On Friday evening, 16th September, of his arrival in Germany, Lama Jampa gave a profound and extensive presentation on Rebirth at the Stuttgart Sakya Centre for both established practitioners and newcomers alike. One of the points that was emphasised was the fundamental difference between the non-Buddhist concept of re-incarnation (where it is understood that a permanent 'soul' moves from life to life) and the doctrine of rebirth as taught by Lord Buddha himself, setting out the continuity of the mind consciousness as driven by karmic imprints carried over from life to life.
The following day saw the beginning of Lama Jampa`s precious line-by-line teachings on the famous Dom sum Rab ne – Discriminating the Three Vows by Sakya Pandita. The day's teaching represented just the beginning part of this profound text on the meaning of the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana vows, which clarifies many important points of potential misunderstanding in each of the three vehicles.
Despite the cold and rainy weather, the Sakya centre was happy to welcome dharma friends, including some who had travelled from such diverse places as Manchester and Vienna! There were also some newcomers, including at least one who on Sunday took the refuge & bodhicitta vows for the first time, as always included in the preliminary part of the initiation, in this instance that of the long-life goddess Namgyalma.
On Monday, Lama Jampa arrived in Basel where he spent a few days, including a free day on which he was taken on a brief tour of the city and a boat trip on the Rhine by his hosts. The teaching programme for the week included a wonderfully concise yet profound teaching on the Heart Sutra at the request of Bodhipath Zurich on Tuesday evening. Then two days later, on a golden late-summer evening hosted by Tessie Tellemans at Bodhipath Basel, Lama Jampa bestowed a short teaching from the Rabsel re-printed edition of Garland of Gold which he had originally written more than 30 years ago. It sets out the background, origins and transmissions of the early Kagyü lineages, including the lineage of the Kagyü Mahamudra system. Lama Jampa then bestowed the lung (reading transmission) for some vajra songs from the illustrious Kagyü forefathers, the translations of which are included as an appendix to the history itself. Tessie expressed on behalf of us all our heartfelt gratitude to Lama Jampa for accepting the invitation and bestowing this precious transmission.
On Friday 23rd September, Lama Jampa was warmly welcomed by Bodhipath Renchen-Ulm, the European seat of the late 14th Shamar Rinpoche, situated in the beautiful Northern Blackforest close to the French Vogues. There, Lama Jampa began teaching the famous Zhentong Madhyamaka text the Namshe Yeshe by the 3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, using the commentary The Lamp that Dispels Darkness composed by Lama Jampa's own master, the present Karma Thinley Rinpoche. The international gathering of dharma students from UK, Switzerland and Germany enjoyed the in-depth studies on the transformation of ordinary mind into wisdom mind. Beginning with a detailed review of non-Buddhist accounts of the origin of consciousness and the world, conveyed by Lama Jampa not only with great knowledge and wisdom, interjected with flashes of his unique and wonderful humour. In some concluding remarks, Lama Jampa reminded us of the importance of this wonderfully blessed dharma centre "where one feels the presence of the late Shamar Rinpoche" whose relics are contained in the shining golden stupa nicely situated in the spacious garden.