Nyingma Organization Mandala
Tibetan Aid Project is one of six organizations that comprise the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center Mandala established by Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche since his arrival to Berkeley in 1968. These six organizations, working closely together, bring the beautiful culture of Tibet to more and more Westerners everyday.
Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center, (founded 1969), served as Tarthang Tulku’s first forum for bringing Tibetan Buddhist wisdom to students. TNMC provided groundwork for him to advise students on Buddhist practice, and to discuss ways of branching Tibetan culture and Buddhism to others. It was from the members of TNMC that every other of the six organizations formed. Shortly after TNMC, Tibetan Aid Project, (1969), was formed to help provide basic necessities for Tibetan refugees. For more information on the history of TAP, please read the article on page X. Dharma Publishing, (1970), served to introduce Westerners to the manifold teachings, commentaries of the great Tibetan masters, and all fields of knowledge that support Tibetan Nyingma Buddhist worldview. Nyingma Institute, (1972), is a center of study of Buddhist meditation, philosophy, and Tibetan yoga (Kum Nye). Courses are offered in Tibetan language and text interpretation, as well. It is also a home to volunteers working on various projects and retreat participants. Odiyan Copper Mountain Mandala, (1975), located in Sonoma County, is a manifestation of a sacred Tibetan meditation symbol: the mandala. Tarthang Tulku says of his purpose for building Odiyan: “Creating a perfectly balanced mandala that… can transform work into a joyful expression of creativity is meritorious and eminently worthwhile. It lays the foundation for realization in the present and opens a wider range of possibilities for future generations.” As students from around the world came to TNMC and Nyingma Institute, interest in Rinpoche’s approach to keeping the Tibetan Nyingma tradition alive was cultivated in other countries. Many meetings and collaborations with people from the Netherlands, Brazil and Germany were held. Out of this process, Nyingma Centers have been incorporated in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Köln, Germany starting in 1976. In addition, a new retreat site called Ratna Ling near Odiyan in Sonoma County has recently been incorporated.
Having started with a few students meeting with Tarthang Tulku to discuss aspects of Tibetan traditions, the Nyingma Organizations have evolved enormously. One special aspect of the mandala of these organizations is that it affects every level of our society. The organizations start at the personal level, training new volunteers and members each day in ways of more fully realizing their own individual potential. At the same time, the mandala affects entire societies in America and abroad by bringing to them the wisdom of the culture, language, and higher educational traditions of exiled Tibetans.