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Gonjang Tibetan Monastery

The Gonjang Tibetan Monastery in Rangbull, West Bengal, India.

Gonjang Tibetan Monastery in Rangbull should not be confused with Gonjang Monastery in Gangtok.

Approaching Gonjang Tibetan Monastery gate.
Gonjang Tibetan Monastery is located 6.5 km (4 mi) northwest of Rangbull, and 9.5 km (6 mi) south of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.


Lama Tsondru La welcomes us at the door of his home.
Lama Tsondru La told us his personal story. He said that he abandoned everything in Tibet, his family, his house, his possessions, he only brought objects from the monastery on his back.

  • He said that the only thing he was left with that interested him was "Heaven and Earth", and he pointed to heaven and earth.

Lama Tsondru La directs us to the monastery temple.

Altar of the monastery temple.

Lama Tsondru La introduces us to the library of ancient manuscript books.

Lama Tsondru La gives us a lecture.
Stéphane Martin translates.


Lecture by Lama Tsondru La

Lama Tsondru La: When your body is in a good position, then all the channels (you have many channels in your body) will be fine. When the channels are balanced, then the mind is stable, otherwise the mind goes off in all directions. Furthermore, it is very good for your health.

Do you have any questions about Dharma? I know that you have visited one of the most important and one of the most precious sites in India called Both Gaya, in Tibetan we call it rDo rje gdan («dorje den») (Skt.: Vajrasana). Why it is very important and very precious? Because the Buddha attained Buddhahood, or enlightenment, in Both Gaya. After he achieved enlightenment, he wanted to share this knowledge with all people, with all sentient beings. This is called Buddhism. I'm not saying that Buddhism is super or the best religion in the world. Thus, his main teaching is great compassion, mercy.

Then he speaks of vision (Tib. tawa) and action (Tib. gompa). With the vision (Tib. tawa) Buddha taught us that we must respect each and every sentient being, and that we must have great compassion towards all sentient beings. (This concept of) vision (Tib. tawa) is unique. Action (Tib. gompa) is when we see an insect on the ground and do not step on it or kill it, that is, do not cause problems for others, do not harm others. That's enough for now.

Next we will do two minutes of meditation. Let's just meditate (visualize) on the main temple of Bodh Gaya. (Two minutes of silence follow.)

Thank you, that's enough. Have some questions? I know you're tired, I don't want it to take up too much of your time. There are no questions? Don't be hesitant.

Question: Why is it visualized? What is the point of visualization practice?

LTL: Visualization has many meanings. Visualization serves to keep our mind settled. Visualization serves to keep our mind in a single point. Do you understand? But we can give many explanations about the meaning of visualization. This would take some time. To practice visualization you need to have a base. For example, if you want to eat you need a plate, if you want to have water you need a container, for the practice of visualization you also need a foundation, a base. The practice of visualization has to be learned step by step. Any more questions?

Q: What do you think of meditation where we visualize energy in the form of light entering and leaving our body, and circulating within our body?

LTL: Yes, there are many types of meditation techniques. But as I told you before, without having a foundation, without completing preliminary studies, we don't have the benefits. Your container isn't clean, so what happens when you put something in it? Can we drink or eat that? So, first of all, it is very important to cleanse ourselves. This is how I accomplish it, we have to meditate on compassion. What is compassion? It's very easy to say 'compassion'. But how does compassion arise in us? How can we have compassion? For this, we need a lot of time, just to attain or obtain compassion. Buddha Shakyamuni became enlightened because of his compassion, not because of his meditation. Most people think it was because of meditation, but no. Without compassion, there is nothing. Buddha said that compassion is like the basis, the root, of meditation, of practice, of everything. If you don't have great compassion, pure compassion, then all types of meditation, all types of practice, are nothing, nothing.

Therefore, you need to start by cleaning and having a clean container. What do we have inside? So much poison within ourselves! We have many poisons within ourselves. We have attachment, we have anger, we have aversion, we have ignorance, we have pride, we have envy: five strong poisons (Skt.: klesa; Tib.: nyon mongs) within ourselves. Therefore, we have to remove them one by one. This is only possible with the help of compassion. These five poisons are the main ones, they are the ones we always suffer from, but we always have more. For example, because of anger, there are wars. I, I, I want more! There is no limit... Therefore, to meditate, we have to meditate on all these things. Why do I have anger? Why? Meditate on anger, meditate on envy, meditate on pride, meditate on attachment. Without walking in these five poisons, our meditation has no basis. If you build a house, you need a very good and strong foundation. If your foundations are not good, one day the building will collapse. Therefore, meditate on the five poisons. Why? How? How to remove them?

What is karma? People talk so much about karma. Karma is the reaction. You do a good deed, then you get a good reaction in return. You do a bad deed, then you get a bad reaction in return. You went to visit Boh Gaya, that was a good deed, whether you are Buddhist or not, it doesn't matter. Buddha never said that his teachings were only for Buddhists, no, he said they were for everyone. Please take them. Buddha never said that his teachings are the best, that you have to follow his teachings, no. He said this is what he found, and this is what he wants to share. You can try it, if you don't like it, it doesn't matter, just try it. So what I'm trying to say is that you, having been to Bodh Gaya, have created very good karma, just by seeing it. We can use the strength of this karma to free ourselves from our poisons. No one taught us how to steal, lie or kill, these are things that we have in us, that reveal themselves in us, and if we are not aware of this, if we do not work on it, now, by acting on karma, we do not achieve great results.

Your stay here is our karma for today. You've never seen me, I've never seen you before, but now we're sitting together talking. This is karma. Because we have this kind of karma in the past, and then when the moment comes, karma reacts. Furthermore, the teaching says: what did you do in the past? This is how you are in the present. That's how you are. What do you look like? What is your situation? Who are you. This is the karma of the previous life. Now, what kind of next life do you want? Buddhists believe in the next life. Therefore, if you want your next life to be good, you must do positive things, good deeds. Always try to think about the five poisons. Try to minimize them. Meditation is important to minimize and cleanse the five poisons. When you have cleared the five poisons, you are Buddha. Thank you very much.

(A prayer in Tibetan follows).

Ancient manuscript with Green Tara.
Lama Tsondru La shows us an ancient manuscript with the image of Green Tara.


Lama Tsondru La reads at random.
Lama Tsondru La opens a page of the ancient manuscript at random and he reads what is written on the page as a form of inspiration for all of us.


Receiving blessings.
Lama Tsondru La touches the ancient manuscript on our heads as a blessing.


Padmasambhava watches.
Padmasambhava is the main Buddha on the altar of the monastery temple.

  • Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oddiyana, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from medieval India who taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries).
  • See more at Padmasambhava - Wikipedia.

Lama Tsondru La unrolls a thangka.
Lama Tsondru La, with the help of an assistant, unrolls a thangka painted by himself.

  • A thangka is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala.
  • Thangkas are traditionally kept unframed and rolled up when not on display, mounted on a textile backing somewhat in the style of Chinese scroll paintings, with a further silk cover on the front.
  • So treated, thangkas can last a long time, but because of their delicate nature, they have to be kept in dry places where moisture will not affect the quality of the silk.
  • Most thangkas are relatively small, comparable in size to a Western half-length portrait, but some are extremely large, several metres in each dimension; these were designed to be displayed, typically for very brief periods on a monastery wall, as part of religious festivals.
  • See more at Thangka - Wikipedia.

Thousand-armed Avalokitesvara thangka.
One prominent Buddhist story tells of Avalokitesvara vowing never to rest until he had freed all sentient beings from samsara.

  • Despite strenuous effort, he realizes that many unhappy beings were yet to be saved. After struggling to comprehend the needs of so many, his head splits into eleven pieces.
  • Amitabha, seeing his plight, gives him eleven heads with which to hear the cries of the suffering. Upon hearing these cries and comprehending them, Avalokitesvara tries to reach out to all those who needed aid, but found that his two arms shattered into pieces.
  • Once more, Amitabha comes to his aid and invests him with a thousand arms with which to aid the suffering multitudes.
  • See more at Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara - Wikipedia.

Lama Tsondru La bids us farewell.

See also

Source

Location

Location: Dooteria Forest, West Bengal 734102, India