There's No Way But Up

One of the questions that might come to mind while reading His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche’s biography is why does a high lama like Rinpoche have to endure so much abuse, problems and obstacles? Interestingly, it was Rinpoche himself who admitted thinking along this line before I even thought about it. At times, Rinpoche wondered aloud why an…

I have a gilded statue of Manjushri that sits on a small altar on my desk. I had just offered incense to it when it inspired me to write this piece . This statue is a 9-inch Nepali crafted figurine that became a part of my shrine a little over 14 years ago. What makes…

(Top to bottom): H.H. the 7th Panchen Lama, Ucheyma (Severed Headed Vajrayogini), Vajra Varnani (green assistant), Vajra Vairocani (yellow assistant), Dorje Shugden and Citipati.  (By Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor David Lai) Dear all,  I thought I share the article I wrote with the assistance of the other writers in my department. The result of this…

I was doing a reading of my book ‘Tales My Lama Told Me’ to a live audience, which was also screened live onto Facebook a week ago. Rinpoche’s birth and formative years had many aspects of what you would call a fantastic story of a high lama, from the miraculous dreams that Rinpoche’s mother had…

Rinpoche had a commissioned a series of thangkas and amongst them was one that depicted Dorje Neljorma Uchedma – the severed head goddess. She is an awe-inspiring figure who graphically decapitates herself only to release three jets of blood that falls into her own mouth as well as two other attendant figures. Rinpoche called for…

It was early Friday morning and I was just wrapping up on some work here in Kechara Forest Retreat (KFR) when H. E. Tsem Rinpoche called Pastor Jean Ai, Pastor Niral Patel and myself into his room. Rinpoche spoke about a few things and midway through the conversation, he told us that he would like…

  I have included here an explanation on tantra that I wrote as part of an article for the Indian Hirapur Yogini Temple on tsemrinpoche’s blog. I thought it was a neat little rough outline of the Tantric path. Rinpoche also gave us a profound  explanation of Vajrayogini, the yidam and the preparation to receive tantra….

As part of the writers’ team, a few of us (Pastor Niral, Pastor Jean Ai and Beatrix) get to meet Rinpoche on a regular basis to discuss the latest happenings and work assignments. Then, there are days that are spent with Rinpoche just watching what would seemingly be random movie snippets and documentaries. Rinpoche is…

One day, Rinpoche was looking at a statue of Buddha Nageshvaraja and he asked me if I remember the circumstances in which Rinpoche had first laid eyes on this Buddha. I took a few moments to ponder but in the end, my memory failed. So, Rinpoche took some time out to tell his story again. It was…

I have been wanting to blog about a recent reading and sharing of ‘The Way of the White Clouds’ by Lama Anagarika Govinda. The book tells the story of the author’s meeting with the great hermit-lama Domo Geshe Rinpoche. Rinpoche asked me to read the chapter, ‘A Lama’s Vision’ and we were all soon transported to another…

Rinpoche recently commissioned a beautiful statue of the Buddha holding a flower in his hand and I was fascinated and I thought a did a little google to find out the basis and was pleasantly surprised to find its connection with the account that sparked the formation of the Chan/Zen lineage.  Within Chan (Zen) Buddhism,…

I wrote this travelogue of my recent trip to Serpom and Nepal for http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/ Since my mother had passed away earlier this year, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche advised me to take my dad on a holiday. He suggested several countries like India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand and so forth. Rinpoche said that we should go to these places…

Recently, I was asked this question and I felt daunted at the scope of the question but I decided to come up with a good short in-a-nutshell single paragraph answer. Somehow, it just grew but I did my best to ensure the answer was easy-to-understand and if you guys have any questions, do drop me…

(I did research and written this blog post on the 35 Confessional Buddhas for Tsem Rinpoche’s blog. But I have reposting it here as well ~ http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-35-confessional-buddhas.html) The practice of the 35 Confessional Buddhas is one of the most long lasting purification practices that has been propagated since the time of Buddha Shakyamuni. The practice itself…

If you are a friend or student of H. E. Tsem Rinpoche, you would have heard or you had been an unwitting participant of a Pick Game. Naturally, I had been a part of this for many years now and naturally, the pick game exchanges of those involved – participant and audience would descend into belly-aching…

Earlier this year, I was invited to have dinner with Rinpoche, Pastor Seng Piow, Albert and Pastor Niral Patel. It was a fun occasion with Rinpoche and as always, casual dinner and light conversation was always infused with Dharma one way or another. This was no different. We had dinner and in between lots of…

The first time I have ever heard of Dorje Shugden’s name was when I had the fortune to visit Tsem Rinpoche’s house more than a decade ago. I had just gotten to know Rinpoche long enough that he would invite me over to his place. At that time, Kechara House was not established yet. I…

Way back in 2012, I recall these 2 original cabin containers. sitting under these white canopies. The one on the left is where Rinpoche’s cabin is and the one on the right is Rinpoche’s assistant’s cabin. Rinpoche’s sacred cabin is not a focal point in KFR as a holy spot and from where everything began….

My Dakini-woman, my queen, my lady! The visible form of my pure awareness, Form not separate from me, nor yet a part of me, The phenomenal appearance of empty space: She is beyond compare and beyond words. In Magadha there once lived a householder of low caste. He married a girl of his own social…

Tsem Rinpoche recently published in his blog a comprehensive sharing and explanation of Dorje Shugden. I am simply amazed by the scope in which Rinpoche spoke at length with regards to Dorje Shugden, the lineage that he had received and all its pertaining issues surrounding the ban on Dorje Shugden. I was there in the audience and I…

The magnificent Buddha statue in Bodhgaya that was believed to be carved in the Buddha’s likeness by a woman who actually beheld the golden face of the Buddha  During this Wesak period, I thought it would be nice to blog about the Buddha. After all, he is the founder of the faith that I profess…

Rinpoche brought back a lot of purchases that he was planning to give out to various students and friends. Amongst these purchases was an old VW van (pictured above) that Pastor Shin had purchased and offered to Rinpoche. Rinpoche related the whole extensive story of the van and its significance. Fortunately, I recorded it and have…

Yesterday, I was hanging out with Rinpoche in his room and Pastor Jay Jae came walking in with a huge poster of the Himalayas (the exact picture is above here). He was going to mount the picture onto a frameless board. Unfortunately, the picture was a hue too dark and so the poster had to…

My parents and me From time to time, Rinpoche had pointed out to me that, I am very much like my parents especially my mom. Well, Rinpoche does not really know my parents but he catch glimpses when I tell him about my parents. Rinpoche is pretty good at profiling people this way. Whatever is…

I have been away for 6 months in LA and people often ask me if I miss LA. Yes of course I miss LA but then again, its good to be back home in Malaysia and to be with familiar people. I guess, one of the more memorable places of my travels through Tinseltown (Hollywood/LA) was a…

Over the weekend, Tsem Rinpoche decided to treat a bunch of us to a new biopic movie on this Hindu yogi and master, Paramahansa Yogananda, the founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship. Apparently, this was the last day of the screening at a cinema in Pasadena, a charming and historic city. Not knowing much about Hinduism, Yoga…

I was sitting with Rinpoche just the other day and we were talking. Somehow, the conversation drifted towards the conclusion that my rage had lessened. Rinpoche remarked that fortunately, I had listened to most of his advice and as a result, I had lessened my rage. I agreed but I felt that I still had some…

Yeah, I know. I don’t really like to get into drag but I do it anyway from time to time. I am just glad I don’t have to wear a wig this time around. The terrible thing is I still have to put on some pasty makeup and an eyebrow-liner that makes me look like…

A few days ago, Rinpoche was relating to a number of tasks to a few of us. Midway, he told us this incredible story of the Mahasiddha who lived by the river Ganges. The Mahasiddha observed this aristocratic Brahmin coming down the terraced ghats and performed his ablutions in the river every day. He would wash…

I thought I share these devotional pictures of Rinpoche standing up, bowing and folding his hands while listening to a voice message and receiving a phone call from his Guru recently. Even before receiving the phone call, Rinpoche would offer incense before hand. That’s the amount of reverence that Rinpoche had as if his Guru…