The Tibetan Culture of Nurturing the Mind and Prolonging Life

　　Lecture at Tsinghua Science Park

　　(June 25, 2010 PM)

　　Speech from the host:

　　Good evening to everyone, welcome, and thank you very much for visiting Tsinghua Science Park. First of all, before the seminar starts, I would like to give a brief introduction to our speaker today—Khenpo So Dargye.

　　Khenpo So Dargye is head of the Chinese monks at Serthar Buddhist Institute, and has an illustrious reputation at home and abroad. He has followed His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche, visiting the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Bhutan, Nepal, and other countries, spreading the Dharma, and has also been appointed as mentor for the Center of Larong Sutrayana and Vajrayana Studies in New York, USA.Khenpo has published many eminent works. He now has more than ninety titles in print.

　　In terms of scholarly knowledge, Khenpo has mastered the five great treatises—the Vinaya, the Abhidharmakohsa, the Middle Way, Buddhist Logic, and the Prajñaparamita. In addition, Khenpo has also promoted and fostered the Buddha Dharma via modern technology such as the Internet, and these efforts have produced a significant and broad impact.

　　Khenpo”s realizations of Kalachakra, the Web of Magical Illusion, Dzogchen, and so on have reached an extremely high level.

　　In 2007, Khenpo launched the “Starting up Caring and Loving” initiative, calling on Buddhists to care for poor people living near them, while also providing protection for animals. Additionally, Khenpo has taken the lead in establishing “Wisdom and Compassion” primary schools, nursing homes, lodgings for lay practitioners, and monastic schools to train young novice monks in the Tibetan regions, funding a large number of university students and students who had dropped out of high school, setting up scholarships in secondary schools, providing relief to many people suffering from severe illness who are not able to afford medical care, and many other charitable ventures.

　　Khenpo has twice been invited to attend the “International Charity Forum” held in the Great Hall of the People. On this occasion, Khenpo is visiting Beijing to attend the fourth “International Charity Forum,” while also having the opportunity to speak to us. Today”s topic is “The Tibetan Culture of Nurturing the Mind and Prolonging Life.” May I please welcome Khenpo So Dargye.

　　Good evening to all professors and teachers. It is my pleasure to be able to share and discuss with everyone here at Tsinghua Science Park, Beijing. As mentioned by the host, today”s topic is “The Tibetan Culture of Nurturing the Mind and Prolonging Life.” Indeed, this topic is not complicated; however, sometimes, a simple thing can change our whole life. As such, I pray from my heart that this simple talk, too, can benefit everyone in some way.

　　I Simple Events Can Change Your Whole Life

　　Sometimes, a simple event can change our whole life. In Buddhism there is a story that goes like this. Before being ordained as monks, two main disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, Shariputra and Mahamaudgalyayana, were both proponents of Brahmanism. One day, when they were practicing meditation, there was a monk chanting a sutra nearby. One of the verses caught their attention: “Of all those things that from a cause arise, Tathagata, the cause thereof has been told; And how they cease to be, that too he tells, this is the teaching of the Great Recluse.” After hearing this subtle and profound verse of dependent origination and emptiness, both of them experienced great physical and mental transformation, and they gave up their own religion for Buddhism. Later, they attained liberation and made significant contributions to the …

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