Contrary to popular belief, and despite the difficulties of giving up meat in countries like Tibet (due to lack of plant food available), there are many examples of Tibetan Buddhist masters who advocated strict vegetarianism. One recent article, 'The Hidden Vegetarians of Tibet' by Geoffrey Barstow (author of 'Food of Sinful Demons: Meat, Vegetarianism, and… Continue reading NEW PAGE: ‘BUDDHIST VEGETARIANISM’
Tag: 8th karmapa
RULES OF BUDDHIST CONDUCT (VINAYA) FOR MONASTICS (AND LAYPEOPLE) ON EATING MEAT: 17th Karmapa on the Vinaya rules on ‘offered’ meat and the three ‘tests’ of impurity
Drawing of Buddha's Alms Bowl by Alexander Cunningham in 19th Century In the second half of Day 16 (see https://youtu.be/fGMrJfya0oI), the 17th Karmapa spoke about the different Vinaya schools on the offence of eating impure meat, when it has been offered. Historically, Buddhist monks of different traditions, would go and beg for alms and food,… Continue reading RULES OF BUDDHIST CONDUCT (VINAYA) FOR MONASTICS (AND LAYPEOPLE) ON EATING MEAT: 17th Karmapa on the Vinaya rules on ‘offered’ meat and the three ‘tests’ of impurity
‘IF YOU EAT MEAT YOU ARE NOT KAGYUPA’: The 8th Karmapa and other Karmapas’ strict vegetarianism and the Great Encampment rules
On Days 13- 16, of the 'Good Deeds' teachings, the Gyalwang 17th Karmapa gave detailed descriptions of the life of the 4th Karmapa and his founding of the Karma Kagyu Great Encampment with its strict rules against meat eating and alcohol, as well as the reasons for the 8th Karmapa’s strong vegetarian stance. Today’s post… Continue reading ‘IF YOU EAT MEAT YOU ARE NOT KAGYUPA’: The 8th Karmapa and other Karmapas’ strict vegetarianism and the Great Encampment rules
JE TSONGKHAPA AND THE KAGYU LINEAGE: Marpa’s Guhyasamāja and Nāropa’s Cakrasaṃvara and Six Yogas. ‘Good Deeds’ teaching by 17th Karmapa (Day 12)
Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) “If there is Guhyasamāja there are teachings of Tsongkhapa, and if there is no Guhyasamāja, then there are no Tsongkhapa teachings.” The Gelugpa founder and master, Je Tsongkhapa, Lobzang Dragpa (1357-1419) has been mentioned several times during the 17th Karmapa’s current teachings on the 8th Karmapa’s ‘Good Deeds’. Previously, the 17th Karmapa… Continue reading JE TSONGKHAPA AND THE KAGYU LINEAGE: Marpa’s Guhyasamāja and Nāropa’s Cakrasaṃvara and Six Yogas. ‘Good Deeds’ teaching by 17th Karmapa (Day 12)
TEENAGE 8TH KARMAPA’S ADAMANT REFUSAL TO MEET CHINESE EMPEROR: thousands of people, offerings and threats of force could not persuade him. ‘Good Deeds’ teaching by 17th Karmapa (Day 10: part 2)
In the second part of Day 10 of the 17th Karmapa's teaching on Good Deeds, HH spoke about the remarkable integrity and foresight of a teenage 8th Karmapa who persistently refused to meet the Chinese Emperor; who was not swayed by thousands of people, precious offerings and even threats of force. Below is a transcript,… Continue reading TEENAGE 8TH KARMAPA’S ADAMANT REFUSAL TO MEET CHINESE EMPEROR: thousands of people, offerings and threats of force could not persuade him. ‘Good Deeds’ teaching by 17th Karmapa (Day 10: part 2)
WOLVES IN MONK’S CLOTHING: 8TH KARMAPA’S ACCOUNT OF ABANDONING NEGATIVE FRIENDS AND THE CHALLENGES OF BEING A KARMAPA: ‘Good Deeds’ teaching by 17th Karmapa (Day 5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WnSE2Nrf1g .On the fifth day of the ‘Good Deeds’ teaching, HH 17th Karmapa gave an extensive explanation of the difficulties and challenges faced by Mikyo Dorje and the negative acts of people around him. Comparing it to his own challenges in both Tibet and India, the Karmapa advised us all to understand that even though… Continue reading WOLVES IN MONK’S CLOTHING: 8TH KARMAPA’S ACCOUNT OF ABANDONING NEGATIVE FRIENDS AND THE CHALLENGES OF BEING A KARMAPA: ‘Good Deeds’ teaching by 17th Karmapa (Day 5)
THE WHITE CONCH’S RESOUNDING HORN: ASTONISHING CHILD PRODIGY, MIKYO DORJE AND THE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE ‘WESTERN’ AND ‘EASTERN’ CANDIDATES: ‘Good Deeds’ Teaching by 17th Karmapa (Day 3)
I am unborn and yet show birth, I do not abide and yet show abiding, there is no death and yet I show dying; and again, though there is no birth, I show birth. བདག་ནི་སྐྱེ་བ་མེད་ལ་སྐྱེ་ཚུལ་སྟོན།་།གནས་པ་མེད་ལ་གནས་ཚུལ་སྟོན།་།འཆི་བ་མེད་ལ་འཆི་བའི་ཚུལ་སྟོན།་།སླར་ཡང་སྐྱེ་བ་མེད་ལ་སྐྱེ་ཚུལ་བསྟན།༽ – 7th Karmapa, Chodrag Gyatso, before he passed away E ma ho! Do not harbour doubts about me; I am… Continue reading THE WHITE CONCH’S RESOUNDING HORN: ASTONISHING CHILD PRODIGY, MIKYO DORJE AND THE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE ‘WESTERN’ AND ‘EASTERN’ CANDIDATES: ‘Good Deeds’ Teaching by 17th Karmapa (Day 3)
THE BRAVE ‘KAGYU FOX’: Meaning and origin of the name ‘Karmapa’, the ‘midnight-blue crown’ and ‘Karmapa Khyenno’ mantra: ‘Good Deeds of 8th Karmapa’ by 17th Karmapa (Day One)
“All qualified lamas that accomplish the activity of all the Buddhas can be called Karmapa” -–17th Karmapa, Orgyen Trinley Dorje “When there is a debate between the tigers and lions of Sakya and Gelug scholars, the foxes of the Kagyu meditators should be very careful!” ---5th Dalai Lama On the first day of the one… Continue reading THE BRAVE ‘KAGYU FOX’: Meaning and origin of the name ‘Karmapa’, the ‘midnight-blue crown’ and ‘Karmapa Khyenno’ mantra: ‘Good Deeds of 8th Karmapa’ by 17th Karmapa (Day One)
NEW TRANSLATION: ‘Supplication to the Life of 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa’ by 8th Karmapa
A few days ago, Karma Kagyu monastic centres commemorated the paranirvana of the 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa (dus gsum mkhyen pa, 1110-1193), who is the founder of the Karma Kagyu lineage (passed down from Gampopa) and said to be the first Tibetan teacher to start the official ‘tulku’ system, by predicting where and when he… Continue reading NEW TRANSLATION: ‘Supplication to the Life of 1st Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa’ by 8th Karmapa
Three new translations in other languages: Vietnamese and Russian
Today, I am happy to announce three more new translations in other languages. The first is in Vietnamese and is the Yeshe Tshogyel Guru Yoga. It can be downloaded here. Other language editions of this lovely Guru Yoga text will be coming shortly. Vietnamese translation of Yeshe Tshogyel Guru Yoga The next two are Russian… Continue reading Three new translations in other languages: Vietnamese and Russian