ML161673
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Subject: (Interview). Subtitle: Thupten Jinpa. Timecode In: 00:01:00. Timecode out: 00:52:30. Notes: Tibetan Buddhism. Equipment Notes: Stereo=1; Split Track. Show: Geography of Heaven - Kawakarpo Engineer: Bill McQuay Date: October 6, 2005 Interviewer: Bill McQuay Interviewee: Thupten Jin Pa 0:00 No Audio 1:00 WM: Asks for ID TJ: [laughs] What do you mean? WM: Your name, how to refer to you. TJ: Jinpa is better. WM: Thupten Jin Pa TJ: Or Thupten Jin Pa but Jin Pa is probably easier. WM: Should we identify you as the director of the institute you founded? TJ: Probably, General public know me more as the translator to the dalai lama so¿or you can say a Buddhist scholar or something. 1:47 WM: Explains Radio Expeditions, Geography of Heaven. 2:15 WM: You're a Buddhist - what does that actually mean? 2:23 TJ: We're starting the interview now? WM: Yes sir. 2:30 TJ: Probably it may be easier if you refer to me as scholar or Tibetan Buddhism or something for the benefit of the listeners. 2:40 TJ: What does it mean to be Buddhist, but for me, that question is actually, um, not really a question because I was you know, born and brought up, in a traditional, traditionally, Buddhist society. So the fact that I am Buddhist is really taken for granted ever since my childhood. 3:04 TJ: Then of course now you know now that I am living in the west, which is outside the traditional Buddhist, Tibetan context, then the question of what it means to be a Buddhist really has a relevance. So in that sense for me what it means to be a Buddhist is to try to live my life according to the values and ideals that the Buddhist tradition upholds. And that has been transmitted to me as part of my cultural upbringing. 3:43 WM: Can you be more specific? 3:47 TJ: Um, for example, there are certain key you know spiritual values that are at the core of Buddhist tradition. For example the respect for all sentient beings. And the recognition that at the fundamental level, all beings have a natural disposition to aspire for happiness and overcome suffering. 4:16 TJ: And on that level all human beings as well as animals and other sentient beings all share the same fundamental disposition. So, and from that point of view and in my day to day life, I need to act in a way that is least harmful to fellow human beings as well as other sentient beings as well. 4:45 TJ: So for example, this is a very important spiritual ideal. Similarly the recognition that at a very deep level everything is interconnected. That all events come into being as a result of causes and conditions. Therefore within this view one acquires a sense of spiritual responsibility to all the actions of you know what in the Buddhist text would refer to the actions of the three doors. Which are the door of speech body and mind. 5:23 TJ: So, to be, you know, constantly mindful of the effects of ones physical, verbal, and mental activity. So that in these actions as much as possible, again, one lives the ideal of non-harming. So these are the main kinds of spiritual values that Bud dictate and guide my life on a day to day basis. 5:48 WM: If one is successful in following these guidelines, what is the ultimate outcome of this? 6:02 TJ: Um, well the ultimate outcome, um, um in one sense of course now here um it would really differ from individual to individual like any other measure of religious traditions. When we speak of Buddhism um we cannot talk about a kind of uni-dimensional approach to the spiritual tradition. So depending upon the individuals, you know, one may have kind of a different way of participating in religious life. 6:34 TJ: So for many um Buddhists the spiritual principle of compassion and respect for others are really part of their daily ethical guidelines, which would ensure that in their fut... (Notes truncated)
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- 14 Jul 2010 - Ben Brotman
- Digitized
- 14 Jul 2010 - Ben Brotman
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- 14 Jul 2010 - Ben Brotman