Lily Colonna

Aryaloka Buddhist Center is a retreat center founded in 1985 as part of Triratna Buddhist Community (TBC). It is located in the Seacoast Region of New Hampshire and is surrounded by the Piscassic River. The founder, Manjuvajra, relocated to Boston from the UK and taught Buddhism and meditation classes there before purchasing Aryaloka and establishing it as a retreat center, living community, and Right Livelihood project. The purchase helped maintain the momentum of the expanding Buddhist community in New England.  Studies at Aryaloka explore the Buddha’s Threefold Way of Ethics, Meditation, and Wisdom, and Mahayana and Vajrayana texts; as well as ritual, mythology, the arts, yoga, tai-chi, hiking, snow-shoeing, veganism, and non-violence. They have hosted many Triratna teachers, including its founder, Urgyen Sangharakshita.  The center is managed by many employees and some volunteers. Connections made at Aryaloka have led to the formation of Triratna groups in Portsmouth, Portland, Lubec, Boston, and New York City.

The first members of Aryaloka lived in the domes in the lower rooms, led retreats, and worked in the woodshops. The barn (Akashaloka) was renovated to be used as living space, after which the domes were used for retreats. In 2014, a stupa was built on the grounds in remembrance of Sangharakshita’s teacher, Dhardo Rinpoche, whose remains have also been spread amongst stupas in New Zealand, England, Germany, Spain, and Wales. Akashaloka now offers bedrooms, a small meditation hall, a kitchen, and a lounge. The main building also includes bedrooms and a kitchen, as well as a larger meditation hall and lounge, a multi-purpose room, a reference library, and a bookstore.

Triratna (Sanskrit for Three Jewels)  is an international collection of Buddhist communities, businesses, projects, and centers. It was founded by the Venerable Urgyen Sangharakshita (1925-2018) and was initially called The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. Sangharakshita was a monk in India for 20 years and studied with teachers of different traditions before moving west and founding the TBC in London in 1967. The movement aimed to bring Buddhism to the West in an “approachable, inspiring, and engaging” manner. Members of Triratna believe the defining act of a Buddhist to be going for refuge to the Three Jewels: the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. They do so through traditional practices like meditation, study, and ritual, as well as through other outlets, such as friendship and the arts. 

There are about 2,500 members of the TBC worldwide. Ordination can be requested by anyone. It requires participation in the ordination training course, which consists of retreats and structures led by Order members and typically takes multiple years to complete. Ordinations are performed during ordination retreats by a senior Order member called a Preceptor. Triratna Order members are neither lay nor monastic; they are not ordained into a specific tradition and have differing lifestyles. Members meet weekly in spiritual workshops called chapters and discuss their challenges and insights in the Dharma practice, as well as offer assistance to one another. There are also regional meetings over the first weekend of every month for members to participate in collective Dharma practice, and three-week long international Conventions every two years. These meetings are intended to boost communication and encourage kindness and friendship. Most members have regular jobs, but some work in Right Livelihood businesses or at their Triratna center.

Some practitioners at Aryaloka and other TBC centers have the title of mitra, which is Sanskrit for friend. According to Aryaloka’s website, “Becoming a mitra is an expression of connectedness to the ideal of spiritual community. It represents an individual’s commitment to going deeper with their practice.” This title is reflective of the importance of spiritual friendship in TBC. One must be able to make three declarations if they intend on becoming a mitra: 

1. I feel that I am a Buddhist.
2. I am trying to practice the Five Precepts.
3. I feel that the Triratna Buddhist Community is the main context in which I want to deepen my practice.

Becoming a mitra is celebrated with a ceremony, after which one can study the Dharma Training Course for Mitras and attend special workshops and retreats at any Triratna center.

Aryaloka’s Ethical Guidelines are based on the Five Precepts and are listed as follows:

1. I undertake the training principle of abstention from harming living beings. With deeds of loving-kindness, I purify my body. 
2. I undertake the training principle of abstention from taking the not given. With open-handed generosity, I purify my body. 
3. I undertake the training principle of abstention from sexual misconduct. With stillness, simplicity and contentment, I purify my body. 
4. I undertake the training principle of abstention from false speech. With truthful communication, I purify my speech. 
5. I undertake the training principle of abstention from intoxication. With mindfulness clear and radiant, I purify my mind.

Triratna has faced controversy in more recent years surrounding Sangharakshita’s sexual relations with other subordinate community members, some of which were under 21, the legal age of consent at the time. The Adhisthana Kula, a group of senior members of the Triratna Buddhist Order, was formed in 2017 to address these and other past controversies. They issued a report in 2020 outlining the findings from their investigation of Sangharakshita’s behavior and its impact, the progress made and the introduction of restorative processes, and an apology on behalf of the members, as well as Sangharakshita’s statement published in 2016.

“I being its founder, Triratna sometimes bears the mark not of the Dharma but of my own particular personality. That personality is a complex one and in certain respects I did not act in accordance with what my position in the movement demanded or even as a true Buddhist. I am thinking in particular of the times when I have hurt, harmed or upset fellow Buddhists, whether within Triratna or out of it. 

These thoughts have borne all the more upon me in the course of the last week, when I was in hospital with pneumonia. As I was well aware pneumonia can be fatal to a man of my age and I knew that I could die, even though I did not feel that I was dying, despite being very ill. 

I would therefore like to express my deep regret for all the occasions on which I have hurt, harmed or upset fellow Buddhists, and ask for their forgiveness.”

-Urgyen Sangharakshita, 2016

Works Cited

Aryaloka Buddhist Center official website, https://aryaloka.org/

The Buddhist Centre, https://thebuddhistcentre.com/

The Trijang Buddhist Institute, often referred to as TBI, is a community located in central Vermont that practices Tibetan Buddhism. The community repurposed 1800s-era buildings of the closed Seitz Dairy Farm to create a “campus” including a dining hall, offices and even a bookstore for their purposes. The setting of Vermont aims to create a haven where anyone interested in Tibetan Buddhism, regardless of religious affiliation, can come to learn. The community holds advanced teachings for more experienced monks and Buddhist figures, but also keeps a schedule of meditation workshops to allow an opening for anyone to come and experience what they offer. From 9-5 each day they always have a resident monk or volunteer at the Institute willing to answer questions to anyone who is willing to stop by. Along with this, this position helps direct and coordinate visitors who come to learn from the Spiritual leader, His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche.

The community was founded by Rae Ann Barkley, a teacher of peace education at Norwich University, in 1986. The group was originally founded as the Institute of Visionary Leadership and was located in Northfield, Vermont. Through the guidance of His Eminence Domo Geshe Rinpoche, the Institute was relocated to the 354-acre plot where it now resides. In 2004, Rae Ann Barkley was officially ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun and became known as Ani Tsering Lhamo. In 2005, the Institute for Visionary Leadership was gifted to His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche and became known as Trijang Buddhist Institute.

The Institute practices Tibetan Buddhism, particularly the Gelug lineage. The Gelug school, as with the rest of the Tibetan Buddhist Schools, has its origin with the Buddha Shakyamuni. The Gelug school of Tibet puts a stronger emphasis on philosophical studies than the other schools of Tibet. These studies are intensive, and last years. The particular focus of the studies is on the “Five major treaties.” Through this system, monks will thoroughly study ideas about the perfection of wisdom, the middle way, valid cognition, phenomenology, and monastic disciplines. The Institution is officially backed by the one hundred and first Gaden Tripa Jetsun Lungrik Namgyal, the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism appointed by His Holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama. Along with that, the Trijang Buddhist Institute has the blessing of His Holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama that the “Buddhadharma will flourish, that all sentient beings may receive the precious Dharma and that they may live in happiness and virtue.” The Institution is very proud about the blessing, which is written on a signed picture of the Dalai Lama that was gifted to the institution in May of 2007.

The Spiritual Director of Trijang Buddhist Institute is His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche. His Holiness comes from a lineage of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist masters and is fourth in the line of Trijang Rinpoches. “Rinpoches” is a Tibetan word which loosely translates to “precious one.” The title shows that one has been recognized as the reincarnation of a prominent and great teacher, and is applied to the end of one’s name. Trijang Rinpoche was recognized as the reincarnation of Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang, the tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama. 

The Community of TBI aims to be diverse and inclusive. The demographic of teaching often changes depending on how advanced the teaching is, or if company retreats are currently being held.

As mentioned before, the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism places a strong focus on philosophical studies in order to help all sentient beings. This is the type of studying that the devoted monks of the Institution are often seen prioritizing. TBI hopes to create an environment to promote such activity, and provide monks with everything they need to focus on their studies. This includes books, meals, places of study and calm scenery.

TBI wants to serve all who have interest in Tibetan Buddhism and has the overarching goal to work for the benefit of all sentient beings. In order to best do this, they offer a range of different structured classes, such as Tibetan language and culture studies to advanced Tantric retreats. 

The Institution houses resident monks, and has volunteers run administration and help with logistics. Puja (worship), meditation teachings, and recitation of different prayers are offered frequently and open to the public. Although TBI is associated with the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, people of all religious or non-religious backgrounds are welcome. More intensive training, often lasting entire days, are also offered and presented by His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche. These day-long teachings often center around specific ideas or texts, such as: “Stages of Path to Enlightenment.” That specific teaching was offered in December of 2023 and is heavily based on the text “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand” composed by H.H. Kyabje Pabongkapa Dèchen Nyingpo. The spiritual leader Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche became a well known figure in part for his work editing “Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand.”

While most teachings are taught personally by Trijang Rinpoche at the institute’s campus in Vermont, Trijang Rinpoche often gets requests to travel and talk all over the world to different groups. This included a prominent three week trip to Mongolia after repeated requests from local communities. The trip included many talks to only the most qualified students, often including teachings on the Vajrabhairava (Yamantaka) cycle which aims to purify lifetimes of bad karma in an advanced and fast way.

Back in Vermont, special events for different Buddhist holidays or days of significance are also held throughout the year. While these events are annual, they often land at slightly different times because many of the events follow the Tibetan Lunar Calendar.

With that, seasonal classes are offered at the institution, taught by either Trijang Rinpoche, the resident teachers, or guests who are temporarily staying. One prominent resident teacher is Geshe Lobsang Sopa, a monk who received precious teachings from distinguished figures such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Specifically, Tsogs (gatherings) are hosted on the tenth and twenty-fifth day of each month of the Tibetan Lunar Calendar. While gatherings may be similarly structured, they often put emphasis on slightly different Buddhist ideas. The Institution also has ties to grand Buddhist teachers of the west. They often host teachers for periods of time, inviting them to deliver lectures and teachings to the monks and visitors. An example of this was the visit of the Venerable Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche of Nepal, the twelfth Dagom Rinpoche and the reincarnation of Ra Lotsawa. A picture of Dagom Rinpoche (left) and Trijang Rinpoche (right) can be seen below.

The community is funded solely on donations from visitors. But with that comes a pressure to donate if you attend one of their teachings, meditation classes or other type of event. Along with this, it is expected that 7 dollars be donated for each meal eaten from the Institution’s dining hall. They ask for this cash to be sealed in marked envelopes and placed in the community donations block. This is to ensure the separation of money for meals and money for attending any of the events offered on site. As mentioned before, there is also a modest bookstore on site which sells selected books on Buddhism as well as certain ritual items. It is unclear if a profit is made from this aspect of the institution. Local businesses and groups are also able to rent out the Institution for retreats. From their website it is unclear if or how TBI profits off of this practice.

The Trijang Buddhist Institute is an inclusive Tibetan Buddhist practice that aims to help all sentient beings escape the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Sitting on hundreds of acres of Vermont land (much of it donated) the community operates in humble, yet classy repurposed buildings of an old dairy farm. A diverse range of people visit the community each year because classes, lectures, and dharma talks covering a wide range of intensity and Buddhist affiliation. Meditation classes, often offered to company retreats, and people with or without religious backgrounds, offer a gateway into the community, and a variety of events give the public opportunities to come back and learn more. Along with this, the Institution holds more advanced teachings and houses several monks who focus on philosophical studies, as the Gelug lineage emphasizes. Headed by his Holiness Kyabje Trijang Chocktrul Rinpoche, backed by the one hundred and first Gaden Tripa Jetsun Lungrik Namgyal, and with the blessing of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, the Trijang Buddhist Institute aims to offer a haven for anyone who is interested in Tibetan Buddhism.

Project completed by Cole MacMillan, class of William and Mary 2026

Works Cited

Dorje Shugden. “Trijang Buddhist Institute.” Dorje Shugden, 4 February 2016, https://www.dorjeshugden.org/temples/trijang-buddhist-institute. Accessed 2023.

Dorje Shugden. “Trijang Buddhist Institute (TBI).” Dorje Shugden and Dalai Lama, https://www.dorjeshugden.com/places/trijang-buddhist-institute-tbi/. Accessed 2023.

“The Gelug School | Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa.” Karmapa, https://kagyuoffice.org/buddhism/buddhism-in-tibet/the-gelug-school/. Accessed 2023.

Mullikin, Patrick Timothy. “Buddhist outpost at home in Northfield | News | timesargus.com.” Times Argus, 17 October 2018, https://www.timesargus.com/news/buddhist-outpost-at-home-in-northfield/article_2fd3d53d-0797-5c02-a3ac-d58177f06378.html. Accessed 2023.

Trijang Buddhist Institute. https://www.tbiusa.org/.

(Amitabha Society of Philadelphia)

Background on Mituo Village

The Amitabha Buddhist Society of Philadelphia, or the Mituo Village, is located in Alburtis, Pennsylvania which is within Berks County. In 2014, they purchased the property from the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference (PSEC) of the United Church of Christ, as they wanted to expand from their previously small space in Philadelphia (Schlegel, 2023). The property was first built in 1822 as a mill by Adam and Catherine Mensch. The church had owned the property since 1928 and the property was known as Camp Mensch Mill; after issues with maintaining their budget, PSEC decided to sell (Sullivan, 2014). The entire property is 140-acres which was previously used for summer camps, worship services and leadership retreats. Now the property that Mituo Village is on has many of the same uses as it did almost one hundred years ago. Many of the congregation members felt a great sense of relief once they learned that Mituo Village would maintain the same atmosphere and buildings from when they attended summer camp as a child or attended weekly services. 

On a biweekly basis there are services on Saturday and Sunday from five to seven in the morning. The following is an example schedule from Mituo Village’s website (Amitabha, 2023):

週六 (Saturday)

4:30 AM 打板起床 (wake-up)

5:00-6:30 AM 第一支香 （1st period)

6:30 AM 早齋 (breakfast)

8:00-9:30 AM 第二支香 (2nd period)

9:30-11:00 AM  第三支香 (3rd period)

11:00 AM 午齋 (lunch)

2:00-3:30 PM 第四支香 (4th period）

3:30-5:00 PM 第五支香 （5th period)

6:00-7:30 PM 第六支香 (6th period)

9:00 PM 養息 (lights out)

週日 (Sunday)

4:30 AM 打板起床 (wake-up)

5:00-6:30 AM 第一支香 (1st period)

6:30 AM 早齋 (breakfast)

8:00-9:30 AM 第二支香 (2nd period)

10:00-10:50 AM 午供 (noon offering)

11:00 AM 午齋 (lunch)

2:00-3:30 PM 第三支香 (3rd period)

3:30-3:50 PM 迴向*（結束共修）(dedication/end of group practice)

There are anywhere between twenty and forty people that travel from around the East Coast for these services. Most of the members are middle-aged Chinese or Vietnamese immigrants with a few American practitioners and youth as well. Practitioners are led by three Buddhist Venerables in Pure Land Buddhism – a form of Mahayana Buddhism. These Venerables follow the teachings of the Dharma Master Chin Kung, who passed away in 2022 (Master Chin Kung). Master Chin Kung founded the Amitabha Buddhist Society of USA in 1989. Born in 1927 in Anhui Province, China, Master Chin Kung was ordained at Lintzi Temple in Taipei, Taiwan and has since lectured extensively as well as founded the Hwa Dzan Monastery, the Hwa Dzan Buddhist Library, the Hwa Dzan Lecture Hall and the Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation (Master Chin Kung). He emphasized interfaith cooperation and understanding which is further demonstrated in the relationship between the Buddhist community at Mituo Village and the Christian previous property owners. In 2014 during the sale of the property, then PSEC conference minister, Rev. Bill Worley said that UCC has “an exciting and extraordinary opportunity to continue our connection with what is for many in the PSEC, sacred ground, and to do so in partnership with new friends whose stewardship of the earth, quest for spiritual wellness, and respect for tradition, mirrors our own (Sullivan, 2023).”

The nuns live in the dormitories year-round and are supported entirely by donations. None of the retreats that run four times a year are charged for. I spoke to a layperson, Jeannie, who told me that the retreats typically run for about five days to a week and that practitioners are incredibly grateful and generous financially. But she emphasized that Mituo Village never asks people to pay as they understand that everyone’s financial situation is different (Jeannie, 2023). In addition to biweekly meetings and quarterly retreats Mituo Village holds cultural events such as the Lunar New Year celebration they held in January of 2023. The events spanned January 21 and 22 and included activities for kids, tours of the village and options to participate in religious activities. This was a great opportunity for neighbors to interact with the community at Mituo Village and many enjoyed the traditional dumpling and hot pot meals (Sullivan, 2023). Neighbors described in a local newspaper the mutual respect between the neighbors and Mituo Village. One neighbor that visited during the Lunar New Year celebrations said: “The warm welcome my family received from the Mituo community was incredible…I especially enjoyed sharing in the spiritual traditions … It’s been an enriching cultural experience for both me and my son (Sullivan, 2023).”

An Introduction to Pure Land Buddhism

Mituo Village primarily stays in contact with other Pure Land Buddhist temples over email, and social media but with no official connections. Pure Land Buddhism is most practiced in Eastern Asia and emphasizes that enlightenment can come more quickly when practitioners are reborn in the Pure Land, a spiritual dimension that is the best place to be reborn. By putting their faith in Amida Buddha to guide them into an awakened state, they are able to reach the Pure Land. Pure Land Buddhism is a part of the Mahayana tradition and is based primarily on three scriptures that describe a monk who made vows that were fulfilled when he became a Buddha – one of these promised rebirth in the Pure Land to everyone that called on his name (What Does, 2023).

The Amitabha Society of USA describes Pure Land Study on their website as “the fastest and easiest way for anyone who wishes to transform this life’s pain, suffering, misery and misfortune into a life of happiness, fulfillment and prosperity with direction and purpose… Of all methods of cultivation, Pure Land Study uses the smallest number of sutras and commentaries, and requires the least amount of time. Although it is the easiest cultivation method, it results in incredible achievements (Master Chin Kung).” 

As demonstrated in the schedule above, the Amitabha Sutra, also known as the Shorter Sukhavativyuha Sutra, and the Infinite Life Sutra, also known as The Larger Amitabha Sutra or the Sukhavativyuha Sutra, are two of the primary focuses in Pure Land Buddhism as they are two of the three the core sutras. The other core sutra is the Contemplation Sutra, also known as the Amitayurdhyana Sutra (Britannica, 2021). These three sutras are the three teachings that help to ground the Dharma school of Pure Land Buddhism. The Infinite Life Sutra is what lays out Amitabha Buddha’s 48 vows and describes the way rebirth can be achieved by calling on his name (Pure Land Buddhism, 2022). The Contemplation Sutra further breaks down specific virtues, beneficial practices and the different levels of rebirth in the Pure Land. Finally the Amitabha Sutra discusses the recitation of Amitabha’s name (Pure Land Buddhism, 2022). After these sutras were delivered, the first person to teach Pure Land Buddhism was Nagarjuna, an Indian Bodhisattva that lived c. 150-250 CE. Another significant figure in Pure Land Buddhism is the Indian Bodhisattva, Vasubandhu, who lived c. 320-400 CE. He wrote the Treatise on Rebirth in the Pure Land which taught that rebirth in the Pure Land could be achieved through reciting Amitabha’s name only five times (Pure Land Buddhism, 2022). Throughout history more works were added to these three core sutras. During the Qing Dynasty, Wei Yuan added the Prayer of the Bodhisattva from the Huayan Sutra, also known as the Buddhavatamsaka Sutra, and then during the start of the twentieth century, Master Yinguang added the Great Trend to the Bodhisattva Reciting the Buddha of the Lengyan Sutra, also known as the Surangama Sutra.

Conclusion

I chose to research the Mituo Village for this project because it is located close to my childhood home in Pennsylvania. In Southeastern Pennsylvania there is a large Chinese and Vietnamese immigrant community, especially in Philadelphia, so I was interested to learn more about a heritage Buddhist community near me. As a Chinese double major, I thought this would also provide a good opportunity for me to learn more about a Chinese diaspora community as well as potentially practice my Mandarin skills. I decided on Mituo Village because I was also interested to learn more about a community that has nuns that live there full-time. While the Mituo Village website gives a good introduction to the community, I wanted to learn more so I emailed the general ‘contact us’ email and heard back quickly from a layperson – Jeannie. I also relied heavily on local papers that covered the sale of the property in 2014. Jeannie was my primary source and was more than happy to answer all of my questions as we spoke over the phone. As a fire destroyed many of the records, there is little knowledge of the origins of the Amitabha Buddhist Society of Philadelphia. What Jeannie told me was that a group of dedicated Buddhists in the 1980s founded the Society in order to increase access to Master Chin Kung’s teachings. I really enjoyed this project as I used to be a member of an interfaith group for highschoolers. This reminded me a lot of that experience and the generosity I experienced from Jeannie was particularly lovely.

Sources

Amitabha Buddhist Society of Philadelphia, 2023, www.mituovillage.com/. 

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Pure Land Buddhism”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Apr. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pure-Land-Buddhism. Accessed 27 November 2023.

Jeannie F., and Madelyn Bergin. 22 Nov. 2023. 

“Master Chin Kung.” Amitabha Buddhist Society of U.S.A., www.amtb-usa.org/english_inception.html. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023. 

Pure Land Buddhism, 2022, www.purelandbuddhism.org/plb/18/14.  

Schlegel, Bradley. “Buddhist Society Purchases Camp Mensch Mill Retreat and Conference Center.” Town and Country Newspaper – Article, 24 Aug. 2014, www.upvnews.com/news/article.ashx?article=12559.    

Sullivan, Dan. “Berks County Buddhist Center Mituo Village Welcomes Neighbors.” Lancaster Farming, 24 Jan. 2023, www.lancasterfarming.com/country-life/family/berks-county-buddhist-center-mituo-village-welcomes-neighbors/article_6f405fe6-9b7a-11ed-97ce-1f34822fe7e6.html.  

“What Does It Mean to Be a Pure Land Buddhist? .” Buddhism for Beginners, tricycle.org/beginners/buddhism/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-pure-land-buddhist/.  Accessed 27 Nov. 2023. 

The community that I consider to be a religious group that promotes traditional Buddhist ideals in the United States would be the Bhavana Society, which is located in Hampshire County, West Virginia. The discovery and establishment of this society took many years in the hope of building a new Buddhist retreat in America where many people could come to receive knowledge about the religion of Buddhism. Firstly, the founder of the Bhavana Society is an Indian man named, Bhante Gunaratana along with his friend and previous student Matthew Flickstein. Bhante Gunaratana is from Sri Lanka in 1975 he traveled to the Buddhist Vihara in Washington where he would continue to practice meditation rituals. The Vihara retreat likely had a profound influence on Bhante which eventually motivated him to start his own American Buddhist monastery. Also, his occupation of giving numerous talks on the Buddha dharma at universities, high schools, and organizations only proved his dedication to the religion. Although satisfied with public speaking, Bhante began to question if simply discussing the order and law of the cosmic world would be enough for his pupils to learn from. He soon convinced himself that personal experience would be the correct way to fully understand the workings of Buddhist meditation. A personal experience could demonstrate how to gain insight into the Buddhist world and provide healing to any person willing to accept a calamity.

Officially, the Bhavana Society was formed on May 13^th, 1982, in West Virginia but funds needed to purchase land and establish a permanent building within West Virginia were not earned until the 1990s. The amount of $18,000 was left in Bhante’s name, which he used to pay for land and to construct a building that could host his new Buddhist community. Donations provided by members of the Washington Buddhist Vihara Society along with those who had recently joined Bhavana helped with Bhante’s project. In the society’s early days, Bhante seemed to heavily rely on other American Buddhist societies to keep construction running and to keep expenses on the West Virginia land. To keep up with payments, Bhante took it upon himself to speak on traditional Buddha teachings in Buddhist societies across the United States, encouraging many to help him in his vision of creating a religious retreat center. He possessed a talent for appealing to a person’s compassion and understanding by using the Buddha dharma as his guide. Bhante managed to convince those that the teachings of universal love, should be enough to garnish support for an additional monastery in the name of Buddhism in America. Fortunately, Bhante lived to see the end of construction on his West Virginia land in 1994, where buildings that featured idolization of Buddhism took root in the heart of a secluded forest. As we would imagine, Bhante was pleased to put an end to his struggle and form a proper monastery that encouraged the education of Buddhism. The opening ceremony which was conducted shortly after the final building was completed, hosted three hundred guests of whom some were long-term Buddhist monks and nuns. 

Bhavana Society tends to focus on the mediation aspect of the Buddhist religion which helps in both mental and physical health that a person may wish to grow stronger in. The specific meditation practice that is most prominent within the society is the Theravada Forest practice, one of the oldest forms of Buddhism that centers around mindful insight. Dated to around 200 BC in Sri Lanka, Theravada incorporates forest retreats into the principles of Buddhist Mindfulness. Unfortunately, Theravada Buddhism has lost popularity in modern Asian regions due to its necessity of spending many hours in complete seclusion and being made to live in nature for an extended period than most people are used to. In the United States, however, an attempt to revive older forms of Buddhism was made possible by those who wished to establish religious monasteries in America. Since most people in the United States are unfamiliar with the Buddhist religion, people who wish to promote their native religion, such as Bhante, have the opportunity to educate and promote aspects of Buddhism that have dwindled in relevancy. Despite its downfall in its traditional homeland, Theravada seeks to encourage its followers to obtain Sila, the body’s self-restraint, samadhi, the ability to develop deep concentration, and Panna, having wisdom into the mind’s true nature. To achieve these three rules of the Buddhist Eightfold Path, Bhavana society offers meditative retreats that allow the person to understand himself and discover his life purpose once again. Since West Virginia is surrounded by dense forests, the society will be able to fully experience the traditional path of Theravada because of its choice of location and non-metropolitan setting. 

As an alternative, the members of its society can decide if they would like to participate in the forest retreat in small groups, but private walks taken in solitude are highly recommended by the society. Forms of group collaboration are discouraged in the Bhavana society since it has the potential of ruining concentration after attempting to only focus on yourself and your mental well-being. The temptation to socialize with fellow members of society during moments where silence is expected, could create problems with the meditative experience and discourage the person from achieving Sila, Samadhi, and Panna. For a layperson who is a part of the organization, it is especially important to live a secluded and monastic lifestyle for a fixed amount of time before being ordained as a Buddhist monk. 

The Bhavana society seems strict in their adherence to the Theravada meditation practice, but it should not be interpreted that other American Buddhist monasteries that follow different religious values are shunned completely. They are open to representatives from American Buddhist communities to speak on ethical values or the promotion of new forms of Buddhism such as the Mahayana practices. Although religiously tolerant, Bhavana will always prove to be a strong participant in Theravada Buddhism. In addition to their traditional beliefs, the society itself takes pride in the issue that Theravada Buddhism is practiced more in the United States rather than in Asia because of the high chance that other nationalities could be exposed to Buddhism.  

The Bhavana Society hopes to educate the American public on the study of Buddhism through daily lectures given by higher representatives of the society and calming rituals that follow tradition. To ensure the productivity and timing of the rituals offered within the community, each member is required to live by the traditional lifestyles of Buddhism that is still active in Asia. For example, Bhante has made it a rule that a person should only eat after noon each day and forbade cell phones from being used while on a meditative retreat or during prayer services. Members are also not permitted to wear shoes inside the Bhavana temple or any other buildings to protect the purity aspect of their religion. To maintain the secluded lifestyle the Bhavana society had chosen for themselves, local donations have been made to keep up with funds that are responsible for land payments and necessary commodities. The donations are usually contributed by Americans who may have heard of the society and the ideals they work to promote. Personally, money is also given to the Buddhist organization by its own members who are determined to see Bhavana financially stable and relieved from social pressures that could interfere with its internal peace. Without receiving the proper money required to keep the society from closing, members fear that its sudden closure could prevent those who live in West Virginia from engaging in Buddhist rituals. 

For the Bhavana society’s demographic, the majority of its members are American Caucasians who chose to learn about Buddhism through a hands-on experience that selected readings could not provide for them. The American members, most likely were never exposed to any forms of Asian religions in their lives and only recently came to recognize Buddhism as a religion to be taken seriously similar to Christianity, despite being of another nationality. Educating Americans about the Buddhist religion seems to be one of the greatest pride that the society is pleased over, but mentioning their Indian or Asian descent members is worth noting as well. As said before, Bhante, the founder of Bhavana, is from India himself and has offered those who are from the Asian region to come to the United States and join his Buddhist society after its establishment in 1982. A number of Asians were already Buddhist monks or lay people eager to contribute to the education of their American counterparts through their years of extensive Buddhist knowledge.  

Overall, the Bhavana Society is a fairly recent Buddhist community in West Virginia that goes against the expected role of trying to relate to newer generations by promoting twentieth-century ideas about the Buddhist Religion. Theravada meditation is at the core of this Buddhist society which all members hope that followers of Buddhism will practice at least once in their lives. The bond Bhavana members form with one another, despite rules of seclusion, contributes greatly to the dharma principle in that a person should revolve around the sense of compassion for other beings.  

Citations

Bhavana Society

Bhavana Society

Author

Amiyah Wright

The theory of two American Buddhism(s) has been somewhat useful to understand the cultural differences of practices in the States, but what it fails to account for are those communities that create space for practitioners from all backgrounds and transcend this dualistic idea. The Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh does just that. With three centers around the United States, the teachings of Plum Village have had an immeasurable effect on how Americans conceive of Buddhism, not only in the localities of these practice centers but across the country. The main American center is located in upstate New York, affectionately referred to as Blue Cliff Monastery. The teachings which come out of these centers reach quite a large audience, both directly and on a wider, cultural scale. Adapting Vietnamese Zen teachings for the modern Western audience, the tradition of Plum Village and Thich Nhat Hanh aims to make Buddhism accessible to all, instead of catering to “one type” of practitioner.

            The tradition of Plum Village started in 1982 outside of Bordeaux, France.[1] This was not Thich Nhat Hanh’s first visit to the West, but it was his first time completely moving to the West. The monastery started as a small, rural farmstead and is said to be where Thay (another name for Thich Nhat Hanh) saw his dream coming to fruition: “creating a healthy, nourishing environment where people can learn the art of living in harmony with one another and with the Earth.”[2] It has now grown into a large community of monks and nuns, with different hamlets around the world. One of the most popular outside of Bordeaux is Blue Cliff Monastery in New York. This center is home to thirty monastic and lay practitioners who work to share the teachings of mindfulness with visitors. Blue Cliff presents itself as “a place to quiet the mind, look deeply, and enjoy the wonders of life within and around us through the practices of sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful eating, deep relaxation meditation, and sharing togetherness.”[3] This mission is evident across all of Thich Nhat Hanh’s work and comes into physical manifestation at the monastery.

            Thich Nhat Hanh’s life story has played a big role in shaping both the teachings of Plum Village and how they have come to be spread in the world. Born in Vietnam, Thay had an early draw to Buddhism when at the age of nine, an image of the Buddha left him with a deep sense of peace and a strong urge to become like the Buddha, who he described as: “someone who embodied calm, peace, and ease, and who could help others around him to be calm, peaceful, and at ease.”[4] At sixteen, with his parent’s permission, he left to begin novice training under Master Thich Chan That, as part of the Vietnamese Zen tradition in the Linji school. As he was completing his novice training, Thay witnessed the Japanese occupation of Vietnam and the Great Famine of 1945. These events inevitably had an impact on his training and started to sow the seeds of his connection between Buddhism and social action. This would continue through the First Indochina War, when he affirmed his aspiration to be a bodhisattva of action.[5] In 1950, he helped to cofound An Quang Pagoda which housed a reformist Buddhist Institute, his first official foray into his efforts for an action-oriented practice. During this time he published his first book, contributed to and edited Buddhist magazines, and began teaching. In 1961, he was offered a Fulbright Scholarship to study Comparative Religion at Princeton Theological Seminary, which is where he first began to realize his path was to teach in the West.[6] In 1964, Thay returned to Vietnam as a leader in the Buddhist movement for peace and social action. As the Vietnam War broke out, Thay advocated for peace, refusing to take a side, leading to both armies seeing him as a threat to their cause. He wrote to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who later became an outspoken critic of the war and nominated Thay for a Nobel Peace Prize, which played a massive role in elevating his fame in the West. After years of advocacy in Vietnam, Thay left in 1966 to give a lecture series at Cornell, but eventually was blocked from returning home due to his advocacy.

            From this point on, Thay focused his efforts in the West, building up the Plum Village community, traveling around the world to share his teachings, and publishing many books through his company, Parallax Press. His philosophy shifted from: “demonstrations and press conferences to the deeper work of transforming consciousness through mindfulness retreats and community living.”[7] In the 1980s, he founded Plum Village in southern France and began to ordain a lineage of monastic disciples. He also became known as a renowned Buddhist scholar, offering translations of the Heart Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Ānāpānasati Sutta, and the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. As his name became increasingly common knowledge in the U.S., he led many peace talks and retreats for members of the government along with special sessions to respond to the global tragedies that would unfold over the years. During all this time, he always stayed grounded in his philosophies that he practiced during tumultuous times in Vietnam: interbeing, Engaged Buddhism, and compassion.

            It was not until 2005 that he was eventually able to return to Vietnam after 35 years of exile. He was greeted by an eager crowd of monks and laypeople ready to hear his teachings, along with intrigued political leaders. Unfortunately, this growing popularity, especially among young monks and nuns, scared the communist government which forcibly dispersed Thay’s monastery in 2009.[8] For the rest of his life, he continued to teach around the world, reaching a large and diverse audience of students. At the beginning of 2022, Thay passed away, but his legacy has remained strong, flourishing through the Plum Village communities around the world, his books, recorded dharma talks, and so much more. The West owes Thich Nhat Hanh a large debt of gratitude for bringing Buddhist teachings to popular culture. 

Before the end of his life, Thay became a globally recognized teacher, but for a long time his teachings had not been as popular in the East. He defied strict categorization as Zen, Pure Land, or Theravada and preferred to refer to himself as: “taking Mahayana Buddhism to bathe in the waters of early Buddhism.”[9] Though he was purposeful in teaching to a Western audience, there was always a bit of tension between Eastern and Western thought. For example, as mindfulness rose in popularity in the West, some of his students asked him to remove the Buddhist ethical code and Five Precepts from his teachings as they were “inappropriate for modern Buddhism in the West,” but Thay held firm that ethics and mindfulness could to be separated.[10] This would not be the only run-in he would have in this area, but he always insisted that while it was important to be sensitive of the culture to which one was teaching, Buddhism should never be diluted.

Overall, Thich Nhat Hahn is still known as a popular Western teacher, meaning that a place such as Blue Cliff Monastery draws a largely Western audience. However, it is often forgotten that there is a large tradition of Vietnam monastics across Plum Village Centers, with an especially large influx after Thay’s return to Vietnam. Another notable representative of the Plum Village community is Sister Chan Khong, who is the first fully-ordained monastic disciple of Thich Nhat Hanh. She met Thay back in Vietnam and has been a powerful collaborator throughout Plum Village history. Her famous saying is to “view life as the teaching,” and this is present across the offerings at Blue Cliff Monastery.[11] Hosting multiple retreats a year, Blue Cliff offers a space for newcomers and seasoned participants. Retreats typically range from anywhere from a week to three months for specific occasions such as seasons, rain retreats, or a pilgrimage. They are open to both lay practitioners and monastics and are typically run by the local monastic population. Retreats are the only opportunity to stay at the monastery. Before the pandemic, there were Days of Mindfulness which offered a shorter opportunity to visit the monastery, but they have not recovered to the same frequency since. Through this model, one can infer that Blue Cliff is attempting to make itself accessible to all types of practitioners while making sure that there is some level of commitment to the practice for those who choose to spend time in their facilities. Blue Cliff Monastery works to uphold the teachings and practices of Thich Nhat Hanh, through their continued support of Plum Village’s principles and opportunities for seekers to learn about this lineage.

Bibliography

Team, Plum Village. n.d. Plum Village. Accessed November 30, 2023. https://plumvillage.org/#filter=.region-na.

---

[1] Plum Village Team, “About Plum Village,”  Plum Village, https://plumvillage.org/about/plum-village.

[2] Team, “About.”

[3] Team, “About.”

[4] Plum Village Team, “Thich Nhat Hanh: Extended Bio,”  Plum Village, https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/thich-nhat-hanh-full-biography.

[5] Team, “Bio.”

[6] Team, “Bio.”

[7] Team, “Bio.”

[8] Team, “Bio.”

[9] Team, “Bio.”

[10] Team, “Bio.”

[11] Andrea Miller, “The Life and Teachings of Sister Chang Kong,” Plum Village, https://plumvillage.org/about/sister-chan-khong

Alice Mun

By: Alexander Farjadi

Introduction

The Kadampa center is a vibrant Buddhist community located in Raleigh, North Carolina and was officially founded in 1991 by Don Brown. The center follows the doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism based in the Gelugpa tradition, teachings from Kelsang Gyatso, founder of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT), and the lineage of Lama Thubten Yeshe, co-founder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). The FPMT is an international family of city and retreat center, monasteries, publishing houses, hospices, and healing centers which the center pledges membership to. The Kadampa center is one of the 160 FPMT organizations and 1200 NKT centers globally.

The Kadampa center’s mission is to “transform the minds and lives of individuals and societies into the highest ideas of enlightened wisdom, compassion, and skillful action through the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism”. They claim this can be attained through studying the literature and teachings of Kelsang Gyatso, founder of the NKT. The Kadampa center follows the Lamrim textual tradition, the backbone of Kadampa Buddhism which outlines essential spiritual instructions to achieve awakening. The Kadampa center is part of the NKT, a broader religious movement which emphasizes incorporation of Buddhism into daily life and seeks to make Buddhism more accessible to a wider audience. Some Tibetans have labeled the NKT as a controversial movement because of some of their ideology and for being a “breakaway” sect from Buddhism. The Kadampa center however avoids controversy.

Because the center is non-profit, Kadampa relies on the generosity and dana of its members, which currently sits at 101 monthly sustainers. Their website encourages donations for meritorious karma and also to finance the pujas, retreats, and statue Lama Atisha that the center acquired. Alongside member donations, the Kadampa center funds its operations through running a bookstore which is regularly restocked with Buddhist classic canonical texts as well as more contemporary texts on Tibetan Buddhism.

Spiritual Leaders

Lama Thubten Yeshe was born near the Tibetan town of Tolung Dechen in 1935. At the early age of six, he was sent to Sera Monastery where he studied until 1959 when he was forced into exile due to the Chinese invasion. Lama Yeshe continued to study until 1967 when he and his chief disciple, Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, relocated in Nepal. Rinpoche would become a trusted partner of Lama Yeshe, and the two would collaborate throughout the rest of Lama Yeshe’s life. It was during this time period where Lama Yeshe founded the Kopan Monastery, seeking to educate Westerners on the Buddhist tradition, much to the reprobation of the Tibetan religious community at the time. Around 1974, Yeshe and Rinpoche began making regular tours to the West gradually building the infrastructure and network which would eventually become the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). After a long and accomplished legacy of spiritual teaching, Lama Yeshe passed away in 1984 and was cremated in the Vajrapani Institute in Boulder Creek, California.

One of Kadampa center’s prominent spiritual leaders and official spiritual director of the FPMT is Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. Born in 1945, Rinpoche was believed to be the reincarnate of Sherpa Nyingma yogi Kunsang Yeshe, the Lawudo Lama. Rinpoche studied and meditated at the Domo Geshe Rinpoche monastery near Pagri in Tibet up until 1959 when the Chinese occupation forced him to flee. In a refugee camp in West Bengal, India, he met Lama Yeshe, who would become a close teacher and partner in spreading Buddhist dogma to the West.

Despite the frictions between some groups within the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) and the Dalai Lama, Raleigh’s Kadampa Center recognizes the authority of the Dalai Lama as Tibet’s spiritual leader and sees him as an “outstanding example of how to live a simple, happy, spiritual life in these complicated, stressful times”.

Geshe Gelek and Geshe Sangpo comprise Kadampa’s resident teachers and lead its spiritual and ritual practice. Gelek was born in Sikkim and practiced Buddhism at Sera Jey monastery, attaining the degree of Geshe Lharmpa in 1997. He continued his studies at the Gyume Tantric College when Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested him to become a resident teacher at the Kadampa center. Geshe Sangpo was born in 1972 in Kham Karze, eastern Tibet. Similar to Gelek he studied at Sera Jey monastery and eventually received his Geshe degree in 2001 after 17 years of studying. Sangpo specializes in Haya Griva ritual practice and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2008 to teach ritual practice at the Kadampa Center. In October of 2014 Sangpo was officially approved by FPMT as resident teacher at Kadampa Center.

The Kadampa center additionally employs several registered teachers who lead spiritual practice and teaching programs for various levels of practitioners. Among them are Robbie Watkins, current spiritual program director, and Don Brown, founder, both of whom studied alongside Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the Kopan Monastery. Stephanie Smith, Hemant Pandya and Venerable Lhundub Tendron.

Alongside Geshe Gelek and Geshe Sangpo, the Kadampa Center has also ordained several women. Lhundub Tendron, Ngawang Lhamo, Ngawang Choekyi, and Ngawang Khanda make up the center’s female sangha and represent the majority of Kadampa’a monastics, a ratio which speaks to Kadampa’s inclusivity. Despite being limited by demographic factors, the Kadampa center also sports significant Asian membership in addition to several other ethnic groups. Their membership though still seems to be predominately white and is largely convert Buddhists.

Courses, Rituals, Outreach and Other Special Events

The Kadampa Center divides its spiritual programs into three categories:

The Introductory Program:

Intermediate Program:

Students wishing to deepen their spiritual knowledge and seek more rigorous courses can consult the intermediate level programs. The “Basic Program” is an intermediate level course which is conducted over 5 years and covers the nine main texts of the Buddhist tradition. The course is offered Friday nights and covers a wide swath of Buddhist literature and philosophy. The course culminates in a final exam and a three-month retreat. Students seeking extra opportunities may also choose to join in Geshe Gelek’s Lamrim Topics which discusses the Lamrim Chenmo, a core text in the Gelug tradition.

The Kadampa center also holds pujas and prayer gatherings each month where practitioners recite mantras and prayers with each targeting different objectives. The pujas the center holds are the Guru Puja, the Buddha Tara Puja, and the Medicine Buddha Puja. The Tara practice is meant for eliminating the obstacles to fulfillment. Medicine Buddha Puja is designed for those experiencing acute mental or physical illness, in addition to those recently deceased. The Buddha puja is centered around building meritorious karma and positive energy. The center also provides special pujas at request for members with loved ones that have recently passed away. On their website the Kadampa center has provided a prodigious number of resources for illness and dying, listing advice on advance care planning, funerals, and other general resources that prepare caregivers or those in critical conditions for death.

The center organizes weekend and one-day retreats which are offered at the center and other offsite residential settings. The longer retreats such as “The Light of the Path Retreats” offers a series of special two-week retreats with Kadampa’s spiritual director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche at a facility in Black Mountain, North Carolina. During the retreat, Lama Zopa Rinpoche mainly relies upon the text, Lamp of the Path by Lama Atisha as the main teaching resource.

The Kadampa Center also holds pujas and other special events on the various Tibetan holy days. The center celebrates Monlam Chenmo (the two-week period during which the Buddha performed various miracles), Saka Dawa (Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana), Lhabab Duchen (Buddha’s descent from Tushita back to Earth), and Lama Tsongkhapa Day (anniversary of Lama Tsongkhapa’s enlightenment). In addition to the holy days they also hold celebrations for Losar, the Tibetan New Year which features music and authentic Tibetan food.

Through Kadampa’s affiliation with Triangle Interfaith Alliance, the Kadampa center participates in several community outreach initiatives to provide opportunities for those struggling and engage in activities of goodwill and compassion for others. They have organized food drives, volunteer services for Habitat for Humanity, Adopt-A-Stream clean-up campaigns, and supported climate change projects within North Carolina.

Citations:

Kadampa Center | Kadampa Center.” Accessed December 5, 2022. https://kadampa-center.org/.

Kadampa Buddhism. “New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union.” Accessed December 5, 2022. https://kadampa.org/.

Overview

Wat Pasantidhamma is a Buddhist Community in southeastern Virginia, located in Carrollton. The Wat Pasantidhamma community practices Theravada Buddhism and provides a wide variety of Buddhist services to the community. Their mission statement is simply defined by “peace”: peace up, or loving Buddha, which is done through practicing the Dhamma; peace in, or serving each other, which in turn serves Buddha; and peace out, which changes the world through peace among all.

Foundation

Wat Pasantidhamma as an idea began in discussions around 1996, when Buddhists in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia expressed frustration with the difficulty in accessing Buddhist services in the region. At the time, the closest place to attend Buddhist services was in Washington, DC. This made the ability to worship in a Buddhist community difficult for some and outright impossible for others. Therefore, many people started reaching out to monks in Washington, DC for advice on how to remedy the issue at hand. Out of these discussions the idea of establishing a Buddhist temple in Hampton Roads was formed. After consultations with monks in both DC and Bangkok, followed by a unanimous vote, work began to form Wat Pasantidhamma. Searches were begun for a location and talks to discuss fundraising were held. As the project expanded, more and more people joined the team of devoted members working tirelessly to form the community. This team officially became an organization titled the “Samukee Dham Association.” The first president of the Samukee Dham Association was Dr. Tawatchai Onsanit, who was a major part in guiding the project through the troublesome beginning. After the first formal community meeting to discuss the project, a newsletter was created by a community member named Mrs. Sompong Bray. She was integral to the creation of Wat Pasantidhamma and worked tirelessly to provide communication about the project to members both inside and outside of the organization. This newsletter still continues to operate today. One of the biggest initial problems in finding the perfect place was the dilemma of either purchasing land, which was more expensive but more flexible, or renting, which was less expensive but much harder to work around. After nearly two years of searching for a location and securing funding, the organization was able to tour the plot of land in Carrolton Virginia. They decided it would be the perfect place, and in December of 1997 the land was finally purchased. Shortly afterwards, monks from Wat Thai in Washington DC visited the land, blessing it and bestowing the name of “Wat Pa Santidhamma” which means “Forest Temple Peace Dhamma”. In April of 1998, Wat Pasantidhamma was officially established.

Constituency

Wat Pasantidhamma has a wide variety of constituents. The temple itself has a community of monks who reside there full-time and also offers members of the community to stay for up to a week at a time regularly. The current abbot of Wat Pasantidhamma is the Venerable Udom Pabhangako. At the time of its founding, Wat Pasantidhamma was mostly supported and attended by local Thai, Laotian, and Cambodian members of the community. This continues today, but Wat Pasantidhamma stresses that the community is open to all regardless of their background or if one has been affiliated with Buddhist practices in the past. Another way Wat Pasantidhamma engages members of its community is through a book club, in which lay people and monks can read books and engage with one another about the texts they read.

Practices

Wat Pasantidhamma as a whole adheres to the Theravada practice of Buddhism, more specifically the Theravada Thai Forest Tradition. Readings include that of the Tripitaka, or three baskets, that serves as the base of Theravada practice. Discussions and lessons are held about the Vinaya Pitaka, the Sutta Pitaka, and the Abhidamma Pitaka. The temple leads daily mediative practices, as well as longer meditation retreats that involve learning about the teachings of the Buddha, and mediation in the forms of sitting, standing, and walking. This is offered throughout the year with the exception of winter. During December, January, February, and March, the monastics at Wat Pasantidhamma observe a silent winter retreat. It is possible to visit during the day in this time, but the temple will not allow overnight guests. Another practice implemented at Wat Pasantidhamma is the use of small groups. These are groups made of eight to twelve people, either couples or individuals, that pray, and discuss together. These small groups have five aspects: life change, cultivating relationships, promoting participation, providing care, and identifying future leaders. Additionally, the temple also offers an Upāsakā program to encourage laypeople to engage with monastics and each other over the Dhamma. The purpose of the program as stated by Wat Pasantidhamma is to encourage individual practice and discipline, strengthen understanding of Dhamma, increase contact with similar people, and to be able to better teach others the teachings of the Buddha. This program entails many guidelines for those participating, including following the Three Refuges and Five Precepts and formally taking them quarterly, gathering regularly with other Upāsakās, daily meditation, going on retreat, attending festival days or community gatherings, having basic knowledge of the Teachings, supporting the sangha, and keeping to the program for at least one year. There are two forms to this program, with Upasaka for men and Upasika for women. Aside from this, the temple also offers a radio program in order to allow people to listen to regular talks about the Buddha’s teachings. These talks are available for download on the Wat Pasantidhamma website as well.

Events

Wat Pasantidhamma offers a wide variety of events throughout the year, celebrating holidays and conducting retreats. Observances are held for full, half, and new moons throughout the year. Meditation services are offered every Wednesday from 5:00pm-9:00pm, whereas regular services are available from 6:00am-8:00pm Monday-Friday and 6:30am-8:00pm Saturday-Sunday. Meditation retreats are offered Friday-Sunday on certain weekends of each month outside of the monastic silent winter retreat period. Services are provided for national holidays, traditional Theravada Buddhist holidays, and Thai holidays as well. Celebrations are held for the anniversary of Wat Pasantidhamma and the Songkran Festival celebrating the Thai New Year. Ceremonies are also held of Vesak, or Visakha Puja each year to celebrate the Buddha. Asalha Puja, or Dharma Day, is also celebrated in July. A Buddhist Lent ceremony is conducted in July as well. A longer retreat, known as the five days Moment to Moment retreat, is conducted in the beginning of August. In September, a Sart Thai day ceremony is held. At the end of the Rain Retreat in October, a ceremony is held as well. This is followed by a Kathina Ceremony. Smaller ceremonies are also held throughout the year for days like Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and others.

Funding

Wat Pasantidhamma is funded entirely by donations of the public. This was the case for its founding and is still the case today. All services, including retreats, are offered entirely free of charge as the community believes that “the Buddha’s teachings are priceless.” The temple encourages donations on its website, particularly if one wishes to attend services, but stresses that these are not mandatory and would only benefit the community if one chooses to do so. Wat Pasantidhamma lists projects on its website which the temple wishes to either continue doing or complete in the future. Each of these projects has links to fundraising, with the goal amounts for each project listed. The largest such project was launched in late 2014. It is a Sala Ruam Jai, or multi-purpose building. This would allow a place for study of Buddha’s teachings, other religious functions, would serve as a cultural center for the community, and would provide classrooms as well. The project launched with a hefty goal of one million dollars to raise and did so successfully. The project was very recently completed, and now serves as a perfect meeting place for the Wat Pasantidhamma community.

Relationships with other Buddhist Communities

Since its founding, Wat Pasantidhamma has enjoyed a close relationship with Wat Thai in Washington DC. This is due to the great assistance of the monks from Wat Thai, particularly abbot Luang Ta Chi, in helping coordinate the founding and development of Wat Pasantidhamma in the early stages of its creation. Additionally, Wat Pasantidhamma retains relationships with Theravada Buddhists all around the area, and keeps an open line of communication with monks in Bangkok, Thailand as well.

Contact

Wat Pasantidhamma has several methods available to contact:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gowatpa/

Phone: (757) 238-3461

Website: https://gowatpa.org/

Austin, Texas

Chaz Litt

History of the Sangha

Palri Pema Od Ling is a Palyul Tibetan Buddhist Temple and Meditation Center located in the greater Austin Area, in Texas. The sangha did not initially begin as a planned community, but began in the 1990’s as a community gathering in a basement of a student of a Palyul teacher. The basement was fully stocked as a meditation area, complete with shrines. In the first years of the 21st century, the land was acquired to build the temple, and it was blessed by the Lama Pema Norbu Rinpoche, the 11th Throneholder of the Palyul Lineage. Effectively the founder of Palri, he was educated beginning at age 4 at the Palyul Monastery in Tibet in the mid 1930’s. Following China’s takeover of Tibet, Pema Norbu Rinpoche relocated to India in 1963. The Dalai Lama gave his endorsement of the Palyul Lineage and the Nyingma School in 1993, only a few years before the foundation of the Palri Pema Od Ling. His Holiness Pema Norbu Rinpoche founded the Palyul Retreat Center in New York, but before that, he began to build the Namdroling Monastery in Karnataka, India. The monastery is home to over 5,000 monks, 3,000 of which are permanent residents, while the rest frequently travel as teachers. He achieved parinirvana in 2009, and his reincarnation was found recently in the young Yangsi Rinpoche, who was throned in 2014.

 In 2003, the shrine received its Buddha statue, which was constructed in and shipped from Nepal. The community, while small, has relied heavily on traveling teachers and meditation experts. Every few years, the temple receives a new resident teacher, and nearly all have been educated in South Indian Monasteries. The current Resident Lama is Loppon Rapjee Wangchuk. A personal attendant of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche, his studies are specialized in mandala construction and Palyul masked ritual dances. He studied with the late Pema Norbu Rinpoche at the New York Retreat center until his appointment to Palri Pema Od Ling this past November, and has studied at the Namdroling Monastery in the past.

The New York Palyul Retreat Center has close ties with Palri Pema Od Ling, as many of the teachers have resided or studied there, and the Namdroling Monastery has educated many of those teachers as well. 

Palyul Lineage

Practices

Palri Pema Od Ling has slowly made its transition back to in-person practices over the past year, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. While many of their services are still available through Zoom, the temple has made a conscious effort to allow in-person meditations and teachings to bring the community closer together. Every Monday is the Guru Yoga and Chod Practice, and every Wednesday there is a Meditation session. Additionally, every morning the temple hosts a Nam Cho Ngondro service, from 7 to 8 AM, for regular practitioners. This Terma is directly from Avalokiteshvra, passed through Guru Rinpoche. It is part of the Great Perfection – Buddha in the Palm of the Hand, and is a Nyingma practice concerning revealing the nature of the mind in order to achieve enlightenment. This involves meditation on the 10 virtues, and the 10 non-virtues, and is part of the first steps to achieving enlightenment in one lifetime. 

Here, the services lined with the Gregorian Calendar largely stop, as the Palri Pema Od Ling temple follows the Tibetan Lunar calendar. The Medicine Buddha Practice only happens on the 8th lunar day of the month. Prayers are offered to Bhaisajya Guru, a Buddha that manifests healing energy. 

Specially scheduled events include the Vajrakilaya, which happens on the 29th day of the lunar month, and is a famous Tibetan practice. It concerns the Heruka Vajrakilaya, a deity who symbolizes both the compassion and wrath of the Buddhas. While a Buddha of wrath may seem like a counterintuitive representation of a being famed for attempting to eliminate emotion, practitioners view the deity as a being that can wipe away mental obstacles that get in the way of enlightenment. The Twenty One Taras is a Tibetan Buddhist practice that involves the devotion to the deity Arya Tara, a Buddhist deity that is worshiped twenty one times during the course of a mantra. 

Recently, the sangha has doen several fish release practices, meant to inspire good action and good karma. Instead of thinking about karama negatively, while taking the life leads to worse endings down the road, helping another being to live longer will generate good consequences. The practice is called fangsheng, and is a traditional Tibetan practice.

The practices are posted online, with Zoom links, and the practices’ requisite papers and informational material are also provided online. Keeping with the tradition in a modern world, the texts are provided in English, Chinese, and other languages. Many of the daily practices, and the monthly holidays, are free to attend and worship.

Teachings

Palri Pema Od Ling is Tibetan, of the Nyingma School, in the Mahayana Tradition of Buddhism. The Nyingma School teaches both kama and terma teachings. The long lineage in the kama teachings are from the Buddha, and are available to many scholars, from all kinds of Mahayana Buddhists, but the termas were passed down to specific masters after being hidden by Guru Rinpoche. Pema Norbu Rinpoche ordained over ten thousand monks and nuns during his tenure on the throne, and he not only received many ancient transmissions, but also transmitted many of the teachings to his disciples, in earnest after his exile from Tibet and into India. He established a now-flourishing monastery with an initial investment of 300 rupees (~$340 in present-day American dollars), and performed much of the physical labor himself. By the early 1990’s, he was traveling abroad and training monks and nuns, transmitting the teachings of the Dharma to as many as possible. By the late 1990’s, he was establishing schools like Kunzang Palyul Choling in Maryland, the Palyul Retreat Center in upstate New York, and blessing the Palri Pema Od Ling in Texas. He brought rare copies of the Nam Cho cycle to India, a key feature in Buddhism. It translates roughly to Sky Dharma, and according to Loppong Rapjee Wangchuk, it is one of the main teachings at Palri. The temple also is a proponent of Dzogchen meditation, which proposes that awakening stems from fundamentally understanding the building blocks of reality, and their emptiness. Most of the basic teachings for meditations, including mantras, are posted on their website. 

If you’d like to view some of these texts in English, click here: https://www.palri.org/english-texts/

If you’d like to view some of these texts in Chinese, click here:https://www.palri.org/chinese-texts/

The Sangha

While Buddhism was brought to Texas in the mid-nineteenth century, this particular sangha formed in the last decade of the twentieth century, and has remained fairly small over the years, but consistent, even through the recent troubles of the pandemic. Lama Loppon Rapjee Wangchuk estimates that there are anywhere between ten and fifteen practitioners each morning, but special events bring in more people. The sangha is a mix of white and non-white members, which is well maintained by the multi-lingual temple. Many of the teachers, including the founding lama and the Resident Lama, are foreign-born, and are not native English speakers. This lends well to the sangha being multicultural, as they give worldly perspectives for the teachings. The location, Austin, Texas, is a multiracial area, mostly white and Latinx, meaning many people who are interested in the temple’s teachings come from those backgrounds. The temple is funded mostly by donations from visitors, and from practitioners, but they also sell tickets for some of the more advanced practices taught to raise money. 

Further Links

Palri Pema Od Ling’s Website: https://www.palri.org/ (Please consider donating!)

Namdroling Monastery’s Website: https://www.namdroling.net/Portal/Home (Also consider donating!)

Citations