Foundation of Kagyu Changchub Chuling
Kagyu Changchub Chuling was founded in Portland in 1976 by the Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche as a center where people can practice and study Vajrayana Buddhism, according to the Kagyu Changchub Chuling website. Kalu Rinpoche was born in Eastern Tibet in 1905 and was considered to be one of the best meditation masters of the 20th century. He attended one of the most renowned centers of learning in the Karma Kagyu school located in Palpung. He completed two three-year retreats and became a solitary yogi when he left Palpung. Rinpoche traveled throughout the West afterwards and founded multiple centers for Western students, including Kagyu Changchub Chuling.
Although the Kagyu Changchub Chuling center is located in Oregon, it has a rather strong relationship with some Tibetan masters. Some of Tibet’s most eminent masters have shown their support for Kagyu Changchub Chuling by visiting. Some of those notable people listed on the Kagyu Changchub Chuling website who have visited are: His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, Jamgong Kongtrul, Dezhung Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim, Thrangu Rinpoche, and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. After Kalu Rinpoche’s death in 1989, Kagyu Changchub Chuling was fortunate to have a relationship with the Venerable Bokar Rinpoche who showed his support in visiting the center.
Lineage is a term used in Vajrayana Buddhism that refers to a corpus of specific practices and multiple realized masters who have acquired knowledge on such practices and have passed them down among generations. Kalu Rinpoche, the founder of Kagyu Changchub Chuling, was a holder of the Shangpa Kagyu and Karma Kagyu lineages. Kagyu Changchub Chuling practices both of these lineages.
The Shangpa Kagyu lineage
The Shangpa Kagyu lineage was originally founded in Tibet in the 11th century by Khyungo Naljor and its focus is on practice and direct experience, according to the Kagyu Changchub Chuling website. Naljor received his teachings and practices in India from many sources. In most cases, lineages were established by connections to monasteries, but one of Naljor’s female masters, Niguma, instructed him to pass the Shangpa teachings down to an individual student. That student then was instructed to follow this procedure and do this for seven generations. This somewhat faulty method caused the Shangpa lineage to never have a strong monastic tradition.
A great scholar and practitioner by the name of Jamgong Kongtrul Lodro Thaye instituted the “three-year retreat” in the 19th century. The three-year retreat is an opportunity to learn and practice the teachings of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage in a formal way. Three-year retreats have since become a main part of the Shangpa lineage and when Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche founded Kagyu Changchub Chuling, it had a strong emphasis on having these three-year retreats. One of Kalu Rinpoche’s students, Bokar Rinpoche, also established a center to do three-year retreats in Mirik. As Kalu Rinpoche founded more and more centers in the West throughout the 1970s, he led three-year retreats at those centers. Today, there is a long retreat center in Goldendale, Washington for these three-year retreats which members of the Kagyu Changchub Chuling were inspired to build. Once Kalu Rinpoche died in 1989, Bokar Rinpoche became the principal holder of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage.
The Karma Kagyu Lineage
The Karma Kagyu is one of the four major lineages of Tibet. Its focus is on oral lineage. This lineage emphasizes meditation practice; instructions are handed down from teacher to student. The practices of the Kagyu lineage were first handed down by famous saints in Indian and Tibetan history. Tilopa was an Indian yogi who was known as the first source for the specific practices of the Kagyus, according to the Kagyu Changchub Chuling website. Tilopa passed the lineage on to the scholar Naropa, then to Marpa the Translator, then to Milarepa who was one of the most famous Tibetan meditators. Milarepa taught Gampopa, who was able to create a solid foundation of the Karma Kagyu lineage and passed the teachings to Düsum Khyenpa, the first Karmapa.
The Three-Year Retreat
Kagyu Changchub Chuling aspires in their mission and vision statement to give the community members who are at all stages of practice opportunities for learning and practice. One of those opportunities is the three-year retreat which, as mentioned above, is a Tibetan Buddhist meditation training that stems from the Shangpa Kagyu and Karma Kagyu lineages. Kagyu Changchub Chuling sponsors these retreats in Goldendale, Washington at the center’s retreat center, Ser Chö Ösel Ling. The center’s Resident Lama, Michael Conklin, is the retreat master and has completed one three-year retreat and he is assisted by Lama Tara Goforth, who has completed two three-year retreats. Additionally, Lama Tsang Tsing, who was the Retreat Master for Lama Michael’s retreat, also assists on the retreats.
Applicants for the three-year retreats typically have at least 10 years of Tibetan Buddhist practice with the guidance of a qualified dharma teacher in the Shangpa Kagyu, Karma Kagyu, or a similar tradition. Basic fluency in English with the knowledge of some Tibetan dharma terms is recommended as well.
An article found on the Northwest Dharma Association was written by Bill Spangle, a member of Kagyu Changchub Chuling, about a three-year retreat which began in April of 2015. He wrote about the details of what a three-year retreat are and the background behind these retreats and how they stemmed from the Karma Kagyu and Shangpa Kagyu lineages. This post contains pictures of the long retreat facility in Goldendale which are featured in this blog post as well.
A typical day for retreatants consists of waking up at 3 AM, practicing meditation for 12 hours a day, breaks for meals and rest, and retiring at 9 PM. The retreat has practices from the Karma Kagyu and Shangpa Kagyu lineages, but it mainly emphasizes the creation and completion stages of the Shangpa Kagyu.
The retreatants are not allowed to come and go during the duration of the retreat and cannot have visitors. Retreatants cannot have devices such as cell phones or access to the Internet. They are to wear Tibetan-style robes and maintain the five precepts (abstain from harming living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication.) Retreatants live alone in a cabin or room that is about 100 square feet. Shared spaces include meditation halls, dining rooms, showers, laundry rooms, and bepkhangs which are rooms for complex yogic practices.
Chenrezig
The central Vajrayana Buddhist practice supported by Kagyu Changchub Chuling is the meditation on Chenrezig which embodies the Buddhas’ compassion. Varjayana practices use visualization, recitation of mantra, and other techniques which bring recognition of the purity of the mind. At Kagyu Changchub Chuling, Lama Michael Conklin provides information about the practice of Chenrezig and holds question and answer sessions. The center’s Wednesday practices includes recitations of texts in Tibetan but no instruction is provided.
Ngondro
The Ngondro practices are also known as preliminaries for the Vajrayana. At Kagyu Changchub Chuling, Ngondro is taught under the Mahamudra Program which was designed by Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche. It involves four practices, as described by Kalu Rinpoche on the Kagyu Changchub Chuling website:
- “Refuge and prostration, deepens the sense of taking refuge in the Three Jewels, and develops bodhicitta—the enlightened or altruistic attitude of benefitting others which is based on love and compassion for all beings;
- Vajrasattva, purifies negative factors and obscurations;
- Mandala offering, accumulates merit and deepen their awareness; and
- Guru Yoga, opens the practitioner to the blessing of the lineage.”
Bodhisattva Vow
On Kagyu Changchub Chuling’s main page of their website, there are tabs titled “Meditation,” “Retreat,” “Study,” and “Support KKC.” Under the Meditation tab, there is a list of several different ways in which the organization practices meditation. One of the features listed under the Meditation tab is “Bodhisattva Vow.” A Bodhisattva is an individual who has set out to achieve complete awakening for the purpose of benefiting sentient beings. Kagyu Changchub Chuling’s goal is to take the vow and follow the Bodhisattva’s path but to also have individuals recognize harm they do to themselves through conflicting emotions such as anger and greed. Before one takes the Bodhisattva Vow, he or she has to have taken the vow of refuge in the three jewels of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
Conclusion
Kagyu Changchub Chuling was founded with an emphasis on maintaining the Shangpa Kagyu and Karma Kagyu lineages. This center has practices mentioned above, especially such as the three-year retreat which can help individuals strengthen their understanding and practice of Buddhism, specifically Vajrayana Buddhism. The center has several programs and policies which aim to be as inclusive as possible, such as welcoming diverse people to join the center and implementing children’s programs for children ages 5 to 10. The center has received support from various renowned Tibetan masters which highlights the relationship it has with those even outside America. Additionally, Kagyu Changchub Chuling’s founder, Kalu Rinpoche, was quite notable as well given his dedication to Buddhism and his ability to establish other centers besides Kagyu Changchub Chuling. Ultimately, Kagyu Changchub Chuling does a great job at embodying the past and current practices and teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism with the center’s devoted members and dedication to the religion of Buddhism.
Annie Brinkley, Class of 2019
Works Cited
Kagyu Changchun Chuling Website: http://www.kcc.org
http://northwestdharma.org/2014/03/kagyu-center-prepares-for-first-three-year-retreatbased-on-many-years-of-experience-and-preparations/#post-4619