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Letter from the Editors

Growing Familiar

Rinpoche in background with flowers Buchenau 2018Dear Friends,

It is our great pleasure to share with all of you an excerpt from a teaching given by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche at the European Summer Retreat in Buchenau, Germany, in 2017. Thank you to all of those in the Ligmincha Deutschland sangha who helped make the translated transcript possible! And thank you to Rinpoche who reminds us all of our connection to each other. As he says so fondly in his introductory words, “I'm so happy to be here, a familiar place and familiar faces.” We, too, feel more and more connected and familiar with everyone in the best ways possible.

Heartfelt thanks to His Eminence Menri Ponlop Trinley Nyima Rinpoche. While visiting with him during a special retreat at Serenity Ridge this past November, he was gracious enough to share some of his personal memories surrounding the passing of His Holiness the 33rd Menri Trizin, Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, and then of his overseeing the selection of the 34th Menri Trizin, abbot of Menri Monastery and head of the Bön lineage. His kindness and openness were so loving and lovely. What a treat.

Beginning this past December, Ligmincha International invited Bön practitioners everywhere to recite long life mantras in honor of His Eminence Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, the most senior teacher in the Bön tradition, as we soon celebrate his 95th birthday. There was even a global online marathon of practitioners reciting the mantra together on Zoom. Quite spectacular! What a wonderful connection. A special mandala offering ceremony for the long life of H.E. Yongdzin Rinpoche was held January 27 at Triten Norbutse Monastery in Nepal. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, who was in California at the time, was happy to offer the more than six million accumulated mantras to his teacher. EMAHO!

Let's all be sure to stay connected. It's much more easily done now through the CyberSangha.net website where you can find all of Rinpoche's broadcasts and a wonderful collection of archived talks. Read details there and in the article below about a special new opportunity to practice together on Zoom, during the full moon of each month. A new Facebook conversation also is scheduled for February 26 – Meet the Teachers: The 3 Doors.” Hope to connect again soon and see familiar faces!

There are many announcements and happenings to report at Ligmincha International:

  • Losar celebrations begin February 23 with Ligmincha's annual Losar webcast. See details below and join sangha around the world in welcoming in the new year!
  • See the latest dates and locations for Rinpoche's worldwide teaching schedule available on Ligmincha's website. Check back soon for details on soon to be added retreats in Lithuania, Thailand, Brazil and Argentina.
  • There are four upcoming retreats at Serenity Ridge: February 21–23: “Sherap Chamma: Mother of Wisdom and Love” with Marcy Vaughn; March 13–15: “The Five Precious Wisdom Medicines” with Geshe Denma Gyaltsen; April 2–5: Annual Spring Retreat, “Discovering the Melody of Silence” with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche; and April 5–7: “Serenity Ridge Dialogues: Body, Breath & Mind” with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and guests. If you can’t attend the Dialogues, an opportunity will be available to participate online.
  • Learn about the new translation for the Yéshe Walmo Invocation that Ligmincha will now be using worldwide. See all the details below.
  • Enjoy some poetry shared by both teacher and students.
  • Ligmincha Learning offers an online course, “Treasures of Bön: History, Lineage & Practice” with Geshe Denma Gyaltsen beginning February 29.
  • Don't miss this chance to begin or to refresh your ngöndro practices! Starting March 7 and continuing through December, you can participate in, an online course “Ngöndro: The Foundational Practices,” through Ligmincha Learning.
  • “The Truth That Sets You Free: Discovering Your Inner Wisdom Through Practices of Waking and Sleeping” begins February 15 through GlideWing.
  • The 3 Doors announces “Walking the Healing Path,” an online course starting in March, as well as a four-day retreat in Switzerland in June, with senior teacher Raven Lee.
  • Student and Teacher – Together on the Path is a regular feature of VOCL. Rinpoche answers a question about one's sense of being during the process of dying.
  • View the translation of the December VOCL in Spanish.

In Bön,
Aline and Jeff Fisher