Video posted to YouTube by The Compassion Project.

In 2004, Rinpoche immigrated to the USA where he was diagnosed with several life-threatening illnesses including multiple types of TB and a serious infection to his right ankle.  Rinpoche’s medical team sternly advised him to undergo an emergency amputation of his lower leg.  Firmly convinced that he could regain optimal health without resorting to surgery, Rinpoche combined a protocol of Western medical treatment with a rigours daily practice of Tibetan Buddhist meditation and self-healing practices. To the astonishment of his medical team, in just over two years Rinpoche completely healed from all of his medical conditions including TB, Potts disease, Type 1 diabetes, hypothyroidism and, most significantly, the infection to his right ankle.  Rinpoche now leads an active and healthy life, walking freely and unassisted.” The Compassion Project.

Public domain photograph of a Yuan Dynasty (China, 1217 – 1378) wall hanging of Pure Land of Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha).  In 1965, the wall hanging was a given to the N.Y. Metropolitan Museum of Art by Arthur M. Sackler, in honor of his parents, Isaac and Sophie.

On Saturday, November 1, the President and Spritual Director of The Compassion Project,Ven. Phagyab Rinpoche, with the assistance of his interpreter, Marina Illich, Ph.D., presented a dharma talk on compassion and the practice of Tonglen. He also lead a guided Medicine Buddha visualization. The three-hour presentation was held at Full Circle Books in Belmont, California.

The Ven. Phagyab Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist monk.  While Rinpoche was studying in India, the Dalai Lama asked him to return to Tibet and teach Buddhism there. Rinpoche complied. The result was many years imprisonment and torture by the Chinese. For a second time in his life, he escaped over the Himalayan Mountains into India.  Subsequently, he emigrated from India to New York in 2004 and after recovering physically from his imprisonment, he cofounded The Compassion Project with Dr. Illich. Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, New York, and president of Tibet House, Robert Thurman, stated that Rinpoche:

. . . is a fine person and an accomplished scholar-meditator whose gentle nature and clear insights make him an excellent spiritual adviser and director of studies and self-discovery.  A highly respected incarnate lama from Eastern Tibet, Rinpoche was trained at leading Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and offers a wealth of wisdom and compassion that genuinely point the way to transformational healing.  I recommend him most highly as a person and a teacher.”

Still in its infancy, The Compassion Project’s stated mission is to “harness the rich wisdom of Tibet’s Buddhist mind-sciences to teach stress management, social and emotional intelligence and non-violent communication to audiences in schools, medical and integrative health centers, prisons, spiritual retreats and corporations. . . and to raise funds to serve Tibetan refugees.”

Links are embedded in the body of this post to The Compassion Project website.  Link here to an interview (A Tibetan monk who was tortured for his religious beliefs shares his thoughts about compassion . . . ) of Ven. Phagyah Rinpoche by David Ian Millar in SF Gate.

You can hear one of Phagyah Rinpoche’s dharma talks at The Dharma Seed.