Special Announcements Issue
Volume 10, Number 3 / March 2010
‘Turning Pain Into the Path’
Live Internet Broadcasts in April With Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Join us from your computer on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, from 7 – 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time (New York time) for the first of six upcoming live Internet broadcasts with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. A second Webcast will take place five days later on Sunday, April 18, from 12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Eastern Time. More information about the 2010 series of Webcasts / public talks >
Weekend Work Retreat
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Two Days of Service May 22 and 23, 2010, at Serenity Ridge
Please join us for a spring weekend of joyful service to help us beautify Ligmincha Institute's Serenity Ridge retreat center. Included: Free meals and accommodations, plus daily guided meditation sessions. We'll be painting the dining room walls and floor; and for those who prefer to be outdoors we'll also be painting the outside of the lama house. There will be other projects around the retreat center such as cleaning, gardening, pulling weeds, and general upkeep.
Two guided meditation practice sessions will be held daily.
Participants will receive free meals and free on-site accommodations in the Garuda House. You may arrive on Friday evening, May 21, to settle in. We'll begin our mornings with breakfast at 8 a.m. followed by painting at 9 a.m.
Newcomers are welcome. Local commuters are also encouraged to join us for a few hours or for the entire weekend.
Registration required. To register, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call her at 434-263-6355.
Signs of Spring
Preparing for the Spring Retreat With Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
After a very snowy winter, Serenity Ridge is blossoming. We're preparing for the April 14-18 Spring Retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche: 'Sacred Waters: The Healing Practice of Sipe Gyalmo.' To see photographs of springtime and new Tibet Shop items related to this retreat, click here >
Learn more about the Spring Retreat / register online >
Second Online Workshop to Be Held This June
Three-Week Interactive Course With Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
From June 12 through July 4, 2010, through instructional videos Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will explain and guide the practice of the ancient techniques of Tibetan Sound Healing. You can progress through these life-changing practices from the comfort and privacy of your own home, and Tenzin Rinpoche will make himself available to provide personal guidance and answer questions. More information >
Chamma Ling Continues to Expand Its Offerings
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Teachings in Colorado and New Mexico in May 2010
We are very happy to announce that Lama Lhari-la Kalsang Nyima will be leading a series of retreats across Colorado and New Mexico throughout May: • Ngondro Practice Retreat, May 8 - 9 near Denver, Colo.
• Soul Retrieval Teachings, May 15 in Crestone, Colo.
• The Five Elements, May 16 – 19 in Crestone, Colo.
• Dzogchen Practice Retreat, May 20 – 22 in Crestone, Colo.
• ‘The Manifestations of Sherab Chamma,’ May 29 – 30 in Santa Fe, N.M.
To learn more about these teachings, visit the Chamma Ling Web site. Be sure to also check out the wonderful possibilities offered by the solitary-retreat cabins at Chamma Ling, our remote retreat center in the mountains of Crestone, Colo. Discover why Pema Chodron, Reggie Ray, and many other senior practitioners choose Chamma Ling for their personal retreats. Learn more >
Lhari-la Kalsang Nyima serves in residence several months a year at Chamma Ling, and is also resident teacher for Ligmincha Institute at Serenity Ridge. The traditional name “Lhari-la” is a form of respect meaning “painter of the gods” and reflects Lhari-la’s rigorous training as a thangka painter. Born in 1970 in the province of Dolpo, Nepal, Lhari-la comes from a family of many great Bon practitioners. At age 9 he became a monk at Samling Monastery, the oldest and most important monastery in Dolpo. There Lama Lhari-la trained intensively for 12 years in sutra and tantra and completed many long personal retreats. At age 21 he began four years of studies at Triten Norbutse Monastery under the close guidance of Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, where he studied all aspects of the traditional Bon teachings and received a complete cycle of dzogchen teachings. There he also learned techniques of traditional thangka painting, skills he deepened during five years of training at Ugyun Tulku’s monastery in nearby Bhouda. An experienced teacher, in 2009 Lhari-la became resident teacher for Ligmincha Institute.
News From International Sangha
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Students Report From Around the World
A note from VOCL editors: We are happy to be able to share news from students around the world and hope you will enjoy reading bits about what’s going on in the centers and sanghas where Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche teaches nationally and internationally. To submit news and photographs for possible inclusion in a future issue, please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view itPrague, Czech Republic
Jitka Polanska is happy to report that Rinpoche’s book Tibetan Sound Healing has been translated into the Czech language and will be published in time for the occasion of Rinpoche´s teaching in Prague this July 23-25, 2010. These teachings on “Awakening the Sacred Body" will focus on the practices of Tsa Lung and the Nine Breathings of Purification; learn more at www.bongaruda.cz. Jitka says she would also like to invite all sangha members to join the Facebook group Bonpos of the World. Visit: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=42546553820Belgium
Nicolas Gounaropoulos informs us that full-day and evening guided meditation practices are regularly held in Brussels, Namur, and elsewhere in Belgium to meet the varying needs of sangha there. In addition, seven months ago sangha members started meeting with prisoners every Monday for 1 1/2 hours of guided meditation, including breathing practice and Tsa Lung. For more information about activities in Belgium, visit http://www.bongaruda.be/ or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Awakening the Self, Discovering Joy
Invitation to the 2010 Summer Retreat
Any experience of body, speech, and mind can serve as a doorway to profound inner transformation. This summer Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche offers the keys to More >
New Summer Tibetan Language Program
Intensive Study in a Retreat Setting at Serenity Ridge
This summer brings an opportunity to immerse yourself in the study of Tibetan language. Join Geshe Namgyal Nyima, author of Colloquial and Literary Tibetan: Practical Usage (Berlin 2008), for an intensive program at the Serenity Ridge retreat center in two 12-day, successive courses from June 26 through July 19, 2010. Learn more >
Upcoming Retreats
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
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 434-263-6304.
April 14 - 18, 2010
Sacred Waters: The Healing Practice of Sipe Gyalmo
With Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Join Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche at Serenity Ridge this spring when he offers a special healing experience for the general public, health care professionals, and anyone who is currently encountering illness.
New: Extend your stay >
Learn more or register >
June 2 - 6, 2010
Introduction to the Nature of Mind: The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung, Part 2
With Menri Lopon Trinley Nyima Rinpoche
This year we are again very fortunate to have Menri Lopon Trinley Nyima Rinpoche, the head teacher of Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India, teaching these beautiful and essential practices to us. The concise and essential practice manual of the Experiential Transmission, the Chag Tri, provides pith instructions for those who aspire to practice dzogchen, the path of self-liberation.
Learn more or register >
June 20 - 26, 2010
Summer Work Retreat
Free of charge. Whether you join us for one afternoon or the full week, this is a wonderful time to share with sangha and to be of joyful service. Our work retreat includes vigorous work periods, daily meditation practice, and ample time for a swim in the pool or a walk along the Rockfish River. Participants are provided with free tenting and meals, and for those who participate in the entire work retreat there will be a 50 percent discount on one week of the summer retreat.
For more information or to register, please email Ligmincha at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
June 26 - July 19, 2010
Summer Tibetan Language Program
With Geshe Namgyal Nyima
This summer brings an opportunity to immerse yourself in the study of Tibetan language. Join Geshe Namgyal Nyima, author of Colloquial and Literary Tibetan: Practical Usage (Berlin 2008), for an intensive program at the Serenity Ridge retreat center in two 12-day, successive courses from June 26 through July 19, 2010. Open to beginning and intermediate students.
Learn more >
June 27 - July 17, 2010
Awakening the Self, Discovering Joy: Self-Realization Through the Three Doors of Body, Speech and Mind
19th Annual Summer Retreat With Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Our own body, speech and mind can offer direct access to profound inner transformation. The keys to effectively unlocking these three doors are found in the ancient Bon Buddhist tradition of Tibet, whose powerful meditation practices help to remove physical, energetic, and mental blockages that keep us from achieving our highest potential. Join us for a unique, life-changing opportunity to discover your unbounded being, the source of authentic joy. Registration is available for one, two, or all three weeks.
New: Extend your stay >
Learn more or register >
Oct. 6-10, 2010
Sleep of Clear Light: The Practice of Sleep Yoga
With Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Centuries ago, Tibetan yogis developed the practice of sleep yoga to transform these dark hours of ignorance into a path toward enlightenment. A powerful tool for awakening, sleep yoga is more than a practice of the night. It helps us to integrate all moments — waking, sleeping, meditation, and even death — with the clear light of awareness. During this intensive five-day retreat, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will teach and guide us in the clear-light sleep practices of the Mother Tantra, one of the most important cycles of teachings in the Tibetan Bon Buddhist tradition.
New: Extend your stay >
Learn more or register >
Nov. 3 - 7, 2010
Tibetan Yoga, Part 2: Trul Khor Training From the Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyu
With Alejandro Chaoul-Reich
The contemplative movements of Tibetan Yoga (trul khor) enable us to enter all three doors of body, energy and mind through a single practice, offering a powerful, skillful means for clearing the obstacles and obscurations to openness and clarity in meditation practice. Open to students who have received the Part 1 teachings of Trul Khor (Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyu) since Jan. 1, 2000.
Learn more or register >
Dec. 27, 2010 - Jan. 1, 2011
Dzogchen: The View, Meditation, Behavior, and Result
The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung, Part 3
With Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
The Experiential Transmission of the Zhang Zhung Masters is the centerpiece of Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s dzogchen teachings and is presented at Serenity Ridge each year at our winter retreat. Prerequisite: Practitioners who have already received the Part 2 or higher-level teachings in a previous cycle of Chag Tri teachings are warmly invited to attend this retreat.
Learn more or register >
New: Extend your stay! You may stay up to three days after the winter retreat for personal retreat time. For more information or to register for an extended stay, contact Ligmincha office at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 434-263-6304
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
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 434-263-6304, or go to:
