Vajrayana Buddhism in the West

People often speak of preserving the teachings – and indeed, the teachings can be preserved in many different ways. They can be preserved in a museum, they can be preserved in aspic, pickled in a jam jar along with the onions, embalmed, immersed in alcohol or saline solution. We think that there are many approaches, and people should be free to opt for their preference. For us, the tradition lives on in people. The pyramids are imposing, and they still hold secrets—but no one is likely to discover what they are, because no one still lives according to the traditional context in which they were built. There is no way of accessing the heart of Vajrayana from a temple, no matter how beautiful or traditionally perfect, if there is no one there to explain what it means in terms of lived experience. We do not want to create a museum or make museum curators of our apprentices and disciples.

This may sound a trifle radical, but we do not believe that Vajrayana will be preserved by the museum method. That will only last as long as there are people who are prepared to enter primarily into a culturally TransHimalayan medieval mind-set. Please do not mistake us here – we are not adopting the Western Buddhist point of view with regard to Dharma. We do not wish to create a ‘Western Buddhism’ – because Dharma is nether Western nor Eastern. Dharma is Dharma. Dharma means ‘as it is’ and ‘as it is’ is neither Eastern nor Western. Dharma does not need to be changed – we simply need to see what is Dharma and what is culture – in the same way that a person might have to work out that a Christmas tree is not central to the practise of Christianity.

Already we are aware of how many people drop away from the teaching simply because they cannot relate them to their lives. People seem to try hard for a while, and then (unless they have some strong karmic connection) they drift away. People get older. People have children, and they have to attend to the needs of their families. People have to look after their own situations; so the teachings and practices somehow have to address this directly. Finally, people need to have something in their lives that actually stands the test of ‘living in the Western world’. In the long run, that is not going to be a marvelous museum; no matter how much archæological value there is in constructing it.

Establishing the Ngak’phang Tradition in the West

Our vision has always been to set an example of what is possible. And for that, we need all the help available, in terms of how you all live the view of the inner Tantras. The practice of these teachings could help people make the world a better place in which to live. The practice of these teachings is something that should become available to a greater number of ordinary people—people who do not have the time to engage in the recitation of a few score pages in Tibetan. Practice could be available through a larger number of Lamas who are more accessible to their students. There could be a truly supportive environment for the individual to become part of living communities of practitioners, in which assimilation with everyday family life is stressed. You should not have to alienate yourself from the rest of society or attempt to live a double life in order to be a practitioner.

We need to remember our primary commitment to kindness. For us, kindness means enabling people to access Vajrayana without becoming museum attendants for outer cultural forms.

For the benefit of future generations, we need to attend to the form of practice that is going to survive here. Making this kind of statement and taking this kind of stance has not endeared us to those who are committed to practising outwardly in a culturally traditional manner – but neither has our stance on this endeared us to those who want to nibble on bits of Vajrayana ‘buffet style’. We remain traditional according to Vajrayana rather than to cultural form. We uphold the rôle of the Lama – both as spiritual friend and as vajra master.

What matters is the inner practise—and in terms of the inner practice we are utterly traditional. We would always rather the practice was happening in people’s homes, and within their functional existence. We like apprentices to be regular people, ordinary human beings, and to avoid the cultivation of an ‘artificial Buddhist personality’.

Our work together is to be an example of what it is possible to create in terms of everyday life in a family context. This is something that we can offer to others. Our work together is to be an example of a non-dysfunctional Sangha of Vajrayana practitioners. This is something that we can offer to others. Our work together is to be ordinary people—people who do not have to act out stereotypical ‘alternative’ stances. If Buddhism is to survive in the West, it needs to be practised by people who can practise and still relate normally with a non-Buddhist world. This is something that we can offer to others.

The Unfolding of Buddhism in the West

Buddhism in the West is obviously an important issue, and one which every Lama has to address according to their own integrity and realisation. What does it mean to establish Vajrayana in the West? What does it mean to establish a lineage of ordination in the West? What does it mean to be living in a time when the foundation stones are being laid? What do we make of these foundation stones?

We would say that lineages exist to serve people, as well as people living to serve the lineage. It is obviously a delicate balance. If we serve the lineage at the expense of ourselves then we could damage ourselves. If we serve ourselves at the expense of lineage then the lineage will no longer exist for others. Caution aside, we feel that history could be making itself. Those who have been Aro students for a while will know that a subject to which we frequently return is history. We have always been interested in history. Not particularly the ‘history’ of Queens, Kings, and Presidents – nor the history of our family (Ngak’chang Rinpoche is the great-grand-nephew of Franz Schubert—ed.). We are interested in the history that is in the making. We are interested in how the future is being built out of the present, and how the present has been arrived at out of the immediate past.

Our Aims & Our Possibilities

Our aim, of course, is to establish Nyingma Vajrayana in the West in such a way that it will be of benefit to as many people as possible—in the long term. We would like to see a real householder tradition emerge. It would be wonderful to see the fulfilment of the amazing talent and potential that lies within the Sangha. Always consider the importance of what we are doing together, and where we are going in the establishment of Nyingma teachings and practices in the West. This is not ‘just for us’; not even the Aro gTér is ‘just for us’—it is for the future, and for many people that we may never meet in our present lives. If we are to do more than simply play out our lives, dealing with one thing after another, then we need to develop a strong wish for the benefit of everyone and everything everywhere—through the establishment of the gö kar chang lo’i dé in the West.

We are sure there will be many stories to tell which will build toward an inspirational literature. We would like there to be stories about you all, which people will tell with zest and relish. Maybe you think that we are being whimsical, but it is possible. Maybe it would be useful to ponder occasionally how you might look as an historical figure. We do not intend this to be some kind of exercise in personal aggrandisement, but it is puerile to consider yourself as incapable of ever being inspiring to any one else. This is an important time—it is the time that will be remembered in the future as the period of the introduction of the Vajrayana Lineages into Western countries.