Sam Bercholz

The Play of Thought

~ DudjomTersarNgondro
During one of the 2025 Annual Dudjom Ngondro Accumulation Sessions with Choying Wangmo, she read from Dudjom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshe Dorje’s “The Play of Thought”.
About the “The Play of Thought”.
In 1976, during his visit to Paris, Dudjom Rinpoche introduced the Dzogchen teaching known as “The Play of Thought.” This teaching emphasizes recognizing the nature of thoughts and allowing them to dissolve naturally, rather than engaging with or suppressing them. He illustrated this with the metaphor of the mind as a calm lake, where thoughts are like ripples that arise and fade without disturbing the underlying stillness. This approach aligns with the Dzogchen view of resting in the natural state of awareness, free from conceptual elaboration.
In 2020 Annual Dudjom Ngondro Retreat, Sam Bercholtz gave teachings 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 by Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche.
Sam has said, “The Play of Thought” by Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche is one of the best teachings you can study to help stabilize your mind”.
Download for free here ~~~>

https://www.vajrayana.org/media/files/files/bbc627f2/the_play_of_thought.pdf

Access Sam’s “Meditation and the Development of Faith” weekend teaching
April 4 Morning:
April 4 Afternoon:

April 5 Morning:

April 5 Afternoon:

From Confusion to Wisdom: Integrating View and Practice

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

 

 Thinley Norbu 1931 – 2011 (L )   Samuel Bercholtz (R)
The Vajrayana Foundation Annual Ngondro Retreat will be held from April 12 ~ 20, 2025 at Pema Osel Ling and by YouTube Livestream. The Annual Retreat will follow previous year’s format of Weekend Teachings with Sam Bercholz, Teachings, Questions and Answers, Personal Interviews and focused Accumulation Practice Sessions with Tulku Thadrul Rinpoche, Drubpon Pema Rigdzin, Amy Green, Choying Wangmo and Stefan Graves. Tulku Thadral Rinpoche will bestow The Refuge Vows (with hair cutting and naming ceremony) the Bodhichitta Vows and the Orgyen Menla Empowerment. See details and register at https://www.vajrayana.org/events/293/
The April 12-13 weekend seminar with Sam Bercholz offers an in-depth exploration of key themes from Thinley Norbu Rinpoche’s Cascading Waterfall of Nectar, focusing on the integration of view and practice as the path from confusion to wisdom. Through study, contemplation, and meditation, we will examine how mistaken perceptions and dualistic thinking obscure the natural clarity of mind. Guided teachings will illuminate the Mahayana and Vajrayana perspectives on view, helping participants recognize the interdependence of all phenomena and the innate purity of awareness. The weekend will blend practical meditation techniques with textual reflection, allowing participants to directly experience the wisdom that arises when conceptual confusion dissolves.
Open to practitioners of all levels, this seminar provides a supportive space to cultivate a deeper understanding of the Dharma and embody the compassionate insight Thinley Norbu Rinpoche so eloquently presents. It’s recommended to bring your copy of the Cascading Waterfall of Nectar. 

2025 Annual Dudjom Ngondro Retreat
April 12-20, 2025  In-Person and Online with
Orgyen Menla Empowerment
Refuge Ceremony and Bodhisattva Vows

See details and register at https://www.vajrayana.org/events/293/

 

 

2024 Year in Review

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

As 2024 comes to a close, we’re so grateful that the Vajrayana Foundation Dudjom Ngondro Program was your connection for Practice in 2024.

2024 Year in Review

  • The Annual Ngondro Retreat with Sam Bercholz offered teachings titled The View that Liberates All, drawing upon Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche’s commentary, A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar.

  • We received the blessing of the Dudjom Lingpa Vajrayogini Empowerment from Tulku Thadral Rinpoche, along with a Refuge Hair Cutting and Naming Ceremony, followed by the Bodhisattva Vow and an oral reading transmission of both the Dudjom Tersar and Dudjom Troma Ngondro.
  • We began support for Dudjom Lingpa Troma Ngondro practitioners providing the same support as Dudjom Tersar Ngondro.
  • The Dudjom Ngondro Podcast was launched on multiple platforms with “How to Meditate with Confidence” teachings by Tulku Thadral Rinpoche.

 

 

“Buddhism teaches that enlightenment is our natural state; the problem is that
we do not recognize this state,
owing to the mind’s confusion
about its true nature.”

~ Samuel Bercholz

 

Watch for the Vajrayana Foundation 2023-2024 Annual Newsletter
for detailed descriptions of the Ngondro Program
Year in Review.

Learn the Dudjom Ngondro Program supports your
Dudjom Tersar Ngondro Practice
and your Dudjom Troma Ngondro Practice –