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Geshe Kalsang Damdul Returns to Portlandby Michelle Lawson
We were very pleased this summer to welcome from Dharamsala one of our favorite guests-the Venerable Geshe Kalsang Damdul (also known as "Geshe-la"). Geshe-la arrived in late July, in time for Swamiji's birthday, and stayed through October. He has been a regular visitor to Portland since 1989, and this was his second year with us at the Institute.
One of Geshe-la's main responsibilities this year has been to oversee the preparations for the Dalai Lama's visit. He has been helping the Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association plan the program in Portland, and also assisting those who are arranging His Holiness' visit to Los Angeles. The Dalai Lama will be in Portland from May 13 through May 15, 2001.
Recently, Geshe-la visited Atlanta to set up an exchange program between Emory College and the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD) in Dharamsala. Geshe-la is the Assistant Director of the IBD, and has been an administrator there since 1987. The IBD is highly regarded and unique among Tibetan Buddhist higher educational institutions. In addition to courses in Buddhist logic, metaphysics, and scripture, it offers courses in Tibetan literature and poetry, and western philosophy and political science. Training in scriptures occurs through dialectics, a method of debate that is characteristic of the Gelugpa school of Buddhism.
Geshe-la is also actively involved with the Tibetan community in Portland. He very much enjoyed the time he spent with the children at their summer camp, where he taught language, culture, and Buddhist logic as well as the Dharma. This year the camp was especially well attended, with more than 30 students participating.
For his western Buddhist students living in Portland, Geshe-la offered two weekend retreats, as well as weekly classes on Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara (or, "A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life"). At Nityananda Institute, study groups have been working with this text, and Geshe-la joined them for several lively and informative question and answer sessions.
Geshe-la looks forward to spending more time at the Institute in the future. He finds this community special for many reasons. He admires our openness to incorporating aspects of other traditions into our practice. He has tremendous regard for Swamiji, and has been engaged in a dialogue with him comparing various aspects of the Buddhist and Shaiva traditions. Finally, he appreciates the quality of the environment, and particularly the fact that, in his own words, "there is a lot of joy within the community." Anyone who has spent time with Geshe-la has found that he himself is a fine expression of that same joy.
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