Thu, 24 Dec 2009
Monlam 2009
The Kagyu Monlam is underway in Bodhgaya, making for a strange sort of Christmas. Before the Monlam the Karmapa gave teachings on Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend, The Monlam blog has notes taken at the teaching and they make an interesting read. They have also published a short prayer book (pdf) for the Monlam that contains prayers in multiple languages. There also is a live webcast courtesy of Ustream. Mostly it's shots of monks chanting, but can be interesting when you catch them misbehaving. The Karmapa used the Monlam as an opportunity to introduce a new website, Khoryug, designed to promote ecological awareness among the Karma Kagyu monasteries in the region.
I also have some non-Monlam links worth reading. Dudjom Rinpoche gave retreat instructions on Dzogchen, but they're applicable to mahamudra as well. These are very precious teachings and are worth careful reading. Bob Flaws has written an interesting autobiography which contains his experiences as student of Sonam Kazi. I've linked to just one page, but the autobiography is very detailed and well worth a read. Sonam Kazi was from a noble family in Sikkim and served as a translator for the Dalai Lama and for Thomas Merton when he visited India. Zach is visiting Nepal and managed to get a job as executive assistant at a Tibetan monastery, He seems well suited for the job as clearly he's a guy who can get things done. He's keeping a blog about his experiences in Nepal. I've linked to a page where he manges to get an interview with Thinley Norbu, which is not an easy thing to do.
