Do Good, Be Virtuous, Tame Your Mind
Tibetan Lama Offers Advice For Difficult Times
By C.L. Harmer, Special to the GPHN
A Tibetan Lama and scores of dedicated volunteers have transformed a crumbling Baptist Church purchased in 2012 at 33rd Avenue at Josephine Street into a traditional Tibetan Buddhist temple.
Inside, three bronze sculptures covered with gold leaf will serve as beacons of compassion for the Northeast Denver community.
The public will get a first peek at the figures sitting, legs crossed in the lotus position, during an open house from 7 to 9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 18. Everyone is welcome at the temple, in the Cole neighborhood west of Park Hill. Anyen Rinpoche’s students from across the country are expected to join him and other Lamas from Tibet for consecration ceremonies and meditation practices Aug. 11-13.
A family of yak herders raised Rinpoche in the high, forested mountains of Amdo, Tibet. A scholar and the author of six books, Rinpoche was recognized as a young child to be the reincarnation of an earlier holder of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage and left home to study at a monastic university in Kham, Tibet.
He moved to Denver in 2005 to continue to spread Buddhist teachings on compassion and loving kindness in the West. Rinpoche and his wife, Allison Choying Zangmo, a Colorado native, Tibetan translator and attorney, live in the Stapleton neighborhood.
His advice for dealing with the violence and conflicts that have dominated headlines over the last few months reflects his spiritual roots, as well as his experience coming from a distinctly different culture.
“We are all human beings and we’re not perfect,” the Buddhist scholar observes. “But if we can work on compassion and understanding each other and compromise, there is nothing we can’t heal.
“Completely abstain from harmful conduct, engage completely in virtuous activity and thoroughly tame your own mind,” Rinpoche continues. “These are the Buddha’s teachings.”
Rinpoche enlisted the skills of Nepalese artisans to finish the sculptures with gold leaf, a spiritual and artistic tradition dating back thousands of years. The large size of the three sculptures is believed to embody more merit, and magnetize positive conditions and energy to benefit the shrine room and the surrounding community.
The number of sculptures – three – also represents an auspicious number in Tibetan Buddhist cosmology. The cornerstone of the ancient tradition is the three “jewels” – the Buddha; the Dharma, or teachings; and the Sangha, which is the community following the teachings.
Neighbor Trent Lenz, a student of Rinpoche, has led renovation efforts of the building. He estimates volunteers have given more than 21,000 hours to transform the former church.
Cora Wallace, who has lived two houses north of the building for more than 40 years, appreciates the change, saying the property was previously a mess.
More than 80 local members currently support the center. In addition, special teachings by Rinpoche attract students from across North America. More information on the center can be found at orgyenkhamdroling.org.