The basic message is the same

Moni Oyeyele talks to Buddhist teacher and philosopher Tenzin Tsepag.


I know that Tenzin Tsepag would not be happy to be featured as a special person, but in fact, he is, with his friendly, smiling nature, and quiet, modest utterings that gently show you a path of wisdom and goodness. Upon the invitation of his friends Sándor Bence and Tanya Brizinskaya, he arrived in Hungary on the 11th of November, to share his knowledge of Buddhist philosophy in the form of unofficial, interactive lectures in the Tibet Support Association’s Sambhala Tibet Center.
Having lived in a Buddhist monastery for 20 years, and graduated from the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, now I work as a freelance interpreter and translator for different Tibetan teachers and organisations.

I see my years at IBD as very fruitful. When I had left my former school in Dharamsala, India, I said I wanted to be a translator. But frankly speaking, I had no idea of what a translator exactly does: I just had these ideas about bringing the message of Tibetan culture and Buddhism to another language.
I studied English at school, but outside the lessons, we did not really speak it among ourselves. So I was shy. But after joining IBD, I had many opportunities speaking for English, as Westerners helped me – and taught me in a way – by simply asking me to translate their questions to and the responses from Tibetan teachers in Dharamsala. Thus, I am always very grateful to them. I still consider myself with very limited knowledge of English, but I think my path to the interpreters’ profession can be a good example of how helping others can help you progressing with your own knowledge!
Basically I am here to do some translation projects of my own, and as my dear hosts Sándor and Tanya asked me, I am giving lectures on Buddhism at the Sambhala Center every Saturday. I am enjoying my stay here, as everyone is very kind and curious to what I am trying to say.

In essence, the first lesson at Sambhala was very good: my audience was enthusiastic and deeply interested. I really wanted the lecture to be informal, so that people can ask questions and debate issues freely, and so it happened. I really did not want to pose as a teacher, therefore I avoided all kinds of formalities. I don’t consider myself as a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, just a friend who can tell people about my religion. Compared to many people in this country, perhaps, I have studied Buddhism more, but it still does not mean that I am qualified to be called a teacher.

I want to be simple and do not want to present myself as someone who must be respected in all circumstances. You see, it is very risky for Buddhists to fully display themselves as highly respected persons: when a problem arises, or they happen to make a failure, their followers might blame it not only on the teachers, but also on the spriritual traditions.

One of the most intresting questions at the lecture was about Tantra. It has been becoming very popular in the West, but I have to say that people should be careful, as there are lots of hypes about it in the West. The essence of Tantra has unfortunately been twisted. To properly practice it, one has to have a deep, deep understanding about what suffering means, and along with that understanding, appreciation of what they possess and why they are in this condition – which, in turn would help to deliver love and compassion to others.

If you don’t possess love and compassion in the true sense of the word as it is explained in Buddhism, you might end up with problems. Because you think you have done so much in the form of various retreats, and that might lead you to have some kind of pride and arrogance. People who have done something often like to present themselves as someone special and as I see, that might be the cause of their failure to understand others, or even worse, their abusive attitude to others.


Generally, I am optimistic about Europeans’ understanding of Buddhism, however. I have seen many Westerners really getting the right message of it, and integrating Buddhism well within themselves , and when you see those, it gives you an inspiration to follow their model. Even if I am a Tibetan, it does not mean I am better than they, and you always have to consider that they may not have the same access to qualified teachers of Dharma, yet they could manage to integrate themselves correctly. Always reminding themselves that they are imperfect and that they spend only a relatively short time on this Earth, and they are very committed to help others in one way or another.

It is much easier to live as a monk, I think: as a lay person, one is much more conditioned, even though it seems the opposite from the aspect of lay people. In the monastery, we learnt and practiced to move towards perfections, and the conditions to do it were much more conducive. My transition from monastery life to everyday life is still unfinished, I am still struggling with the task. But I also see that living this life I can learn a lot about the world, and maybe I can help more people. I think I will spend my life solitary, as I don’t want to pretend emotions I don’t have or alter the ones I have: I feel I must focus on my spiritual growth in solitude – and I can always do my translations.

I am glad to travel around and meet and talk to different people. Everybody is coming more often to cross-cultural, and cross-religious dialogues in order to move towards religious harmony. Even His Holiness the Dalai Lama often participates in cross-religious forums and conferences. The point of it is in the name of religions, there should not be any havocs, conflicts or wars anymore. Today’s main challenge for religions is not to empower themselves by competing and recruiting followers, but to struggle to successfully deliver their peace messages: love, kindness, caring, forgiveness and coexistence. No matter which religion you follow and how you define it, the basic messages should remain the same and should be followed accordingly.”

www.tibet.hu

Please help Tibet and Tibetans to have justice and freedom they deserve, just like yourselves in the free world.

Moni Oyeyele

17.12.2008