Advice on dharma centres

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Lobsang Chojor
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Advice on dharma centres

Post by Lobsang Chojor »

Hi all,

I would like some advice on what to do about finding a guru in a local dharma centre.

In my city there is only one dharma centre, which is a NKT affiliated centre, so I do not attend. :yinyang:

Does anyone have any advice on what to do about furthering my dharma knowledge and finding a guru?

Note: I am considering emailing FPMT to see if they have a suggestion, but any advice is welcome.

:namaste:
"Morality does not become pure unless darkness is dispelled by the light of wisdom"
  • Aryasura, Paramitasamasa 6.5
ༀ་ཨ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷཱི༔ Oṃ A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhīḥ
Bristollad
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Bristollad »

Are you sure you want to study Tibetan Buddhism? And within Tibetan Buddhism, are you sure that Gelug teachings are the ones you wish to study? Despite how it sometimes sounds on here, there is a lot of commonality between the main Tibetan Schools. If there isn't a suitable Gelug centre close enough, I would consider other Tibetan schools and if no other Tibetan schools have suitable centres, then consider other traditions from other countries. Contacting the FPMT may be a good idea - perhaps they have a study group even if they don't have a centre.

For advice about specific centres, it would help people, if you said where you are :)
The antidote—to be free from the suffering of samsara—you need to be free from delusion and karma; you need to be free from ignorance, the root of samsara. So you need to meditate on emptiness. That is what you need. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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Lobsang Chojor
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Lobsang Chojor »

Hi Bristollad I am doing the FPMT Living in the Path online course currently so I know Gelug is for me, and I've done some Kagyu at Kagyu Samye Ling, but this is to far away/difficult to access for regular practice and a guru.

I am from Carlisle, Cumbria so the nearest FPMT centre is Leeds or a study group near Lancaster. I am planning on emailing Lama Zopa and Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Leeds for some advice. I know Jamyang does create centres under its umbrella, such as Liverpool, so I hope they will consider Carlisle.

:namaste:
"Morality does not become pure unless darkness is dispelled by the light of wisdom"
  • Aryasura, Paramitasamasa 6.5
ༀ་ཨ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷཱི༔ Oṃ A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhīḥ
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Ayu
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Ayu »

You have to create your own Buddhist center in your home. Have a corner of a room with an altar and create an atmosphere of inspiration there by regular & constant practice. (I.e. study, recitations, meditation.)
Travel to the center/teacher you are content with, study there, and take this inspiration to your home.

Our practice should not be dependent on a dharma center nearby.
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Tsongkhapafan
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Tsongkhapafan »

I would suggest that you pray to find a Guru who will suit your temperament. Buddhas can appear in many different forms and they are trying to help you to attain enlightenment. Your prayers will definitely be fulfilled and you will find a fruitful spiritual relationship with a Guru.
Last edited by Ayu on Sun Dec 13, 2015 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Precautious prevention of NKT discussion.
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Lobsang Chojor
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Lobsang Chojor »

Ayu - I have my own home altar and have regular practice. Thank you for the advice for travelling to centres.

Tsongkhapafan - Many thanks for the suggestion I will begin prayers today

I am planning on emailing the Jamyang Dharma centre in Leeds tomorrow for their advice on this situation, which with their permission I will add on here to give advice for future practitioners without a local centre.
"Morality does not become pure unless darkness is dispelled by the light of wisdom"
  • Aryasura, Paramitasamasa 6.5
ༀ་ཨ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷཱི༔ Oṃ A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhīḥ
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Ayu
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Ayu »

I found such praying very helpful in my own life also. It is a precious advice, IMHO.
There is a Tibetan prayer existing. I don't know its title in English, something like "Prayer to attract the guru". I have it in some old file on my computer in German language.
A very good prayer.

Edit: My source in German is called:
"Hingabe im Herzen Verstärken“ wurde von Jamgon Kongtrul dem Grossen verfasst und wurde vom Nalanda Tranlation Commitee ( Raimund Putze, Michael Fraund, Sherab Chödzin Kohn) unter Leitung von Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche aus dem tibetischen übersetzt und 1981 in „Journey without Goal“
---> <<<"Strengthen Devotion In The Heart" was written by Jamgon Kongtrul the Great and was translated from Tibetan by the Nalanda Translation Commitee under the direction of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Published 1981 in "Journey without Goal".>>>
Last edited by Ayu on Sun Dec 13, 2015 2:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Added source.
Bristollad
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Bristollad »

Dear Manjushri Fan,

Looking at the FPMT - it seems your closest options are the study group near Grange-over-Sands and Land of Joy retreat centre near Kielder Water. Neither are close in UK terms. Land of Joy is closest (about 50 miles). If you make contact with these centres, you may find there are already people travelling from Carlisle - maybe you could share a ride? If I was you I would get hold of Land of Joys retreat schedule - you may not be able to attend weekly teachings, but you might get to do some great weekend/week(s) retreats with various teachers. I know Ven. Robina Courtin has already run a retreat there and Roy, the Director of Jamyang London and others.
The antidote—to be free from the suffering of samsara—you need to be free from delusion and karma; you need to be free from ignorance, the root of samsara. So you need to meditate on emptiness. That is what you need. Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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Lobsang Chojor
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Lobsang Chojor »

Thanks Bristollad, your knowledge is a gift :bow:
Bristollad wrote: study group near Grange-over-Sands and Land of Joy retreat centre near Kielder Water.
Thanks for the suggestions, Grange-over-sands is unfortunatly 2.5 hours away and Land of Joy seems good but currently weather will not allow access.
Bristollad wrote:If I was you I would get hold of Land of Joys retreat schedule - you may not be able to attend weekly teachings, but you might get to do some great weekend/week(s) retreats with various teachers
I'll have a look into this and try and find one that does not clash with school term times :smile:

:namaste:
"Morality does not become pure unless darkness is dispelled by the light of wisdom"
  • Aryasura, Paramitasamasa 6.5
ༀ་ཨ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷཱི༔ Oṃ A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhīḥ
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byamspa
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by byamspa »

While you're searching, send your aspiration to meet an authentic teacher out there as strongly as you can. Have it ride the intention to help all sentient beings.

It might take a little time to return, but it will return.
Phenomenon, vast as space, dharmata is your base, arising and falling like ocean tide cycles, why do i cling to your illusion of unceasing changlessness?
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Lobsang Chojor
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Lobsang Chojor »

I have got a reply from the nearest FPMT affiliated centre (Jamyang Leeds) :twothumbsup: . Now I am waiting for their permission to post the response here for advice for future students of the path.

:namaste:
"Morality does not become pure unless darkness is dispelled by the light of wisdom"
  • Aryasura, Paramitasamasa 6.5
ༀ་ཨ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷཱི༔ Oṃ A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhīḥ
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Lobsang Chojor
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Re: Advice on dharma centres

Post by Lobsang Chojor »

I got permission to post their reply here :twothumbsup:
FPMT Jamyang Leeds wrote:...Think about doing an FPMT online programme - I would suggest Discovering Buddhism, its how I started and they are really wonderful modules. You have a tutor who can guide you through the topics, and you have audio and video to listen to. The website is here: http://fpmt.org/education/programs/disc ... -buddhism/

If you don't live near a buddhist centre, like many of us, then you have to have a combination of personal study at home, with a structured programme such as DB, then occasionally meet others at a centre which would require a bit of travel every now and then for inspiration and to ask questions in person. Maybe once a month or so.
This should serve as excellent guidance for future practioners with the same problems as me.

:namaste:
"Morality does not become pure unless darkness is dispelled by the light of wisdom"
  • Aryasura, Paramitasamasa 6.5
ༀ་ཨ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷཱི༔ Oṃ A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhīḥ
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