Mountaintop Ceremony
A large number of Ven. Geshe Gyeltsen's students fulfilled one of H.E. Kabje Lati Rinpoche's instructions by having a special ceremony for Geshela on top of a high mountain. Sixty or more of Geshela's students met at the top of the Aerial Tramway in the San Jacinto mountains that overlook Palm Springs around noon on Saturday, June 20. From there we hiked as a group along beautiful trails through the forest and found a spectacular site that overlooked the valley far below and was quite secluded. Here we all, with the leadership of the Shartse monks, recited several texts and did mantras. At a critical point of the ceremony a strong gust of wind howled through the pines that seemed to carry a blessing from Geshela over us and out into the open sky.
Everyone who participated in this sacred event felt that it had been an extraordinary experience. Following this, Tibetan prayer flags were strung in an auspicious spot. Hopefully, these flags will be waving out blessings as a marker of this newly made sacred site for many years to come. (If anyone who was there has any especially good pics, please send to office@tdling.com )
His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Birthday
His Holiness's birthday is July 6th and to celebrate that we will have a special program for Sunday class on July 5th. There will be a short teaching about His Holiness's life, then long life prayers for him as well as return prayer for our late teacher Ven. Geshe Gyeltsen, and then simple tea and cake in the living room at the center.
Statue of our late teacher Ven. Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen
Progress is being made to create a reliquary statue of Ven. Geshela for the center. The artist who will sculpt Geshela's face has been consulted and retained and so the creation of the head for the statue has begun. Once the artist has sculpted the head a committee of TDL students will decide whether to approve it and then the casting process can begin. One large statue will be made for the front altar of the Gompa at the center and an undetermined number of small statues will be produced. If you are interested in knowing more please contact Annie at the center.
Saga Dawa Events at TDL
On Saturday June 6 there was a special teaching offered by Ven. Geshe Norbu on "Mind in Tibetan Buddhism". There were two sessions, morning from 10:00am to Noon and afternoon from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Tenzin Dorjee translated. Geshela covered the topics of western scientists current interest in Buddhist concepts of the mind, the teachings on mind and mental factors, and the teachings on valid perception and ways of knowing. The next day, Sunday, was Saga Dawa. Geshe Norbu gave a talk on the qualities of the Buddha, and then a Tsog offering was held, open to all.
A Successful Nyung Ne Retreat
A very successful Nyung Ne fasting retreat was held on Memorial Day weekend at the center. The retreat was led by Ven. Geshe Norbu who provided his able guidance throughout, even though Tenzin Dorjee could help with translation on Saturday only. There were three sessions of Sadhana recitation per day on Saturday and Sunday, and one in the morning on Monday. Each day began at 5:00am.
The Nyung Ne is a rigorous retreat but the students who participated were glad to have the opportunity to once again do this purification practice while remembering the many times we had done it with our late teacher Ven. Geshe Gyeltsen. It was one of his traditions to do this retreat on Memorial Day and it was all the more fitting that this time it marked the 100th day since his passing.
A Tsog offering was held following the end of the retreat.
A Center for the Study of Tibetan Buddhism
Thubten Dhargye Ling is a center located in Long Beach Californina dedicated to the study of Tibetan Buddhism. Founded in 1978 by Ven. Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen, it has been a source of authentic Dharma instruction rooted in the Gelugpa lineage from Ganden Shartse Monastery and Nagarjuna, Asanga, Atisha, Lama Tsong Khapa, and the Dalai Lamas.
Our center has hosted such renown teachers as H.E. Kabje Lati Rinpoche and Kabje Zong Rinpoche and has sponsered His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to come to the greater Los Angeles area to give teachings on several occasions.
Please read over our site to find out more about our center and how to hear the Dharma taught here.
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