Articles by Trashi Gomang Buddhist Centre

Last Saturdays lunch was a successful gathering and sharing of food and story’s, about the year nearly passed. As ever, the food was wonderfully spicy and the people serving at Little India, were courteous and helpful. Some thank yous; The Buddha for showing The Path, Geshela for teaching it and Celia for translating. Thank you to all in the cabinet and to all who through practising the teachings, illuminate and animate them. May our practise deepen and widen in 2009.

The tentative start date for teachings in 2009, is Sunday 11th of January.

Hoping you all have a fun and safe New Years.

Medicine Buddha Puja, this Monday 15th of December at 7.30pm, with Geshela.

Trashi Gomang Lunch

Saturday 13 December

Little India Resturant

To mark the end of the year there will be a Trashi Gomang lunch with Geshe Dhonam and Ven Tenzin, along with Celia and many other Trashi Gomang people.  It will start at 11.30am and it’s at Little India (501, New North Rd, Kindsland) where the food will be vegetarian and delicious. So that we know how much food to order, please email Trashi Gomang with “Lunch” in the subject line.

Dr Barry Clark is holding public workshops on Tibetan Medicine with an introduction on Friday the 5th of December and full day workshops on Saturday and Sunday. For more details visit:

www.drbarryclark.com

Tenzin Chosang is back from retreat (Welcome back, Tenzin!), and so meditation sessions are back on the schedule.

Every Thursday starting at 8.00 pm

Great for beginners and those wanting a regular guided meditation.

Tenzin Chosang

The Sacred Words of Manjushri - one of the eight great lam rim commentaries, The Sacred Words of Manjushri uses the poem composed within the text which contains the condensed meaning. It is a very vivid and engaging poem - deeply inspiring to practice as well as containing the entire Lam Rim meaning. Wednesday 29th October, starting 7:30pm.

Elizabeth is caring for her very ill Father in America.  Our thoughts go out to Elizabeth and her family. Meditation classes are expected to resume later. We’ll keep you posted here on the site and in the Trashi Gomang newsletter.

Completed!  Thanks to everyone who came!  Thanks to the organisers: Eric and Olwen!

Hi Everyone!

Trashi Gomang Buddhist Centre is having a

Working Bee

Saturday the 18th of October

10am - 2pm

All you need is your gardening gear

Refreshments served

Please help us spruce the old place up!

Peter Jilks, a PhD student of Australian National University, is now studying with Geshe Dhonam at Trashi Gomang. He will outline his research, The Doctrine of Irreversibility on the Buddhist Path to Enlightenment, in a talk on Tuesday the 30th of September.

There are three main aspects to the investigation:

• theories underlying notions of spiritual progress
• the idea that the goal is certain once a certain stage of progress is reached
• whether a practitioner’s progress can be gauged by means of certain observable signs

He will draw from a wide range of Buddhist literature, including Sanskrit and Tibetan commentaries on the important fifth century text, Abhisamaya-alaṃkāra (Ornament of Clear Realisations), as well as various works on metaphysics and epistemology, theories of how we know what we know. The talk will be held at Trashi Gomang Buddhist Centre, everyone is welcome.

The Doctrine of Irreversibility on the Buddhist Path to Enlightenment by Peter Jilks

Held at Trashi Gomang Buddhist Centre

Tuesday 30 September, from 7pm

Beginning on Monday the 29th of September, Elizabeth Hannah will be conducting an eight week program of meditation sessions. Elizabeth is experienced in meditation and brings a wealth of personal knowledge to these classes.

Meditation Classes at Trashi Gomang Buddhist Centre
7pm to 8pm
$10 per session

Celia Smith, Trashi Gomang’s translator, has studied under and translated for Buddhist teachers such as Khensur Thapkhey Rinpoche, Geshe Dhonam, Khensur Tegchog and Geshe Yonten Gyatso among others.

In “Nuggets of Gold - Words from Contemporary Buddhist Masters” Celia will be conveying advice and teachings to us that she received from her Buddhist Teachers, certain key elements of Buddhist thought and facets relevant to our modern lives.

A contribution of $10 is requested as a donation which can be receipted for a tax rebate as a donation to a charitable trust.

The talk will take place at Trashi Gomang Buddhist Centre on the 4th of September.

If you have questions please contact Celia directly at celia.ceremony@lycos.com or contact Trashi Gomang.

Important: these talks have been postponed. For further information please contact Dale and Mary at dodd@ihug.co.nz

Trashi Gomang is privileged to be hosting An Introduction to Jungian Dreamwork. Jung, along with Freud, founded modern depth style psychotherapy, at the turn of the last century. Many terms coined by Jung, such as complex, introversion, extroversion, archetype, collective unconscious and persona, have found their way into everyday vocabulary. For those interested in deepening their understanding and application of some of these concepts….

An Introduction to Jungian Dreamwork

In discussion with Dale Dodd PhD Jungian Analyst and Mary Lane-Dodd PhD Jungian Psychotherapist.

This will be held over four months, on August 23rd, September 27th, October 18th, November 22nd, from 10.30am to 12.00 noon. The cost per session is $30 to be paid to Trashi Gomang on the day. The venue is Trashi Gomang, 31 McIntyre Rd, Mangere Bridge, Auckland.

Please note that there are only a limited number of places for these sessions. Register your interest by contacting emailing Trashi Gomang.

Here are some pictures taken at Trashi Gomang.

Click on the picture for a larger version.

The bigger versions may take some time to load.

The stupa was consecrated on the 24th of February with 16 ordained sangha in attendance. Among the other people present were Stan Semenhof, the Mayor of Whangarei and Professor Patu Hohepa representing Ngapuhi as well as members of other Buddhist centres and residents of Whangarei. The stupa is the culmination of extensive and dedicated hard work by the Jam Tse Dhargyey Ling members with the wider community’s help and generosity. Co-director of the centre, Paul Currie, declared the stupa open to the public for everybody to visit. Venerable Thupten Tulku Rinpoche and Geshe Sonam Rinchen each gave short teachings outlining the purpose of the stupa, what it represents and how it ties in to Buddhist teachings and practice.

Here are some photos taken at the opening. Clicking on the thumbnail pictures will take you to a larger version which may take some time to load for those without a fast internet connection. Click the ‘back’ button on your browser to return to this page. The photos are Jam Tse Dhargyey Ling’s; to reproduce them please contact Paul Currie at Jam Tse Dhargyey Ling.

For more information on the Stupa and to see photos of it being built you can visit the Jam Tse Dhargyey Ling Buddhist Centre by clicking on this link.

Geshe Yonten Gyatso has spent his life studying and practising the teachings of an unbroken lineage of Buddhist masters right back to Shakyamuni Buddha.

Geshe Yonten Gyatso was captured and imprisoned while trying to escape from Tibet in 1959 and spent three years in jail under extremely harsh and inhumane conditions. Eventually he was able to return to Labrang Monastery and was later chosen by the Panchen Lama to be the resident teacher at his monastery. In 1985 Khensur Thapkhey Rinpoche (the founder of Trashi Gomang) went to see him on behalf of Drepung Gomang (the monastery with which Trashi Gomang is associated) to go to India to teach and eventually the Panchen Lama granted him permission to do so. Since then Geshe Yonten Gyatso has been teaching at Gomang Monastery and is now one of the most revered teachers, renowned for his knowledge of both sutra and tantra.

Through Geshe Dhonam’s request and the support of sponsors who have paid for the flights, we are extremely fortunate that Geshe Yonten Gyatso is able to visit New Zealand for a third time. There is no charge to attend any of his teachings but donations towards the other costs of the trip will be very helpful.

Geshe Yonten Gyatso will be giving teachings in Auckland at Trashi Gomang Buddhist Centre; the teaching schedule is here.

Geshe Yonten Gyatso will also be teaching in Wellington at Trashi Ge Phel Ling Buddhist Centre. Brief details are on the schedule page. For further information, see Trashi Ge Phel Ling’s website here for more information.

(Earlier Picture of Geshe Yonten Gyatso)

Welcome back to a new year of teachings and activity at Trashi Gomang Buddhist Centre!

On Wednesdays at 7:30pm, Geshe Dhonam is currently teaching the tenets of the various Buddhist schools of thought and on Sundays at 4pm he answers questions on any Buddhist topic. Anybody is welcome to these teachings. All are also welcome to meditation class on Thursday nights at 8pm run by the resident Western monk, Tenzin Chosang. The class is suitable for all levels of practitioner and involves placement, analytical and visualisation meditations. Tenzin Chosang also runs meditation classes at 8:30am on Sundays in St Matthews in the City on the corner of Wellesley and Hobson Streets in Auckland’s Central City. All are also welcome to those classes which follow a similar format to the Thursday classes. Both Geshe Dhonam and Tenzin Chosang are available for personal advice or guidance.

July 2008 Update: Geshe Dhonam has finished teaching on tenets, for the current teaching topics please see Weekly Events.

Also: Tenzin is away for part of 2008 on retreat, he will be back in November and meditation classes will restart then.

We wish everyone a warm-hearted “Tashi Delek” for Losar, the Tibetan New Year. May you all have wealth, health and an abundance of happiness in the coming year and very quickly travel the path to enlightenment.