Tseringma House (in Two Parts)
Part 1, History
Originally, Tseringma House was built for the much loved and highly respected, Ven. Chorpel Dolma, one of Namgyal Rinpoche’s first students in England who had followed him to Toronto in the 60s. The land was donated by Namgyal Rinpoche, while his students and hers—she had over 100 students at one time—raised funds to build a house there. When it was built, he named it Tseringma House, after Tseringma ‘Lady of Long Life, a powerful goddess of Nepal on the border of Tibet, who together with her four sisters vowed to protect the Buddhist teachings. Unfortunately, a few years later, Chorpel was no longer able to stay or retreat there because of health problems.
Then followed a period when Tseringma House was rented to solo retreatants, for a modest sum, and later to local people until Rinpoche, who had been teaching abroad, returned to Kinmount because of health problems. During his convalescence at home, he began to go for walks to Tseringma House and soon made it known that he wanted to use it as his “art studio”. As soon as the house was vacated, its interior walls were repainted, a porch was added on, Rinpoche’s shrine was moved in and the walls were hung with beautiful thangkas. I was invited to stay there and continue to do service for him and help Terry. And Rinpoche began to teach from his vast palette of the diamond light rays of Buddha-Dharma. What remarkable teachings they were. Tseringma House was packed with students, shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee, bumper to bumper, flowing over into the open kitchen area, the hallway and sometimes the porch. People were overjoyed to see him and hear his teachings. Wongkurs followed. Admonishments on hygiene issues followed, including inspections—to the astonishment and reluctance of some.
During this time the Temple was being renovated and as soon as it was finished Rinpoche began to bestow several Crown Empowerments there, as well as other teachings. Just before he left for England and Europe in 2003, he bestowed the excellent transmission of Dzochen. How fortunate we were to be in his presence and receive his profound, compassionate, mind-blowing teachings and blessings that revealed our true nature. May it continue to resonate throughout the universe and benefit all beings
Part 2: A Personal Note
The Buddha advised both ordained women and men as well as men and women devotees of the Dharma to practice mindfulness in the following space: “. . . gone to the forest, or to the root of a tree, or to an empty place . . .”
It was an honour to live almost 30 years at Tseringma House. It is situated in the midst of hundreds of trees at the end of a long driveway. It is quiet and peaceful there, a perfect place of refuge. The house looks small and humble at first sight, but upon entering its interior opens to high ceilings and spaciousness with rays of light shining through its many windows. More rays of illumination shine from the BuddhaRupas and photographs of Namgyal Rinpoche and other great masters on the shrine, as well as from the radiantly beautiful thangkas lining its walls. One always felt protected there, grateful, inspired and uplifted.
Outside, the forest is alive with many creatures whose habitat it will always be. They come from all directions, from the marsh, the trails through the forest that surround the house or border on the marsh, from every part of the forest, ravine, and from the air:
Deer, who love the hostas and other plants
the frogs—from the tiniest tree frog sitting on a window screen to the bull and other frogs who love the little pond and lily pads
the Mama Bears and their cubs,
the male bears chewing the grass as if they were mowing it,
the fox, and the wet otter who climbed the slope from the marsh with breakfast in its mouth, galumphing its way past the pond
and, the Pileated, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, the Great Blue Heron, the Chickadees, Nut Hatches and the Barred Owl who came two days and sat in a tree near the suet cakes.
So many creatures embody the loving spirit and compassion of the Great Bodhisattva Chenrezi that continually resonates and manifests on the inner and outer planes of Tseringma House, a precious place of refuge.
Karma Chime Wongmo