Announcements Issue
Volume 14, Number 2 / April 2014
Letter from the Editors
Several New Upcoming Webcasts
Dear Friends,
We are happy to announce five new free live webcasts to be given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche over the next few months. There will be two in April, one in May and two in June. It's wonderful that following the two live webcasts last month, Rinpoche now plans to offer five new webcasts in the next few months ahead. And it's through the aid of many volunteers that he's able to make that happen, given his busy schedule.
Our first article in this issue gives an idea of the breadth and scope of the efforts of so many students to stream Rinpoche's teachings live all around the world. We are all grateful for Rinpoche's dedication to sharing the teachings this way and enabling more people to connect to them through cyberspace. If you missed the recent March webcasts you can view those recordings at this link.
Indeed, this issue is full of news and announcements! Included are articles announcing the upcoming webcasts, as well as the new retreats opening soon for registration; features on the upcoming Summer Retreat at Serenity Ridge, including articles on the new addition of days of silence during each week of the retreat, the summer work retreat and the annual fundraising auction, as well as an article about Ligmincha's fundraising program; announcements on the upcoming GlideWing workshop and a new Ligmincha Learning course; links to some great pictures of Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche; news about the new Bon Stupa consecration in Mexico and a presentation by Ligmincha's Director of Research Alejandro Chaoul-Reich; an article on becoming a geshe by Raven Cypress Wood shared on Ligmincha's Facebook; an article on the first European graduates of The Three Doors Academy; the latest Spanish translation of the February issue of VOCL; upcoming retreats and more!
In addition to our wonderful cyberspace connections, we remind folks of other ways we can all connect, share and learn from each other. We have a Ligmincha's Facebook page as well as Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's Facebook page.
We also have the Sangha Sharing feature in Voice of Clear Light. We invite you to consider sharing your voice in VOCL. Readers have told us they enjoy the Sangha Sharing feature and we would love to include your writing, poetry and pictures. Specifically, we would love to hear about your experience with the webcasts, or at a recent retreat, or send us a picture that you captured that says a thousand words. Thanks everyone for sharing! (Send your writing or pictures to Aline and Jeff at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
In Bon,
Aline and Jeff Fisher
Recent March Webcast on Raising Your Windhorse –Good Fortune for the New Year
Celebrating Both Old and New!
On March 2, 2014, Tenzin Rinpoche marked the start of the Tibetan New Year, Losar, by giving a live webcast across the Internet and world, describing the traditional Tibetan practice of raising one's personal power and good fortune, or lung-ta.
The ancient practices and rituals of Losar that Rinpoche shared during the live webcast were streamed through cyberspace and viewed in at least 27 countries! There were 625–650 computers logged in to the webcast through uStream/Ligmincha, and as many as 126 computers on the Spanish translation. In many cases the numbers were actually much higher as there were often several or more people gathered together at a single computer.
Two wonderful examples of such groups assembling to view last month's webcasts occurred in Mexico. For the first time ever, a group of students had a chance to connect to Rinpoche's webcast while they were all gathered inside the Great Bon Stupa for World Peace in Chamma Ling Valle de Bravo, thanks to the great technical assistance of Salvador Espinosa. What a great symbol of Rinpoche's merging of this ancient Bon wisdom tradition with the 21st century! The other gathering that we'd like to mention occurred during the March 9 Zhine webcast when a group of 50 students and practitioners gathered in Torreon Mexico to watch Rinpoche's live video while listening to the Spanish translation site. Thanks so much to Lourdes Hinojosa and to Polly Turner!
Thanks to the generosity of so many volunteer translators, the Losar webcast with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche was simultaneously translated into as many as 12 languages: Czech, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.
We are so proud of all those who are making these cyber-connections a reality. May all of the varied connections to the teachings continue to grow and deepen!
View the March 2 webcast on Raising Your Windhorse
View recordings of all of Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's free live webcasts
Upcoming Live Webcasts with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
April 9 Webcast on ‘Awakening the Luminous Mind’ to be Streamed from Yogaville in Virginia
Mark your calendar for these upcoming webcasts with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
You can also click here to view any webcasts you've missed.
April 9, 2014 (Wednesday), 7–8:30 p.m. Eastern Time US
Awakening the Luminous Mind
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche gives dzogchen teachings based on his book Awakening the Luminous Mind: Tibetan Meditation for Inner Peace and Joy (Hay House, June 2012). Broadcast live from Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville in Buckingham, Va. This webcast can be viewed here.
Learn more
April 12, 2014 (Saturday), 3–4:30 p.m. Eastern Time US
Winds of Change: Discovering the Healing Power of Mind and Prana
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche broadcasts live from the annual Spring Retreat at Ligmincha's Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Nelson County, Virginia (not a public talk). This webcast can be viewed here.
Learn more
May 4, 2014 (Sunday), 1–2:30 p.m. Eastern Time US
The Student-Teacher Relationship
In this live webcast, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche offers do's and don'ts for cultivating a fruitful master-student relationship in Tibetan Buddhism. This webcast can be viewed here.
June 8, 2014 (Sunday), 1–2:30 p.m. Eastern Time US
Shifting Your Pain Identity
Learn how to tap into your own inherent love and wisdom and transform your world with the Sherap Chamma practice. Teaching and guided meditation with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. This webcast can be viewed here.
Learn more
June 15, 2014 (Sunday), 1–2:30 p.m. Eastern Time US
Topic To Be Announced
This webcast can be viewed here.
Registration for Buddhism & Science Conference, Other Retreats Opens Soon
Register Early and Save on Cost of Retreat
Registration opens soon for Ligmincha Institute's annual Buddhism & Science Conference, Fall Retreat and other upcoming retreats. Register early!
Registration opens April 22 for:
• Oct. 7–9 Special Conference: New Dialogs Between Buddhism & Science—Pathways to a Healthy Mind with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and renowned researchers. Be part of the growing dialog between Buddhism and science as presenters and participants explore the impact of contemplative meditation practices on behavior and the mind/brain. Begins the evening of Oct. 7.
Learn more
• Oct. 10–12 Fall Retreat: The Healing Power of Primordial Awareness with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. At the core of the dzogchen teachings is the view that all sentient beings are primordially pure, perfected, and have the potential to spontaneously manifest in beneficial ways. Rinpoche invites participants to engage in the practice of meditation and reflection to discover the jewel that is hidden in your ordinary experiences and to recognize the opportunities for healing that life presents.
Learn more
Registration opens April 24 for:
• Oct. 31–Nov. 2: The Sacred Body in the Bon Tradition—Spiritual Guidance from Tsa Lung Sol Dep with H.E. Menri Lopon Trinley Nyima Rinpoche. Menri Lopon will teach the five tsa lung movements, supported by a teaching prayer from the Tibetan Bon Buddhist tradition, to help alleviate physical distractions, emotional blocks, energetic or mental disturbances, or other obstacles to your practice.
Learn more
Registration opens April 29 for:
• Dec. 27, 2014–Jan. 1, 2015 Winter Retreat: The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung, Part 1—Ngondro, with Geshe Tezin Wangyal Rinpoche. The first in a special yearly five-part series of Tibetan Bon Buddhist dzogchen teachings, the ngondro offer instructions for taming, purifying and perfecting oneself. Part 1: Ngondro is a prerequisite for further study of the Experiential Transmission series.
Learn more
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Summer Retreat to Include Days of Silence
Deepen Your Practice
Everyone is warmly invited to attend this summer's retreat on the topic of "The Twenty-One Nails, Part 2." Each week of the retreat, set for June 22–July 12, 2014, will include days of silence to help deepen your practice.
During each week of the retreat, periods of silence will be observed starting Monday at 6 p.m., continuing all day Tuesday and ending Wednesday at lunchtime. Participants at last winter's retreat (the first silent retreat offered at Serenity Ridge) appreciated the opportunity that an atmosphere of respectful silence provides to help integrate practice into every moment of the day.
Early registration for the summer retreat ends May 8; save $75 off each week if you register by then.
Join in Summer Work Retreat
The Week of June 15–21, 2014
Join us at Serenity Ridge for Ligmincha Institute's annual Summer Work Retreat, set for June 15–21.
This is a wonderful time to share with the sangha and to be of joyful service. Each day of the work retreat includes vigorous work periods, daily meditation practice, and plenty of time for a swim in the pool or a walk along the Rockfish River. Participants are provided with free air-conditioned accommodations in the Garuda House and meals.
The one-week work retreat precedes this year's three-week Annual Summer Retreat on the topic of "The Twenty-One Nails, Part 2," scheduled for June 22–July 12. Those who participate in the full week of the work retreat will receive a 50 percent discount toward one week of the summer retreat cost (rooms are additional).
2014 Summer Fundraising Auction Reminder
This Year’s Auction Takes Place During First Week of Summer Retreat
We are looking forward to the annual summer fundraising auction to be held this year on Friday, June 27, 2014, during the first week of the Summer Retreat. It is an important public fundraising event for Ligmincha Institute and is essential to furthering Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's vision for Ligmincha Institute at Serenity Ridge. More information will be coming soon with details about the auction.
There is still time to help by donating auction items. Please email the
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or mail your donated items to:
Ligmincha Institute at Serenity Ridge
554 Drumheller Lane
Shipman, VA 22971
If you are unable attend the auction in person and would like to make a donation, click here.
GlideWing Workshop Begins May 10
‘Achieving Great Bliss through Pure Awareness’
The next GlideWing online workshop with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, "Tibetan Meditation: The Nature of Mind—Achieving Great Bliss through Pure Awareness," will be held May 10–June 1, 2014. Learn and practice from your own home, at your own schedule, with personal guidance from Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. This ancient Tibetan Meditation practice teaches you to enter the state of pure awareness that leads to peace, joy and, ultimately, to self-realization and enlightenment.
Learn more and view introductory video
Register
Ligmincha Learning to Offer New Internet Course on the Three Heart Mantras
Details Coming Soon!
A new course on the Three Heart Mantras will be offered in late spring or early summer; check the Ligmincha website for more details as they become available.
Ligmincha's Internship Program at Serenity Ridge
Looking for New Candidates to Start As Early As May
Serenity Ridge Retreat Center would like to announce the expansion of its internship program and is looking for new interns to work onsite at Serenity Ridge as early as May 2014.
Over the last couple of years, Serenity Ridge Retreat Center has been home to a small group of interns who have been a tremendous help to the day-to-day functioning of the center and retreats. The program provides interns the opportunity to deepen their practice in a contemplative environment and to learn and grow through attending Serenity Ridge retreats. It provides sangha members and those new to Serenity Ridge with onsite support and a resident community. Interns also fill important roles at the retreat center in areas such as program coordination, facilities and grounds maintenance, administration and fundraising.
Interns generally work for a minimum of 20 hours a week and receive free housing and an opportunity to attend Serenity Ridge retreats at no cost. Interns are being sought to work in two areas: Serenity Ridge Caretaking or Program and Organizational Development.
Because of the nature of the work and living arrangements, preference is for candidates who have attended a retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche at Serenity Ridge or at another location, and who have a sincere interest in learning about and practicing in the Tibetan Bon Buddhist tradition.
Particular skills that are beneficial include:
• Program coordination
• Graphic design
• Marketing and communications
• Office and administrative support
• Housekeeping
• Maintenance and carpentry
• Groundskeeping and landscaping
• Fundraising
• Kitchen support
• Bookstore support
• Data entry and analysis
• Audio visual support
If you would like to learn more about this program, please email the Serenity Ridge office. To apply, fill out and return the form below.
Internship application and policies
Photos of Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche Shared on Facebook
Young Goat Liberated from Slaughter
View a group of wonderful photographs of H.E. Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, taken at Triten Norbutse Monastery and other places.
This beautiful photo of Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche is taken in front of his house at Triten Norbutse Monastery in Nepal together with a young goat liberated from slaughtering. The monks bought the goat, which is now freely roaming around the monastery's hillside.
New Bon Stupa in Mexico
Consecration Ceremony Held on March 22 & 23, 2014
The new Bon Stupa is in the town of Lerdo, Durango (near Torreon, Mexico). Its purpose is to bring peace to the region and all sentient beings who reside there. The recent consecration ceremony was held on March 22 and 23. Emaho!
We share below the English translation of the announcement inviting everyone to the consecration ceremony for the new Stupa, a special event in which Geshe Nyima Kunchap, Lama Kalsang Nyima and Yungdrung Lodoe attended. Thanks for translating, Lourdes!
Stupa for Peace
Lerdo de Durango, Mexico
Mexico is indeed a privileged place. Conditions for practicing Dharma keep on developing and the teachings manifesting, this time as a Stupa: this incredible and powerful symbol of the mind of the Buddha.
I proudly share with you that this Tibetan year 2141, year of the Wood Horse, thanks to the generosity and determination of some Friends from Torreon (Mexico) sangha, we will have the third Mexican Bon Stupa.
In the village of Lerdo, state of Durango, about 75 minutes from Torreon, is located Nirvana Organic Farm. This is the place where the third Mexican Bon Stupa is located. The farm is part of the protected natural reservoir of the Fernandez ravine.
The purpose of the Stupa is to bring peace to the region and the country, and to all sentient beings who inhabit here. We all know that its benefits do not end there. Through its power and the power of our practice as practitioners, the blessings go beyond all limits, and spread throughout the world.
We hope that this Stupa, as well as the others, becomes a live monument of practice, devotion and blessings.
The Stupa is 12 meters in height and its base is 6.50 square meters. Inside there´s a small gompa which soon will have a mandala, to be painted by Lama Kalsang Nyima and Yungdrung la.
On March 22 and 23, the Stupa will be consecrated by Geshe Nyima Kunchab, Lama Kalsang Nyima and Yungdrung Lodoe.
We are all invited! Let´s join this consecration on March 23, and give this Mexican Stupa space in our hearts, and honor from now on Buddha´s mind, peace, our Teachers and the Bon tradition.
Thanks to the buddhas, bodhisattvas and our teachers!
Thank you, Lama Tenzin Wangyal!
Thank you, Torreon sangha!
Thanks to you we can witness the manifestation of the strength and presence of Bon in Mexico.
In Bon,
Wojtek Plucinski
‘Becoming a Geshe’
Visit Sangha Member Raven Cypress Wood’s Website on Yungdrung Bon
Ligmincha's Facebook page recently shared Raven Cypress Wood's article, "Becoming a Geshe" about the ancient traditions of Yungdrung Bon in Tibet, featured on her blog, "Nine Ways." This blog website developed from her interest in sharing and helping make these teachings more accessible to students. She has been working on translating prayers and texts from Tibetan into English, and she has endeavored to gain a deeper understanding of the Nine Ways of Bon within an historical, religious and cultural context.
Read Raven's article, "Becoming a Geshe" and the many other topics on Yungdrung Bon, as well as view the many beautiful pictures at her unique and inspiring blog. Thank you, Raven!
Gain a deeper experience of this text and learn how to use this traditional method of divination, attend a special causal vehicle retreat, with Geshe Nyima Kunchap at Serenity Ridge on May 21–25.
Congratulations to First Graduates!
European Three Doors Academy
Congratulations to the first class of graduates of Europe's Three Doors Academy! The Three Doors Academy in Europe met for their final retreat in Germany with their teachers John Jackson and Raven Lee. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche joined the group especially for this graduation ceremony.
The final retreat, held March 24-29, 2014, near Goldberg, Germany, was the culmination of two and a half years of intense inner work by the trainees.
John Jackson explains The Three Doors Academy as a program designed to support individuals' deep processing, change and inner growth through a series of secular meditations on body, speech and mind. Participants use these practices to transform themselves in three dimensions: their relation to their work, their relation to their family and their relation to themselves. Over the course of the program, trainees journal 63 transformations in these three categories, while practicing daily and periodically enjoying solitary practice retreats.
You can read more about this final retreat and what it means to be a Three Doors Academy graduate from John Jackson, one of The Three Doors teachers.
Read more
Learn more about The Three Doors program
Ligmincha Research Director’s Presentation on Chod
Featured On Rice University’s Website
Alejandro Chaoul-Reich, Director of Research for Ligmincha Institute, recently gave a presentation at Rice University based on his book, Chod Practice in the Bon Tradition.
Ale, who received his Ph.D. in Tibetan religions at Rice University, is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's Integrative Medicine Program. He is a member of the Ligmincha Institute Council and also leads meditation and Tibetan yoga retreats throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe.
His talk at the Asia Society Texas Center to a crowd of about 100 community members focused on Chod, a Tibetan Bon Buddhist meditation technique used to confront fear and attachment to one's identity, symbolized by the "cutting" of one's body and offering it as a feast to enlightened and other beings. Accompanied by melody and chanting, this meditative practice is used to cut through one's ego and move closer to enlightenment.
Using Chod's meaning of cutting, Chaoul told the group, religious tolerance can be enhanced from an understanding that comes from breaking down boundaries—whether those boundaries are limits of one's body and mind, or factions between and within religious groups.
Ale's presentation was featured in a website article of Rice University's Boniuk Institute—For the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance, which collaborated with the Asia Society on the event.
Read article and view photos
View video
Latest Spanish Translation of VOCL
View February Issue
View Spanish translation of the February 2014 issue of Voice of Clear Light
Upcoming Events
Ligmincha’s Serenity Ridge Retreat Center
The retreats described below will take place at Serenity Ridge, Ligmincha Institute’s retreat center in Nelson County, Va. To register or for more information, click on the links below, or contact us at or 434-263-6304.
April 11-13, 2014
Spring Retreat—Winds of Change: Discovering the Healing Power of Mind and Prana
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Learn more and register
May 3-4, 2014
Awakening the Sacred Body
with John Jackson
Learn more and register
May 21-25, 2014
Divination in the Bon Buddhist Tradition
with Geshe Nyima Kunchap
Learn more and register
June 22-July 12, 2014
Summer Retreat—The Twenty-One Nails, Part 2
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
This teaching is among the innermost secret cycles of Tibetan Bon Buddhist dzogchen, directly cutting through doubts about one's natural state by tracing the nature of mind back to its source. Join us for one, two or three weeks! All are welcome.
Learn more and register
Oct. 7-9, 2014
Special Conference—New Dialogs Between Buddhism and Science
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Renowned Researchers
Learn more and register
Registration opens April 22.
Oct. 10-12, 2014
Fall Retreat—The Healing Power of Primordial Awareness
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Learn more and register
Registration opens April 22.
Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2014
Special Retreat—The Sacred Body in the Bon Tradition
with H.E. Menri Lopon Trinley Nyima Rinpoche
Learn more and register
Registration open April 24.
Dec. 27, 2014-Jan. 1, 2015
Winter Retreat—The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung, Part 1: Ngondro
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
This is the first in a five-part series—to be held over the next five years—of special Bon Buddhist dzogchen teachings based on the ancient Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyu texts. Part 1: Ngondro is a prerequisite for further study of the Experiential Transmission series.
Learn more
Registration opens April 29.
View all 2014 retreats. To register for any of the above retreats, or for more information about teachings in the Bon Buddhist tradition of Tibet, please contact us at
