Virtual Ngondro Retreat “Meditation and the Development of Faith”

Sam Bercholz, April 4-5
Lama Sonam Rinpoche, April 6-12

Please join the sangha for the annual Ngondro Retreat, which we will host this year by live streaming.

This weekend, April 4th & 5th, Sam Bercholz, senior student of many of the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya lineage holders, including root lamas Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, will teach on “Meditation and the Development of Faith: Essential Teachings” extrapolating from two texts The Play of Thought by H.H. Kyabje Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche and A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar – a true masterpiece by Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche.

Sam has said, “The Play of Thoughts” by Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche is one of the best teachings you can study to help stabilize your mind”. 
Download for free here.]

With his unusual wit and depth of understanding, Sam will weave in teachings and lead practice on Shinay (calm abiding) and Lhakthong (penetrating insight) meditation, and answer individual questions. 

Sam is also giving participants the opportunity
for a personal interview by Facetime or Zoom
for up to one week after the teachings.

Teachings will continue April 6-12 with Lama Sonam Tsering Rinpoche teaching on “How Ngondro Can Support You in This Difficult Time”
Find out details here.

You may watch in real time or view video recordings, which will be available for at least one month for your convenience. We will try to make it possible for everyone who wants to join these sessions to do so.

With the love and support of your Pema Osel Ling sangha,
Becky Loy and Nancy Menzies

The Wisdom Mind of the Great Perfection

In order to sustain the wisdom mind of the Great Perfection, if one wonders how body, speech, and mind are directed to engage in this practice, it is as follows. For beginners, in order to purify the flow of karmic energies so that they enter the space of the central energy channel, the body must be straight. If the body is straight, the channels are straight. If the channels are straight, the vital energies can flow. If the vital energies can flow, awareness becomes clear. Whenever awareness becomes clear, the pure essential nature of mind becomes apparent, free from clearing away or keeping.
In order for that to occur, in the seven-point vajra posture, the legs are crossed, the hands are in the gesture of evenness, the stomach is pulled back toward the spine, the chin is slightly lowered, the shoulders are open like a condor’s wings, the tongue is touching the palate, and the eyes are looking out over the tip of the nose like a tiger, directly into space. Various methods increase and enhance samadhi, including the vajra recitation with the movement of breath by inhaling with the syllable OM, letting the breath remain with the syllable AH, and exhaling with the syllable HUNG; and samadhi with emanating and drawing in, and so on. These are all important to rely on in order to increase stability in samadhi. According to the wisdom mind of the extraordinary Great Perfection, however, if one is a great practitioner of sustaining self-nature as the sole essence of awareness, then all phenomena are synthesized as wisdom appearances, sound, and awareness. Only knowing that the self-nature of one’s own mind is the Three Kayas and never wavers from dharmadhatu, there is nothing other than the uncontrived natural abiding of body, speech, and mind, so it is absolutely unnecessary to apply effort to fixating on accepting and rejecting.

Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
Cascading Waterfall of Nectar

In the service for public disclosure,
this post has been reprinted under the Fair Use Law.

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Stainless Wisdom Sky

I hope and pray that from the illuminating rays of the sun of the holy Dharma mandala, breezes of compassion emanate to cleanse all clouds of obscuration so stainless wisdom sky is seen. 

~ Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
Nang Jang  1996
Photo: Bhutan 1998
Gift from Steven Farrow

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