Guna Norling (red building) and the Bay
For ten days recently Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche visited Salvador, Bahia, the capital city of Brazil’s Eastern most state, itself located at the furthest point that Brazil juts into the Atlantic Ocean. He was there to teach Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend and initiate a Shedra Program in Brazil. He was also there to spend time at Mangala Shri Bhuti’s city center, Guna Norling, and meet with students interested in following the spiritual path more seriously, as well as those who are working on behalf of Mangala Shri Bhuti to support the center and community.
Recognizing that the Dharma is quite accessible in Brazil already, largely due to the efforts of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, his wife and students, Rinpoche feels that the rigorous philosophical education of a Shedra would enrich students’ understanding and contribute to the growth of Dharma. He envisions a five year Shedra, including key texts such as Shantideva’s Bodhisattva’s Way of Life and Shantarakshita’s Madhyamakalankara. Letter to a Friend made a wonderful starting point; the text is loaded with advice for daily life and relative practices while introducing Madhyamika logics, those that will be explored in depth as the Shedra continues.
An audience of over 100 attended consistently the seven nights of teachings at the Portobello Hotel, nearby the center, and the final days culminated in many students taking and re-taking the Refuge and Bodhisattva vows (moments from the vow in video above). Rinpoche gave a short Manjushri transmission to conclude the course.
During his stay, Rinpoche accompanied Sarah Gomes and other students for life release practice (tsethar). Sarah is deeply committed to this most essential of Buddhist acts on behalf of beings. To date she has released 200,000 mud crabs and muscles into the warm rivers that feed the Atlantic along the coast. On this day Rinpoche and students bought 1000 crabs at the local market and drove a half hour north of Salvador, then boated up a river and into a mangrove marsh to release the crabs into the thick, rich mud out of which the mangroves grow. Even as they approached the site and loosened the ties on the bags holding the crabs, a frenetic and certain mass movement began in each bag as the crabs must have sensed their native environment. Quickly they spread out back into the forest, while Rinpoche read the Manjushri tantra out loud.
Rinpoche spent his days in retreat at Guna Norling. The center is remarkably suited for retreat. Nestled against a steep hillside made of rock and facing first a protected tidal pool and a natural breakwater, then the Atlantic itself, the center feels exposed and protected, safe and edgy, grounded and vast all at once. Visitors and students who currently gather for Sunday sitting and tsoks all comment that “you don’t want to leave” – such is the special atmosphere of this unique location.
Renewed interest and care in the center in recent years has led to plans for a renovation (see Art Auction at Guna Norling). Toward that end, one evening a combined capoeira demonstration and auction was held at a nearby hotel, followed by a dinner for participants. The auctions raised over $3000 US in seed funds, which grew by the visit’s end to around $15000 US!
Auctioning Photographs and Paintings
Visiting the center, and generally in Salvador, one feels a certain warmth, or heat, that permeates the environment. The longing and strong commitment on the part of students, the actual weather of the equatorial climate, and something in the land, sea and air themselves makes Brazil feel ripe for Dharma while already spiritually strong.
Rinpoche will return next year and, along with continuing the Shedra program, he will bestow the abhisheka of Rigdzin Dupa as well as conduct the MSB Sangha Ceremony.
A Slideshow of Rinpoche’s Visit
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
