DHARMA
What is Dharma?
By Lama Zopa Rinpoche
“The Sanskrit word “Dharma” refers to that which guides or saves, our mind from suffering. The actual cause of suffering is not in the external conditions. This is important. If you understand this, you understand the essence of Dharma. Why do external methods fail to cease all suffering and its cause? Because the cause of suffering is not in the external conditions but in our minds. Dharma is the inner method that can cease all suffering and its cause. By “cease” I mean put a complete end to all physical and mental suffering such that it can never recur. This inner method, Dharma, is beyond compare with any temporal method because through the practice of Dharma, this one action, billions of different sufferings and their cause can all be destroyed.”
According to Lion’s Roar: “The Sanskrit word “dharma” is, without doubt, the most important and most commonly used term in Buddhism. Among the three jewels of Buddha, dharma, and sangha in which all Buddhists take refuge, the dharma is pre-eminent. It is a realization of the dharma that produces buddhas and it is the dharma that provides the pretext for the sangha (community) and binds it together. In its most concrete sense, the dharma is the teachings delivered by the Buddha and added to by countless generations of accomplished and realized men and women. This dharma describes, points to, and evokes the eternal dharma as it appears in our unadorned and uninterpreted life experience.
Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT)
The FPMT organization was founded in 1975 by Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935-84) and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, both Tibetan Buddhist monks. The Foundation is devoted to preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice, and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha and based on that experience spreading the Dharma to sentient beings.
I have on several occasions had the opportunity to photograph teachings and events for FPMT. The button below will take you to a gallery where you can experience moments from these events.
DAHRMA OBJECTS
A Buddhist statue represents the holy body of a Buddha. Buddhas are invited to abide in statues through a consecration ceremony. When this is complete, the statue is an actual embodiment of the Buddha.
There are several ways in which to engage with holy objects. You can make offerings to, prostrate toward, and circumambulate holy objects that already exist.
While you may not circumambulate or prostrate to your screen, I do hope you will enjoy viewing some of the Dharma objects that I have had the good fortune to photograph and now share with you.
Geshe Thupten Jinpa, PhD
Maitripa College hosted Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D., highly acclaimed thought leader and the longtime English translator for the Dalai Lama, Dr. Jinpa spoke at “Fearlessness and Compassion” and related public events in Portland from May 9 – 12, 2015. Maitripa College, the first and only Tibetan Buddhist College in the Pacific Northwest, sponsored the events in conjunction with the preview of their own Mindfulness and Compassion Initiative. I was invited by Maitripa and FPMT to photograph the events.
