The magnificent Jetavanaramaya Stupa in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka is considered as one of the most sacred pilgrimage places in Sri Lanka. The stupa was built on the ground where the legendary Mahinda Maha Thero gave a seven-day discourse on Buddhism. Mahinda Maha Thero was the son of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka and a great...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, Asia, Travel | 48 Comments »
Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia. It has the biggest and most diverse archipelago in the world covering 2 million square kilometres from Asia to Australia. This tropical country is made up of over 18,000 islands, but only 6,000 are inhabited. It boasts dramatic landscapes, like Sulawesi’s magnificent coastlines with white sandy...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, Asia, Travel | 9 Comments »
Interviewing Most Venerable Geshe Namgyal Wangchen of Drepung Loseling Monastery about H.E. the 25th Tsem Rinpoche Interview Transcript Drepung Loseling Monastery (November 2007) So to start off with maybe, if possible, you can recollect about how it all first began, how did Rinpoche first come to know about you. If...
Posted in Great Lamas & Masters, བོད་ཡིག | 37 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche) Significance to Buddhist Sarnath is considered a sacred place to the Buddhists for being the place where Gautama Buddha first taught seven weeks after achieving enlightenment in the 6th century BC. This first teaching is known in Sanskrit as Dharmacakrapravartana Sutra, Turning the Wheel of Dharma Sutra. The main topic is...
Posted in Asia, Buddhas, Dharma & Practice, Travel | 10 Comments »
In the heart of Indochina lies Laos, a tropical country that was once known as the realm of a million elephants. Today Laos or Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao P.D.R.) boasts a wealth of natural wonders and unchartered rivers, surrounded by mountains and lush green landscapes, making it one of the leading countries for...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, Asia, Travel | 8 Comments »
Introduction The Buddhist scriptures from China are great treasures of knowledge, and came about due to the kindness of the Buddhist masters who risked their lives to travel to China in order to spread the Dharma. The hardships that they endured throughout their journeys didn’t stop them from sharing the Buddha’s precious teachings...
Posted in China, China 中国, Great Lamas & Masters, Travel | 11 Comments »
Kiri Vehera Stupa (Kiri Vehera) in Kataragama is one of the sixteen sacred places in Sri Lanka that have been visited by Buddha Shakyamuni (Solosmasthana). Kiri Vehera is unique because it facilitates a close and beautiful relationship between Buddhism and Hinduism. In the 6th century BC, King Mahasena, the previous incarnation of the celebrated...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, Asia, Inspiration & Worthy Words, Travel | 9 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche) Cambodia or formally known as the Kingdom of Cambodia is located at the Southern part of Indochina peninsula (mainly comprises of 3 countries: Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam) in Southeast China. Its largest city is Phnom Penh, which is also the capital of the country. The kingdom practises a parliamentary monarchy, the current...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, Asia, Travel | 12 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor David) Introduction Since the time of the Buddha, the Dharma that he taught has spread to many countries beyond India. This has resulted in Buddhism adapting and becoming entrenched in many parts of Asia. Each country that Buddhism has spread to have developed their own unique flavour while retaining...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, Asia, Travel | 12 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor David) For a practitioner who truly is interested to practice the Dharma, one must begin with the accomplishment of the preliminary practices, which is known as Ngondro in Tibetan. If the preliminaries are done well and with the right motivation, later practices of Tantra will developing profound realisations, and...
Posted in Buddhas, Dharma & Practice | 23 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche and Beatrix Ooi) The Kelaniya Temple is considered one of the most sacred sites in Buddhism. It was constructed on the banks of the Kelani River, near the city of Kelaniya, about 12km to the northeast of Colombo. It is said that the temple was consecrated by the historical Buddha during...
Posted in Asia, Travel | 10 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche) Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey (1921 – 1995) was a great Buddhist master who founded Dhargyey Buddhist Centre in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1984. During his lifetime, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey had invited his close students and high incarnate lamas, Venerable Jampa Thupten Rinpoche (Thupten Rinpoche) (1941 – 2011) and Venerable Lhagon Rinpoche (Lhagon...
Posted in Audio Teachings, Buddhas, Dharma & Practice, Downloads, Great Lamas & Masters, Videos | 3 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor Adeline Woon) Myanmar, previously known as Burma, is a new and developing tourist destination in Southeast Asia, known for its rich culture and natural attractions. It is an exotic and fascinating destination in Asia that offers numerous archaeological sites, pagodas and temples, rivers and natural lakes, sites of natural...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, Asia, Travel | 11 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche) Dear friends, I wanted to share some of my interactions with one of the greatest scholars, teachers, abbot emeritus, and masters of the Gelugpa tradition of our time – the great Mongolian Abbot Emeritus of Drepung Gomang Monastery, who was renowned for his scholarly knowledge and his pure monkhood within Gaden,...
Posted in Buddhas, Dharma & Practice, Great Lamas & Masters | 12 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche) Chengdu is the capital of China’s Sichuan province which is located in the southwestern part of China. This beautiful city has a rich culture and history that dates back to as far as the 4th century BCE when it used to serve as the capital for the Shu Kingdom (one of...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, China, China 中国, Travel | 14 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche) Dear friends around the world, I had a friend that lived down the street from where I lived in Howell, New Jersey, USA, and she had a pretty big library of spiritual books, especially books on Buddhism. Back in the 70’s many of the local libraries did not carry many books...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, Books & Poetry, Buddhas, Dharma & Practice, Downloads, Explorers, Travel | 33 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche and Joy Kam) Gal Vihara, also known as Gal Viharaya, means stone or rock temple in Sinhalese. It is a Buddhist temple situated in the second largest ancient city of Sri Lanka, in the Northern Central Province of Polonnaruwa. The Buddha images at Gal Vihara are known to be very sacred...
Posted in Art, Architecture & Culture, Guest Contributors, Inspiration & Worthy Words | 13 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche) Sri Lanka is a beautiful country where the majority (70%) of the population are Buddhists of Theravadan tradition. However, Sri Lankan Buddhism is unique because, in addition to focusing on the practice of attaining self-liberation through one’s own effort, they adopt the practice of Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara. Within the Sri...
Posted in Asia, Downloads, Travel | 10 Comments »
(By Tsem Rinpoche) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2011 MES AYNAK, Afghanistan — It was another day on the rocky hillside, as archaeologists and laborers dug out statues of Buddha and excavated a sprawling 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery. A Chinese woman in slacks, carrying an umbrella against the Afghan sun, politely inquired about their progress. She had...
Posted in Asia, Buddhas, Dharma & Practice, Travel | 15 Comments »
Dear respected friends around the world, I have read several inspirational accounts of Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche from various high lamas and somehow this one always seems to stick out the most. Needless to say, this is one of my favourite accounts of this great lama. It is warm, intimate, inviting and it draws you...
Posted in Downloads, Great Lamas & Masters, H.H. Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, Inspiration & Worthy Words | 25 Comments »