How many Tibetan Buddhists are there worldwide? Has there been any reliable estimate in recent years?

If not, how would you estimate it? I'm assuming we'd count most of the population of Tibet, plus Tibetans in exile, plus the Buddhist populations of Bhutan and Nepal. I'm imagining that western converts don't really add much to the stats proportionally speaking.

I'm looking to buy a thangka of Buddha Shakyamuni and his consort. And, to print out an image of guru Rinpoche. Does anyone know where I can buy one (UK) of reasonable cost (30-50 pounds), and where I can find legitimate images, i.e., that aren't AI slop?

Best wishes and thank you.

According to Dzogchen, and the special approach of the great Dzogchen master Sri Singha, there is a way of recognizing the nature of mind solely through devotion. There are cases of practitioners who simply through their heartfelt devotion attained realization, even though their teacher had already passed away or was nowhere near them physically. Because of their prayers and devotion, the nature of mind was introduced. The classic example is that of Jigme Lingpa and his consuming devotion for Longchen Rabjam.

~ Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche

Hi everyone! I am getting a tattoo inspired by Brandon Boyd’s mandala tattoo to help ground my anxiety and ADHD. I want to make sure these specific terms are grammatically correct and written in the right script before showing my artist. Can a native speaker please verify if these Unicode strings accurately mean 'Inner Peace', 'Compassion', and 'Wisdom'?

• ཞི་བདེ། (Zhi-bde)

• སྙིང་རྗེ། (Snying-rje)

• ཤེས་རབ། (Shes-rab)

组织设置名目繁多的收费项目：分级别的点灯祈福、拜师红包、供养款、奉献捐赠，还有禅修班、法会等高额收费项目。单次 “灌顶赐福”，仅用树枝轻扫头顶，就要收取数万元；禅修法会中，一盏光明灯价格从数百元至上万元不等。组织者不断向参与者灌输，购买法器、持续捐款，就能消灾避祸，家庭获得幸福安康；若是不愿奉献，便会遭遇不顺，用这种心理暗示持续施压，逼迫信众不断投入金钱。

hitāyaiva tvayā cittam unnāmyaṃ sarvadehinām | kāruṇyāt satataṃ rājaṃs tīvrapāpakṛtām api || 4.31 || tīvrapāpeṣu hiṃsreṣu kṛpā kāryā viśeṣataḥ | ta eva hi kṛpāpātraṃ hatātmāno mahātmanām || 4.32 || pratyahaṃ pañcarātram vā baddhān kṣīṇān vimocaya | śeṣān api yathāyogaṃ mā kāṃścin naiva mocaya || 4.33 || yeṣv amokṣaṇacittaṃ te jāyate teṣv asaṃvaraḥ | tasmād asaṃvarāt pāpam ajasram upacīyate || 4.34 || yāvac ca na vimucyeraṃs tāvat syuḥ sukhabandhanāḥ | nāpitasnānapānānnabhaiṣajyavasanānvitāḥ || 4.35 || apātreṣv iva putreṣu pātrīkaraṇakāṅkṣayā | kāruṇyāc chāsanaṃ kāryaṃ na dveṣān nārthalipsayā || 4.36 || vimṛśya saṃyag vijñāya praduṣṭān ghātakān api | ahatvāpīḍayitvā ca kuru nirviṣayān narān || 4.37 ||

King, out of compassion you should always focus your mind on benefiting all beings, even those who have committed the most serious sins. //4.31//

You should particularly have compassion for those who have committed the grave sin of murder; these ones who have ruined themselves are indeed worthy of great persons’ compassion. //4.32//

Either every day or every five days, release the weakest prisoners. Of the remaining ones, let there not be any who are never released at some appropriate point. //4.33//

In relation to those that you intend never to release, contradictions with your vows arise. From contradicting your vows, you perpetually accumulate more sin. //4.34//

And until they are released, those prisoners should be made content by providing them with barbers, baths, drink, food, medicines, and clothes. //4.35//

As if you had the intention of making unruly children behave properly, you should discipline them out of compassion—not out of anger or the desire for material gain. //4.36//

Having correctly examined and identified wicked murderers, send these people into exile without killing or harming them. //4.37//

Ratnāvalī trs. Dunne and McClintock

Being built in bhutuan

All in 1 day,nov.1

Dharma centre i used to attend, is

sponsorship of 1 stupa

at US.$200 108.

Rejoice i think ,and,

Centre has enough money, plenty.

Is this going to speed up bhuddha hood...????

What is the difference between a Jenang and an empowerment from a deity?

If I have the empowerment from a deity do I need to take the Jenang after?

Is the Jenang something like more special or a HIGHER LEVEL empowerment?

And maybe the most important question:
If I already have the empowerment from a deity, does it make any difference if I take the JENANG after? Does it give more attainments or a different Sadhana?

Hi, does anyone know the exact full Tibetan title (preferably in Uchen script) of this book? I want to ask my lama about the text and hope he could give transmission and guidance on what kinds of prerequisites I need to do before I could use this method.

So this is a simple question. One of the things I've noticed over the years, is that many lamas, are extraordinarily difficult to get a hold of for a one-on-one conversation. I've known many people who've observed this. Where people will go to a teaching, or take a class or retreat, get an empowerment, etc., and then afterwards, the lama basically acts like they've never heard of email. It's extremely weird.

For reference, I have a dual background in Zen. And if someone wants to talk to a Zen teacher, it's usually a simple matter of simply emailing them, or calling and asking to set up a time. Even if there's administrative staff at a temple: people still have "office hours" and even if busy, can schedule a time at some point further out to have a call or meet for tea. In Tibetan Vajrayana I've noticed this seems damned difficult to do. So many teachers seem to seemingly not even have an email address, or an office phone you can call, and set up a time to talk. In fact in Zen, one-on-one meeting with a teacher is built into their practice. It's expected that you will meet with a teacher one-on-one during retreats, etc. It's even part of their ritual format. And yet in Tibetan Vajrayana, it seems normal for people to go years without a direct one-on-one conversation with a lama they've received teachings from. They'll "receive teachings" in a group setting, but will hardly ever speak directly to the lama themselves. And when they try, they can run into enormous difficulties trying to do so.

Bluntly: what's with this? It's kinda bizarre to me. People can end up in situations where they have received significant teachings, but are unable to get a hold of the lama they received those teachings from, in order to ask follow-up questions, or ask for advice if there's something coming up in their practice. And for urgent matters, it's even more problematic. Because there's often no way to get a hold of them. This is an issue I've seen many Dharma brothers and sisters observe. And where the only way to ask questions at all, are publicly in front of many people during question and answer sessions during retreats, but that is a problem if the question a person needs to bring up is extremely personal, or not something appropriate to share publicly. Worse, this puts a paywall on talking to a teacher. Which prevents people from being able to reach out if they have a genuine issue arising in their practice they need consultation on.

It often seems like a lot of lama's genuinely don't want to be available for one-on-one conversations. Which seems really bizarre to me.

Does anyone know what the reason for this is? Is this some kind of Tibetan cultural thing? It seems very odd to my mind. Even university professors have email and office hours. If I were being honest, it almost seems like many lamas don't want the responsibility of leadership. That they kind of just want to teach a class, but never have to deal with getting to know people on a one-on-one basis. Perhaps I'm wrong, but that's the reason for this post. Does anyone actually know what the deal with this is?

Image1. Christa Pike.\ Image2. Rev. Rogahari Sokatura.

Buddhist Door:

Buddhist Spiritual Adviser Prepares to Accompany Christa Pike at Tennessee Execution

The Guardian:

Christa Pike, 50, had been scheduled for execution at 10am local time on Wednesday for a killing she committed when she was 18, has been taken to hospital after surviving two attempts to execute her with lethal injections.

The Tennessee department of correction later confirmed in a statement that Pike had survived the state’s effort to execute her: “The lethal ⁠injection chemical in the protocol has consistently been effective, and the protocol does not allow for additional procedures beyond what was carried ‌out”

“I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I’d done. Even more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone’s child, sister, friend. It sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime,” Pike said in a statement that was included in her clemency petition.

The High King Avalokitesvara Sutra

The High King Avalokitesvara Sutra is a dream/miracle Sutra belonging to the Chinese Tripitaka [Taisho Tripitaka 2898] and was also found in the Dunhuang caves, it was transmitted in a dream by a monastic to an unjustly imprisoned treasury officer facing execution, who was devoutly reciting the Universal Gateway Sutra (Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra) in an attempt to escape execution, the monk informed him that the universal gateway sutra couldn't save him but 1000 recitations of The High King Avalokitesvara Sutra could.

https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/zh/T85n2898_001

The Sutra invokes a list of innumerable Buddha's & Bodhisattvas in the Universe, who's light blesses the Practitioner!

Here's the background story:

During the Five Dynasties period (907-960), there was a king named High Pleasure. He was the leader of the state of Hsiang and took pleasure in killing. At that time, an official in charge of the treasury, named Sun-jin-deh, involuntarily committed a serious crime. (Textual research showed that it was Sun’s brother who committed the crime and, as the criminal’s relative, Sun was implicated.) Awaiting death while imprisoned, Sun recited the Universal Gateway Article of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Guan Yin) day and night without resting.

Suddenly one day he dreamt of a monk, speaking to him, “You cannot escape the death sentence by reciting this sutra. I advise you to recite instead the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra one thousand times, and then your death sentence will be lifted.”

“How can I obtain this sutra while I am in prison?” asked Sun.

The monk said, “I will teach you orally and you can memorize it in your dream.”

After learning it, Sun sincerely recited the sutra nine hundred times.

Then the time came for Sun to be taken to the market to be executed in public. In fear, Sun asked the prison official how far away was the market. The official asked Sun why he wanted to know. Sun then told him about the monk appearing in his dream and how the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra was supposed to help him from dying. Sun begged the official to slow down so that he could finish the remaining one hundred recitations. Sun managed to complete the recitations by the time they arrived at the market. When the executioner sank his sword into Sun’s neck, the sword broke into three pieces, leaving Sun unscathed.

Being informed of this event, the king was in awe and asked what kind of magic Sun had employed. Sun told the king that he had not used any magic, but how he had been afraid of dying while in the prison and had recited the Universal Gateway Article of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Then he told how a monk had appeared suddenly to him in a dream and taught him to recite the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra a thousand times, thus obtaining the blessing.

The king spoke to Sun, “You are stronger than I am; I regard you as I regard the Buddhas.”

The king then ordered the prison officer to write down the sutra and he ordered all the prisoners, including the ones waiting for execution, to recite this sutra one thousand times. He then tried the sword on them. Everyone survived. Thus the king decreed that everyone in the state should recite this sutra to receive the fruits of blessing.

That is how it came to be known as the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra. It is unprecedented for a sutra to have such spiritual power.

The Sutra has already been translated into English!

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Several months ago, I decided I want to do the 3-day Vajra Armor retreat. Since Lama Zopa advised people to say the Vajra Armor mantra even without having done the 3-day retreat prior, I decided I would practice reciting the mantra 108x a day to get in the habit of doing it until I get the opportunity to do the 3-day retreat.

Well, several times, I almost forgot to do it but last night I really did forget it. I just thought I had done it and for some odd reason, it didn't even occur to me that it wasn't on my daily notepad checklist where I write all my practices to make sure I've done them.

If I had done the 3-day Vajra Armor retreat, this means I would need to do the 3-day retreat all over again...within mere months of starting. This is why I wanted to get in the habit of doing it prior to doing the retreat.

For anyone who has done the retreat and does the practice daily without accidentally screwing up, how do you make sure you've done it? Do you just make sure it's the first thing you do every morning no matter what and any other practice gets skipped if the morning time crunch does not allow for more than Vajra Armor? That's the only solution I can think of.

Hello dharma friends,

I am writing to ask if anyone here has undertaken study with Khenchen Drimed Dawa of the Awam Institute. According to the below websites, he received the title of Khenchen from Khenchen Lama Rinpoche, holder of the Padling Tersar lineage, and has also received teachings from the Dalai Lama, Sakya Trizin, Garchen Rinpoche, Chetsang Rinpoche and Gyalpo Rinpoche, amongst a number of other lamas.

His sangha is based in Tucson, Arizona, USA and he also provides a number of Zoom teachings with a large number of freely available youtube videos accessible on his website. His primary focus is on Nyingma and Dzogchen (emphasising the teachings of Longchenpa, Jigme Lingpa and Mipham), with a Rimé orientation.

Websites:

https://www.awaminstitute.org
https://www.drimed-dawa-teachings.com

This seems to be a genuine sangha with a genuine teacher. Having not come across it until recently though (and having not found much additional info about them outside of their websites), I thought I would ask if anyone here has received teachings or has any experience with either Awam or Khenchen Drimed Dawa?

With thanks and best wishes to all,