Introduction
The Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center of Washington, DC, is directly affiliated to the Gelukpa School in Tibetan Buddhism. The aim of the center is to preserve and disseminate Buddhism (in the Gelukpa tradition) as well as traditional Tibetan culture. Sermey Khensur Geshe Lobsang Tharchin Rinpoche founded the center in 1979.
The Founder
Sermey Khensur Geshe Lobsang Tharchin was born in Lhasa, Tibet in 1921. He entered the Gyalrong House of Sera Mey Monastic University at the age of 7, and studied there for 25 years. He was awarded the Highest Hlarampa Geshe with honors after passing his public examination. In 1954, he entered the Gyu Mey Tantric College. After completing its course of study, he served as a high-ranking administrator. He went into exile in 1959 with the 14th Dalai Lama. During his years in India, Lobsang Tharchin was actively involved in the education of Tibetan children. He wrote textbooks and designed curricula for several schools in Tibetan resettlement camps.
Lobsang Tharchin came to the United States in 1972 to assist in a translation project sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Study of World Religion. During his visit, he stayed in New Jersey, where there are many Mongolians who came to the United States to escape Communism in their home country. The Mongolians were seeking a way to preserve their traditional culture, which was deeply influenced by Tibetan Buddhism. So it is not a surprise that they later invited Lobsang Tharchin to be the Abbot of their local temple, Rashi Gempil Ling. Khen Rinpoche accepted the offer, and held the position until his demise in 2004. He stayed in the U.S. for the rest of his life to preserve and promote Tibetan Buddhism. He established the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press to publish Tibetan Buddhist texts. He raised funds across the United States to improve living conditions for the monks studying in Sera Monastery in India. He founded the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center, with branches in New Jersey and Washington.
Lobsang Tharchin passed away at Rashi Gempil Ling in 2004. The Dalai Lama has recognized his new incarnation as young boy from a Tibetan family in Southern India.
The Community
The Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center of Washington, DC, (MSTC-WDC) was founded in 1979. The center is located in Fairfax, VA. The center offers a variety of courses on Buddhism and Tibetan culture, including Tibetan language instruction, Buddhist philosophy, mental training (Lojong), Lam Rim, debate, logic, Abhidharma, Madhyamaka philosophy and meditation practices from both Sutra and Tantra traditions.
MSTC-WDC also offers English recitation of a sutra from the Medicine Buddha (Bhaisajyaguru) once a month. The medicine Buddha is believed to be one of the most powerful Buddhas that can cure illness and purify negative karma. Meditation on the Medicine Buddha can decrease physical and mental illness, because it increases one’s healing power, and helps overcome attachment to worldly emotions such as sadness and hatred.
MSTC-WDC received its teachings from Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa. Lobsang Jampa was born in 1937 in Lhasa, Tibet. He entered Sera Mey Monastic University at the age of 10. He studied there before he fled Tibet with the 14th Dalai Lama in 1959. He was ordained the same year by the late Yongzin Ling Rinpoche, the 97th Throne Holder of the Gelukpa Tradition.
He continued his studies in the exile Sera monastery. In 1986, he passed his final exam, and was awarded Geshe Lharampa. Since then, he has been teaching novice monks and senior Geshes in various places. In 1990, he received the advanced degree of Ngagrampa from Gyumed Tantric College after extensive study of tantras. In 1996, he was appointed as the abbot of the Gyumed Tantric College by Dalai Lama. Lobsang Jampa now lives in Redding, Connecticut, where he founded his own Buddhism center, Do Ngak Kunphen Ling. He teaches at several Tibetan Buddhism communities, and MSTC-WDC is one of them.
MSTC-WDC has a strong connection with Sera Mey Monastery in India. Lobsang Tharchin started a fund raising program here that is still running today. In return for MSTC-WDC’s help, several senior monks have stayed and taught at the center during their visit to the United States in the past few years.
MSTC-WDC also has a lay teacher, Wilson Hurley. He will teach class when Lobsang Jampa is absent. Wilson studied Tibetan Buddhism with Sermey Khensur Rinpoche in 1979 when the center was founded. Sermey Khensur Rinpoche also instructed him on how to teach Buddhism in the 1990s. Wilson has received teaching from many Buddhist scholars, including the 14th Dalai Lama. He also serves as a therapist and gives meditation workshops in local communities and schools.
The Practice of the Community
Given the history of the center, we are justified in inferring the center practices Buddhism in the Gelukpa Tradition. The founder as well as the current teacher have received strict trainings from the Gelukpa School in Tibet. In the Gelukpa Tradition, a monk will first complete their Geshe training, in which they study Madhyamaka, logic, the mind-only school, vinaya and abhidharma. Geshe training usually takes 15-25 years. After passing their public examination, they can go to tantric college to study tantra. The teachers of the center have all gone through this rigorous training.
It’s hard to define the community of MSTC-WDC. It tries to promote Buddhism to a wider audience. In the photo taken at MSTC-WDC, the students are all Americans. Classes are free; the center survives by optional donations.
The author of this passage tried to contact the community during the research process, but received no responses. Thus he cannot give a detailed description of the community’s ethnic composition, its relationship with other western and Asian Buddhist communities, and community members’ views on the central issues of Buddhism. But he will try to address the latter two issues from the perspective of the Dalai Lama, given the community’s close relationship with the Gelukpa School.
In his closing address to the Global Buddhist Congregation 2011, Dalai Lama suggested that Buddhists from different traditions should stay in harmony. He said that different traditions are like different floors of a building. In the end, they rely on the Pali tradition to be their foundation, and the tantric tradition cannot thrive without the Pali and Sanskrit tradition. He then called all Buddhists to think about the meaning of being a Buddhist and the meaning of Buddha’s life story. Promoting religious tolerance has been a main goal of the Dalai Lama’s recent work. Thus we assume the MSTC-WDC community also has a peaceful attitude towards other Buddhist communities.
The Dalai Lama described one of his life goals as “the promotion of human values such as compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment and self-discipline.” For the Dalai Lama, the central issues of Buddhism overlap with universal value. More than once, the Dalai Lama has described Buddhism as a religion of “kindness”. All human beings want happiness instead of suffering, and by promoting kindness and compassion we can achieve that goal. The Dalai Lama is trying to bring secular values on human rights together with Buddhist teaching to create better and meaningful lives for average people. We can assume the MSTC-WDC community is also influenced by this thought.
Conclusion
The MSTC-WDC is a relatively small community. It only serves a small local community. A much larger Tibetan Buddhist center exists in downtown Washington, attracting far more people than MSTC-WDC. However, MSTC-WDC is still an example of the Dalai Lama’s efforts to promote Tibetan culture and Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan monks that have received rigorous training direct the center. But they teach in English, and gather a sustainable number of followers in the local community. We cannot yet say the influence of this strategy, but this will sure enhance Americans’ understanding of Tibetan Buddhism in the long term.
Website of MSTC-WDC : http://www.mstcdharma.org/medicinebuddha.html
Facebook page of MSTC-WDC: https://www.facebook.com/MSTCDharma
Yukuan Hao