Tara Institute

Interview by Kathleen Gregory

Tara Institute (TI) is a member of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), established by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. TI celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2001. The Institute may be well-known to many of our local Ordinary Mind readers. The facade of Marillac House, as it was once known, is located in Mavis Avenue, Brighton East in beautiful heritage premises. It is a large corner property, opposite the very pretty Landcox Park, dominated by columns which create a grand reception and lead into an entrance hallway that includes a beautiful small stupa to be circumambulated as you walk through. On the ground floor there is a main office, bookshop, library, meditation room and kitchen/dining area. You will also find the children's club room tucked away behind the stage curtain in the Landcox Hall theatre. Upstairs are premises of the resident teacher Geshe Doga, a dormitory for visitors and some residents' rooms. To the back of the main building is the family wing.

Marillac House was once a Catholic residential school for girls with disabilities, run by nuns. When it was sold to TI, the nuns and the girls moved into nearby houses. On the day I visited, one of the nuns who used to live there was visiting and showing a friend how the chapel has been transformed into a gompa. Shaped in a half-circle, the gompa is dominated by a stained glass window that symbolises the seven gifts of the spirit. Opposite the window is a large Buddhist altar in the Tibetan tradition, housing statues of Lama Tsong Khapa, founder of the Gelugpa tradition, his disciples and a beautiful new Buddha statue recently arrived from Nepal. The gompa can hold up to 300 people. I meet with Allys Andrews, the co-ordinator of the Schools Program at Tara Institute.

Kathleen Gregory: Could we start with the history of Tara Institute - how did it come to be here?

Allys Andrews: Tara Institute actually began officially in 1976 and was really started by Uldis Balodis in a building in Carlton. There had been some activity before that. In 1975 Inta McKimm had begun discussing Buddhism with some friends, following a course that Lama Yeshe gave at Dromana. That was in the very early days. Then around November 1976, Lama Yeshe was asked to be the Spiritual Director of this group and he agreed. He appointed the Venerable Konchong Dolma (Bonnie Rothenberg) as Spiritual Program Coordinator and named the program Tara House. Bonnie organised the new Tara House premises in Kew and that is where my husband and I first came to the teachings. The group at Tara House at that time was made up of students who had been to Kopan Monastery, Nepal, to the meditation courses that Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche had run there. The students felt that they needed more guidance. In 1980, Lama Yeshe suggested that a teacher be appointed and the community now felt ready to take up the challenge of supporting someone. Geshe Dawo arrived and stayed for four years.

During his last visit to Australia in 1981, Lama Yeshe appointed Peter Guiliano as President of Tara House and advised us to buy a house with 21 rooms. This was eventually accomplished - it was an old boarding house in Crimea Street, East St Kilda, which we all worked very hard to fix up. By the time of Lama Yeshe's death in 1984, there were about 100 people attending weekly teachings at Tara House. In that same year Geshe Dawo returned to India and in November Geshe Doga became the resident lama. The translator Samdup Tsering also arrived that year.

As the number of people attending teachings had increased, the need for a larger centre became more apparent, and the search for new premises began again. Geshe Doga used to come to walk in Landcox Park. One day in 1987, he looked across to Marillac House and said to those with him, 'Wouldn't it be nice for Tara House to be located there?' A few weeks later the 'for sale' sign went up and the property was eventually purchased. The name Tara House was changed to Tara Institute at that time.

KG: How many active members would TI currently have?

AA: There are about 170 financial members whose support helps to keep the place going. We have, however, many people who contribute in different and important ways to the running and development of the Institute.

KG: What sort of roles do the sangha play in the community here?

AA: I think there are two answers - there is an external point of view and an internal point of view. From the external point of view, Venerable Carolyn Lawler is the Spiritual Program Coordinator and she works incredibly hard developing and overseeing the program, as well as co-ordinating the volunteers who help with that program. Then there is Venerable Tenzin Dongak, who is Geshe-la's translator. He has come quite recently from Sera Monastery and translates Tuesday and Wednesday nights and for weekend courses. He also teaches debating classes on Sundays. Venerable Frank has recently become gompa manager. And, of course, Geshe Doga gives teachings, initiations and advice. Apart from their external activities, the sangha symbolise the qualities of the Buddha, such as purity and commitment and serve as an example and inspiration for the community.

KG: Could you talk about the teaching program?

AA: On Monday nights senior students provide the 'Introduction to Buddhist Meditation' classes. These are very popular classes and there are some excellent teachers in this program who have been studying with Geshe-la for some considerable time. It is quite a responsibility. These are introductory classes for people who are new to Buddhist meditation. On these nights between 60-120 people might attend.

On Tuesday nights, there is Study Group. This is where students examine the teachings in much greater depth. There are commitments involved with that program - you have to attend a six week cycle which is four classes of teachings, one night of discussion and then on the sixth night there is a written exam where you really learn how much you have understood. There is a Study Group Constitution, which lays out the principles, aims and precepts for attending these teachings. It is largely from the Tuesday night classes that the Monday night teachers come.

At the end of last year Geshe Doga completed the teachings on Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, by Pabongka Rinpoche. We took eleven years to complete it so it was very thorough and unbelievably precious. This year Geshe-la has been teaching the Tenets which has been very challenging and difficult, but I think it is reflective of the depth of his students' commitment that they are prepared to do that kind of study. They never miss a teaching, they write the most unbelievable exams and they get together to do Debate Class and the Discussion Group, which are both held on Sundays. Next year Geshe Doga will give a commentary on Chandrakirti's Entering the Middle Way. Between 60-80 people would attend that Study Group.

On Wednesday nights, Geshe-la gives a much more general teaching. This year he has been teaching on The Thirty Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva and will continue with that next year. The structure of those nights is that Geshe-la gives some instruction on meditation, leads a breathing meditation, give some general advice on how to live harmoniously in relationships and any number of day to day issues and then provides a commentary on part of the text. They are inspiring teachings for people to use in their daily lives - more than a hundred people attend. There is also a Retreat Commitment associated with the Tuesday night classes. You can either do a one week Lam Rim retreat or attend six sessions on Thursday nights finishing with a puja.

Also on two Thursday nights every month, there is the Healing Volunteers and Healing Support Group. Twice a year, Tara Institute runs Healing Meditation courses for people with serious illnesses. Here, the Venerable Carolyn and Bob Sharples teach meditations for dealing with illness. They are supported on an ongoing basis month to month. The Healing Volunteer Group is for people who are trained to support those who find it difficult to come to the Institute. I know that the Venerable Carolyn has done some work with the dying and conducted funerals. This program has been running for many years, under the direction of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. A particular emphasis of the Volunteers Group, which Geshe-la has encouraged, is visiting the frail and isolated elderly. So volunteers are matched up with people in the community and then visit them, not necessarily to do meditation but just to be a friend or to help with shopping. This has certainly been identified as an area that we need to expand.

KG: Can you say something about the Schools Program that you co-ordinate?

AA: We have been visiting schools for the last fifteen years. The Schools Program is increasing; this year we have taught students from 25 schools. Some schools have been coming to the program for ten years now. Schools will contact the Institute and we either go out and talk to students or arrange for school groups to come here. Often we will have groups of 140 students to whom we give a short talk on Buddhism and some meditation instruction. Now that it has become more curriculum based in the education system, there are certain topics that they will want to have addressed. Particularly in the ethics classes, there have been a lot of questions about euthanasia, capital punishment and so on - there will be specific things they will want to find out from the Buddhist perspective.

Generally, I try and talk very briefly about the life of the Buddha, give an easy introduction to the Four Noble Truths, explain the concept of transforming the mind and finally lead them in some meditation. I usually get about two-thirds of the way through and the questions start coming. That is much better, because then the students are finding out what they really want to know. This procedure has been working quite well. As a result of this connection, I was asked to coordinate the school's event with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which is planned for May 2002.

KG: What other activities are regularly occurring at the Institute?

AA: There are also the pujas and spiritual activities - for example, Tara and Guru pujas happen every month. Then the major pujas for the Buddha's birthday, the Dalai Lama's birthday and so on. Just recently we offered a long-life puja to Geshe Doga and we set out 3500 water bowls, light and food offerings. We try to hold four Nuneys (nyung nyes) a year and one meditation course per month. Every Easter we have a four day retreat that is sometimes held in the country. Geshe Doga also confers the White Tara initiation each year and usually one other initiation per year. There is also a Sunday School for children called Dharma Club. Geshe-la will give a Refuge Ceremony biannually. We also have water bowl practice monthly and once a year, a study group seminar - which is like a debating seminar.

One of the very important activities is the Publishing Group, which transcribes Geshe-la's teachings each week. Their work is very important, because it preserves the teachings correctly and helps students with their study and discussion. They are presently working on putting together a publication of Geshe-la's teachings. We also host Vietnamese pilgrims every year. When the Vietnamese first came to Melbourne, they started their practice at Tara Institute, so there has been a long history of association between the two traditions.

KG: What are some of the future plans for TI and how do these evolve as a member organisation of FPMT?

AA: Geshe-la always places incredible emphasis on stability and consistency. I am sure that he wishes for the study group continues and develop so that more people benefit from this, and that the Buddha's teachings are made available to as many people as possible. Geshe-la has a number of things that he would like to see the Institute accomplish. One of these, which I know is close to his heart, is a retirement home for the elderly and another is a retreat centre in the country. Geshe Doga's advice and aspirations have always been integrated into the development of TI. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the Spiritual head of the Institute and he is consulted on major decisions. It is also important that we take responsibility for the direction of TI ourselves. There is a Director who is chosen by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. He or she is part of an Executive Committee, who, in consultation with the TI Community, come up with a vision for the Institute.

One direction that seems to meet a very important need, is making meditation and relaxation techniques available to the wider community; particularly the business community. A large multi-national company got in touch with us about this time last year and a meditation group was set up for a small group of people there. We are planning to expand the healing group activities, but again to set up any of these activities you need people, training and very careful planning. It is really important that we have a well co-ordinated and supported team of people.

KG: How do these activities sit inside and outside Buddhism as a whole?

AA: I think that at TI, like all Tibetan Buddhist centres, we are striving to follow the example of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in dedicating our services to the community. This means that we have to help where we can. It is really important to see that we really cannot offer fantastic help unless we are working on our own minds. So, at the moment, I think we are all fairly limited. However, if we continue to listen to the teachings, contemplate them, study and take advice from our teachers and understand our own minds, we will be able to offer much more as members of the community.

KG: As your residential community is quite a large one, could you say something about how it actually works?

AA: Some of the residents have been living at TI and its previous incarnations for many, many years. Their rent is a big financial support to the Institute. They also contribute to the upkeep of the Institute and there is always a lot of basic work that needs to be done. I think they choose to live here to be close to their teacher - to be able to walk a few steps to the teachings, which is very precious, and to know that everything they do here is supporting the Dharma in some way. There are about 33 residents, including six children who, I believe, have the good karma to be living in a Dharma environment close to Geshe Doga. Part of the requirement of living here is that residents participate in the meal service five nights a week. There is also the resident's kitchen, where they can do their own cooking at other times. Having a residential community does contribute to a feeling of stability. Geshe Doga's presence over the years and his insistence on a regular program with a regular schedule, also generates the sense of stability that people are looking for.

KG: Is there anything else you would like to regarding future directions for TI?

AA: We want to provide for Geshe-la as he grows older; that is very important. We want to have a retirement home for the elderly. It is important that we support the elderly in our own community and that this sort of support is available to others. There is the development of the programs that I have already mentioned which involves careful planning and training. There is the maintenance of this house which has a heritage listing. It is incredibly important to transmit the teachings of the Buddha in a very pure way. We really need to develop realisations - to get some western Buddhas happening! A very important part of that is to keep the programs running and to support the students who are doing such amazing study and who are dedicated to that. Another part of our future is looking after our ordained sangha properly - they are so precious and it makes such a difference to have people in robes around the Institute, living in a way that is such a great example.

KG: How do the sangha come here - is it through Lama Zopa Rinpoche?

AA: Mostly Lama Zopa Rinpoche will direct people to come here. I know that the sangha check with him to ensure that it is still beneficial for them to be here. It is such a big and busy centre, and with so many different people living and studying here, it is important to have the sangha creating a good sense of stability and continuity.

KG: How do people go about making their various commitments here?

AA: It seems to me that it is very much a personal matter at TI. People will take initiations, have commitments and organise their practice with the guidance of Geshe-la. People get together- maybe a group of two or three - and go to Atisha Centre in Bendigo for a retreat. However, I think it will be really fantastic to have a Retreat Centre available, I think it will really energise that aspect of practice.

KG: What is the significance of 'Tara' in the naming of this Institute?

AA: I am not sure why Lama Yeshe gave us the name Tara House, but given that Tara represents the enlightened activity of all of the Buddhas, I guess he knew it was going to be a busy place! Tara is also very helpful in overcoming obstacles. With any activity that has such a great goal - making the Dharma Wisdom Knowledge, as Lama Yeshe called it, available to all beings - there are going to be many obstacles. Tara is the one to help us with those.