Lerab Ling Lay Members' Pledge
Lerab Ling
In the spiritual hub of Lerab Ling, a great number of people work daily to uphold the Lerab Ling retreat centre and all its activities for the sangha and public, as well as provide services like courses and practices to the wider Rigpa Sangha.
One of these groups is the lay members.
As part of the Losar Day celebrations in February, Lerab Ling’s lay members made a pledge, formally renewing their commitment to support the spiritual activities of Lerab Ling. The occasion was blessed by Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche who joined live online, offering her inspirational yet very grounded advice for the lay members.
What is a Lay Member?
Being a lay member offers a rare opportunity to lead a life dedicated to embodying the Dharma through practice, personal transformation, intention and action, so that we can truly benefit many people and make real progress with our spiritual path. In the uncertainty and suffering of the world we live in, being a lay member is really something to take pride in and cherish. It is an offering to the sangha and all sentient beings.
As Khandro Rinpoche said during her advice to the lay members and Lerab Ling Community:
“As a monk or nun or as any one of us who take any number of precepts, and belong to that group who the Buddha felt will hold the base of the Dharma, … those are the people that because of the vows, it allows them to really check in with their mind how serious they are about fully engaging with the Dharma. This needs us to look into the difficult choices we need to make, extricating ourselves from all our responsibilities, concentrating on the Dharma centre, serving the Dharma centre, and really decreasing the personal life and connections and increasing the selfless service that we offer to others. This is difficult to commit to. There are a few fortunate ones who take this commitment. Whether we call it revulsion to samsara, whether we call it renunciation, whether we call it ‘monasticisim’ or ‘vinaya holders’, whether you are going to call it ‘lay membership’ with a certain number of lay vows - it’s all the same. It is actually finding a deep sense of seriousness about who you are as a practitioner. It’s about tremendous respect and devotion to the path, the teachings and great devotion for one’s own teacher…. So anyone who has the courage to take that step truly embodies the Buddha’s vision as those who will best take care of the victorious banner of the Dharma and be the vessel that will hold the Dharma.
…In Rigpa, both in Lerab Ling and in many different areas around the world, there have always been many people who gave such dedicated service.”
What is the role of lay members in Lerab Ling?
Lerab Ling is recognised as a Religious Congregation in France. The members of the Congregation include the monastic community of 12 monks and nuns, and the 25 lay members.
The long history and traditions of Buddhist monastic life began during the lifetime of Buddha Shakyamuni, and there is also a tradition of lay practitioners in the East. Yet the role and function of lay members living in a community in a Western setting is relatively new and ill defined. Inspired by the long term vision of Lerab Ling, the current lay members went through an extensive process to clarify and renew the purpose and vision for those who take on this role, so that from this point forward each lay member can uphold the role fully and, in the future, new lay members will enter the position with joy and clarity.
The pledge that lay members took on Losar Day expresses essentially, the commitment that lay members take on:
“I commit to helping maintain the spiritual health, vitality and strength of the traditions of study and practice upheld by the lay members of the religious community of Lerab Ling. I will uphold the lay vows, attend daily, monthly and annual group practices and events and regularly contribute to activity that supports the spiritual life of the temple.”
In practice, that means attending group practices (daily and weekly practices, Guru Rinpoche Day & Dakini Day Tsoks, Festival Days, Drupchös, other special practice days) and engaging in the daily temple activities (holding group practices, opening shrines, doing sang, making offerings, temple care, training and so on). For lay members who contribute to the activity of Rigpa and Lerab Ling, their lay member responsibilities are integrated into their day and week of meetings and other activities.
At the heart, and with the inspiration of Khandro Rinpoche’s advice, being a lay member is an opportunity to serve and enable others to discover the dharma.
“I encourage everyone to be joyful in having this opportunity. …Always remind yourself that the moment you step into a sangha base, a Dharma centre like Lerab Ling, when you drive from the road and enter a sacred land you have to know that everything you do is not going to be ‘work’ but it is going to be ‘service’. Physically your being on the land is going to hold for the next generation, the valuable of the lineage and the teachings, the profound Dharma that you are making available. Amongst all the gifts of generosity, the gift of Dharma is the most important service.
“In that way each one of you will be spending life in service where this journey that you take will be one of the best gifts you give yourself in terms of training your mind, understanding yourself, looking at all the neuroses that you have to conquer, to really understand what it means to be a Dharma student beyond the cushion and the books and the different teachings. But to delve deeply into addressing your mind that needs to be trained. And in doing so, simultaneously you have the opportunity to be involved in the activities that hold the land, making it possible for many more teachers and students to come and benefit from the profound teachings.”
Serving the Dharma everywhere
Rigpa’s centres, groups and retreat centres around the world are held by innumerable dedicated and devoted students, volunteers, practitioners and teachers—each one selflessly committed to sharing the Dharma. The lay members in Lerab Ling are just one of the groups who serve the Rigpa sangha and others.
We’re confident that together, Rigpa’s vision and activity will be upheld long into the future, and that as sangha we will continue together in harmony.
Who are the lay members at Lerab Ling?
The current lay members bring with them a range of talents and experience and, even once retired from official activity positions, they continue to serve in different ways. Most lay members participated in the Three Year Retreat, several of them worked closely with Sogyal Rinpoche, and many of them are entrusted Rigpa Teachers or Practice Holders.
The lay members are (listed alphabetically):
Anneke Hakman, Brian Corr, Canice O Brien, Catherine Paul, Claudia Thurn, Dani Landa, Edgardo Polla, Gabriele Kreysel, Gerald Heger, Gill Kainey, Grete Weiss-de Wit, Jeremy Tattersall, Max Krause, Nicolas Schram, Pascal Rey, Petra Brandl, Rainer Heinz, Renate Handel, Renée Jourdain, Stephan Stadler, Sushma Baumgartner, Suzanne Garant, Tobias Bublat, Uwe Geissler.
Thanks to several former lay members
During the recent process reflecting on the role of lay members, several individuals decided to continue serving in Lerab Ling but under a different condition. We take this opportunity to thank Markus Schöb and Javier Torales for their service as lay members over the last 10+ years and we look forward to their ongoing company and contribution.
