Biographies, Glossary and Suggested Reading

Biographies of the Contributors

In alphabetical order:

Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron

Thubten Chodron graduated from UCLA, taught elementary school, and pursued graduate courses in Education. In 1975, she began practicing Buddhism with Ven. Zopa Rinpoche and later with Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche. In 1977, she received sramanerika ordination and in 1986, bhikshuni ordination. She studied and worked as spiritual director at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy and Dorje Pamo Monastery in France, and was the resident teacher at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore. She currently teaches at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle, USA. Her books include Open Heart, Clear Mind.

Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron
Dharma Friendship Foundation
P.O. Box 30011
Seattle WA 98103, USA

email: Tchodron@aol.com

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. Born to a peasant family, he was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of the XIII Dalai Lama. His Holiness has traveled extensively, speaking on such subjects as universal responsibility, love, kindness, and compassion, and his books have been published in a variety of Western languages. His Holiness was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Tegchen Choling
McLeod Ganj, Upper Dharamsala
Dist. Kangra, H.P. 176219, India

Bhikshu Gendun Rinpoche

Born in Tibet, Gendun Rinpoche studied and did retreat for many years before fleeing to India after the Chinese takeover of Tibet. He received the full Kagyu lineage transmission from the Karmapa and did ten years of retreat in Kalimpong, India. In 1975, the Karmapa sent Gendun Rinpoche to establish his European headquarters at Dhagpo Kagyu Ling in France. He lived there for ten years and traveled to teach at other European Dharma centers. He then went to Le Bost, France, where he is now abbot of Kundreul Ling, a monastery and retreat center.

Bhikshu Gendun Rinpoche
Kundreul Ling
Le Bost, B.P. 1
F-63640 Biollet, France

Bhikshu Thich Nhat Hanh

Born in central Vietnam in the mid-1920's, he became a monk at the age of 16. When war came to his country, he and his fellow monks faced the difficult choice of remaining in monastic isolation or entering society in order to help war victims. They chose both--to meditate while helping victims of the war. Thich Nhat Hanh founded the School of Youth for Social Service, which engaged 30,000 young people working with war victims and helping rebuild the countryside. In 1966, he toured the U.S. to speak out against the war and was nominated by Dr. Martin Luther King for the Nobel Peace Prize. In the 1970's he served as Chairman of the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation in Paris. Today Thich Nhat Hanh heads Plum Village, a community of meditators and activists in southern France.

Bhikshu Thich Nhat Hanh
Plum Village
Meyrac
47120 Loubes-Bernac, France

Bhikshu Tenzin Josh

From England, Tenzin Josh ordained several years ago in the Tibetan tradition. He has spent some time living in Theravada monasteries in Thailand. He currently studies at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India.

Bhikshu Tenzin Josh
School of Buddhist Dialectics
McLeod Ganj, Upper Dharamsala
Dist. Kangra, H.P. 176219, India

Bhikshuni Tenzin Kacho

Japanese-American, Tenzin Kacho was raised in an Asian-American environment in Hawaii and experienced the blending of many different cultures, religions, and traditions. She was first introduced to Tibetan Buddhism in 1971 in Hawaii and in 1975 she went to India for a year to further her studies. As a single mother, she raised a daughter, and when her daughter was grown, Tenzin Kacho took sramanerika ordination in 1985. She studied with Geshe Tsultrim Gyaltsen and was president of Thubten Dhargye Ling Buddhist Center in Los Angeles. In 1994 she took bhikshuni ordination in the Vietnamese tradition. She lives alternately in the U.S. at various Dharma centers and in Dharamsala at Geden Choling Nunnery.

Bhikshuni Tenzin Kacho
Gendun Choling Nunnery
McLeod Ganj, Upper Dharamsala
Dist. Kangra, H.P. 176219, India
or c/o Dharma Friendship Foundation as above.

Luminary Temple

A monastery and Buddhist institute established by Bhikshuni Master Wu Yin, the Luminary Temple has approximately 100 nuns who study, teach, and practice the Dharma in the temple's various branches in Taiwan.

Luminary Temple
49-1 Nei-pu, Chu-chi
Chia-I County 60406, Taiwan

Upasaka Guy Rom

Guy Rom was born in Israel and became interested in Buddhism while visiting India and Nepal in the early 1990s. His principal teacher is Lati Rinpoche, and he has studied and practiced in Dharamsala as well as South India for several years.

Guy Rom
c/o Dalia Hochman
64 Hadar St.
Omer 84965, Israel

Bhikshuni Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Lekshe Tsomo received her M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii in 1971. She studied for five years at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and several years at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, both in Dharmsala. In 1977, she received sramanerika ordination and in 1982 bhikshuni ordination. She established Jamyang Choling Nunnery in Dharamsala, is a founding member of Sakyadhita and is currently completing her Ph.D. thesis at the University of Hawaii.

Bhikshuni Lekshe Tsomo
Sakyadhita
400 Hobron Lane #2615
Honolulu, HI 96815, USA

email: tsomo@hawaii.edu

Glossary

Abbot: the one who gives the disciples the monastic precepts.

Bhikshu: male fully-ordained monk.

Bhikshuni: female fully-ordained nun.

Chogu: upper yellow robe made of seven strips of patches.

Defeat: see parajika.

Donka: vest.

Gatha: a brief saying to recite and contemplate that helps one to maintain mindfulness of one's activities.

Kerag: belt.

Mala: prayer beads, rosary.

Meyog: underskirt.

Monastic: a general term for a monk or nun. This includes one who is a sramanera, sramanerika, bhikshu, or bhikshuni.

Namcha: upper yellow robe made of up to 25 strips of patches, worn by bhikshus and bhikshunis only.

Ngullen: shirt.

Ordination ceremony: the ceremony during which one takes Buddhist precepts.

Parajika: A root precept for bhikshus and bhikshunis. A full transgression means one is defeated and is no longer a monastic.

Pratimoksa vows: the vows of individual liberation. They are of eight kinds: 1) bhikshu, 2) bhikshuni, 3) shiksamana, 4) sramanera, 5) sramanerika 6) upasaka, 7) upasika, 8) one-day vow with eight precepts.

Pratimoksa Sutra: the sutra containing the list of bhikshu or bhikshuni precepts.

Precept: a guideline or rule for training one's body, speech, or mind.

Rabjung: leaving the householder's life.

Sanghavasesa: the second most serious categories of precepts for bhikshu and bhikshunis.

Shiksamana: female nun who holds the novice precepts plus six additional regulations for two years and is preparing to become a bhikshuni.

Sramanera: male novice monk with ten (subdivided into 36) precepts.

Sramanerika: female novice nun with ten (subdivided into 36) precepts.

Shamtab: lower robe.

Upasaka: male lay follower of the Buddha who has taken refuge and often lay precepts.

Upasika: female lay follower of the Buddha who has taken refuge and often lay precepts.

Vinaya Pitaka: one of three categories or baskets of the Buddha's teachings. Its topic concerns monastic precepts and the functioning of the sangha community.

Zen: upper shawl.