Sharing the Timeless Joy

From the VOCL Archives

Here we share two students' writings about their experience and joy in finding connection to Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche while on retreat, and what it meant to them to meet the kind sangha we all share. This article was previously published in the December 2006 VOCL.

Reflections on the Summer Retreat
I've been to America twice, and both times for half a year, one-twentieth of my entire life. And for the first time, I found such nice, generous, sometimes funny, never frowning, always kind and willing-to-help people; I found them at Serenity Ridge. I didn't hear a rude word from a single person there. It was a little shock for me to get back to the ordinary world. But something changed in me. I quit finding the reason of my worries and obstacles in the outer world, and I started finding them inside. And that's great; one always should know he should change the inner first when trying to change the outer. And that's just one thing I loved about being on this retreat. All the practice I did affected me somehow. Maybe I didn't feel it at once, but it's like a glass that is not full until the water reaches the brim. You don't feel progress with each drop of water added, but with a single drop, you are fulfilled. Rinpoche is not just a teacher. He is The Teacher, the one that I was looking for for a long time. I know that the time will come when I'll be at Serenity Ridge again, because if you really try to achieve your dream, it's impossible not to achieve it. Thank you to everyone I was so lucky to meet at the retreat.

Alex Sudakoff (Russia)

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My Tummo Experiences
I read about the Tummo practice in the late '50s, but had given up on the idea of ever learning it. I knew the teaching was complex, and yet Tenzin Rinpoche made it simple. So simple that even I could do it.
Amazing clarity of teaching. I have done esoteric training within Eastern and Western spiritual
traditions since the late '50s but never obtained such a deep level of cleansing of karmic seeds and negative emotions. I have attended many retreats, but never gained so much from such clarity and simplicity of teaching as at this one. The sangha are among the friendliest I have seen at any retreat. They made me feel at home and welcome, even though I was from another tradition. During the
retreat I made up my mind to devote my practice fully to Bon, and with Rinpoche's blessing, I am now doing Bon as my practice.

In Bon,
Ron Loving (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)