Los Masos Events

........8th January 2008

Venerable Tendar, Director of Nalanda Monastery gives a talk in Los Masos

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The Venerable Tendar, Director of FPMT's Nalanda Monastery in Lavaur, near Toulouse, our local monastery, came to Los Masos on 8th January to give a talk at the residence of the group coordinators. He was accompanied by Ven Tharchin, Nalanda's interpreter from Tibetan.

Despite having only a few days notice fifteen people attended the event, including several children who had recently taken refuge. After an introductory guided meditation, Ven Tendar spoke of his own experience, why and how he became a monk after studying psychology and doing social work. He had taken Buddhist teachings in Emst (Netherlands) from Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen and realised this was the path for him. He described all the benefits of Dharma study for the audience including the children experiencing their first taste of Buddha Dharma. After giving an overview of Buddhist thought and outlining basic practices Ven Tendar answered listeners questions with very helpful answers.

After a light supper provided by the hosts Ven Tendar and Ven Tharchin drove back to Nalanda in the night and the community dispersed.

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JSG members were very happy to receive teachings from the monks of their local monastery which is one of the very few existing Mahayana Monastic institution in Europe and we are extremely fortunate to be situated so close to it. The members were encouraged by the coordinators to support the monastery and the monks, according to ancient Buddhist tradition, regardless of the fact that our study group is not a part of FPMT. We are all Buddhists and very grateful to FPMT for establishing this monastery so auspiciously near to us that the Venerable Director can pop over to give a talk like this from time to time.

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Please see the "Don't Donate to us" topic for our fund raising appeal on behalf of the monastery.

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16th December 2007

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Lama Namgyal teaching at the Los Masos 'Salle des Fetes'

Teaching on Buddhist Philosophy by Lama Namgyal

Lama Namgyal, a French Buddhist monk of the Kagyu tradition was visiting Conflent on a teaching tour in December so we made his visit into a Jamyang Los Masos event. He had met with our coordinator in the Dordogne region of France in August 1991, when as President of the French Federation of Dharma Centres he had successfully invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama to teach for a week there.

This meeting had inspired our coordinator to found "The Network of Buddhist Organisation in the UK" and to combine 27 Dharma centres of various traditions to invite His Holiness together, to teach in the UK. This succeeded and His Holiness taught the Four Noble Truths in London in 1996 - all as a result of our coordinator’s meeting with Lama Namgyal 5 years earlier.

We therefore hired the local Los Masos Village Hall (La Salle des Fêtes) and invited him to teach Dharma to our group there and to his own existing students. The village hall was decorated with a thangkha of Buddha which had been dedicated, signed and presented to members of the group by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2003.

The coordinators were first invited to an excellent lunch with Lama Namgyal at the house of his existing students in the nearby town of Prades, the Pridmores, before bringing him to Los Masos to give the teaching in the afternoon.

Lama Namgyal then gave an excellent lecture in French to our local community on basic Buddhist philosophy and the all benefits of following the Buddha's Teaching. Nearly 40 people attended from all over the P.O., of whom 11 took refuge.

The teaching was very well received and 11 people taking refuge was a heartening result, well justifying the efforts of those who made arrangements and the journey. Lama Namgyal went on to his next destination (the plateau of Font Romeu) and the gathering dispersed full of renewed energy to face the festive season with enhanced equanimity and the wish to benefit others more, or at least not to cause harm, whenever possible – “this is always possible”, as His Holiness says!

Los Masos in the springtime: prayer flags by the Meditation Hut

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4th November 2007

JAMYANG'S INAUGURAL FORMAL EVENT

Ven Charles Treboal came from his FPMT base, Insitute Vajra Yogini, to lead a meditation for 12 members gathered from as far away as Baillestavy and Collioure.

Ven Charles, or "Charles" as he prefers, is a senior monk in the Gelug tradition who did 7 years of retreat in the Pyrenees. It was his last talk before starting his annual winter retreat. Though known to be an accomplished meditator he belittled his retreat experience with a self-effacing laugh, saying all he ever does in retreat is "eat, sleep and make ka-ka".

The meditation he led us through however was a stunning and memorable experience for all present and highly appropriate for our first formal gathering. When over, everyone felt a fantastic connection with a real Dharma friend. After lunch, we saw him off to his winter retreat with hugs and good wishes.

It was also the first Dharma event for Vera, a 90-year-old “beginner”. She was thrilled and deeply impressed by the first Buddhist teaching and meditation she’d ever experienced.

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Sadly there is no pictoral record of the event but it will remain engrained on the memory of everyone present for a long time, not least because of the message we just received from Osel on Lha Bab Du Chen, sending his regrets that he could not be with us today (see: "FPMT Bulletin"), and his message was read out, to everyone's amazement and delight.
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