Ven. Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche was born in Eastern Tibet in 1948. He was recognized as the fourth reincarnation of Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche by H.H. Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang (junior tutor to H.H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama) and enthroned at the age of six at Sera Monastic University. In 1959 he left Tibet and settled in India.

He studied the five major sciences (Buddhist philosophical studies) for more than twenty years and received his Geshe Lharampa degree (the highest honor, conferred jointly by all three monastic universities), the equivalent of a doctorate of divinity, in 1980.

Rinpoche completed all his tantric studies at Gyurmey Tantric University. During that time, he also received numerous Dharma transmissions and initiations from highly qualified Tibetan masters such as H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.H. Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang, Kyabje Ling Rinpoche (senior tutor to H.H. the Dalai Lama), and Kyabje Zong Rinpoche. Thus was he transformed into a living treasure vase of the wisdom of the Gaden Oral Transmission Lineage.

After completing his studies, Rinpoche taught at Sera Monastery for about fourteen years. Then, at the request of his monastery, he traveled to Eastern Tibet in 1993 and spent two years giving numerous teachings and initiations throughout the region, fulfilling the wishes of countless people. He has also traveled to many other countries, including Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the administrative region of Hong Kong.

He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he founded the Lamrim International Dharma Center. Rinpoche has completed the retreats of all the major tantric deities and continues a strong practice.

Source : http://www.dgtlmonastery.org/kyabje-yongyal-rinpoche.html

The primary cause of war

Mother America

August 13, 2006

I caught up with Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche, a highly realized spiritual master, the morning after his arrival in Bloomington to offer teachings at the DGTL Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Lower Cascades Park.

It was the day after revelations of a massive plot to blow up jetliners on their way from England to America. Underlying the news was a constant thread of barely suppressed fear and rage.

In the time we spent together, we spoke mostly about world events and what we all can do make the world a more peaceful place. Rinpoche spoke in Tibetan through Ven. Jamyang Lama, a monk who lives at the monastery. What follows are highlights of the interview, edited for space and, in some cases, for clarity.

***

O: There is so much fear and anger in the world today. What does Buddhism offer that can help us deal with these things?

A: With science and modernization, it would seem like there should be more world peace and happiness, but despite the progress, people right now are more intensely aggravated and unhappy. With all our material progress, we are still not able to achieve happiness.

In Buddhist teachings, self-cherishing and disparaging others are the cause of all our problems. Everybody thinks I need the best things, the best conditions for myself, and for others we don’t have such consideration. This is the problem. Self-cherishing is the primary cause of all the wars and suffering we’re experiencing.

In the mundane world we think if we kill one enemy, the enemy will be less, but that does not really help. If you kill one person, four or five new enemies will appear.

In Buddhist teachings, the enemy is not outside. The true enemy is within ourselves — anger, attachment and hatred. How you can overcome these enemies is through spiritual practice.

The real problem in war is that people have anger and fear in their hearts. Therefore, give up self-cherishing and the thought of defeating others and generate the mind of equanimity and the mind of compassion toward other beings.

Q: All religions speak of love and compassion toward others. Yet they seem to be so much a part of the problems we are experiencing right now. So what has gone wrong?

A: All of the things that are happening in world are not really the fault of the shortcomings of religions themselves, but rather of particular people who don’t follow their religions in the right direction.

Q: So what should people of faith be doing that they are not now doing?

A: One needs to really follow the true teachings of the religion one follows.

Q: But many religious followers think it is followers of the “other” religion who are not being loving and compassionate. We believe in love and compassion and they don’t.

A: Everybody has a right to follow their own practice and religion, but it is important not to say negative things about other religions, and even if the opportunity to say negative things comes, to practice compassion and put the teachings into practice.

No matter how much negativity comes from the other side, if your response is more positive, more patient, certainly time will pass and anger will pass from the other side. This we can see in our lives. Sometimes if a person is aggravating to us and we don’t respond in the same aggravated way, the other person will give up their anger or aggravation.

In the world we need to think about our interdependence. Everything we have in our lives comes through the collective actions of countless people. To survive as a world, to sustain the human race and protect all beings, we need to realize this.

A lot of disagreement comes in world because a particular group wants all the advantages for itself and doesn’t care about the benefits for others. This needs to be revisited and thought about carefully at a deeper level.

Q: Is protest a good way to get this particular message out?

A: Protest in general is not necessarily positive, but peaceful protests are preferable. Basically any form of violence is not good, whether physical protest or harsh speech. If we want peace, everyone needs to generate positive thoughts in their mind and pray from their heart for world peace, and pray especially for all the hatred, attachment and ignorance of all the people who fight in wars to subside, and once those delusions subside, naturally war will subside.

But people also need to spread the message about love, compassion and self-cherishing in their families, neighborhood, communities and so forth. And our speech needs to follow our actions … We always talk about world peace, but our actions may be contradictory to those things. We definitely need to pay attention that our actions follow our speech. Following that is the foundation for better cooperation between all beings. If one does what one says, one develops trust from others.

Q: Can people going about their ordinary lives in their families and communities affect the world situation?

A: Yes. In epidemics, one person gets sick and it spreads. In the same way, peace needs to start from one person and spread through the family, community and region. One person can definitely have an impact on world peace. In Tibet there is a saying: A drop of water can create an ocean. Please convey my request that everyone do whatever they can to create peace in their hearts.

Holly Stocking can be reached at [email protected].

Source : http://www.dgtlmonastery.org/kyabje-yongyal-rinpoche.html