Patrul rinpoche biography of albert

Letter from Bodhgaya

By Ven. Kabir Saxena (Losang Tenpa)

&#;Long enough have you dreamed contemptible dreams. Now I wash the gum from your eyes .&#; &#; Walt Whitman

&#;Samsara is ingenting other than how things appear to you.&#; &#; Patrul Rinpoche

Sometimes, when I feel a little braver than usual, inom go to places that scare me. I&#;m not referring, dear reader, to far-flung blasted cemeteries with jackals baying for blood and naked levitating tantrikas. inom mean something a little closer to home, namely the Ambedkar Hostel for Scheduled Castes (SC) in Gaya. SC is the dreadful name the government now gives to the lowest castes and the former untouchable communities in India, people I&#;ve referred to many times in past articles, many of whom have converted to Buddhism in recent decades.

Thinking to be a hero of sorts and to &#;help those whom you think you cannot help,&#; (advice from Machig Lapdron&#;s teacher, artighet of

•

Written Teaching: A Brief Historical Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism

Excerpted from The Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche.

Gautama, the Buddha was born in Northern India in the fifth century BC, the son of a king who brought him up as heir to the throne. His birth and youth were remarkable, and it was clear from the beginning that the young prince Siddhartha was destined to be an extraordinary being. His early life was spent in palatial luxury, with few worries or cares, and he excelled in all the pursuits of his time, both academic and athletic.

Before long, however, he began to doubt the validity of his worldly life. Fleeing his father’s palace, he sought a more meaningful life, studying under a number of highly regarded masters of philosophy and meditation. Such was the sincerity of his quest that he rapidly achieved the highest meditational accomplishments that these masters could teach him, but he was still not satisfied. Despite years of strenuous ascetic

•

The Seventeen Pandits of Nalanda Monastery

NALANDA MASTERS

July-September

Thangka image depicting Shakaymuni Buddha and 17 Nalanda Pandits. Image courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

By James Blumenthal, Ph.D.

Nalanda Monastastic University was the greatest center of Buddhist learning in India’s glorious past. With upwards of 30, monks and nuns including 2, teachers living, studying and practicing there during its heyday, Nalanda was unmatched. Established during the Gupta Dynasty in the late 5th to early 6th century C.E. under the patronage of the Gupta king Shakraditra, the institution survived for six hundred years, through the Pala Dynasty, until ultimately being destroyed in by Turkish Muslim invaders. In the last throne-holder (abbot) of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet. In the intervening centuries, however, many of India’s greatest Buddhist masters trained and taught at Nalanda. 

Nalanda’s renown as a center for higher learning spread far