Stories from a Chela – Dharma Texts & Fruition of Imprints
Dharma texts are repositories of the knowledge and means to achieve real transformation of the mind. These days, however, many people do not think about the process involved in the creation of such texts.
‘Chela’ is Sanskrit for ‘student’, particularly the student of a spiritual teacher. Stories from a Chela is a series of short posts of my personal experiences with His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche. I hope that these stories will give you a glimpse into how Tsem Rinpoche, and the unique brand of Dharma that Rinpoche embodied, have benefited me and countless others.
Dharma Texts & Fruition of Imprints
His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche was extremely passionate about this very website and called it a “virtual temple”. Rinpoche considered a temple to be a place where people can come to seek solace, away from the raging suffering of daily life, a place of healing, a sanctuary, a place where they can engage in spiritual activities and learn the sacred methods to transform their lives for the better. A temple is a place where the teachings are contained and ready for those who want to know them, to put into practise. That was Rinpoche’s wish for this website, which it has indeed become. At the click of a button, anyone in the world can access Buddhist knowledge and wisdom to improve their lives…all at no cost. Even though there are obvious costs behind allowing such knowledge to be available, Rinpoche said he wanted it to be free for everyone to access.
Rinpoche’s vision was made manifest, in part, due to Rinpoche’s Writers Team who were actually also his Ladrang staff (household staff). I was fortunate enough to be part of this team. One day, after finishing some particular exhausting work, Rinpoche relaxed on the sofa in his room, with a couple of us in attendance. As we sat around him, Rinpoche explained that nowadays, it is particularly easy to preserve and spread the Dharma due to technological advancements. We use computers to research, write and upload articles to websites, but originally, the preservation of the Dharma was comparatively quite a different experience.
Dharma texts were originally written by hand in Tibet on pecha, elongated loose leaf books, mirroring how texts were originally written in India. But in Tibet, for the texts to become wide spread, they used woodblock printing. Each page of the text was painstakingly carved into woodblocks in order to leave a print of the text on paper. If a text was 100 pages long, then 100 individual woodblocks needed to be made. In essence, they were akin to our modern-day usage of stamps. But this process was a difficult one.
A traditional woodblock, used for the printing of Dharma texts. Letters are carved by hand in reverse so that when printed on paper, the words appear correctly.
First, the wood needed to be found in sufficient quantities. Wood in Tibet, a Himalayan country, was scarce, and more than that, the wood needed to be of a certain quality – easy to carve into and cut, but sturdy enough not to crack over time or rot away. Once the wood was found, it had to be cut to shape and then carved. The text needed to be carved in reverse and backwards, so that once ink was applied it would appear the right way around once stamped onto a page. Once the process of creating the woodblock was completed, then began the process of making the paper and ink. The process was a difficult one.
After the whole process was completed, each woodblock needed to be stored in an environment where they would be protected from the elements, so they could be used again. That is why printing presses in Tibet, spanned over huge buildings capable of holding each and every woodblock, as well as areas for their creation, and printing on paper. To even hold a Dharma text in ancient Tibet was very unique, as it took so much energy to create. Hence, they were considered very previous for their physical secular worth, let alone the Dharma knowledge they contained for the transformation of the mind.
Rinpoche went on to explain, that in this era, when we publish articles on the internet, those who read them do not usually contemplate the energy it takes to write, upload and make the Dharma available for everyone at no cost. Though the process is easier than it once was, the importance of this for the Dharma lives of the Writers Team was immense. We were, and continue, to disseminate Dharma knowledge for the benefit of others, and at the same time help to preserve the Dharma for future generations, when physical books will be a novelty since everything will most likely be online.
Wooblocks for printing were once stored in great buildings to protect them from the elements and so they could be used for printing texts again.
The process of composing, printing and sponsoring Dharma texts has always been a central practice within the Tibetan Buddhist world. The reason being that it generates a tremendous amount of merit. This happens because you allow the Dharma to spread and somewhere, someone will benefit from this knowledge.
When Rinpoche was talking, I felt tears streaming down my face. I was quite embarrassed, and tried to hide it as well as I could, but Rinpoche kept looking at me out of the corner of his eye, whenever he took a sip of his tea. Once Rinpoche finished explaining all of this, Rinpoche said something like, “Pastor Niral, did you feel emotional when I was talking?” I replied that I did, and then Rinpoche showed his clairvoyance by telling me a little about one of my past lives.
Rinpoche said that in a previous life I didn’t really practise much Dharma, but I did sponsor printing presses for the costs involved with the creation of woodblocks. Because of this small little act, I generated merits. The texts that were created were Dharma texts, so I made a connection to the Dharma or planted the imprint of Dharma in my mindstream. These imprints came to fruition in this life, when I connected with the Dharma and learnt more. Through that, I decided to move to Malaysia and came to be part of Rinpoche’s Writers Team. This opportunity led me to spend time with Rinpoche, learn from Rinpoche, whatever small bits and pieces my deluded mind could contain anyway. This literally changed my life for the better. I only regret that I didn’t do more to serve and learn from Rinpoche.
Within Buddhist practice, we place emphasis on generating merits and planting imprints. Some people do not contemplate on the importance of doing this, but as this example shows, imprints can and do have an extremely transformative effect on our spiritual journey. With that in mind, I urge you all who read this, to keep practicing, generate merit and plant imprints. You may not see the benefits now, may not even in this life, but later on in your spiritual journey when they fruition, you will benefit from them a thousand-fold, no matter how small the original act.
For more interesting information:
- Stories from a Chela – Cleansing Sang Visualisations
- Stories from a Chela – Hurt, Revenge and Black Magic
- Stories from a Chela – Unconditional Love
- Stories from a Chela – Sacred Handprints
- Stories from a Chela – The Journey to Manjushri
- Stories from a Chela – Taking Refuge
- Stories from a Chela – Daimajin and Wrathful Deities
- Stories from a Chela – Real Worship
- Stories from a Chela – The Roadside Seller
- Stories from a Chela – Blessing the Animal Realm
- Stories from a Chela – Real Transformation
- Stories from a Chela – Za Rahula and Strange Habits
- Stories from a Chela – Spiritual Nourishment for All
- Stories from a Chela – The Lama that Builds
- Stories from a Chela – The Teaching in the Tea
- Stories from a Chela – Incense Offering That Saves Lives
- Stories from a Chela – Supernatural Protection
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If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Thank you Pastor Niral for this wonderful sharing. It is very easy for most of us to take things for granted. Many years back when technology was not so advance, everything has to be done manually that require great amount of time, patient and effort to gain knowledge. People those days has sacrificed a lot in order to preserve the dharma teaching. And today Rinpoche has made it easily accessible for us to obtain the knowledge from the ‘virtual temple’ with just a few clicks away plus it’s free. Indeed very grateful to Rinpoche for all the effort done in preserving and teaching dharma, and reaching to all the countries via the virtual world. A reminder to continue to practise dharma and appreciate all effort for spreading dharma.
What a wonderful and interesting sharing on how old dharma text are made and it helps people to collect merits by sponsoring dharma text. And Rinpoche is an extraordinary person to be able to see that you have sponsored dharma texts to generate the merits to be in the dharma now. What Rinpoche can see we cannot see…what we cannot see Rinpoche can see😘🙏. Thank you very much Rinpoche and Pastor Niral for this beautiful sharing. May Rinpoche’s next incarnation come back soon to teach and spread the dharma. We miss you and love you very much 🙏💜❤️💛🕉☸️
It is always meritorious when we made contributions whether in physical or in material. What I found fascinating was the carving of Dharma scriptures or texts need lot of patience and skill to engrave. Besides, using wood to carve is somehow quite outdated compared to new technology using of computer and printer. Indeed it takes much hardship to print a Dharma text using ancient method and even to well preserve texts need to be stored and airtight to prevent elements contaminate. Thank you for Rinpoche manifest to have team writers in assistance for spreading Dharma to us.
Beautiful sharing Pastor. Thank you for sharing your personal experiences with H E the 25th Tsem Rinpoche. Interesting read and great knowledge. Some knowledge from this post . Sponsoring composing, printing and sponsoring Dharma texts generated good karma. Its through these Dharma teachings, spread and continuously reaching out to more people and in turn benefit them. Making a connection to the Dharma which then plant the imprint of Dharma in this life and in future life. Every contribution no matter how big or small could make a difference. Well …..the kind generosity enables one to help others on their spiritual journeys.