Emily Kaplan
Buddhism
Professor Vose
December 7 2021
Olmo Ling- Bon Center & Institute
When one pictures a Buddhist community, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is not the first place to come to mind. However, at the Olmo Ling Bon Center & Institute, this is anything but the truth. This center specializes in the Tibetan tradition of Bon, and is open to anyone. While there is the option to pay and become a member, classes are free with the encouragement of a five dollar donation. In addition to weekly classes on meditation, dharma, chanting, healing, and more, the center hosts a wide variety of other activities. This includes retreats and trips, as well as a youth program for children and their families. Olmo Ling is a place for anyone interested in Buddhism and the Bon tradition to go and learn more about the religion as well as give back to others.
The center was founded by Genyen Tempa Dukte Lama, an ordained Tibetan Bon Lama. He was born in the Humla Valley of Nepal, but joined the Menri Monastery in India at the age of 6. After his time in the monastery, Tempa Dukte Lama spent time in Nepal researching healing practices within the Bon tradition. In the summer of 2000, Joan Halifax Roshi extended an invitation to Tempa Dukte Lama to live and teach at the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While there he often taught on the topics of death, dying and meditation. While these may seem like grim subjects, Tempa Dukte Lama was very familiar in this setting. Back in Nepal he used to go with his grandfather on visits to those who were sick and dying. Tempa Dukte Lama continues to focus on values of compassion and healing, and is even working with health care professionals on how to provide healing and spiritual support for their dying patients.
In 2007, Tempa Dukte Lama went on to found the Olmo Ling Center. The center is rooted in the Bon tradition, but they are working on expanding to include more traditions and to become a place for all Buddhists. This is especially evident in their youth programs. Since his time at the Olmo Ling Center, Tempa Dukte Lama has worked on giving back to his birth place: the Humla Valley of Nepal. Among other projects sponsored by the center, Tempa Dukte Lama personally started the Humla Fund. This program works to help improve education, healthcare, and other infrastructural elements that the Humla Valley lacks due to its remote location and high rates of poverty. The fund has been highly successful, and their most recent accomplishment is the construction and opening of a medical clinic in town.
Tempa Dukte Lama has been studying the Bon tradition from a young age. He places a lot of value in these practices, and opened a center to promote the teachings and values so that others may benefit from Bon. The tradition of Bon is widely known as an indigenous religion native to the country of Tibet. It developed very closely alongside Buddhism, and as a result there are many similarities and crossovers between the two. Bon places a heavy emphasis on spirituality and was once used to help cast out the evil demons and spirits thought to be inhabiting the remote sections of Tibet. At the Olmo Ling Center, Bon is defined as “boundless”. This set of traditions is known to be “…the truth that lies within everything…the truth that pervades through time and space…[and] the miracle that manifests in every moment” (Bon and Bonpo Tempa Dukte Lama). The Bon tradition also deeply values healing practices. These practices can be used in many ways, from meditation to comforting those who are sick or dying.
In order to promote the traditions of Bon and teach others, the Olmo Ling Center has weekly practices open to the general public. These classes are taught by Tempa Dukte Lama and/or students who have graduated from the Bon study program offered by the center. The subjects of these practices include a wide range, from Ngondro, meditation and dharma talks, chantings, and more. The first practice offered during the week is Ngondro practice on Tuesdays. One may only attend Ngondro practices after they have undergone the practice of Dzogchen, “the pinnacle of all teachings”. Dzogchen allows one to realize their own “inherent potential to be a buddha” (Dzogchen Tempa Dukte Lama). Once a person has received this practice, they may attend the Ngondro class, otherwise known as a “foundational practice”. This type of practice is crucial for reaching enlightenment and purifying one’s emotions. The website has a handout where one can familiarize themselves with the breathing exercises, hand signs, and other traditions used throughout the practice. Meditation and dharma talks are also given every Tuesday by the Lama himself, and are a good introduction into the Bon tradition and the values and practices that are commonplace in the religion. In addition to weekly opportunities, some classes are offered once a month. These include evenings of healing, youth and family sanghas, and a day of meditation. Healing practices focus one’s mind inward to show the potential a person has for healing themselves. Youth and family sanghas are great opportunities to practice mindfulness and introduce children to not only the Bon tradition, but Buddhism as a whole. Activities include meditation, mantras, calligraphy, service and more. Finally, once a month the center holds a day of meditation. Lasting from 9:00am to 5:00pm, the day is broken into 45 minute meditation blocks with a 15 minute break.
In addition to classes and practices, the Olmo Ling center also sponsors trips and retreats. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these are currently being held over zoom and include talks on a variety of subjects relating to Buddhism and the Bon tradition. However, in the past groups have traveled all over the world. One group accompanied Tempa Dukte Lama on the long journey back to his home in the Humla Valley of Nepal. While there, they treated locals for a variety of illnesses and provided other services for the community. Another trip took members from the center to Menri Monastery, the monastery where Tempa Dukte Lama studied and the head of the Bon tradition. The Olmo Ling Center and Menri Monastery are actually formally affiliated, and the two organizations are in close communication with each other.
Finally, the last major element of the Olmo Ling Bon Center and Institute are their service projects. These projects give back to other Bon communities in Nepal and align with the Buddhist philosophy of giving back to others. The most recent service project that the center has engaged in is to help Menri Monastery build a public restroom. The monastery reached out directly to Tempa Dukte Lama to ask for help after a new law in India was introduced requiring every building to have a restroom for the public. The center is currently in the process of raising money to send to the monastery for aid in the construction. As mentioned earlier, this monastery is extremely important to the Bon tradition. It houses the spiritual leader of the religion as well as teaching and ordaining monks. In addition to this project, the center has also started a nursing education project. The goal of this effort is to help people in the Humla Valley become nurses. The healthcare system in this area of Nepal is extremely poor, and the nearest hospitals can be a two to four days walk away. This project also aligns with the Lama’s other project, the Humla Fund. There is also a children’s fund, where children can be “adopted” and provided with money and donations to promote their education and other career opportunities.
This center is interesting as it is led by someone born in Nepal, but from the pictures most of its members appear to be caucasion. This would normally point to the center being mainly a place for convert Buddhists, but convert Buddhists centers tend to focus more heavily on meditation, while more traditional centers have a wider variety of practices. Regardless, it is obvious throughout the website that anyone is welcome at teachings and classes, no matter what nationality or prior experience one may have. The center’s main goal is to promote the ideas and traditions of Bon so that the century old traditions do not become a forgotten practice.
In conclusion, the Olmo Ling Bon Center & Institute is more than a religious center. It fosters a community of people who are learning and practicing the Bon tradition in addition to learning about Tibetan culture. The center is open to anyone, and never wishes to turn people away due to monetary or other constraints, The service projects and outreach fostered by the center has changed peoples lives, and adhere to the Buddhist way of giving back to others. I would love to be able to attend a class here someday. Regardless of one’s religion, I believe that everyone can benefit from the values and practices being taught and promoted at the Olmo Ling Bon Center & Institute.
Works Cited
An Exploration of the Ngondro Practices – Padmasambhava … https://www.padmasambhava.org/sermon/ngondro-practices/.
Lama, Tempa Dukte. “Welcome to Olmo Ling.” Olmo Ling – Home Page, https://www.olmoling.org/.
“Understanding Tibetan Buddhism – Bon – a Heterodox System | Dreams of Tibet | Frontline.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tibet/understand/bon.html.
