Shang Longrik Gyatso Rinpoche is currently in Melbourne giving Dharma transmissions and teachings. A highly esteemed Buddhist master from Taiwan, Shang Rinpoche has been teaching Buddhism to tens of thousands of students at all levels of experience all over the world for more than 30 years.
Shang Longrik Gyatso Rinpoche. From www.shangrinpoche.org
Shang Rinpoche is a fully qualified master in two Chinese Chan schools as well as the head of the Tsalpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism and a recognized reincarnation of the 13th-century founder of this school. His root teacher is the current incarnation of the great tertön (treasure revealer) Dorje Lingpa, and he has received lineage transmissions and teachings from some of the great Vajrayana and Chan masters of our time. In his own teachings, Rinpoche draws on the wisdom of all schools of Buddhism and also from his encyclopedic knowledge of Chinese philosophy, including Daoism, qigong, and traditional Chinese medicine.
On the evening of Friday 14 November, Rinpoche gave the Amitabha Dharma transmission at Quang Minh Temple, transmitting a short Amitabha prayer from the lineage of Dorje Lingpa. He also gave a commentary on the teaching, its benefits and its history, and instruction on how to put it into practice. It is believed that this is the first time this transmission has been given in Australia. The transmission and commentary were preceded by a qigong session led by his senior students, and followed by questions and answers.
Quang Minh Temple. From http://melbdharmatalks.blogspot.tw
The venue for this auspicious event, Quang Minh Temple, is a center serving the Vietnamese Buddhist community and the headquarters of the United Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation of Victoria. It is situated about 30 minutes to the west of Melbourne, overlooking the gentle Maribyrnong River. The temple’s history goes back to 1980 with the arrival of the first Vietnamese monk in Australia, and it moved to its current location in 1989. The new main shrine, multi-purpose rooms, and community center were completed in early 2011, and were opened and blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in July the same year.
Devotees at Quang Minh Temple. From http://melbdharmatalks.blogspot.tw
During the afternoon of Saturday 15 November, Rinpoche gave a relaxed talk and Q&A session at the Village Roadshow Theatrette at the State Library in Melbourne’s city center. The discussion covered such topics as finding and maintaining happiness, living in the moment, and dealing with everyday stress due to work, finances, and relationships. During this teaching he gave tips on how to be mindful and act wisely in the present moment and how to be more compassionate. “Armed with knowledge and inspiration, we can begin to overcome the mental stumbling blocks that so often trip us up, keeping us from being who we want to be,” Rinpoche shared, adding that “the difference between a normal person and a sage lies in that the latter is able to foresee the development of an outcome from small clues at the outset, making it unnecessary to bind them with elaborate formalities and rules.”
Dharma talk with Shang Rinpoche. From http://melbdharmatalks.blogspot.tw
The talks were organized by a group of Rinpoche’s expatriate students in Taiwan with the wish to give their fellow Australians the opportunity to experience his profound wisdom first-hand.