Tibetan Buddhist abbot visits Malibu

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From left: Olivia with father Clemence Gossett (son of Lou Gosset Jr.), Priscilla Newton, Lou Gossett Jr., Khen Rinpoche Kachen Lobzang Tsetan, the abbot of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Ruth Hayward, cofounder of the Pashen Lama-Tashi Lhunpo Project, and Satie Gossett, wife of Clemence. In front, Malcolm Gossett (son of Clemence and Satie Gossett). Photos by Devon Meyers / TMT

Malibu residents striving to keep a “peaceful mind in stressful times” took part in a Buddhist teaching and meditation by Khen Rinpoche Kachen Lobzang Tsetan, the abbot of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, this weekend.

A Tibetan Buddhist monk, Khen Rinpoche was appointed abbot to the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in India by the Dalai Lama in 2005.

“When he first asked me to be abbot, I didn’t want to because I was teaching at a new school,” Khen Rinpoche said. “So the Dalai Lama said he would let me graduate my first class and then he would come back to ask me again. This time I can’t say no.”

The monastery is one of the world’s more revered centers for Tibetan Buddhist monks, as it is the spiritual seat of the Panchen Lama, the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism.

In fact, Tashi Lhunpo is actually a monastery-in-exile, having been driven from its 15th-century home in Tibet during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and re-established in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

After the 10th Panchen Lama died in 1989, the Dalai Lama recognized his reincarnation-according to Buddhist tradition, a six-year-old boy born in Tibet who, along with his family, was quickly whisked away by the Chinese government and hasn’t been seen since.

The Chinese government then appointed its own version of the Panchen Lama, a boy born in 1990 to members of the Communist Party.

Khen Rinpoche and supporters have established a nonprofit project to raise enough funds to expand and upgrade the monastery’s facilities in anticipation of the ultimate return of the Panchen Lama.

“The Dalai Lama doesn’t want problems with the Chinese government,” Khen Rinpoche said, referring to the latest clashes in Lhasa between the Chinese military and pro-Tibetan supporters. “The recent problems in Tibet were not caused by Tibetan monks. Their lives are not violent. We are here to teach peace.”

Khen Rinpoche began his local tutorial with a house blessing at the Malibu home of Louis Gossett, Jr.-an hour-long recitation of Tibetan prayer and sprinkling of holy water. The solemn atmosphere was broken at the conclusion with Gossett’s grandson Malcolm’s observation, “Wow!”

When asked about Buddhism, Gossett said, “I am into a spiritual life. I believe that all religions are different paths to enlightenment.”

The Buddhist teachings then continued at a private residence, where a gathering of teenagers were led in meditation before plying Khen Rinpoche with questions of emerging spiritual awareness.

“Do you believe there are bad people?” “Is it possible to manifest an intention of love or success?” “How do you get to a point where you can change yourself?”

Khen Rinpoche reminded them of the impermanence of this life, and that the best pathway to peace was through focusing one’s mind through meditation, not emotion.

“Remember that an enemy can become your best friend, depending on what you project on them,” the abbot said.

To a larger group of Malibu residents that afternoon, Khen Rinpoche spoke of combating stress through meditation.

“Love is an antidote to anger,” he said. “It is fruitless to try to change the world. Change yourself and that will change the world.”

While speaking about the Panchen Lama-Tashi Lhunpo Project to improve the monastery in India, executive director of the project, Ruth Hayward, showed a DVD of a New Year’s celebration at Tashi Lhunpo, featuring young monks dressed in brilliant saffron-colored robes playing the drum and cymbal.

The Malibu residents in attendance Saturday spoke of the troubles they see in Tibet.

“If you go to Tibet, you see that [the Chinese] have destroyed the ancient Buddhist spiritual centers and replaced them with ugly, generic buildings,” Bob Hayward, Ruth’s husband, said. “Television is only broadcast in Chinese and there’s total control of the media. It’s cultural genocide.”

“This is all the more reason to support Tibetan communities in exile,” Ruth said. “The Panchen Lama is like the moon to the Dalai Lama’s sun in Tibetan culture and Khen Rinpoche is working to preserve his spiritual home.”

Beijing’s hosting of this summer’s Olympic Games has provided opportunity for pro-Tibet supporters to protest on a world stage, with disruptions of the Olympic torch relay in London and Paris, and protests planned in San Francisco where it is scheduled to pass through this week.

“The Chinese treat Tibetans as the enemy, not as human beings, though the Dalai Lama respects Chinese sovereignty,” Khen Rinpoche said.

He said he believes that breakthroughs in the cultural stalemate will be found through collective peaceful meditation of an altruistic mind.

“We must focus on unconditional love, like that of a mother for her child,” he said. “With this, we can all make our lives kinder, more meaningful, more powerful.”

More information on the Panchen Lama-Tashi Lhunpo Project can be obtained online at www.thepanchenlamatashilhunpoproject.org or by calling 310.383.8420.