Although
this page may not have the most inspiring title, you may find the contents interesting,
as we like to keep you informed about what is happening to the IKN. We intend
it to be a collection of things like meeting notes which are relevant to our network.
Enjoy!
MEETINGS AT GRAZ, 13th
and 14th October 2002
Present at either the whole or part of the meetings:
Alessandro Bracci, Alex Berzin, Andy Wistreich, Anh Ho, Beate Zweitick, Bob Thurman,
Manfred Klell, Michael Muller, Ricky Swaczy, Roy Sutherwood, Rudy Harderwijk,
Serenella, Sofia Stril-Rever, Ven Tenzin Tsepag
Unable to find the meeting:
Giacomella Orofino
Invited, but unable to attend: Ed Henning, David Reigle,
John Newman, Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim, Vesna Wallace
1. Each participant introduced
herself or himself and explained the work he or she is doing in relation to Kalacakra.
This way we gained an understanding of the stages of development of each of the
groups represented. London - practising together and studying practice monthly
since 1996. Paris - studying together and now practising together since 2000.
Toscana (SDK) - working on materials for publication and planning to build a practice
group as the next step. Graz - focus up to now on planning the initiation, getting
the retreat centre (with stupa, statue etc) organised - minimal plans yet for
developing a practice group - but potential for the future. We also ascertained
the potential for a 'group' in Australia and perhaps the US. In discussions outside
the meetings, it became evident that there is also some potential for groups in
Russia and Slovenia.
2. We agreed on the desirability of each centre where
there is a Kalacakra Group having a fast Internet conenction (e.g. ADSL) so that
in future, if there are teachings at one centre, there will be the opportunity
for live video streaming to groups of practitioners in other parts of the world.
As an intermediate technology, we discussed MP3 downloads of teachings as achievable
currently - Michael Muller offered to help Rudy with this.
3. Manfred stressed
the importance of the European groups at least, coordinating their planning of
teachings, retreats etc, and everybody agreed to do this from now on. This will
ensure that there are not clashes. As there is actually not massive interest in
teachings or retreats, it would be good if all the European groups assume that
such events are for all Europe (and perhaps Russia) from now on. The IKN Executive
should be used for sharing plans in advance to ensure that we know what one another
is planning.
4. There was a plea from Ricky for standards of Sanskrit diacritics
for mantras and perhaps for translation terms to be moved towards by translators.
In particular, for the sadhanas it would be very helpful to have one way of presenting
the mantras.
5. There was particularly extensive discussion arising from
Alex's question to the group, 'What is sacred, and why is Tantra secret?' This
especially related to the fact the Internet makes things very accessible, as never
before, and it is partly due to this new communications techniology that the IKN
has become successful in the past two years. However, we still need to protect
the commentaries and the practises from public view. As a result of these discussions,
the following was resolved:
a) On the IKN website you will get access only
to an initial level of 'secret' materials by stating the fact that you have taken
the intiation.
b) To gain access to further materials you will need to state
that as well as having taken the initiation, you have also been practising daily
for some years, and indicate your motivation as being that of a mahayana practitioner.
Further to this, Ricky and Andy discussed also that the website as it currently
stands, is possibly over-complex and does not lead the visitor effectively towards
the necessary information for especially a beginner practitioner - Rudy and Andy
had some discussions later about this, and Rudy is going to look at what is possible.
Also, Rudy and Andy have been discussing how to create the two levels effectively
and what materials should go in each. This will start to happen soon. Any member
of this IKN Executive would be most welcome to comment on the developments, and
should preferably share their ideas with the whole group, or if you prefer, send
them to Rudy.
6. There was discussion on the issue of how to set up payment
for translators, and it was agreed that this is an important issue, but one that
cannot be agreeed at a general level, as every case is different.
7. We
discussed the text of the Memorandum of Intent, leading to a number of amendments.
Of particular interest in these discussions, was the point in the draft 'to avoid
a merely academic approach to Kalacakra' which was rejected on the grounds that
a number of 'academic' articles on Kalacakra have been very helpful to practitioners.
Eventually this was reworded 'to discourage an approach to Kalacakra practice
related materials merely for personal or professional gain' as better representing
the consensus of the meeting.
The memorandum was reworded by Roy, and a copy
for signing was circulated and signed by a number of people. It is still not clear
exactly who has signed the Memorandum - getting together the signed copies and
eventually publishing the Memorandum on the website with the names of signatories
underneath is a job for the coming months.
These are the main points on
which I have either notes or memories.
Andy Wistreich, November 2002
MEETINGS
AT SDK AND PUNDARIKA CENTER IN ITALY AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2003
SDK organised
teachings by Jhado Rinpoche from August 25 to September 4, 2003, during which
several key members of the IKN met: Ricky Swaczy, Allessandro Bracci, Sofia Stril-Rever,
Beate Zweytick, Andy Wistreich, Roy Sutherwood, Michael Mueller and Rudy Harderwijk.
The main focus for the IKN was an interview with Jhado Rinpoche to obtain some
advice, to request him to sign the IKN Memorandum of Intent and request him for
advice on a regular basis.
1. Translation of the fire puja text - advised
by Jhado Rinpoche and now added to the Wish-list
2. Rinpoche also advised
to have Gyaltsab Je's commentary to Kalachakra translated into English (or another
western language) [this has been added to the Wish-list].
3. We asked Rinpoche
on the idea of creating a Kalachakra archive, to which Rinpoche responded very
positively. He specifically mentioned to focus on rare Kalachakra texts from qualified
masters; first check the teacher, then inform about possible rare texts in their
possession. Rinpoche thinks that collecting texts from all traditions is important.
He also emphasized that copying or scanning the originals would be more reliable
than keying in the texts. This was added to Wish-list as it will certainly cost
money.
4. We could try to work towards a standard vocabulary for future translations
and possibly to try and revise exisitng texts in our collection - mainly by a
team of English native speakers. We hope to start with revising the Defence Wheel
sadhana immediately. On that basis, we can seriously edit all the available Kalachakra
sadhanas for consistent vocabulary and easy recitation.
5. Andrea Capellari
is working with Jhado Rinpoche on improving Bob Thurmans translation of the Defence
Wheel (part of the long Kalachakra sadhana by the 7th Dalai Lama).
6. It
was suggested to add long-life puja contributions for Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche
to our Wish-list.
7. Some sort of offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama
from the IKN was suggested. Asked for suggestions, Jhado Rinpoche thought that
traditional offerings like thankas etc. may not be very useful, but money is always
welcome for many projects of His Holiness, and the translation of one of His Holiness'
books (the title to be confirmed) into the native language of a country where
people have little access to his teachings would be very beneficial. As Anh Ho
is thinking of doing just that into Vietnamese, this is now a fresh project where
the IKN hopes to assist.
7. Jhado Rinpoche suggested we could (somewhere in
the future, not just yet) request His Holiness the Dalai Lama to give Kalachakra
teachings rather than 'just' the Kalachakra initiation.
8. Jhado Rinpoche
will likely join the IKN, but he wishes to take some time to study our Memorandum
of Intent.
9. The above made us realize that we should get the IKN Memorandum
of Intent translated into Tibetan to make it easier for Tibetan teachers to sign
up.
10. Sofia has made translations of the long mantras of the long Defence
Wheel sadhana, which could go into a preliminary commentary. Also she wrote out
all the Sanskrit syllables that appear in the Defence Wheel visualisations - we
hoppe to include this in the website somehow. She did however receive some advice
from Rinpoche which means revision of much of her work already completed...
11. More detailed discussions about the re-design of the website led to the view
that the public IKN website might be considerably smaller than at present. Much
of the detailed info would be more appropriate in a part of the website accessible
to initiates only, and we could extend the contents there into more 'secret' teachings.
(This work may actually take a while as the website has become quite extensive.)
Rudy
Harderwijk
