On 28 Dec 2012, Acho Rinpoche attended a Dzogchen Tulkus Meeting held at the Dzogchen Monastery in India. The meeting was chaired by H.E Dzogchen Rinpoche and the attendees included H.E Gemang Rinpoche and all other tulkus and khenpos of the Dzogchen Lineage. This meeting is held every three years for discussing the plans on the propagation of the teachings.
The Dzogchen Monastery is located in a Tibetan Settlement in Kollegal, Mysore in South India. It is the main seat of the Dzogchen Lineage in India, with H.E Dzogchen Rinpoche being its abbot. In the morning, H.E Dzogchen Rinpoche, Konde Rinpoche and Acho Rinpoche jointly presided over the inauguration ceremony of the new library and a refurbised retreat centre. Konde Rinpoche told the audience that the new library would help to promote the teachings more effectively by providing the relevant reading materials to the readers, for literatures are a crucial tool in the propagation of the Dharma. The library will provide a great convenience to people who are interested in learning and practising the Dharma an easy access to the teachings. Konde Rinpoche has written a few books so far, much to the acclaim of H.H Dalai Lama and H.E Dzogchen Rinpoche. Usually, when H.E Dzogchen Rinpoche travels abroad, Konde Rinpoche would be the one covering his duties looking after the Dzogchen Monastery, shouldering a heavy responsibility and doing his best to serve the community.
Acho Rinpoche was invited to make a speech too. He mentioned about his visit to the Ellora and Ajanta Caves located in Aurangabad, witnessing the rise and fall of Buddhism in India through these two heritage sites that were once Buddhist monuments during an era when Buddhism flourished in India. The Ajanta Cave already existed since 200 BC. It is very large in scale and consists of a total of 29 caves decorated with Buddhist arts including Buddha statues and mural paintings. Unfortunately, Buddhism has nearly perished in India for about one thousand years by now and the visitors to these caves are mainly Hindus today. On the other hand, Tibetan Buddhism has re-emerged in India today and the teachings of the Buddha will, once again, bring great benefits to the people of this land. Acho Rinpoche told the audience that he and his entourage witnessed very auspicious signs appearing in the sky this morning on their way to the monastery, with beautiful clouds and rainbows appearing in the sky; the Dragon King Buddha, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, dragons and Dharma protectors were clearly visible either in the form of clouds or in spiritual forms. The auspicious signs were the tell-tale signs of an extraordinary event held in the Dzogchen Monastery today.
On the following morning, the 3-yearly Dzogchen Tulkus Meeting commenced, chaired by H.E Dzogchen Rinpoche. The representatives took turn to make their speeches, including the tulkus, khenpos and western students representing Dzogchen centres worldwide. H.E Dzogchen Rinpoche gave his speech too. In his speech, he commented that the transmission of the unique and precious teachings of Dzogchen (The Great Perfection) is more important than the building of temples. He repeatedly commended the contributions of Konde Rinpoche, Khenpo Kunga Tashi Rinpoche and Acho Rinpoche who are skilled at managing the spiritual activities, building of temples and at the same time, producing literatures on the teachings - they are the exemplary models for the rest to follow.
Acho Rinpoche also made acquaintances with the western students who came to the Dzogchen Monastery for the event and retreat. He offered them a copy of his English book entitled “Dancing In The Sky”, establishing a good spiritual connection with them henceforth.
Reported by
Editor of BuddhaEye
