Agvan Dorjiev, a Buryat Mongol who received a Geshe Lharampa degree from Drepung, was debating partner and close confidant of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. Dispatched by the Dalai Lama to forge diplomatic links with the Russian Empire, Dorjiev's greatest achievement was the 1913 Tibet-Mongol Treaty with Mongolia of which he himself was the Tibetan signatory. Accused by many as having been a Russian spy, he appears to have genuinely served the wishes of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and, in later years, endeavored to protect Buddhism in the USSR from destruction.
The Phyang Monastery was established in 1515. The current head ‘Lama’ or teacher is His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche. Drikung Kagyu is one of the eight "minor" lineages of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The distinguishing factors of the Kagyu from other forms of Himalayan Buddhism are the esoteric instructions and tantra’s that are underlined along with lineages of transmission that they follow. The monastery has been recently refurbished and over 80 craftsmen and painters have put their skills into it.
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Yuri Lotman and Jelena Pogosjan’s newly translated book “High Society Dinners: Dining in Tsarist Russia” (Prospect Books, 2014) offers a flavorsome look at noble eating habits, supplementing genuine recipes with historical information and literary allusions.
The eight auspicious symbols, which play a central role in Tibetan Buddhism, have been considered since time immemorial as the original presents that the Vedic gods handed to the newborn Buddha. The present book throws a different light on the millennia-old history of these auspicious symbols, retracing their origins in the Stone Age and revealing their earliest manifestations on various continents. The Tibetan auspicious symbols reflect a cultural world heritage of overwhelming colorfulness and almost inexhaustible richness of meaning. They are symbols of universal validity for outer, worldly realities as well as for inner, spiritual processes. In his preface, the Dalai Lama writes: I am glad that the Institute is coming out with this book that not only explains the meaning of the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism, but also places them in context with the cultures of other historical traditions. It thus symbolizes the very objective behind the setting up of the Tibet Institute: spreading awareness about Tibetan Buddhist cultural values and placing them in relation to the broader world. “Presents for Buddha” was first published in 2018 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Tibet Institute Rikon (Switzerland), the first Tibetan monastery in Europe. The monastery is under the patronage of the Dalai Lama and, according to his wishes, “has been a facilitator of dialogue between Tibetan Buddhist and Western cultures”. This has become especially evident in this book: while in the first part Tibetan people, including the Abbot of the Rikon Monastery, explain the meaning of the auspicious symbols in their lives and their faith, in the second part Rudolf Högger leads through an illustrated cultural history of the symbols that goes far beyond Buddhism. Th us, the originality of this book lies in the combination of personal accounts of religious lives and a cultural-historical portray. Author: Tibet Institute Rikon, Rudolf Hogger
Theosophy Hall of the United Lodge of Theosophists on East Seventy-Second Street in Manhattan is one of those strange, wonderful, time-warp spaces you can find all over the city, if you know where to look. From threadbare armchairs in the lobby to a library of occult books in the basement, it’s the kind of place […]
(By Tsem Rinpoche) The Kalmyks are known to be very spiritual because they abide in a community of people who are strong practitioners of Buddhism. I grew ...
In this article, we will identify the Buddha and early Buddhist as descendants of Hebrew Israelites. It is not the intention of the information presented to encourage or promote the practice of the…
The image of the White Old Man (click to enlarge) (By Tsem Rinpoche) Since the pre-Buddhist Shamanistic era, Tsagan Evgen, also known as the White Old Man,...
Russian Empire Russia Saint Petersburg: Arrival of the Mongolian delegation at the station in Saint Petersburg: Zarendoschy-Han and Uday-Van - 1914 - Photographer: Karl Bulla - Vintage property of...
The Terrible, Horrible Voyage of the Russian Imperial Baltic Fleet
The Druk Amitabha Mountain Monastery in Kathmandu is the home of hundreds of young nuns rewriting their place in the Buddhist hierarchy, while spreading a message of human rights and gender equality in villages across the Himalayas through kung fu.
(By Tsem Rinpoche) The Kalmyks are known to be very spiritual because they abide in a community of people who are strong practitioners of Buddhism. I grew ...
(By Tsem Rinpoche) The Kalmyks are known to be very spiritual because they abide in a community of people who are strong practitioners of Buddhism. I grew ...
(Buddhism) Venerable Master Xu Yun (Empty Cloud): Mirror Pond on Mount Taibo in Shanxi
"The Mahasiddha Surya Gupta lineage of the twenty-one Taras is quite different from the Atisha lineage in that each of the twenty-one Taras is very distinctive in appearance and attributes and each Tara has her own sadhana. Although technically the practice of the twenty-one Taras is Kriya Tantra, it feels more advanced, with the sadhanas reading more like sadhanas from a higher level Tantra. Of course, in a sense, our experience of any Tara sadhana practice depends on the state of our mind and our degree of realization."
