Autumn made its debut (albeit a little later than usual) this Saturday 10 October when Bristol welcomed Lama Jampa Thaye back to start teaching The Excellent Vase of Nectar. This is Karma Thinley Rinpoche’s commentary on The Sutra of the Three Heaps. which was first taught by Buddha Shakyamuni as the means to confess and purify negative actions by reliance on the Thirty-Five Buddhas.
Lama Jampa explained that mind itself is the creator of both difficulties and contentment in our lives but, nonetheless, the fundamental nature of mind is pure. The purpose of purification and confession of our negative actions is to enable us to see the true nature of our mind. He used the analogy of the negative actions being like clouds. They are not intrinsic to our true nature, but just temporarily obscure it. We create suffering for ourselves but suffering is also impermanent. Beyond the clouds is primordial mind.
In the afternoon, Lama Jampa Thaye bestowed the initiation of Vasudhara from the One Hundred Sadhanas of Bari Lotsawa. Vasudhara is a wealth-bestowing goddess who creates enriching conditions to support one on the Buddhist path. This initiation was a perfect complement to the morning’s teaching on purification and confession. We received the special transmission (lung) for the initiation practice and also for the lineage prayer of Bari Gyatsa at the end of the initiation.
At the end of the day’s events Lama Jampa reminded us that our daily meditation sessions and personal study of the teachings were only one part of our Buddhist practice. He commended those in our Bristol centre for their efforts to make the day run smoothly, telling us that our work within our Dechen centres and beyond was an integral part of our journey on the Buddhist path. We needed to see our practice in a more expansive way and bring all elements of our daily life onto the path. One excellent and joyful way to do this is to get involved with helping at our centres.
On Sunday morning, following on from the day of teachings in the centre of town, Lama Jampa gave a question and answer session at Sakya Buddhist Centre Bristol. The centre was packed and many questions were discussed, from how to understand the mahayana aspiration of becoming enlightened for the sake of all beings to how we can relax at the time of death with the practice and experience we have had in life.