His Eminence Zhichen Khenpo Rinpoche of the Nyingma Kathok lineage in Vajrayana Buddhism is the Abbot of Kathok Bairoling Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. Together with Jamyang Kunzang Longgya Rinpoche, Abbot of the Cuopu Temple in China’s Sichuan Province, His Eminence visited with Master Hsin Tao, Abbot of the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (LJM), for Dharm exchange in Taiwan in late March. The honorable guests visited LJM and toured the associated Museum of World Religions (MWR) besides giving Dharma lectures to monastics to take further the deep-rooted bonding between the two sides as part of an ongoing effort to promote the teaching of Kathok lineage, thereby marking a new milestone of Dharma exchange on an international scale.

Master Hsin Tao is a rare embodiment of all the three vehicles of Buddhism. His Dharma practice in early years focused on the teaching of Mahayana Lingji and Tsaodong lineages of China’s Chan Buddhism. The Master then received the teaching of Theravada Buddhism from U Kuothala, National Buddhist Advisor of Myanmar, and the empowerment of the Kathok lineage in Vajrayana Buddhism, which Kathog Bairo Rinpoche of the Kathok Zhichen Bairoling Monastery was the instructor at that time.

Since 1997, Bairo Rinpoche has been invited to Taiwan several times to instruct the major teachings of the Kathok lineage. He gave Master Hsin Tao complete transmission on the respective practice of Longchen Nyingtik and Longsal Nyingpo, in addition to the empowerment and oral transmission of the Great Treasure Terma. His Eminence Bairo Rinpoche hoped to see that the Dharma transmission to Master Hsin Tao would result in further promotion of Vajrayana Buddhism in the world of mandarin Chinese speakers in order to benefit all sentient beings.

Zhichen Khenpo Rinpoche succeeded His Eminence Bairo Rinpoche and the H.H.Kathok Getse Rinpoche Gurme Tenpa Gyaltsen as the Abbot of Kathok Zhichen Bairoling Monastery. He accepted the invitation of the LJM to visit Taiwan in March. In the company of Jamyang Kunzang Longgya Rinpoche and three lamas, he visited the MWR on March 21. The visitors expressed feelings of awe upon seeing the sphere for an exterior for the Hall of Spiritual Ecology. The impression turned into sheer respect for Master Hsin Tao’s relentless effort to overcome the Earth’s ecological crises with the LJM’s long-term endeavor to promote love and peace for all lives. The Venerable and his entourage also offered their blessings with practice of Vajrayana Buddhist ritual to the staff of the Museum as well as the office of the LJM New Taipei City branch in the same building .

Khenpo Rinpoche describes the MWR as a space where visitors are afforded relaxation in comfort that calms people down for some worry-free moments. He conforms to the notion of religious harmony. Khenpo Rinpoche acknowledged Master Hsin Tao’s decision to found the Museum and serve it as a catalyst for promoting religious harmony.

From March 22 to 24, the LJM furthermore invited the Venerable and Jamyang Kunzang Longgya Rinpoche to Wu Sheng Monastery to give lectures on the teaching of Kathok lineage. The teaching includes the history and development of Kathok teachings, the profound Dharma bond of Kathok Zhichen Bairoling Monastery and the LJM, the significance for finding a guru and a monastery for one’s Dharma practice, Shamantha and Vipassana, and the unique Nyingma Practice of Dzogchen which covers the view, learning and practice phases.

The teaching reflects a profundity that showered LJM masters with nurturing Dharma bliss. Upon learning to appreciate the connection by virtue of lineage, as well as by Khenpo Rinpoche’s teachings in words and in deeds, the close ties between the LJM and Bairoling Monastery became reconnected afresh to testify to a deep-rooted bonding of Dharma. The two sides learn from, and work closely with, each other for Buddha Dharma to become immortal and shower sentient beings with unsurpassed benefits in the cooling of a Dharma drizzle. A special Vajrayana Buddhist ritual of Guru Rinpoche was offered at the Hall of Treasure on the morning of March 25 to earmark the exceedingly rare occasion.