El·e·na [el-uh-nuh, uh-ley-nuh; It. e-le-nah] /ˈɛlənə, əˈleɪnə; It. ɛˈlɛnɑ/ –noun a female given name, form of Helen // A proud student of His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche // Personal assistant with a BSc (Hons) Psych from Uni of Warwick // These are snapshots of my life, in words and pictures

Browsing Category 'Tsem Ladrang'

Playful-10

When most people think of Tibetan lamas, the image that comes to mind is that of a serious, unsmiling type sat on a high throne positioned far, far away at the head of a large audience. And whilst there are some lamas like that and there is definitely a time, place and benefit for such […]

HealingSpiritually-3

Rinpoche’s life was about taking pain away from people, on the level that worked best for them. This meant that oftentimes, Rinpoche went above and beyond to help others, whether it was physically, emotionally or spiritually. This time, I’m covering the spiritual aspect. Over the years, due to Rinpoche’s close connection with Dorje Shugden, I […]

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When I think back on the kind of relationship some of us had with Rinpoche, I gotta be honest – it is sometimes tough to reconcile the enlightened father we knew, with the lama who sits for this portrait below. With us, Rinpoche hugged us, loved us, ate with us, joked with us, scolded us. […]

Baggage-1

Rinpoche’s life was about taking pain away from people, on the level that worked best for them. This meant that oftentimes, Rinpoche went above and beyond to help others, whether it was physically, emotionally or spiritually. This time, I’m covering the emotional aspect. All of us carry a lot of baggage, and it is this […]

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Rinpoche’s life was about taking pain away from people, on the level that worked best for them. This meant that oftentimes, Rinpoche went above and beyond to help others, whether it was physically, emotionally or spiritually. This week, I’m covering the physical aspect. I think the best known example of Rinpoche going above and beyond […]

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So we went public with our Dorje Shugden practice in 2014 but how did it come to be? Except for a small handful of people with Rinpoche at the time, most do not know. Here’s that story… We were in the US at the time and our team had been split over a few states, […]

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This was essentially what Rinpoche’s life was like. The majority of Rinpoche’s 54 years was lived pretty much in the public eye. There were very few moments when Rinpoche was truly alone. There was always someone with Rinpoche, either serving and attending, or meeting or having an audience with Rinpoche. Imagine living your life with […]

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Our Chinese New Year (CNY) ‘Orphans’ Dinner. That was the name Rinpoche gave our annual CNY reunion dinner. Every year, when Malaysia essentially shuts down for a few weeks during CNY, most Kecharians would be a part of the exodus of Malaysians returning to their hometowns to reunite with their families. There would, invariably, always […]

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Rinpoche was never one to do things by halves. When Rinpoche said we should be kind to everyone, Rinpoche really meant it. It was kindness with no and’s, if’s or but’s – no exceptions, even for those who have been cruel, unkind or caused the most pain and suffering to us. Rinpoche, as usual, led […]

The traditional modern lama

First of all, what is tsok (Sanskrit: ganachakra)? According to Rinpoche, Tsok happens twice a month every month. It is a special day where the dakinis of the 24 holy places gather together to bless the tantric practitioner‘s body, nerves, chi, chakras, speech and mind. On Tsok Day we can perform a special tsok to […]