Volume 19, Number 1 / February 2019
Letter from the Editors
Happy Losar – Year of the Earth Pig!
Dear Friends,
We are on the cusp of the Tibetan New Year – Losar, with lots to look forward to in 2019! Most specially for Ligmincha centers around the world, we look forward to the visit of His Holiness Lungtok Dawa Dargyal Rinpoche, the 34th Menri Trizin, on his first teaching tour in Europe and the United States since becoming the head of the Bön tradition. And a special musical performance, Sa Le Ö, is coming in June to Ligmincha centers in Mexico, Texas and Serenity Ridge. Find out more below!
Losar begins on February 5 – a time to clear out the old, and to purify and to prepare for the new! It is a time of transition, of change, and this is our topic for the excerpt from the oral teachings given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in fall 2018 at Serenity Ridge. Transitions such as the beginning of a new year are a great opportunity for practice, and as Rinpoche has taught us, it's a great time for embracing a new beginning, using one's creativity to bring out the best in this and every moment in your life.
Lots of special events to announce in this issue:
- There's still time to attend two February retreats at Serenity Ridge: Dzogchen and Ma Gyü with Khenpo Nyima Rinpoche from Menri and Sherap Chamma with Marcy Vaughn.
- Learn more about His Holiness the 34th Menri Trizin’s schedule of traveling and teaching in Europe and North America beginning early this summer.
- Sa Le Ö Musical Healing and Meditation Tour to benefit poor children is this June in Mexico, Texas and at Serenity Ridge in Virginia.
- Registration is now open for Ligmincha's Annual Summer Retreat on Tummo from June 23–July 7, with His Holiness, the 34th Menri Trizin, as special guest teacher, along with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
- This Losar is the Year of the Earth Pig. Find out more about the meaning of the Tibetan astrology with Raven Cypress Wood.
- Join a special Losar webcast on February 9.
- Learn about Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's new live Facebook webcasts in March.
- See the latest dates and locations in Rinpoche's worldwide teaching schedule for 2019.
- Want to practice the teachings with others in your area? Learn about a online new Host Program coming soon.
- Learn about Rinpoche's upcoming live Facebook broadcasts starting in March.
- “The Five Elements: Healing with Form Energy and Light" is Ligmincha Learning's next online course beginning February 9.
- GlideWing's online course on “The Truth That Sets You Free: Discovering Your Inner Wisdom Through Practices of Waking and Sleeping" begins February 16.
- Find out details about the Annual Spring Retreat at Serenity Ridge April 11–14 on “The Five Elements: Connecting With the Living Universe" and consider offering some of your time and energy to Serenity Ridge during this year's Spring Service Retreat April 8–11.
- A special “Ligmincha Symposium For Contemplative Sciences: Body, Breath and Mind," with Tenzin Wangyal and guest speakers, will be held April 14-16.
- Student and Teacher – Together on the Path is a new feature in VOCL. We will bring you a student question and answer by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, from edited excerpts of his oral teachings.
- Check out many new programs offered by The 3 Doors in the new year.
- You can find the link for the Spanish translation of the December VOCL.
Happy Losar, everyone!
Aline and Jeff Fisher
On Being Free and Traveling Light
An Edited Excerpt from Oral Teachings Given by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Fall 2018
Powa practice is about the transference of consciousness. In one sense it is about preparing to properly transition at the moment of death. In these teachings, though, we've been saying again and again, in a very practical sense, that we all have an opportunity with each of the many different kinds of transitions we go through in our lives to practice letting go of attachment and being more clear. Day transitions, week transitions, month transitions, year transitions, major phase-of-life transitions – we have so much opportunity in each and every one of these. Some are harder and some are easier. But recognizing each as a transition – and recognizing that you have a choice, that you can do better, and then putting all of one's awareness into it – will help with the great transition of the powa.
For instance, when you walked into the gompa for the teachings this morning, at that very moment of entering, how fully did you walk in? That's a good question to ask, isn't it? How much of your stuff are you bringing in here – your stories, plans, leftover conversations, leftover discomfort of your mind and your emotions? How clearly do you walk in? The answer for each of you is different – you have to look at yourself, don't you? All of these moments of transition are telling us something about ourselves. One has to listen and be willing to change, at least pray to change. May I change. Give me the strength to change. I know this is what I need to change.
Each time we practice, we have to reflect a little more on ourselves and try to see what we are doing and why. The whole purpose of doing the powa is for being able to, as Yongdzin Rinpoche once said to me, “be packed and ready” for when the great moment of our passing approaches. Being packed and ready means that just as you are not bringing anything with you when you are entering into the gompa, so, too, when you are entering the other side of this life, you will not be taking anything.
It’s the trying to take things with you at the moment of the great transition that is the problem. First of all, you cannot really take anything. Otherwise there would be quite a lot of packing going on! [laughter] We will not be able to carry anything along at that great moment, so simply trying to do so is disturbing. It’s primarily disturbing yourself. So practice is about working with yourself and the sense of attachment, because we will all find something to get attached to. Our attachment can be one that is pretty dark, disconnected, controlling, limiting, painful – with a lot of stories. Or it can be an attachment that has a lot of light, a lot of joy, a lot of space, a lot of warmth, a lot of good communication, a lot of freedom and connectedness. There are so many different kinds of attachment, aren't there?
These teachings are saying that attachment is not a good thing for transition. Every moment in our lives, when you feel a little challenge – for instance just going from one day to another, like Friday to Saturday – is it easy, is it hard? Or from winter to spring, all of the seasons, the years, all of these transitions, from one job to another job, from one relationship to another – each of these transitions becomes harder with attachments, expectations. Maybe you are used to being able to get up and run or jog. Then comes a time when this isn't possible, and you must forget about jogging, and that's a change that you are not able to adapt to. What things are you used to? Maybe you've been used to going to visit your parents, and you had one kind of relationship, but now when you go to your parents it's another kind of relationship. No more barbecue or party, because maybe now you visit them in a hospital, in bed, and hold their hands. It's a change. You are not used to it. You're used to a different kind of visit. It's hard to transition to the new phase of life if you're too attached to the previous one.
So it is about this sense of letting go now. Of course, we don't have to let go of our nice cup of coffee in the morning right now, but one day we will. If you look at this moment of your life, right now, how many things could you let go of? Just think about one thing at this moment that you are attached to, that you're identifying with, that you are holding onto. Maybe it's the difficult relationship that you have with someone because of not being able to let go, say. Then compare the letting go of that with the letting go at your own death. Compare the two transitions – which would you prefer, dying or letting go of the attachment to that relationship? It's clear. No question, right? You would let go of that attachment. So why don't you just go ahead and do that? If you compare that one thing with the death, and let it go, and then another thing and you let that go, and another and another, then all of these smaller things that you are able to let go of will help you to be free. And each letting go benefits you, because they will help you in letting go of the harder things that come along the way.
If you are not applying yourself to all of these opportunities to let go, if you're not handling well the little things that come along, for sure you will have a harder time with the big things along the way. It's really true. If that's the case, try saying, I'll let go of that, and that and that. It's like cleaning your garage or your closet. How many people are planning to clean their closets? [laughter] How many have cleaned their closet, and there is still stuff in there that you are definitely not using? These are the teachings, the teachings of attachment. When you open your closet, you can see something you put in there five years ago that you still haven't used, that you have not even touched, right? So go ahead and take hold of it and let that one thing go! If you cannot clear your central channel, at least open your closet and clear some of those blockages. [laughter]
Energetically, it definitely helps. For instance, in the monastery the monks clean a lot. When they clean the gompa, shine the floors, it's like a purification. Similarly, the idea of cleaning the shrine is like a purification. Both the shrine and the closet are easier to clean than the chakras. Some people you know have so much stuff, though. Their house almost has no space for people – forget about a sense of spaciousness. Energetically, I don't think that's good. So in some sense, it is nice to engage in clearing the garage and closet. Even deleting photos from your phone – just select and then delete, right?
Some big transitions are harder and small transitions are easier. We have so much opportunity to work. Think about approaching it this way: this little transition I'm going to do so well, so then I can do the next, harder one even better. You are going into a different world. You are going into Saturday – how is it going to look? How does the next year look to you, or the next season? We go through these moments of sadness, depression, different feelings. These feelings, if you look at them, have their logic, why I am feeling this and this – all the reasons for these emotions. When you are stuck in the emotions, then that logic seem to make sense, but when you look from the outside, none of the logic works. You are creating all of it. The bad logic is able to produce a lot of problems, and then you are facing those problems. You say as you face those things that of course you should suffer, because you have taught yourself that. Everything is so much centered around the self – me, and the world out there.
In the end, though, it's about letting go, right? It's always about letting go. The self – letting it go. It is so simple, everything seems so simple. Self creates the problem. Some things you may not call problems, but others you officially do call a problem. When you call it a problem, you know it's connected to the self. With awareness, you can see that it has something to do with not being able to let go – of either an identity or an attachment to something external, right?
Those moments, places, locations, changes, transitions happen all the time in life. It is about being ready and prepared for those. These are all opportunities to cultivate and practice in order to better support the transition of powa practice at the moment of death. In the end, whether it’s doing the powa practice or entering into the gompa, it's about how clearly you enter in, how clearly you go to the next day, how clearly you go to the next thing. Every entrance is interesting, isn't it?
There are many ways for entering into the next moment. Ceremonially, socially, we do various things that are symbolic. In the Tibetan tradition also, we do a lot of big ceremonies at the end of the year. The end of the year is about clearing the old year, and we do a lot of purification and rituals. Then we raise a prayer flag in the new year. We do it on the first day of the new year. Raising a prayer flag is symbolically raising all the forces of elemental energies. So symbolically or shamanically these rituals are done.
The principle is the same – finding a way into the new space, time, purpose, mission, new beginning, new creativity, new life, new phase of life, new moment of life, and trying to bring the best out of it. It doesn't have to be the end of the year. In fact, every morning is like that! Every evening you go to sleep, and then every morning you wake up better. Every morning you get up better, you feel better, you start the day with something right. It's a very simple thing. In the Tibetan tradition, every day we do an offering of the fresh water on the altar. This is an old tradition, and lately I've been feeling a strong connection to it. Bringing something fresh to the shrine, my sense of the day ahead feels very different. Of course, you can say everything is in your mind. Yes, I agree that everything is in my mind, but I prefer it to be that, rather than something else. That sacredness, that freshness, that sense of connection, of offering, that sense of not forgetting the refuge or source, connecting there to start my day – definitely, it's very powerful.
Many times we behave without awareness at these transitions. We behave with condition, with pain, with fear. We feel we don't have a choice. Just knowing I do have a choice can make all the difference. The choice should come through your being still, silent, spacious. Still, silent, spacious means not doing, not saying, not thinking (thinking is harder, but at least not doing and not saying) – at least giving some break. Then once you have calmed down, you find a new space from which you can do and say and think. Then what you will do and what you will say might be different than what you originally would have said. Sometimes when we are not aware, we end up doing things that are not so good, no? That little practice will change those moments.
Each time you are able to make these little transitions, you feel free, you feel good. It opens up the world for you. You may feel uncomfortable about somebody or about something, say, but you don't have to go crazy. You can enjoy your coffee. You can enjoy your meditation. You can enjoy your creativity. Then, not losing the connection to all those things, find a moment and some clarity about how to handle that situation. One thing that you want to be able to see clearly and to say to yourself is, If it's not good, I will definitely not make it worse. Anything that I attempt to say or do about it, the whole purpose is to not make it any worse. Leave it as it is. However, if you are moving forward and feel that you have the strength to do it, then you want to take it in the right direction, to the light, to more of a future opening. If that transition works, then I will see directly that this little transition makes me happy. It makes my life easier, maybe more productive. There are many benefits, as well as its being more preparation for the big transition.
Two February Retreats to Begin Soon at Serenity Ridge
Dzogchen & Ma Gyu Retreat with Khenpo Nyima Rinpoche and Sherap Chamma Retreat with Marcy Vaughn
On February 2–3, Khenpo Nyima Dhondup Rinpoche will be offering weekend teachings at Serenity Ridge on dzogchen, the highest form of teaching and practice in the Tibetan Bön tradition, and the Ma Gyü, one of the most important teaching cycles in Bön. Don't miss this very special opportunity to learn and practice with the head of the dialectic school at Menri Monastery.
Learn more/register
On February 8–10, Marcy Vaughn will give teachings at Serenity Ridge on “Sherap Chamma: Mother of Wisdom and Love.” Sherap Chamma is the source of wisdom, and her medicine is love and compassion. With visualization, the sound of mantra and deep contemplation, senior student and teacher Marcy Vaughn will guide participants in a beautiful and simple meditation practice enabling each to connect directly with the divine feminine energy.
Learn more/register
His Holiness the 34th Menri Trizin Teaching Tour Coming This Summer
Ligmincha Centers in Europe and U.S. Included in Three-Month Tour
His Holiness the 34th Menri Trizin, Lungtok Dawa Dargyal Rinpoche, will be visiting the West for the first time since his enthronement during a three-month teaching tour that begins early this summer.
The tour, organized by Ligmincha International, will begin with His Holiness’s visit to London, where he will teach at the Tibetan Yungdrung Bön Study Centre on June 2. He will teach at Ligmincha’s Chamma Ling Poland in Wilga June 5–9, 2019 on “The Long Life Practice of Tsewang Rigdzin.” From there, he will teach at Ligmincha Berlin June 11–12, followed by Shenten Dargye Ling in Blou, France from June 14–16. Contact the individual centers for more information.
On his North American tour, His Holiness will join Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in Virginia at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, headquarters of Ligmincha International, June 23–July 7, 2019. They will teach on the topic of “Tummo: Inner Fire of Realization.” Teachings on the Three Great Mantras will be included. For the last two days of the retreat (July 6–7), His Holiness will give teachings and empowerment on "The Knowledge and Wisdom of Longevity: Teachings from the Tsewang Jarima." You are welcome to attend one or both weeks of the retreat, but if you can only attend one week, the first week is preferable in terms of the teachings.
The tour also will take His Holiness to Mexico, where he will teach in Mexico City July 9 and at Valle de Bravo July 11–14. He also will teach at five other Tibetan Bön Buddhist centers in the United States and Canada: Sherab Chamma Ling in British Columbia, Gyalshen Institute in California, Yeru Bon Center in Minnesota, Olmo Ling in Pennsylvania and Bon Shen Ling in New York. For more information about the North American teaching tour, click on the link below.
His Holiness was selected as the 34th Menri Trizin, the spiritual leader of the Bön tradition and abbot of Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India, on January 1, 2018, following the death of the 33rd Menri Trizin, His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, the previous September. In February 2018, Bönpos worldwide joined in celebrating the selection of the 34th Menri Trizin at Menri Monastery. On September 6, 2018, a formal grand enthronement ceremony took place at Menri.
In recognition of his enthronement and as a way to deepen connection with His Holiness, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche extended the invitation for His Holiness to teach at Ligmincha centers in Poland, Mexico and the United States. This is His Holiness’s first trip to the West after his enthronement and the largest tour that has ever been organized for a Menri Trizin.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to receive teachings from the head of the Bön tradition! All teachings will be translated into the language of the country in which the teachings are held. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche urges Ligmincha sangha members to make a heartfelt connection to His Holiness.
If you are unable to attend his teachings and would like to contribute toward the cost of transportation, lodging and preparing our centers to receive His Holiness, you can make donations to any of our centers here.
Poster of North American tour
Learn more about His Holiness
Sa Le Ö Musical Healing and Meditation Tour Coming in June
Performance to Benefit Children in India and Nepal
Sa Le Ö, a very special musical healing and meditation concert created under the guidance of Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, will tour the U.S. and Mexico in June 2019.Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a meditation and healing experience using the Three Heart Mantras.
Proceeds from all performances will be donated through Ligmincha International to support children in marginalized areas of India and Nepal, including Menri Monastery in India.
For the Ligmincha Texas sangha, Sa Le Ö will come to Houston, Texas (Museum of Fine Arts) June 9. For Ligmincha Mexico, three concerts are scheduled: June 13 in Torreón (Teatro Isauro Martínez), June 15 in Mexico City (Teatro Milán), and June 16 in Valle de Bravo (Bön Stupa for World Peace). The event will come to Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Virginia on June 22, and His Holiness the 33rd Menri Trizin will be present, prior to his teaching at Serenity Ridge’s two-week Summer Retreat.
Sa Le Ö (which means “clear light” in Tibetan) features relaxing bamboo flute music by Bansuri flute artist Raman Maharjan from Nepal and the vocals of Tibetan master singer and dancer Tsering Wangmo, who will chant Tibetan mantras. The audience is invited to participate actively in the mantra chanting, creating a connection with the performers. In between each of the three mantra performances, guided meditations will be linked to each of the musical offerings.
In addition, Tibetan lamas including Geshe Thupten Negi from Lishu Institute in India and Lama Kalsang Nyima, a resident lama for Ligmincha Mexico, will take the stage during the event to offer ancient blessings, transmitted vocally along with related mudras (hand gestures). A brief reading from a sacred Tibetan text will be accompanied by a video illustrating the words being spoken. The entire event is designed to help the audience experience a sense of well-being, peace and joy.
Raman Maharjan is a well-known bansuri flute artist from Nepal. He has performed in countries including Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Norway, Italy, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Tibet, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia and the United States.
Tsering Wangmo is a Tibetan performing arts artistic director, and master singer and dancer. A graduate of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India, she is co-founder and artistic director of Chaksam-pa, a well-known Tibetan dance and opera company in California. Her vocal and dance performances worldwide include Lincoln Center in New York and the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. She has made numerous recordings.
Registration for the June 22 concert and fundraising dinner at Serenity Ridge is now open. For information about performances in Houston and Mexico, click on links to the websites listed above.
Registration Open for Summer Retreat: June 23–July 7, 2019
His Holiness, the 34th Menri Trizin, Is Honored Guest Teacher
We are honored to have His Holiness, the 34th Menri Trizin (abbot of Menri Monastery and spiritual head of the Tibetan Bön tradition), join Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in teaching the practice of tummo (inner heat) at Serenity Ridge’s Summer Retreat. Tummo teachings include both tantric and dzogchen support practices to burn away subtle obscurations and cultivate bliss.
Everyone is welcome to attend this retreat, which is Part 2 of a three-part series that will be completed in summer 2020. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche encourages participants to attend both weeks, if possible. If you are only able to attend one week, however, Rinpoche recommends that you attend the first week.
His Holiness will join Tenzin Rinpoche in teaching the practice of tummo during both weeks of the retreat. The tummo teachings come from the text Ku Sum Rang Shar (Spontaneous Arising of the Three Kayas). This text is by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche, a Bön master who achieved the body of light, or rainbow body, in 1934. Over this summer and the next you will be guided to engage body, speech and mind with the Tibetan yogas of tsa lung and trul khor, and with the prayer, mantra, visualization and inner breath practices of the tummo.
The retreat will include teachings on the Three Great Mantras. In addition, during the last two days of the second week (July 6–7), His Holiness will give teachings and empowerment on "The Knowledge and Wisdom of Longevity: Teachings from the Tsewang Jarima."
arn more [LINK coming on Jan. 26]
Visit Nine Ways – Ancient Wisdom from the Yungdrung Bön Tradition
Happy Losar – Year of the Earth Pig
Learning About Tibetan Astrology
This article is from a series on Tibetan Astrology written by Raven Cypress Wood, a longtime student of Bön, and can be found on her website Nine Ways. Raven has translated hundreds of Yungdrung Bön prayers, poems, texts and commentaries and is the author of Indestructible, The Longevity Practice of Lama Tsewang Rikdzin. Since 2013, she has been writing articles and offering information on the history, culture and practice of Yungdrung Bön religious tradition on her website. The website has been translated into the Spanish and Portuguese languages and is currently being developed for the French language.
In Tibetan astrology, there is a 12-year cycle. Each year within the cycle is characterized by a different animal and associated with one of the five elements. Therefore, a full cycle of the 12 animals being associated with each of the five elements is 60 years. The 12 animals according to the Yungdrung Bön texts are the Rat, Elephant, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Horse, Snake, Sheep, Garuda, Monkey, Dog and Pig.
February 5, 2019, begins the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, and the Year of the Earth Pig. People born during a Pig year will have an emphasis of the specific qualities associated with the symbol of the Pig. According to Tibetan astrology, the element which governs the life-force of the Pig is Water, and its positive direction is North.
Learn more
Visit Nine Ways – Ancient Wisdom from the Yungdrung Bön Tradition
Special Losar Webcast on February 9
Join the Cyber-Sangha in Welcoming in New Year
Plans are in process to have a special Losar webcast on February 9 on Facebook Live. Join us from 11 a.m. Eastern Time until about noon on Ligmincha International’s Facebook page.
Ligmincha teachers and lamas will help welcome in the Tibetan New Year. The live webcast will include a recorded video with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche from Bhutan. Confirmed speakers include Geshe Denma Gyaltsen of Ligmincha Texas, Sangmo Yangri, Ph.D. and Geshe Sherap Lodoe from Lishu Institute in India, Lama Yungdrung Lodoe of Ligmincha Mexico, and senior teacher Marcy Vaughn. Rob Patzig, president of Ligmincha International, will host the event.
Connect with the cyber-sangha and come together to welcome in the new year! You do not need a Facebook account to participate. Simply click on the link below on February 9 at 11 a.m. Eastern.
Ligmincha International Facebook
Rinpoche Live on Facebook: Upcoming Broadcasts in March
Subscribe to Email List to Stay Informed
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche invites you to connect with him, the ancient Tibetan teachings and fellow students around the world through regular live broadcasts that can be easily viewed on Rinpoche’s Facebook page. Several new broadcasts are scheduled in March.
Each of the scheduled broadcasts shown below includes a teaching and guided meditation and is free and open to all – you don’t need a Facebook account to view it. Each is part of Rinpoche's ongoing series of Pith Instructions, in which he offers personal reflections on the heart essence of dzogchen.
March 21, 1 p.m. New York time: “No Holding Back: The Joy of Offering the Best of Who You Are”
April 4, 1 p.m. New York time: “Precious Gems: Witnessing the Sacred in All You Meet”
April 18, 1 p.m. New York time: “Beyond Fear: The Ultimate Protection Is Within You”
To receive advance updates, subscribe to our Announcements email list by sending an email to:
twr-live-announcements+subscribe[at]googlegroups.com (please copy and paste this address into your email application TO, replace [at] with @). You’ll receive a return email (check your SPAM folder if needed); replying to this email will activate your subscription.
More about Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche LIVE and latest schedule updates
Archive of recorded live broadcasts
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s Worldwide Teaching Schedule
Upcoming Retreats Available on Ligmincha Website
Here are the latest additions to Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s teaching schedule for 2019. It includes Rinpoche’s in-person teachings at Ligmincha International retreat centers or other locations throughout the world. It also includes his online teachings offered through Ligmincha Learning or GlideWing. The schedule will be updated as teachings are added or revised.
In addition, a listing of Rinpoche's free live Facebook teachings and guided meditations is available here.
Here is a list of Rinpoche’s upcoming retreats through April 2019. Check back on the Ligmincha International website soon for a more updated list of 2019 retreats.
- January 30, 2019, 10:30 a.m. New York time: On your computer: Songs of Wisdom: A Group Reading of Poetry from the Spiritual Traditions of Tibet
- February 9–March 23: Online course through Ligmincha Learning: The Five Elements: Healing with Form, Energy and Light
- February 16–March 10: Online course through GlideWing: The Truth That Sets You Free: Discovering Your Inner Wisdom Through Practices of Waking and Sleeping
- March 22–24: Berkeley, California: The Body of Light: Transformation Through Space, Light and Energy
- March 23–May 4: Online course through Ligmincha Learning: The Three Heart Mantras
- March 27–31: Chamma Ling Valle de Bravo, Mexico: The Twenty-One Nails, Part 5
- March 30–April 21: Online course through GlideWing: Tibetan Meditation: The Nature of Mind
- April 6–7: Pasadena, California (near Los Angeles): The Practice of Longevity
- April 11–14: Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, Nelson County, Virginia: Spring Retreat: The Five Elements: Connecting With The Living Universe
- April 15–16: Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, Nelson County, Virginia: Ligmincha Symposium for Contemplative Sciences: Body, Breath & Mind
- April 26: La Isleta del Moro, Almeria, Spain: Spontaneous Creativity
- April 27–28: La Isleta del Moro, Almeria, Spain: Dream Yoga
New Online Host Program on Ligmincha Learning
Practice with Family, Friends, Colleagues
Ligmincha is excited to share a new Host Program available to anyone with an established meditation practice in our tradition who wishes to help create a local practice group.
Many of us, after establishing our own practice, want to share with family, friends and colleagues what we have learned. This is a natural expression of the positive qualities that spiritual work brings out in us. Leading practice and guiding others, however, takes not only a substantial amount of training, but it is the work of many years of personal practice. What to do in the meantime?
The new Host Program becomes available March 1 for free on Ligmincha Learning. By watching a series of short videos, reviewing the Program Guide, agreeing to abide by the Code of Conduct and successfully completing the knowledge review, you can then organize a local practice group.
This program doesn’t provide authorization to teach or lead others. Rather, it explains how to create sacred space and support or sponsor a group. It offers handouts as well as a curated selection of guided practice videos with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. The video instruction guide includes presentations by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Geshe Tenzin Yangton and Rob Patzig. These materials will show you how to create a safe and welcoming practice space, bring people together, foster a sense of community, and feel the power of connection to one another and to the teachings. The guided practices with Rinpoche are intended for all levels of experience, from the newest students to longtime practitioners.
Anyone living in a country, territory or state without an affiliated Ligmincha group (see the list of our locations here) can create a new group simply by going through the short program and contacting Ligmincha’s president, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . If you live in a country with a Ligmincha presence, then you will need permission to create your group from your country’s Board or local Council, listed on the same page as above.
The Host Program is the first of a series of trainings and support for practitioners and for our instructors and teachers. Currently in development are:
- A clear and comprehensive Code of Conduct for all Ligmincha representatives as well as a process for hearing, evaluating and responding to any perceived violations of that code.
- A training and support program, including retreats, for our umdzes (practice leaders) and instructors.
- New courses on a variety of topics on Ligmincha Learning available to all practitioners.
'The Five Elements: Healing with Form, Energy and Light'
Ligmincha Learning Online Course Begins February 9
Ligmincha Learning offers a six-week online course on “The Five Elements: Healing with Form, Energy and Light” with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche from February 9–March 23, 2019.
The five elements – earth, water, fire, air and space – pervade our lives, are the essences of our being and can be sources of profound healing. In this course Rinpoche explains how each of the five elements relates to our daily experiences, emotions and relationships. For each, he guides meditations designed to help clear our obstacles and bring balance to our lives.
Each section of the course includes videos of Rinpoche’s teachings and a guided meditation; readings from his book Healing with Form, Energy and Light; and assignments for journal writing, discussion, and formal and informal practice. The course is designed so that you may integrate study and practice into your everyday routine, learning at your own pace while enjoying the support of classmates and the course mentor.
Coming in March:
- "Tibetan Language Bön Prayers: Inner Refuge and Yeshe Walmo," a live online course with Geshe Denma Gyaltsen, March 17–April 21, 2019.
- “The Three Heart Mantras," an online course with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, March 23–May 4, 2019
'The Truth That Sets You Free'
GlideWing Online Course Begins February 16
"The Truth That Sets You Free: Discovering Your Inner Wisdom Through Practices of Waking and Sleeping" with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is a three-week online workshop offered by GlideWing from February 16–March 10, 2019. This workshop is about becoming liberated from fear and other disturbing emotions so you may live more fully and genuinely in all aspects of life. Ultimately, these practices are about achieving liberation, or enlightenment.
The meditations taught in this workshop include daytime contemplative practices from the dzogchen, or "great perfection," tradition of Tibetan Bön Buddhism. They also include sleep yoga practices of the night from the Bön Mother Tantra, which offer helpful support for one's dzogchen practice. Through these practices Rinpoche helps you to discover the truth of who you are: a state of spacious awareness that is beyond the ego-based identity and which is eternal, changeless, indestructible and serene. Realizing this truth is what liberates us from the fear and negative emotions that have trapped us in suffering.
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Coming in March:
- "Tibetan Meditation: The Nature of Mind," a GlideWing workshop with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, March 30–April 21, 2019.
Annual Spring Retreat on 'The Five Elements'
Plus Spring Service Retreat and Personal Practice Retreat
Ligmincha's Annual Spring Retreat on "The Five Elements: Connecting with the Living Universe" with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will be held April 11–14. According to the ancient Tibetan spiritual traditions, the five natural elements of earth, water, fire, air and space are fundamental aspects of a living universe. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will guide practices and activities through which we can deeply connect with the elemental essences, and nourish and restore health and vitality. Group activity and time for participants to engage directly with the elements in nature will be an integral part of the retreat.
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On April 8–11, you are invited to be of service at Serenity Ridge at the Spring Service Retreat prior to the Spring Retreat. Participants wll be given a credit for each hour worked, to be applied toward the cost of Spring Retreat registration.
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On April 14–18, Serenity Ridge is pleased to offer a self-guided Personal Practice Retreat for all who are interested. Come from one to five days, depending on your schedule.
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Symposium for Contemplative Sciences April 14–16
Symposium at Serenity Ridge Focuses on Body, Breath and Mind
Join Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and a range of presenters this spring for cutting-edge dialogues and powerful practices that explore the roles of body, breath and mind from various perspectives in the contemplative sciences. Learn about the latest research from leading mind scientists and humanities scholars, alongside experiential knowledge from meditation practitioners and Tibetan medical doctors.
The symposium’s intention is to foster a deep and practical understanding of how the human physical and subtle bodies, breath and mind catalyze the cultivation of self-knowledge, resilience and well-being. This event builds on the conferences on science and spirituality that Ligmincha International has hosted since 2010.
The program includes dialogue sessions that discuss latest scientific findings related to contemplative practice. Each session investigates practical intersections of multiple perspectives, including medicine, philosophy, neuroscience and physiology, yoga, and other movement-based and contemplative traditions. The symposium is interspersed with meditation practices led to complement each dialogue.
Speakers will be available throughout the program to discuss their work in an atmosphere of collegiality, with opportunities for participants to share in conversations and meals.
This year is the first of three scheduled annual programs to revolve around topics central to the body, breath and mind. These themes will be further developed over the next two years for programs in spring 2020 and 2021.
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Student and Teacher
Together on the Path
As students on the Tibetan Bön Buddhist path, we offer our teachers a range of simple and difficult questions. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche has a wonderful ability to understand human nature, cut to the truth and share his wisdom in his response to these questions. Here is one question from a student attending the 2018 Fall Retreat at Serenity Ridge. What follows is an edited excerpt from the oral teachings given in reply by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
Student: I want to ask you how can one deal better with the fear of dying? This is a very prominent feeling that I have.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: There are many different ways of dealing with fear. According to the dzogchen cycle of teachings, the emotion of fear, and particularly the fear of death, is basically a fear of losing something. Even though we feel like we are losing something, in a way we're not really losing anything at death, because in a way we never really had anything to begin with. It’s not logic or rationality that can really work with that fear. Rather, it is our bringing the light – the awareness – to the emotion of fear itself. It is bringing presence to the emotion, hosting it, accommodating it, being with it and not being separate from it. Looking at it as something separate and then trying to shut it down doesn't work. That has never succeeded.
If you come closer to the fear, are aware of it and accommodate it, rest in it – being kind, gentle, connecting, quiet, peaceful, restful, no voices – then suddenly it's gone. It's no longer there. And when it's no longer there, then recognize that space, the space absent of the fear of death. Recognize that it is eternal. When you're there, you know that this will never die, this will never be destroyed, this will never change. All of these qualities are fully present here. Feel that. Recognize nothing's going to change that. Changelessness is what we say. So, more of a familiarity and awareness with that will definitely be of help.
The 3 Doors in the New Year
Offerings Include Self-Guided Program, Online Programs and Retreats
The 3 Doors is pleased to announce the following program offerings for the first six months of 2019. In addition, registration for the next nine-month Online Compassion Project (September 2019–May 2020) with Gabriel Rocco and Marcy Vaughn will open soon. Sign up for e-news under “Stay Connected” on The 3 Doors homepage to receive the announcement.
The Joy of Embodied Presence: Self-Guided Program with Laura Shekerjian
Enjoy more than four hours of instruction and guided practice at your own pace in a prerecorded, downloadable format. This new self-guided meditation program explores the body as a powerful doorway into open awareness and the vibrancy of direct experience.
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The Awakening Power of Breath: Online February 23–March 16 with Laura Shekerjian
(English with Spanish translation) In this four-week interactive online course, explore the power of breath to release densities of body, energy and mind, and guide us into a clearer, more fluid sense of self.
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Exploring your Wisdom Breath Energies: Online March 20–April 10 with Alejandro Chaoul, Ph.D. (English with Spanish translation) This four-week experiential online meditation program explores the subtle body as a powerful doorway to realize the gifts that emerge from the openness of being.
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Opening the Door of the Body: Weekend Retreats with Laura Shekerjian in Rotterdam (Public Talk February 8, Retreat February 9–10 ) & Copenhagen (Public Talk February 15, Retreat February 16–17) As we move through life, our body and breath are our closest companions. They are ever-present but often ignored. Our state of being is expressed through our posture, movement and breath.
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Walking the Healing Path Retreat with Raven Lee, Ph.D., in Switzerland, June 10–13
This residential retreat is designed to support those called to a subtle energy healing path. During this retreat, you will be supported to connect with the ground of your essential nature – open, aware, dynamically present – which provides a safe container for your own emotional and spiritual development as you engage in your healing work with others.
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Spanish Translation of VOCL
Link to December Issue Now Available
Look for the translations of Voice of Clear Light newsletters at the top of the Voice of Clear Light website.
Read VOCL in Spanish
Upcoming Retreats
Serenity Ridge Retreat Center
The retreats listed below will take place at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center, headquarters of Ligmincha International, located in Nelson County, Virginia. To register or for more information, click on the links below, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 434-263-6304.
February 2–3, 2019
Special Teachings on Dzogchen and Ma Gyu
with Khenpo Nyima Rinpoche
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February 8–10, 2019
Sherap Chamma: Mother of Wisdom and Love
with Marcy Vaughn
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April 8–11, 2019
Spring Service Retreat
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April 11–14, 2019
Spring Retreat—The Five Elements: Connecting with the Living Universe
with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
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April 14–16, 2019
Ligmincha Symposium for Contemplative Sciences: Body, Breath & Mind
with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and other researchers/presenters
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April 14–18, 2019
Personal Practice Retreat
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June 22, 2019
Sa Le Ӧ Fundraising Dinner and Concert for Tibetan Orphans
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June 23–July 7, 2019
Summer Retreat—Tummo: Inner Fire of Realization, Part 2 of 3
with His Holiness Lungtok Dawa Dargyal Rinpoche and Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
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July 7–10, 2019
Personal Practice Retreat
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October 22–27, 2019
Fall Retreat—Guidance for Living and Dying: Commentary on the Bardo Teachings from the Bön Mother Tantra
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
November 7–10, 2019
Trul Khor, Part 2 and Part 3
with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich and Rob Patzig
December 26, 2019–January 1, 2020
Winter Retreat—Dzogchen Silent Practice Retreat: Turning Inward
with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
To register for any of the above retreats, or for more information about teachings in the Bön Buddhist tradition of Tibet, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , call 434-263-6304 or visit the Serenity Ridge website.
