The Secret of our Mind
Buddhist Teaching by Tibetan Meditation Master
Khentrul Lodrö Thayé Rinpoche
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 7:00 pm
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fayetteville
901 W. Cleveland Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas

The Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas and the Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship of Fayetteville host an evening with Khentrul Lodrö Thayé Rinpoche on Tuesday, September 23 at 7:00 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fayetteville, located at 901 West Cleveland Street in Fayetteville. This event is free and open to the public. Voluntary donations support Khentrul Lodrö Thayé Rinpoche’s monastery in Tibet and his Dharma activities in the United States.

The Secret of Our Mind
Our minds are filled with myriad thoughts that move ceaselessly like waves on the surface of the ocean. We are in constant turmoil and our minds are obscured, like a sky enshrouded by clouds. Thus, we cannot develop inner peace and happiness. This is the main source of suffering. If we know how to meditate correctly, we will be able to unveil the secret of our mind and thus, in this and future lives, establish a basis for happiness.

Our experience proves that unhappiness and suffering are created only by the mind and by our internal processes of over-thinking. Thus, the remedy lies also in our mind; it depends wholly upon meditating. When we learn meditation methods and put them into practice, the result is that day by day, week by week, and month by month, our inner peace and happiness grows. Gradually, through the energetic force of meditation, countless positive qualities and changes arise within our experience. This is because the true peace and happiness we seek are found within us.

Khentrul Lodrö Thayé Rinpoche
Khentrul Lodrö Thayé Rinpoche was born in eastern Tibet in the region of Golog, where he is now the abbot of Katog Mardo Tashi Choling Monastery. At the age of seven, he began the formal practice of dharma by taking monastic ordination. Rinpoche studied and practiced under his main root guru, His Holiness Jigmé Puntsog Rinpoche, a true pillar of the Buddha’s teachings, for more than twenty years. He also spent many years studying with H.H. Katog Moktza Rinpoche at Katog Gonpa in Tibet, as well as for five years with H.H. Penor Rinpoche at Namdroling Monastery in India. He not only studied, contemplated, and meditated on all the scriptures of sutra and tantra, including those of Mahamudra and Great Perfection, but also received all of the associated empowerments, reading transmissions, and oral instructions, and thus received the degree of khenpo (equivalent to a Ph.D.) from each of the three monasteries. During that time, Rinpoche also spent three years in retreat.H.H. Katog Moktza Rinpoche formally recognized Khentrul Rinpoche as a reincarnation (tulku) of Katog Druptopchenpo Namkha Gyamtso, a mahasiddha of Katog Monastery, and conducted an elaborate enthronement ceremony for him at Katog before an assembly of monks, lamas, khenpos, and lay people. Thus he is called a khentrul, someone who is both a khenpo and a tulku.

There are more than 300 monks and 100 children at Katog Mardho Tashi Choling for whom he provides food, lodging, education, a temple, and other facilities. In addition, Khentrul Rinpoche offers support to the main mother monastery of Katog as well as a few of its branch monasteries.

Additional information:

Khentrul Rinpoche: www.katogcholing.com

Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas: www.artibet.com

Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship: www.uubuddhist.com

Vesak 2008
Ecumenical Buddhist Picnic
Celebrating the Buddha’s Birth, Enlightenment, and Paranirvana
Sunday, May 18, 2008;  3:30 - 7:00 pm
Agri Park, Fayetteville

Northwest Arkansas Buddhists will celebrate Vesak 2008 with a potluck picnic beginning at 3:30 pm (dinner starts around 5:30 pm) on Sunday, May 18 at Agri Park in Fayetteville.  All area Buddhists and all those interested in Buddhist theory and practice are cordially invited to attend. 

Sometimes informally called “Buddha’s birthday,” Vesak celebrates the birth, enlightenment (Nirvana), and passing (Paranirvana) of the historical Buddha Sakyamuni. An official state holiday in many Buddhist countries, Vesak is also known as Vaisakha, Buddha Jayanti, and Saga Dawa. The exact date of Vesak varies according to the various lunar calendars used in different traditions.  For many of those traditions, Vesak falls on May 20 in 2008.

Please bring food and drink, plates, cups, and utensils to share with those attending, as well as lawn chairs, games, etc.  Local practice groups are invited to bring information about their group’s practice and activities to share with others.  Those who wish may bring offerings of fruit, flowers, incense, or candles to be placed on the altar.

The event will feature a period of silent meditation, and perhaps a Dharma talk or two.  At the close of the event, Ven. Geshe Thupten Dorjee will offer to those interested the Eight Precepts Vow, to be honored for the 24-hour period beginning at sunrise on Tuesday May 20.  Participants who take the vow undertake to abstain from: taking life (both human and nonhuman); taking what is not given (stealing); all sexual activity; telling lies; using intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness; eating at the wrong time (the right time is eating once, after sunrise, before noon); singing, dancing, playing music, attending entertainment performances, wearing perfume, and using cosmetics and garlands; and using luxurious places for sitting or sleeping.

Located on Garland Avenue north of the University of Arkansas and Deane Street, Agri Park features a covered pavilion; in the event of rain, the event will proceed as planned.

Click here to download a flyer for the event.

[Please note the venue change from the previous announcement] 

The University Programs Cultures & Concepts Committee in partnership with The Fulbright College Honors Program and The Religious Studies Program will present a documentary film showing of “10 Questions for the Dalai Lama” with director Rick Ray on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at Giffels Auditorium, 2nd floor of Old Main, at 7:00pm.

Rick Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet.

Part biography, part philosophy, part adventure and part politics, 10 Questions for The Dalai Lama conveys more than history and more than answers - it opens a window into the heart of an inspiring man. Ray will briefly talk about his experience and answer questions following the documentary film showing.

The event is free to all students, faculty, staff, and guests. For more information about the Cultures & Concepts Committee, contact Roberto Noensie at (479) 575-5255.

University of Arkansas Students for a Free Tibet will host a candlelight vigil in support of the Tibetan people this Tuesday, March 25, in Giffels Auditorium on the 2nd floor of Old Main at approximately 7:15-7:30.  The student group’s advisor and Tibetan Buddhist monk Geshe Thupten Dorjee will speak, and his student Rinzin Dorjee will perform a chant and blessing for Tibet.  There will also be a short film.

Prior to the vigil, beginning at 6:00 pm in Giffels Auditorium, Professor Sidney Burris will present a lecture on His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the history of Tibet leading up to the 1950 Chinese invasion. 

The lecture and vigil are part of the U of A History of Non-Violence class taught by Professor Burris and Geshe Dorjee; but this event is open to the public.  All are welcome to attend.

University of Arkansas
Tibetan Film Series Presents

The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Directed by Ishu Patel
Narrated by Leonard Cohen

Thursday, March 27 at 7:00 pm
Chemistry Auditorium (CHEM 132)
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Admission is free and open to the public

[Please note the venue change from previous screenings. The Chemistry Building is located just to the southwest of the Peace Fountain in front of Old Main.]

Death is real, it comes without warning and it cannot be escaped. An ancient source of strength and guidance, The Tibetan Book of the Dead remains an essential teaching in the Buddhist cultures of the Himalayas. Narrated by Leonard Cohen, this enlightening series explores the sacred text and boldly visualizes the afterlife according to its profound wisdom.

Part 1: A Way of Life reveals the history of The Tibetan Book of the Dead and examines its traditional use in northern India, as well as its acceptance in Western hospices. Shot over a four-month period, the film contains footage of the rites and liturgies for a deceased Ladakhi elder and includes an interview with the Dalai Lama, who shares his views on the book’s meaning and importance.

Part 2: The Great Liberation follows an old lama and his novice monk as they guide a Himalayan villager into the afterlife using readings from The Tibetan Book of the Dead. The soul’s 49-day journey towards rebirth is envisioned through actual photography of rarely seen Buddhist rituals, interwoven with groundbreaking animation by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Ishu Patel.

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION AND Q&A SESSION

Tibetan monks Geshe Thupten Dorjee and Rinzin Dorjee will provide an introductory chant, and will be available to answer questions about the film and about their lives in exile following the screening.

The Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas will hold an informal public organizational and informational meeting on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 6:00 pm.  The meeting will be held in the Willard and Pat Walker Community Room of the Fayetteville Public Library, located at 401 W. Mountain Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas, founded by Ven. Geshe Thupten Dorjee and Professor Sidney Burris, is dedicated to helping the Tibetan people preserve their culture and religion within the emerging global village. The Institute pursues its objectives through education, through providing the public with teachings, demonstrations, exhibits, lectures, films, study trips - in short, with any activity that artfully showcases one of the world’s oldest and most comprehensive civilizations.

This meeting is free and open to all interested members of the public.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS TIBETAN FILM SERIES PRESENTS
WHEEL OF TIME
Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 7:00 pm
Giffels Auditorium, Old Main 

Six Paramitas Weekend Retreat with Geshe Dorjee
Friday Jan. 25 – Sunday Jan. 27, 2008
Rime Buddhist Center
700 West Pennway
Kansas City, Missouri

 
Ven. Geshe Thupten Dorjee, of the Tibetan Cultural Institute of Arkansas, will lead a weekend retreat at the Rime Buddhist Center in Kansas City, January 25-27, 2008.  This weekend retreat is devoted to the study of the Six Paramitas, also known as the Six Perfections. They include generosity, ethical behavior/virtue, patience, effort, concentration/meditation and wisdom.  
 
Fees:
 
Residential Retreat (all teachings): $120 in advance or $140 at the door, plus $25 per night stay. Stay includes two meals per day (breakfast and lunch). Retreatants are on their own for dinner; there are many restaurants near the Rime Center and the Rime kitchen is always available for use.
 
Non-Residential Retreat (all teachings): $120 in advance or $140 at the door. No meals are included.

For more information or to register for the retreat, visit www.rimecenter.org

University of Arkansas Tibetan Film Series Presents

DHARMA RIVER

Journey of a Thousand Buddhas

Tuesday November 20, 7:00 pm
Giffels Auditorium, Old Main
Admission is Free and Open to the Public

Yatra is the Sanskrit word for pilgrimage or spiritual journey. As the first documentary in the Yatra Trilogy, Dharma River is a timeless journey through legendary rivers to the greatest Buddhist temples and mystical sites of Laos, Thailand, and Burma. It offers a direct experience of lost civilizations, sacred spaces, and ancient traditions. The Buddha image reverberates continually through Dharma River and in dozens of temples, caves, and shrines, yet it is never the same. Journey into the living traditions and lost civilizations of this vibrant part of the world and explore the universal ideals of wisdom, compassion, and inner peace at the very heart of these ancient Buddhist cultures.

“Dharma River carries us along in the stream of spiritual blessings and delight. This visual feast transports us into the ancient yet timeless mystic East in a way that goes beyond place and time to touch the eternal. Watching DHARMA RIVER is a visual meditation and a contemplative experience. I thoroughly enjoyed making this sacred journey with John Bush and know others will too.”

Lama Surya Das, Author of Awakening the Buddha Within

Click here to view the movie trailer.

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION AND Q&A SESSION
Tibetan monks Geshe Thupten Dorjee and Rinzin Dorjee will provide an introductory chant, and will be available to answer questions about the film and about their lives in exile following the screening.

UPCOMING FILMS IN THE TIBETAN FILM SERIES
Feb 20: Wheel of Time
Mar 27: Tibetan Book of the Dead

On Monday, November 12, at 7pm in Giffels Auditorium, a presentation will be given on “The Uniqueness of Tibetan Astro-Medicine.” The presentation is free and open to the public.  The presentation will address tantric practices and include consideration of the chakras, the administration of medical training, and how the medical practice relates to Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy generally

The presenter is Jhampa Kalsang, Ph.D.  Dr. Kalsang graduated in 1989 from the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute of H.H. the Dalai Lama, in Dharamsala, India. He completed a full course of study and six years of training in Tibetan studies with an emphasis on traditional Tibetan astronomy, astrology, medical astrology and Buddhist philosophy. He has been on the staff of Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute and was one of their senior lecturers.

Kalsang will be available after the lecture for question and answer, and then for practicing Tibetan astrology.

If you would like to schedule a one-on-one reading, call much earlier to 619-733-5282.  Personal readings are $130.  The lecture will be of interest to many fields, including those in the medical field, philosophy, astrology, and more.  The event is sponsored by Students for a Free Tibet.