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Letter from the Editors

The Play of Time and Timeless

2002Dear Friends,

The world conspired recently for us to rediscover a treasury of Rinpoche's teachings that had been included in some early Voice of Clear Light newsletters. Enjoying the timelessness of these teachings, we also realized, when looking at the dates on some of the newsletters, that we have been editing the VOCL for 20 years! In celebration, we share two excerpts from 2002, one from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's oral teachings on the Nature of Mind given during the Winter Retreat of 2002, and the second on Relating to Meditative Experiences from the Summer Retreat of 2002, which we featured in the Student and Teacher article. Enjoy!

Rinpoche also gave his first retreat in Crestone, Colorado in 2002, now Chamma Ling Colorado Retreat Center, a beautiful center in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where retreats are hosted and several unique dark retreat cabins are available to host individuals on personal retreat. And after two years of not having in-person retreats sponsored by Chamma Ling due to the pandemic, it is great news that Rinpoche will be back in Crestone this September to give teachings on A-tri dzogchen; see all the details below. Also, we are all looking forward to the publication of the book of A-tri teachings from Rinpoche's retreats in the Netherlands given over seven years (2013-2019) that will be published for general release in the near future.

It's amazing how time flies! Back in 2002 Ligmincha was celebrating its 10th anniversary with a Lung-Ta Tibetan Cultural Festival at Serenity Ridge, and Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche was teaching at the Summer Retreat along with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. It was also the grand opening of the first Garuda House dormitory wing, which enabled students to stay in rooms on the land. Before that, we all had to stay with friends, rent hotel rooms or camp on the land. And the Voice of Clear Light newsletter was not a website yet; it arrived as a text-only HTML email, or it would arrive in the mail as a paper copy for those without email access. While change is always happening in this world of time, what great good fortune we all have to be able to touch a deeper, timeless and unchanging truth, the essence of who we truly are. For that connection we are forever grateful to Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.

Thanks to all those who have worked on the VOCL over the years, and thanks to YOU, our wonderful family of devoted Bon practitioners and faithful readers.

Also in this issue:

  • Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's upcoming teaching schedule.
  • Prayer wheels coming soon to Serenity Ridge.
  • A special August 13-14 dzogchen teaching at Serenity Ridge and online with Geshe Choekhortshang Rinpoche.
  • Opening Your Heart to the World and other 3 Doors events.
  • A-tri dzogchen retreat in Colorado September 23-25 or online.
  • Something new this October at Serenity Ridge! Fall Retreat and Dialogues combine.
  • A brand-new course on prayer flags with Tsering Wangmo on Ligmincha Learning beginning August 1, plus two more courses starting in September.
  • Ton Bisscheroux interviews about the umdze (practice leader) training program.
  • A full month of upcoming free CyberSangha events.
  • GlideWing online workshop Healing from The Source starting August 20.
  • Spanish translation for the June VOCL.

In Bon,
Aline and Jeff Fisher