Sogyal Rinpoche to give free teachings, Vancouver, 15-16 December

As part of his annual visit to the United States, Sogyal Rinpoche will be giving two free talks at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, in the evenings of 15 and 16 December 2009 (6-8pm).

Everyone is welcome to attend.

On 15 December, Rinpoche will teach on

Finding Peace and Stability in a Troubled World, How to Discover Inner Peace and Contentment.

And, on 16 December, he will teach on

The Heart Essence of Tibetan Buddhism, The Profound Method of Meditation for Bringing Forth the Nature of the Mind.

For more information and to register go to: http://www.cfis.ubc.ca/rinpoche.html

A Joyous Conclusion to the Three Year Retreat at Lerab Ling

Lerab Ling

On Saturday, 21 November 2009, the first Rigpa Three Year Retreat concluded joyously with a full day of practice, a long-life ceremony for Sogyal Rinpoche and a party.

The retreat, one of the largest long-term Buddhist retreats to take place in the West, was held at Lerab Ling, Rigpa's main retreat centre in southern France, with more than 400 people from all over the world taking part.

Students practising in the Lerab Ling Temple on the last day of the Three Year Retreat

While traditional three-year retreats in Tibet are mainly dedicated to personal practice, this retreat focused on both study and practice. Sogyal Rinpoche led the retreat and spent up to seven months each year teaching the retreatants, who received a complete and in-depth training according to the Tibetan tradition. There was a particular emphasis on compassion and bodhichitta and the practices of the Vajrayana, and the retreat concluded with teachings on Dzogchen.

Over the three years, masters from all schools of Tibetan Buddhism gave teachings, transmissions and empowerments in the temple at Lerab Ling, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, HH Sakya Trizin, Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Tenga Rinpoche, Garchen Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche and Jetsün Kushok Chimey Luding.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama arriving at Lerab Ling, August 2008, with Sogyal Rinpoche

Many commented on the significance of the retreat. Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche described it as unique in this day and age, particularly in the western world.

Garchen Rinpoche and Sogyal Rinpoche at Lerab Ling, 2009

The students who took part were able to follow in several different ways. Nearly 200 people stayed in closed retreat for the full three years and three months, living on site in retreat rooms. Another 200 or so students attended the 7-month teaching period each year and then returned home to continue to practice, and to work and spend time with their families.

The retreatants felt an enormous gratitude for the opportunity to do such a long retreat. As one retreatant said as she prepared to return home to Australia after three years:

It was hard at many points, but I'm so, so glad I've done it. I knew instinctively at the beginning of the retreat that if I kept on going the way I was, and how I was relating to things in my life—career, work, family—I would have been a bit of a wreck by the time I was 40. This time has helped me to sort out a lot about myself, and to know what's real and what's not in terms of how I've been seeing the world, and my relationships with others.

And another retreatant said: My greatest aspiration is that everybody gets this deep taste of being in retreat, and how wonderful, beneficial and healing it is.

Of course Rigpa's Home Retreat continues. It began in September 2006 and there are more than 3,500 Rigpa students following teachings from the three-year retreat at a more gradual pace in centres around the world. They spend up to four hours each day to study and practice, while continuing to work and lead family lives. The home retreat continues for about another four years.

Young Adults in the Rigpa Sangha

Founders of the young students group at Lerab Ling, Summer 2009

There is a new Rigpa project to bring together and support young adults in the Rigpa sangha. The new group is for older teenagers and young adults. It shouldn't be confused with Rigpé Yeshé, Rigpa's children's programme, which is for young children and teenagers up to the age of 16. The new group is for older teenagers, people in their 20s, and even early 30s.

It was started in Lerab Ling in 2008 by a group of young students of Sogyal Rinpoche who wanted to find a way to support younger students, facilitate their becoming holders of Sogyal Rinpoche and Rigpa's work, and connect more young people to the Dharma.

As one of the founding members said:

We want to inspire young people to see that Dharma is relevant to their lives. That it's not just something you do when you retire, it is actually something you can do everyday!

One part of the plan for group is to have regular events, such as meditation evenings, for young students in Rigpa centres around the world.

So how can you get connected? Go to the new private online community set up for the group at rigpayouth.ning.org or send an email to youth@rigpa.org.

At the All Mandala Retreat, Lerab Ling, August 2009

Anniversary of Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche (1930-2002) was a renowned teacher of the Nyingma school. He was known and respected in the West for his teachings, and also for his melodic chanting voice, his artistry as a sculptor and painter, his limitless compassion, and his sense of humor. He was the source of treasured Nyingma lineage transmissions for the thousands of people whom he taught in North and South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

At three years old, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche was recognized as the fourteenth Chagdud incarnation. As he recounts in his autobiography, The Lord Of The Dance:

For the next seven years, until I went into three-year retreat at the age of eleven, my life would alternate between periods of strict discipline in which my every move would be under the surveillance of my tutors and interludes in which my suppressed energies would explode. Throughout, I had many visions, many clairvoyant experiences, many extraordinary dreams, and within these, I sometimes had glimpses of absolute open awareness.

He received teachings and empowerments from some of the greatest masters of his time including, Shechen Kongtrul, the Sixth Shechen Rabjam, Bathur Khenpo Thubga, Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, Arik Rinpoche, Tromge Trungpa Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Dudjom Rinpoche who became one his main teachers. He also did many years of retreat.

He fled Tibet for India in 1959 when the Chinese invaded Tibet, together with his root teacher, Polu Khenpo Dorje.

In 1979, Rinpoche went to the US, where he taught throughout the 1980’s and established his main seat in the US, Chagdud Gonpa at Rigdzin Ling in Northern California, and a number of other centres.

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, Trulshik Rinpoche and Nyoshul Khenpo in Maratika cave, Nepal 1991.

In 1992 he received an invitation to teach in Brazil, where he established his main seat at Khadro Ling. He passed away in Brazil in 2002.

Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche was known for stressing pure motivation, or the cultivation of bodhichitta, in doing spiritual practice. He once wrote:

In the course of my Buddhist training, I have received teachings on many philosophical topics and meditative methods. Of all teachings, I find none more important than pure motivation. If I had to leave only one legacy to my students, it would be the wisdom of pure motivation. If I were to be known by one title, it would be the 'motivation lama.’

Tsoknyi Rinpoche teaches at Lerab Ling

As the Three Year Retreat draws to a close, we were very excited to welcome Tsoknyi Rinpoche back to Lerab Ling.

Tsoknyi Rinpoche, one of the remarkable sons of the great Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, had visited Lerab Ling to teach and guide the Three Year Retreatants a number of times and it was wonderful to host him again.

He taught extensively and also advised some of the key holders of Rigpa's work.

His visit was the last visit by a lama during this Three Year Retreat, which ends on 21 November.

(Photos courtesy of Jurek Schreiner & Volker Dencks)

Photos of spectacular skies over Lerab Ling

The autumn foliage at Lerab Ling has been outdone this week by the spectacular sky.

All photos courtesy of Heinz Nowotny.