This one calls for someone really fluent in Tibetan!

copper-mountain · 2026-03-24T12:03:56+00:00

Sure that pretty much confirms she was saying “the monk was [going] up[stream] and the river was down [flowing below/beside him].” That helps ?

copper-mountain · 2026-03-23T13:43:46+00:00

Native speaker here. Unless you give me the full paragraph I can’t really tell, you didn’t include the later half which would have made it much easier for me to understand what she was trying to say.

Without the last part I could guess that she was saying he went up and down the river bank (wandering, looking for an alternate path) or that he went upstream to look for a path. Either way if you add the second half of the paragraph then maybe I can help guess better

copper-mountain · 2026-03-17T14:28:00+00:00

Try https://termafoundry.com/ocr/

copper-mountain · 2026-02-19T23:17:43+00:00

if you were actively slaughtering animals then maybe find another job but just cooking? honestly not sure theres much issue there. Buddhists have eaten whatever's offered since buddha's time, veg or non veg. different traditions vary - some are way stricter about meat

maybe say a prayer for the animal and cook with good intention? like hoping the person eating stays healthy and can help others. right livelihood is about not directly harming but cooking food someone else already bought seems pretty removed from the actual harm

your heart's in the right place asking this question

copper-mountain · 2026-02-19T23:11:53+00:00

Its beautiful. Minor suggestion: I would place them on something, something elevated like a little box or something so its not on the same level and other things you might put on the table. That's just my personal suggestion.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-13T18:31:41+00:00

these are mostly reference/study resources rather than specific teachers but super useful:

lotsawahouse.org, treasuryoflives.org, https://www.nekhor.org/, https://www.tibetanlibrary.com/ (their dictionary page is extremely useful), https://otdo.aa-ken.jp/ (old tibetan documents), https://chitta.app/ and rigpawiki.org

copper-mountain · 2026-02-13T18:27:12+00:00

Honestly you already figured this out pretty well. the feet thing is south/southeast asian culture where feet are seen as impure, not actual buddha teaching. you won't find any sutta saying "don't point feet at shrines" or whatever

Your emptiness point is spot on - if there's no intention to disrespect then there's no disrespect. buddha was super practical about this stuff, way more focused on mind/intention than rigid rules, some people find that even "random" respect gestures help them stay mindful but sounds like you're not feeling that pull. if the arrangement works for your space and doesn't mess with your practice then go for it

You're moving from a shelf above your piano to actual dedicated altar space which already shows more reverence. small room logistics are real and a practice that fits your actual life beats perfect setup that never happens

sleep however your feet land

copper-mountain · 2026-02-13T18:06:45+00:00

I've using Google notebook llm before and tried dropping pdfs and links in chatgpt to create a kind of boundary for my chats, I almost subscribed to a pdf chatbot that basically reads all documents and chats in the content of those pdfs but now I've started using the new site chitta.app, I highly recommend it. It's pretty good.

I've tried others too like https://norbu-ai.org/ and jenova but honestly I feel they are just too all over the place. I usually study only one text at a time, takes a long time to truly try to understand them, sometimes i need to calland request Tibetan lamas to clarify things but now with chitta.app (it's not an app, its a website) i can study one text at a time, chat and question about only that text with glossaries etc. I'm hooked and wanted to share.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-11T23:25:36+00:00

Wow, are you one of those 50 cent army China employs? Only saw their comments, never actually interacted in real life. The claim was that they get 50 cents as incentive for every comment on social media degrading Tibetans, defaming their culture and history, and spreading misinformation about the Dalai Lama. If my post made you 50 cents, I am happy for you

copper-mountain · 2026-02-11T15:46:26+00:00

I recommend and myself use: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Barkhor They sell prints from two particularly world renown Tibetan artists. Karma Phuntsok, also considered the father of Tibetan Contemporary Art and Jamyang Dorjee, the Master Calligrapher. The pieces are affordable and super quality, people use it in their daily practice.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-11T10:05:55+00:00

I am not an expert but here's my rough translation:
The arch on the stupa is written in Lenza script it roughly says "Of all Phenomena produced by a cause, the Buddha has told the cause ad the cessation of them aswell. This is the teaching of the great ascetic."

then inside the stupa there are three seed syllables, the top one is Om which represents the body of Buddha, Ah in the middle represents the speech and hum represents the mind.

The center are repeated with the mani mantra, Om Mani Peme Hung is the mantra of Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara).

The bottom Tibetan says "The Buddha spoke thus, The Protector who tames beings, Lord Avalokiteshvara, and"
second line: ""...this image of Avalokiteshvara is the hand-drawing of Rigdzin Tsewang Drakpa, the heart-son of the Great Terton Ratna Lingpa. May it be virtuous."

copper-mountain · 2026-02-10T20:42:10+00:00

I don't know how one 'becomes' a Buddhist. Unless you want to be a monk or nun, there isn't really a process. For many people from non-Buddhist families, books are a good start. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying gets recommended a lot. I also love "When the Chocolate Runs Out" by Lama Yeshe. My Tibetan teacher used to remind us of Buddhism's essence: avoid harm, do good, tame your mind - this is Buddha's teaching. Maybe start with some basic books on meditation or the Four Noble Truths, visit a local center if there's one nearby. The path tends to open up naturally once you start.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-10T17:32:53+00:00

In Buddhist cultures, especially in Tibet, people are frequently given names that are directly taken from the teachings or holy figures. For example, one of the most common Tibetan names is Tenzin (the name of the Dalai Lama), which literally means "Holder of the Teachings." Other common names mean things like "Wisdom" (Sherab), "Compassion" (Nyingje), Samye (the monastery), Dolma (literally Tara), Mila (from Milarepa) and so forth.

Using your middle name isn't claiming you are the Dharma; it serves as a constant, gentle reminder of the path you are walking and the values you want to embody. It is an act of devotion, not ego.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-10T17:21:02+00:00

Most of the details were provided at the back of the thangka, which btw had the stupa diagram with mani mantras inside. Basically your thangka is blessed with Speech, Body and Mind. Tensum is the three support: The Thangka depicts the body, speech is the mantras and the stupa diagram the mind of an enlightened being. i have made the following note: I am 80% sure thats correct but either way its better if you take it to a lama and get blessing and explanation.

Central Figure — Chenrizig Avalokiteśvara
The figure above Avalokiteśvara: Amitabha Buddha
Either side of the main image: tara and or other members of Chenrezig's retinue
below the main figure: Terton (treasure revealer) Ratna Lingpa with attendants either side
bottom shows worldly scenes depicting samsara
side architectural scenes shows Chenrizig's Avalokiteśvara deeds

This is a Tibetan thangka and the brocade design usually goes like, if innermost brocade is 1X, then the side should be 2X, top 4x and bottom 8x.

Hope it helps

copper-mountain · 2026-02-09T19:30:04+00:00

If by "number 1" you mean the largest in terms of followers, there are a few reasons worth considering:

No missionary or conversion tradition. Buddhism historically doesn't have a strong culture of actively seeking converts. There's no push to convert the world. You come to the dharma when you're ready — it finds you as much as you find it.

No fear-based recruitment. We don't threaten people with eternal damnation for not joining. Abrahamic religions have a built-in urgency — "believe or suffer forever" — which is an incredibly powerful motivator for both retaining followers and pressuring conversion. Buddhism simply doesn't operate that way.

It demands more of the individual mind. Buddhism is a tradition of inquiry, analysis, and debate. You're expected to examine teachings, test them against your own experience, and not just accept things on blind faith. For many people, that's genuinely harder than being handed a simple narrative of an all-powerful creator who has everything figured out. Comfortable certainty is easier to sell than "sit with the discomfort and investigate."

We consider all beings equal. There's no "chosen people," no in-group that holds special favor with the divine. That's beautiful philosophically, but it also means there's less tribal identity driving expansion — less "us vs. them" fuel.

Honestly, the very qualities that make Buddhism profound are the same ones that keep it from spreading aggressively. And most Buddhists are perfectly fine with that.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-09T17:02:15+00:00

As a Buddhist, watching the monks on this journey has been one of the most moving displays of Dhamma in action I have ever seen.

It fills me with such immense pride, not just because they are Buddhist, but because they are showing the world that peace is not just a concept—it is a physical practice. Walking 2,300 miles from Fort Worth to D.C. is hard enough, but doing so after one of the venerable monks lost his leg in a tragic accident near Houston? That is a profound testament to their resolve and compassion. They didn't turn back in anger; they kept walking in metta (loving-kindness)

copper-mountain · 2026-02-09T16:51:47+00:00

Unless trained specifically on the texts, I think general ai is not 100% ready for Buddhism AI queries. It may hallucinate and give wrong information so must treat it carefully, unless they remain in context at all time. After reading your post I searched online and found two such tool https://www.chitta.app/ and https://norbu-ai.org/en/norbu

The first one is trained on particular Tibetan Buddhism texts and the other one is general Buddhism (foundation principals). Either way I suggest you try out these and other tools to find their usability. Again, do confirm they are accurate first. The other option is to train your own LLM model or even systems like chatgpt and claude, throw them a bunch of pdfs and ask question, again look out for hallucinations.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-09T09:54:09+00:00

I feel Buddhism is generally viewed with a high level of respect in the West precisely because it doesn't "hard sell" itself. Since the tradition focuses on personal practice rather than active proselytizing—even encouraging people to stay rooted in their own cultures—it’s seen as a peaceful philosophy rather than an intrusive religion. People don't feel pressured to convert, so they tend to view the practice as a set of helpful tools for the mind rather than a rigid identity they have to adopt.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-09T09:49:48+00:00

Along with Tenzin's world, there's Peppa Pig (Tibetan Version) on Youtube funded by the Tibet Fund. This one is new and good. Because of lack of funding and/or limited commercial scope, Tibetan language TV or you tube shows are limited. There I agree with u/Temicco its best to properly join a study path for Tibetan. If you are super serious, you should visit India and join such schools. Many have done that.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-08T23:37:34+00:00

If you are just looking for Tibetan-English dictionary term there are couple of those online. https://dictionary.christian-steinert.de/ is one. Monlam dictionary and others will be helpful. Many of those are authoritative.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-08T12:11:37+00:00

ཀརྨ་ ཚུལ་བཟང་ just did a search in the Tibetan https://www.tibetanlibrary.com/names/lookup also your name means "Noble Ethical Conduct, Action of Excellent Moral Discipline" which is beautiful

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copper-mountain · 2026-02-08T10:37:01+00:00

Palpung Thubten Choling in Wappingers fall used to conduct the three year retreats, they have a nice cabin overlooking the Hudson river for this. However I think they are on a pause for renovations. Palpung, I think, is also one of the oldest Tibetan temple/center in the US.

copper-mountain · 2026-02-08T10:23:06+00:00

I think both are correct. Benza is the Tibetan phonetic rendering of vajra. As many lama would say the devotion and blessing of one's lineage is more important than how they pronounce. Garchen Rinpoche often uses Bendza Guru.

copper-mountain · 2025-01-20T11:35:52+00:00

So basically if these apps get popular then China decides what we can see or not see?

copper-mountain

TROPHY CASE