Stupa projects are often initiated by an aspiration or prophecy. A modern-day example of this is in Gelephu, a town (thromde) in Sarpang District, southern Bhutan. It shares a border with India, and one can cross into Bhutan here through Assam. It is a hub for Indo-Bhutanese trade, with a pleasant, moderate climate and rainy […]
Vajrayana
Announcement: The Practice of 21 Tara, with Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche
Yayasan Pema Norbu Vihara (YPNV) is delighted to invite you to a precious teaching on the practice of the 21 Tara. This teaching is being given one of the most senior Buddhist luminaries of the Nyingma tradition and the Palyul Lineage, Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche. During this Zoom event, attendees have the precious opportunity to […]
The TLKY International Conference 2021 Interview Series – Dr. Georgios T. Halkias
Welcome to our series of conversations with participating speakers at this year’s Tung Lin Kok Yuen International Conference – Buddhist Canons: In Search of a Theoretical Foundation for a Wisdom-oriented Education (27–28 November 2021). In each blog post, I speak with keynote speakers and paper presenters about their subject at this conference. Register for this […]
“The Extraordinary Life of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: An Illuminated Journey”
“As I have often said, I am a simple Buddhist monk. Nothing more, nothing less.” This is a famous catchphrase by His Holiness, which had it been from the lips of anyone less than a holy figure, would probably have turned into a meme on social media a long time ago. In more world-weary eyes, […]
Women in Indian Tantric Buddhism, Part Two
Dombipa and Dombi Yogini. Drawing by the author Tantric women who are mentioned in the biographies of the great mahasiddhas as their spiritual wives or teachers share their spiritual achievement. Among them are the female partners of Dombipa, Ganthapa, Babhaha, Karbaripa, Saraha, Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Maitripa and others. Dombi Yogini. Drawing by the author
Healing the World with Thangtong Gyalpo’s Prayer
Since 1 August 2020, Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) Sangha have been coming together as a global community reciting “Thangtong Gyalpo’s Prayer” to reduce the suffering caused by the COVID pandemic. This 1 August marks its first year – a milestone that the founders themselves would have preferred not to reach. […]
Women in Indian Tantric Buddhism, Part One
There are two Vajrayana paths that lead to the spiritual realization of women – the path of a nun (Skt. bhikshuni, Tib. gelongma) who has renounced worldly existence, and the path of a yogini (Tib. naljorma) who can perform spiritual practice in solitude or combine it with family life. In the Indian Tantric tradition, there […]
Nairatmya, Part Two
Nairatmya. From tibetshop.com The practice of the dakini Nairatmya was transmitted to Tibet and preserved in the Tengyur, the second part of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. In the Kagyu and Gelug schools, she appears mainly as a spiritual wife of the fierce protective deity Hevajra and very rarely as an independent deity. She is revered […]
“Seven Line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava” – A Milestone Translation and Song
I remember first listening to the magical Imee Ooi over the speakers of a souvenir shop at Ngong Ping Village, which leads to the famous Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong. It was 2010. Her songs, which are contemporary renditions of Buddhist dharanis, mantras, and passages from Buddhist texts, evoke aural Pure Lands. Her ethereal, […]
Nairatmya, Part One
Nairatmya is a Vajrayana goddess who embodies the supreme Buddhahood. Her main role is as a wife of the Tantric meditational deity (Tib. yidam) Hevajra, but she also has an independent significance as a supreme dakini. Her Sanskrit name, as well as its Tibetan version, Dagmema, translates as “the one who realized the absence of […]