Buddhist Vexillology

While we are on the subject of flags, permit me to note that while most people believe the Tibetan flag was designed by H.H. the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, it was in fact designed by the Japanese Buddhist priest Aoki Bunkyo in 1912, and transmitted to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama by Yajima Yasujiro, during his mission to Tibet 1913-1919.

Not Starving

Chokyi Senge, the 12th Trungpa Tulku,

born 1989, pictured in June 1992.

Choseng Rinpoche, the 12th Trungpa Tulku,

as he appeared October 2004, aged 15.

Padmasambhava for Peace

There is a worldwide project to cast and place 25 large statues of Guru Rinpoche.

These are some 13 feet tall, and remarkably well done.

A few have already been placed, one of which is in Alameda, California, but

we certainly need more of them in America.

Cost of manufacture and shipping (from Nepal) is $10,000.00

The Nyingma Seal

In 1968, H.H. Tarthang Rinpoche decided we should have a seal for the Tibetan Nyingmapa Meditation Center, then located on Webster Street in Berkeley, California. He invited me over one afternoon for lunch, and together we decided on the above design. The original artwork was done by Sherab Palden Beru, who was then in Scotland. When the artwork arrived, we decided to put a syllable in the center of the Dharma wheel. I suggested we use "OM," or "AH," and I used an X-Acto knife to cut out a small syllable and place it in the center. I then took the finished artwork to San Francisco to have negatives made. I have since seen others adopt this seal which is, as far as I am concerned, the Seal of the Nyingma Sect in the West, and is in any event protected by U.S. trademark. Yes, indeed, the Nyingma Seal is trademarked: serial number 72455697, registration number 1008177.

Rare photo of Sherab Palden Beru (right), artist who produced the Nyingma Seal.

OM MANI PADME HUM

OM MANI PADME HUM

Hundred Syllable Mantra

The 100 Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva

H.H. Kusum Lingpa's Stupa

UPDATE: WE NOTE THE PASSING OF H.H. ORGYEN KUSUM LINGPA AT
9:00 A.M. 26 FEBRUARY 2009. DETAILS HERE.

(original post below)

This is His Holiness Kusum Lingpa's stupa, containing 108,000 volumes (among other treasures). I read where some misguided person wrote to the office of H.H. the Dalai Lama asking about H.H. Kusum Lingpa. With all respect, that is not the appropriate address. H.H. Kusum Lingpa is a terton, so in that regard, Padmasambhava has already answered all questions.

Stupas in America

Odiyan Stupa at Sonoma County, California, 113 feet high; first large-scale stupa in America.

The Great Stupa at Colorado (holds relics of Trungpa Rinpoche).

Stupas at Maryland.

Stupa at Sedona, Arizona

First Stupa in America, Hawaii

Mandala at the Smithsonian

Here is a Mandala of Healing and Protection, done at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.

First American in Tibet; First Tibetans in America

Albert Leroy Shelton of Indiana (1875-1922)

Most people believe the first Americans in Tibet were Brooke Dolan II (1908-1945) and Ilya Tolstoy (1903-1970), in the OSS Expedition of 1942-1943. I do not believe this is true. One could argue that Joseph Francis Charles Rock (1884-1962) was the first man, crossing over the border from Yunnan (Harvard Expedition, 1924-1927). Rock was in fact an Austrian, who arrived in the United States in 1905 and was naturalized in 1913. Other early explorers were the botanists Frank Nicholas Meyer (1875-1918), who visited in 1913, and Ernest Henry Wilson (1876-1930), who wandered in 1906-1909. Yet, although both traveled on behalf of the United States, Meyer was a Dutchman and Wilson an Englishman. Among the first American women was Janet Elliot Wulsin, in 1921-1923. On balance, I do believe the first American in Tibet (Kham) was the Indiana-born Albert Leroy Shelton (1875-1922), who was in fact shot to death in a mountain pass whilst traveling to Lhasa at the invitation of the XIIIth Dalai Lama. According to the XIVth Dalai Lama, Shelton first entered Tibet in 1904. We note that he later took his wife and two daughters. Fifty-five years later, in a quirk of fate, some of the first Tibetans to be resettled in the United States--inclusive of the Dalai Lama's own brother--were sent to Shelton's home state of Indiana.


The Tibetan Trade Delegation, headed by Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, at New Delhi to meet with U.S. Embassy officials, headed by George Merrell. Photograph at U.S. Embassy, 1946. Most believe the first Tibetans in America were the members of this delegation, which arrived in San Francisco, in July 1948. I have more photographs of all these events and will post them when technical protocols permit. This "blog" isn't working properly today.

Tolstoy, Dolan, and a group of unidentified lamas.

Dr. Joseph Rock

Gifts from President Roosevelt presented to Dalai Lama XIV by OSS Mission.

The First Tibetan Temple in America

The first Tibetan Buddhist temple in America was manufactured in 1930, in Beijing, and thereafter installed at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. It was a reproduction of a temple in China (above).

In 1930, the American industrialist, Vincent Hugo Bendix (1882-1945), commissioned the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin (1865-1952) to oversee the construction of a replica of the Tibetan Buddhist temple at Jehol. My father (1900-1964), was also significantly involved with this project and I do recall hearing about this many times. I believe he became involved at the request of Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947), with whom he did business. Initial cost of manufacture (in China) was $65,000., and ultimately, the entire project consumed $250,000., with Bendix paying the lion's share. Hence, the temple was known as the "Bendix Lama Temple," or variously, the "Jehol Temple."

Vincent Hugo Bendix (1882-1945)

Sven Hedin (1865-1952)

The temple was shipped in thousands of numbered pieces from Beijing to Chicago, and thereafter to the New York World's Fair. Like all aggregates, it has since dispersed. The Golden Temple Foundation, in Stockholm, had a subsequent interest, as did Oberlin College and a few private collectors. It is so very strange, but I saw some of the "missing" pieces from this temple in San Francisco, in 1968.

Visitors to the temple could purchase a commemorative book, various trinkets, and "Lama Incense" used at the temple.

A Long Life Prayer for Nobody

With compassionate prescience, you took rebirth in the West
On the very day destruction violated the Tibetan border:
You, the fearless shepherd of frightened beings in flight.

As a child in a land with little Dharma
The Buddhas themselves were your teachers
Bestowing the confidence of timeless knowledge.

You greeted the weary when they arrived
Giving to each the symbolic seed of their future activity:
Always, you were the guardian and protector.

Of fortunate birth and noble lineage
You kept secret the name that might have brought you comfort
And concealed yourself within the dance of wisdom.

You upheld the traditions in the most troubled hours
A well-placed guide for Padmasambhava's sons:
You, the heart emanation of kings and heroes.

Those who give refuge to all beings
Themselves found refuge in you,
Disguised as a whispering mirror at our side.

With perfect devotion we pray for your long life
Moreover, we beg you to look quickly upon us with mercy
From the azure blue sky of intelligence and emptiness.

Test from the Road

I'm on my way to release a box full of turtles.

Samye: The Center

Samye, in the first half of the 20th century.

W.Y. Evans-Wentz

Every Western Buddhist of the past generation is familiar with the American, Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz, PhD (1878-1965) (right). For the final twenty-three years of his life, he lived in a small room in the Keystone Hotel in San Diego. It is said he chose the Keystone because it was near the city's only vegetarian restaurant—the House of Nutrition—and near the public library, where he sometimes checked out his own books because he had given all of his copies away. He also owned land and a small retreat house at Mt. Cuchama, a few miles away near the Mexican border. According to his will, Evans-Wentz deeded Mt. Cuchama to the State of California with the provision that it be made a public monument to symbolize goodwill and fraternity between the races and faiths of the Occident and the Orient. I do not know if this has, in fact, been accomplished but if it has not, then the site deserves a 108 foot stupa. Every Tibetan Buddhist teacher alive owes a profound debt of gratitude to this being. He died near Encinitas, California, after having donated his papers and books to the Oxford Library where, because of water damage, many were subsequently thrown away.

Evans-Wentz, shortly before his death in 1965.

Padmasambhava's Footprint

Padmasambhava's footprint, at Moon Cave. Compare this with the handprint, posted below.

Shechen Kongtrul

One of my teacher's teachers: Shechen Kongtrul, Pema Drimey (1901-1960)

Recognition Guide to Buddhist Monks

I saw this on another site, and I thought it was fun. Here is a Recognition Guide to Buddhist Monks. Top row, left to right: Burma, China (commonly seen on Mainland), China (seen in Taiwan), Japan, Korea. Bottom row, left to right: Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Thailand, Viet-Nam (countryside).

A Dream

Ordinarily I do not like to post things of a personal nature. Still, there is an exception to every rule.

Last night I had a dream of the XVIth Karmapa.

I dreamed that we were on an unimaginably beautiful island, with magnificent flowers, foliage, streams, springs and so forth. His Holiness said, "You know, last night I came into several hundred thousand dollars. Do you think we should buy this island?"

In the dream, the island was owned by a woman of peculiar temperament. I cautioned the Karmapa, "I know she paid $2 million but it is likely she will ask for $5 million."

Then, at this point, the XVIIth Karmapa came to me, clear as could be and said, "Don't worry Rinpoche. People like us cannot be cheated."

Below is a picture of the face that came to me in the dream.

Where Is the Black Crown?

Here are four different views of H.H. the XVIth Karmapa wearing the Black Crown. The first (black and white) image was taken in Tibet. It is plain this is not the same black crown he is wearing in the three photographs that follow.

When I attended the Black Crown ceremony, it was with the understanding that merely to see the Karmapa wearing the Black Crown would be sufficient to confer liberation at the time of death. I had the rare opportunity to examine the crown closely, and I do believe it is true: the crown is made from dakini hair.

Gesar, Trungpa & Flags

Robin Kornman, who is translating the Gesar epic, has the above flag noticed on his website. He calls it Trungpa Rinpoche's "secret flag," and explains that Trungpa designed it during a calligraphy workshop. Nevertheless, Robin is asserting a copyright in the design, which apart from being ridiculous is also charming. Doubtless Robin will assign this copyright to the 12th Trungpa Tulku.

According to Robin, the above depicts a Chinese character which he describes as the character for "Universal Monarch." Well, yes and no. The character, "Wang" (or "Wong," if you prefer, but certainly not "Huang") can be considered the character for "King." To depict this character in black is incorrect. It should be imperial yellow. Similarly, the six dots to the left should be on an aquamarine blue field, and should be the six colors white, blue, yellow, red, green, and charcoal black.

A Splendid Model

Here is a lovely, home-sized altar.

Of Temples

Everybody is always telling me how difficult it is to build a Tibetan Buddhist temple in America. Do you think it is easier to build one in Tibet? Proportionately speaking, it seems to me that it is much more difficult to build in Tibet where there is less population, far less wealth, less sophisticated logistics infrastructure, and so forth. Indeed, after 45 years dealing with Buddhism in America, I have come to the unhappy conclusion that the only reason we do not have more temples is because American Buddhists are fundamentally tight-fisted and lazy. The prevalent attitude seems to be, "go find a Taiwanese millionaire and let them pay for the American temple." I am ashamed to think about such things, and I am ashamed to say such things, but true is true. The representative of a Tibetan Buddhist group came to me in California and asked for help in building a temple. I told her I would donate all of my earthly possessions and wealth, with the sole exception of the clothes on my back, if all the members of her group would do the same. Unfortunately, there were no takers. This does not make any sense at all. Should we wait on Taiwanese millionaires, or should we handle these issues right here and now? Take a close look at the Tibetan temple in the photograph above. Pay particular attention to the image of Buddha at the left. Notice the terrain, and then tell me if this was easier than plunking down a million U.S. dollars.

Jamgong Mipham Rinpoche's Monks

Here is the crew at H.E. Jamgong Mipham Rinpoche's monastery. They are living only for your happiness. What are you living for?

Liberation Upon Seeing

They even make bumperstickers of these, which may or may not be what the terton Migyur Dorje had in mind, but who knows? Isn't the objective to get this in front of the largest number of people? Suppose we rent billboards for this image? In any event, the promise is as follows:

"Those who see this script will not experience the three lower realms and will be liberated from the fear of falling into the lower realms; will be purified of the five poisons and will be freed from the results of one's karma; will be freed from the fear of remaining in samsara."

Mipham Rinpoche

H.E. Jamgong Mipham Rinpoche and his wife, Dechen Wangmo

Col. Olcott and the Buddhist flag

Col. Olcott, and the International Buddhist Flag.

Most people (outside of Sri Lanka, where they have statues of him in public places) do not realize that an American, Col. Henry Steele Olcott (1832-1907) is indeed the designer of the Buddhist flag, among his many other contributions.

Jigme Lingpa statue

Here is a really splendid rupa of Jigme Lingpa.

Of the Terton

Terton Sonam Gyaltsen (1856-1926)

My teacher often referred to him with the greatest respect.