New Online Host Program on Ligmincha Learning
Practice with Family, Friends, Colleagues
Ligmincha is excited to share a new Host Program available to anyone with an established meditation practice in our tradition who wishes to help create a local practice group.
Many of us, after establishing our own practice, want to share with family, friends and colleagues what we have learned. This is a natural expression of the positive qualities that spiritual work brings out in us. Leading practice and guiding others, however, takes not only a substantial amount of training, but it is the work of many years of personal practice. What to do in the meantime?
The new Host Program becomes available March 1 for free on Ligmincha Learning. By watching a series of short videos, reviewing the Program Guide, agreeing to abide by the Code of Conduct and successfully completing the knowledge review, you can then organize a local practice group.
This program doesn’t provide authorization to teach or lead others. Rather, it explains how to create sacred space and support or sponsor a group. It offers handouts as well as a curated selection of guided practice videos with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. The video instruction guide includes presentations by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Geshe Tenzin Yangton and Rob Patzig. These materials will show you how to create a safe and welcoming practice space, bring people together, foster a sense of community, and feel the power of connection to one another and to the teachings. The guided practices with Rinpoche are intended for all levels of experience, from the newest students to longtime practitioners.
Anyone living in a country, territory or state without an affiliated Ligmincha group (see the list of our locations here) can create a new group simply by going through the short program and contacting Ligmincha’s president, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . If you live in a country with a Ligmincha presence, then you will need permission to create your group from your country’s Board or local Council, listed on the same page as above.
The Host Program is the first of a series of trainings and support for practitioners and for our instructors and teachers. Currently in development are:
- A clear and comprehensive Code of Conduct for all Ligmincha representatives as well as a process for hearing, evaluating and responding to any perceived violations of that code.
- A training and support program, including retreats, for our umdzes (practice leaders) and instructors.
- New courses on a variety of topics on Ligmincha Learning available to all practitioners.
'The Five Elements: Healing with Form, Energy and Light'
Ligmincha Learning Online Course Begins February 9
Ligmincha Learning offers a six-week online course on “The Five Elements: Healing with Form, Energy and Light” with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche from February 9–March 23, 2019. More
The five elements – earth, water, fire, air and space – pervade our lives, are the essences of our being and can be sources of profound healing. In this course Rinpoche explains how each of the five elements relates to our daily experiences, emotions and relationships. For each, he guides meditations designed to help clear our obstacles and bring balance to our lives.
Each section of the course includes videos of Rinpoche’s teachings and a guided meditation; readings from his book Healing with Form, Energy and Light; and assignments for journal writing, discussion, and formal and informal 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.
Coming in March:
- "Tibetan Language Bön Prayers: Inner Refuge and Yeshe Walmo," a live online course with Geshe Denma Gyaltsen, March 17–April 21, 2019.
- “The Three Heart Mantras," an online course with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, March 23–May 4, 2019
'The Truth That Sets You Free'
GlideWing Online Course Begins February 16
"The Truth That Sets You Free: Discovering Your Inner Wisdom Through Practices of Waking and Sleeping" with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is a three-week online workshop offered by GlideWing from February 16–March 10, 2019. This workshop is about becoming liberated from fear and other disturbing emotions so you may live more fully and genuinely in all aspects of life. More Ultimately, these practices are about achieving liberation, or enlightenment.
The meditations taught in this workshop include daytime contemplative practices from the dzogchen, or "great perfection," tradition of Tibetan Bön Buddhism. They also include sleep yoga practices of the night from the Bön Mother Tantra, which offer helpful support for one's dzogchen practice. Through these practices Rinpoche helps you to discover the truth of who you are: a state of spacious awareness that is beyond the ego-based identity and which is eternal, changeless, indestructible and serene. Realizing this truth is what liberates us from the fear and negative emotions that have trapped us in suffering.
Learn more/register
Coming in March:
- "Tibetan Meditation: The Nature of Mind," a GlideWing workshop with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, March 30–April 21, 2019.
Annual Spring Retreat on 'The Five Elements'
Plus Spring Service Retreat and Personal Practice Retreat
Ligmincha's Annual Spring Retreat on "The Five Elements: Connecting with the Living Universe" with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will be held April 11–14. According to the ancient Tibetan spiritual traditions, the five natural elements of earth, water, fire, air and space are fundamental aspects of a living universe. More Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will guide practices and activities through which we can deeply connect with the elemental essences, and nourish and restore health and vitality. Group activity and time for participants to engage directly with the elements in nature will be an integral part of the retreat.
Learn more/register
On April 8–11, you are invited to be of service at Serenity Ridge at the Spring Service Retreat prior to the Spring Retreat. Participants wll be given a credit for each hour worked, to be applied toward the cost of Spring Retreat registration.
Learn more
On April 14–18, Serenity Ridge is pleased to offer a self-guided Personal Practice Retreat for all who are interested. Come from one to five days, depending on your schedule.
Learn more/register
Symposium for Contemplative Sciences April 14–16
Symposium at Serenity Ridge Focuses on Body, Breath and Mind
Join Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and a range of presenters this spring for cutting-edge dialogues and powerful practices that explore the roles of body, breath and mind from various perspectives in the contemplative sciences. Learn about the latest research from leading mind scientists and humanities scholars, alongside experiential knowledge from meditation practitioners and Tibetan medical doctors. More
The symposium’s intention is to foster a deep and practical understanding of how the human physical and subtle bodies, breath and mind catalyze the cultivation of self-knowledge, resilience and well-being. This event builds on the conferences on science and spirituality that Ligmincha International has hosted since 2010.
The program includes dialogue sessions that discuss latest scientific findings related to contemplative practice. Each session investigates practical intersections of multiple perspectives, including medicine, philosophy, neuroscience and physiology, yoga, and other movement-based and contemplative traditions. The symposium is interspersed with meditation practices led to complement each dialogue.
Speakers will be available throughout the program to discuss their work in an atmosphere of collegiality, with opportunities for participants to share in conversations and meals.
This year is the first of three scheduled annual programs to revolve around topics central to the body, breath and mind. These themes will be further developed over the next two years for programs in spring 2020 and 2021.
Learn more/register
Student and Teacher
Together on the Path
As students on the Tibetan Bön Buddhist path, we offer our teachers a range of simple and difficult questions. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche has a wonderful ability to understand human nature, cut to the truth and share his wisdom in his response to these questions. Here is one question from a student attending the 2018 Fall Retreat at Serenity Ridge. What follows is an edited excerpt from the oral teachings given in reply by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
Student: I want to ask you how can one deal better with the fear of dying? This is a very prominent feeling that I have. More
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: There are many different ways of dealing with fear. According to the dzogchen cycle of teachings, the emotion of fear, and particularly the fear of death, is basically a fear of losing something. Even though we feel like we are losing something, in a way we're not really losing anything at death, because in a way we never really had anything to begin with. It’s not logic or rationality that can really work with that fear. Rather, it is our bringing the light – the awareness – to the emotion of fear itself. It is bringing presence to the emotion, hosting it, accommodating it, being with it and not being separate from it. Looking at it as something separate and then trying to shut it down doesn't work. That has never succeeded.
If you come closer to the fear, are aware of it and accommodate it, rest in it – being kind, gentle, connecting, quiet, peaceful, restful, no voices – then suddenly it's gone. It's no longer there. And when it's no longer there, then recognize that space, the space absent of the fear of death. Recognize that it is eternal. When you're there, you know that this will never die, this will never be destroyed, this will never change. All of these qualities are fully present here. Feel that. Recognize nothing's going to change that. Changelessness is what we say. So, more of a familiarity and awareness with that will definitely be of help.
The 3 Doors in the New Year
Offerings Include Self-Guided Program, Online Programs and Retreats
The 3 Doors is pleased to announce the following program offerings for the first six months of 2019. In addition, registration for the next nine-month Online Compassion Project (September 2019–May 2020) with Gabriel Rocco and Marcy Vaughn will open soon. Sign up for e-news under “Stay Connected” on The 3 Doors homepage to receive the announcement. More
The Joy of Embodied Presence: Self-Guided Program with Laura Shekerjian
Enjoy more than four hours of instruction and guided practice at your own pace in a prerecorded, downloadable format. This new self-guided meditation program explores the body as a powerful doorway into open awareness and the vibrancy of direct experience.
Learn more/register
The Awakening Power of Breath: Online February 23–March 16 with Laura Shekerjian
(English with Spanish translation) In this four-week interactive online course, explore the power of breath to release densities of body, energy and mind, and guide us into a clearer, more fluid sense of self.
Learn more/register
Exploring your Wisdom Breath Energies: Online March 20–April 10 with Alejandro Chaoul, Ph.D. (English with Spanish translation) This four-week experiential online meditation program explores the subtle body as a powerful doorway to realize the gifts that emerge from the openness of being.
Learn more/register
Opening the Door of the Body: Weekend Retreats with Laura Shekerjian in Rotterdam (Public Talk February 8, Retreat February 9–10 ) & Copenhagen (Public Talk February 15, Retreat February 16–17) As we move through life, our body and breath are our closest companions. They are ever-present but often ignored. Our state of being is expressed through our posture, movement and breath.
Learn more/register
Walking the Healing Path Retreat with Raven Lee, Ph.D., in Switzerland, June 10–13
This residential retreat is designed to support those called to a subtle energy healing path. During this retreat, you will be supported to connect with the ground of your essential nature – open, aware, dynamically present – which provides a safe container for your own emotional and spiritual development as you engage in your healing work with others.
Learn more/register
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 Voice of Clear Light website.
Read VOCL in Spanish
Upcoming Retreats
Serenity Ridge Retreat Center
The retreats listed below will take place at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, headquarters of Ligmincha International, located in Nelson County, Virginia. To register or for more information, click on the links below, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 434-263-6304.
February 2–3, 2019
Special Teachings on Dzogchen and Ma Gyu
with Khenpo Nyima Rinpoche
Learn more/register
February 8–10, 2019
Sherap Chamma: Mother of Wisdom and Love
with Marcy Vaughn
Learn more/register
April 8–11, 2019
Spring Service Retreat
Learn more
April 11–14, 2019
Spring Retreat—The Five Elements: Connecting with the Living Universe
with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Learn more/register
April 14–16, 2019
Ligmincha Symposium for Contemplative Sciences: Body, Breath & Mind
with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and other researchers/presenters
Learn more/register
April 14–18, 2019
Personal Practice Retreat
Learn more/register
June 22, 2019
Sa Le Ӧ Fundraising Dinner and Concert for Tibetan Orphans
Learn more/register
June 23–July 7, 2019
Summer Retreat—Tummo: Inner Fire of Realization, Part 2 of 3
with His Holiness Lungtok Dawa Dargyal Rinpoche and Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Learn more/register
July 7–10, 2019
Personal Practice Retreat
Learn more/register
October 22–27, 2019
Fall Retreat—Guidance for Living and Dying: Commentary on the Bardo Teachings from the Bön Mother Tantra
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
November 7–10, 2019
Trul Khor, Part 2 and Part 3
with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich and Rob Patzig
December 26, 2019–January 1, 2020
Winter Retreat—Dzogchen Silent Practice Retreat: Turning Inward
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
To register for any of the above retreats, or for more information about teachings in the Bön Buddhist tradition of Tibet, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , call 434-263-6304 or visit the Serenity Ridge website.
