Volume 20, Number 2 / April 2020
Letter from the Editors
Presence Heals
Dear Friends,
It is a difficult time for so many people due to the increasing spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19. How do we handle the new situations arising without fear or panic? In a recent webcast Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche advised everyone to reflect on their lives and to be mindful of your fear – because “fear is absolutely the immediate manifestation of ignorance.”
Rinpoche reminds us that we need to look at all that we are doing and where our actions are coming from, because as he emphasized, “It’s a question of doing the right thing from the right place.” You can find the excerpt from his March 15 Facebook Live webcast below along with links to the meditation practice that Rinpoche led, including the SA LE Ö mantra.
And as always, Rinpoche sends his prayers to all those who are sick or who are affected by this situation, and encourages all of us to offer our prayers and dedications to all those in need. We all need to stay connected as a community; there will be more opportunities on Zoom and Facebook, and even though Rinpoche is now on sabbatical and personal retreat, he will connect whenever he can.
Just announced on cybersangha.net, these upcoming broadcasts:
March 26: Being Playful with Your Fear
March 28: Dancing with Your Fear
March 29: Music from the Heart
April 1: Prayers and Rituals for Healing (check cybersangha.net soon)
There are many announcements and happenings to report at Ligmincha International:
- Read Rinpoche's letter about his change in plans for his sabbatical and the cancellation of European retreats due to concern about the coronavirus and travel restrictions.
- The upcoming Spring Retreat formerly planned at Serenity Ridge will now be held as an online retreat April 3–5. Everyone is welcome! See details below.
- Note the changes in the latest dates and locations for Rinpoche's worldwide teaching schedule from April through August. See below and on Ligmincha's website.
- Have you attended any of the Full-Moon Sherap Chamma practices held though Zoom? Find out how you can be a part of this collective group practice. Details below and on cybersangha.net.
- Check out Ligmincha Learning's website remake! So lovely and easy to use, and it NOW offers courses with subtitles in languages other than English. See all the details below.
- Two new amazing mandalas are now at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in the Kunzang Khang building.
- Ligmincha Learning's next online course, “The Five Elements” with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, begins April 11.
- Enjoy our latest International Sangha Sharing featuring a poem by Italy's Alexander Pincin Yungdrung Dawa.
- The next GlideWing online workshop is “Tibetan Meditation” beginning June 27. (Previously listed courses for March and May have been rescheduled.)
- The 3 Doors announces a growing number of online courses.
- Student and Teacher – Together on the Path is a regular feature of VOCL. Rinpoche answers a question about what to do when you feel burned out.
- View the translation of the February VOCL in Spanish.
In Bön,
Aline and Jeff Fisher
‘Facing Fear, Finding Peace’
Excerpt from a Special March 15 Facebook Broadcast with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Photo by Salvador EspinosaI hope all of you are all doing well at your home safe. This moment is very unsettling globally. The coronavirus [COVID-19] impact globally is affecting everybody’s life and bringing up so much fear in society. I think this clearly is a great moment for us to reflect in our life. It is the universe’s teaching to us. So I hope that all of you are taking it positively and trying to do your best.
I am here in California. Senghe’s school just closed on Friday so that means he’s not going to go back to school until April 10 or something like that. Here in California it is one of the harder hit in the US. But people I think are doing quite well, being together, supporting each other and not completely getting freaked out with fear but trying to be prepared. That is what we are trying to do.
As many of you know, I was taking a year off next year. Clearly, this situation indicated to me to take it earlier than waiting for a year. So am taking six months off now and six months off next year. We are all fine here, we are well.
This is a very great time for us to really connect with each other. Now as health experts are advising us to social distance and physical contact is not the most hygienic thing to do, I think the ancient tradition with distance, with namaste and bowing down, is good. Facebook and Zoom meetings are a great way collectively to do the practice right now. We hope to organize more Zoom practices. We already have a bunch of different Zoom practice groups. On cybersangha.net you can see more places where different sangha groups are doing practices.
I think it is important for all of us to really learn to connect through Zoom, to reinforce our cyber sangha’s connection, strength, and support each other. This is a great moment to do that. Personally, as I’m taking time off I am already liking my retreat. I felt, I am on retreat, I did not want to do the social media thing. But as this a very important moment, very unsettling, I think there are a number of our sangha members who feel the need to be supporting each other. So I thought not to completely cut off and to do this Facebook. Every now and then, even though I am on my retreat, when I feel the need to do something, just to practice together and support all of you, I will do it. I will announce this in advance. Other than that, I will not be answering my email or any phone. Like I am right now, I am on retreat here.
[Rinpoche offers a guided meditation. To view the entire Facebook broadcast, click here. To listen to the SA LE Ö mantra, click here.]
This is the moment I think we all need to come together. We have different Zoom practice groups in different countries. Our cyber sangha team is very much engaged in organizing it. I hope you all are able to join somewhere; when you feel the need of support somewhere you can find the support. Also, I think it’s a great idea not only to feel the support but to see what you can do to help others in the community and in society.
Personal Reflections on the Coronavirus
As far as a way to understanding this coronavirus situation in the world, I feel personally the universe is giving a teaching, a teaching that many times I’ve been talking about. Don’t just do things from pain identity. Don’t overly speak from pain speech. Don’t trap into the imagination of your pain mind. Because it is exhausting, it’s not coming from the right place, it’s not manifesting for the right reasons. It is not even necessary to do what you do; even if it looks good, still it’s not necessary because you are not connected. The universe is saying, the Mother Earth is saying: Let me take a break. I need a break from all of you. Slow down and take a break for yourself.
Many different governments and organizations and situations are being very supportive of people taking leave working from home, working less. Clearly, I think this is a great moment to do a little bit like a personal retreat, at least reflecting deep in oneself. The whole world is always running from the collective pain identity. Our pride as human, our tendency to control each other, control the world—this is deep inside as a sickness of humanity. Either one country is trying to control another country, one community is trying to control another community, one business is trying to control another business, one organization is trying to control another organization, one religion is trying to control another religion, suppressing each other, or one family member is trying to control another family member.
This virus, regardless of whether it is human made or naturally arising, is trying to say: You don’t see me. Even the metaphor of crown, corona, is like a symbol of power: I’m in charge, I’m in power, not all of you. The universe is teaching us just to be more humble. Yes, it’s very true. I’m not in charge. I’m not the controller. I don’t want to control my own life; I don’t want to control someone. And there is no need to control.
So this is a great teaching that this virus is giving us. And also constantly testing your fear—fear is absolutely the immediate manifestation of ignorance. What is ignorance in the dzogchen tradition? Ignorance is disconnection from the self, lack of realization of yourself, lack of knowing who you are. Fear is the immediate manifestation of that disconnection. Every activity or many unnecessary activities that occur in our life, at the bigger collective level or the individual level, all are fear-driven. Many things you do in your life that are probably fear-driven, that you don’t have to do or you should not do, it’s best not to do. You will be healthier and happier not doing those things because you are doing them from the wrong place. Or many things that you should do—it’s a question of doing the right thing from the right place.
There are many things you are good at doing, or you should do, that will be great to do—you will bring a lot of light and healing and goodness in the world—that you are not doing because your fear is not allowing you to do. There is so much you should not do, stop doing—sooner is better—or at least take a break. This is what the coronavirus is advising: Take a break the whole universe, and let me take a break. The sky needs to breathe. The air needs to process itself. The water needs to clean itself. The environment needs to clean itself. So give me a break.
It’s a strong way of teaching it, but it’s definitely teaching, humbling, making us more human.
Probably you have seen the way people in Italy have been handling it. In all the different apartments, people are singing music, sharing. Imagine—many of these people in big apartment buildings probably don’t know who’s living downstairs, living upstairs, who is living across the window. But because of this virus, everybody comes out of that window, expressing their skills of music, singing, joy, connecting, playing with each other, when you have never seen, never known the other people before.
This is what it is bringing. It is bringing a time of connection. These moments we are going through, I think we truly need to learn to connect and live and recognize our fear. Don’t wait for this level of incident to recognize it, but recognize it much before—and always.
It is very important not to worry too much, not freak out. Just have a balanced amount of looking at social media information, and look at the right source of information—because so much news is there—such as the World Health Organization. And take care of yourself. Be prepared, whatever is coming. Be alert. But deeply try to connect with that sense of peacefulness inside.
Even though personally am taking this time off and am liking my retreat, I felt that this is the moment our cyber sangha’s needs are there. It is my joy to connect with all of you and at least have a session of practice together, sit and feel each other, support each other.
During these days every now and then I will try to lead short practices. And if you visit cybersangha.net we will have different Zoom practice groups in different places, some of healing mantras.
The last 24-hour Full Moon Practice [of Sherap Chamma] was a great success. We had over 20 countries participate, 72 people hosting our practices, more than 1,000 people registered and close to 2,000 people participating back and forth. This connection is so important to support each other. I am so grateful that we have a great team who are really working hard to make more and more a way to support each other. And I will try to do my best.
The next 24-hour Full Moon Practice begins April 8 at 10 a.m. New York Time. Learn more here.
View March 15 broadcast: Facing Fear, Finding Peace
View March 19 broadcast: Discovering Your Refuge Within
View March 21 broadcast: Making Friends with Your Fear
Upcoming broadcasts:
March 26: Being Playful with Your Fear
March 28: Dancing with Your Fear
March 29: Music from the Heart
April 1: Prayers and Rituals for Healing (check cybersangha.net soon)
An Important Letter from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Cancellation of European Retreats and Sabbatical Change
Following is a letter from Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche to the Ligmincha International sangha related to the cancellation of his retreats scheduled in a number of European countries this spring. All of these retreats will be rescheduled in 2021. Rinpoche had previously announced plans for a yearlong sabbatical in 2021. Instead, he will be taking six months off in 2020 and six months in 2021.
March 2, 2020
Dear Sangha,
After much reflection, and in consultation with leaders in the European Ligmincha communities, I have decided to cancel my upcoming visits to Germany, Austria, France, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. I am committed to rescheduling all of the cancelled events in 2021, and I look forward to being in Europe to teach at Buchenau, Germany and in Wilga, Poland this summer.
My decision is a response to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. As an organization we are responsible for everyone who comes to our events. Until this situation is better understood and becomes more stable, we do not want to put anyone at risk or unintentionally help spread this disease. So it is prudent to postpone these teachings and support efforts to contain the virus and prevent further outbreaks.
On my side, I feel that the universe is saying that I should take my sabbatical earlier and in a different way than I had planned. Instead of taking an entire year away from my teaching in 2021, I will take shorter periods for family, personal retreat and creative activity. And I will take these shorter breaks more often. I will take six months of time in 2020, and another six months in 2021.
In my opinion, all the news and reactivity about the virus is part of a collective fear manifesting in our responses to what is happening in the world. Recently there has been so much negativity in society and on social media, between politicians, political parties, religious groups and individuals. There is so much energy spent in defending and attacking, and in being separate or cut off from others. It is as if the world is saying, okay, you need to take a break from being mean to each other. Now we have an opportunity to set aside our differences and work together for a solution to stop the spread of the virus, care for the sick and support the families of its victims. We can use this situation and all that it brings us as an opportunity for personal and collective growth.
I encourage all of you to pray, as I do, for everyone who has been affected by this or any other sickness—those who have died, those who are sick, those quarantined, their families, their loved ones— and for the welfare of all the healthcare workers and first responders.
As always, I send each and every one of you my love and blessings.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Online Spring Retreat Open to All
‘Discovering the Melody of Silence’ with Tenzin Rinpoche on Zoom
Join us for Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's first online retreat April 3, 4 and 5. To make this retreat available to as many people as possible, we are using a new, tiered pricing model letting you pay an amount from $0 to $300. Pay what you can. See below for how to choose your payment pricing when registering. Simultaneous translation will be offered in French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will guide us to discover and listen to the inner melody of silence that lies within ourselves, and to rest in its healing power. Marcy Vaughn will guide practice sessions.
This retreat is open to all. If attending this retreat we strongly encourage you to participate in all sessions and to take a break from social media, news and entertainment as much as possible for its duration.
The online retreat will be held Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, from 10 a.m.–4:45 p.m. The Sunday, April 5 schedule is from 10 a.m.–3:15 p.m.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s Worldwide Teaching Schedule
April Through September 2020
Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s 2020 Schedule by Date is available on the Ligmincha website, with location, teaching topic and contact information. Rinpoche's schedule also is available as individual Events boxes on the website – the ones with photos have complete information; information about others is still to come.
You can also find Rinpoche’s schedule of online events, including his live Facebook broadcasts, at Rinpoche’s new CyberSangha website, Ligmincha Learning and GlideWing.
Here is a listing of Rinpoche’s teachings over the next six months. Future schedule changes will be noted in the Events section of the Ligmincha website. Schedule subject to change.
- April 3–5, 2020: Spring Retreat now ONLINE: Discovering the Melody of Silence
- (POSTPONED UNTIL FALL: Serenity Ridge Dialogues—previous scheduled April 5–7, 2020)
- April 11–May 23, 2020: Online course through Ligmincha Learning: The Five Elements
- May 27–July 19, 2020: Online course through GlideWing: Healing from the Source
- June 20–July 4, 2020: Summer retreat at Serenity Ridge, Shipman, VA: Tummo, Part 3
- June 20–July 26, 2020: Online course through Ligmincha Learning: The Three Heart Mantras
- June 27–July 19, 2020: Online course through GlideWing: Tibetan Meditation: The Nature of Mind
- August 1–30, 2020: Online course through GlideWing: Tibetan Dream Yoga
- August 3–9: Buchenau, Germany: The Twenty-One Nails
- August 10–16: Wilga, Poland: Tummo, Part 2
- August 28–30: Helsinki, Finland: Guidance for Living and Dying
- September 4–6: Budapest, Hungary: The Fivefold Teaching of Dawa Gyaltsen
- September 12–13: Péronnas (Bourg-en-Bresse), France: Facing Fear, Finding Peace: The Ancient Practice of Chöd from Tibet
- September 12–October 4: Online course through GlideWing: Tibetan Sound Healing
- September 18–20: Rome, Italy: Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung
- September 25–27: Chamma Ling Colorado, Crestone, CO: Guidance for Living and Dying: Commentary on the Bardo Teachings
Next Full Moon Practice of Sherap Chamma April 8
International Sanghas Host Monthly Zoom Practices Throughout 2020
On April 8, 2020, and each subsequent full moon of 2020, join us online for meditation followed by a 24-hour mantra recitation session. This is a precious opportunity to engage in the healing practice of Sherap Chamma, Mother of Wisdom and Love. Each session starts at 10 a.m. New York time on the day of a full moon and ends at 10 a.m. the following day.
We will be supported by Ligmincha International’s global community of practitioners. The 24-hour sessions will begin with a 20-minute meditation guided by Marcy Vaughn or Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Rinpoche and Ligmincha lamas will take opportunities to join participants throughout the 24 hours.
Unlike Rinpoche’s CyberSangha Facebook Live broadcasts, the 24-hour full moon practices will take place via Zoom, in an online meeting space. There is no cost to participate, but registration is required in advance of each 24-hour session; full details and instructions for participating are below.
Future full moon practice sessions are scheduled for Thursday, May 7 and Friday, June 5. See the schedule and learn more on cybersangha.net.
Expanding Opportunities for Practice
New Ligmincha Learning Website and Language Options
Ligmincha Learning is please to share two major initiatives that have been under way and are now bearing fruit. First is a whole new look and feel to the website. And second is offering courses with subtitles in languages other than English.
Ligminchalearning.com has added multi-language functionality, so that the menu bars and links appear according to each user’s preference, making navigation easier. Also, the site is now mobile friendly, more graphics-based and reorganized to help students find the content they are looking for.
More importantly, for the past 18 months, active work has taken place to subtitle and dub courses into languages other than English. In a recent survey Ligmincha found that only one-third of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s students speak English as their first language, even though almost 40 percent of practitioners declare English as their second language. (See chart below for more details.)
To date, the following courses are available in languages other than English:
Spanish
Estableciendo una práctica meditativa de la tradición Bön del Tíbet, Parte 1
Estableciendo una práctica meditativa de la tradición Bön del Tíbet, Parte 2
French
Débuter une Pratique de la Méditation, de la Tradition Bön du Tibet, Partie 1
Polish
Pierwsze kroki w praktyce medytacji, z tybetańskiej tradycji Bon, Część 1
Pierwsze kroki w praktyce medytacji, z tybetańskiej tradycji Bon, Część 2
Italian
Cominciare una Pratica di Meditazione, dalla tradizione Bön del Tibet, Parte 1
Many more courses are currently under development. For example, we are about to release a nine-month-long Ngöndro course in French, and plans are in the works for Spanish and Portuguese language versions of this course as well. Our recently launched umdze (meditation leader) training program will be made available in other languages as we are able to get translators working on it.
In time, Ligmincha Learning also hopes to offer original content in languages other than English by working with Rinpoche’s senior Western students around the world. Our goal is to make access as easy as possible to the rich, diverse and endlessly rewarding teachings of the Bön tradition. And, as a part of this project, we will be releasing at least two new courses this year. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche has filmed a full Sleep Yoga course that is now in the editing phase. And Alejandro Chaoul-Reich has created a course on the Outer, Inner and Secret Tsa Lung that we hope to make available in the second half of 2020.
You can find these and all of Ligmincha’s courses at ligminchalearning.com.
Two New Mandalas in Kunzang Khang
From Mexico to Serenity Ridge
Serenity Ridge has been blessed with two amazing gifts by Mexico sangha member and longtime student of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Leonides Guadarrama: two museum-quality replicas of mandalas painted by Lama Yungdrung, one of our two resident lamas in Mexico. The first, the mandala of the Ma Gyü, graces the entry wall as one comes into Kunzang Khang. The second mandala is of Sherap Chamma, which adorns the central wall of the dining room.
Ma Gyü mandala
These two very large mandalas are museum-quality reproductions of original paintings by Lama Yungdrung Lodoe (and Lama Nyima Gyaltsen is a co-painter of the Ma Gyü mandala). The original mandalas are in Valle De Bravo, Mexico at the Great Stupa for World Peace.
Sherap Chamma mandala
The Ma Gyü, or Mother Tantra, is one of the most important tantric cycle of teachings in the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche has taught on the six paths of meditation from the Ma Gyü, including sleep, dream, the elements, chöd, powa and the bardo. Sherap Chamma, the Mother of Wisdom and Love, is the source of wisdom, and her medicine is love and compassion. The teachings of Sherap Chamma also comprise one of the most important tantric cycles of the ancient Bön tradition. Taught frequently at retreats and online, the practice of Sherap Chamma is being offered online each month through 2020 during a 24-Hour Full Moon Practice.
Each mandala took more than six months of full-time work to complete. Leonides supported Lama Yungdrung in the technical aspects of reproducing the original works. Each of the original mandalas was copied using a professional digital camera at high resolution. A separate image was made of every square inch of the canvas, and then digitally stitched together. The digital copies are almost one terabyte in size each. Together Lama Yungdrung and Leonides selected the best paper, ink and printing company, and then matched the color output back to the original to ensure that the integrity of the painting was kept.
These mandalas possess unique qualities not seen before in traditional Bön thangka painting. To prepare for each one, Lama Yungdrung returned to the source texts for specific guidance. He found that the text, while very specific with respect to many of the features of the mandalas, is silent on other matters. For example, Lama Yungdrung widened the outer borders of the mandalas to enhance their visual impact. Also, traditionally, the four gates to the mandala are depicted closed. Lama Yungdrung chose to paint them in an open position, showing that we are always welcome into the divine presence of the deities and enlightened beings. After being shown the changes, His Eminence Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche stated that from now on the open gates should be incorporated into all paintings of mandalas.
Everyone who has entered Kunzang Khang since the paintings were hung has felt their almost overpowering presence and their blessing. They have changed the already positive energy of the building in an amazing way. The next time you are able to come to Serenity Ridge, see for yourself the extraordinary work of Lama Yungdrung, Lama Nyima Gyaltsen and Leonides Guadarrama.
From the Heart
International Sangha Sharing
Following the Sangha Sharing feature in the February VOCL newsletter with poetry by Rinpoche and sangha members, we received a heartfelt poem by Alexander Pincin Yungdrung Dawa, president and treasurer of Ligmincha Italy, titled We Met in a Dream. His poem is dedicated to Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, his root lama. You find it first in Italian, and then the English translation. We invite YOU to share a poem of yours that has arisen through your connection to Bön. Just send it to our
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.
In un sogno ci siamo incontrati
In un sogno ci siamo incontrati
Come seme di luce perpetua in un oceano
La tua manifestazione ha fatto emergere nel mio cuore gioia e saggezza che sbocciano
Hai dato una svolta ed un elevazione al mio cammino
Lode a te Tenzin Wangyal
Gyalwa Yungdrung Sempa,
Detentore degli insegnamenti di Sangye Tönpa Shenrap
nel lignaggio dell'Incommensurabile Sherap Gyaltsen di Menri
Maestro impavido, amorevole, gentile e saggio.
La generosità delle tue azioni e la chiarezza della tua Parola
Sono come arcobaleni in una valle fiorita
Porti luce cristallina nelle acque oscure dei laghi dell’ignoranza
Guidi la mia mente al di là della sofferenza dei Tre Veleni,
Attraverso i Sei Reami dell’Esistenza.
In visione, al centro del mio stesso Essere,
Mi appari in ogni chakra come fiori bianchi che fioriscono
Al centro del canale centrale, dal cuore di Sherap Chamma
Mi appari come guida a beneficio di tutti gli esseri
La tua voce soffia mantra di purificazione e potenziamento
Le tue azioni ispirano la mia pratica del Dharma e Sowa Rigpa
Lode a Te Tenzin Wangyal
Prezioso Lama radice, in un sogno ci siamo incontrati
Possa la tua vita essere lunga, felice, e totalmente realizzata
Possa tu ottenere la totale perfezione dei Tre Corpi
Mi prostro a te, con profonda gratitudine e devozione
Possa io essere benedetto dalle tue azioni virtuose
Possa io seguire le tue impronte di gentilezza, saggezza e compassione
Sul sentiero dell’Auto-Realizzazione della Grande Perfezione.
Come in principio, in un sogno, così ora nel bardo di questa vita
Possa anche al momento della morte trovare guida nei tuoi insegnamenti
Per proseguire con fiducia e senza timore nel cammino dello Yungdrung Sempa
A beneficio di tutti gli esseri senzienti dei Tre Regni
Poesia: “In un sogno ci siamo incontrati”, 27/10/2019
Alexander Pincin Yungdrung Dawa
Dedicata al mio maestro radice Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
We met in a dream
We met in a dream
Like a seed of endless light in an ocean
Your manifestation gave birth to blooming joy and wisdom in my heart
You have shifted and uplifted my Path
Praise to You, Tenzin Wangyal
Gyalwa Yungdrung Sempa,
Holder of the teachings of Sangye Tönpa Shenrap
In the Lineage of the Unsurpassed Sherap Gyaltsen of Menri
Brave Teacher, loving, kind and wise
The generosity of your actions and the clarity of your Speech
Are like rainbows in a flowery valley
You carry crystal light in the ignorance lakes' darkened water
You lead my mind beyond the suffering of Three Poisons
Throughout the Six Realms of Existence
In vision, at the core of my own Being
You appear in every chakra as flourishing white flowers.
At the core of the central channel, from the heart of Sherap Chamma
You appear as a guide to benefit all sentient beings
Your voice blows mantras of purification and empowerment
Your actions inspire my practice of Dharma and Sowa Rigpa.
Praise to You, Tenzin Wangyal
Precious root Lama, we met in a dream
May your life be long, happy and fully accomplished
May you attain the total perfection of the Three Bodies.
I bow to You, with deep gratitude and devotion
May I be blessed by your Virtuous Deeds
May I follow your prints of kindness, wisdom and compassion
On the Path of Self-Realization of Great Perfection.
Likewise in the beginning, in a dream, in the bardo of this lifetime as well
May the moment of my death find a guide in your teachings
To pursue with confidence and fearless in the Path of Yungdrung Sempa
To benefit all sentient beings of Three Realms.
Alexander Pincin Yungdrung Dawa
Presidente e Tesoriere
Ligmincha Italia
'The Five Elements'
Ligmincha Learning Course Begins April 11
Ligmincha Learning is pleased to offer an online course on “The Five Elements: Healing with Form, Energy and Light” with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche from April 11–May 23, 2020. In this six-week course Rinpoche explains how each of the five elements relates to our daily experiences, emotions and relationships. He guides meditations for each of the elements, designed to help clear our obstacles and bring balance to our lives.
Learn more and register
Upcoming: June 20–July 26: The Three Heart Mantras
'The Nature of Mind: Achieving Great Bliss Through Pure Awareness'
GlideWing Online Course June 27–July 19
This interactive online workshop, offered through GlideWing, allows you to learn and practice from your own home, at your own schedule, with personal guidance from Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Its video-based teachings 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.
Upcoming 3 Doors Online Courses in May
Overcoming Limitations and Embracing Death in the Inner Refuge
With a growing community of practitioners, now in over 25 countries around the world, The 3 Doors is offering more online programs this year. Two programs beginning in May focus on overcoming limitations and embracing death from the inner refuge.
These online programs are specifically designed to be easily integrated into people’s daily lives and schedules. They offer prerecorded modules of teachings and guided practices as well as live Zoom sessions to gather together as a class to practice, ask the teacher questions and share experiences. All program materials can be downloaded for your continuing personal use.
Please click on a link below to learn more and register for one of these 2020 programs.
- May 1-June 7: Untying the Knots of Limitation – Laura Shekerjian
- May 8-June 19: Embracing Death in the Inner Refuge – Marcy Vaughn
Read about seven upcoming programs and more 3 Doors news
Student and Teacher
Together on the Path
As students on the Tibetan Bön Buddhist path, we offer our teachers a range of questions from the simple to the complex. Here is a question about what to do when you are feeling burned out and your elements feel low.
Student: What do I do if I feel burned out? All the elements feel low.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: If you are feeling like that, you can go to wherever the most beautiful place is for you. You don't have to go to Hawaii, but whether it's the sky or water that you love, you go there and visit and connect and retrieve. And maybe one advice would also be that when you feel like you are drained so much, don't try too hard. Don't try to control your life or anyone else's life that you love. Don't try to control and don't try too hard. And rest more, allow more. Sometimes a lot more things can happen. Sometimes you are able to do a lot more when you allow than when you force.
Spanish Translation of VOCL
Link to February Issue Now Available
Look for the translations of Voice of Clear Light at the top of the VOCL website.
Read VOCL in Spanish
