder of their stay, they were guests at numerous luncheons given by friends of Lama Dondrup Dorje at the monastery. At one meal given by the faculties of the Nyingma Institute, which include the Shedra Principal Khenpo Khenche Norbu, Tulku Choku, Lopen Tashi Palden and Lopen Jigme Trulthim, the students were given gifts of monks clothes and robes.

The final advice they received from His Holiness Penor Rinpoche before departure was the importance of protecting their vows. A more extensive article on the experience of the students at the monastery will appear in the near future on the page of Reflections of Pathgate Students.

New Film on Bodhgaya and Tso Pema

This new film, which followed the journey of a pilgrimage by a group of Buddhists, from Taiwan, was recently released by PBC. It covers the proceedings of the 17th Nyingmapa Monlam Chenmo in Bodhgaya, the holiest of all sacred places, where Buddha Shakyamuni attained enlightenment. The film also includes an audience given by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche to the pilgrims at which heart advice was given.

The second part of the film features Tso Pema (The Lake of Lotus). This place is where Guru Rinpoche subjugated the king of Zahor. The princess of Zahor is the emanation of a Dakini (female Wisdom Deity). She refused her father’s demand to get married and hid in a cave so that she could receive Dharma teaching from Guru Rinpoche. The king was so infuriated that he ordered his guards to put Guru Rinpoche

and the princess to death by burning them alive. The smoke from the burning piles last seven days and seven nights. When the smoke had cleared, the ground where the burning pile was, had transformed into a lake. Within a blossoming lotus in the centre of lake seated Guru Rinpoche and the princess who remained completely unharmed. The king felt great remorse for what he did and offered his crown and gown to Guru Rinpoche. The entire kingdom of Zahor followed suit and turned their mind to Dharma. This lake has been known as Tso Pema ever since. To see a trailer of this film, please the Pathgate Theatre by clicking the following link Bodhigaya and Tso Pema.

Dharma Foundation Study in Newcastle

As the year 2007 came to an end, students from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Greece, China, Ireland, Mexico, and the UK, attended an end of year five-day retreat on Dharma Foundation Study with Lama Dondrup Dorje at the Palyul Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Over the period of five days Lama Dondrup Dorje gave students an opportunity to develop practical experience on Quiet Sitting in the Vairocana meditative posture. The students also received in-depth explanation on the Principles of Buddhism such as the Four Dharma Seals and the Four Noble Truths.

The aim of the Dharma Foundation Study is to give students the opportunity to become familiar with the Principles of Buddhist Teachings and Meditation before commencing on more specified Dharma Study. The completion of the course work of the Dharma Foundation Study also serves as a pre-requisite for applicants who wish to be considered as candidates to commence the Classical Qigong Study.

Prayer Wheel in Athens

A Cypriot member of the ordained Sangha of Pathgate Institute, Thubten Dawa Loday, and his father, Nikos Kouroussis, were invited by the Cultural Centre of the Cyprus Embassy, to hold a joint art exhibition at the ‘House of Cyprus’ in Athens, as part of their 20th Anniversary celebrations in December.

For his main exhibit Thubten Dawa Loday, a resident monk at the Palyul Nyingma Buddhist Association in Athens, designed and produced an electric-motor driven rotating Prayer Wheel which contains within it 2.2 million mantras of OM MANI PADME HUNG. This Prayer Wheel, also known as a Mani Wheel, is around 50cm in height. Its main body is made of brass, bronze and copper which, when it rotates, projects the mantra of OM MANI PADME HUNG in the form of light onto its surroundings.

The exhibit of the Mani Wheel provides a focal point of interest to a Greek audience who are introduced to the benefits of the Buddhist practices of mantra accummulation for the sake of all sentient beings. The opening of the exhibition was well-attended and many people commented on the feeling of well-being and peace they felt in the room containing the Mani Wheel.

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