After teachings by Adzom Rinpoche, with Jampal present, summer 2018.
Photos by: Jude Foster, Andrew Hughes, Cody Sork

Many years ago our root guru Gyatrul Rinpoche, who founded Dorje Ling in 1980, told us that someday his centers would be in the hands of the students. He said the sangha would have to ensure the centers’ continuation.  And he would add in his joking way, “You better be ready!”

And now, we find ourselves in this very situation. Portland-based Dorje Ling Buddhist Center is in a period of deep transition, with the deaths of our three primary leaders in just two years.

Long-time dharma friends with Matthew Small (center) and Carolyn Myers (second from right), February, 2023.

On April 8, Gyatrul Rinpoche passed into parinirvana.  He entered thukdam, a meditative state where the body does not decay or decompose.  This gave many of us the opportunity to gather and sit with him. 

Lama Sonam Rinpoche, who officiated for the entire practice period, told us, “This is an opportunity to connect with the lama’s wisdom mind, which is always present.  This is the best time to do practice.” 

The 49-day practice period ended May 30, with Rinpoche’s burial at sea. This time spent with Rinpoche felt magical, and gave us a sense of certainty, a resolve to come together to carry on his vision.

Altar for Jampal at our gathering a few days after his death, May, 2021.

Just 14 months earlier, Sangye Pema Shepa, head of the Dudjom lineage and the successor to Dudjom Rinpoche, died unexpectedly at 32.  Called  Dudjom Yangsi, he was head of our Dudjom lineage, a practice lineage within the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.  His presence, although far too brief, confirmed the primacy of lineage. It reminded us that even in these most difficult times, there is the support of centuries of teachers and practitioners. 

And nine months before his passing, in May, 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, Jampal Gyatso (Clark Hansen), Dorje Ling’s resident monk, died after a long illness.

We are bereft and yet committed to carry on the work of these great masters, teachers, mentors, and dharma friends, who introduced us to the dharma and who guided us along our Buddhist path.   Our greatest aspiration is to practice and share what we have been so fortunate to learn from our teachers. Gyatrul Rinpoche’s first instruction was always that there be harmony within the sangha. Only when there is harmony can a center support Buddhism’s intention, to develop compassion for oneself and for all sentient beings.

Gyatrul Rinpoche passed into parinirvana in April.

Our Portland sangha acutely misses Jampal. He was a wonderful, warm-hearted monk who was actively engaged in dharma practice, and who also was every day available as a supportive presence to individual students .  

Jampal was fully ordained in India in 2006 by Penor Rinpoche, in the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition.  Jampal was dedicated to caring for Dorje Ling, to connecting with other Buddhist centers in Portland, and to actively participating in the Northwest Dharma Association.  A true Portlander, a lifelong activist for community causes and the environment, and with circle upon circle of friends, Jampal constantly worked to create a center where the sangha’s needs and visions were connected to the practices of Vajrayana Buddhism.  (You can read tributes to Jampal  in the summer 2021 Northwest Dharma News, here.)

Jampal was diagnosed with ALS in 2018, and he walked a courageous journey for the next three years, even including a pilgrimage to Bhutan!  We, Matthew Small and Carolyn Myers, were his friends since the 1970s.  All three of us took refuge with Gyatrul Rinpoche, and continued as his students throughout our lives. Matthew was one of Jampal’s main caregivers in the last months of his life.

Dharma gate with new prayer wheels, which were gifted by Derek Ridler.

When Jampal knew he was nearing the end, he encouraged us to take on the responsibility of ensuring the continuity of Dorje Ling.  He knew that Matthew and I have many years of involvement with Tashi Choling, Gyatrul Rinpoche’s retreat center in Ashland, Oregon, and with Orgyen Dorje Den, our urban sister center in the Bay Area.  And so, we stepped up and moved in.

Matthew is now program director of Dorje Ling, and I (his wife) am the communications director.  We see ourselves as transitional figures, as we are aging. It is our hope that more learned disciples or better qualified teachers will come to take our place.

Certainly the two of us do not operate alone. Gyatrul Rinpoche was quite emphatic that each of his centers function as independent organizations, while coordinating together on inviting teachers and arranging dharma events. Organized years ago as a legal non-profit, Dorje Ling has an active board, made up of people who have been involved with this center for years. Others help care for the beautiful grounds, maintain the temple and library, assist with ongoing programs, and suggest events and programs to enhance and develop practice here.

Private visit with Khentrul Rinpoche after public talk, September, 2022.

Now post-covid, we are gathering our prior sangha, and welcoming new members who bring energy, different viewpoints, and enthusiasm for Tibetan Buddhism.  All of us, whether visitors, new members, or long-time sangha, love our beautiful setting along the top of Portland’s West Hills, adjacent to the renowned Forest Park with a great view of Mt. St Helens, which is 50 miles northeast.

As has been the case for centers everywhere, it’s been difficult to meet as a group to practice, during the three years of the Covid pandemic. We still seek the right combination of online and in-person gatherings, to build our strength as a community.

We currently offer three programs each week: our core Ngondro practice and teachings which is offered in person and via Zoom; our long-time Buddhist book study group, now meeting by Zoom; and a weekly in-person meditation practice. 

Program Director Matthew Small doing smoke offering practice, March, 2023.

Four times each month we practice the traditional lunar pujas. And once a month we gather to practice the Riwo Sang Chod smoke offering, which His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche brought to the West, as an offering to help heal the suffering world.

This transitional state is multi-leveled for Dorje Ling, and the lessons and challenges of impermanence are all around us.  We will never meet another teacher like Gyatrul Rinpoche. And Jampal Gyatso was such a charismatic, generous being; we cannot fill his shoes.  Now we are realizing the real, long, and deep scope of what it means to be a spiritual community. As Rinpoche always counseled, “slowly slowly….”

But it is also the astonishing, inexplicable good karma of this sangha to have benefitted from a highly realized teacher as well as from his dedicated monk. Such great good fortune!

Our stupa was gifted by a devotee of Gyatrul Rinpoche, filled with traditional elements, and completed (quite a process) around 2008.

So here we are practicing on this hilltop, looking out at this expansive view.  We are one humble part of a global community of committed practitioners, who have the honor to carry on this ancient tradition of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, and by extension, all of Buddhism. What a blessing to have the deep support of Buddha, dharma, and sangha, in these powerful, transitional times.