Volume 23, Number 5 / October 2023

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Letter from the Editors

A Breath of Fresh Air

Dear Friends,

How can your breathing support your well-being, your creativity, your handling of difficult situations and pain identities, as well as support your ability to abide in the nature of mind? In this issue's teaching excerpt, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche explains how breathing in the best way possible can be a huge support in life, in our dzogchen practice, in our ability to abide and in all we endeavor to do. More


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Resting in One's Nature and Cultivating the Habit of Breathing Well

An Excerpt from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's Summer 2023 Teachings at Serenity Ridge

Researchers and practitioners in the field of mind-body medicine have been talking about stress response versus the relaxation response. Or as I would call it, the pain response versus the response from the calmness of one's heart. At any given moment, observe yourself and the level of stress response arising within. How would you say it is? Are you calm and connected, feeling okay, feeling safe and feeling good? Or is it more like you are in pain and in denial of that pain? Or are you agitated and misidentifying it as creativity? More


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Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's Worldwide Teaching Schedule

October to December 2023

Here is Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's teaching schedule. In October Rinpoche will be teaching in California and at Serenity Ridge for the annual fall retreat and back to Serenity Ridge for the annual winter retreat in December.

You can find the latest listings and any changes in the Events section of the Ligmincha website or the Serenity Ridge website. Please register for these online retreats through the specific Events box on the website. Updates will be provided on the website as they become available. More


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Annual Fall Retreat & Serenity Ridge Dialogues October 17-22

Dream Yoga & Lucid Dreaming Is Focus for Retreat and Dialogues

Join us October 17-22 for the annual Fall Retreat and Serenity Ridge Dialogues with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and special guests Andrew Holecek, Gabriela Torres Platas, Yangdron Kalzang and Tim Lyons. The focus will be on Dream Yoga and Lucid Dreaming. You can attend in person or on Zoom.

In the mornings Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will teach on bringing our dream states into our spiritual practice and our spiritual practice into our dream states. In the afternoons, our special guests will give short presentations on specific topics related to lucid dreaming followed by open conversations that include Rinpoche. We also will explore a variety of practices related to dreaming and sleeping, led by our presenters. More


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Tibetan Yoga with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich at Serenity Ridge

November 2-5, 2023

Beginners and experienced students alike are invited to attend Tibetan Yoga From the Oral Tradition of Zhang Zhung: The Magical Movements (Trul Khor) of Body, Breath and Mind to be held November 2-5 with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich at Serenity Ridge and on Zoom. This is the first time these movements have been taught at Serenity Ridge in a decade! More


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Upcoming CyberSangha Events

Next Live Broadcasts with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

You are warmly invited to join Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, invited guests and fellow participants for any or all of these upcoming online activities. Free and open to all, the events are part of Embracing Life with Wisdom & Compassion, Rinpoche's free yealong program. More


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Try a Ligmincha Learning Course!

Three Heart Mantras, Five Elements, Sherap Chamma, Sleep Yoga & Tsa Lung

Ligmincha Learning is pleased to offer these upcoming online courses. The Three Heart Mantras, Five Elements & Sleep Yoga in October and November with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche; Sherap Chamma in November with Marcy Vaughn; and Meditation, Breath and Movement with Alejandro Chaoul-Reich in December. These online courses feature beautiful video teachings, guided meditations, readings, journal writing activities and the opportunity to interact with senior mentors and classmates from around the world. More


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Geshe Sherab Palden's Journey from Dolpo to Menri

A Personal Reflection

Geshe Sherab Palden is the chief assistant and personal secretary of His Holiness Lungtok Dawa Dhargyal Rinpoche, the 34th Menri Trizin and spiritual leader of Bon. He also creates His Holiness's itinerary when he travels. Unfortunately, he did not get a visa when His Holiness visited the United States this summer, so Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche invited him to travel to Europe as his special guest during Rinpoche's recent retreats in Poland and Germany. Later, they traveled together in Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Croatia. Geshe-la also had an opportunity to visit his relatives in Europe. During the summer retreat in Buchenau, Germany, Geshe Sherab Palden shared with Ton Bisscheroux the story of how he became a geshe. More


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The 3 Doors Invites You to Deepen Your Practice

Range of Programs Offered

The 3 Doors, founded by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, provides dynamic learning environments that support you to build a strong and meaningful meditation practice. We serve a growing international and intergenerational body of practitioners. Programs range from drop-in sessions to immersive study over multiple years and are offered in varying formats including online, in-person, live and prerecorded. More


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Sharing the Timeless Joy

Sharings from Retreatants Following Retreat on Sleep Yoga in 2010, from the VOCL Archives

From October 6 to 10, 2010, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche taught at Serenity Ridge on Sleep of Clear Light: The Practice of Sleep Yoga. Students received instructions in how to bring more lucidity to both their waking and sleeping hours. A particularly memorable part of the instruction involved staying awake all one night and into the next day while continuing to engage in regular meditation practice. At day's end, after finally drifting into a welcome deep sleep, practitioners were awoken twice in the night by designated sangha members who offered gentle assistance in the sleep yoga practice. More


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Student and Teacher

Together on the Path

We all have experienced difficulties sleeping. Some nights can even be troubling and restless. What is it that makes for a good sleep? How can we begin to think of doing dream or sleep yoga if we are finding it hard to rest and sleep well? In this excerpt from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's book, The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep, Rinpoche points to the importance of preparing for sleep and how healing sleep can be. More


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Spanish Translation of VOCL

Link to August 2023 Issue Now Available


Look for the translations of Voice of Clear Light newsletters at the top of the VOCL website.

Read VOCL in Spanish