Rinpoche’s Story — 2015-04-26

# 01-150426_1355.mp3

> **Collection:** Audio Recordings — Rinpoches Story
> **Duration:** 63.1 minutes
> **Words:** 7,813
> **Model:** Deepgram Nova-3
> **Corrections:** 12 Buddhist terminology fixes
> **Transcribed:** 2026-03-02 03:36

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Says the translator. We all know Ilia, and It’s very appropriate that, Ilya should say, some words on this very auspicious occasion. So without any further ado, thank you, Ilya. I would first like to ask, to to thank Tenzin for asking me to say a couple of words in front of you. And really, there is little I can add to what Khensur Lobsang Palden said, to what Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen said, and to what Tenzin said.

But I thought perhaps a historical context over what has happened and has led to the creation of TBI and also an assessment, an honest assessment of the situation of TBI, its strengths and its weaknesses will be of help to us. And one of the characteristics of history is that while we live in history, we are not aware of it. So we in the West, since 1945, we have experienced exceptional conditions. These conditions are coming to an end. We have experienced the fastest growth period in human history, oddly enough, during the Cold War, a period of great peace.

And it is during that period of exceptional circumstances, perhaps unique in Western history, that the Tibetan exodus began. If the Tibetans had to choose a time to be invaded by China, they could not have chosen a better time. When the Tibetans fled Tibet in 1959, the West was open to receiving them and had the means to do so. Should such an exodus happen today, I think the situation would be very different. What is the importance of the Tibetan Exodus?

It is basically the transmission of what is known as the Dalai Lama calls the Nālānda tradition to the West. In other words, the peak, the pinnacle of Sanskrit Buddhism, was preserved in Tibet for one thousand years after the collapse of Buddhism in India. As I said, this was transmitted during a period where not only were the material conditions optimal in the West, but especially in the sixties, there was a lot of interest in alternate religious traditions. And if we look at the stage of transmission of Buddhism or Tibetan, the Tibetan Nālānda tradition to the West, I think we can distinguish three stages. The first is one we are not really aware of anymore.

It was the academic stage. His Holiness the Dalai Lama sent Deshun Rinpoche, a great Sakya master to Seattle, Dagpo Rinpoche, a great Geluk master to Paris, and Geshe Sopa, an extraordinary Geshe to the University of Wisconsin. They all functioned within academia, within the University of Washington, Wisconsin, and the University of Paris. And they trained thank you. They trained most of the great scholars who started translating.

If we have works by Jeffrey Hopkins, if we have works by Donald Lopez, if we have works by the French disciples of Dagpo Rinpoche, it is due to that first stage of transmission. The second stage of transmission began around 1965 in India, when for the first time Tibetan masters felt it might be worthwhile to teach Western students. Then there are numerous great teachers who initiated this. I would like to mention my own root teacher, Geshe Rabten, who was asked by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to start teaching Westerners. And as a result of this, one of his disciples founded the institute and monastery where I studied in Switzerland.

The third stage of transmission occurred around or shortly after the period where his holiness the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize. Tibetan Buddhism which had until then been confidential, if you wish, a mass phenomenon. There was tremendous awareness and interest. And it is during this period that the need for teachers who were particularly skilled in the transmission to a general lay audience arose. It is during this period that Khensur Rinpoche’s work in Australia came to be.

I personally feel Rinpoche is perhaps the foremost representative of the third period of transmission, which is by far the most difficult, because one was dealing no longer with a high level university audience, but with a much more general audience. Then in such a context, it’s very helpful to look at the life of Rinpoche. Rinpoche’s life can be subdivided into three broad periods, and I think this is quite unique. He had a life in Tibet, a life in India, and a life in Australia. He covered, if you wish, the gamut of human civilizations.

In Tibet, was ordained young as a novice. And I feel something which helped extraordinarily Rinpoche’s ability to relate to ordinary people, that Rinpoche worked for his uncle who was a trader to restore the finances of the Argyu monastery, which had been affected by a local war. Rinpoche, therefore, although he was ordained and became a great Gishi, was also a profoundly practical man who was perfectly able to function effectively in lay society. In 1959, after having become the disciple of Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche at several monasteries in which he fled to India. Then in India, life at the beginning was typical of the entire generation of so called Buxsa Geshe.

He was assigned to the prison camp of Buksa, became a Geshe in 1966, went to Bylakuppe to recreate Sera Je Monastery. And eventually was assigned the honor of transmitting the Tripitaka, the Kangyur. The totality of Buddhist Sutras and Tantras in 1973. It’s an event which occurs once a generation. Shortly after this, Rinpoche became disciplinarian and eventually abbot of Sera Je monastery, during that period, a three year retreat.

At Sera, Rinpoche is known as one of the three greats. These were three abbots of exceptional capacities. Khensur Lobsang Tsering was known as the greatest scholar of Pramāna, of Buddhist logic. Khensur Jampel Tegchok as the greatest scholar of Mādhyamika, and Khensur Kangurwa Rinpoche as the greatest living scholar of Abhidharma. You can already see in Rinpoche’s life a feature of the aspects of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition, the fusion of study and practice.

I remember that Rinpoche told me during the difficult days when the monastery was recreated in the South Of India, when monks were simply given a shovel, a bucket, a top, and an axe, and told to go and cut the trees in the forest where they were very real, not metaphorical tigers. He told me that his students begged him that at least he should meditate and try to keep the tradition alive. And then he did retreat after retreat in a top tent and would teach at night. And Rinpoche told me, this was a couple years ago, this was how I accomplished most of my retreats. Then after this extraordinary ascension in India, Rinpoche was requested by one of the main sponsors of Sera Je monasteries, Opa Rinpoche, to come and teach in Australia and Rinpoche accepted.

After a year or so, Rinpoche felt there was little benefit in his presence here. It involved the transmission of the Buddhist teachings in a profoundly non Buddhist and non religious country with little interest for either. And during an audience with his Holiness the Dalai Lama, Rinpoche requested the permission to return to India. Then His Holiness said something to Rinpoche which Rinpoche threw in my face many years later. He said, if there is benefit for one being, you must stay.

Then who can say there is not benefit for one being? For sure there is benefit for one being. And Rinpoche stayed on that basis. Now this is really the testimony of a great Bodhisattva. This is how a great bodhisattva thinks.

One’s entire life is dedicated even to the welfare of one being, which for us is very difficult. And therefore, Rinpoche continued teaching at Buddha House until his retirement. I have just edited the recordings of Rinpoche’s teachings, and I have many teachers, I have 11 teachers. No one has taught what Rinpoche taught here. It’s a totality of sūtra and tantra.

Many times, Rinpoche taught Lamrim over and again, the three principal aspects of the path over again, Maitreya’s Abhisamayālamkāra, Kālacakra Tantra, I think was never taught in the West, which he taught. Karmapa abiding two times, Lama Chöpa two times, Mahāmudrā which is almost never taught, which Rinpoche taught from experience. Yamataka two times, Vajrayoginī two times, Heruka once, the six Yogas of Naropa two times, Hevajra two times. This is the core, the essence. Not much more than this is required to attain full enlightenment.

Then Rinpoche returned to India, it is at this point that I met Rinpoche for the first time. And I remember that the first time I heard about Kenzo Rinpoche, I was a bit irritated by some of the things he said. So I was at the period a big sponsor of IMI Kanze, which was a compound for Western monks and also sponsors suffer of a particular in other words, you want to do things as big as possible. So I wanted a two story compound for Western monks to study at Sera Je. And one of my friends, Japa Keldy, who was a disciple of Rinpoche, and I was a occasional student of Rinpoche, asked Rinpoche, and Rinpoche said, well, two stories is very ambitious.

Maybe one story would be better. Then I was quite annoyed. I wanted to sponsor a two story compound, and a teacher whom I was not related to suggested one stories, but well, we just went ahead with one story. And as the years passed, I came to understand Rinpoche’s foresight. We were never able to fill the one story.

Had we had two stories, it would have been a nightmare to manage this. Then my new teacher at the period was and I knew Khensur Kangurwa Rinpoche was his disciple. Then I really came to feel Khensur Kangurwa Rinpoche had uncommon foresight, uncommon vision. And therefore, when Rinpoche asked me to translate for Heruka initiation, I agreed. And then I really noticed that Rinpoche had uncommon power.

It was obvious during during the initiation. After this, my faith in Rinpoche increased greatly. And when Rinpoche proposed to give liberation in the palm of your hand at over twenty one days, I ask for permission to translate and sponsor the event. Then Rinpoche taught from experience. Rinpoche told me I have been a disciple of Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, you know.

And Rinpoche taught this. It was one of the great events in the history of Serraje. During twenty one days, Rinpoche taught this the way Pabongka Rinpoche taught it. This is quite unique. And which he told it over twenty one full days, follow the divisions, Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche did, given his own experience to illustrate.

Then Rinpoche, after his retirement here and after returning to Australia, wish to continue teachings. And in this context, decided to create the Tibetan Buddhist Institute. Rinpoche very skillfully asked me to start translating for him in Singapore, and I was very happy to go to Singapore to do this. And after this, Rinpoche invited me to translate for him in Australia. It is at this point that Rinpoche, who was already approaching his eighties, started the third cycle of his transmissions.

And this is something quite unique which the students here at TBI have been privy to. During the couple years before his departure for India, Rinpoche taught again everything. Everything which was necessary to attain full enlightenment, Rinpoche taught. The three principles of the past, the wheel of sharp weapons, Lojong Dunma, then the great commentaries. The commentary on Yamāntaka, the commentary on Vajrayoginī, the Guru Yoga commentary, the six yogas of Naropa which is uncommon specialty.

All this was taught. In other words, everyone who was hearing during that period has everything to attain full enlightenment in one lifetime. In addition to this, and this is characteristic of the deeds of great Bodhisattvas, Rinpoche created the Tibetan monk sponsorship scheme. This scheme is one of the major programs sponsoring actually both monks and lay people at Serage and in the Tibetan camps. It sponsors by the latest count in excess of one thousand sixty four persons.

This is an extraordinary deed. And Rinpoche did it very skillfully. Instead of burdening the students with a request for important donations, Rinpoche requested only $5 or $10 per person, per month, which everyone can do. So what are the qualities of Khensur Rinpoche which ordinary beings like us could see? I think the combination of scholarship and realization is what is striking.

Scholarship was never at the expense of meditative experience. Meditative experience was always grounded in scholarship. Then for those ordinary students who had little sense of what all this could mean, Rinpoche was a teacher of extraordinary humility and extraordinary kindness. This perhaps the reason for which he suffered a lot from his western students. Finally, Rinpoche was extraordinarily gifted in skill and means and practicality.

Many students who never became Buddhist came to see Rinpoche who was a fully ordained monk for family problems. And Rinpoche was able to settle family problems which is really not the responsibility of a fully ordained monk in a Geishi. I remember Rinpoche giving me excellent advice in financial matters, based on his profound understanding of human reality. And finally, those who attended Rinpoche’s initiations, I think, came back with a sense of Rinpoche’s power, very great power. Personally, I always saw Kinso Rinpoche as a teacher of the lost cases.

You will excuse me if this cuts a bit too close to the bone. When I came here, I thought Australians were a lost case. I mean, the culture is so alien. What does the culture have to do with Buddhism, basically? Yours is a culture of pleasure.

Then I really marvel at Rinpoche’s gift to relate to these people whom I personally wouldn’t have bothered with. And over and again during the teachings, Rinpoche mentioned the oath Buddha Śākyamūni took before attaining full enlightenment to dedicate himself to the beings of Jambudvipa, this world of ours, whom all the other Buddhas had given up upon. Now, I felt this was not a casual mention. Rinpoche mentioned this again and again. This is obviously very close to Rinpoche’s heart.

I think this was Rinpoche’s uncommon vocation. And I remember when I was a monk at IMI that Rinpoche would send us young Australians who had just been over the ordained study. And I would look at them and think, my goodness, who is this one? There was one covered in tattoos. Then they did very well, which means that Rinpoche saw beyond appearances.

Rinpoche saw an inner kernel which could be led to fruition. Now, if these are not the qualities of a fully enlightened being, what are they? A fully enlightened being has three qualities, wisdom, love, and power. Rinpoche had all three. At Sera, I was very struck when His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself who sees the true qualities of a being spoke of the qualities of Khensur Rinpoche.

His Holiness said, and I heard this directly, He has all the qualities of scripture and realization. This means whoever this is referred to is fully enlightened. Because all the qualities of scripture and realization means one has bodhichitta, one has full enlightenment, one has all of the great qualities taught in time. His Holiness mentioned that exterior appearances, Rinpoche had attained the highest levels of the practice of Heruka. And then several times when His Holiness came to visit Khensur Rinpoche, in front of the assembled western students, His Holiness said in English, Australia Lama.

Appointing in my opinion, Khensur Rinpoche as the teacher of Australia. And if you look at the number of Rinpoche students, such as Geshe Doga and others, who have ministered in Melbourne and elsewhere, and the extraordinary influence of Rinpoche over more than twenty years of teachings in Australia, then I think it is warranted. Then in this context, there is a quote in Ngag Rim Chenmo which summarizes Je Tsongkhapa’s goal. And this quote, I think, really resonates with Khensur Hinpoche’s life. Nowadays, those making effort at meditation have studied little, While those who have studied much are not skilled in the key points of practice.

Je Tsongkhapa is bemoaning around 1402 when he wrote Lamrim Chenmo. The fact that in his age, there were scholars and yogis, but very few were both. In Khensur Rinpoche, we see or we saw, if you wish, the Gelug answer to this situation. A being who was a great scholar and an exceptional yogi. Now in this context, I would like at present to raise a more delicate point with you.

But if you’re a translator, you have two functions. You are loudspeaker and you are hard drive. Loud speaker amplifies and a hard drive generally tries to remember. Now this hard drive is fairly defective, but nonetheless, meantime between failure is not too bad. Some of you may remember the last instructions Rinpoche gave before leaving Australia.

He was teaching here and the temple was full. The first thing Rinpoche did was to scold those who were present And to say, what, what? I teach every Wednesday and the temple is half empty. Now I leave and the temple is full. So clearly, it makes much more sense to attend the teacher’s teachings every Wednesday and not to come for the last commemorative event than never to come to teachings and to come at a big get together on the last commemorative event.

And this is what Rinpoche was pointing at. And then Rinpoche asked all his students to continue attending teachings after he had left. Because this is basically the meaning of TBI. Everything else is just matter. This is just buildings.

Even the statue of Buddha Śākyamūni is an object. It is a speech of Buddha Śākyamūni. The speech of the teacher which is the raison d’etre of all of this. And for a center to exist, obviously, there are conditions required from the side of the center. Those conditions we have.

But there are conditions required from the side of the students. And those conditions we are struggling with. The most important is actually to attend the teachings. If one does not attend the teachings, there is no reason for this center to exist. And as sponsor of this center, with the permission of Tenzin, I will mention this.

I was quite troubled by a very haphazard attendance of teachings. I think Rinpoche felt this because in his will, Rinpoche mentioned that if teaching stopped at TBI, TBI could be liquidated and the funds could be used for Dargye Monastery in Tibet. Then this I found very reassuring. I thought whatever we have done is of benefit in the future. For sure, at Dargye monastery, people have faith, and they need help.

And therefore, from our side, I think we should look within ourselves and ask ourselves, do I actually follow this one piece of advice that which he gave? Do I attend teachings? Then if you do, it is a vote for the center. If you don’t, it is a vote against the center. And I can guarantee it is a vote which is heard.

It is heard by all the teachers I have translated for. It is talked about after the teaching. It has a big impact on what is taught and what is not taught. His Holiness the Dalai Lama then when he came here also gave some advice. The first piece of advice he gave was to create a study program.

Now this is not easy, but we have managed. A study program is rooted in the fact that Buddhism is not based on faith but on understanding. Then once again, if one attends a study program, one votes for the study program. If one does not attend the study program, one votes against the study program. So in this matter, the advice of His Holiness is something we should keep in mind.

The two other pieces of advice His Holiness gave was to found your practice on reason, which can only be done through study, and to be wary of false teachers. His Holiness said, the so called Dharma kings, which are causing so much trouble in Tibet, false teachers. And we have false teachers in the West as well. If you look around, you can see them. So I think as disciples of both His Holiness of Dalai Lama and Khensur Rinpoche, we must fuse their advice in our practice.

Then I’d like to conclude with an assessment of the possible future of TBI, its strengths and weaknesses. I apologize for taking so much of your time. What are the strengths of TBI? The biggest strength, I think, is that TBI is rooted in an exceptional being. You will not encounter again.

The likes of Rinpoche will not return to the West simply because they are no longer being produced on this scale. The monasteries cannot afford to send them to the West. Then, thanks to Rinpoche, and it is really thanks to Rinpoche, we have an excellent Lharampa Geshe. Lharampa Geshe is the finest product of the monastic education. It takes more than twenty years.

Such Geshe is normally teach in the monasteries and they teach eight hours a day, six days a week. Here at TBI, we only ask our Geshe to teach twice a week and I feel he’s underused. I wish we could use him more. But at least, we should attend those teachings. Otherwise, it is a loss for the monastery and a loss for us.

Then, we do have a core of long-term students who are stable. This is a great blessing for the center. And we have managed with some difficulty to create a study program. What are our weaknesses? And I would like to emphasize these because these are things we should correct.

I think the biggest weakness we have is that an important number of long-term students have left the center after Henricoche’s passing. However hard we have tried, we have not been able to get them back. This is a loss for all concerned. It’s a loss for them, because it eventually amounts to a break of Samaya. It is a loss for the center.

Another problem we face, which is a problem all Buddhist centers face, is that there is no intergenerational transmissions. We have no Buddhist families coming or almost none. Our western disciples typically convert, and then it is one of the two partners in the couple which comes seldom to children. This means we are caught in a constant dynamic of conversion, which is a dynamic of instability, not of stability. We must find a way to stabilize our lay Buddhist community.

The third weakness we have, which is one every one of us can address, is that a large number of our students do not attend teachings regularly. There is a core which is extremely dedicated. But the way the Buddhist teachings are structured, it is not possible to benefit if one comes once a month. Geshe lakh has explained very clearly how one should proceed. One decides what one can do.

If one is busy, only one class a week. And one comes to that without ever missing, short of a heart attack. Finally, a problem which we have encountered in the last two years is a dwindling number of volunteers. Our center runs on volunteers. Without volunteers, we are going to be in a much more difficult situation for the future.

So our key weakness, and it’s a key weakness of Westerners in general, is instability and lack of long-term commitment. This is something we have to address inside ourselves. This center has no external problems. Financially, we’re doing very well. We have good teachers, we have good facilities.

We have internal problems. If we cannot stabilize ourselves, we will end up being a center in which the majority of the students rotates every two years, and we will never be able to create a stable and serious study program. And this is out of the capacity of TBI and Geshela to handle. It is in your hands. So what should we do?

Our world is becoming very harsh. If you follow the news, you can see this. We are in a state of advanced social decay and moral collapse. Drug use is rampant. We deal with more and more students who have mental problems as a result of drug use or alcohol usage.

This is a new phenomenon in the West. When I was young, it was not like this. When my mother was young, it was absent. We have entered a new age of economic hardship. The good days, the good years are over.

The period between 1945 and 2008 is over. In an age of economic hardship, it is not clear how many Buddhist centers will be able to stay open. I receive every month letters from Buddhist centers asking for help. Many I know have closed. Only centers such as this one is open.

We must use the opportunity. We must be greedy. These chances will not occur forever. We also live on a broader scale in an age of important political tensions and more fundamentally of change in global climate which impacts food and all the aspects of human society. In conditions such as these, the future will be much more difficult.

If you look back on your own lives, you can see it. Whether or not we are religious persons, in conditions such as these, some type of control of the mind is necessary. This mind control, this is something we can get from the Buddhist teachings. So even those of us who are not religious at all have a vested interest in trying to study a little bit. Then, this was all I had to say.

Thank you very much. Okay, testing. Thank you so much, Ilya. You always give us a lot to think about and very wise and incisive words and I’m sure that we’ll all take those to heart. And your reflections on Rinpoche also give us a good grounding in history and your own personal experience and so thank you so much.

We will now proceed to have some cake. And I’m not sure if there’s any chai left. And so so we need to we can stay here and we can bring that in. And although I’m just wondering whether we should just go straight to Natalie. That might be why don’t we do that?

So perhaps while we’re following on from Ilya’s words, maybe it’s appropriate to invite Natalie who is a Lojong student of Kensukunga Rinpoche and has featured prominently here over the ten years with Rinpoche and and then before when Rinpoche was at Buddha House. And Ilya was talking about dependability and continuity and Natalie is one of the one of those people who we can cite as good role model for all of us as students and not only with her insights and wisdom about what not to eat and what to eat and her suggestions in the magazines but also has a lovely nature and has worked hard in her own way to put the teaching into practice and is a great friend to us all. So, Natalie, I would like to come and just say a few words. Thank you. Here we go.

Natalie. Thank you. Oh, yes. Okay. And that’s all?

Yeah. Thank you everyone. I feel incredibly honored. Thank you, Chris. What an amazing introduction.

I don’t really feel that I deserve it at all. And I was quite surprised to be asked to give a small talk about my own personal experiences of Khensur Rinpoche, which are pretty hard to put together because there were so many. But I thought I would just go through a few anecdotes just to give you a little bit of a sense of the flavor of my experience with Rinpoche and really the flavor of him, such an amazing teacher. So my story and also I’d like to say that I don’t actually feel like I’m an old student of Rinpoche’s because I’ve only been coming to the centre for ten years, so I feel like I’m still quite a baby really. But, thank you very much for this honour.

So my story starts at Kangaroo Island, with Rinpoche. I finished doing an eighteen month trip around Australia with Judy and we decided to go to Kangaroo Island as the last part of our trip around Australia. And we had heard about this stupa that was going to be built. We didn’t know what a stupa was, but it sounded really interesting. And we decided to go and have a look at the site because it actually hadn’t been built and it’s now Daitung Ling as many of you know.

And we were very fortunate because we met Dale who is a Lojong student of Rinpoche’s and he very generously spoke with us about Buddhism for about three hours. We didn’t know very much at all. We’d only been, interested in the vipassana tradition up to that point, but we were really interested to learn. And the most important point about that meeting with Dale was that he said to us before we left, when you get to the Mainland make sure that you go and see my teacher Khensur Rinpoche and then he said he’s retired and I thought why would I do that? He’s retired you know I want to find a teacher who’s not retired.

So, anyway, got to the Mainland and decided to follow his advice. So rang up and Tenzin arrived to meet Khensur Rinpoche. At that time, he was living at Colonel Light Gardens in a suburban house sponsored by one of the students and I took a bunch of flowers with me. I didn’t really know what to do but Tenzin took me in to meet Khensur Rinpoche and I sat down and I looked up at Kenser Rinpoche and my heart just dropped and I thought oh no what have I missed and I can’t remember very much about that meeting of what we actually said, but one thing that I did ask was for a food blessing, that I could use for before meals and, I wrote down word for word what Khensur Rinpoche told me and memorized that and used that food blessing to this day and it’s unique. I’ve never heard of any food blessing in Buddhism that is the same as this one that he gave me.

So it was an amazing gift that I didn’t even realize at the time. So I left thinking what have I missed? Started doing teachings at Buddha House, going to teachings twice a week as was advised by Geshe Pema Tsering and very shortly after meeting Khensur Rinpoche, I was really fortunate because Buddha House sponsored a long life puja for Kensar Rinpoche. It was in a hall in North Adelaide, and the students had decorated it most exquisitely, white garlands of flowers everywhere and lights and and and everything was just exquisite. And it was my first experience of a poochie, so I had no idea what a pooja was or what it was going to be like.

And all I can remember was that I just felt elated and it was just this incredible ritual and ceremony that just felt full of respect and honor and like a party as well. So it was sort of this wonderful event combined. And that night there was one point where I was standing very close to Ribachet and they had just brought out the long life cake And he was wielding a knife, a sharp knife, which I saw him do a number of times over the years too much to Tensen’s consternation. And I was standing there near him, and I just felt this incredible sense of awe. And I remember thinking, would so love to make a cake for you sometime, but I’m sure I will never have that opportunity.

So after that pooja there, we were really lucky at Buddha House because Rinpoche started coming and doing some initiations and empowerments and even some teachings. And so every time I heard that he was coming, I made sure that I signed up really quickly to be sure that I would get there. And I remember the first of those empowerments was actually the Medicine Buddha empowerment and I really didn’t understand very much of what I was doing when I went to that empowerment, but I do remember feeling very elated from that whole experience and a real connection to Medicine Buddha which has lasted to this day. So some years later in 2005 when I heard that Khensur Rinpoche was actually coming out of retirement, I couldn’t believe my luck. So I immediately was at the first teaching at St Mary’s and St Mary’s was just wonderful experience.

Tenzin had organised this really lovely little suburban house and, as I look around here today there are a number of faces who were there on that very first night of that teaching And it was just an incredible, experience because we were in the lounge room at this house had Tenzin had set up the altar in the lounge room and we literally sat at Kenser Rinpoche’s feet. Every night it would be that we had teachings, it would be chockablock, and sometimes I can remember Tenzin and Carol shoving chairs through the door just to get an extra person in. And that night, that very first night of teachings at Saint Mary’s, it was, we had chai, and it was the ritual of chai that Carol and Tenzin had put together, this fabulous big pot of chai, we stayed around after teachings and drank chai and talked. And I really felt that Kenser Rinpoche wanted that building of community to occur, and that was a really good way to get that community started. So the next part, the next anecdote, I’m sort of about halfway through the anecdote, so bear with me.

The next thing that started, that I would like to mention is Judy and I decided to go on a pilgrimage to Tibet with Lama Choedak Rinpoche and quite a large group of people, it was about 60 people went on the pilgrimage. And so the first thing we thought we should do, after we booked on the pilgrimage was to go and see Kenser Rinpoche to get some advice about the pilgrimage. So, we went and saw him and he, gave us some prayers to say, on the pilgrimage, also talked to us about our motivation before and during the time that we would be on pilgrimage. And we also asked him at that time, is there anything you would like us to do for you or get for you Rinpoche while we’re away? And he said yes.

So he wanted us to do two things. The first thing was he wanted us to the pilgrimage was gonna start and finish in Nepal. So he wanted us to go to Nepal, meet the abbot of Kopan Monastery at that time that was Lama Lhundrup also known as Ken Rinpoche and meet him and ask him to, procure a Yamāntaka statue which we would then bring back with us to Adelaide for Rinpoche. And Tenzin was going to ring Lama Londrup and let him know that we were coming, so that was all good. So we arrived in Nepal, we went and met with Lama Londrup, we introduced ourselves.

We just walked into the monastery and said, we’re here to meet Lama Londrup. Like, you know, we we were so confident that it was just like a normal thing to do and and ignorant. And we met Lama Lhundrup, and he was just so beautiful and took us very, very seriously and listened to what we wanted to say. And we said, now we’ll we’re going to Tibet for the next two to three weeks. We’ll come back, and in the meantime, you’ll have got the statue, and we’ll be able to take that back to Rinpoche.

So that’s it’s all good. And then he then he said, I’d like to you to have some lunch down at the cafe. So he actually paid for us to have lunch when we had momos of course. So on our return from Tibet, we well, what happened after that? After we left the monastery, Lama Londrup rang Adelaide and spoke to Tenzin and said, two women have just turned up wanting me to get a Yamāntaka statue for Khensur Rinpoche.

Do you know anything about this? When we returned from Tibet and went to Nepal, we went back to meet Lama Londrup, and Lama Londrup had got the Yamāntaka statue. We didn’t know about the phone call, and it was all wrapped up in a carton in a box, and he gave us really clear instructions on how to transport it correctly back to Australia. And then we were going to take our leave and he decided to come out with us and we wanted to go to the bookstore and just get a few trinkets for friends on for our return home. So he went into the bookstore with us and as we walked in, the monk that was attending there, he stood up suddenly, his eyes looked completely shocked, and we realized that this was a very odd and unusual occurrence.

And we then bought the things and we asked Rinpoche bless them for us, which he did and then we thought that would be it and then no he walked with us down to the office, the administration office and again, the people in the office sort of jumped up, eyes shocked, like, this isn’t this is a very unusual experience. And, Lama Londrup, asked somebody to organize drinks for us, So we sat down and had drinks with Lama Londrup and then he asked somebody to organize a taxi for us to be able to leave. Now what we realized was that he was actually honoring Kenser Rinpoche. This was a real mark of his absolute love, respect and honour for Kenser Rinpoche because we were just the messengers. It just gives you an idea of how important Kenser Rinpoche was in this Hailama’s eyes.

Now the thing that we had to do when we got to Tibet was we had to go to, when we arrived in Lhasa, we had to go to the Jokhang Temple, which is the oldest temple in Lhasa. And we had to buy gold powder, would be then made into a paint, and have it painted onto the statue of Joa, the very famous statue that arrived in Tibet in the seventh century. So that was all we had to do. So on the morning that we had one morning we could do this, It was on the morning that the other rest of the pilgrimage group went to see the summer palace of his holiness. We went to the Jokhang Temple.

We the tour guide had organised a translator to go with us. We got to Jokung and there was a monk there, a very, very stern monk who basically decided who could come in and who could not come in. And we started through our translator explaining, our teacher, we’re we’re Buddhist students in Adelaide and our teacher in Adelaide is Kenser Rinpoche and he wants us to buy some gold paint and have the statue’s face painted. Well, it wasn’t quite as easy as we had anticipated. He was he was not convinced and he stood there looking incredibly stern and we I remember thinking, I’m sorry, but I am not leaving here.

I am not leaving Tibet unless I have accomplished my mission because my teacher has given me this mission for some reason, and I must do it. I cannot go back to Adelaide and tell Khensur Rinpoche I didn’t do it. So with that motivation, somehow that really helped, and suddenly the door opened. We were allowed to go in, and we were really well supported by all the monks who, you know, organized for the gold paint to be made from a powder into the paint, they started painting the the face of the Jowo statue and asked us to circumambulate while they did that and they wanted us then to sign the visitors book and they gave us blessed seeds and blessed ribbons. So again I really felt that photo of Ken Sarinpoche and our determination from our teacher really propelled us through that experience.

It was his power that really got that experience happening. And really those two experiences in Nepal and Tibet were, I mean, whole pilgrimage was amazing and wonderful and that they were highlights of this amazing experience. I’ve just got two or three more anecdotes left to tell you. In 2008 we moved to this premises. Tenzin had organised to get this premise, and it’s almost like a purpose built Buddhist centre, but it still needed quite a lot of physical work.

A lot of you will remember and a of you that I look around were here doing work to transform this space. And, you know, there were long hours put in and often people would be tiring and suddenly you’d feel this sense of energy. There was a hush suddenly and suddenly you knew that Khensur Rinpoche was there He would come through dispensing lollies and chocolate, which really helped to spur us on, with our motivation. Another little anecdote which really, I still get a laugh over happened at one of the times when Rinpoche returned to India for a short while before he came back. And we’re at the airport to see him off, and we were all having our photos taken with him and all that sort of thing.

And a group of Greek men exquisitely dressed with gold chains and all the all the stuff. And they walked past and they got very interested and they decided that they wanted to have their photo taken with Rinpoche. He welcomed them over and he wanted them to each sit down one by one and hold his hand and have their photo taken with him and Malvin who was sitting next to me who did a lot of the electrical work in here, he said to me just quietly in my ear, well, there goes their social life next lifetime. Another thing that over the last decade since His Holiness has been coming to Australia and giving teachings on a regular basis, it’s been quite wonderful to go. And many times or a number of times, Rinpoche was able to attend those teachings either in Sydney or Melbourne, and he would be sitting in the section of the lama’s position right near, his holiness.

And watching interactions between his holiness and Kenser Rinpoche was just like a heart melter. I can see a few nods around when I say that. And then how could we not have some sense of Rinpoche’s power and majesty when His Holiness agreed to come to TBI and visit our little place here in Adelaide. It just, I get goosebumps just every time I’d remember that he came and it is a total testament to how important Kenser Rinpoche is. I’d like to just finish up by saying that a number of times when I went and spoke with Kenser Rinpoche and asked for advice, he was always, wonderful with his advice, he would always end up with the same four, pieces of advice at the end of the meeting before he gave me a chocolate.

And that would be, do your practices, attend the teachings at TBI, look after your health and be happy. And I think in closing a wonderful thing has really happened, for so many of us in meeting Kensar Rinpoche. We’ve been so fortunate. On that trip around Australia, I wasn’t a Buddhist at that point, but I had read Sogyal Rinpoche’s Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, and he said it’s really important to find a center and a teacher. And I just felt convinced that that was right, and that’s what I needed to do.

And so every morning, as I woke up, in the tent, I would just make a little prayer, may I find a pure heart teacher. And guess what? I succeeded beyond my expectations. Thank you everyone. That’s beautiful, thank you so much and it’s lovely to hear those anecdotes and expression of your devotion and encourages us all.

Thank you. And I know that there are many people who have stories and, you know, we just don’t have the time to have you all coming out here. But yes. But but thank you everybody for coming. And as part of the spiritual community is to encourage and support each other.

And we and and thank you, Geshela. Thank you, Ilya. And we will now be able to celebrate. And I believe was this one of your cakes, Natalie? Or is this this is one that Tenzin has organized.

So cake seems to be part of the TBI tradition. But you only you only need to sample a little bit of it to participate. And so here we come. And did you want to I’m to go with that maker. That’s heavy.

So we don’t have a candle. We don’t have candle. But Oh, we do have candle. Yeah. Put a 10 tea lights.

Are we going to celebrate some happy birthday? Maybe someone will help me. Yeah. What are we going to sing? Can you help me?

Happy birthday. Instead of happy birthday singing, let’s do a big offering for the the for the our precious teachers and holy beings and Buddhas and Bodhisattva. You know? We can do and, yeah, and dedicate for this. Okay?

Okay. Now we do the, again, offering. Okay. And can maybe two people can help me or three. Just cut.

Yeah. And that’d be great. And then we first of all, before I view the slideshow, first, I’d like to say thank you very much for coming, and it’s a wonderful day and great. And it’s very nice to see, you know, wonderful opportunity to introduce you. And Rinpoche’s was a great, you know, talk.

And so thank you very much, Ilya, Geshela, and everyone. Okay? Thank you. Yeah. So so must you know, can you take this one in a kitchen table?

And, then we’re going to go to slush show. Okay.