Teaching Issue
Volume 12, Number 3 / June 2012
Fundraising Auction, New Retreats Coming Up Soon
A Letter From Ligmincha’s Executive Director
Dear Sangha and friends,
Warm greetings from Ligmincha Institute and Serenity Ridge! I have some news to share with you, including updates about our fundraising auction and ways you can join from afar, registration for upcoming retreats at Serenity Ridge and additions to Rinpoche’s worldwide teaching schedule.
First, as we move closer to the beginning of our 20th annual summer retreat, we also are preparing for our annual summer fundraising auction, scheduled for Friday, July 6. As our main fundraiser for the year, we gather together many wonderful ritual and other dharma-related items to inspire practice and a heartfelt connection to the precious teachings that we receive. I invite you to participate either by:
- donating a dharma-related practice item to be auctioned. If you would like to donate an item, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . It must be sent in time for us to receive it no later than Sunday, July 1, 2012.
- placing a bid on some of the specially selected items that we will post online
- making a general donation
- attending the auction in person, if you are able.
As we bring different items together to auction, we’ll post them on the Ligmincha website, so do check back in the next few weeks to see what might be perfect for your shrine room, your home or your personal use!
All auction proceeds will go toward furthering the efforts of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in manifesting his vision for Ligmincha Institute and its Serenity Ridge Retreat Center. Our plans include bringing a resident lama to Serenity Ridge, creating more programs and other opportunities for learning and practice, and doing the preliminary design for a new kitchen and dining hall at our retreat center. Ligmincha Institute is a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
Other news: Registration is now open for our annual fall retreat with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, October 10–14, 2012, titled “Awakening the Luminous Mind.” If you haven’t already purchased it, his latest book by the same name is now available from our Bookstore and Tibet Shop.
An additional retreat has just been added to our schedule in response to many requests for a beginner’s meditation retreat. Registration is now open for “Beginner’s Mind—Starting a Meditation Practice” with John Jackson, scheduled for Nov. 10–11, 2012. Learn more or register
New dates have been added to Tenzin Rinpoche’s worldwide teaching schedule. You will find newly scheduled talks and retreats in Canada, Paris, London, Mexico (date change), Peru and Colombia at this link.
Wishing all of you a wonderful summer,
Sue Davis-Dill
Remedy for Pain: Three ‘Pills’ of Inner Refuge
An Excerpt From Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s New Book Awakening the Luminous Mind
When fear or anxiety dominates your mind, you don’t know where to go. By turning toward stillness, silence, and spaciousness, you will feel some protection. Even if you cannot fully connect, trusting that space is there is a form of protection from fear. You will begin to taste the confidence that becomes increasingly available the more direct personal experience you have with the inner refuge. The reason the inner refuge overcomes fear is that the natural state is beyond fear. It is beyond fear because the unbounded space of being is unchanging. So if you are aware of a deeper state in yourself that is unchanging, and become familiar with that deeper state, you naturally become less fearful.
The natural state of mind is beyond birth and death. At death, it is only ego that loses. We will explore this more fully later in the book, but for now we can say that being in that space is the experience of openness that is deathless, changeless. Nothing changes. So when I become more familiar with that particular aspect, when I taste this sense of changelessness, a deep confidence and peace become available. This is not a confidence produced by thinking or having a philosophical point of view. Rather, it is a direct experience that is possible by recognizing what is already here.
So with the pain body or identity, we “take the white pill” and turn toward stillness; with pain speech, we “take the red pill” and turn toward silence; and with pain mind, we “take the blue pill” and turn toward spaciousness. As we enter the experiences of stillness, silence, and spaciousness, our pain becomes the path to liberation. Each condition transforms into a path that leads to our final liberation—connection with the changeless essence.
You may think this is an oversimplification or a watered-down instruction. Does it seem too simple to be true? The dzogchen masters explain that the true nature of mind is so close we cannot see it. We all know how much we love complicated things. Whatever is harder to get we think is better. For some people, the biggest problem is always wanting something they can’t get, and because of that desire they cannot see what they already have. The simple but profound truth is that the greatest thing we have is this present moment. Therein lies the greatest richness possible. But we don’t see or experience ourselves fully in the present moment.
So whenever you feel pain, just be with it. Be a good support to your pain. Have a warm presence that is completely open and most important, nonjudgmental. Just be there hosting your pain. People in the West often have a problem with stillness, silence, and spaciousness. When you are still, then you start looking for a problem. When you are silent, others get suspicious and think there is a problem. When you are spacious, others may think you’re not very bright. A cultural shock that I experienced when I first came to the United States was the mantra “I’m busy.” Everybody says this. If you say, “I’m not busy,” then something must be wrong with you. If someone asks, “What do you do?” and you reply, “Nothing much,” that person will think, “Something has got to be wrong here. This is not normal.”
Perhaps in your first moments of turning toward stillness, silence, and spaciousness you might feel a little relief. Then you think, “I don’t know if this is really going to help.” If you continue following that voice, definitely it will not help. It is very difficult to become free of that voice. You may reason, “Sure, I can do this. I can just sit with this. But what is this going to change in my life? How is this going to take care of a real problem like my broken car?” As you listen to the silence, you may become aware of some active voices within you. The truth is, the moment you begin listening to the silence, you will feel a connection to the space. But we simply have no good sense of how space nourishes us and how open awareness supports us. We have no clue about the nourishing power of awareness itself, and so we identify with the commentary that arises, identifying with the “smart ego” that we feel is so necessary to manage and make sense of our experience.
Some of the most beautiful experiences I have with people are the moments when someone deeply connects to the silence. Within a very short time, tears come, forgiveness emerges, and strength, clarity, joy—amazing qualities—manifest. Where do these qualities come from? They freely and spontaneously emerge from recognizing the open space of being. This recognition gives birth to everything. Perhaps you are wondering why that didn’t happen before. We don’t recognize the space of being because the space was occupied; the space was obscured with your ego. If you have so many thoughts and so many voices, you have lost connection to the silence. If you experience so much agitation and movement, you have no connection to the stillness. How is something going to emerge from that space? The connection to space only comes when you acknowledge and care about the pain, which just means being open to it and hosting your experience. It is as simple as that.
Reprinted with permission from Awakening the Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditation for Inner Peace and Joy. Hay House, June 2012. The book is available now from our Tibet Shop.
Upcoming Online Workshops With Rinpoche
Including a Seven-Week Course on the Five Elements
Beginning June 9: “The Nature of Mind: Achieving Great Bliss Through Pure Awareness,” a three-week online course in Tibetan meditation, will take place with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. In this workshop Tenzin Rinpoche will instruct and guide the practice of the Fivefold Teachings of Dawa Gyaltsen, a revered Tibetan Bon dzogchen meditation master who lived in the eighth century A.D. This ancient teaching offers pith instructions for a meditation practice that guides one to enter a state of pure awareness that can lead to peace, joy and ultimately the great bliss of self-realization.
More information/Watch introductory video
Starting July 4: Ligmincha Institute is pleased to offer a seven-week online course, “Introduction to the Five Elements: Healing With Form, Energy and Light.” The course will take place from July 4 through Aug. 28, 2012. It is based on a series of instructional videos in which Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche explores how each of the five natural elements—earth, water, fire, air and space—relates to our daily experiences, emotions and relationships.
For each element Rinpoche guides a meditation designed to help you clear your obstacles and bring balance to your life. Throughout the course participants will view videos of Rinpoche’s teachings and guided meditations, read assigned pages from Rinpoche’s book Healing With Form, Energy and Light, and complete assignments for journal writing, discussion, and formal and informal meditation practice. The course is designed so that you may integrate study and practice into your everyday routine, learning at your own pace while enjoying the support of classmates and the course mentor, John Jackson.
This course is offered through Tibetan Meditation: Online Meditation Instruction from Ligmincha Institute. Over time we plan to develop and offer on this site a broad curriculum of educational materials related to Tibetan Bon Buddhism, including courses encompassing the causal vehicle, sutra, tantra and dzogchen. We also will provide free educational materials through this site, including short transcripts from retreats, book excerpts and videos.
To learn more about the five elements teachings, see Healing With Form, Energy and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra and Dzogchen, by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Mark Dahlby, Ed. Snow Lion Publications, 2002. Available for online purchase from Ligmincha Institute’s Bookstore and Tibet Shop.
For full information about this online course, visit the Tibetan Meditation site.
Ligmincha’s Annual Work Retreat June 10–23
Come Join In!
You may arrive as early as June 10, 2012, to participate in the Summer Work Retreat, which will take place from June 10 through 23. The work retreat is free of charge. Whether you join us for one afternoon, one week or the entire two weeks, this is a wonderful time to share with sangha and to be of joyful service. The retreat includes vigorous work periods, daily meditation practice and ample time for a swim in the pool or a walk along the Rockfish River. Participants are provided with free air-conditioned accommodations in Garuda House and free meals. For those who participate in one full week, there will be a 50 percent discount on the registration fee for one week of the summer retreat. If you participate in both full weeks of the work retreat, there will be a 50 percent discount on the registration fee for two weeks of the summer retreat.
To register for the Summer Work Retreat,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call 434-263-6304.
Mark Your Calendars for July Webcasts!
Guided Dzogchen Meditations With Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
On two Sundays in July, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will teach and guide a dzogchen meditation practice during free live webcasts. The dates are:
• Sunday, July 1, from 3–4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time U.S. (New York time)
• Sunday, July 8, 2012, from 3–4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time U.S. (New York time)
In each case Rinpoche will be broadcasting live from the teaching hall at Ligmincha Institute’s annual Summer Retreat, “A View From the Heart: Purifying Your Vision Through the Practice of the Six Lamps, Part 2.”
Learn more about the free webcasts and enter the broadcast page
Invitation to Three Doors Training
Applications Now Being Accepted for October 2012 U.S. Program
The Three Doors is now taking applications for the next training program beginning in October 2012. To apply, go to www.the3doors.org and click on "Application form." The training consists of 6 six-day retreats over a three-year period that will be taught by Marcy Vaughn and Gabriel Rocco. Discover how limiting patterns of body, speech and mind become doorways to authentic being. Engage intimately in the practices of Inner Refuge, Nine Breathings of Purification, Five Tsa Lung, Five Warrior Syllables and Fivefold Teaching of Dawa Gyaltsen. Marcy and Gabriel warmly invite you to consider joining them in making a commitment to transform your life.
If you have an inclination to apply or have further questions about the Three Doors experience, you are invited to participate in a conference call hosted by Marcy on Monday evening, June 11, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. To sign up and receive information on how to participate in the call, please
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and put "3 Doors" in the subject line.
Sangha Sharing
Ornaments From the Spring Retreat
Retreatants share with us some of their creative expressions from the recent spring creative arts retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. “Bring Your Life Into Bloom: Exploring the Creative Process” took place in April at Ligmincha’s Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Nelson County, Virginia.
Brian Harris's short video, "Unbounded Space," is a strikingly intimate portrait of the teaching hall and Garuda House at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, complete with time lapse.
Watch video
Regula Franz created a slideshow of her photos taken during this retreat at Serenity Ridge, capturing beautiful details of that special time and place.
Polly Turner was among several who chose painting or drawing as their creative process. She explains: "‘Sandflowers’ (left) is a little oil painting done on a warm afternoon on the bank of the Rockfish River. ‘Under the Deck’ (far left) is a gouache, or opaque watercolor, of a propane tank and bushes under the deck of the lama house. I was just trying to be in the moment, not focus so much on composition, let go of expectation and be true to whatever subtle aspect of the subject was inexplicably drawing me to it within the meditative place of stillness, silence and spaciousness. Over time it became a pretty emotional experience of letting go, and I learned something important from the process that I'm continuing to apply to my artwork.”
New York hairstylist Yves Durif performed his artistry on several willing participants during the retreat, while Karen Patrick (below) chose drawing as her medium.
‘How to Assist With a Loved One’s Death’
Watch Video of Rinpoche’s Recent Teaching in Germany
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche discusses the Bon Buddhist approach to helping a loved one through the process of death and dying. Included: The importance of understanding the fragility and uncertainty of life; suggestions for creating a beneficial environment for the dying person; and guidance for reciting the bardo prayer and performing the Sur Chod practice. This teaching took place during Rinpoche's recent seminar on "Living With Joy, Dying in Peace," Berlin, Germany, May 6, 2012.
Watch YouTube video
Ligmincha Europe Magazine
Beautiful New Edition!
The spring 2012 issue of Ligmincha Europe magazine is now online! Explore this full, informative and inspiring issue.
View magazine
Upcoming Retreats
Ligmincha’s Serenity Ridge Retreat Center
The retreats described below will take place at Serenity Ridge, Ligmincha Institute’s retreat center in Nelson County, Virginia. To register or for more information, click on the links below, or contact us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 434-263-6304.
June 10–23, 2012
Annual Summer Work Retreat
Free of charge
You may arrive as early as June 10, 2012, to participate in the Summer Work Retreat, which will take place from June 10 through 23. The work retreat is free of charge. Whether you join us for one afternoon, one week or the entire two weeks, this is a wonderful time to share with sangha and to be of joyful service. Our work retreat includes vigorous work periods, daily meditation practice and ample time for a swim in the pool or a walk along the Rockfish River. Participants are provided with free air-conditioned accommodations in Garuda House and free meals. For those who participate in one full week, there will be a 50 percent discount on the registration fee for one week of the summer retreat. If you participate in both full weeks of the work retreat, there will be a 50 percent discount on the registration fee for two weeks of the summer retreat.
To register for the Work Retreat,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
us or call 434-263-6304.
June 24–July 14, 2012
A View From the Heart: Purifying Your Vision Through the Practice of the Six Lamps (Part 2)
20th Annual Summer Retreat/20th Anniversary Celebration!
Dzogchen Teachings With Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Ligmincha Institute's 20th Annual Summer Retreat and 20th Anniversary Celebration! Come for one, two or all three weeks. No prerequisite, newcomers welcome.
Learn more or register
Oct. 10–14, 2012
Awakening the Luminous Mind
Annual Fall Retreat
With Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Registration now open! Dzogchen teachings based on Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's newest book, Awakening the Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditation for Inner Peace and Joy.
Learn more or register
Nov. 1-4, 2012
Tibetan Yoga, Part 2
With Alejandro Chaoul
Prerequisite: This retreat is open to students who have attended the Part 1 teachings of Trul Khor (Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyu cycle) at any time since Jan. 1, 2000.
Learn more or register
Nov. 10-11, 2012
Beginner’s Mind—Starting a Meditation Practice
With John Jackson
A new, two-day beginner's meditation retreat with John Jackson.
Learn more or register
Dec. 27, 2012–Jan. 1, 2013
Winter Retreat 2012: Experiential Transmission, Part 5
Dzogchen Teachings With Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Online registration is now open! Prerequisite: Participants must have received the teachings for Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung in order to attend these Part 5 teachings.
Learn more or register
To register for any of the above retreats, or for more information about teachings in the Bon Buddhist tradition of Tibet, please contact us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 434-263-6304, or go to https://www.ligmincha.org/retreats/retreats.html.
