Mandala Offering and End of The Complete Path Teachings 4th Year

HELD AT INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST ACADEMY (IBA), NEPAL
​9 July – 4 August 2023

Mandala Offering to His Holiness the 42nd Sakya Trizin Gongma Ratna Vajra Rinpoche on Chöekhor Düchen

During the precious teachings of The Complete Path by His Holiness the 42nd Sakya Trizin at IBA, on the auspicious day of Chöekhor Düchen, a Mandala Offering was made to His Holiness on behalf of Khenpo Ngawang Dhamchoe and Drogmi Buddhist Institute by DBI students and friends attending the teachings. Alongside offerings to His Holiness and the ordained sangha, all students received a picture of the Five Race Buddhas.

The following prayer was composed to mark this occasion: 

We pray for the longevity of our Precious Gurus, for His Holiness the Sakya Trichen, for His Holiness Ratna Vajra Rinpoche, for His Holiness Gyana Vajra Rinpoche, for His Eminence Luding Khen Rinpoche, for Her Eminence Jestun Kusho la and for the wellbeing of all their Noble Families. 

We pray for the preservation of the precious Buddha Dharma and the flourishing of the Great Sakya lineage. We pray for the happiness of all mother sentient beings. 

We pray for all our precious teachers – may they turn the minds of all beings towards the Dharma and lead them on the path of Ultimate Happiness. 

We pray for our Vajra brothers and sisters gathered here in Kathmandu, along with all our other Dharma brothers and sisters, that we all become strong in our practice as an expression of our sincere gratitude and deep devotion to His Holiness and our other precious teachers. We pray that all obstacles are removed and that all beings progress swiftly towards Enlightenment. 

We pray for our Dharma sister Genevieve Ryan who passed away recently and whose funeral is taking place on this very day, for Kye and all others in the bardo state.

May the precious Gurus enjoy excellent health and live long lives as we beseech them to continue to turn the Wheel of Dharma for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Completion of the Four Weeks of Teachings from Khenpo la

Thank you so much Your Holiness and congratulations to all students.

Words from a Few Students

“For myself, just being in Kathmandu, this most holy place for four weeks was challenging with all of the stairs we needed to climb each day, yet at the same time so uplifting with the special teachings from His Holiness 42nd Sakya Trizin. All being well, I hope to return next year, the year after that, again and again.”
~Brenda C.

“Firstly, I need to thank Khenpo la who is always giving teachings in every situation, and also for the formal teachings of the first three years of The Complete Path in Australia. For myself, I have not had any proper schooling or a smart mind. I must have accumulated good karma in the past in order to receive these teachings, so now I need to continue studying and doing my practices the best way I can.

“Surprisingly, I found His Holiness’ teachings easy to understand at the time of His teachings, so now I have to work on fixing my monkey mind plus plug up the holes in my leaky pot, to work really hard digesting at all.

“Our days off were on Saturdays, yet His Holiness continued to give teachings, doing pujas, and giving blessings for many to people at different places around Kathmandu on those days. His Holiness gave us teachings each morning then we had re-teachings each afternoon. The first week was from Khenpo Jordan and then after that it was Lama Ngawang Tenzin, who was the interpreter for His Eminence Luding Khen Rinpoche at Kamalashila Tibetan Buddhist Centre Tilba in 2019.

“As it is not appropriate to talk about the teachings that we had, I will share about some of the people I met or spent time with, starting with Bess and Pam. They kept everything at IBA running in shipshape – Bess did all of the admin, and Pam did all the housekeeping, the mind boggles!!! It was so much work, but they were always happy to help. We had our first Saturday out with Venerable Tsultrim, taking Brenda and myself to a Tibetan bookshop which was like in Aladdin’s Cave. Followed by a lovely lunch. 

“I was very fortunate to sit with Linda McKeone and Jacqui Quilty, as their kindness and support was truly wonderful, true dharma sisters. We also had a lovely day out together in the quiet countryside.

“I also had the good fortune to catch up with Dorothy. We first met in 1997, and she carried with her a group photo, she was very surprised and happy to see myself and Brenda. It felt like yesterday as we chatted together. Then there was Ashley from a few doors down from us. As well as going on a group day out, we found when chatting that we both attended the same Zoom practices for each of us in a different country on different days at different times and doing the practice together (the idea of time and place seem to have disappeared)! We can now look out for each other, being such a comforting thought. Thanks to Jack we caught up with Lama Kunga who lived in Whyalla, South Australia, many years ago, looking really well and happy. In the room opposite me was Renee who was from Townsville and doesn’t have a centre or resident teacher as yet but who knows what is around the corner for her drive and commitment seemed very strong.
 
“There were so many more people I could mention but it would take up the whole newsletter… The entire month went by so quickly as I feel so blessed to have been able to go. On a last note, I would highly recommend staying at IBA – fingers and toes crossed I will stay there next year. Love and blessings to all.”
~ Lynda W.

“This July I was lucky enough to be among the 31 Australians who travelled to the International Buddhist Academy in Kathmandu for the fourth year of The Complete Path Course. We made up the third largest national contingent behind the Chinese No.2 and the Spanish No.1. So much sangha from so many different countries, even some hardy souls who had no sangha in their home country but travelled overseas on their own as the foundation of their practice. 

“For most of us who studied the first three years in Australia it was an amazing experience. It was made all the more exciting because we had to wait out the Covid years before the fourth year of the course was finally re-scheduled, in Nepal.

“Thanks to Bess and Pam, the Aussie co-ordinators of the TCP course, the administration and organisation of the course was seamless. Six days a week for four weeks we enjoyed morning teachings and afternoon re-teachings. There were plenty of extra-curricular activities. Saturday bus trips to stupas, caves, and monasteries. Some Aussies organised Soor practices and Pujas in temples and stupas, having an Aussie audience with His Holiness, and a farewell dinner and even a meeting with the Australian High Commissioner to Nepal.

“It was a privilege to visit Nepal and the Kathmandu Valley in particular. It is such a spiritual place with so many important Buddhist sites, stupas and temples. I didn’t think I would ever stand in the cave that Padmasambhava lived and meditated in. We had the opportunity to circumambulate around the glorious Boudhanath Stupa every day. 
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“We were in Tibetan area of Kathmandu with monasteries seemingly every 50 meters. Kathmandu is a bustling city of around 5 million people (no one knows for sure), a cultural and spiritual melting pot. The cheerfulness and compassion of the local inhabitants faced with the crumbling and inadequate infrastructure was a daily inspiration. The street dogs are carefully looked after by the locals. The lucky dogs sleep all day and bark all night. The locals feed the crows and the pigeons. Potted plants bloom in ever available corner and thousands of prayer flags gently flutter atop all of the houses and buildings. Together with the humidity and monsoonal rain it was a study retreat I’ll never forget.”
~Anthony G.

​“In 2017 Khenpo la introduced us to The Complete Path teachings, expertly guiding us for three years, forming an amazing group of Dharma friends that I treasure. Some of us this year, 2023, were able to travel to Nepal to the International Buddhist Academy in Boudhanath, Kathmandu to continue year four of The Complete Path teachings from His Holiness the 42nd Sakya Trizin. The teachings were six days a week for four weeks. I didn’t understand much of the teachings. 

“I did notice a lot of Dharma practitioners, with their kindness and their attention to others. The many years practising and the great efforts they made through the Dharma. The many amazing results of practice and effort in the Dharma, like the ancient Boudhanath stupa and the modern IBA. Both drawing in practitioners and allowing them even now at this moment to follow and practise the teachings of the Buddha. I did realise even though my practice and understanding now is very weak and confused, that with the right motivation it can build to help others on the Dharma path, and potentially much more. So, I put my leave form in at work for next year. I’ll put away savings each week. I’ll quietly try to practise and study. So then I can understand a little more thanks to my Dharma friends.”
~Dino