Reports From The Mandala
Head Lama of TNMC
Over the past decade, the Nyingma Mandala of Organizations has expanded dramatically and in unexpected ways. Existing organizations have continued their activities on behalf of the Dharma and all sentient beings, typically intensifying their efforts. At the same time, at least nine new organizations have been formed, adding new dimensions to the founding Head Lama’s vision.
In the reports that follow, we lay out recent developments throughout the mandala and introduce the work of our new organizations. We start with the work of TNMC, where the Head Lama is most directly involved: Yeshe De, Odiyan, the Light Foundations, and the Sarnath Institute. From there we move on to describe the structure and mission of the Nyingma Association of Mandala Organizations (NAMO), founded in 2011.
We go on to lay out the recent work of the organizations that belong to NAMO. As a structure for presenting this wealth of developments, we start with the organizations located in Sonoma County, then turn to developments in Berkeley, and finally report on the expanding efforts of our international centers, under the direction of Nyingma Centers.
Mandala Organizations In Sonoma
The presence of Odiyan makes Sonoma County the heart of the Head Lama’s vision. The activities at Odiyan are for the most part directed by the Head Lama himself; however, Odiyan is represented in NAMO by the Guardians of Odiyan Endowment, an organization whose activities at present are largely confined to safeguarding Odiyan’s investments. With the acquisition of Ratna Ling retreat center, which also serves as the home of Dharma Publishing, the Sonoma mandala expanded to include these two organizations.
.
Mandala Organizations In Sonoma
Dharma Publishing
As a refugee in the Tibetan exile community of India in the early 1960s, Rinpoche recognized the urgent need for preserving the sacred texts of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. In 1963, while teaching at Sanskrit University in Varanasi, he founded Dharma Mudranalaya, a printing and publishing house named for the famous printing house in Derge in eastern Tibet.
After publishing some 20 titles on a small hand press in India, Rinpoche came to America, intent on realizing his dream of reprinting the Tibetan Buddhist canon to preserve it for the future. After arriving in Berkeley in 1969, he re-founded Dharma Mudranalaya (DM) in America, operating as Dharma Publishing and Dharma Press, and began teaching his students the fundamentals of printing and publishing.
DM was formally incorporated in 1975, but even before then it had published its first titles, including the translation of a famous manual on meditation and a catalog for one of the first exhibitions of Tibetan art ever mounted in the United States. By 1978, Dharma Publishing had more than a dozen titles in print, including translations, works by scholars, and at least six titles by Rinpoche, based on the teachings he had developed at the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley and elsewhere, designed for the special needs and concerns of Westerners. These teachings, still central to our vision today, include Nyingma Psychology, Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga, Skillful Means for Meaningful Work, and the Time, Space, and Knowledge Vision of Reality.
In 1978, Rinpoche and his small group of volunteers began production of the Nyingma Edition of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, a remarkable collection in 120 atlas sized volumes produced and designed to last for at least three centuries. After the successful production of the Nyingma Edition, a feat that received widespread praise from around the world, DP turned to producing other works in Tibetan, cooperating closely with the Yeshe De Project after its founding in 1983. It has also printed hundreds of works of art, many of which have been distributed by the thousands to the Tibetan community in exile.
At the same time, Dharma Publishing maintained its focus on producing titles suitable for Dharma students in the West, as well as others capable of benefiting from the Buddhist teachings. Preservation of the Tibetan tradition and outreach to the West have been its twin motivations ever since.
For most of its history, Dharma Publishing and Press operated in rented facilities in and around Berkeley. During these years it sometimes used its equipment as well for commercial printing and binding operations, which operated separately for more than a decade, first as Skillful Means Press and then as Dharma Enterprises. Income generated in this way helped fund Yeshe De and other Buddhist projects.
In 2005, Dharma Publishing moved to the new Dharma Mangalam press building at Ratna Ling, and in 2007 transferred all of its operations to that location as its permanent home. The Press building has since been graced with several murals and the traditional symbol of deer attending the teachings in the form of a Dharma Wheel, as well as the building of a twenty foot tall stupa, and butterlamp house and the installation of a World Peace Bell like those installed in Asia. Except for a bookstore that it operates in downtown Berkeley and the activities of its affiliates at the Nyingma international centers, it now directs its efforts from Ratna Ling, where the close connection with Odiyan, just a few miles away, demonstrates symbolically the inseparable link between the vision of the Dharma and the commitment to sharing the teachings.
In the past decade, Dharma Publishing has developed a strong focus on education that integrates study and practice with the texts themselves. Operating as ‘Dharma Academy’ it offers extensive training in Kum Nye (including Kum Nye Dancing) and such programs as Questioning Mind, as well as traditional Dharma. In addition to seminars, retreats and workshops offered around the world, all of which help fund the work of Yeshe De, Dharma Academy offers CDs and videos, online learning, and programs at Ratna Ling. It has also established a Center for Skillful Means, which aims to make the Skillful Means teachings available through consulting and other programs. It maintains an active web presence at www.dharmapublishing.com and other sites. A 92page catalog was published in 2014.
Dharma Publishing continues to support the symbols of the Dharma and the work of the Head Lama through a variety of projects. These include the creation of a twenty foot tall statue of Padmasambhava, molded at Ratna Ling, then cast at Odiyan and installed in the Central Temple in November, 2013. The process of creating the statue was commemorated in a video that premiered in the TAP building in Berkeley in April 2014. We were also able to sponsor the renovation of the pilgrimage road that circles the perimeter of Odiyan.