Berkeley Buddhist organizations hold open house Downtown

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Berkeley, CA (USA) -- Dharma College opened its doors for the first time this weekend, marking the completion of a set of four Buddhist-inspired sister organizations in Downtown Berkeley.

<< The Dharma School held a ribbon cutting ceremony this past weekend, and classes will start on October 3rd.

The Buddhist-inspired educational center - located on 2222 Harold Way - held an open house event on Saturday to publicize its fall classes to prospective adult students. The organization is offering three courses that will begin Oct. 3 and run for six weeks, where students will study the mental state in an interactive learning environment.

“The process of teaching and studying is going to be our own experiment,” said Dharma College co-director Robin Caton.

Inspiration for the curriculum comes largely from Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche - a Buddhist refugee who left Tibet in 1959 and settled in Berkeley in 1969, and then established the Tibetan Nyingma Institute in Berkeley in 1972. Though Rinpoche no longer resides in Berkeley, he is still noted as the founder of the sister organizations on the block.

“It’s all about bringing people Downtown - whether it’s (for) arts, culture, shopping, commerce - and then staying Downtown,” said John Caner, CEO of the Downtown Berkeley Association, who attended the organization’s ribbon-cutting event on Friday. “The idea is that you come down to have class at Dharma and then you have lunch or dinner, or go to a show.”

The Mangalam Research Center for Buddhist Languages was the first to inhabit the block in 2008, followed by Tibetan Aid Project and Dharma Publishing Bookstore. Though these sister organizations were not founded together, they have a similar mission and hope to collaborate with Dharma College in the future, Caton said.

As part of the Downtown Area Plan, the opening of Dharma College is one in a series of business renovations and openings in recent years. The plan seeks to revitalize the area economically to increase traffic and sustainability.

Being both a teaching center and a business, Dharma College has joined the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, which will help the center as it progresses.

“We’re thrilled that (Dharma College is) part of the Chamber of Commerce because that indicates that they are both a place to be peaceful and learn, but they’re a business,” said Berkeley Chamber of Commerce CEO Polly Armstrong.

Dorothee Mitrani-Bell, owner of the recently opened Cafe Clem across the street from the Buddhist center, said she chose the location partially for the surrounding area.

“I like the neighborhood - I feel like it’s a great community,” Mitrani-Bell said. “I’ve been in the community working with my other business for 15 years, so this is sort of a really nice extension of it.”

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What I Saw Outside the Dalai Lama’s House

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Speakeasy reporter Barbara Chai is traveling to Dharamsala, India, this week for a private audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Dhramsala, India -- After a marathon flight, we finally arrive in Dharamsala, home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I won’t lie: the first few hours are a bit of a blur because I am mentally and physically exhausted.

<< The view of the Dhauladhar Himalayas from just outside the Dalai Lama’s residence.

Add to that my attempts to heed the advice given by everyone I spoke to about traveling to India: It’s a lovely country but don’t drink the water, don’t take ice, don’t order salads, don’t eat from street stalls. Then when we take a walk, there are enormous cows and honking minivans and beeping scooters to contend with on a narrow dirt road. It’s charming and jarring in the best way - I’m just saying, it’s a lot to take in at first.

But after the most glorious night’s sleep in the peace of Kashmir Cottage - a guesthouse owned and run by the brother and sister-in-law of His Holiness the Dalai Lama - I’m more than good to go. We venture out after breakfast to find the Dalai Lama’s residence up a steep, rocky path behind the cottage.

There are monks and pilgrims circumnavigating his residence on the kora, or walking meditation path, which includes a breathtaking stupa, miles of prayer wheels, and mani stones - rocks that are inscribed with the mantra, “Om mani padme hum,” which means “Praise to the Jewel in the Lotus.” This is the mantra of Chenrezig (Sanskrit name: Avalokiteshvara), the bodhisattva, or Buddhist deity, of compassion. Tibetan Buddhists believe His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the earthly manifestation of Chenrezig. A man who is the reincarnation of a deity of compassion.

When we practice Chan Buddhism at home, my family and I pray to the same bodhisattva (we envisage her as female, even though this bodhisattva’s gender can vary with different schools). In Chinese her name is Guanshiyin Pusa and she is our goddess of compassion. I chant her name and turn the beads. I pray to her for protection and mercy. To me, Guanshiyin is Buddhism.

So, to encounter Tibetan Buddhists’ fervent devotion to the same bodhisattva, and to learn that they regard their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as its earthly manifestation, seems entirely fitting. At the same time, even though we’re talking about the same religion, Tibetan Buddhism is still very different from Chan Buddhism in practice, and so an immediate connection to such an important Buddhist deity for both of us also seems coincidental.

As if I needed another reason, I am now even more excited about meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama in person. How to regard him as just that, a person? Because he is human too. His face is on photographs all over Dharamsala, and I see His Holiness as a young man arriving to India in 1959. I see His Holiness petting cute dogs. I see His Holiness wearing a visor to protect his eyes from the sun. He likes to give hugs. He doesn’t suffer fools. Above all, he is kind. Maybe all of this is what is meant by being human, by being earthly.

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