Tsoknyi Rinpoche's Blog, page 10
February 25, 2017
Happy Losar 2017!
Happy Losar 2017: Year of the Firebird! Please enjoy Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s video wishes to you for this coming year.
January 25, 2017
Crestone Retreats 2017
Dear Friends,
We are pleased to announce that the 2017 Crestone retreats will open for registration on February 1st at noon, MDT.
The first Crestone retreat, AWAKENING LOVE: A DZOGCHEN RETREAT, August 15 – 21, 2017, can be found at: https://tsoknyirinpoche.org/programs/10288/awakening-love-a-dzogchen-retreat/
The second Crestone retreat, RENUNCIATION, COMPASSION AND DEVOTION: A DZOGCHEN VIEW, August 22 – 28, 2017, can be found at: http://www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/programs/10289/renunciation-compassion-and-devotion-a-dzogchen-view/
The YouTube Broadcast of RENUNCIATION, COMPASSION AND DEVOTION: A DZOGCHEN VIEW, August 22 – 27, 2017 can be found at this link: http://www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/programs/10304/renunciation-compassion-devotion-a-dzogchen-view-youtube-delayed-broadcast/
Registration for this broadcast will remain open until June, 2018.
On February 1, at noon (MDT), an “open for registration” tab on each individual program’s website page will take you to the registration form.
PLEASE REMEMBER when you register for a Crestone retreat, you will receive an automatic e-mail letter from the Registrar with important information. If it does not appear in your inbox, check your spam and other options folders where it may have been diverted.
We will also be offering the CRESTONE PRE-RETREAT PRACTICE, August 12 – 14, 2017. There is no registration or fee for this practice and it is open to all students who attend either Crestone retreat. For more information, please go to this link: http://www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/programs/10292/crestone-pre-retreat-practice/
RELATED EVENTS
LAMEY TUKDRUB BARCHEY KUNSEL RETREAT 2017
Scott Tusa (Tenzin Namsel) has again agreed to offer a Lamey Tukdrub Barchey Kunsel Ngondro retreat. This retreat will be May 1 – May 6, 2017, at the Padma Samye Ling Retreat Center and Monastery in Sidney Center, NY. Please visit the retreat web site at http://2017ngondroretreat.wixsite.com/ngondroretreat for more information and registration.
We hope you will join us in August, 2017, for the “mere” joy of receiving the teachings of Tsoknyi Rinpoche. If you have any questions or problems with the Crestone retreat registrations, please contact me.
Warm regards,
Susan Skellenger
Pundarika Foundation Registrar
registrar@pundarika.org
January 23, 2017
Taiwan December 2016 Retreats
Tsoknyi Rinpoche would like to share a few photographs with you that were taken at the recent retreat in Taiwan, December 2016. Enjoy!
December 31, 2016
Happy New Year 2017 from Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Please click the image to watch and enjoy this video.
November 12, 2016
Tsoknyi Rinpoche November 2016 Newsletter
To All,
Please read the newsletter below and learn about Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s 2017 retreat schedule and many other relevant news items. If you are on Pundarika’s main mailing list and you have a “gmail” e-mail address, this newsletter may have gone into your ‘Promotions’ folder and not into your Inbox. We want to stay connected with you, so please configure your Promotions and spam folders to accept emails from “The Pundarika Foundation ” and put the address on your “safe” list. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy the newsletter!
Dear Friends and Students of Tsoknyi Rinpoche,
We are very happy to share the major events and news for the coming year, including Rinpoche’s 2017 U.S. teaching schedule.
The Pundarika Staff also sends our warmest wishes to you and your families as the holiday season approaches.
Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s 2017 Retreat Schedule
For a complete list of Rinpoche’s worldwide retreats, please visit http://www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/programs/
Month-Long Retreat in Argentina
Tashigar Sur, Tanti, Cordoba Province, Argentina
January 20 – February 12, 2017
Open Heart, Clear Mind: January 20 – 26, 2017
Advanced Dzogchen Retreat Intensive: A Teaching on The Three Words That Strike the Vital Point; January 27 – February 12
For more specific information and to register please contact Dongyuling in Argentina directly: http://www.dongyuling.com.ar/wp/?p=695
Pundarika Foundation Sponsored Retreats
To register for the following retreats, please go to our website:
http://www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/programs/
Dreamlike Enlightenment: Understanding Illusion from a Dzogchen Perspective
Mount Madonna, California
May 11- 17, 2017
Tsoknyi Rinpoche often quotes an ancient teaching of the Buddha: “My dreamlike form appears to dreamlike beings to show them the dreamlike path that leads to dreamlike enlightenment.”
If even enlightenment is said to be dreamlike, what is it to be fully awake, free from all illusion yet with a heart full of compassion? Rinpoche will teach on these profound themes in this retreat from a Dzogchen perspective.
This is an open retreat, and no prerequisites are necessary for registration.
Registration will open for this retreat on November 15, 2016 at noon MST.
Crestone Pre-Retreat Practice
Yeshe Rangsal Retreat Land, Crestone, CO
August 12 – 14, 2017
Three days before the first Crestone retreat formally begins (see below), students can begin to practice and acclimatize to the high altitude in Crestone through a mix of Rinpoche’s recorded guided meditations and dharma talks at the teaching tent each day on the Yeshe Rangsal retreat land. This pre-retreat offering is open only to those registered for Rinpoche’s first or second Crestone retreats. There are no tuition costs for this pre-retreat program.
The pre-retreat teachings consist of selected video clips from the new, soon to be released Fully Being on-line course and are accompanied by gentle pranayama, yoga and chi gong practices each day.
Awakening Love: A Dzogchen Retreat
Yeshe Rangsal Retreat Land, Crestone, CO
August 15 – 21, 2017
Rinpoche will teach experiential ways on how to rediscover our basic calmness and clarity rooted in essence love, and how they are profoundly related to mind nature or Rigpa.
This is an “open” retreat; there are no prerequisites necessary to attend, and attending this retreat will satisfy the prerequisite for registering for the second Crestone retreat. (See below).
Registration will open for this retreat February 1, 2017.
Renunciation, Compassion and Devotion: A Dzogchen View
Yeshe Rangsal Retreat Land, Crestone, CO
August 22 – 28, 2017
Rinpoche will teach on how renunciation, compassion and devotion are understood and practiced from the Dzogchen point of view and how each plays an important role in developing and sustaining nature of mind practice.
Prerequisites: Having attended one open six-day retreat with Tsoknyi Rinpoche or having attended a full retreat with Mingyur Rinpoche with pointing out instructions or a student of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche with pointing out instructions.
Registration will open for this retreat February 1, 2017.
Dreamlike Enlightenment: Understanding Illusion from a Dzogchen Perspective
Garrison Institute, Garrison, NY
November 3 – 9, 2017
Tsoknyi Rinpoche often quotes an ancient teaching of the Buddha: “My dreamlike form appears to dreamlike beings to show them the dreamlike path that leads to dreamlike enlightenment.”
If even enlightenment is said to be dreamlike what is it to be fully awake, free from all illusion yet with a heart full of compassion? Rinpoche will teach on these profound themes in this retreat from a Dzogchen perspective.
Watch our website for more information about this retreat and how to register.
YouTube Broadcasts
We are happy to announce that we will again be offering a YouTube broadcast of the second advanced retreat in Crestone, August 22 through 28, 2017. This broadcast is for qualified students who have attended one or more open six-day retreats with Tsoknyi Rinpoche, a full retreat with Mingyur Rinpoche with pointing out instructions, or a former student of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche with pointing out instructions. These teachings will be available after each teaching session with an approximate three-hour delay.
Registration will open April 1, 2017.
* * * * *
Membership Program and Audio/Video Recordings
There are many benefits to joining the Membership Program that include discounts on retreats and Pundarika Store items, access to retreat recordings and the opportunity to support Rinpoche’s humanitarian work.
In January 2017, Pundarika will release new recordings of Rinpoche’s teachings to members and will no longer offer individual retreat audio and visual recordings outside of the membership program. The new offerings for members will include new meditations at both the Introductory level of membership and the Advanced level.
Recordings that will be added for members in January include:
Introductory Members :
How to be Happy and Free When the World is on Fire, Presentation Center, CA, 2016
Grounded Body, Open Heart and Clear Mind, A Path to Dzogchen, Crestone, CO 2016
Stories With Rinpoche
Advanced Members : Introductory offerings mentioned above and
Teachings on the Bardo Experience , Crestone, CO 2016
The Subtle Discernment of Awareness: Awakening Through the Mind, Body and Feelings, Wonderwell, NH 2016
Stories With Rinpoche
For a complete list of recordings available to members, please visit the membership page on our web site, http://www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/membership/
If you are currently an Introductory member and would like to change to Advanced or for any membership questions, please contact deborah@pundarika.org. To be eligible for Advanced membership, you must have attended one open six-day retreat with Tsoknyi Rinpoche and received pointing out.
Please note: if you are enrolled in the Pundarika Membership Program and need to know your tuition discount code when completing the on-line registration form, login to your Membership account and you will be able to locate your code on your dashboard page. If you have any difficulties with this, please e-mail deborah@pundarika.org
We warmly and with “mere” excitement look forward to sharing the dharma in this upcoming year. We hope to connect with all of you in a variety of different ways: live teachings, delayed broadcasts, and membership recordings.
May there be peace and well being–with our warmest wishes,
Susan Skellenger and the Pundarika Staff
registrar@pundarika.org
November 9, 2016
A personal letter from Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Dear Friends and Students,
The recent US election news is troubling for many, but I do believe this country will hold itself together in the long run. I have an abiding trust in America’s future. My father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, told me that America is a great nation and will be around for a long time.
As dharma practitioners, we know that personal and collective ups and downs are part of the way things are and that we have to accept this. At the same time, we need to take our strong feelings onto the path, deepen essence love and generate compassion.
It is not a time to give into sadness, despair or to numb out, but to strengthen our resolve to make ourselves, our country and the whole world healthier through our actions and our prayers. The deep root of compassion grows in times of adversity and struggle, and I encourage all of my students to be positive and help your country where you can.
I will continue to pray for everybody, the whole country and the world.
Tsoknyi Rinpoche
November 6, 2016
Lamey Tukdrub Barchey Kunsel Retreat 2017
The cost of the retreat is based on the program cost of $453/person plus accommodations (ranging from camping at $24/night, a quad room at $40/night, a single room at $60/night, to an apartment with kitchenette at $85/night). The program cost includes vegetarian meals and sharing expenses for daily tsok offerings, rental of the shrine room, plus travel expenses and accommodations for the teacher.
If you have any questions or wish to hold a room now, please contact us through the retreat website at http://2017ngondroretreat.wixsite.com/ngondroretreat.
October 3, 2016
Crestone 2016 Retreats ~ Reflections
Pre-Retreat Practice (8/9-11, 2016)
Pundarika’s Pre-Retreat Practice session was a huge success and will probably be repeated in 2017. It was structured so that people could acclimate not only to the high altitude in Crestone, but also settle into the “space” of retreat. The three days of practice were held in the tent on the Yeshe Rangsal retreat land. A mixture of audio/video recordings of Rinpoche’s guided meditations and dharma talks were offered, as well as conscious exercise and silent meditation. This was a free retreat for all those who were attending one of the upcoming August retreats in Crestone–one could attend all three days or any days their schedules would allow.
Pre-retreat set-up at the utility building
Waiting for the retreats to begin
Pre-retreat students in meditation at the tent
Grounded Body, Open Heart and Clear Mind: A Path to Dzogchen (8/12-18, 2016)What a powerful retreat! Ten people took refuge in a beautifully serene and empowering ceremony. Amidst unrelenting thunderstorms, Rinpoche skillfully articulated the harmony of the handshake practice wherein feelings and awareness reconnect; he instructed us in Lung practice (gentle vase breathing), as well as the nature of mind practice. He made a case for how and why wounded and neurotic patterns get “stuck” in our subtle bodies, and sabotage our ability to progress on the path. He made an ironclad case as to why we all need to work with our habitual tendencies, and how we can work with our patterns of reactivity alongside the natural clarity of our minds. It was a masterful presentation and hammered home the importance of practicing with all that arises.
Registration and checking in
Outside the tent on break
Serena & friends in foyer
Neil & James on grounds, tent, and media logistics
Receiving teachings from Rinpoche
Rinpoche giving teachings with Adam Kane translating 
Student taking refuge
Teachings on the Bardo Experience: A Bardo Retreat (8/19 – 25, 2016)The Bardo teachings were deep and meaningful. Rinpoche dug into deep issues, especially our assumption that our ordinary perception is reliable and true. He explained how everything we know and rely on will collapse during the dying process, and therefore, how crucial it is to prepare in our practice. He gave intimate lucid teachings on sleep, dying, and the various other Bardos–we felt the entirety of life and death to be more of an exciting opportunity rather than frightening and overwhelming. He peppered the Bardo teachings with powerful nature of mind teachings, emphasizing that the heart of the practice is our best protector.
Receiving Bardo teachings with happy hearts
Eloquently teaching on a very tough topic
Stephanie Gaines generously presenting on the Crestone End of Life Project
Sleep Resolve ~ a prayer about dreaming by Tsoknyi Rinpoche “When dreaming, may I be aware of the fact that it is just a dream state; may I recognize that the dreaming is just a dream and when doing so, may I remember the practice so I am able to train further in meditation. While training, may I be able to recognize mind essence.”
September 27, 2016
Susan Budge
This is a personal reflection by Owsley Brown, Rinpoche’s student, on a visit to Susan Budge, a long-term practitioner and former member of the Pundarika Board. Susan passed away yesterday, September 26th, early in the morning. In days prior, her friend Richard sang the Refuge and Bodhicitta chant to her.From Owsley:
On May 11, 2016, I had the pleasure of driving Tsoknyi Rinpoche and his cousin Dzongar Rinpoche to visit Susan Budge (his long-time dharma student.) As we parked the car in the Bay Area light urban landscape, the address we were directed to left us in front of a simple looking four-story apartment building. What I didn’t realize before walking through the threshold was that this was an assisted living home. As we made the long walk from the lobby to Susan’s room, it was quickly revealed that many of the infirmed were in their final periods of life and a certain air of heaviness was palpable.
The meandering hallways led us eventually to Susan’s room, whose door was open and revealed to us a very different quality of presence and atmosphere. Although smaller than even some that we had seen prior, her room had a complete air of open spaciousness. In a large reclining chair sat Susan, obviously immobile. But despite her immobility, Susan’s face, the undeniable expression of all that we were feeling, was radiating like the sun.
Her first words of welcome were from a particularly calm and relaxed place. Evidently Susan was doing well. In fact, she seemed somehow like a luminous being beyond the wonderful and kind person I have known her to be. She was almost not recognizable. When Tsoknyi Rinpoche asked her how she was doing, she said, “Wonderful. In my mind I am hanging out with you all the time.” Rinpoche let out his typical joyful laugh at that remark, and from that moment on, he never lost the smile on his face. On Susan’s part, it seemed clear that even though her beloved teacher was with her in person, she felt no different than before his arrival because, I had the distinct impression, she really had been “hanging out with him” all the time anyway.
Rinpoche seemed to be even more at ease as the minutes went by and the two of them moved into an open conversation for all to share in. Rinpoche began to talk about the very same things he had been offering his students on retreat just hours before–how we all need to be relaxed and at ease, and how the whole point of our practice is to have our hearts and minds remain open. Susan pointed to a mask of a wrathful Tibetan deity she had placed on her wall, along with two beautiful shrines dedicated to Rinpoche. The mask, she said, was intended to remind her of the scary aspects of the Bardo. Rinpoche told her not to worry at all about that and simply for her to trust her spacious and open view.
Susan mentioned that her brother, amazingly, was also in the same home as she, and he came regularly to visit her. He was suffering from a terminal disease and according to Susan, every visit he would arrive joyfully and leave tearfully. This was heartbreaking to Susan and I felt, embedded in her heartbreak, was the very fact that despite her physical condition, as a person of deep faith and connection to her teacher, she was really free from the sense of despair and sadness her brother seemingly was feeling. I imagined myself as her brother, thinking if I was in a position absent of such faith, I too would feel tremendous heartbreak at leaving a situation so filled with loving devotion. After our visit, Rinpoche commented that this was a great expression of Susan’s selflessness; that she was clearly not at all concerned about her own physical condition, but completely distraught by her brother’s pain and suffering. This orientation on Susan’s part was a perfect expression to Rinpoche of what we should all be going for and clearly a sign of Susan’s great strength as a practitioner.
The visit went on with easy-going conversation about life and its finite nature, with Rinpoche continuing to gently and sweetly give voice to how we should all relax and be at ease. Some 20 minutes later, it seemed that it was time to go. Without any fuss or heavy sentiment, Rinpoche offered tender words of encouragement to Susan and promised that he would be in touch. Susan, on her part, seemed as happy as she was when we entered the room and thanked Rinpoche for his visit.
As we left, Rinpoche immediately looked at Dzongar Rinpoche and myself with joy and said, “Wasn’t that great! She is doing so well.” We agreed totally, all feeling the afterglow of the visit as we walked back through the same hall we arrived in. When we got into the elevator, I felt a sense of amazement opening up in me at how well a woman so near the end of her life was doing. As the elevator door closed, I remarked to Rinpoche that it seemed as if the instructions he was offering Susan were not a hair’s bit different from the very instructions he had offered us all on his retreat that very morning. Rinpoche responded by looking deep into my eyes and saying, “That is absolutely true. There is no difference.”
August 11, 2016
Pilgrimage to Muktinath with Tsoknyi Rinpoche
This year the annual 5-day Chakrasamvara puja at Tsoknyi Gargon Ling Muktinath will take place between October 3 and 8. Everyone interested is invited to attend and no permissions or registration are required.
Participants must make all of their own arrangements for travel and accommodation. This generally includes getting to Pokhara, by surface or air, traveling onward to Jomsom, again by surface or air, and finally reaching Muktinath itself, by jeep or on foot.
In addition, all non-Nepali citizens are required to purchase a TIMS (trekking permit)
{http://www.timsnepal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=37}
and an Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP)
{http://www.ntnc.org.np/trekking-annapurna-gaurishankar-and-manaslu-information-and-entry-permit-forms} .
The total cost for these two permits is 4200 Nrs, unless it has recently gone up.
{General helpful info about both permits: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g424944-i12328-k4811806-Tourist_Visa_TIMS_card_ACAP_permit-Annapurna_Region_Gandaki_Zone_Western_Region.html}
(Note if the links don’t work, all info was found just by googling ‘TIMS permit Nepal’ & ‘ACAP Permit Nepal)
Rinpoche will reach Muktinath on Monday, Oct 3. Anyone wishing to accompany him to Muktinath must be in Jomosom by the evening of Oct. 2.
Additionally, Tsoknyi Gechak School’s annual Exhibition is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 29th.
Please use this e-mail for more information about the Exhibition and Pilgrimage to Muktinath: tsoknyinunswf@gmail.com
