A Few Words About Protocol

• Sacred texts and materials should not be placed on the floor nor stepped over by people or animals.  Do not place anything on top of these items except for other dharma texts or pictures.  Sacred texts include pechas, photocopied prayers, any representation with sacred syllables, dharma books, your personal notes containing dharma teachings, any representation of deities, lamas, buddhas, bodhisattvas, and sacred mandalas.  If a time comes when the materials are no longer useful, do not throw them in the garbage.  Instead, burn these items as an offering.
• Please help to maintain a respectful atmosphere in the shrine room.  If you see something that needs to be thrown away or tidied, please do so.  When a lama enters the shrine room, stand up and offer half-prostration, continuing to face him/her as s/he moves through the room.  Once the lama has been seated on the throne, you may wish to offer 3 prostrations to the lama and then sit down.   If you arrive late, you can still do the prostrations before sitting down.   If there is no lama, you may offer 3 prostrations to the shrine before sitting down.
• During many lama visits there will be an opportunity for a short personal interview.  You may want to prepare your questions in advance.   The questions should be about dharma practice rather than personal in nature.  Tibetan lamas have absolutely no experience at psychotherapy, but they are masters at teaching meditation.  Therefore, realize that if you ask questions about your dharma practice, you will receive an excellent answer.  At the beginning or end of an interview, it is customary to make an offering to the lama with a katta and dana, which can take the form of money, food or other items.  The katta will be returned to you with a blessing at that time.  The lama also may touch his/her forehead to yours.                                                              

PLEASE NOTE: Loving kindness and compassion are vastly more important than protocol. Please always keep this in mind as you help to orient other students.