Buddha Dharma: An Indian Heritage – Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche to Give Public Teaching

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Buddha Dharma: An Indian Heritage – Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche to Give Public Teaching

By Craig C Lewis
June 8, 2022

To celebrate the occasion of Saga Dawa—the “month of merits” for Tibetan Buddhists—the renowned Bhutanese lama, filmmaker, and author Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche will give a public teaching on 14–15 June under the theme “Buddha Dharma: An Indian Heritage.” The talk will encompass “the quintessential purity and relevance of the Buddha’s teaching and place it in the context of India’s rich cultural heritage, emphasizing the need to preserve and practice it.” (Buddha Pāda)

“The Buddha’s teaching is like a Lion’s Roar, ‘Simhanada’, the only danger to a lion is the decay from within,” Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche said in an announcement for the teaching shared with BDG. “And to prevent this, it is essential for the authentic teachings of the Buddha to be studied and practiced with a vast attitude. From a simple export value perspective, compare the quality of India’s rich Buddhist heritage and the respect it commands worldwide . . . it is the greatest creation it has ever produced—the stainless teachings and wisdom of Gautama Buddha.”

This free two-day event will be conducted in person at the Buddha Pāda Institute in Kalimpong, India, and live-streamed, with the following start times:

Auckland: 4:30pm, Tuesday 14 June
Canberra: 2:30pm, Tuesday 14 June
Seoul, Tokyo: 1:30pm, Tuesday 14 June
Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei: 12:30pm, Tuesday 14 June
Bangkok, Jakarta: 11:30am, Tuesday 14 June
New Delhi: 10am, Tuesday 14 June
Moscow: 7:30am, Tuesday 14 June
Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm: 6:30am, Tuesday 14 June
London: 5:30am, Tuesday 14 June
Montreal, New York: 12:30am, Tuesday 14 June
Los Angeles, Vancouver: 9:30pm, Monday 13 June

For full details of the teaching schedule, click here

Saga Dawa, the fourth month in the Tibetan lunar calendar, is the most significant Buddhist holiday period of the year for Tibetan Buddhists. The name of the month is derived from the Shakya clan to which Shakyamuni Buddha belonged. The first 15 days of Saga Dawa are believed to be particularly auspicious for Dharma practice and cultivating body, speech, and mind. The 15th day of Saga Dawa, the full moon day known as Saga Dawa Duchen, commemorates the birth, awakening, and mahaparinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha. This year, Saga Dawa begins on 31 May and ends on 29 June.

On 14 June, to mark Saga Dawa Duchen, Rinpoche will also offer a sutra teaching on “The Perfection of Wisdom: Prajnaparamita” and will introduce two new translations by 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, a global nonprofit initiative to translate and share the Tibetan Buddhist Canon. The two translations are drawn from the “Perfection of Wisdom”section of the Kangyur: The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom, the Blessed Mother (The Heart Sutra) and The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines.

“We are thrilled to share that this coming month of Saga Dawa will see the publication of two texts from ‘The Perfection of Wisdom’ section of the Kangyur: The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom, the Blessed Mother and The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines,” 84000 shared. “With the latter’s sheer length, we will also be hitting a major milestone in the publication of the Kangyur in English.” (84000)

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche.
Image courtesy of Siddhartha’s Intent India

Born in Bhutan in 1961, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is the son of Thinley Norbu Rinpoche and was a close student of the Nyingma master Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–91). He is recognized as the third incarnation of the 19th century Tibetan terton Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo (1820–1892), founder of the Khyentse lineage, and the immediate incarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö (1893–1959).

Rinpoche’s projects include Khyentse Foundation, established in 2001 to promote the Buddha’s teaching and support all traditions of Buddhist study and practice; Siddhartha’s Intent, an international collective of Buddhist groups supporting Rinpoche’s Buddhadharma activities by organizing teachings and retreats, distributing and archiving recorded teachings, and transcribing, editing, and translating manuscripts and practice texts; 84000, a non-profit global initiative to translate the words of the Buddha and make them available to all; Lotus Outreach, which directs a range of projects to ensure the education, health, and safety of vulnerable women and children in the developing world; and Lhomon Society, which promotes sustainable development in Bhutan through education.

Rinpoche is the author of several books, including: What Makes You Not a Buddhist (2006), Not For Happiness (2012), The Guru Drinks Bourbon? (2016), and Poison is Medicine: Clarifying the Vajrayana (2021), and has garnered renown inside and outside of the global Buddhist community for the feature-length films he has written and directed: The Cup (1999), Travellers and Magicians (2004), Vara: A Blessing (2012), Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I wait (2016), and Looking For A Lady With Fangs And A Moustache (2019).

Craig C Lewis

Craig Lewis grew up in a transplanted Scottish family in southern England before setting off against all advice to seek light and wisdom in far-off places, rather than staying put and looking within. After repeated encounters with the Buddhadharma as a journalist in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and across Asia, he eventually found refuge as senior editor at BDG, where he reports and writes on the diversity of contemporary manifestations of the Dharma. Craig is also a keen mountain trekker and photographer, finding particular inspiration in the peoples, cultures, and Buddhist expressions of the Himalaya. In his column for BDG, “Chasing Light,” Craig seeks to document encounters, experiences, and epiphanies resulting from his own tentative and faltering path toward liberation. Contact: [email protected]

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