Geshe Lobzang Tsetan on inner peace

On Tuesday April 18, 2006, Tibetan Buddhist monk Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobzang Tsetan spoke in Bangor, Maine on “Finding Inner Peace in a Time of Conflict.”

This program was sponsored by the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine. Professor Doug Allen of the Peace Center and the University of Maine Department of Philosophy assists in the presentation and Sonja Peronsky introduces the speaker.

85 min; 38 MB; 64 kbps mp3; download link here ->

From the flyer for the event:

GESHE LOBZANG TSETAN is a Tibetan Buddhist Monk of the Gelug-pa lineage (the same as the Dalai Lama), with the highest degree obtainable in Tibetan Buddhist metaphysics and philosophy. He began his monastic life at age 7. Geshe-la left Tibet in 1960, after the Chinese occupation made it impossible for him to continue his studies there. In the late 1970′s he was invited to the USA where he learned English, and taught classes at the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in NJ, Smith College, Bates College, Hampshire College, Wesleyan University, and conferences at Harvard and Princeton. In 1995, Geshe Tsetan founded The Siddhartha School in his native home in Ladakh. H.H. Dalai Lama, appointed Geshe Tsetan to be the Khenchen or head Abbot of the new Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in India. His new title is Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobzang Tsetan.

For more information on this go to the website: www.tashilhunpo.org.

This was an amazing, wonderful event. Even those who attended in person will appreciate this podcast of the program because the cavernous echoes in the church made listening difficult. We were forced to move there after the crowd of over 120 people overwhelmed the Peace Center. For this recording Geshe Lobzang Tsetan was close-miked and the sound of his voice is especially clear in the playback, while the echoes are much muted.

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobzang Tsetan: … In Buddhism [it is] important to work for the benefit of all sentient beings. Buddha learned during his meditation that all sentient beings become our mothers.

Buddha found in the meditation there is no creator, no beginning. So in beginningless time, we circle in the ocean of [cyclic] existence under the control of our anger attachment. That you’re learning under the control of [anger attachment], that creates the karma, that in Buddhism is our own karma. The creator is our own karma, not the outside creator.

What creates our own karma? The karma… anger, attachment, … is what you are going to receive–you’re going to receive the suffering, problems, difficulties. That is when you’re inner peace aware. When you don’t have inner-peace aware, you have to suffer.

So therefore, Buddha said, you really want to [have] inner peace. You should learn to stop anger, attachment…