THE VOICE OF CLEAR LIGHT
News and Inspiration from Ligmincha Institute
Volume 7, Number 7
Oct. 25, 2007
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For easy reading, we recommend that you print out "The Voice of Clear
Light."
To access an archive of previous issues, visit www.ligmincha.org.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
On Letting Go and Traveling Light -an edited excerpt from oral
teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Related excerpts from the teachings of several Buddhist masters
Upcoming Retreats
Sangha sharing
A Mirror by Dean Grantham
New items at Ligmincha Institute Bookstore and Tibet shop
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On Letting Go and Traveling Light
The experience that one has before death - one's state of mind before
dying - is considered to be of great importance in Tibetan culture.
Actually, one's state of mind prior to any departure one makes in life
is important. Each departure that we make should be clear, healthy,
and pleasant, because ultimately what remains in the wake of each of
these departures is the image of that departure. And you see, as the
process of dying approaches, it is very important that one's mind be
oriented as much as possible towards one's practice, not really
thinking about anything other than one's practices, one's inner-most
support.
In the process of dying, whatever one has been familiar with in one's
lifetime is now over. Regardless of the particular way in which you
have been familiar with anything: you like it; you don't like it; you
want it, you don't want it; in the process of dying you leave all of
these familiar relationships behind. Everything has to be left behind
when making this one departure - your children, your friends, your
familiar world, your house, your identity, everything. It's a journey
that one makes alone.
As you take this journey by yourself, however, whatever truths you have
located deep within yourself - whatever you have authentically touched
deep within yourself and are deeply familiar with - these are your own.
The real knowledge and real understanding that comes about through your
connection to the teachings, and through your experience gained in your
practice - these are of real value because they carry one through even
the great departure of one's death.
Generally, for older people who are in the process of dying, you can
clearly see two things: they are very unfamiliar with where they're
going, and they are all too familiar with the conditional world that
they are leaving. It's always hard to go toward what you don't know.
It's also hard to leave what you're already very familiar with. In
combination with each other, these two factors can get magnified
greatly, right?
In Buddhism the emphasis is on non-attachment; not to be attached -
especially not to be attached when you are dying. Okay, so I will not
be attached, you say. However, you quickly recognize, Well, I am
attached. So, what are the philosophical reasons that lead to one's
developing an attitude of non-attachment toward conditioned phenomena
arising within one's life? They are that the nature of phenomena is
like an illusion; that they are projections; and, that they are
impermanent.
When you really consider these reasons, then of course, cognitively, it
makes sense not to be attached. But, really, how often in your daily
life do you find these philosophical reasons making sense in the face
of all that arises? Well, that depends on the depth of your
understanding of these reasons. And, it also depends on your
particular experiences in life. We may have found ourselves struggling
to accomplish something and then realized in the midst of it, Well,
there's really not much there, is there? It's fine, actually, my not
getting that. It's okay, if I don't actually accomplish what I wanted
to accomplish here, because, even if I were to accomplish that goal,
it's not really going to change me. It may appear that it will change
me, but in reality, it doesn't. In those instances you are really
beginning to realize the illusory nature of what has seemed so solid in
your own life up until then.
Recognizing the illusory nature of phenomena is very powerful in
cutting one's attachment to this life. As well, recognizing the
impermanence of phenomena is another powerful antidote for dissolving
one's attachment to anything - it's impermanent! You long to hold on
forever to that which you find valuable, right? But you're not going
to live forever, are you? We hear ourselves saying, I want that so
bad that I'll struggle my whole life just to get it. But, really, how
long will you then be able to hold onto it? Not that long, right? We
might say, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, but not long,
really. This is the truth, that you can not hold on to anything
longer than that.
Within the practice, then, we reflect on these principles and apply
them to the very things that we hold onto in our lives, and through
practice comes a genuine sense of letting go, of forgiveness. And as
we continue to investigate these means, we gain an even deeper
understanding, which allows us to be able to let go even more. When
you truly experience these qualities, these principles, in relation to
what arises in your lifetime, then you come to feel that you will
naturally be able to let go in the process of dying.
So, there are a lot of aspects to explore about the nature of ourselves
and phenomena, deeper and deeper aspects of truth, and their interplay
with each other. Dream yoga practice is very closely tied with this
interrelationship. Through dream yoga you can recognize during a lucid
dream: This is a dream. What does that mean? It means: it's not
real. And what does that mean? It means: don't worry about it. And,
if you don't worry about it, how does that affect you? Suddenly, you
can rest, relax. However, if you look at all of our sufferings - our
pains and confusions - if you really look closely at where they are
coming from, they arise on the basis of our misperceiving events,
phenomena, ourselves as being real, as existing inherently, and as a
result a strong sense of grasping develops. So, whenever we're
convinced that something is really real, rather than recognizing it as
illusion, as having the nature of a dream, or being impermanent, that
is when we suffer.
So, how we face the moment of the death depends on our level of
understanding and knowledge that we've gained within our lifetime of
this illusory, dream-like nature of ourselves and appearances and how
deeply this understanding takes root in ourselves, how clearly we have
glimpsed these truths directly through our own experience, our own
practice.
*****

This excerpt is from "Dream Yoga: The Practice of Lucid Dreaming as a
Path to Enlightenment," a 2-CD set of audio recordings by Tenzin
Wangyal Rinpoche. It is available through the Ligmincha Institute
Bookstore & Tibet Shop. These recordings are an audio companion to
Rinpoche's bestselling book from Snow Lion Publications, "The Tibetan
Yogas of Dream and Sleep."
Price of 2-CD set: $19.95, plus $6 shipping within the U.S. (for
international shipping rates please email us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
To order, please go to our store's Web site,
www.ligminchastore.org/detail.asp?productid=349

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RELATED EXCERPTS FROM THE TEACHINGS OF SEVERAL BUDDHIST MASTERS
From This Precious Life by Khandro Rinpoche:
The real intent behind any Dharma practice is to train the mind for the
moment of death so that the moment of death can arise with confidence
and without regret - regret in the sense of nonawareness, or ignorance.
As we develop awareness, we get a better understanding of the very
subtle thoughts that constantly shift the mind into nonawareness.
Lacking awareness, we are unable to understand impermanence and the
emptiness of thought, time, and a self - empty in the sense that they
cannot be proven to exist. Imposing solidity upon that inherently
empty nature, we spend whole lifetimes struggling with ourselves and
others. When we look at all the sentient beings living like this, we
can truly understand how difficult it is to become free from suffering
in the midst of samsara.
The only way to free yourself from ignorance is the path of awareness.
Training in awareness begins with you. It would be difficult to go
outside of yourself to get this message - or to change the mind of
anyone else. You are the one endowed with the qualities, teachings,
and practices; you are the one with the genuine desire and ability to
bring this to fruition. Therefore, you need to be the first one to
transcend ignorance. Then and only then can you benefit others.
***
From The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche:
With continued contemplation and practice in letting go, we come to
uncover in ourselves something we cannot name or describe or
conceptualize, something that we begin to realize lies behind all the
changes and deaths of the world. The narrow desires and distractions
to which our obsessive grasping onto permanence has condemned us begin
to dissolve and fall away.
As this happens we catch repeated and glowing glimpses of the vast
implications behind the truth of impermanence. It is as if all our
lives we have been flying in an airplane through dark clouds and
turbulence, when suddenly the plane soars above these into the clear,
boundless sky. Inspired and exhilarated by this emergence into a new
dimension of freedom, we come to uncover a depth of peace, joy, and
confidence in ourselves that fills us with wonder, and breeds in us
gradually a certainty that there is in us something that nothing
destroys, that nothing alters, and that cannot die.
***
From Luminous Mind by Kalu Rinpoche:
Our life is like an hourglass that never stops. Each moment follows
the next without respite. From minute to minute, life exhausts itself:
we are babies, then adults, then old, then dead. One instant follows
another relentlessly.
If we become conscious that death is inevitable for all of us,
shouldn't we strive to practice Dharma from this very moment on?
This precious human body we have right now can communicate, can
understand the teachings, is endowed with all the necessary faculties,
and has met with Dharma. If we fritter it away, not only will we have
to endure the reign of samsara's suffering, but we will not have a
chance of finding a similar opportunity. That's why we must firmly
resolve to use this life well, by practicing Dharma enthusiastically
during the time that remains in this life - this quick, bright moment,
like the sun piercing through clouds.
***
SOURCES:
Khandro Rinpoche. This Precious Life. Boston: Shambhala
Publications, 2003.
Sogyal Rinpoche. The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying. Edited by
Patrick Gaffney and Andrew Harvey. HarperSanFrancisco, a Division of
HarperCollins Publishers, 1993.
Kalu Rinpoche. Luminous Mind. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1997.
(Editor's Note: These books are all available from the Ligmincha
Bookstore and Tibet Shop. To order, visit the store online at:
www.ligminchastore.org)
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UPCOMING RETREATS AT SERENITY RIDGE
To register for the retreats listed below, please contact Lee at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 434-977-6161.
Nov. 7-11
Dzogchen Teachings From the Bon Tradition
with Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche
This November we are fortunate to have an opportunity to study and
practice with a preeminent teacher and practitioner of Yungdrung Bon
Buddhism, Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche.
Khen Rinpoche has visited and taught at Ligmincha Institute's summer
retreats and given the transmission of The Twenty-One Nails, a
supreme dzogchen teaching. In the past few years Khen Rinpoche has led
retreats at Serenity Ridge in support of Geshe Tenzin Wangyal
Rinpoche's presentation of The Experiential Transmission of Zhang
Zhung. He also teaches widely throughout Europe. Khenpo Tenpa
Yungdrung Rinpoche is beloved and respected by those students and
practitioners who have had the opportunity to learn from him.
We are quite pleased to announce that this year Khen Rinpoche's retreat
will be open to everyone wishing to receive teachings from him. Of
late, Rinpoche has been studying and translating a number of important
texts, and Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche has asked him to share this
knowledge for the benefit of us all. Khen Rinpoche is known for the
depth of understanding, which he transmits with warmth and great humor
in clear English. Please join him at Serenity Ridge for what will
surely prove to be a wonderful retreat experience.
Retreat cost (includes meals; accommodations are available):
$450 received by Oct. 17; $500 received after Oct. 17

*****
Dec. 27-Jan. 1
Annual Winter Dzogchen Retreat
The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung
Completion of the Cycle
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
A Personal Invitation From Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche:
This year, during the annual Winter Retreat at Serenity Ridge, I will
present Part Four of the Chag Tri, the essential practice manual for
The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung. This retreat will mark
the conclusion of the first complete presentation of the Chag Tri, and
I wish to invite every student who has attended any of the Part Three
retreats over the past several years: View, Meditation, Behavior, and
Fruition; as well as all students who have received Part Two:
Introduction to the Nature of Mind. This will be a special opportunity
for all of us to gather for the study and practice of the chapter
concerned with clearing the obstacles to liberation, as preparation for
the traditional 49-day dark retreat.
The retreat will focus on clearing the subtle channels and chakras, the
practice of trul khor, and deepening our capacity to abide in
contemplation. This retreat is a prerequisite for the seven-week dark
retreat, for which I have decided to give instruction on an individual
basis. Following this presentation of Part Four, I will begin the
cycle of teachings again from the beginning so I encourage all of you
who have an interest in the Experiential Transmission teachings and the
practice of dark retreat to attend this retreat, which will bring the
full sangha of dzogchen students together to deepen our practice, in
community, at Serenity Ridge.
I am extremely proud to have the opportunity to offer these teachings
as the centerpiece of my transmission of Bon dharma at Serenity Ridge.
Of the many accomplishments Ligmincha Institute can point to, guiding
and nurturing a community of practitioners devoted to the authentic Bon
dzogchen path handed down from the Masters of Zhang Zhung a lineage
unbroken form ancient times to this day - is the highest, the most
remarkable, and personally the most fulfilling. Please join me at
Serenity Ridge this winter.
Celebratory tsok: In honor of this extraordinary achievement,
Ligmincha Institute will proudly host a celebratory tsok (special feast
ritual and practice) at the end of the retreat to which all students,
friends and supporters of Tenzin Rinpoche are extended a warm welcome.
Please visit our Web site at www.ligmincha.org for more information.
Retreat cost (includes meals; accommodations are available):
$400 received by Nov. 14; $450 received by Dec. 5; $500 received after
Dec. 5.

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SANGHA SHARING
A Mirror
Breeze stirs the high branches
An echo of afternoon rain
Still once more
No deeper than the traveler's hand
A bowl of fallen sky
Turns cold in failing light
I'll not stoop so low
When my thirst's an ocean
With just one shore.
The traveler walks on in darkness
Another comes
And bending close to drink
Finds in this humble face
The light of a thousand stars
- Dean Grantham
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NEW ITEMS AT LIGMINCHA INSTITUTE BOOKSTORE AND TIBET SHOP
NEW ITEMS AT LIGMINCHA INSTITUTE BOOKSTORE AND TIBET SHOP
To read descriptions and see photographs of the newest items at
Ligmincha Institute's Bookstore and Tibet Shop and for order
information, please go to www.ligminchastore.org and click on "search
by category or description" and then click on "New Items." Or, go
directly to:
http://www.ligminchastore.org/items.asp?CategoryID=16&SubCategory=0&Sub
mit=Search
***
LIGMINCHA'S 2008 CALENDAR
"Thangkas From the Tibetan Bon Buddhist Tradition"
The calendar features traditional Tibetan paintings of meditation
deities from the Bon Buddhist tradition, and includes written
descriptions of the images depicted in each thangka. All major U.S.
and Mexican holidays are included. The thangkas included in this
collection are:
*King Ligmincha of Zhang Zhung
*Nyame Sherap Gyaltsen
*Sherap Chamma
*Khandros of the Five Elements
*Red Garuda
*Tukje Kundrolma
*Tonpa Shenrap
*Drenpa Namkha
*Shenlha Okar and the Buddhas of the Six Realms
*Sangchok Gyalpo and Chemma Otso
*Gyerpung Nangzher Lopo
*Yeshe Walmo
Size: 11" x 8.5" (11" x 17" opened)
Price: $14.95 plus $6 s&h
DIETY CARD:
Tukje Kundrolma (khandro of Tummo practice) deity card, 6" x 8 1/2"
Price: $4
RITUAL ITEMS:
Bonpo Mandala Set, sterling silver, with turquoise and coral inlay in
the topmost piece. Price: $1200.00
Damaru, fine quality wood, with gold plated center band with turquoise
and coral inlay, red brocade carrying case. Price: $155.00
Damaru, bone, golden-yellow brocade carrying case. Price: $210.00