Beginning the Transformation

A Letter From Gabriel Rocco, Chair, Ligmincha Board of Directors

During the first week of celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's Summer Retreats at Ligmincha Institute, we began the process of transforming the Institute into a sustainable and unified international organization. Representatives from many of Rinpoche's centers worldwide traveled to Serenity Ridge to offer their insights during dialogues about how best to achieve this goal. 

As many of you know, during his more than 20 years of teaching, Rinpoche has traveled extensively outside the United States and established many centers of Bon teaching and meditation practice in Mexico, Europe and South America. Each of these centers depends on its individual relationship with Rinpoche for his guidance in study and practice, and on his ongoing support in creating and maintaining the organizational structure of each stand-alone group. The goal now is to bring all the centers into one international organization sustainable beyond the day-in, day-out dependence on Rinpoche.

Leading up to the retreat, Rinpoche enlisted my assistance in inviting representatives from all his worldwide centers to Serenity Ridge and in organizing and creating the agendas of social and organizational meetings. While not every center/country was able to respond to the invitation to attend the first week of this summer's retreat, we enjoyed the participation of representatives from Austria, Denmark, Costa Rica, Mexico, Italy, Netherlands, Hungary, Germany and Brazil, as well as Lishu Institute in India and Chamma Ling Retreat Center in Colorado in the United States.

Along with Rinpoche and members from the Ligmincha Institute Council, all representatives listened to each other share their experiences and express their views on successful organizational development and maintenance, growing and supporting a sangha of students, the challenges and opportunities of joining together in an international organization, and what supports each center/country will need from each other and from a future Ligmincha International.

To encourage candor and camaraderie at these important business meetings, we enjoyed a number of social gatherings, dinners together and shared entertainment by the representatives, council members and attendees at the summer retreat. The warmth and fun of family-like relationships began this summer and will be ongoing as we continue the process of establishing Ligmincha International.

Our next step in moving forward is to invite those centers/countries unable to attend these initial meetings to share their experiences and vision so we can add to the knowledge base accumulated at the summer retreat. In the near future, we will identify specific issues and action items, form teams to work on specific issues and establish ongoing intercommunication among centers/countries.

I am grateful to all the international representatives who traveled to Serenity Ridge and for their willingness to prepare presentations, work hard and work together so amicably in addition to maintaining the retreat schedule for attending teachings and practice. And I would like to acknowledge the support of Sue Davis-Dill, Ada Wolfe and other members of the Ligmincha Institute Council for their assistance in helping make this international gathering a success.

In Bon,

Gabriel Rocco
Chair, Ligmincha Institute Board of Directors