By: Phoebe Mariam
The Tushita Kadampa Buddhist Center is a community located right in the heart of Olympia, Washington. A more modern take on traditional Buddhism, the TKBC emphasizes understanding and knowledge of the Buddha’s teachings through guided meditation. Classes on breathing mindfully and attaining a sustained level of peace in the mind and body are the core of the TKBC’s doctrine. The TKBC’s mission is centered around New Kadampa Buddhism, a subset of the Mahayana tradition. The New Kadampa Tradition is a form of traditional Kadampa Buddhism adapted for the Western world, in which the practices of study and meditation as a way to transform daily life into a path of enlightenment is heavily emphasized.
Born in 1931, Lobsang Chuponpa was only eight years old when he left his home of Yangcho Tang in eastern Tibet to attend Ngamring Jampa Ling Monastery. His mother had noticed his great faculty for Buddhism from an early age, and worked long and hard to be able to send him to study at the monastery. Lobsang eventually came to be ordained as a novice monk, earning himself the title ‘Kelsang Gyatso,’ which translates to ‘Ocean of Good Fortune’ in English. It was also at Jampa Ling that Kelsang Gyatso earned the title of Geshe, after completing the training required to earn the degree. Once old enough Kelsang Gyatso then moved on to study at Sera Monastery, a revered monastic university located near Lhasa, Tibet. It was there that he then completed the full Geshe studies, becoming known to others in the tradition as a geshe who was highly trained and revered for his great knowledge and experience.
In 1959 a great political repression within Tibet forced Geshe Kelsang Gyatso to escape to Buxar, India through the Nepalese route. However, his studies were not repressed; Geshe Kelsang continued to learn at the monastery located in the city he had settled in. Eventually the Indian government allocated strips of land in southern India to the exiles living in India, spurring the establishment of numerous monasteries within those regions. Geshe Kelsang did not follow the monasteries to the south but instead moved to Mussoorie, a hill station found in the northwestern part of India. It was here that he continued in his meditative practices, teaching and immersing himself in an intensive meditation retreat for a total of 18 years.
By the 1970’s, Geshe Kelsang had become moderately well known as a great geshe and meditator, especially by those in the exile community. The Dalai Lama caught wind of this talk, and in 1976 advised that he be appointed as a resident teacher at the FPMT’s Manjushri Institute located in Ulverston, England. Geshe Kelsang accepted the invitation, and on September 10, 1977, gave his first teaching on Lamrim. He continued on teaching at the institute, creating a community that thrived and grew under his spiritual guidance.
Eventually Geshe Kelsang went on to establish his own teaching center in 1979 – the Madhyamaka Center located in Yorkshire, England. Controversy arose as he had done this without the consultation and approval of the FPMT, or the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. His resignation was asked for, however his devoted followers petitioned for him to stay. Eventually the Manjushri Institute broke off from the FPTM, marking the beginning of a more single-minded approach to the study of Buddhism that was consequently adopted by many students and followers of the tradition.
In 1987 Geshe Kelsang embarked on a three-year retreat to Dumfries, where he begot the idea and created the foundational beliefs of the New Kadampa Tradition-International Kadampa Buddhist Union. By 1991 he had announced the creation of the NKT-IKBU, and in the last couple decades has grown to establish hundreds of communities across the world.
The New Kadampa Tradition differs greatly from the traditional Kadampa Buddhism established by the Indian Buddhist master Atisha hundreds of years ago. In recent years, the NKT has deviated even further from Buddhism in general as more controversies surrounding Geshe Kelsang’s teachings have come to surface.
Most Buddhist centers across the world venerate the Dalai Lama by administering his teachings and lining the walls with portraits of him; however the headquarters of the NKT (the Manjushri Institute, as stated before) is void of all recognition of the Dalai Lama. This is due to a deep rift forged between the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, one of the four main schools of Buddhism in Tibet and the school that the NKT falls under. The Gelug school (including the NKT) continues in their veneration of Dorje Shugden, a deity once worshipped by the Dalai Lama himself until recently. Dorje Shugden was believed to be a Buddha of protection, but is now considered to be an evil entity. Beatification of Shugden has since been dissuaded by the Dalai Lama, who now claims that veneration of Dorje Shugden is harmful to the Tibetan cause of independence from China and creates sectarianism within the Tibetan Buddhist community.
The NKT, seeing themselves as practicing a more pure form of Buddhism by adhering to traditional teachings of the Buddha, have thus informally broken themselves off from the teachings and guidance of the Dalai Lama and have continued on in what they believe to be the true path of Buddhism. The NKT focuses on meditation as the heart of the religion, heavily emphasizing its practicality in daily life. Students use guided breathing exercises to help themselves attain a level of peace, wisdom, and good-heartedness that then allows them to turn even the most commonplace aspects of their lives into a path of enlightenment.
In addition to meditation, another central part of the NKT’s doctrine are the three study programs designed by Geshe Kelsang. The General Program, the Foundation Program, and the Teacher Training Program were designed by Geshe Kelsang to bring the teachings of the Buddha to the modern individual in a way that is understandable and relatable in today’s global climate. The General Program is offered to introduce an individual to the practice of Buddhism, presenting their basic beliefs on the Buddha, karma, Lamrim, Lojong, the bodhisattva way, and enlightenment. In the Foundation Program, students deepen their knowledge of the NKT by pursuing a more in-depth investigation of the Buddha’s most influential sutras. The Teacher Training program offers a way for students, if they wish, to study particular subjects of Mahayana Buddhism in order to become a qualified NKT teacher. Students learn through these programs in order to dispel ignorance and to cultivate a good heart, which in turn creates an inner peace necessary to attain external peace. Certain aspects of the Mahayana tradition are emphasized in the NKT.
- Lamrim
- Lamrim exists as a guide to the stages of the path to enlightenment. Through the use and practice of the 21 total Lamrim meditations, the individual gains the ability to be freed from all suffering. To followers of the NKT, suffering is seen as the inability to be freed from the cycle of rebirth, which gives rise to both physical and mental suffering (jealousy, anger, attachment, etc.) Therefore, by adhering to the practices and gaining deep, spiritual experience of Lamrim through meditation, one is able to free oneself from all suffering.
- Lojong
- The practice of Lojong is centered about training the mind to be freed from the good and the bad in life. According to Buddha, too often we depend on external circumstances to define our level of happiness in life; when things go wrong, we get upset, and when things go right, we are happy. Lojong is a practice aimed towards allowing one to understand that the pleasures one gets from this life are all impermanent, as we function within Samsara which is itself impermanent. Therefore one must learn to turn even the bad in one’s life into opportunities to increase compassion and overcome non-virtuous ways of thinking. Lojong also aims to adjust one’s approach to all objects one may encounter in life. Instead of fostering the three poisons towards all we encounter (ignorance, hatred, and attachment), we learn through the practice of Lojong to to cultivate non-ignorance, non-hatred, and non-attachment to everything around us. This allows one to make everything in life meaningful, helping one to advance oneself into the peaceful and happy state of mind needed to walk the path to enlightenment.
- Moral Discipline
- Seen as a constituent to karmic consequences, moral discipline is important to those of the NKT to foster virtue within themselves. Buddha claims that death is even better than abandoning moral discipline, because the consequences of participating in non-virtuous acts affect what realm one is reborn into in later lives. Therefore it is vital for one to practice good works in this life, to ensure that one will have a good rebirth and allow for one to be reborn as a human in ensuing lives. Being reborn as a human allows one to continue upon the path to enlightenment, and so practicing good moral discipline only brings one closer and closer to freedom from suffering.
- Bodhichitta
- It is important in this tradition to not only work towards one’s own liberation from samsara, but also to help others be freed from the rebirth cycle. Out of the compassion of one’s heart for the wellbeing of all other living things (fostered through dedicated meditation), it becomes one’s duty to help others out of the cycle of rebirth in order for them to attain happiness as well.
Aside from the study programs offered at TKBC, lunchtime meditation sessions are offered every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. Tuesday nights are reserved for Dharma teachings focused on maintaining a steady state of peace within the mind, while Saturday nights are reserved for teachings on how to dissolve anger and hatred to make room for peace, thereby instilling a great love and sense of happiness within the individual that they may then share with others. Sunday morning services are strictly prayer services, in which all come together to pray for world peace and end the service by receiving advice on how to turn a mundane life into a path to enlightenment.
Much of the Tushita Kadampa Buddhist Center’s following is made up of non-Asian constituents. According to Gen Wangpo, the resident teacher of the TKBC, this is largely due to the location of the community. Olympia is itself a diverse city, however it lacks a strong Asian community. Therefore most of the mediation center is made up of African-American, Caucasian, and Latino adherents.
Not including the TKBC’s branch in Tacoma, Washington, the TKBC does not affiliate or interact with other western and Asian communities. Although the TKBC is aware of their brothers and sisters in the New Kadampa Tradition across the world, the community itself does not overtly associate with other similar communities. Again, as controversy has arisen due to a conflict of interest between the TKBC and the Dalai Lama, the community remains set in their own beliefs and follow the select spiritual guidance of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.
References
“BBC Documentary.” BBC Documentary “An Unholy Row” | New Kadampa Tradition | Dorje Shugden Controversy, info-buddhism.com/BBC-An_Unholy_Row.html.
“Buddhism.” Kadampa Buddhism, kadampa.org/buddhism.
“Everyone Welcome.” Meditate in Olympia and Tacoma, meditateinolympia.org/.
“Kelsang Gyatso.” Kelsang Gyatso – Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia, www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php/Kelsang_Gyatso.
“The New Kadampa Tradition.” Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre, manjushri.org/the-new-kadampa-tradition.