Author Archives for rinchengyatso

Bad Karma


I was just perusing Dreaming of Danzan Ravjaa (see link under "Blogger Buddies"at left) and saw a rather odd image:  a woman wearing jeans with a Buddha on her backside.  There is a jeans company called True Religion that has put these jeans out.  Oh, brother....  Here ...>

Homes for Western Monks and Nuns


I finished one class yesterday with my final paper and presentation.  I presented on the connection between the Ellora caves in Maharashtra (west-central India) and the rise of tantra.  I didn't know this before this paper, but Saraha, the teacher of Nagarjuna, was born in Maharashtra.&nb ...>

Buddha on the Brain


I just read this interview with B. Allan Wallace on the Buddhist Channel.  It's about science and Buddhism, specifically the science of the mind.  Quite an interesting read. So my semester is winding down now.  I've finished a short paper due next Saturday and now have to finish the ...>

Giving Thanks


I had an interesting Thanksgiving holiday--I had three Thanksgiving dinners.  The first was at a Sri Lankan temple in La Puente, about 20 minutes from campus.  One of my professors, who is from Sri Lanka and lives in a house on the temple property although he is not a monk, invited my fri ...>

Thousand-Hands Buddha


This is a performance by a Chinese group. They are depicting Kuan Yin (Avalokiteshvara), the bodhisattva of compassion, with 1,000 arms and 11 heads. It's a really beautiful performance. If it stops and starts while you're trying to play it, that's because it's ...>

Anniversary


This Sunday, November 26th, is my five year anniversary as a monastic.  I was ordained 11/26/01 at 11:30am Eastern Time.  I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to live the monastic life...or at least as much of a monastic life as one can live in modern America while working. Here is a ...>

“An Inji 1″


I just found this a few moments ago. It's a video of traditional Tibetan music. The interesting this is the woman in the video appears to be a Westerner, thus the title: "An Inji 1." "Inji" in Tibetan means "Westerner." Enjoy! ...>

Beer


I've had an interesting, though largely unproductive day today. I started by leaving at just after 6:00am for a required meeting at the bookstore where I work to prepare for the holidays.  One of the managers, Jason, even baked us homemade gingerbread cookies.  We were then split into two ...>

International Monk of Mystery


As you can see in the left hand column, I've got a "clustrmap."  It shows roughly how many hits and where they come from around the world.  So far, I've got hits from several location in N. America, Peru, Europe, India, Mongolia, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealan ...>

Say…what?


I've finally arrived in Korea!  I got to the temple around midnight last night, but more on that in a moment. First, I must say I had a great time during Shakya's visit to the Midwest.  He said one of his favorite things was horseback riding, and I must agree.  We also spent a total of 3 nights ...>