Participants at a 16 Actitudes workshop as part of Centro Yamantaka’s activities in Colombia. Photo by Olga Lucia Sierra.

In the October-December 2012 issue’s online content, the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW) is highlighting two FPMT centers that are finding innovative, contemporary and authentic ways to communicate the essence of the Dharma teachings to children and young people using its educational initiative 16 Guidelines for a Happy Life.

“Centro Yamantaka has been running a successful 16 Guidelines-based children’s program for over three-and-a-half years with very positive results for the kids, families and the center. The project started because many of our students who have children wanted to share Dharma with their kids, but in a way that was fun and interactive…”

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From Mandala October-December 2012

FPMT News Around the World

Delegates at Young Minds conference, Sydney, Australia, June 2012. Photo by Brendan Read.

Vajrayana Institute, an FPMT-affiliated center in Sydney, Australia, is celebrating the success of its recent inaugural Young Minds conference. More than 600 delegates converged on the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre to attend the youth-focused event, held June 19-22. Attendees heard presentations by some of the world’s leading speakers (of all ages) on issues concerning the welfare, potential, minds and hearts of today’s young people.

Young Minds conference, June 2012. Photo by Brendan Read.

Speakers included Dr. Larry Rosen, Professor and Past Chair of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, whose research into the effects of technology on young people shatters some long-held myths; adult and child neurologist Dr. Judy Willis, who explores creative ways to captivate kids in the classroom; teenage sailor Jessica Watson, who captivated the audience with her story of what it took to be the youngest person ever to sail around the world; and Western Buddhist meditation teacher and chant master Lama Surya Das, who hopes to fan into flames the embers of buddha-nature residing in all of us, including our young folk.

Conference organizers received overwhelmingly positive feedback from Young Minds delegates. Attendee comments repeatedly used words like “inspiring” and “affirming,” and “tears” and “laughter.”

Vajrayana Institute has had many past successes organizing hugely popular public events, including the Happiness & Its Causes and Mind & Its Potential conference series.

For the Young Minds 2013 conference, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has accepted an invitation to speak, marking the fourth time that His Holiness has participated in one of the intitute’s events. “We are very blessed!” write conference organizers. Young Minds 2013 is scheduled for June 19-20, 2013, at the Sydney Town Hall. For more information, visit the Young Minds website.

Vajrayana Institute volunteers at Young Minds conference, Sydney, Australia, June 2012. Photo by Brendan Read.

With 158 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FPMT News Around the World

Osel Hita speaks at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, April 2012. Photo by Piero Sirianni.

“The first step for harmonious communities is to be aware of your own actions and thoughts,” Osel Hita told a group of students in April 2012. 

A 50-minute recording of the talk is now available online. This was the first time Osel had spoken to a group of Western Dharma students in over a decade. Gomo Tulku also joined the discussion, which took place at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy.

In 2010, Osel Hita and Gomo Tulku along with Ling Rinpoche and Cherok Lama participated in a roundtable discussion with Mandala about being recognized as reincarnated “lamas” and the future of Buddhism. The young FPMT notables offered fresh and original views on how Buddhism fits into the 21st-century world.

“Religion is moved by the people,” Osel told Mandala. “It is connection between the unknown and known universes within and outside of us. Like many other religions, Buddhism is one more way of understanding and growing closer to our true essence.” 

Gomo Tulku, perhaps even more than his compatriots, is pushing into new territories, pursuing a long-held interest in becoming a musician. He has just released his second music video today, called “Let Me Down.”

You can learn about new recordings and teachings along with the latest FPMT news by reading the FPMT International Office News, a monthly e-newsletter. Subscribe online to have it delivered directly to your email inbox.

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

Read interviews with two amazing Colombian youths that are a part of Children’s Movement for Peace, nominated in both 1998 and 1999 for a Nobel Peace Prize. Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ven. Roger Kunsang met the five teenagers chosen to represent the movement in their 1999 Nobel nomination last year in Los Angeles, where they visited local high schools and were being interviewed for a CNN documentary.

From Mandala September-October 2000

Gomo Tulku has released a new video “Don’t You Know” with Jidenna. Gomo says, “It is a tribute to everything going on in Tibet and a sobering reminder of how easy it is to get lost in our self-delusions.”

In the July-August 1998 issue of Mandala, the cover story focused on young Buddhist practitioners. This interview with (then) 24 year old Christopher Kelley remains insightful and relevant 13 years later.

A fresh sound in pop music is often credited to the fusion of an artist’s unique life experiences with his music. Gomo Tulku, a 22-year-old Tibetan-Canadian-American Buddhist lama and ex-monk, is by no means short of unique experiences and is by all means ushering in his own brand of popular music.

His sound is a mix of hip-hop, R&B, dance and pop. In one song he may rap the verses and sing the hooks to a club-banger beat, in another he may showcase a series of beautiful vocal melodies overlaid on top of an electronic dance beat. Although his music touches on his own personal experiences in the monastery, its content is ultimately secular and speaks to individuals from all walks of life.

Understanding Gomo requires one to really understand his unique past: Gomo Tulku was born in Montreal, Canada on August 8, 1988. At the age of three, Tenzin was recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to be the reincarnation of his mother’s late father, also a Buddhist lama. By the age of seven, Gomo left his family and moved to South India to a monastery where he would begin rigorous studies for the next 12 years.

Gomo currently lives in Tuscany and in Milan where he has worked with the famous Italian hip-hop producer Deleterio. Gomo also gained sponsorship from Guess clothing line, and has generated an international media buzz. He is currently working on his first single, which is set to release on July 28. Stay tuned on www.gomotulku.com!

During a recent visit to Drepung and Ganden monasteries in Mundgod, south India, Ven. Roger Kunsang interviewed the young reincarnations of five of the highest Gelug lamas: Ling Rinpoche, Trijang Rinpoche, Zong Rinpoche, Serkong Tsenshab Rinpoche and Serkong Dorje Chang.

From Mandala January-February 1996.

In Tulku Talk: Advice for Young People (and the Not So Young), a DVD available through The Foundation Store, three young Tibetan Buddhist masters give practical and inspiring advice on dealing with problems, finding true happiness, and making the most of life.

Merry Colony retells some of the early history of the young Cherok Lama, “the boy whose affection and laughter make even the sternest of hearts to open and wonder just who is inside the four-year-old body.”

From Manadala March-April 1997.

Taken from Jonathan Landaw’s regular column, The Passing Scene, “How Kids Transform their Minds from Cloudy to Clear” shows how fairly dense Buddhist topics can be approached from different angles more appropriate for the very young.