Right now, the main thing on my mind is bringing qualified Nyingma lamas to Mongolia. The three years of work we’ve done here so far has set the table: the texts are here, the foundational teachings on renunciation and bodhicitta have been given, networks are in place, local organizers are ready, and the appropriate requests to the teachers have been made repeatedly. There’s only one thing left. Well, one or two, but one main thing.
When I made my trip to America in November, I had occasion to speak with Jetsunma about coming to Mongolia. She expressed her strong wish to come, and the intention, barring “obstacles or shifts in merit” or something to that effect. I said, “Well, how can we increase the odds and remove obstacles?” She had only one instruction: build a teaching throne in the style of Palyul Monastery.
We received a generous donation in Australia for just this purpose, but strange difficulties prevented me from finding the right means to get it done in, until now. Through my friend Lama Purevbat, I will sign a contract today with the Ochir (Vajra) Company to build said throne. Later, Lama Purevbat’s students from the Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Arts will create the decorative details. The basic construction should be done before I return from America, and the detail work before August is over. It’ll look something like this at our Maryland temple:
Now, let’s head off some potential misunderstanding, shall we? Lamas don’t ask for thrones to be built so they can sit on thrones. What lama worth his or her salt would give a hoot about that? The purpose of a Dharma throne is to elevate the teaching to a place of deep respect, not the teacher. This hearkens back to a pithy lesson from Mipham Rinpoche called the Four Reliances (short commentary here):
“Rely on the message of the teacher, not on his personality;
Rely on the meaning, not just on the words;
Rely on the real meaning, not on the provisional one;
Rely on your wisdom mind, not on your ordinary, judgmental mind.”
In this case, building the throne creates the auspicious condition for the arrival of the Nyingma teachings generally, and the Palyul teachings specifically.
I would be remiss if I did not add that the total cost will be a wee bit more than what was offered by our Australian friend. If you would like to contribute to this meritorious project (or, shoot, any of our projects, we got plenty), click here to go to the MBRP home page and then click on the donation graphic at the bottom. We’ve switched over to PayPal (though you need not have a PayPal account) and I can’t get the dadblasted donation button on this page to work properly. Sorry for the extra click or two, but thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Comments