In 1996 the 14th Shamarpa, Shamar Rinpoche, began organizing the Bodhi Path Buddhist Centers. The center located on the map is Bodhi Path Natural Bridge, located in Natural Bridge, Virginia. Bodhi Path Natural Bridge opened in 1997 and is just one of the many Bodhi Path Buddhist Centers located in the U.S. The Bodhi Path also extends past the U.S, with centers throughout Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia. It is also affiliated with many institutions, including the Shar Minub Monastery, Yangpochen Monastery in Tibet, Yangpochen Hualien in Taiwan, the Shri Diwakar Insitute, the Swayambunath Monastery, Dhagpo Kagyu Ling, Dhagpo Kundreul Ling, and the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute. The ethnic composition of the Bodhi Path centers is not specified, however due to their expansive and diverse locations, as well as what can be derived from the photographs on their site, I am assuming it is mixed.
The Bodhi Path Buddhist centers offer a Buddhist Studies program, which aims to provide an opportunity for those interested in learning more deeply of the meaning of the Buddha dharma. They also offer meditation retreats at both the Natural Bridge, VA location and their southern and central California locations. These retreats focus on different aspects of meditation and Buddhist practice, including the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, the Heart Sutra, methods of mindfulness, and mind training.
Shamar Rinpoche is the 14th Shamarpa of the Shamarpa lineage. The Shamarpa lineage is the second-oldest reincarnate lineage in Tibetan Buddhism, dating back to the thirteenth century. In 1980, Shamar Rinpoche began traveling and teaching in various Buddhist centers throughout Asia and the west, eventually forming the Bodhi Path centers in America. In 2009 he founded the Infinite Compassion Foundation to promote animal rights, advocating reformations in the meat industry. He also has written two books, Creating a Transparent Democracy: a New Model, in which he lays out a framework for establishing a genuine democratic system of governance that promotes the welfare and prosperity of a population, and The Path to Awakening, in which he comments on Chekawa Yeshe Dorje’s Seven Points of Mind Training.
In 11th century Tibet, the Indian Buddhist master Atisha brought forth a revival of pure Buddhist practice. Atisha wrote the original Lamrim text that served as the basis for all subsequent Lamrim instructions. It is this form of pure Buddhism that the Bodhi Path center’s teachings are grounded in. According to the Shamarpa, Atisha’s methods are the most effective for taming the mind and deepening wisdom. These methods also have additional value in that they can be taught and employed in a secular way.
The core practices for the Bodhi Path centers revolve around the Seven Points of Mind Training. In Tibetan, the mind training practice is referred to as Lojong, and involves refining and purifying one’s motivations and attitudes. Lojong developed over a period of time between 900 and 1200 CE, as part of the Mahayana school of Buddhism, and was first taught by Atisha. The foundation of Lojong is calm-abiding meditation, through which mental peace, stability, and focus are developed. Accompanying calm-abiding meditation is insight meditation, in which the true nature of the mind is analyzed. These core practices are taught in order to allow the mind to experience the peace and clarity that is present within itself, unclouded by ignorance and confusion.
In addition to these core practices, the Bodhi Path Centers also teach additional practices with the purpose of training the mind, purifying negative actions and karmic obscurations, and developing compassion. These practices are contemplative and include teachings of the 35 Buddhas, a compendium based on the Three Heaps Sutra, Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion, Dorje Sempa, a purification practice, and the Practice of the Bodhisattva Wish.
The Bodhi Path website also offers excerpts from teachings that Shamar Rinpoche has given at various Bodhi Path Centers in the past two decades. These excerpts give us insight into the values of Shamar Rinpoche and his practice. The first is titled “Four Ways of the Wise” and deals with good judgment and trusting in one’s common sense. It consists of four maxims:
- Depend on the teaching and not on the teacher
- Depend on the meaning and not on the words
- Depend on the depth and not on the surface
- Depend on wisdom and not on concepts
The second excerpt, “Calming our Minds,” deals with the understanding of the nature of mind, in order to meditate. Here, the Shamarpa discusses the Buddhist thinking of the mind as “clear.” Here, clarity means that the mind can understand itself and the mind’s true nature is self-understanding. Through self-realization the mind becomes free from all need to occupy itself. However, for your mind to reach this point it must be tamed. This can be attained through Shamatha meditation. Shamatha meditation develops habits of mental concentration and helps keep the mind from wandering.
The third excerpt is titled “Proper Aims and Actions” and was Shamar Rinpoche’s response to the September 11 attacks. In his response, Shamar describes how seeking revenge is not acceptable in Buddhist terms, however, if a government or individual must take an action that has harmful effects, but is done for the purpose of preventing evil and benefiting the majority, it is acceptable. He believes that there are four different combinations of aim/intention and action. Here, they are listed from the most evil to the most compassionate.
- Bad or evil aim-negative or hurtful action
- Bad aim-benign or positive action
- Good, realistic aim-destructive or harmful action
- Good or pure aim-benevolent action
Shamar’s last teaching on the Bodhi Path website is titled “Meditation on Love and Compassion.” In it, Shamar first addresses our concept of pride, and how in western culture, a lack or pride is often construed to be a weakness. He, however, believes pride to be a negative emotion, as it leads us to feel contempt for others and gives rise to jealousy, hatred, or anger. As such, we need to dissociate pride from firmness of mind and place emphasis on courage and strength of character. In order to do this, it is important to practice calming of the mind, as emphasized in the second excerpt. This can be achieved by exchanging roles. For example, if you are angry with someone, you can imagine yourself in that person’s place. The same can be done with emotions of jealousy and pride. By observing other states of mind and exchanging the roles, you are able to observe the nature of mind itself. This form of insight is called Lhaktong.
When Lhaktong is not enough to pacify the mind, breathing exercises can be used to stabilize it. With breathing exercises, the physical aspect of the process is not important. Rather, it is the familiarity with the practice and repetition of the process that is significant. The breathing is not significant, the composing of the mind that is achieved through familiarity and repetition of meditative practice is.
Shamar Rinpoche’s teachings go on to emphasize the importance of love and compassion on a relative and ultimate level. At the relative level, he emphasizes the importance of love and compassion throughout one’s spiritual progression. These qualities can be used to guide one in the right direction, when subjected to the influences of the emotions and karma. He also describes how love and compassion have an object, which is all beings. “Beings” in this context extends past human beings, to all bodies with a mind. Because the mind is not proportional to physical appearance, it is important to develop love and compassion for all creatures. And because it is not possible to develop such qualities for each being individually, we can regard all beings “collectively as one entity and meditate on the fact that they too wish to have happiness with the same fervor as we do.”
One must first focus on the relative aspect of love and compassion, before progressing to the recognition of emptiness or ultimate Bodhicitta. When Shamar Rinpoche speaks of this, he is referencing that while we meditate on love, its nature is emptiness and non-existence. Beings, the object of such love, are also empty in nature. Recognizing emptiness is important because it allows for a superior love to develop. Once recognized, this superior love allows a “source of positivity” to increase, and by constantly recollecting the enlightened attitude, the community will be able to create a source of considerable benefit for others. “Through the Samadhi (complete absorption) of love, we will penetrate the ultimate and authentic benefit. Our mind will be united with the unchanging ultimate reality so that our consciousness will no longer be inhabited by anything other than love for all beings.” Shamar Rinpoche believes that the power of this meditation is so strong that it extends outwards and radiates, spreading to others.
More information on the Bodhi Path Buddhism centers can be found here: http://www.bodhipath.org/
More information on the Sharmapa, Shamar Rinpoche can be found on his website: