In the News
October 9 - October 29, 2006
A Big Thank You to All
Thanks to all the members and supporters of IBC, the pledge drive for Geshe Jinpa’s support is a huge success. We’re almost to the two-third mark on the thermometer graph! Like Green Tara, you’ve been the heart of generosity.
Our goal is to have pledges for Geshe Jinpa exceed $1500 per month. With this amount we can insure that our precious teacher’s basic needs are met, that he has health insurance, and that any legal expenses necessary for procuring a Green Card and maintaining a legal status in the US can be met.
We Know You Hate Change, Now We Have a Way for You to Deal With It!
Click here for instructions on how to make your own merit jar.
His Holiness to Visit TCC
The staff of the Tibetan Culture Center in Bloomington, Indiana, announced that His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet will be visiting the TCC in October 2007. The exact dates and teachings topics are yet to be decided by the Office of Tibet.
To stay up-to-date on events as they progress, please join the TCC mailing list by writing to tcc@tibetancc.com. A web site is being developed at http://www.tibetancc.com
Geshe Jinpa’s advice to IBC students is to support TCC in every way possible. Each individual should do whatever he or she can, and IBC should offer support as a group. Rebecca will be the coordinator of the IBC group effort. Please contact TCC for specifics as to how you can help as an individual.
Support IBC While You Shop and Other Ways to Help
There are many ways you can help IBC and each one of them generates merit if you do it with the proper intention. One of the easiest ways (and probably the most fun) to generate income for IBC is to Go Shopping! That’s right. Join iGive.com, select Indiana Buddhist Center as your cause and then select from over 600 online stores that will donate a percentage of your purchases to IBC. For more detailed information and for other ways you can support IBC, click here.
Geshe Jinpa’s Advice:
The second teaching session on the last Sunday of every month is reserved for Questions and Answers. It is a time when students can ask any questions and receive advice or spiritual guidance from our precious teacher. Questions asked this month generated profound answers that you won't want to miss.
Note: The following is from a student's notes. If there are any errors or miss-reporting it is solely the responsibility of JoAnn Bush, the most unworthy of all of Geshe-la's students. However, in the hope that these notes will be of benefit to someone and perhaps lead to a deeper understanding of the Dharma, I present them here.
Question: As a lay person, how can I balance the idea of impermanence in my daily life?
Answer: The practice of the Dharma is an internal practice. It doesn't matter if you're a monk or not as long as you have a good intention. At the physical level, you can be driving a car...at the mental level you can be generate loving compassion while you drive. From one level it is very easy. At another level it is very difficult. But, approached from the right way, there should be no conflict.
Question:Our technological society allows us so much free time, yet we can't seem to make time for our practice - not even 1/2 hour a day. Can you help with this?
Answer: This same question was raised by a student of the Dalai Lama. You must have a conviction of your own impermanence. You don't practice because we harbor a sense of permanence and self-grasping. This kind of mentality takes a lot of time to generate.
It is important to manage your own time. If you look closely, you will see that there is probably time you are not using in a meaningful way. If you try to finish all you have set for yourself to do before you can meditate...the unending chores you have listed...you will never finish the chores and you will never get to your practice. It is better to limit yourself...limit what you must finish before you can sit down to your practice.
Question: I have a lot of intrusive negative thoughts that seem to pop up out of no where. How can I stop this unwanted mental activity?
Answer: You can say that we're more used to negative thoughts than positive ones. This comes from the imprints of our negative karma. First, look closely and analyze. These negative thoughts are not caused by the person who seems to instigate them. They come from your own ignorance. By determining where they come from, you can eliminate them. But this will take time.
Question: I sometimes feel that I'm losing my credibility by trying to stay positive. Many of my peers say I'm living on Sesame Street. They think I'm a wimp as a boss.
Answer: We discussed this before. Use the wisdom that helps the organization in the long term. Buddha himself tried to live within the mundane rules of the organization, group, etc. that he was in.
Everything depends on context. You have to use your intelligence. So maybe you're doing the individual a favor by firing him or her even if as a Buddhist you think you should have compassion and wish he could keep his job...and, in fact, in a different world you wouldn't fire him. If there is a person who is always causing problems, you don't need to show your patience which might cause even more problems. The important thing is to help the problem maker change so he's not causing problems for the group. You can do this through many different means. Use your wisdom to determine which one will work. The idea is that you want to help the individual.
There is such a thing as wrong compassion or wrong patience. If you see the Buddha meditating and he's getting skinnier and skinnier (from not eating) and you feel compassion, it is wrong compassion because he is becoming happier and happier as he reaches enlightenment.
Also, it is wrong patience when it spoils the individual so he can no longer function. This is wrong. You are probably getting angrier and angrier and hating the person more and more as you patiently spoil them. Practicing patience is not letting your negative mind take over.
Notes on Geshe-la’s Lam Rim Teachings For October 15th, 22nd, and 29th, 2006
If you missed the teaching, read a student’s notes here.