| PRACTICES AND BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS: The foundation practice of Buddhism is a 2,500 year old meditation technique called samathavipasana. It is through the consistent practice of this technique that the practitioner can rediscover one's unconditional nature that is free from confusion. Having rediscovered one's own inherent wisdom, one naturally begins to gently relate with one's world without confusion. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: Vajradhatu International is a world wide organization of meditation and study centers based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Its headquarters in the United States is in Boulder, Colorado, while the main centre of Europe is in Marburg, West Germany. It was founded in 1970 by Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche when he settled in the United States. Vajradhatu has more than 100 centres, called Dharmadhatus or Dharma Study Groups, throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, offering programs in the study of Buddhist philosophy and psychology and the practice of meditation. Four rural centers, Karme Choling in Vermont, Rocky Mountain Dharma Center in northern Colorado, Dorji Khyung Dzong in southern Colorado, and Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia provide the opportunity to study and practice in a more contemplative environment. The Vidyadhara passed away at the age of 47 on April 4, 1987. He was the former abbot of the Surmang monasteries in Tibet and a meditation master of the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages. He held the degree of Khenpo, the equivalent of a Doctor of Divinity degree, and studied at Oxford University as a Spaulding Fellow. He was the author of many books on Buddhism and the path of meditation, among them meditation in Action, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Tile Myth of Freedom, Journey Without Goal, and Shambhala the Sacred Path of the Warrior. At the present time Vajradhatu International is directed by the Vidhadhara's dharma heir, the Sawang Osel Rangtrol Mukpo and by the Vajradhatu Board of Directors, who also direct the Nalanda Foundation, a nonsectarian educational organization founded by the vidhadhara. Its divisions include Shambhala Training, an international meditation program, and The Naropa Institute, a fully accredited (by the N.C.A.C.S.) liberal arts college located in Boulder, Colorado. The institute stands at the forefront of what has come to be called contemplative education, and offers programs of study at the Certificate, Bachelors, and Masters levels. ROLE OF MINISTERS: Counselor, teacher, ceremonial head. Performs funerals, marriages. Meditation instructor. WORSHIP: On an individual basis = (one's own practice) DIETARY LAWS OR RESTRICTIONS: None. FUNERAL AND BURIAL REQUIREMENTS: The following approach to relating with a dying person is written primarily for the person who is taking charge of cooperating with the dying person in shaping the environment around him. It relates particularly to sang ha members who are dying, but it also pertains to a dying family member who, by his own wishes, has given you permission to shape his environment. The dying person should have good nursing care by people who can actually relate to him straightforwardly people who are willing to relate with their own fear about death and dying and do not feel that they have to constantly communicate with the dying person to relieve their own anxieties. A. How to Relate with a Dying Person – 1) You should acknowledge to him and to yourself that he is dying, which is the greatest opportunity for establishing a mutual trust. 2) Mutual acknowledgement that he is, in fact, dying creates a situation of fundamental openness and reality and a genuine meeting of minds. 3) As far as you are concerned, you should be able to relate with the deterioration of his body, his senses, and his ability to communicate. 4) You could acknowledge with the dying person that he is going to lose his habitual world and surrounding, but, at the same time, he could relate with the positive continuity of egolessness and the teachings. 5) As the dying person's physical existence and consciousness are dissolving, he is, at the same time, becoming highly sensitive to the psychological environment, to the states of mind of those around him. So your sense of acceptance, warmth and reality are very important. This provides a very helpful ground for the dying person. For a summary of basic principles of relating with a dying person, study the Tibetan Book of the Dead, pp.27 29. 6) In general, when friends come to visit the dying person, perhaps two or three visitors at a time is enough. The atmosphere should be unchaotic and relaxed, and conversation should be simple and ordinary. They should keep the dying person company in a simple and ordinary way, not laying trips, their philosophical or religious speculations on them. Keeping your basic state of mind is more important than what you talk about with the dying person. People should keep in mind that because his physical situation is deteriorating, he tires quickly. The length and frequency of visits should be paced and spaced accordingly. Fundamentally, we are respecting and cooperating with the needs and wishes of the dying person, creating the best possible situation of warmth, trust, openness, and wakefulness. B. When the Dying Person is Beginning to Slip Away When the dying person is beginning to lose ordinary consciousness, his communication with visitors becomes quite effortful and sometimes confused. He might not be able to recognize friends. We should relax with this, letting go of our desire to bring him back to reality, although we might clarify simply what is happening and who is there. C. When the Dying Person is Asleep or in a Coma The same principles of basic communicating apply. There should be continuous nursing care, and, in addition, members of the sang ha should provide a continuous atmosphere of meditation by doing either shamatha practice, tonglen, or silent vajrayana practice. The person in charge should set up a schedule of visiting practitioners, so that one or two people are practicing in the room at a time, in shifts throughout the day, evening, and possibly the night. We should not try to force communication with the dying person or socialize together, and we should also not be in the way of the nursing staff who are ministering to the needs of the dying person. Basically, we are creating a meditative environment which is very important reference point of sanity for the dying person. D. The Last Few Days Before Death, After Death, and Prior to the Funeral The last few days before death, if this can be determined, after death (especially during the 18 or so hours after death until the signs of rigor mortis have disappeared and until the funeral has taken place) practitioners should sit with the body in shifts, 24 hours per day, according to the guidelines above. E. When the Person has died If possible the body should remain relatively undisturbed for a period of twenty four hours or until rigor mortis has disappeared and the body has relaxed. During this time a minister or trained practitioner should lead a practice called "sending and taking" in which the living remind the deceased that he/she is dead and that it is okay to continue on their journey and to let go of their body. (Whenever possible the body should be placed in a shrine room during this period of time.) F. The body is then cremated and ashes distributed according to the deceased's wishes 49 days after death. MEDICAL TREATMENT: Not divergent from usual medical treatment. GENERAL SOURCE BOOKS: Chogyam Trungpa, Meditation in Action. Berkeley, CA: Shambhala,1974). 74pp. The Myth of Freedom. Berkeley, CA: Shambhala,1976). 176pp. Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism. Berkeley, CA: Sharnbhala, 1973). 250pp. The Sacred Path of the Warrior. Boston, Shambhala, 1988). 202pp. Osel Tendzin. Buddha in the Palm of Your Hand Boston: Shambhala,1987). 120pp. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Nan Han non 1084 Tower Rd., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 2YB Canada (902) 425-4275 |
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| Black Rose Spiritual Center, Inc : Belief Systems |
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| Vajradhatu |
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| ADDRESS: National Headquarters 1345 Spruce St. Boulder, CO 80302 International Headquarters Vajradhatu 1084 Tower Rd. Halifax, N.S. B3H2YB no OTHER NAMES BY WHICH KNOWN: Tibetan Buddhism; Tantric Buddhism; Vajrayana Buddhism. LEADERSHIP: The Sawang, Osel Rangtrol Mukpo. MEMBERSHIP: Approximately 5,500 world wide. HISTORICAL ORIGIN: Vajradhatu, the largest of the several Tibetan Buddhist groups in the United States, is a representative of the Kagyupa sect founded by Lama Mar pa of Lhagyupa in the eleventh century. The Kagyupa tradition was brought to the United States by Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939 1987). Trungpa is the incarnation of the trungpa tulku (emanation of a bodhisattva) and abbot of Swarming Monastery, a center of the Kagyupa tradition until the takeover of Tibet by the Chinese. The Vidyadhara fled Tibet in 1959 and settled in England. While attending Oxford University, he established a small Buddhist center in Scotland. In 1970, he married and migrated to the United States as the leader of a center that had been formed by a group of his students in Vermont. From this point in time, the work expanded steadily. At and near Boulder, Colorado, a complex of interrelated organizations were established. Vairadhatu was created as an umbrella organization in 1973. BASIC BELIEFS: Buddhism arose out of Hinduism, and consequently shares certain basic beliefs with that religious tradition, such as the related notions of reincarnation and karma. The basic premise of Buddhism is the recognition that individuals can discover their own bodhicitta (awakened heart). Tibetan Buddhism is also a form of Tantric Buddhism, meaning, among other things, that much of its symbolic imagery is sexual. |
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