Pathgate Galleries is a new feature on the Pathgate Website. The current collection covers two categories: 1. Namdroling Monastery, 2. Buddhist Art.

The gallery of Namdroling Monastery offers a glimpse of the scale and splendour of Golden Temple, Zangdokpelri, Ngagyur Nyingma Institute (Shedra) and other activities that took place at the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in India. To see the gallery, click on Namdroling Monastery.

The gallery of Buddhist Art includes over 80 pieces of antique Buddhist Art from Tibet, China and Korea. Those from Korea come from the Ryun Namkoong Family Collection in South Korea. Ryun Namkoong, who passed away in early 2006, was regarded as the founding father of the modern industry in South Korea. He is the grandfather of Suk Namkoong, a long-time student of Lama Dondrup Dorje. To see the gallery, click on Buddhist Art.

New to the Dharma Theatre is an animated feature based on the Jataka Tales of With Wings That Fly Not, which tells the birth stories of Buddha Shakyamuni 's past life as a quail. This is one of the 547 stories recalled by Buddha Shakyamuni of his previous births in the various reincarnation of being animal, bird and human.  The enlightened qualities of a Bodhisattva - that of wisdom and skilful means in implementing acts of compassion for the benefit of all sentient beings - which lead to the attainment of Buddhahood, prevail throughout the pages of the Jataka Tales.

With Wings That Fly Not tells the story of the Buddha-to-be as a young quail performing the miracle of stopping a raging forest fire by calling on the Buddhas of the past through an 'Act of Truth'. This is the first of a series of animation projects to be produced by the Editorial Committee of the Pathgate Institute of Buddhist Studies. The objective of these animated features is to bring to life these timeless tales, which convey the essence of Buddha Dharma that will promote the greatest benefit for all sentient beings. We hope you will have as much joy watching it as we have in producing it. To read the story of With Wings That Fly Not, click Dharma Tales. To watch the animated feature, click Dharma Theatre.

The Pathgate Summer Retreat took place this year at Epidavros in Greece during the month of August. The retreat was well attended by students from around the world including first time participants from Australia, Italy, Ireland, Cyprus, Greece, and UK. Each day's programme began at 6am with meditation, prostration practice, Qigong (Energy Yoga) and Taiji Chuan. This was followed by a range of Tibetan Buddhist practices such as Ri Wo Sang Cho, Vajrakilaya puja, Praising of Manjushri, Shakyamuni Buddha puja, Tara puja, Guru Yoga throughout the course of the day.

Over the period of 12 days, Lama Dondrup Dorje gave teaching and commentary on a wide range of Mahayana and Vajrayana topics including explanations of many Buddhist prayers and pujas; the true meaning of the Four Dharma Seals, the Four Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Six Paramitas, and so forth. Each teaching was brought to life by an extensive range of examples given by Lama Dondrup Dorje on how to bring true the effectiveness of Buddha Dharma to eliminate obstacles and conflicts one experiences in daily lives. Such examples were so vivid and practical that the students were left without doubt that the feasibility of living a life of natural harmony, that is not separated from the Truth as taught by Lord Buddha and other great Realised Masters, is truly within their ability to do so.

Apart from tirelessly answering questions from students throughout the retreat even during mealtime and rest period, giving impromptu teachings and showing examples of mindfulness in action and joyful living, Lama Dondrup Dorje's healing ability and advice on harmonious living were also very much in demand by members of the local communities who presented to him a marble statue of Hippocrates, the Greek physician who is revered as the Father of Medicine in ancient Greece. The retreat was successfully concluded on the 25th of August with many new students taking refuge while a significant number of long time students expressed strong wishes to be ordained pending approval by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche.

Lama Dondrup Dorje made a brief visit to Athens recently at the invitation of the members of the Palyul Sangha International in Greece. Over the course of two and half days he saw a stream of people seeking advice and counsel during the day and gave private teaching in the evening to a small group of students on the Healing Power of Buddhist Medicine. The healing power of Lama Dondrup Dorje was very much in evidence throughout his stay. Here is a sample of cases treated by Lama Dondrup Dorje in Athens.

Vasiliki Mihalaki, a dietician, suffered from colitis for fourteen years with constant discomfort and bloating of the stomach. Lama Dondrup Dorje treated her for one minute before a whole group of students. To everyone's amazement, the bloating and pain she had been experiencing for fourteen years simply disappeared. Vasiliki was speechless from shock and just laughed.

Maria Koulopoulou, a physiotherapist, was suffering from severe pain caused by acute tendonitis. Lama Dondrup Dorje treated her for thirty seconds, then told her to have an early night. The next day she was amazed to discover the pain had gone and she had regained full flexibility of her arm with no discomfort.

David Hands, a cameraman/editor came from Cyprus specifically to see Lama Dondrup Dorje. Apart from being a sufferer of lower back pain for three years caused by a work-related injury, he felt energy blockages in his body due to the negativity he picked up over ten years of filming in conflict zones such as Bosnia, Iraq and Israel. Lama Dondrup Dorje briefly treated his back on the day of his departure. Afterwards David started laughing with joy saying that he felt like all the spaces between his vertebrae had opened up and he felt heat being emitted from them.

Magdalena Ladwig, a German lady, had been in a serious accident the previous year, which had damaged her knee, making it inflexible, and so she could not sit cross-legged without experiencing pain. On the second night, she suddenly announced excitedly that her knees had become flexible again and that she was able to sit cross-legged without any discomfort or pain for the first time since her accident. This was the lady, who eight years previously had come to the Pathgate Summer Retreat in Epidavros, with a cancerous tumour the size of a grapefruit in her uterus, which the doctors had told her needed to be surgically removed urgently. One morning, after three days on the retreat receiving Dharma teaching from Lama Dondrup Dorje on the importance of letting go of certain attitudes in life, she approached Lama Dondrup Dorje saying that something strange had happened to her. She said that she had felt a strange movement in the region of her tumour the previous evening and by the morning she could no longer feel the presence of the tumour. She recently had a medical check up and was told that the tumour has now reduced to the size of a tiny seed and is harmless.

Not only did Lama Dondrup Dorje bring relief to the medical conditions of many students, he also pacified the mental turmoil they suffered. Maritsa Kypriatou, an elderly lady in her eighties, was full of bitterness and dissatisfaction about many areas of her life, especially in her relationships with those closest to her. Lama Dondrup Dorje compassionately answered all her questions, then provided her with practical solutions to her problems. By the end of the evening, she became a much more relaxed person. Her face, which had started off being tense and twisted, was transformed into a calm content face of someone who has answers and a sense of direction.

When Lama Dondrup Dorje next visits Greece in August, it will be to the new Palyul Dharma Centre in the heart of historical Athens, before going on to the annual Pathgate Summer Retreat in Epidavros. For more details about the retreat, click Pathgate Summer Retreat. To know more about Buddhist Medicine and Healing, click Buddhist Medicine.

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Three new Dharma film trailers featuring His Holiness Penor Rinpoche: 'Eternal Activities of Guru Rinpoche' (a documentary featuring the holy site in Nepal where Guru Rinpoche attained the enlightenment of Mahamudra), 'Pure Light' (a documentary on Namdroling Monastery - the largest Tibetan Monastery in India), 'Silver Jubilee Celebration Souvenir' (the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Ngagyur Nyingma Institute) plus one short film on the 'Making of Torma' are also available for viewing in the Dharma Theatre section of the Pathgate Theatre. To see these films click the Dharma Theatre.