Volume 21, Number 1 / February 2021
Letter from the Editors
Offerings for a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful New Year
Dear Friends,
We hope this letter finds you all well in all ways. This first issue of 2021 is full of a whole host of offerings and support to get the year off to a good start, beginning with an excerpt from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's teaching during the summer retreat in 2019. Rinpoche offers us advice not only on getting good sleep, but also on the power of effortlessly allowing and becoming more open.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is planning "A Year of Body, Speech & Mind," a free online program related to the three doors of body, speech and mind, to be held live on Facebook and the CyberSangha website. Learn more at cybersangha.net. Details about his 2121 schedule of online retreats will be announced in the near future on the Ligmincha website.
In an interview with Ton Bisscheroux, we share the art and creativity of Andrea Heckman about the making of her three films on Bön, which were recently shown during the CyberSangha Film Festival.
We all find comfort in good food and drink, and in this issue we offer the latest recipe for you to enjoy from Pat Leavitt on how to make chai, a spicy tea.
In addition to two live three-day retreats happening on Zoom in February—Sherap Chamma with Marcy Vaughn and Tsa Lung with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich—several online courses are being offered by Ligmincha Learning and GlideWing. There is something for everyone! See all the listings below.
Check out the latest offerings hosted by The 3 Doors, including a free weekly online guided meditation.
This issue's Sangha Sharing features a call for your contribution! Please consider sharing with us a moment that you may have had of surprised joy or spontaneous creativity that arose during these times of the pandemic. See details below.
In our Student and Teacher article, read Rinpoche's words of wisdom addressing a student's feelings of fear and attachment.
And finally, please join in celebrating the Tibetan New Year, the Year of the Metal Elephant in the Yungdrung Bön tradition, which begins on February 12. Losar traditionally includes cleaning one's home and saying goodbye to the old year, purifying all of the negativity and obstacles associated with it. Then making offerings to all of the protectors and welcoming in the new year, inviting all things great and auspicious into our lives. Ligmincha International is organizing a series of events in honor of Losar with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, our resident lamas, Western teachers and other special guests from February 12–14. Details will be announced soon on the Ligmincha website. To register in advance for these online Losar weekend events on Zoom, please click here.
Tashi Delek Losar!! We will be practicing and celebrating on Losar, and hanging new prayer flags for the new year, and sending out wishes out for everyone's flourishing and being well and happy.
KI KI SO SO LHA GYAL LO!!!
Aline and Jeff Fisher
Sleeping Well and Acting Effortlessly from a Place of Deep Rest
An Edited Excerpt from Oral Teachings by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Summer 2019
I want to emphasize here at the start of this retreat the importance of sleep. Personally, I have promised myself seven to eight hours of sleep a night, which I feel is very important. If you are not getting a full night's sleep, I encourage you to allow yourself a longer sleep at night.
I've heard people say, “I regularly wake up at two or three in the morning and have difficulty going back to sleep.” This seems like a very common problem for many people these days. One of the things that affects this is your relationship to sleep—what sleep means to you. Pay close attention to what sleep means to you and come to feel: Sleep is sacred. Sleep is an opportunity to connect, an opportunity to heal, an opportunity to grow. It's true even for children and teenagers: the time that they are growing the most is when they are sleeping, not when they are running around. In the Tibetan culture, when I was growing up, it was not like that. We were yelled at if we slept too late in the morning. Now I feel very different. Lately, whenever my son Senghe goes to sleep, I feel very happy and say, “Sleep, sleep as long as you want to.” He used to have a hard time sleeping at night, but now he is sleeping until 11 a.m., which is good.
When we do happen to wake up in the night, the only thing we need to know is not to interfere. Do not interfere by turning on your screen, or the TV, or the light, or interfere with a cup of coffee or a book. Nothing. Our only commitment is to go back to sleep. A simple commitment, with no other interference, okay? And the important point here is not to struggle, not to put in a lot of effort or turn toward your thoughts.
Here is a simple meditation that we all could do in returning to sleep. Bring your attention to the body; bring it to a location like the heart. Simply keeping your open attention in the heart, breathe from there. It's as simple as that. You can bring your attention to any place in the body, but the heart is a good place. And breathe from there, with each exhalation resting deeper. But be careful not to lose the connection for the period of time that you need for entering back into sacred sleep; that's the commitment. It's different for different people, but let's say that we'll commit to staying connected to the meditation for five to ten minutes. For some people it might take closer to ten minutes. For me it usually takes five minutes, but those five minutes are important. There is always interference around minute two or three. Thoughts or wakefulness arise in minute two or minute three. So I need the full five minutes. That is my commitment then: I will stay connected to my heart, breathing from the heart, for five minutes to enter into sacred sleep. I don't have to repeat that commitment to myself verbally, because deep inside I know it's about five minutes, and so for that time I simply don't lose the connection.
I would like each of you to commit yourself to doing this for this retreat—just a very simple kind of commitment to make to yourself. Then, whatever other practices you are doing, like dream yoga or sleep yoga, are fine. But if you're not doing any other practices, that's fine, too. You are preparing the base by improving the duration and quality of your sleep. That is a very important first step!
Nowadays, science is finding more and more evidence pointing to how important the duration and quality of one's sleep is. It turns out that an important risk factor for many diseases is not sleeping well enough. It can just arise out of habit. Of course, there are many reasons. People might say, “I cannot sleep because I need to study.” But in order to study, you need a clear mind, a fresh mind, not a dull mind. For learning you need a clear mind. And for a clear mind, you need to sleep.
Generally, too, you need good sleep in order to make better decisions throughout all of your life. In many, many of the important moments in life you have the opportunity to decide either to move forward, to stop, to go left, to go right, or to not go at all. And each of these different directions will have a different impact on your life in terms of the goals you are trying to achieve. To make clear decisions, then, you need to have a clear mind. A clear mind definitely needs deep rest or good sleep. Actually, not only decision making, but whatever you are doing, you need to have a clear mind. How many accidents happen due to a lack of alertness? Sometimes we feel it as a lack of energy. How do we get good energy? We might take what is called a power nap. Every time you feel you need it, it's important to be able to take a rest.
Resting or sleeping does not mean that your bodymind is inactive, or unproductive. Not at all. In contrast, it can be very active. Actually, some parts of the brain are more active when you are asleep than when you are awake. Studies show that there are some waste removal processes that occur more throughout the body and brain while you are sleeping than while you are awake. Imagine that you are having big parties and big meals at your home, and as a result you are accumulating more and more garbage in the kitchen, but you are not cleaning it out. What's going to happen? The kitchen is going to become filled with garbage. That's probably what happens in our brains from not sleeping well. We are creating more waste byproducts but not giving ourselves enough time in the sleep state to clear it out.
I also believe it is the case that during the day, the effortless manifestation of one's qualities and one's meaningful and helpful action all arise from the place of deep rest, of connection, rather than from the place of disconnection and effortfulness. For instance, effort is not involved for one to feel joy. If you look, when you feel a true sense of joy inside, it doesn't come when you are trying to feel happy, or when you are trying to force yourself to be happy, or when you are obliged to be happy. It doesn't come then. It comes anytime the space is open, the connection is there. The experience of joy simply happens by itself.
Look at the nature of the practices that we are doing, such as the five tsa lung exercises. These involve physical movements related directly to the five locations of the energy centers in the body. The tsa lung exercises act to open grosser blockages of the body, and through opening they give rise to the pure energy of the wind, which allows the spontaneous experiences of the mind. That's all we're attempting to do with the tsa lung exercises. It's like clearing away the traffic. If you want to arrive at your destination faster, without obstacles, then you want to go when there is no traffic, when the movement is not blocked. That's what tsa lung practice is doing: by physically opening the five locations, the flow is not blocked and the arising of experience is not blocked.
When we do the practice of the nine breathings of purification, we are simply opening the three channels. And the five tsa lung exercises open the five energy centers. So in both practices we are only attempting to open the space—not trying to manifest directly a particular quality or create an experience. Rather, we are simply opening up the space, clearing the blocks. There's a difference. Many times we try to create experiences with effort. However, it may be difficult as in the case of sleep. You only go to sleep when you stop trying to go to sleep. Have you noticed that? When you really try hard to go to sleep, does it make it better or worse? Worse. In the same way, when you are really trying hard to be happy, does that make it easier or harder to be happy?
In the same way, you can't effortfully give birth to some awakening. Rather, you can open to having the experience of awakening. So it's more like the effort is what we need to watch out for. It is the effort that creates the blockages.
One thing I have been emphasizing quite a bit lately is the sense of exhaustion. How many people feel exhausted? I know a lot of people feel this way. When you feel exhaustion, it does not necessarily imply that you have been productive or that you have done a lot. Very often the sense of exhaustion arises when you are not actually getting much done, yet you're trying to do a lot. That's where you get exhausted. When there's a flow in the doing, then it won't exhaust you.
So when I'm talking about deep rest in the midst of activity and sleeping more during the night, I'm not saying to become lazy. Just be careful not to put in too much effort. Sometimes the reason we put in too much effort is not because the work we are doing requires it but because our personality gets involved, the pain identity gets involved. It's not the actual work that leads to our expending so much effort, it's that the I, the ego, gets involved in that work.
Maybe it's a little different if you are younger, in your 20s or 30s—it might even be that a little bit of ego is helpful then, when you are new and starting up. I don't know if it's ever helpful, but for most of us who are older, I don't think it's useful anymore. We are too old to play those kinds of games with the pain identity, you know? We're too old already, and we certainly don't want to get older any faster. [laughter] Whatever we do, we want to have joy and to make connections. And if what we are doing works, then great. If it doesn't work, fine. If there is a place for you to engage, then engage. And if the situation doesn't have a place for you to participate, then be happy and let it go. You want to feel equally free in your engaging and in your letting go. Then there is only fun there. And from that space you can do a better job in whatever way you become involved.
So you see, the sense of effort is directly involved with the identity, the self. These teachings and practices are ultimately about self-transformation involving aspects of body, and also acknowledging sleep, and acknowledging resting, and acknowledging connecting, and acknowledging the opening of these energy centers and bringing awareness into your body, awareness into your effort, awareness into your pain identity. Simply bringing awareness there.
We will have the opportunity to engage with these practices a lot over the course of this retreat. And the very basis for doing that is sleep and rest. Okay?
New Program for 2021: 'A Year of Body, Speech and Mind'
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's Free Yearlong Online Program Starts January 28
In the Tibetan tradition, body, speech and mind are known as the three doors to enlightenment, for they are the only tools we have for progressing on the spiritual path. Through these doors we either exit and become separated from our true nature, or we enter into the fullness of being, realizing and manifesting our capacities in this life for the benefit of others.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is launching a yearlong online program related to these three doors. Included are live teachings and guided meditations, science/spirituality dialogs and mantra recitation sessions—see schedule below. Suggestions for “homework” are offered to support your exploration of these life-changing practices.
Every offering is free and open to all. Whether you are a longtime meditation practitioner or a novice, you are welcome to attend any or all live broadcasts throughout the year. Except for the 24-hour full moon practices, no advance registration is required. Simply view on the Facebook page of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche or on cybersangha.net.
To receive email reminders, subscribe to the CyberSangha News email list.
UPCOMING: The Month of the Body
Thursday, January 28, 10 a.m. New York time through Friday, January 29, 10 a.m.: 24-Hour Full Moon Practice, “Finding Peace through Stillness of the Body.” Hosted by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Ligmincha International’s worldwide community of practitioners, the session begins with a teaching and guided meditation with Rinpoche followed by mantra recitation and silent contemplation. Guided practice, mantra recitation and silent contemplation will continue throughout the 24 hours. Unlike Rinpoche’s CyberSangha® Facebook Live broadcasts, the 24-hour full moon practice takes place via Zoom, in an online meeting space. There is no cost to participate, but registration is required.
Learn more and register
Friday, January 29, 11 a.m. New York time: “Finding Serenity Through Stillness.” Teaching and guided meditation with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
Learn more
Tuesday, February 9, 11 a.m. New York time: “Meditation in Motion: Benefits of Yoga and Other Movement-Based Practices.” A live online discussion with Lorenzo Cohen, Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and host Alejandro Chaoul-Reich
Learn more
COMING SOON: The Month of Speech: February 26–March 27
Friday, February 26, 10 a.m. New York time: 24-Hour Full Moon Practice, “Finding Peace through the Silence of Speech.” Speech refers not only to the words we speak, but also to the energy carried by our voice and our breath. The teachings, discussions, and practices of this month explore using speech, mantra, other forms of sound, and/or breathing practices to support us to connect with the pure, unceasing awareness of our true nature. Through allowing our voice to rest in silence, we draw attention to inner silence and continue to release effort that separates us from being fully present. A doorway to deep inner peace, resting in silence allows the light of pure awareness to dawn, awareness that illuminates the source of positive qualities within us and all beings.
Registration opens after January 28.
More dates to be announced soon.
Learn more on cybersangha.net
Two Live Zoom Courses Offered in February
Sherap Chamma with Marcy Vaughn & Tsa Lung with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich
Join us for two special opportunities to learn and practice with senior teachers Marcy Vaughn and Alejandro Chaoul-Reich, both longtime students of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Each three-day retreat in February is offered online through Zoom, with live translations offered in several languages (see details below).
February 19–21: Sherap Chamma, Mother of Wisdom and Love
with Marcy Vaughn
Live translation offered in Spanish and German
In many cultures the primordial female energy is seen as the origin of existence and the source of all positive qualities. As such, Sherap Chamma, Mother of Wisdom and Love, is the source of wisdom, and her medicine is love and compassion.
The teachings of Sherap Chamma comprise one of the most important tantric cycles of the ancient Bön tradition. In this retreat, participants will learn a beautiful and simple meditation practice enabling each to directly connect with the divine feminine energy. Within the support of the group, an environment is created to promote profound healing of physical, energetic, emotional and spiritual dimensions of life.
February 26–28: Internal, External and Secret Tsa Lung
with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich
Live translation offered in Spanish and (if requested) Italian
Tsa Lung is a series of ancient yogic practices that brings balance and harmony to our physical body, energy and mind. Through these practices we will connect to our sacred architecture or subtle body, and learn to guide our energy-winds through our subtle channels.
These practices are designed to open our subtle channels and chakras, guiding the healthy flow of the energy-winds so that we can enjoy good health and reconnect with more calmness to a quiet, peaceful mind. The exercises are easy to perform and are suitable for everyone.
There are three levels of Tsa Lung practice: External, Internal and Secret. The External Tsa Lung works primarily on the physical level, using simple movements and breath exercises to balance the energies within our body. The Internal Tsa Lung works more at the level of breath and subtle energy, bringing our attention to opening the five chakras and the central channel. The Secret Tsa Lung uses subtle visualizations of light within the chakras and central channel to bring harmony to the mind, so that we can rest in our inner refuge, nature of mind.
Suggested reading: Awakening the Sacred Body by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Tibetan Yoga for Health & Well-Being by Alejandro Chaoul-Reich.
Bön and the West
An Interview with Filmmaker Andrea Heckman
Ten documentaries on the Bön tradition were shown online at the CyberSangha Film Festival, Bringing Bön to Light, from December 12 through January 3. The event was presented by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche on Facebook Live and the films were available for viewing afterwards on cybersangha.net. Three of these documentaries were made by Andrea Heckman. Ton Bisscheroux interviewed her.
You made three documentaries on the Bön tradition: Bön: Mustang to Menri (2011), Bön in Dolpo (2014) and Bön and the West (2019). How did you come to make these documentaries?
I do Bön practices, and I am also deeply related to the traditions of Peru. I see parallels between these two ancient cultures. I have been going to Peru for 40 years now; I work there as a guide and made documentaries. I speak Spanish and Quechua, but I speak no Nepali and only a few words of Tibetan. In Peru, during a pilgrimage in the year 2000, I met Kallon Basquin, now director of The 3 Doors. He told me about Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and he thought I would be drawn to the Tibetan Bön tradition. In 2000, I went to teachings and retreats at Serenity Ridge in Virginia. A few years later, when the land in Crestone, Colorado was granted to Rinpoche from the Manitou Foundation, I joined the council of the Chamma Ling Colorado Retreat Center. It is only two and a half hours from where I live in Taos, New Mexico, and I love the nature and the high mountains. I attend the teachings and manage the annual auction fundraiser each year.
When we made the first film in 2011, many people thought that Bön did not exist anymore. We met Geshe Sonam Gurung and went to Menri Monastery. It was quite an adventure to be at Menri Monastery. As long as we were with Geshe Sonam, His Holiness the 33rd Menri Trizin (abbot of Menri Monastery and head of the Bön lineage) allowed us to go wherever we needed to film. Making a documentary we got access to a lot of places, and we had to do a lot of research. After that, we thought we had told a good, thorough story about Bön.
But when we were hiking out of Mustang, we were told those mountains to the west were Dolpo, and we decided right then that we wanted to go there also. That is the place where the original Bön texts were stored, copied and kept alive. I went to Serenity Ridge to meet Khenpo Nyima Kunchap, who offered to help us film Bön in Dolpo. During the filming, we hiked for 22 days though Dolpo, over three 17,000-foot-high passes, which was quite an adventure.
After that film we weren’t sure if there would be another film but as we always say, we wait for the next project to find us! In time it became clear that there would be one more film. When Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche asked me what the next film was going to be, I said we wanted to tell the stories and challenges for the generation of Bön geshes trained in India and Nepal. Some them were going all over the world with the teachings, and many Westerners are drawn to these teachings. That’s when we knew there was going to be a third film.
Before we started to film, I said to Tenzin Rinpoche that we were so excited to go back to Dolpo and Mustang, and film in the West. Rinpoche advised us, “I think you need to go to Poland, France and Mexico.” So instead of beginning our filming trekking in Dolpo, we started our first filming in Paris. His advice was the best and exactly what we needed to do. From there we went to film in Poland, Mexico, India and the US. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche was a great inspiration and guidance for this film.
How long did the filming process of Bön and the West take?
It took three years. This film had its own timing. There was no way to rush it. We were so fortunate to have incredible donors who supported this film. In 2018 we thought we had finished the final filming at MD Anderson Cancer Center with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich and we were already in the editing process. In September 2018 we filmed the cremation and commemoration in India of His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, the 33rd Menri Trizin. We also filmed that September at Serenity Ridge in Virginia during the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Ligmincha International. Then on January 1, 2019, His Holiness HH Lungtok Dawa Dhargyal Rinpoche, the 34th Menri Trizin was installed. Later we realized that there would be a grand one-year enthronement to honor both abbots, so quickly we went to India to film that ceremony, too.
Can you talk more about the places you filmed?
In Shenten Dargye Ling we were warmly welcomed by Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche, abbot of Triten Norbutse Monastery in Nepal, and many very kind people helped us there. Initially His Eminence Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche said no to more interviews, but he graciously gave us quite a long one. At Shenten, we also met John Reynolds, a highly respected Bön scholar and translator, who agreed to a short interview, and two and a half hours later he was still telling us great stories. We could have done a film just on him. But we were able to include only a few glimpses of that wonderful interview. For documentaries in general you film about one hour for every minute edited into the story.
In Mexico, Mariela Iragorri opened all the doors for us to the Mexican sangha and even arranged places to stay, food and transportation. We had met her at the 25 anniversary of Ligmincha at Serenity Ridge and were very appreciative of all she did. We also had wonderful support from Ligmincha International’s sanghas in Poland and at Crestone. At Crestone, we were granted interviews about The 3 Doors.
When I first met Jorge René Valles Sandoval at Serenity Ridge, he was a young boy of 5 or 6 years old. When he agreed to an interview for this film as a young man, he was so eloquent as he talked about being a tulku reincarnation. Being born in the West, not Tibet or India, he has a very special place in the Bön tradition as he goes between cultures.
You also included Lishu Institute in India in the film.
When we were first filming in Menri Monastery for Bön and the West, the inauguration of Lishu Institute was about to happen. Since the timing synched perfectly and the rest of the crew was headed home, I got a driver to take me to Dehradun for that event. It was very important to include it because the intention of Lishu Institute as an intensive study center is remarkable.
Can you also tell us something about Chamma Ling in Poland, Crestone, Texas and Virginia?
There are so many fascinating stories the geshes have to tell about learning how to live in the West like when Lama Kalsang Nyima, now living in Mexico, first came to Manhattan and experienced the New York subways. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche told him to take the subway to come over for lunch. He told us how scared he was, but he did it, and went all over the city for the next few days on the subways.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
I feel any creative work of art has a life of its own. Our best intention in making all three films is that they will reach many people and help them understand the Bön tradition more deeply. During the making of the first film when we were told this tradition is 18,000 years old, we were surprised. We gradually understood the importance of the long continuous lineage and the specific Bön deities. Our first editor questioned us about the differences between Buddhism and Bön as he didn’t know much about either one. His questions were quite innocent and helped us try to make a very clear statement about how the long continuous Bön lineage of teachers and masters, and distinct deities make Bön unique from Buddhism. He went on location to Menri Monastery with us during the first filming, and his questions really helped us shape the story.
________
Want to see films from the festival? Some of the DVDs from the festival, including Andrea Heckman’s three documentaries, are available in the Ligmincha store. Four films (Hidden Treasure of Bön: Secrets of Mustang, In Search of Zhang Zhung, The Light of the Golden Sun and His Holiness Returns to Tibet) and all the panel discussions are still online on https://cybersangha.net/video-archives/.
Pat Leavitt Shares Recipe for Chai
Comfort and Joy!
In the winter I like to make chai, a warming and spicy tea. It's more of an Indian chai masala than traditional Tibetan butter tea, which is made with salt and yak butter.
The six spices are: whole cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, black peppercorns and fresh ginger. See the photo for the amounts I used to make a pot of chai for 4-6 cups.
You can adjust the spices to your taste. I used conventional white sugar and dairy milk, but you can use any sweetener or plant milk. It's great with coconut milk for another element that blends nicely with all the spices.
Crush whole spices slightly to release flavors, and place in saucepan with 6 cups (1 ½ liters) water. Bring to low boil, stir in 2-3 TBSP sweetener, 1 ½ cups milk, and 3 bags or TBSP of black tea. Reduce heat and simmer another 10 minutes, then begin tasting to adjust.
At this point I usually remove the cloves as they tend to get too strong flavored, but the chai can sit on low heat or in a crock pot for the duration of your tea party. Strain and serve hot!
Upcoming GlideWing Online Workshops with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
'Awakening the Sacred Body,' 'Nature of Mind' & 'Dream Yoga'
GlideWing is offering three upcoming online workshops in February and March on the topics of “Awakening the Sacred Body,” “Tibetan Meditation: The Nature of Mind” and “Tibetan Dream Yoga."
Each GlideWing workshop allows participants to learn and practice from their own homes, at their own schedule, with personal guidance from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. The online workshops feature:
- Several weeks of personal guidance and support provided by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, as you work with the practices.
- Instruction via Internet-based video.
- No set class times; instructional videos remain available throughout the course.
- Practice in the comfort of your home, on your own schedule.
- Easy-to-use course site.
February 6–28, 2021: Awakening the Sacred Body
In this three-week workshop, students will explore and practice the ancient Bön Buddhist teachings of Tibetan yoga. These practices have been used for thousands of years to open and awaken the energy centers and channels of the subtle energy body. They can enhance your physical fitness, mental well-being and spiritual growth. By clearing uncomfortable emotions and other obscurations, they can open the space from which joy, love, compassion and other enlightened qualities spontaneously manifest.
Learn more and view introductory video
March 20–April 11, 2021: Tibetan Meditation: The Nature of Mind
In this three-week workshop with video-based teachings, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche offer a direct introduction to the nature of mind. Rinpoche will guide you through each of the five steps of meditation in the Fivefold Teachings of Dawa Gyaltsen, an eighth century dzogchen meditation master, helping you to enter the state of pure awareness that leads to peace, joy and ultimately, to self-realization.
Learn more and view introductory video
May 1–31, 2021: Tibetan Dream Yoga
Now with Spanish subtitles
It is said that the practice of dream yoga deepens our awareness during all our experience: the dreams of the night, the dreamlike experience of the day and the bardo experiences after death. Indeed, the practice of dream yoga is a powerful tool of awakening, used for hundreds of years by the great masters of the Tibetan traditions. Unlike in the Western psychological approach to dreams, the ultimate goal of Tibetan dream yoga is the recognition of the nature of mind or enlightenment itself. This workshop provides detailed instruction for dream yoga practice, with discussion of the relationships between dreaming and waking and between dreaming and death. Rinpoche also will provide instructions for foundational practices done during the day and for the uses and methods of lucid dreaming.
Learn more/register
Upcoming Through Ligmincha Learning
Four Online Courses in February and March
Ligmincha Learning is pleased to offer four video-based online courses in February and March with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Geshe Denma Gyaltsen, John Jackson and Marcy Vaughn. These courses feature beautiful video teachings, guided meditations, readings, journal writing activities, and the opportunity to interact with senior mentors and classmates from around the world.
February 19–March 21, 2021
Sherap Chamma: Mother of Wisdom and Love with Marcy Vaughn
In many cultures the primordial female energy is seen as the origin of existence and the source of all positive qualities. As such, Sherap Chamma, Mother of Wisdom and Love, is the source of wisdom, and her medicine is love and compassion. The teachings of Sherap Chamma comprise one of the most important tantric cycles of the ancient Bön tradition. Join Marcy Vaughn in this special course to learn a beautiful and simple meditation practice that will enable you to connect directly with the divine feminine energy. With visualization, the sound of mantra and deep contemplation, participants can make a personal connection to this sacred form of the universal mother and are guided through this connection to innate wisdom and the love and compassion that naturally radiate from that wisdom.
Learn more/register
March 5–April 19, 2021
Treasures of Bon: History, Lineage & Practice with Geshe Denma Gyaltsen and John Jackson
Bön counts itself among the oldest spiritual traditions in the world. Its origins are steeped in an oral, shamanic tradition and yet it is deeply rooted in teachings of the buddha Tonpa Shenrap, the buddha who preceded Shakyamuni Buddha. This course is designed for anyone who would like to learn more about, or deepen their existing knowledge of, the ancient, profound tradition of Tibetan Bön Buddhism. Geshe Denma Gyaltsen, resident lama for Ligmincha Texas, and John Jackson, mentor for many Ligmincha Learning courses and international teacher, enter into deep conversations around essential masters and teachings of the Bön tradition. The conversation is followed by a guided meditation led by either Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche or Geshe Denma.
Learn more/register
March 12–December 31, 2021
Ngöndro: The Foundational Practices with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
The ngöndro teachings are a set of nine practices that offer complete instructions for taming, purifying and perfecting the suffering mind. Although these practices are considered the foundation for entrance into the five-part cycle of Tibetan Bön dzogchen teachings—Bön’s highest teachings on the nature of mind—many practitioners adopt the ngöndro as their main meditation. They are considered to be the foundational practices for the entire tradition. Within the ngöndro are found practices that are used within many other practices, such as the Guru Yoga Prayer, Bodhicitta Prayer, Refuge Prayer, Prostrations and the Three Heart Mantras, so the ngöndro supports and deepens all other meditation practices.
Participation in a ngöndro retreat or this online course is a prerequisite for continuing the Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung series. Tenzin Rinpoche will offer Part 2 of the series in December 2021.
This course is ongoing through December. Registration continues to be open after the start date.
Learn more/register
March 19–May 7, 2021
Transforming Emotions Through the Six Lokas with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
At one time or another each of us suffer strong emotions that throw us off balance, cause us to act in ways that we later regret, and make us lose touch with our true nature. Centuries ago the masters of the Bön lineage developed the meditations of the Six Lokas specifically to remedy this situation, to help us live our lives in a balanced and relaxed way. The meditations focus on the root causes of our suffering: anger, desire, greed, ignorance, jealousy, pride and laziness. Through each meditation we examine our habitual patterns so that we may recognize them, then invoke the enlightened energy of the Buddhas to purify and transform us so that we and all other beings might not continue to suffer in this way. The practices have a deep healing and transformative power, and are traditionally practiced as a preliminary to dzogchen contemplation.
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UPCOMING: April 2–May 2: “Sleep Yoga: The Yoga of Clear Light”
Ongoing and Free Courses: Ligmincha Learning offers several ongoing, free courses. They include "Starting a Meditation Practice, Parts 1 & 2"; “The True Source of Healing”; “Living with Joy, Dying in Peace”; and “Transforming Your World Through Service.”
Practicing in Community
Join The 3 Doors Online Programs in 2021
As our lives continue to be impacted by the pandemic and the challenges of our social and political landscape, many have found support in The 3 Doors online programs. Deepening practice and coming into community with one another fosters openness, warmth and resilience. Explore the following upcoming programs available to new and experienced meditators.
Ongoing Through May 2021
The 3 Doors: Finding Refuge in Changing Times—3 Doors senior teachers and presenters
There is no fee for these live, online guided meditation sessions, open to anyone who wants to learn more about and practice with The 3 Doors community. Sessions are held Wednesday evenings from 8–8:30 p.m. New York time and will continue through May 26, 2021. Invite your friends, family and acquaintances to join these weekly sessions, including those who are new to 3 Doors practices.
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February 12–March 19
Exploring Your Wisdom Breath Energies—with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich
Wake up your subtle body through breath, simple visualizations and Tibetan yogic movements. This five-week course explores the potential of your sacred anatomy—composed of inner channels and chakras—as a powerful doorway into the open awareness of our nature of mind, or “inner refuge.”
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Click here to hear instructor Alejandro Chaoul-Reich explain how these practices can help everyone cultivate genuine well-being.
Self-guided practice at your own pace . . .
The Joy of Embodied Presence—with Laura Shekerjian
All participants in any past or current Joy of Embodied Presence online or in-person program are invited to register for this self-guided, online program that will guide you in connecting with the deep stability of the body’s stillness and discovering the aliveness of the present moment.
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Visit www.the3doors.org for additional program offerings.
Sangha Sharing Request
From the Heart
Our hearts go out to all those in need or struggling with the pandemic and the changed world during these challenging times.
Even amid times that can often feel dark, there are moments filled with light, filled with surprises of joy and creativity.
Consider sharing something you have experienced during this time of the pandemic that has surprised you with moments of joy or that has inspired new creativity. Just send us an
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with your brief description or poem for sharing in a future issue of the VOCL.
Student and Teacher
On Fear and Attachment
Student: I've been working on attachment for quite a while, especially with regard to my family. Last night I received word that my daughter and grandson were in a serious car accident but that they were okay. Even still, it activated in me very strong feelings of fear and attachment, and I was not able to be in the natural state.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: First of all, I'm very happy that they are okay and all is good and everybody is safe.
We all experience difficult moments and situations where we are losing or have lost something. Looking at these difficult situations, we can always see that we feel fear; we feel hopeless; we feel attachment.
Situations like the one you experienced remind us of how much we really value our loved ones' presence, how precious they are. Life—it's so unpredictable, yet we often don't realize it until something bad comes very close to happening. These moments are great reminders for us that the things like our little family conflicts or even the big stories—none of those is important. Every story dissolves at the moment of an accident, right? What shines through: I love you. There are no stories there. So recognize. Let those stories go. And recognize the value of connecting deeper or more often.
It seems we have the tendency sometimes to focus on the dark side in situations of loss, and at other times we have the tendency to focus on the light side. Why do some focus on the light side, on what they can find within that loss? It's a very different view of things, isn't it? These experiences of pain have to give us something positive. What that positive thing is, and what it changes in us and how we see people close to us and how we come to spend our time—I think that is very, very important.
Each of the events such as yours should remind us to connect deeper with others in our life, you know? And when you are focused on connecting deeper with others, then you also connect deeper to yourself. You cannot connect deeper with someone unless you connect deeper with yourself. It's quite beautiful, then, what comes out of that.
Spanish Translation of VOCL
Link to December Issue Now Available
Look for the translations of Voice of Clear Light newsletters at the top of the VOCL website.
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