The 'Jolly Lama'

04:56 PM CST on Friday, March 4, 2005

By FRANK TREJO / The Dallas Morning News

As he enters the shrine room at Karma Thegsum Chöling, Lama Dudjom Dorjee quickly dispels any thoughts that he is a somber, stern teacher.

Lama Dorjee, resident lama at the Buddhist meditation center in North Oak Cliff, smiles frequently and broadly as tries to convey the message of his religion to many who have not grown up with a Buddhist background.

"If you never get time to plan the seed you're never going to see the flower," he says, trying to explain the importance of practice in meditation. "The seed must be planted and cultivated."

Lama Dorjee is a Sanskrit scholar who has earned an acharya, the equivalent of a doctorate, from Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India.

Center members like Larry Keenan said most visitors are struck by the lama's skills as personable teacher of meditation.

In speaking engagements, Lama Dorjee sometimes refers to himself as the "Jolly Lama."

During the recent celebration of Tibetan New Year, he delighted in telling center members how the day is celebrated in Tibet, his homeland, and in India, where much of his family now lives. (It's a big holiday, one involving lots of festivities with family.)

Lama Dorjee, 52, grew up in India, a refugee from the Chinese Communist invasion of Tibet. He has been teaching in the West since 1982.

He, his wife, and a young daughter, live near the center.

Before coming to Dallas about six years ago, he was at a mediation center in Santa Cruz, Calif.

"We're very fortunate that he's here in Dallas," Mr. Keenan said. "A lot of centers in the United States don't even have a resident lama."

Since the Kagyü lineage of Tibetan Buddhism practiced at the Dallas center relies heavily on oral teachings, the role of the lama is vital, members said.