How Is Covid-19 Affecting Our Community?

 A Report from Ligmincha’s Worldwide Sangha

Covid-19 has caused a massive collective disruption all over the world. To get an impression of how the coronavirus has affected the communities of Ligmincha International, founded by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Ton Bisscheroux, VOCL’s new international correspondent and former editor of Ligmincha Europe Magazine, surveyed groups around the world. They include international sanghas; Serenity Ridge and Chamma Ling retreat centers; The 3 Doors, a nonsectarian program founded to explore the transformative practice of meditation; and Lishu Institute, established for more long-term study of Bön. Below is a summary of his findings.

Ton Bisscheroux

Is there less or more contact in your sangha since the virus outbreak?

With some people there is more contact and with others less, and this mainly depends on "internet affinity" or "internet dislike." In most sanghas, practice groups have moved online. For all the sanghas, in-person retreats with Rinpoche are important events where sangha members meet. Most of these retreats have been cancelled this year and people have missed that in-person meeting and greeting.

There has been more contact and connection among sanghas from Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland. In response to Covid-19, two European sanghas initiated a daily online practice from March through July with recitation of the Yeshe Walmo mantra. Similarly, the sanghas from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Portugal also are making an effort to offer more online classes. Since May there has been a weekly online Sipé Gyalmo practice led by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , resident lama of Ligmincha Texas.

How have teachings changed?

Sanghas that had invited various teachers to come in person converted to online retreats when possible. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche cancelled almost all of his in-person retreats through the end of 2020 and is on sabbatical. However, he held Serenity Ridge’s spring and summer retreats online and plans to offer three more online retreat this year. The change to online retreats offered through Zoom has enabled many more people to participate. The first online retreat in April was attended by more than 700 people, and the online two-week Summer Retreat had more than 600 participants. Rinpoche’s upcoming online Zoom retreats include “Body of Light” August 11–16, sponsored by Ligmincha Poland; “Serenity Ridge Dialogues: Body, Breath & Mind” October 10–12; and “Fall Retreat: The Five Elements October 21–25, sponsored by Serenity Ridge and Ligmincha.

In addition, Rinpoche continues to offer many Facebook Live teachings and conversations with well-known people to a growing cyber sangha of students around the world. In all these online retreats there were simultaneous translations into different languages.

Other Bön teachers throughout the world also are offering online teachings. Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche, abbot of Triten Norbutse Monastery in Nepal, converted his previous teaching to Ligmincha’s Helsinki, Finland sangha on “Heart Drops of the Dharmakaya” to an online retreat that drew about 50 participants from Finland and nearly 300 more from around the world. Earlier this spring he offered two online retreats on "The Twenty-One Nails” broadcast from his monastery outside Kathmandu and which included talks by H.E. Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, the senior teacher in the Bön tradition, along with supportive teachings and rituals from monks at Shenten Dargye Ling in France. Instead of in-person teachings this summer, Khenpo Rinpoche is continuing his online teachings on "The Twenty-One Nails" during two weeks in July and August, plus another dzogchen meditation retreat the week August 25–30.

The 3 Doors held its April retreat for members of the ongoing North American Academy 5 on Zoom instead of in person. Senior teachers in The 3 Doors now regularly offer online meditation sessions open to the general public. The 3 Doors Presenters – graduates of 3 Doors Academies who bring the teachings into their work or community – also offered more online meetings, both during the Covid-19 isolation and in response to the protests regarding racial injustice that began with George Floyd’s death on May 25. From March to June they held more than 500 Zoom meetings, with a total of almost 10,000 participants in all these meetings.

The situation is different at Lishu Institute, a relatively isolated retreat center in rural India. They are not able to organize retreats in India, and they have to work on a stable internet connection before they can go online. Lishu is currently closed during the pandemic.

How does the virus outbreak affect people in the sangha?

People have become more aware of issues such as impermanence, being in the moment, not knowing what comes next and supporting others. Many sangha members said that the teachings and practices give them the perspective to be with the emotions that are coming up during the crisis without being overwhelmed. Sangha members reported that Rinpoche’s more frequent online teachings have been a great support.

At the 3 Doors Academy retreat held online for the first time, some participants reported grieving: for people retreatants knew who died; for the people all over the world who are suffering or struggling with the unrest that the virus has caused for systems and organizations; and the personal grief of not being able to be together. In an in-person Academy participants face the teachers or sometimes sit in a circle. But online everybody watches everyone else’s face on the screen. Participants felt close as they talked through their tears, pain and compassion, as well as their joy at being together. It created a deep feeling of solidarity that some people felt they did not have before.

What are the financial consequences?

Most individual sanghas haven’t suffered too much from this crisis, and if sangha members have financial issues, they can participate in many online retreats by paying what they can afford. For Ligmincha’s retreat centers it is a different story, because their income is vastly reduced while they continue to have ongoing costs for maintenance. Serenity Ridge Retreat Center – headquarters of Ligmincha International – organized and held its yearly auction online and also is currently asking for donations. The Chamma Ling centers in Colorado (US), Mexico and Poland have similar challenges. The 3 Doors generates more income because it is offering more online programs.

What issues need attention in these changing times?

Some sangha members feel that there is less opportunity to discuss and reflect on the teachings and practices with fellow practitioners and teachers since they are not able to meet in person. And since international programs online are growing, new questions arise, such as how to bring offerings to people’s attention and how to stay in contact with sangha members who don’t participate in the online programs.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and other teachers throughout the world continue to pray for students and to offer online teachings as they can. His Holiness Lungtok Dawa Dhargyal Rinpoche, the 34th Menri Trizin, entered into a two-month retreat at his residence at Menri Monastery in India from July 10–September 10. He is performing sadhanas (daily spiritual practices) of different deities for the benefit of all sentient beings and with the hope that the coronavirus pandemic will be over soon.