Choden Rinpoche in Singapore again!

One of my favourite gurus, the Guru of many gurus, is in town again, the second time this year! How fortunate to have one's guru visit you so often in one year. His visit is timely just when I was feeling a little down and disheartened during these couple of months. 

At the age of seven, Choden Rinpoche took novice ordination from His Holiness Pabongka Rinpoche (below photo), who reportedly said, “I found your name in Ganden Monastery’s Golden Stupa.” His Holiness named the child Losang Gyalten Jikdrel Wangchuk. Choden Rinpoche's gurus include HH Pabongka Rinpoche, HH Trijiang Rinpoche, HH Dalai Lama and many prominent lamas of his time. Choden Rinpoche mastered the Five Canons and earn the title Pandita. Many miracles were often witnessed in his presence. 

In those days, the Chinese government did not allow Choden Rinpoche to meditate even in a cave, he meditated at a tiny backroom of a disciple. He did not have anything with him, no mala, no Buddha statue, no thangka, no text etc... He practised the Lam Rim, lojong, and tantra from memory. He also ate very little, mostly absorbing the essence from the air or plants. Instead of being angry, he meditated for 19 years without leaving the room. Today, Rinpoche holds many important and rare lineages of the Buddhadharma, especially in the Gelug tradition. And I am fortunate to receive from him many oral transmissions. I believe he is the guru who gave me the most oral transmissions of many texts and mantras. 

Earlier the past 1-2 weeks, Choden Rinpoche gave the lengthy (one hour) and precious oral transmission of both the Sutras and Tantric Paths. This has been transmitted since the time of Buddha Shakyamuni with an unbroken lineage. It is imbued with immense blessings as it plants the seed for us to receive the blessings of the Buddha's sutra and tantra teachings when we hear and meditate on the teachings. 

Rinpoche also gave the empowerment of the 21 Taras, the Mother of all Buddhas of the 3 times, as well as the oral transmission of each of the 21 Taras' mantras. How blessed!

 

Offering White Tara and the 8 Auspicious Objects for Rinpoche's long life earlier this year. As all my gurus get older each year and some passed away, I feel I just had to request for their long life each time I see them. 

During one of his teachings, Rinpoche said, "Because of our ignorance we need to generate wisdom. In order to achieve wisdom, the supreme method is to develop compassion, as it will remove all our obscurations. Just by developing compassion, all the other qualities and wisdom will follow."

Choden Rinpoche is a very quiet master. He does not like to talk except when giving teachings. And when he does talk, his voice is deep and resonant. He reminds me very much of my another guru, the late Kyabje Lati Rinpoche. When one faces Choden Rinpoche, he appears to be huge in size with his overwhelming presence, like the Buddha. This time, when Choden Rinpoche saw me, he paused for a few minutes to bless this card of Lama Tsongkhapa together with his photo, which he gave in Malaysia a couple of years ago. And this time, he also signed his name for me as well, and spent a few minutes giving me advice and instructions. I know I am truly blessed. Blissed out!!! 

Why is Choden Rinpoche so special to me? Because he is the only guru whom I first met in a dream without knowing who he was.  Back in Jan 2010, after the dream, I had to go online to search who this Rinpoche was, who appeared in my dream and what his name was. Then I started making fervent prayers to meet him soon, by chanting his name mantra in my daily prayers.  I was elated when I finally met him when he came to Singapore in June 2011. The rest is history and I managed to receive his precious teachings. When I attended Rinpoche's event this time, I am happy when Dharma friends (newly acquainted with Rinpoche) told me they only got to know Rinpoche from this blog here. It was the same when Rinpoche visited earlier this year. Rejoiceful connections!

May Choden Rinpoche live long and come back to bestow precious teachings again and again, and may Rinpoche be my guru in all my lifetimes until enlightenment.

From 19 years of solitude to eternal bliss

I recently read 2 articles, Tibetan monk in long walk to freedom and The calming influence of Tibetan Buddhism, written about Kyabje Choden Rinpoche, one of the most venerable and holy being I have ever met. He is one of the highest lamas of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a respected scholar, teacher and yogi. He is also a very precious guru to me. I am ever so grateful he came into my dream even before I knew who he was, and even before I met him in real life.

83-year-old Choden Rinpoche is a very quiet lama and he never talk unnecessarily unless when he is giving a teaching. His quiet presence belies his wonderful qualities. However it is through this very silence that he transmutes inner calmness to my thoughts/mindstream with his presence. Whenever he arrives, his physical self walks in ever so slowly with his walking stick. However, I always feel he seems to be gliding in, as if he is walking on waters, with no display of any discomfort of weak legs whatsoever. 

Choden Rinpoche belongs to the dying generation of authentic lamas from Tibet who is extremely realised and knowledgeable. He is so so so different from all the young lamas of this degenerated age, some of whom are internet savvy, blogging, tweeting and running a buddhist organisation like a corporate setup. I sometimes wonder how they have time to practice the Buddha Dharma, being preoccupied with the mundane material matters of this world. How authentic are they? From my observation, all my gurus, whether older or slightly younger, never have time to surf the internet, being so focused, absorbed with their practice and retreats. Time is never enough giving teachings, prayers and empowerments and being in retreats, as well as helping all of us deluded sentient beings. All these are authentic gurus, the Living Buddhas/Bodhisattvas, the very essence whose existence is to lead sentient beings away from the cyclic existence of samsara.  

When China invaded Tibet in 1959, Choden Rinpoche chose a self-imposed solitary confinement. He never once left his tiny dark room in Lhasa for 19 years until 1985. He spent 2 decades secretly meditating and reciting sacred texts he had memorised. Despite his lack of possessions and confinement, he did not feel he lacked anything and is grateful he was able to quietly practice. How many of us can sit quietly for 19 minutes, not to mention meditate for 19 years?

Choden Rinpoche with his attendant Geshe Gyalten

Through Rinpoche’s attendant Geshe Gyalten, he said there were two main reasons: “The benefit of doing a 19-year retreat was to be able to enhance the quality of the mind in ways of peace, focus and clarity, even though the outside world during that time was very crazy. During the Cultural Revolution, Tibetan monks were forced to criticise their spiritual teachers and Buddhism." Rinpoche said all Tibetans were forced to denounce Buddhism as the Chinese saw it as poison, another reason to stay indoors.

“The second reason was to learn all about the Buddhism philosophy, to interpret it and put it into practice.”He was closely monitored by the Chinese and if any religious objects were found they would take them away, but Rinpoche did all the retreats using just his mind. Rinpoche had no ritual objects, no altar, or books, just a set of rosary beads he hid under his blanket. He was constantly spied on and although the Chinese visited him regularly, they believed he was an invalid."If you kept even one scripture text, that is a serious crime - more serious than keeping a gun," he said. 

All this stress, fear and worry can be defeated” he said. “In order to overcome it you must identify it ... the stress and worry is just a feeling and part of the mind. If you have a content mind, there’s no more base for fear. The mind will become more peaceful, more focused and gain some clarity in life. But the ultimate benefit will depend on the motivation for engaging in the retreat."

"In order to gain happiness it is not necessary to be a Buddhist, but it is necessary to create the cause of peace and happiness, to develop wisdom. Everyone could benefit from time in solitude." 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with his guru Choden Rinpoche

During a teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche once reflected on how fortunate it was that a lady student was able to attend teachings with Choden Rinpoche. He said:

"Just seeing Choden Rinpoche, sitting in front of him, is incredible. We see billions of people in New York, but we don’t get that blessing or benefit for the mind as when we see Choden Rinpoche. Seeing him, she gets that benefit, purifying the mind, receiving peace, and that deep feeling. She got that from somebody who not only has the realization of bodhicitta, who is a bodhisattva, which is an incredible blessing, but from a yogi who has the clear light realization, who is a Chakrasamvara practitioner. Even just being in front of this person, she receives blessings and is purified. Also, this person’s neighbors and the insects and people around this yogi receive blessings and are purified. Being in front of Rinpoche is incredible. It is said that if this kind of practitioner crosses over a bridge, then under the bridge the insects, worms, and beings are liberated, their negative karma is purified. This is very fortunate.“ 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche also said, “Choden Rinpoche is an exceptional lama, most kind, compassionate and whose speech is most powerful, able to move, bless the mindstream – the result of having been in a retreat for 19 years."

May my most venerable guru, Choden Rinpoche, live long so that many more sentient beings are able to make a connection with him not just in this lifetime, but in all other future lifetimes as well. 

My earlier posts on Choden Rinpoche:
Choden Rinpoche, truly Vajradhara
I finally met the guru from my dream in real life
"When we die, we don't just vanish"
Who is he? 

Choden Rinpoche, truly Vajradhara

His Eminence Kyabje Choden Rinpoche is one of my precious gurus.  In fact, he is also the guru of my guru, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche.  One friend said in jest, that makes him (Choden Rinpoche) our 师公 (grandmaster), since he is the 师父 of our 师父 (guru's guru)!  Jokes aside, I do feel a very respectful and strange closeness to Choden Rinpoche, like I would to my grandfather. Although I am not able to spend a lot of time attending his teachings (as he is always travelling around the world for teachings),  I do treasure every opportunity to meet him when he is in town or nearby in Malaysia, even though I believe he does not even knows me or remembers me. Choden Rinpoche is a very quiet guru who does not talk much, apart from teachings, prayers, and giving initiations. Beneath his serious and quiet demeanour, lies a great practitioner. Rinpoche’s connections to past spiritual masters were evident from early childhood in his exemplary conduct and superior intelligence as well as in the miraculous signs often witnessed in his presence. 

Choden Rinpoche was in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia recently to give a series of teachings. Before the start of an event, all devotees were waiting eagerly and excitedly for his arrival outdoors.  Everyone has balloons with them, written on the balloons all their personal wishes.  Choden Rinpoche was scheduled to release the balloons for World Peace and for all our prayers, wishes and aspirations to come true.  While waiting for Rinpoche, it started to drizzle very light rain. It felt like light snow falling on our heads, kissing our faces and noses.  Everyone went back indoors to take shelter for a while.  Within a mere 10 minutes, Choden Rinpoche arrived, and as he walked from the car to the spot where he was to release balloons, the rain stopped. Very auspicious indeed. 

The monks chanted prayers and everyone recited the Noble Stack of Auspiciousness Sutra for this very rare and auspicious occasion.  Choden Rinpoche said prayers before releasing the balloons.  A beautiful display up the skies.      

At the end of the day, Choden Rinpoche was leaving the venue, I walked and followed him to his car.  I noticed an unusual sight up the sky.  On one end is a beautiful sunset, on the other end, right above us, I noticed clouds were gathered and divided in two sides, forming a straight long path from one end to the other end of the horizon. 

During a Lillian Too's event earlier this year, Choden Rinpoche was a special invited guest to give the audience blessings and oral transmissions.  Lillian showed this beautiful photo of Choden Rinpoche reciting prayers in a holy site.  Everyone snapped photos of the special occasion. Little did they expect to see these beautiful rainbow lights emanating surrounding Choden Rinpoche when the photos were developed. Amazing. So blessed is everyone who gets to see this photo, including you my readers. One need not be present at the occasion to receive this blessing.  

Choden Rinpoche was one of seven children born to a noble family in Dahi, the Khampa region of Eastern Tibet. Rinpoche was officially recognized as a small boy as the living reincarnation of the previous Choden Rinpoche, who had been one of the finalists in the search for the 13th Dalai Lama’s reincarnation. At the age of 7, Rinpoche took novice ordination from His Holiness Pabongka Rinpoche. His Holiness reportedly said, “I found your name in Ganden Monastery’s Golden Stupa.” His Holiness named the child Losang Gyalten Jikdrel Wangchuk.

Since his novice ordination, Rinpoche has been observing his monastic vows just as one protects one’s own eyes. Rinpoche traveled to Central Tibet at the age of 17 and enrolled in Sera Je Monastery where he was trained in the Five Canons of Buddhist philosophy. While mastering this twenty-five year course of study, Rinpoche became an outstanding student of His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche and His Holiness Pabongka Rinpoche as well as numerous other prominent lamas. Under their tutelage, he received empowerments, oral transmissions and personal instruction. He was given complete pith instructions and ear-whispered transmissions as well, which led him to an internalized understanding of the teachings. Rinpoche was also tutored during this period by the Abbot of Dawak Monastery who taught him Tibetan grammar, Sanskrit, poetry, literature and astrology. By virtue of this lengthy apprenticeship with many renowned lineage masters, Rinpoche mastered the Five Canons and earned the title Pandita. He was chosen to represent Sera Je in debate when His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama stood for his Geshe Examination in 1959. 

During the 60s, in response to the devastating destruction of Tibetan culture and religion at the hands of the Chinese, Rinpoche undertook a solitary retreat for 19 years. He never left his tiny, dark room in Lhasa for 20 years relying on the metok chuelen practice for sustenance. When practicing metok chuelen (literally: flower essence- to-take-of), one refrains from all common dietary habits, sustaining the body with a substance made of flower essences. Rinpoche states unequivocally that his productive practice, his accumulation of merit and his accomplishment of clarity of mind are directly attributable to his metok chuelen practice. When the Chinese accused him of 'disgracing the motherland' by practicing dharma, Rinpoche was forced to abandon this retreat and take up residence in a Lhasa household. The Cultural Revolution was a dark period in Tibet marked by forced participation in cultural degradation and by the protracted suffering of atrocities. Concurrent with these rampant human rights abuses in his homeland, Rinpoche chose to remain in solitude in household retreat for more than 19 years, practicing the Lam Rim, lo jong and tantra from memory.

In the 80s, Chinese policy became more lenient toward Tibetan religious activity. Endeavoring to exploit Rinpoche’s reputation as a distinguished scholar, the authorities invited him to serve on the board of a cultural committee. Rinpoche readily rejected the offer, having the forethought that he would be required to criticize his root guru His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Instead he used this five-year period of leniency to give extensive teachings, empowerments and oral transmissions to thousands of Tibetan Buddhists. In 1985, Rinpoche was able to escape Tibet, traveling through Nepal to India. In Dharmasala, his paramount wish, the opportunity for an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, was finally realized. This auspicious and poignant occasion touched Rinpoche’s heart indelibly: it was as if he had met with Buddha Shakyamuni himself. The political destabilization in Tibet having reached a particularly volatile juncture, His Holiness advised Rinpoche to not return but rather to remain in India in order to teach. Therefore, while destruction of monasteries, temples and stupas continued unabated in Tibet, Rinpoche traveled to South India and, for the next twenty years, taught the precious Buddhist canon to thousands of monks in the diaspora’s monastic communities.

Rinpoche was regularly invited abroad to teach in monasteries and dharma centers, thereby benefiting people from all walks of life. He has traveled extensively throughout South Asia, Mongolia, Europe and America. Thousands of practitioners have taken novice ordination from Rinpoche in the course of his travels outside Tibet. In sum, Rinpoche spent twenty years of his youth studying Buddhist logic, the Perfection of Wisdom sutras, Middle Way philosophy, Treasury of Knowledge treatises, and monastic code and conduct at Sera Je Monastery. Subsequently, he dedicated another two decades to contemplation, meditating on the Five Canons in order to internalize the teachings. Most recently, he has devoted a third span of twenty years to teaching in South India and abroad, disseminating the Buddhadharma to benefit humanity.

I finally met the guru from my dream in real life

Had a blissful weekend. I finally met the guru who appeared in my dream last year.  A few Dharma friends know how special, precious and significant this was to me.  In that dream, I did not even know who he was since I have never met him before.  After that, I only know Choden Rinpoche is the guru of my guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Since that dream, I had been praying to be able to meet 80-year-old Kyabje Choden Rinpoche in this lifetime to be able to receive his teaching and blessings, as well as planting the karmic seed to be connected with him in future lifetimes.

Choden Rinpoche of Sera Je Monastery, is one of the highest of the Gelug lamas, a yogi, a scholar. During the communist Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959, Choden Rinpoche stayed in Tibet and went into solitary retreat for 19 years. He never left his tiny, dark room in Lhasa from 1965 to 1985, and was virtually unknown in his monastery for this reason. He neither escaped his country after 1959 nor was imprisoned; instead, he lived in a house in Lhasa, never leaving his small, dark, empty room for 19 years, even to go to the toilet, and never cutting his hair and beard. In 1985 he was allowed to leave Tibet for India, and has since taught for many years to thousands of students at Sera Je monastery in South India. At the request of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche has travelled all around the world to give teachings and lead retreats.

I took lots of photos of this Enlightened Being, and also had a couple shots with him over the weekend. :D

I made sure I welcomed Choden Rinpoche at the airport, together with some students of Amitabha Buddhist Centre. I offered khata and flower to Rinpoche. When Rinpoche blessed me, he smiled, I was almost in tears - dream came true and my body was burning hot. Rinpoche in real life seems to be very huge in size. When I had a few seconds to steal, I requested Rinpoche for a photo and managed to snap a few of him and also with him. See my single big sunflower for Rinpoche? :)  

The next day, I attended a teaching given by Choden Rinpoche in ABC. He holds many important and rare lineages of the Buddhadharma, especially in the Gelug tradition. He gave teaching of "In Praise of Dependent Origination", the well-known verses composed by Lama Tsongkhapa which pays homage to Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings on emptiness.

After the teaching, it was blessing time. When he saw the sick people or those who needed help, he closed his eyes and took a little longer time to bless them. Rinpoche's voice is deep and resonant, and reminds me of the late Kyabje Lati Rinpoche.

Many people turned up for the session and of course to receive Rinpoche's blessings. Joyous occasion!

I decided at the last minute to attend Lillian Too's spiritual talk in Suntec, just because Choden Rinpoche was to make a guest appearance and I had wanted to bask in his presence longer. This was only the second time Lillian, world-renowned fengshui master, was holding this event about the Third Dimension in Fengshui, which is everything mystical about our surroundings, and not the usual Fengshui fanfare (which is usually in Dec/Jan period). So far, in all of her 300 over books, she has revealed the secrets of only the first two out of three dimensions of feng shui – namely, space and time. Lillian feels that the world is ready to learn about the third and most powerful dimension of feng shui; the spiritual dimension.

Lillian said she was sharing what she has learned from the great masters the secrets and tips, on how we can tap into the knowledge of Ren Chai (Mankind Luck), which requires us to use the power of our own mind and sacred rituals to enlist the help of cosmic forces in the spiritual realm to overcome obstacles and bring success into our lives. She stressed that "this dimension is not religious, but it is spiritual. It is not logical, but magical". There are different realms of existence residing around us and we can co-exist with them and can also engage their assistance. We learned how to use certain sacred rituals to appease the other realms, how to invoke the higher beings, how to wear certain amulets for protection, how to recite mantras and how to empower our objects.

When it comes to empowering objects, of course we had to invite a great master to do it; blessing and consecrating holy objects. Lillian gave a moving introduction of Choden Rinpoche. The Chinese government did not allow him to meditate even in a cave, he meditated at a tiny backroom of a disciple. He did not have anything with him, no mala, no Buddha statue, no thangka, no text etc... he also ate very little, mostly absorbing the essence from the air or plants. Instead of being angry, he meditated for 19 years without leaving the room. Today, Rinpoche eats only one meal a day. Can you even sit still and quietly meditate for 19 minutes, not to mention 19 YEARS!

1000-2000 people waiting for the arrival of Choden Rinpoche. He benefited everyone present who were from all walks of life, not just Buddhists.

Lillian showed this amazing photo when she was with Rinpoche at a holy site. While Rinpoche was reciting prayers, everyone was snapping photos. And when everyone's photos were developed, they found all their photos were radiating rainbow lights all around Rinpoche.  Amazing.  _/|\_

Rinpoche gave an impromptu brief teaching on the precious human life and methods of meditation. He introduced many individual Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and also gave oral transmission of their mantras. He blessed and consecrated all holy objects in the auditorium.

After that, everyone queued up to go on stage for Rinpoche's personal blessings. Those who were present were indeed very very fortunate.

Rinpoche blessed everyone patiently, and this took a long time.

Everyone offering khata to Rinpoche and also had their holy objects blessed once again, individually.

May all those present (even non-Buddhists) know that they were indeed very fortunate to have met Rinpoche in this lifetime. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has addressed Choden Rinpoche as Vajradhara.  Vajradhara is the primordial Buddha who is the same mental continuum as Buddha Shakyamuni but displays a different aspect. He appeared as Buddha Shakyamuni to reveal the stages of the path of Sutra, and as Vajradhara to reveal the stages of the path of Tantra. Vajradhara has said that in degenerate times, he would appear in an ordinary form as a spiritual master. And yes, that day, we had met Shakyamuni Buddha/Vajradhara in the human form. Thank you for coming, Choden Rinpoche!

Also thanks to the amiable and lively Lillian Too for a great event, for generously sharing lots of tips and sacred secrets.    

Hello 2011!!!

Happy New Year!

I actually do not like to make new year resolutions. And I normally do not look back at the trials and jubilations of the past year. It's time to move on.  And to me, the new year starts only when the lunar chinese new year arrives in a few weeks time.  Anyway, I only like to remind myself, at the start of each new year, of these few goals, not just for 2011 but in this lifetime (in random order):

- To have a good job, a good boss, and good subordinates

- To buy my second property

- To make new and sincere friends

- To treasure old friends

- To find soulmate/s

- To repay my parents' kindness in this lifetime

- To repay my benefactors' kindness in this lifetime

- To meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Choden Rinpoche
- To save money
- To travel to places I have not yet visited

- To help and to benefit others (read below)
- To be happy.

As the new year begins, reading the newsletter I just received from ABC, I am reminded yet again that it is most beneficial to set our motivation and resolutions right. The result that we get depends on us creating the right causes. Putting into practice the Dharma teachings we have heard and learned and benefiting as many beings as possible would truly make our lives meaningful this year and in this lifetime.

As my guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche said, "If one finds out how much life is spent on wasted actions that did not become Dharma, one regrets and then make a strong determination in the new year that as much as possible in one's daily life, to have a Dharma motivation so that all actions become Dharma. In this way, our new year, lived with the thought of benefiting others with compassion becomes the cause for our own happiness, of world peace, and peace in the family and oneself and ultimately, it becomes the cause for us to bring all sentient beings to enlightenment."

On a lighter note, here are hilarious 2011 resolutions by Twitter, Microsoft, Facebook and the  other  big boys of the internet (courtesy of @ladyxtel ):

Have a great start, ya'all !

"When we die, we don't just vanish" - Venerable Choden Rinpoche

A month ago, I befriended a Dharma brother. I asked him about a certain Rinpoche whom I have never met before, and asked him to inform me if this highly realised master is in town.  A few days ago, he emailed me saying that the 77-year-old Venerable Choden Rinpoche would be in KL for teachings in December. Wow.

Although at this moment, it is highly unlikely I would be able to go KL to attend his teachings, it is my wish to meet him at least once in this lifetime to receive his teachings and blessings. May I be able to do so.

Earlier this year in January, I had dreamt of Choden Rinpoche even though I have never met him before in real life. That is why I am very curious about him. I had only seen his photo once with my guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche and that was about it. It was only after this dream that I went to search more information about Choden Rinpoche. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has addressed Choden Rinpoche as Vajradhara, the embodiment of all Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. Vajradhara is the tantric form of Shakyamuni Buddha. Below photos, Zopa Rinpoche both welcoming and sending Choden Rinpoche off from an event. 

In the dream, I was to attend a very grand Dharma event in a modern looking white building with many rooms and auditoriums with high ceilings, each with a huge projection screen. There were many people present, including my whole family and relatives, all scattered around the building. My grandma was following me closely, with a slight limp. There was even one particular room with a mini ferris wheel and some participants were seated in the ferris wheel's cubicles! (On hindsight, that might have been a symbol of a gigantic Dharma Wheel!).  I also sighted a brightly lit room with 2 wooden high throne seats. 

Everyone was talking about a Rinpoche and all I could hear was "Rinpoche...(this and that)..".  Throughout the dream, I did not see any photos of Choden Rinpoche or any altar or Buddha statues or any Sangha. However, his face kept flashing before me as I walked around trying to find a seat. Then, all of a sudden, I saw Choden Rinpoche walking past me very slowly, smiling gently, holding a rosary in his hand. Everyone hushed and bowed down their heads in respect, as he entered the room with the 2 high throne seats. End of dream. 

There are many things in life which we cannot explain. Just as I do not know why I have a dream of someone even though I have not met him in real life before. I can only guess that in my previous life, I might have been a fly or an animal who was sticking around with Choden Rinpoche. :)

Choden Rinpoche is regarded as one of the great masters of the day, and is particularly famed for his pure moral conduct. Born in 1933 in Eastern Tibet, Choden Rinpoche was recognized at age 3 as an important incarnate lama, and ordained at age 6 by the great Pabongka Rinpoche who reportedly said, “I found your name in Gaden Monastery’s Golden Stupa". Choden Rinpoche entered Sera Je Monastery where he mastered all the philosophical teachings required for the highest monastic title of Geshe Lharampa. 

When the Communist Chinese invaded Tibet in 1959, Choden Rinpoche was arrested and jailed for several months. After his release, Rinpoche went into solitary retreat for 19 years. He never left his tiny, dark room in Lhasa for 19 years and was virtually unknown in his monastery for this reason.  In 1985 he was allowed to leave Tibet for India where he finally met up with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.  He has since taught for many years to thousands of students at Sera Je monastery in South India. At the request of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche has visited the West and FPMT Centers to give teachings and lead retreats.

His great insight into the Dharma and his peerless and compassionate conduct have inspired many students in the West to follow in his example to take ordination vows.

His words of wisdom, on his 19 years retreat:

"The future life is more important than this life – this life is just like a dream. So if you went and did as the Chinese said, you would get a good house and car, you could enjoy so many things, but this would have caused you to fall to the lower realms, where you would experience sufferings for so many eons. Future lives are much more important than this life. In order to work for the future lives, I stayed inside to practice.

When we die we don’t just vanish. We have to take rebirth, and we don’t have any choice in that birth, only what our karma determines – whether we’re reborn in the lower realms or upper realms. If you’ve done positive things in this life you can take rebirth in the human realm, and you can enjoy the result of these actions. If you do negative actions, the karma does not vanish; even the smallest karma accumulated you have to experience in the future.

The future is very long, many eons. This life is so short, it’s just fiction, just a dream. Your mind continues infinitely, and when you die in the next life, again it doesn’t vanish, and again you continue to the next life, and the next – many lives you have to go through. So all of these are determined by the present actions. You have no choice. So the present action is very important. This life is so short, perhaps only one hundred years – very small compared to the future lives. This is why the future lives are more important than this life".

Who is he?

Hmmm..... last night I had a spiritual dream again. I dreamt of Venerable Choden Rinpoche of Sera Je Monastery. The very  very very weird thing is, I have never met him before in real life nor followed his teachings, or even read about him. I only heard of his name once from FPMT's activities where my guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director.

In the dream, I was to attend a very grand Dharma event, supposedly teachings given by Choden Rinpoche. It was in a very modern looking white building. There were many many rooms and auditoriums, with walls painted in white, all very clean. Each and every room was arranged with chairs for the event. There were so many people and students around, the place was buzzing with activity, as everyone got ready to welcome Choden Rinpoche. My whole family and some relatives were with me, although everyone was separated in different rooms. All the rooms have very high ceilings, and there was even a room with a mini ferris wheel! And some students could sit inside each of the ferris wheel's cubicle! Each room had a huge projection screen, supposedly to tune in to Rinpoche's talk later on. 

Throughout the dream, I only remember my grandma was with me all the time. She looked weaker than usual, but was very enthusiastic and excited about the forthcoming event. I remember grandma was weak on one leg, with a slight limp, and kept a close distance to me, so that I could hold her arm and support her when she walked. We managed to catch a glimpse of a room, brightly lit, and 2 high-throne chairs in wood with maroon-coloured seats, and there were floor cushions scattered around on the floor. 

I found another aunt in another room, greeted her and I went on my way to explore the huge place. Many people were seated or trying to be seated, and on everyone's lips, all I could hear was "Rinpoche.... (this and that)..".  I bumped into another cousin, V, who just came in too. My grandma kept asking me stuff in Teochew, she did not understand why we were going through the event. She kept asking 'are we done?', very typical of grandma's gan-cheong (anxious) behaviour in real life. Throughout the dream, I did not see any photos of Choden Rinpoche or any altar or Buddha statues. I also did not see any members of the Sangha around. In the dream,  the visualization of Choden Rinpoche's face  kept appearing in the corner of my head. I helped my grandma got on a very long escalator and we were up to another higher level.  Then we suddenly heard people whispering that Rinpoche was here. There were so many people that it was hard to identify Rinpoche. Then just as fast, in a mere few seconds, I saw Choden Rinpoche walking past slowly, smiling gently, holding a rosary in his palm. Everyone hushed and bowed down their heads in respect, as he entered the room with the 2 high throne seats. End of dream.

This dream really had me floored. I do not know Choden Rinpoche at all. Never read anything about him at all. Why did I dream of him?  And you know what, I suddenly realised, Choden Rinpoche looked a little like my Grandma's eldest brother, who had already passed on many years back. What a resemblance. 

Here is an intro of Choden Rinpoche I found online:

Choden Rinpoche of Sera Je Monastery, is one of the highest of the Gelug lamas. During the communist Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959, Choden Rinpoche stayed in Tibet and went into solitary retreat for 19 years. He never left his tiny, dark room in Lhasa from 1965 to 1985, and was virtually unknown in his monastery for this reason. He neither escaped his country after 1959 nor was imprisoned; instead, he lived in a house in Lhasa, never leaving his small, dark, empty room for 19 years, even to go to the toilet, and never cutting his hair and beard. In 1985 he was allowed to leave Tibet for India, and has since taught for many years to thousands of students at Sera Je monastery in South India. At the request of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche has now visited the west several times to give teachings and lead retreats.

His words of wisdom, on his 19 years retreat:

"The future life is more important than this life – this life is just like a dream. So if you went and did as the Chinese said, you would get a good house and car, you could enjoy so many things, but this would have caused you to fall to the lower realms, where you would experience sufferings for so many eons. Future lives are much more important than this life. In order to work for the future lives, I stayed inside to practice.

When we die we don’t just vanish. We have to take rebirth, and we don’t have any choice in that birth, only what our karma determines – whether we’re reborn in the lower realms or upper realms. If you’ve done positive things in this life you can take rebirth in the human realm, and you can enjoy the result of these actions. If you do negative actions, the karma does not vanish; even the smallest karma accumulated you have to experience in the future.

The future is very long, many eons. This life is so short, it’s just fiction, just a dream. Your mind continues infinitely, and when you die in the next life, again it doesn’t vanish, and again you continue to the next life, and the next – many lives you have to go through. So all of these are determined by the present actions. You have no choice. So the present action is very important. This life is so short, perhaps only one hundred years – very small compared to the future lives. This is why the future lives are more important than this life".

More details of Choden Rinpoche can be found here.