International Dzogchen Shri Singha Centers
The motivation of the International Dzogchen Shri Singha organizations is the peace, happiness, and enlightenment of all sentient beings, as well as the preservation of the Dzogchen Shri Singha lineage around the world. We realize that these goals cannot be met solely through individual effort. It is through organized group effort, along with a master’s guidance, that these objectives will be achieved.
Through the guidance of our master, the Great Natural Space Yogi Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, the International Dzogchen Shri Singha organizations have the following primary objectives:
1. Preserving the Tibetan Buddhist Monastic Tradition
It is important that each country build traditional Dzogchen monasteries, temples, statues, thangkas, and stupas. Following the tradition of the Tibetan Dzogchen Monastery, practitioners will train in meditation and study the Sutras and Tantras.
Daily Dharma practice will be conducted in morning and evening sessions, which include Dharma music, mudras and mandalas. Empowerment ceremonies, Dharma dancing and singing, fire pujas, releasing animals, sacred rituals, and especially drubchens (grand group practice) will be celebrated on special occasions.
2A. Upholding the Dzogchen Retreat Tradition
It is vital that we construct Dzogchen retreat centers in many different places. The retreat schedule will be identical to that of the Tibetan Dzogchen Retreat Center. Our programs will provide facilities for retreats lasting from one hundred days to three years. A Vajra master will give teachings on the preliminary practices and main practice of the two major Dzogchen traditions: Dzogchen Khandro Nyingthig and Dzogchen Longchen Nyingthig.
2B. Special Retreat Programs for Visitors
Dzogchen Shri Singha Retreat Centers provide mind-body health programs and recreational activities for individuals and families who need a temporary place of rest and retreat from their stressful lives. These retreats provide a full day of programs with study, meditation, and holistic treatment, as well as time for rest. In this way, visitors can let go of the stress of urban life and learn to be content with the joys of simple and peaceful living.
Visitors are asked to limit their personal possessions to prescription eyeglasses and medication. Other possessions, especially cigarettes, are not allowed in the retreat centers. All accommodations, including food, toiletries, Dharma clothing, and basic medical care, will be fully provided by the retreat centers. Coed sleeping accommodation is not available. Visitors are welcome to stay at the Centers from one week to three months. People of all faiths are welcome.
3. Dzogchen Shri Singha Health Care Centers
We need to build many special health care centers in many nations. The purpose of these centers will be to heal body and mind through professional programs based on ancient Vajrayana Tantric traditions along with modern science. These natural methods include the use of light, color, sound, incense, nutrition, fasting, natural and herbal medicine, oils, jewels, crystals, exercise, breath, yoga, meditation, various pujas, elemental energy, and Buddhist stories and blessings to promote physical health and mental tranquility.
4. Holy Pilgrimage Agencies
We also need to establish pilgrimage agencies in many countries in order to assist people with travel arrangements who wish to make a pilgrimage. The practice of making pilgrimage brings tremendous blessings. They are an excellent break from a busy life and are beneficial for both body and mind. Pilgrimages provide the opportunity for enjoyable vacations with many sightseeing and mind-opening experiences. Pilgrims will have the chance to make wonderful videotapes or films of their experience. The pilgrimage centers will be equipped with multilingual resources including books and videos about Buddhist history and sacred places. Once or twice a year, we will arrange for holy pilgrimages to sacred Buddhist lands in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, China, and Tibet, among other sacred places.
5. Buddhist Libraries and Translation Centers
We need to establish Buddhist libraries and translation centers throughout the world. Today’s technology gives individuals unprecedented power to change the world. Whereas science and technology are like high-performance cars, Buddhism is like the experienced driver. Therefore, we need the peaceful guidance of Buddhist teachings in our world.
Buddha Shakyamuni’s teachings are the oldest written religious records in the world. They are 2,436 years old, dating from 435 B.C.E. Buddhism flourished in all parts of Tibetan society because the Tibetan emperor Trisong Detsen had all the Buddhist texts translated into Tibetan when the Dharma first came to Tibet in the eighth century. To spread the Buddha Dharma around the world and make it widely accessible, it is essential to have the complete Buddhist Sutras and Tantras and the Indian and Tibetan Shastras translated into many languages.
Study of the Tibetan language is very important because the original Buddhist texts of all three Yanas are available in their entirety only in Tibetan. The library and translation centers will be a repository of more than 370 Buddhist texts and will translate those texts into many languages. To accomplish this, three- to six-year translation training programs will be established in which the Buddhist sciences and Tibetan and Sanskrit languages will be taught to people from many countries.
The translation center will also publish Dzogchen Shri Singha journals, magazines, children’s books, and newsletters in different languages. Finally, the centers will create many Buddhist films and wonderful musical recordings.
6. Compassionate Social Services Centers
The Buddhist ideal of compassion and wisdom will serve the world in bringing about an everlasting, peaceful balance. In cooperation with other international charitable organizations, Buddhist organizations, individual volunteers, and corporations, the Compassionate Social Service Centers will found global programs in the following areas:
A. Rainforest and vegetation preservation
B. Assistance to refugees and oppressed peoples
C. Eradication of poverty and sickness, and support of the elderly and terminally ill
D. Educational opportunities for all children
E. Love and compassion programs that build friendships among people and nations
F. Antiwar efforts and the support and encouragement of disarmament programs, including the neutralization of weapons of mass destruction
G. Coordinating the efforts of international volunteers and charitable organizations
It is our strong wish that the Compassionate Social Services Centers will truly contribute to a greener earth, happier human minds, and a safe and peaceful world.
7. Dzogchen Shri Singha Buddhist and Science Research University
To preserve the ancient traditions of the Tibetan Dzogchen Shri Singha Five Sciences University for the development of human wisdom and to benefit all sentient beings, we would like to establish branches of the Dzogchen Shri Singha University in many countries. The main curriculum of these universities will be the Five Sciences: the Science of Fine Arts, Tibetan Medicine, Linguistics, Philosophy, and the Inner Science of Buddhism.
The University’s objectives will be to integrate scientific research with the wisdom of the Sutras, Tantras, and Shastras, and to share these results with the world. Buddhist Science Professor Khenpo Choga Rinpoche has already begun this project, having written more than thirty books. We plan to compile the discoveries resulting from the dialogue between Buddhism and science with the information from Rinpoche’s books, his advice, and wise sayings. These texts will be entitled Love and Compassion + Knowledge and Wisdom = The Great Bliss of the Buddha. It is our great aspiration to unite Buddhist truths and scientific technology in a way that is of benefit to humans and all other beings.
The Dzogchen Shri Singha projects we are planning include:
I. Films about the Dzogchen lineage and Buddhist history; scientific films explaining research into the effects of Buddhist motivation, the recognition of the intrinsic Buddha nature of all sentient beings, the perspective of a wise view, the development of compassionate meditation, the practice of loving actions, and the resulting enlightenment. We want to share with the world how these principles can make us live this life and future lives wisely and joyfully.
II. Scientific research into the power of tantric meditation, mantras, and mudras, and how they affect living beings.
III. Scientific research on the effects of Tibetan Buddhist ritual instruments, sound, statues, ancient Buddhist treasures, Buddhist nectar chemistry, and traditional Tibetan medicine for curing illness and maintaining health in daily life.
IV. Scientific research into birth, life, death, after-death experiences (bardos), and reincarnation; scientific research on anger to examine how it destroys the mind, how it damages the body, how it harms others, how it creates poor future lives, and how anger creates hell. And conversely, how love promotes healing for the mind and body, how it can make others happy, how love creates better future lives, and how it creates pure lands. We will also conduct research into the existence of the realms and universes described in the Buddhist view, and the possibility of traveling to them.
V. Research of mandalas (Sanskrit for “universe”). Buddha Shakyamuni discovered countless universes composed of immeasurable elements that Buddhists have classified into the broad categories of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness. In this space, Buddha discovered innumerable universes with limitless colors, sizes, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings, and phenomena existing as pure, impure, and in between. Buddha also discovered an infinite variety of sentient beings throughout the universes. It is our hope that such research will result in significant discoveries and create a more open mind among human beings throughout all of space and time.
VI. To research Buddhist sexual Tantras and Shastras, how energy is maintained, and how to develop the unity of bliss and wisdom for use in human life.
VII. To research Bodhicitta and how to keep peaceful, friendly, and loving relationships in this world. This is very important for saving our world. In order to accomplish this, the main education curriculum from kindergarten to university should be love and compassion, knowledge and wisdom. The most important thing is a caring and peaceful mind with no intention of harming others.
VIII. To research the power and ability of body, speech, and mind, especially the supernatural powers of mind including extrasensory perception, miraculous occurences, the mind’s ability to travel through space, and the ability to heal and perform special surgeries. It is our wish that the results of this research will be used in public hospitals.
The world of the buddhadharma is vast and profound, embracing many fields of knowledge, countless worlds, and infinite dimensions. We welcome insightful scientists of all backgrounds to investigate the many centuries of buddhadharma, which contain limitless potential for discovery and can bring the infinite twenty-one great benefits to this world and all universes.
Buddhist teachings are profound and vast in scope. Without the guidance of highly realized Buddhist masters, scientific research alone will produce very few results. Fortunately, today we still have a few highly realized Buddhist masters. It is imperative that scientists investigate the Buddhist Dharma with these masters now.
If you would like to help with any of these projects, please contact us.
We recognize that Rinpoche has tremendous motivation
for the fruition of these projects for world peace.
We welcome your support for the Dzogchen Shri Singha
Buddhist and Science Research University Project.
