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Pagoda Phat Hue presents: Sangha Evening, Cafe Siddhartha

Thursday, Nov. 5, saw the grand opening of Cafe Siddhartha, the sister project to Sangha Evening, which was held for the first time ever at Pagoda Phat Hue. The entrance of the Pagoda was transformed into a cosy tea house, a meeting place for the sangha, lay community and friends of friends. Read on to find more news concerning the next Sangha Evening, and Cafe Siddhartha!

The evening itself was a great success! More than 60 friends and friends of friends showed up at the Pagoda, as well as other interested parties who were at the Pagoda for the first time. All these people experienced a relaxing, cosy, interesting and tasty evening in a warm and harmonious atmosphere. Well-being was ensured with cookies, cakes, tea and coffee. Antonia and Phuong offered fresh-made waffels, which was followed by a lecture on sympathy and harmony by a visiting Tibetan monk (a Geshe) in the Buddha Hall, which seemed to inspire all.

All present seemed glad that the evening took place, and many sangha members expressed a desire to help with future Sangha Evenings, and Cafe Siddhartha. Some also expressed a desire for Sangha Evenings without lectures or programs, where people could come and simply be together, experience the community, and get to know each other.

Out of the evening arose another beautiful idea. The Ven. Bhante Punnaratana will be available during future Sangha Evenings to answer questions, discuss Buddhist practice, and guide meditations in the Buddha Hall.

Our wishes for this and future Sangha Evenings is for the ordained and lay sangha to grow from all sides and mutually support and inspire itself.

Next Sangha Evening & Cafe Siddhartha: Monday, Dec. 7

A note: we are planning on hosting Sangha Evening and Cafe Siddhartha on the second Monday of each month, at the Pagoda, between 7 and 9:30 p.m.

Anyone wishing to help set up is cordially welcome:
We are also grateful for any tea or dessert donations for the evening, or other surprises, which can be offered to the community during Sangha Evening.

As always, we look forward to seeing you!

Medicine Buddha festival: the week in review

Owing mostly to our Tibetan guests, the Pagoda experienced a colorful and rich week of Dharma talks, ceremonies and rituals, which culminated in the Medicine Buddha Festival during the weekend. In the context of its fundraising trip through Europe, The Gajang Medical Society, from India, were hosted by Pagoda Phat Hue. The group consisted of Tibetan monks and translators, and enriched not only this year’s Medicine Buddha Festival, but also the entire week before it.

On Monday evening, in his Dharma talk on meditation practice, Geshe Lobsang Soeba stressed the importance of an open attitude of mind, which is based not on egotrips and egocentrism, but on sincere sympathy. He also mentioned that, similar to other Buddhist traditions, in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a meditation practice begins with calming the mind, with the help of the samatha method. For further mental development, he said, it is important to connect samatha with analytic meditation. Geshe Lobsang Soeba said, if we can deeply understand that each sentient being, who is in the process of their journey, because of rebirths, was once our loving mother, we can experience the feelings of gratitude and love in us. Thus, we can recognize that we are connected independent of faith and nationality, beyond preferences, dislikes, and all else. In this way, we produce Bodhicitta, the illuminated mind, within us, which is the entry door for the Bodhisattva path in the Mahayana tradition. From that point, the deep heart wish to free all sentient beings from the cycle of suffering, Samsara, naturally develops our life task.

On Tuesday morning, the creation of the Medicine Buddha sand mandala began. During the opening ceremony, the Dharma Protector was called upon and the Medicine Buddha was asked for permission to create the sand mandala. After the Medicine Buddha had given its benediction for the sand mandala, the monks began their devoted, aesthetically-oriented work. Many visitors to the Pagoda used the unique opportunity during the week to observe the creation of the work of art in the Buddha Hall. Millimeter by millimeter, the multicolored sand was arranged, using traditional instruments, into a representation of the developing universe of the healing Buddhas. Each individual grain of sand is considered a carrier of the healing energy of the Medicine Buddhas, and thus is treated with respect and care.

Wednesday evening was fully concentrated on Tibetan medicine. Tibetan medicine ranks among the oldest in Asia. In the Tibetan tradition of medicine, health is based on the harmony of three elements: wind (Lung), bile (Tripa) and mucous (Péken). When these three elements are in harmony, we feel energized and healthy, said Namgyal Phuntsok, the evening’s speaker. He said that external influences, like extreme climates or environments, can bring us out of equilibrium. Also, he said, if one of the elements is lacking or overabundant, we experience discord, which can sooner or later bring on symptoms and mental state disturbances on both the physical and mental levels. Thus, the goal of each therapeutic intervention is clear: to retain or re-establish the harmony of the elements. Mental hygiene, that is, reflection and meditation, belong to the same therapeutic repertoire as changes in diet and lifestyle. Only if these therapeutic interventions are not successful will the physician prescribe medicine, which have the task of repairing the discord “from the inside”.

On Thursday evening, Geshe Lobsang Soeba spoke on the development of sympathy in everyday life. There are, he said, three kinds of sympathy: natural sympathy, which is innate and we have for people close to us, like our close relatives; the second form is boundless sympathy, which we can only develop if we realize that we are connected with all sentient beings as family relations from past lives, which means that we can have indiscriminate sympathy, true sympathy, for all living creatures; and the third kind of sympathy is the great sympathy of the Bodhisattvas, those who dedicate themselves to freeing all sentient beings from the cycle of rebirth, Samsara.

Friday morning the Medicine Buddha sand mandala was completed - bright red, blue, yellow, green, and even white colored sand grains created and enriched ornamental flowers, jugs, scrolls, and traditional symbols. However, many visitors asked: where were the Medicine Buddhas? There are different levels to the mandala representation. With respect to the Buddhist practice of differentiating between physical, verbal and mental actions, sand mandalas are created. In this case, the representation of the Medicine Buddhas was on the mental level, so anyone looking for the lapis lazuli blue of the Medicine Buddha’s physical body searched in vain. There were, however, representations of the mental transmission of the Medicine Buddhas, for example the scrolls as the symbol for the Medicine Buddha Sutra, which conveys the healing wisdom of the Buddhas.

The creation of the Medicine Buddha sand mandala, as well as the lectures and teachings during the week, were the ideal preparation for the weekend celebration that followed - the Medicine Buddha Festival.

Medicine Buddha festival, Tibetan (& Vietnamese) style

The Nov. 8 weekend welcomed more than 300 people into the Pagoda to participate in the ceremonies and rituals of the Medicine Buddha festival. A group of visiting Tibetan monks created a sand mandala, offered teachings, and performed ceremonies in keeping with their tradition, as did the Vietnamese monks from the Pagoda.

After the Tibetan monks had invited the Dharma Protector to protect the Buddha Hall, the Vietnamese monks recited the Medicine Buddha Sutra in the Tibetan language. Accompanied by the visiting Tibetan monks, the deep and sonorous sound of the recitation seemed to penetrate directly into the attendees’ hearts.

The blessing of the water

This year, as in the year before, visitors had the opportunity to write a name, their or another person’s, on a water bottle, which was then placed on the Medicine Buddha altar. It is said that the healing energy of the Medicine Buddhas collects in the water - following recitations and blessings - and can be transferred to the person whose name is written upon it in support of their self-healing process.

We carry so much knowledge and experience within us

On the occasion of the Medicine Buddha festival, Ven. Thich Thien Son spoke to all in attendance about the hidden self-healing forces within us. It is helpful, he said, to realize again and again just how much knowledge, experience and potential - transmitted to us from our ancestors - we already carry within ourselves. In the course of the stress and mood disorders (e.g., seasonal affective disorder) of everyday life, we are inclined to forget this. We stay in our subjectively felt suffering and wait, longingly, for someone from the outside to help us. If we can remind ourselves when we are in such situations of what difficulties our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents overcame in their life, that can help us.

To gain perspective on this, we can try to imagine what would happen if today, in our modern, Western world, if we lived without electricity, plumbing, or other modern comforts, and how we would manage our health and wellness. Remember that our great grandparents could not even drive to the supermarket to buy food. It had to be hunted and harvested.

At the same time, we can consider all the accumulated energies, which are forever present in our blood, from our ancestors: all their knowledge and rich life experiences have left traces in our consciousness, like grains of sand collected on a beach. It is up to us to consider this and, in times of personal emergency, to fall back on these resources with gratitude.

Greed, hatred and delusion to overcome

Another topic that Ven. Thich Thien Son addressed were the so-called “three mental poisons”: greed, hatred and delusion, which, from a Buddhist perspective, are the cause of all our suffering. The three are important to understand, so the Abbot explained that the three poisons are actually expressions or consequences of uncertainty (greed), missing love (hate) and ignorance (delusion). He noted that all three poisons can be caused by life history, and can be transferred from one generation to the next.

If our ancestors had to leave their country, for example, due to war, the fears and uncertainties that developed from the situation will settle within them. Consequentially, they will pass these experiences on in their behavior and in the education of their children. If we understand the emergence and dynamics of the three poisons in this way, if we are conscious of them, then we can understand how to interrupt these “destructive transmission lines” in the here and now, not only for us, but also for our future descendants. We must remember that, in a Buddhist’s everyday life practice, it is of upmost importance to stop the unwholesome and to promote wholesome.

Meditation, recitation and healing benediction

After dinner, the monks and nuns led a light meditation on the Dark Blue Medicine Buddha. Afterwards, the mantra of the Medicine Buddhas was recited in Tibetan, and the visitors could wish for their personal desires by tying knots in a 5-thread bracelet while the Tibetan master recited a healing benediction.

The sand mandala passes into impermanence

Also on Sunday, the sutra and mantra of the Medicine Buddhas was devotionally recited. The incontestable high point of the festival, however, was the conclusion, which involved the ritual destruction of the Medicine Buddha sand mandala by the Tibetan monks. Accompanied by ceremonial singing, drums, cymbals and Tibetan trumpets, the symbolic universe of the Medicine Buddhas transcended permanence. Since each grain of sand carries the healing and cleansing energy of the Medicine Buddhas, it was said that the sand should be treated with respect. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to prevent the soiling of the sand particles. Thus, it is recommended that the sand mandala grains, after dispersion, be transferred to natural water. In this way, the healing energy of the Medicine Buddhas goes to nature, by river or sea, and is carried into the world around us. And this idea of impermanence is central to Buddhism.

So, whether joy, pain or a work of art: everything is impermanent and passing!

Glowing lanterns and bright children’s eyes

This year’s Lantern festival was once again a great success. Hundreds of children visited Pagoda Phat Hue to experience the world of clowns and magicians. At the entrance, our little guests were greeted by juggling clowns and balloon animals. The Buddha Hall became an enormous play meadow filled with games and balloons. There was all this and so much more, and you can see it all in our photo gallery.

Different areas were set up to offer the children a colorful world. One activity involved blindfolded children feeling the natural world, leaves and twigs, with their hands and feet. There was also a sound workshop led by Janko Jetzovšek Jizou and his wife, which was both museum and sound experience. Here, sound lanterns could be tinkered with by punching holes on a cardboard strip, painted pictures, or words. A small play organ turned, enlivening personal images with melody. And everything was transformed, illuminated and colored by tealight.

The arts and crafts workshop was oft-visited again this year, and the young artists were able to creatively let off their steam. With different materials such as finger paints and strips of cloth, an approximately 5 meter image was created, put together by the cooperative little hands of many children. In the make-up corner were large crowds of sweet faces transformed into small tigers and lions, or decorated with butterflies.

Following these activities was the stage show, which put the children under a spell. As in previous years, a dragon dance and a Vovinam demonstration (of traditional Vietnamese martial arts), in which even the smallest students participated, were on display. We even had child rock stars on stage, as well as Monia, the soulful voice of U22.

The magician Klaus Klamauck enchanted not only the children who besieged the stage, but also the parents.

As for food, we were plentifully prepared, because our Vietnamese community offered various traditional Vietnamese delicacies, which streamed delicious smells throughout the Pagoda. And, in the end, each child received a lantern and a baggie of donated sweets, and at the sound of the drums, joined a lantern procession led by the clowns. At their final destination, fireworks of a different kind awaited them: two fire artists provided a unique and exciting show that took some breaths away.

Even as the festivities wound down and guests strolled away, late into the evening, untiring clowns fooled around in the Pagoda, tinkered with ballons and flowers, and spread fun and merriment. And, For the success of the entire evening, we want to once again sincerely thank all our wonderful helpers, without whose dedication this festive evening could not have happened.

A Call for Donations for Victims of Typhoon Ketsana

Tropical Storm Ketsana wreaked havoc and devastated large parts of Central Vietnam.

Our colleagues in Vietnam report that countless people now stand before the ruins of their existence. The typhoon left a trail of destruction and people struggling for their lives.

In the Hue region of central Vietnam — where many Pagoda Phat Hue projects are located — the storm hit hard. Roofs were blown off houses — or the houses were simply swept away — and wide swaths of crops destroyed. Many villages were evacuated in advance of the approaching storm to avoid a worse catastrophe, but still many people have died.

In order to clear away the destruction created by the typhoon, and therefore help the people harmed by it, the Ven. Ni Su Nhu Minh is on the ground round-the-clock helping those in need – especially children.

We sincerely ask you for your help to save the lives of the disaster’s victims. We will continue to keep you informed with up-to-date reports. Your donation will help those affected overcome this grave situation.

Thank you from Pagoda Phat Hue and Chance to Grow e. V.!

Donation Account:

CHANCE TO GROW e.V.
Frankfurter Volksbank
Account No.: 6300987484
BLZ: 501 900 00
Keywords: Typhoon in Vietnam

Press Release: The Dalai Lama’s Visit

52,500 Visitors See the Dalai Lama in Frankfurt

His Holiness ends his visit to the Commerzbank Arena / Organizers close on a positive note/ Cost deficit will be compensated for

Frankfurt, Germany, August 3rd, 2009. With the final talk, “The Art of Living,” the four-day visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Commerzbank Arena ended. 52,500 visitors took advantage of the chance to the get close to this spiritual idol of millions. Numerous well-known personalities from economic, cultural and scientific fields participated in an interesting side program.

All in all, the organizers – Frankfurt Buddhism 2009 GmbH, as well as their
their partners the German Buddhist Union, Pagoda Phat Hue and Tibethouse
Germany – closed on a positive note, and thanked everyone who contributed to the event’s success.

Jörg Ulmer, the event’s director, gave special thanks to the
Commerzbank Arena, members of the three Buddhist groups that organized the event, the communications team led by Mike Kuhlmann, 408 volunteers, 220 security guards and police, and his wife Simone, with whom he had been organizing the event for two years. The organizers also thanked the state of Hessen, the city of Frankfurt, and all the artists who participated.

About 1.75 Million Euro came in through ticket sales and donations, which left a deficit of 150,000 Euro to cover the event’s total cost.

“Through the tireless work of the entire team, in the last few weeks we have already reduced this deficit. Of course, we will continue to work to improve this situation and we are quite confident that we can manage it. The positive vibrations of Dalai Lama are still reverberating, and we are optimistic about generating more donations,” said Mike Kuhlmann, executive director of Frankfurt Buddhism 2009 GmbH. “In this connection, we want to emphasize that a possible deficit will not be passed on to third parties – all bills will be paid.”

Vajramala, chairwoman of the German Buddhist Union, added: “If in the end
we must acknowledge a deficit, we organizers will bear the loss equally – and with pleasure. His Holiness gave us four days of his life, and it was worth it.

For more information and pictures of the event, see:
www.phathue.com/multimedia/photos/ and
www.dalailama-frankfurt.de/presse

Deeply Grateful with a Hint of Sadness

June 20th - July 19, 2009

Ven. Pa-Auk Sayadaw and Ven. U Jagara Continue Their Journey

Without looking back and without saying good-bye, Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw mindfully stepped through the gate last Tuesday in the departure-hall of Frankfurt Airport. With this he gave us his last teaching while leaving: what had to be done has been done – the past is over and gone. Now it’s time to dedicate our attention to travelling to new shores, without any attachment to the past. Ven. U Jagara had already left Buddha’s Way retreat center on Sunday afternoon.
It was a pretty intense experience: For four weeks the participants of the meditation retreat in Buddha’s Way had the opportunity to intensify their meditation-practice under the professional and warm-hearted guidance of the Most Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw and Ven. U Jagara.
“During the retreat we have created a more or less artificial environment and conditions – by observing the Noble Silence and by drawing back from the outer world and freeing ourselves from various duties in everyday life,” said Ven. U Jagara during his last dharma-talk. “Now it’s time to carry the experiences of the retreat into the outside world and integrate them into our everyday life. Because wherever we go – we do take our life with us. It does not matter where we are, our life is part of us. Therefore, if we take a close look, there is no real difference between the world in and the world outside of the retreat: we can live our spiritual life anywhere, independent of our environment.”

Reconnecting with Our Heart

Why do we need a retreat then, with several sittings a day, far away from the sensual pleasures and enjoyments of the modern world? Because the calmness of the retreat provides us with beneficial conditions to reconnect with ourselves, which in our hectic everyday life we tend to get distracted and disconnected from. “True happiness we can only achieve by reconnecting with our own heart. It is only then that we are independent from outer conditions”, said Ven. U Jagara. And during a personal interview, Ven. Sayadaw said: “Many people don’t know how intense happiness can be that we experience in deep meditation. If you came into contact with the joy and happiness of the first and second contemplation (jhana), you can easily let go of the desire for worldly and sensual pleasures.”

The Mind Has to Be Trained Like a Muscle

But the path towards deep meditation-experiences like these until finally reaching Nibbana, or liberation, differs individually and requires systematic and continuous training of one’s own mind. “Only the trained mind is able to see things as they really are.” What does that mean? It means, that only when we have penetrated the absolute truth (paramattha-sacca) regarding the inherent nature of material and mental phenomena, can we deeply understand the entanglement of our actions on a physical, verbal and mental level. With this knowledge we will be capable of understanding cause and effect in our lives and of deciding to take a new and wholesome direction in every moment of our current life.

Sunshine, Lightning and Thunder, Storm and Rain – Inside and Outside

The weather showed the whole spectrum of midsummer heat, impressive lightning and thunder, tree-shaking storms, mystical mists, fog, and almost tropical rainfalls, as well as comfortable warm and sunny periods. The emotional landscape of many participants showed similar characteristics. Some meditators went through deep inner processes during the last weeks. “After some days of meditation I became more and more angry about my girlfriend. I guess, if I had had the opportunity to talk to her, I would have been scolding her or even been ending the relationship. But I continued my practice. The personal interviews with Ven. U Jagara gave me a lot of support. At the end of the third week I was able to understand the dynamics of our relationship much more deeply, and I am sure I will be able to carry home a lot of constructive, new impulses.”

Only the Relaxed Will Reach Nibbana

“My personal retreat-goal was to at least get the Nimitta (reflective sign or counterpart sign which appears during deep concentration). But what I got instead was the recognition that I first have to learn to really relax. That wasn’t that clear to me until then.”
Expectations and personal goals also were a key topic in the teachings of Ven. U Jagara: “We continuously have to reprimand ourselves in our lives to check our goals. Are they still resonating with us? What really do we want to reach in our lives?” Expectations may turn out to be problematic since they tend to include ideas about what others should do for us in order for us to feel comfortable. But that is impossible: Everybody is responsible for his or her own well-being. It’s not the task of our fellow humans to cure our “thirst” (tanha – desire or thirst) – they wouldn’t be able to anyway, at least not for a long time. It is like after drinking salt-water: After a short-term feeling of relief, a new sensation of thirst appears – over and over again new expectations and desires arise. These cause us to become dependent on our environment and are counter-productive to our path to liberation.

Getting Divorced

Ven. Sayadaw argued in a similar way. The main causes for our suffering and our discontentment (dukkha) are our continuous desires (tanha), which themselves are the foundation for our ignorance (avija) or delusion and wrong attitudes. When the desire and greed for things, emotions and also for mental food like ideas and knowledge becomes more habitual, we call it attachment (upadana). Attachments then generate/create certain mental formations (sankhara), which turn into karmic potency (kamma satti) and later, when necessary conditions are fulfilled, create so-called “ripe” or mature karma, which manifests itself in a new existence. “To realize Nibbana, we therefore have to get a divorce – it’s like getting divorced from your husband or wife, when you realize that the relationship doesn’t work any longer. Likewise we have to separate from our attachments as soon as we have understood cause and effect.”
But many people aren’t aware of “what” or “whom” they are attached to. Many times we don’t see or we don’t want to realize how dependent we are on something or somebody. Therefore continuous practice and constant training of our mind is crucial. With the help of developing calmness and clarity we learn to identify the obstacles to achieving a happy and content life and gain the opportunity to transform them.

Getting in Touch with Yourself

A meditation-retreat offers the chance for “inner reflection” and contemplation and provides ideal conditions. Supported by the noble silence, and therefore lacking the possibility of communicating with others, we are confronted with the tricky games of our own mind. Possible projections cannot be imposed on the outside world, which intensifies our own inner processes. Because of this, there is nothing left to do but to get into contact with oneself and to confront all the different aspects of our personality. If we manage to accept and embrace “what we see and feel” with an open heart and caring attitude, we will have achieved a lot of freedom and feel inspired to continue our practice in our everyday life.
We would like to take this occasion to thank all the participants for having attended – please keep on practicing and we hope to meet you all again ☺!