Tsem Tulku Rinpoche

My Mumu's Birthday March 23, 2010!

 

Happy Birthday Mumu! Great cake!! 

 

Mumu loves the balloons!! Every ready to play..

March 23, 2010 was a special day for the Birthday boy. Without informing me, a few of my lovely students arranged a wonderful little Birthday party for my Little Yogi (mumu). Many of my students really love mumu because he is so affectionate. They of course invited his best friend Zamkar! Zamkar loved it.

They had balloons, presents, birthday wishes, hats and lots of love.

Justin Ripley (not only good with computer graphics but great cook) and JJ (another great cook specializing in local dishes) together made a wonderful potatoe cake with sweet potatoes on top for the birthday boy and zamkar of course got to share.  Mumu loved his cake and so did zamkar. Mumu is a vegetarian.  Justin and JJ really outdid themselves with this cake..it was creative, filled with care and very delicious judging from the way mumu gulped it down...

 
Handsome KB is one of the best human beings you want to meet. He is very kind, never loses his temper, always caring and a genuinely a good hearted person. He is part of our Ladrang Team.

He has many special responsibilities in the ladrang. But he loves animals. He loves mumu. He loves Zamkar. He always picks up Zamkar to bring him to play at ladrang with mumu. He cooks mumu's vegetarian dishes daily with monlam and lovingly feeds mumu.

If mumu's not well or has skin problems, KB immediately takes him to vet, gives him the proper medicines and gets my mumu healed. He bathes mumu twice a week and talks to mumu all the way through his bath.

He will take mumu and zamkar for car rides which they love. He buys toys for them, gives them their monthly preventative medications. Brushes their hair, and always watches them. When mumu is not sleeping with me, KB grabs mumu to sleep with him. Kb takes such good care of mumu because he genuinely loves mumu and zamkar. They love KB in return and you can see it. And everyone in the Ladrang loves and respects KB. I respect Kb alot. I like this picture of Kb with Mumu and Zamkar because it shows so much true warmth between them.

This year our kind KB is going to get married and we are going to celebrate for him. I'll write more of that later!

Birthday boy Mumu on the left and his best friend Zamkar on the right. They are good buddies.

Happy Birthday to my little mumu. I will always do everything to protect you and make sure you are happy.

The wonderful Potatoe Birthday cake in the shape of a bone for Mumu by Justin and JJ. I appreciate the cake they made so lovingly for mumu. I thank you Justin and JJ so much for the cake.

Mumu and his good friend Zamkar....they are such a fun duo.

Birthday crowd for mumu..left to right: Monlam, Chia, Rajkumar,Paul, Sangeeta, Kb..with mumu and Zamkar in the back looking on..

Mumu and Zamkar playing at their party! They ran and ran having a great time today.

Zamkar sniffing mumu's presents..hehe

 

Such beautiful presents and cards for mumu today with flowers...how kind everyone is. I thank everyone on behalf of mumu for everything. Mumu is quietly sleeping next to be as I blog all this because he had a long day.

KB playing with them at the party...fun!  

 

I have a policy of not celebrating birthdays as I have so many students and we would literally have to do a party everyweek, so everyone understands to be fair, I wish them well on that day. For mumu, I made a little exception. I don't regret at all.

Again I thank everyone for your love, care and genuine affection to mumu. He deserves your love and he's happy you all care about him so much. I really appreciate it.

Thank You!!

Tsem Tulku 

Cards from other Doggie friends named Gonkar, Casper, Jamyang and Bilbo..

Wow...cute card for Mumu from Yvonne, Paul and Andy!!

From Henry, Angel, Bea and Edward.....so cute..

  
 
   

 

Helping HOPE HOUSE

Ever since Duke wrote to me on Facebook, he has been very friendly, helpful and was there doing whatever he could do when I was trying to save Sue the labrador retriever. In one of his messages, he told me about Hope House, which is where he works and gives his time. 

I visited their website and I am very happy to see the good work they are doing for the homeless in Dubuque. It reminds me of what Kechara Soup Kitchen is doing here in Malaysia - feeding the homeless and helping them to get back on their feet and become independent contributing members of society. I wanted very much to help them in some way. 

On their website is a wish list of things and I had my assistant BK call them up to find out more.

Duke picked up the phone - he was there and he was very helpful to get us the information we needed. 

And I will be sponsoring the following for Hope House.

• Cloth Napkins (40) - $30
• Deodorant (20) - $40
• Socket Wrenches (1 set) - $50
• Razors (10 packs) - $30
• Household cleansers - $30
• Frisbees and Soccerball - $30
• Toilet Paper - $20
• Total = $230

I will also create a link to Hope House on this blog and on my website to help them create more awareness of what they are doing. They are sincere, doing very good work and I will support them.

Tsem Tulku

New Sun Conure Report

Dear Rinpoche,

New Sun Conure report:

1. New sun conure is longer hanging off corner of the cage

2. Can feed sunflower seeds by hand

3. Other sun conures go to say hi from other side of cage. They don't try to bite each other through the bars

4. Other sun conures perch close by curious but also to keep new guy company

5. New sun conure has the same scream as ther other conures when people walking past the aviary

6. New sun conure wants to come out, pacing back and forth looking to see what's going on outside the cage

Thank you.

Justin (Animal Care division of Tsem Ladrang)

Beautiful Portrait of His Holiness

No matter how many pictures I see of His Holiness, I never get tired of seeing them.

How can anyone ever get tired of seeing many images of a Buddha.

I love this painting of His Holiness....i saw on this website:

 http://theworsthorse.com/2010/03/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-gets-shep-faireyd-for-his-birthday/comment-page-1/#comment-8463

I wish His Holiness a early Happy Birthday on July 6th.

TsemTulku

Something nice from Duke.................thank you Duke.

Dear friends,
 
Below is a post on my facebook. It is from Duke. He is going to Gaden to teach English then he wishes to visit us. He really likes to help the poor and very interested in KSK.
 
More and more professional ppl are leaving their jobs to pursue work that has much more meaning in their own countries. Very beautiful. I hope to do the same here. Money, good job,
relationship, fun and enjoyment is only a small fraction of our lives. The bigger fraction should be doing work that has direct or indirect impact on others.
 
Please read below.

Tsem Tulku Rinpoche
 
Spiritual Guide
Kechara House & Kechara World Peace Centre (KWPC)

www.tsemtulku.com
www.kechara.com

Blog:
http://tsemtulku.typepad.com
 
'Never say you can't do, because that is not the real you speaking'.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

Dear Rinpoche,

Thank you for your reply.
I am so very glad to have met you. Your passion for animals and the poor have really touched my heart. I feel very connected to your mission and your message.

A little over 3 years ago, I quit a successful job in management to follow my passion for social/animal welfare. Since then I have been working with the poor here in Iowa and Minnesota. I have not regretted my decision for one second and every day is filled with new opportunities to practice the Dharma. What a great way to learn how to put the Dharma into action.(for me anyways)

I will contact Bengkooi when I finish here. I am so excited in the prospect of helping you in whatever way I can with your mission. What you are doing is very important to me and there is nothing that I wouldn't do to help you continue your important work.

Thank you very much for the gifts. I get chills just thinking about it. I will look forward to their arrival. What a treat! :)

I will be in touch.

Your friend,
Duke
 

extracted:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/?page=1&sk=messages&tid=1350405032904

Plant Seeds of Dharma in Your Beloved Pets...

Mumu loves to drive his car...

Mumu can be kinda Garfield from time to time

Mumu's had a long hard day and he's resting warm and snuggly in my bed

Sometimes mumu licks his paws too much and it irritates them, so he has to wear a little collar to protect him...which makes him look like a space doggie on the Jetson's.

Mumu doesn't like to sleep alone..here he is all cuddled up with Monlam

Mumu thinks out loud in this picture.....

Mumu and his good friend Zamkar Baby..cute

Mumu had a super short army haircut here, so we can call him Seargent Mumu...

Well the above was your 'daily' dose of cute to cheer you up and make you happy. Mumu has that effect on people. Together with Zamkar, they are sure to put a smile on your face.

Have a good day filled with attainments, peace, success and harmony.

Remember always chant Medicine Buddha prayers/sutras/sadhanas, mantra or names to your beloved pets and let them be blessed. Any Yidam's/Buddha's mantras/prayers are ok..Let them be planted with the seeds of meeting the sacred Dharma in another life. So that way, their time with you didn't go to waste.They are with you for a reason, put Dharma in their mindstream and give them that type of great love so that when they seperate from you, they will be ok due to your compassion. Love your pets by planting dharma in their consciousness. Important. Thank you for your compassion.

Tsem Tulku

Thai King, Such A Great Monarch!

The Thai King is someone I really admire, respect and very much find him to be one of the people that has done so much for others in this world.

I have stayed in Thailand for extended periods of time in the past and the Thai people really respect him so much. Every Thai home will have a shrine to him and they offer incense, light, fruits and drinks to him as a mark of respect daily. Rightly so. He has done so much for his people as he loves them so much.

He is well educated and spent his whole life touring every part of the Thai kingdom to improve the lot of his people. From improving farming methods, giving lectures, leading them through crisis, and being the Thai people's pillar of strength. If you pick up any book on him, you will be astounded on how much he has done and how devoted he is to his people.

He' also a very devout Buddhist where he has become a monk before.

He needs not kneel to anyone in his country as he is considered the supreme. But in front of sangha or reknowned senior monks, this Great King and his Queen will be on the ground prostrate to the monks. Or helping them to walk, or making offerings to them. Fantastic humility, respect for sangha,and great example of a Buddhist layman.

I have admired this great Monarch, leader and Dharmaraja since I first read of him many years back. I do not admire him in a political capacity. I am not into politics nor get involved.  My post here on him is not as a political figure. But my admiration for him is as a great human being, a kind hearted person and someone who works for others. My praise of him is as a great human being.  He is a great hero for me. I admire people who use their lives for others.

I admire him tremendously up till now. May he live long and bring further happiness to his people.

Tsem Tulku

This is a wonderful portrait of His Royal Majesty.

As you scroll down, you will see him prostrate in front of monks and by his side is Her Royal Majesty the Queen also just as devout and humble. Or you'll see him escorting high monks himself. Or putting his head low to recieve blessings from monks. What a great example of respect towards the sangha.

 

 
In Thailand there's a system for taking monk vows for short term to collect merits and enter into religious retreat. Here His Majesty taking on short term ordination.  How Beautiful.

Animal Liberation

I have always been a advocate of saving the lives of animals. I have been doing this for many years. The joy and satisfaction derived from seeing animals free, happy and unharmed is beyond words for me.

I have been promoting this practice to many students. I have personally gone to different parks and lakes in this area to inspect if it was ok for us to release fish.

Liaison Sengpiow was very good as he found a place with a huge lake. Liaison Suming loves animals also and she takes charge to take groups of caring people to liberate fish once a month. We take elderly people with us. We take very young kids to influence them in the right direction of loving animals. To learn to give and share. Very important to instill this while they are young.

I have included a video of myself going with a group to release fish that were to be slaughtered that day, then feed the fish and end the end I gave a small talk regarding the benefits. I went to start the tradition in Kechara House and now it has taken off as a monthly event here. I am very happy with everyone who is involved. I thank them sincerely.

Below are lovely pictures sent to me today from the Animal Liberation session. Around 80 Kh members/friends/kids joined in today on Sunday. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday with the family. The group went to the slaughter market and bought 100kgs of fish to be released. Fish that were destined for the resteraunts today. Prayers were recited,good motivations made, and mantras recited to bless the fish before releasing. We hope they have a good life now and in future take a good rebirth by the power of our mantras and prayers.

Certain mantras such as the Medicine Buddha, Namgyalma, Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Green Tara are very wonderful mantras to let them animal hear (if possible) when you recite and then blow on them or their environement, such as the water in this case. Sincerely pray by the power of these mantras they will take a fortunate rebirth in the future. It  will help them very much.

Please See the pictures taken today and rejoice.

Very beautiful. May people around the world who see this please do the same. We will increase our liberation here over time as it is a great spiritual practice. Remember, animals have every right to have a full, healthy life. They are not here for our pleasure or entertainment. Be kind to animals to show a good example to the children. By showing animals kindness, we can develop that quality in our hearts to share with eachother creating a better world, a more peaceful world.

Tsem Tulku

Please see the video of when I started the Animal Liberation practices for the first time here with our Kechara House members below. Just click on the video itself and let it load up..thanks..Tsem Tulku

 

Rudyard Kipling's Poem of Kamakura Buddha

One of the places I always wanted to visit since I was a child. I saw this image in Land O'Pines School library's encyclopedia. From then I generated a strong wish to visit. And I did! One of my favorite images of Buddha.Tsem Tulku

The Buddha at Kamakura

"And there is a Japanese idol at Kamakura"

by Rudyard Kipling

O ye who tread the Narrow Way
By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day,
Be gentle when the 'heathen' pray
To Buddha at Kamakura!

To him the Way, the Law, apart,
Whom Maya held beneath her heart,
Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat,
The Buddha of Kamakura.

For though he neither burns nor sees,
Nor hears ye thank your Deities,
Ye have not sinned with such as these,
His children at Kamakura.

Yet spare us still the Western joke
When joss-sticks turn to scented smoke
The little sins of little folk
That worship at Kamakura.

The grey-robed, gay-sashed butterflies
That flit beneath the Master's eyes.
He is beyond the Mysteries
But loves them at Kamakura.

And whoso will, from Pride released,
Contemning neither creed nor priest,
May feel the Soul of all the East
About him at Kamakura.

Yea, every tale Ananda heard,
Of birth as fish or beast or bird,
While yet in lives the Master stirred,
The warm wind brings Kamakura.

Till drowsy eyelids seem to see
A-flower 'neath her golden htee
The Shwe-Dagon flare easterly
From Burmah to Kamakura,

And down the loaded air there comes
The thunder of Thibetan drums,
And droned -- "Om mane padme hums" --
A world's-width from Kamakura.

Yet Brahmans rule Benares still,
Buddh-Gaya's ruins pit the hill,
And beef-fed zealots threaten ill
To Buddha and Kamakura.

A tourist-show, a legend told,
A rusting bulk of bronze and gold,
So much, and scarce so much, ye hold
The meaning of Kamakura?

But when the morning prayer is prayed,
Think, ere ye pass to strife and trade,
Is God in human image made
No nearer than Kamakura?

 -- Rudyard Kipling