Tsoknyi Rinpoche's Blog, page 7
January 24, 2020
Yogini Project Update
The Yogini Project, operated by Michael Ash, aimed to bring “the inspiring stories of female meditators and spiritual practitioners to the greater world. Through modern media, we connect the global community with the inspiration and wisdom of accomplished female practitioners.” The Yogini Project’s website prominently featured an interview with Tsoknyi Rinpoche on the homepage as well as references to Rinpoche’s work with the Nangchen and Gechak Nuns.
In November 2019, at least five women who were employees, contractors, or volunteers for The Yogini Project accused Mr. Ash of financial improprieties and inappropriate personal behavior. Mr. Ash denies the allegations, and they have neither been proven nor disproven. In light of the allegations, Pundarika Foundation has suspended its support of The Yogini Project.
Until December 2019, The Yogini Project operated as a nonprofit project under the umbrella of another nonprofit organization (fiscal sponsor). The relationship has ended and The Yogini Project may not currently receive charitable donations. Mr. Ash suspended fund raising solicitations in December. Accordingly, donors in the Pundarika community are advised not to make further contributions to The Yogini Project.
In January 2020, Michael Ash voluntarily decided to windup and dissolve The Yogini Project and shut down the website and related social media. As of January 18, 2020, all references to Tsoknyi Rinpoche, The Pundarika Foundation, The Tsoknyi Humanitarian Foundation, Tsoknyi Lineage Nuns, Tsoknyi Nepal Nuns, Tsoknyi Gechak Ling, Tsoknyi Gechak School, Tsoknyi Gargon Ling, and Tsoknyi Tongdro Ling have been removed.
January 24, 2020
Non-Endorsement
The Yogini Project, operated by Michael Ash, aimed to bring “the inspiring stories of female meditators and spiritual practitioners to the greater world. Through modern media, we connect the global community with the inspiration and wisdom of accomplished female practitioners.” The Yogini Project’s website prominently featured an interview with Tsoknyi Rinpoche on the homepage as well as references to Rinpoche’s work with the Nangchen and Gechak Nuns.
In November 2019, at least five women who were employees, contractors, or volunteers for The Yogini Project accused Mr. Ash of financial improprieties and inappropriate personal behavior. Mr. Ash denies the allegations, and they have neither been proven nor disproven. In light of the allegations, Pundarika Foundation has suspended its support of The Yogini Project.
Until December 2019, The Yogini Project operated as a nonprofit project under the umbrella of another nonprofit organization (fiscal sponsor). The relationship has ended and The Yogini Project may not currently receive charitable donations. Mr. Ash suspended fund raising solicitations in December. Accordingly, donors in the Pundarika community are advised not to make further contributions to The Yogini Project.
In January 2020, Michael Ash voluntarily decided to windup and dissolve The Yogini Project and shut down the website and related social media. As of January 18, 2020, all references to Tsoknyi Rinpoche, The Pundarika Foundation, The Tsoknyi Humanitarian Foundation, Tsoknyi Lineage Nuns, Tsoknyi Nepal Nuns, Tsoknyi Gechak Ling, Tsoknyi Gechak School, Tsoknyi Gargon Ling, and Tsoknyi Tongdro Ling have been removed.
January 24, 2020
November 30, 2019
Pilgrimage and Consecration
The Pundarika Pilgrimage previously announced for October 2020 has been temporarily postponed to 2021 with the date being determined by Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Gerardo Abboud. Please do not contact Gerardo directly as he and Rinpoche are still working out the dates, and as soon as a definite date is reached, we will post it immediately!
HOWEVER, the Pundarika Consecration of Tsoknyi Gechak Ling is scheduled for early April 2021. To stay up to date with this event, please visit the Tsoknyi Lineage Nuns’ website at https://tsoknyinuns.org and sign up for their newsletters.
Thank you for your patience and continued support!
October 30, 2019
2020 North America Schedule
Dear Friends and Students of Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Pundarika Foundation,
Welcome to Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s 2020 North America retreats and updates on Pundarika projects!
Please visit our website: tsoknyirinpoche.org for a complete listing of Rinpoche’s worldwide retreats. For more information about specific retreats and registration, contact the Registrar, Susan, at registrar@pundarika.org.
2020 PUNDARIKA NORTH AMERICAN RETREATS
RENUNCIATION, COMPASSION AND DEVOTION: A DZOGCHEN VIEW
April 25 – May 1, 2020
Mount Madonna Retreat Center
Watsonville, California
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.
This is an open, silent retreat and no prerequisites are necessary for registration.
Registration will open November 1, 2019, at noon Mountain Time.
Registration will close April 11, 2020.
CRESTONE PRE-RETREAT PRACTICE
August 14, 2020
Yeshe Rangsal Retreat Land
Crestone, CO
One day before the first Crestone retreat formally begins, students are invited to meditate together, practice gentle yoga and listen to recorded teachings by Tsoknyi Rinpoche.
There is no registration or tuition cost. The only prerequisite for this retreat is to be registered for one of the August 2020 Crestone retreats. This will be held at the teaching tent on the Yeshe Rangsal retreat land.
DREAMLIKE ENLIGHTENMENT: UNDERSTANDING ILLUSION FROM A DZOGCHEN PERSPECTIVE
August 15 – 22, 2020
Yeshe Rangsal Retreat Land
Crestone, CO
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.”
This retreat will focus on the question: What is it to be fully awake, free from all illusion, yet with a heart overflowing with compassion? Rinpoche will teach on these profound themes from a Dzogchen and Mahamudra perspective.
This is an open, silent retreat and no prerequisites are necessary for registration.
Registration for this retreat will open on February 1, 2020, at noon Mountain Time and will close when the retreat is full.
Crestone 2019 retreats filled very quickly. If you wish to attend, please register as soon as possible after registration opens.
DZOGCHEN PRACTICE INTENSIVE
August 23 – 30, 2020
Yeshe Rangsal Retreat Land
Crestone, CO
The profound teachings of Dzogchen or the Great Perfection help us to directly discover our primordially pure nature and allow our confused concepts and emotions to be naturally liberated. This direct and non-conceptual knowing is intimately intertwined with bodhicitta, which is the altruistic intention to become a Buddha with the motivation to fully relieve the suffering of all sentient beings. In this retreat, Rinpoche will teach us how to generate authentic bodhicitta (awakening mind) and the precious awareness of our true and unchanging nature.
This is a silent retreat.
Registration for this retreat will open on February 1, 2020, at noon Mountain Time. Registration will close when the retreat is full.
Crestone 2019 retreats filled very quickly. If you wish to attend, please register as soon as possible after registration opens.
Prerequisite: Having attended one open retreat with Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche or Tulku Urgyen in which pointing out instructions were given.
YOUTUBE BROADCASTS
DREAMLIKE ENLIGHTENMENT: UNDERSTANDING ILLUSION FROM A DZOGCHEN PERSPECTIVE
August 15 – 21, 2020
DZOGCHEN PRACTICE INTENSIVE
August 23 – 29, 2020
We will once again be offering YouTube broadcasts of both Crestone retreats.
Prerequisite: Having attended one open retreat with Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche or Tulku Urgyen in which pointing out instructions were given.
Each teaching session will be available for view approximately four hours after it is given.
Registration will open on April 1, 2020, and will remain open until July 1, 2021.
VIEW AS VAST AS SKY, CONDUCT FINE AS BARLEY FLOUR
November 30 – December 6, 2020
Garrison Institute
Garrison, NY
This teaching will focus on how to establish a living and vital connection between the view of Dzogchen and its natural expression in our daily lives.
This is an open, silent retreat and has no prerequisites.
More information about this retreat will be posted when it is available.
YESHE RANGSAL RETREAT CABINS & LAMA HOUSE
Yeshe Rangsal, the Pundarika retreat land in Crestone, offers students the opportunity to practice in a pure, beautiful and natural environment blessed by many great masters. Through the efforts of many people we now have three retreat cabins that Rinpoche named and the Lama house available for personal retreat. Their presence joins the Stupa of Enlightenment, Shrine to Yudronma and seasonal teaching tent on the land.
For information about a personal retreat at Yeshe Rangsal, please visit: https://tsoknyirinpoche.org/yeshe-rangsal/places-to-practice-2/
PUNDARIKA STORE
You will find carefully selected books and other dharma support items at the Pundarika Store on our website. This is also a way to support Pundarika Foundation and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. https://tsoknyirinpoche.org/shop/
FULLY BEING COURSE
This course is a compilation of video clips of Rinpoche’s core teachings on becoming a healthy human being, a foundation for more advanced dharma teachings and practices. Besides over 170 short video teachings by Rinpoche, it includes key points, daily mantras and focused practice exercises. Please check it out at fullybeing.org.
MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM & RECORDINGS
There are many benefits to joining the Pundarika Foundation Membership Program, which include discounts on retreats and Pundarika Store items, access to retreat recordings, and through your contributions having an opportunity to support Rinpoche’s humanitarian work.
Members are also guaranteed a place in Pundarika sponsored U.S. retreats for one month following the opening of registration. Crestone retreats now fill up very quickly and it is important to register before the one-month period is over to secure a place in the retreat.
For a complete list of recordings available to introductory and advanced membership levels, please visit the Membership page on our web site. https://tsoknyirinpoche.org/membership/
For any questions regarding membership levels, your tuition discount code, or anything related to membership, please contact deborah@pundarika.org.
It is our aspiration that through these retreats and offerings more wisdom and compassion will radiate to the world and that through these dharma teachings all beings will find peace and happiness.
Offering Our Kindest Regards for all in 2020,
The Pundarika Staff
October 17, 2019
Bodhichitta: The Excellence of Awakened Heart
The following piece is a repost from an article that Pema Chödrön wrote for Lion’s Roar online magazine. We hope you enjoy it!
June 8, 2019
New Offering from Rinpoche!
Announcing a new offering to begin this evening, Saturday, June 8th! A video clip from the online course, FULLY BEING, as taught by Tsoknyi Rinpoche, will be posted weekly on his Facebook page for 4 months. To learn more about the full course, visit www.fullybeing.org.
May 28, 2019
Pundarika Pilgrimage October 2020
October 2020
Please note this is not a Pundarika Foundation sponsored pilgrimage. For more information about this trip, contact Tour Director Gerardo Abboud at: gerabboud@gmail.com
Tentative Itinerary
Prices and registration details will be available on November 1, 2019. Itinerary subject to final confirmation of flight availability and timings.
The tour consists of four modules, which can be taken individually or combined:
Consecration of Tsoknyi Gechak Ling in Chobar, Kathmandu, Nepal This is mainly aimed at participating in the opening ceremonies of the temple in Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s new monastery complex
Main Pilgrimage. Tour of the four main Buddhist sacred places in Nepal and India, ending in Bodh Gaya, the place of Buddha’s enlightenment
Bhutan Short is a 6-day tour of sacred places in Bhutan.
Bhutan Long is a 10-day tour of sacred places in Bhutan
Consecration of Tsoknyi Gechak Ling
30 Sep: Arrive in Kathmandu
1 Oct: Inauguration ceremonies
2 Oct: Consecration ceremonies.
3 Oct: Day free for independent activities
4-6 Oct: Teachings
7 Oct: Leave Kathmandu for onward journey
Main Pilgrimage
6 Oct: Arrive in Kathmandu
7 Oct: Morning drive to Lumbini (8 hs)
8 Oct: Visits include the garden where Queen Maya Devi gave birth to Gautama Siddhartha and the ruins of King Suddodhana’s Palace
9 Oct: Drive to Kushinagar through Bhairava, the Nepal-India border, where immigration formalities must be done
10 Oct: Visits include the temple containing a reclining Buddha statue showing the moment of his passing into Parinirvana and the Stupa built on the place where Buddha was cremated
11 Oct: Morning drive to Varanasi (7 hs)
12 Oct: Early morning boat ride in the Ganges River at the time Hindu devotees perform their ritual bathing, while the first sunrays illuminate this ancient city; Short walk through the old streets of Varanasi. Return to the hotel for breakfast; Later visit to the Deer Park in Sarnath where Buddha started the first Turning of the Wheel of Dharma with the teaching of the Four Noble Truths, marked by the huge stupa built by the Emperor Ashoka; There is also a museum containing some of the finest ancient Buddhist statues and stone carvings.
13 Oct: Morning drive to Bodh Gaya (6-7 hs), the place where Buddha attained enlightenment. Bodh Gaya is highly revered by the whole Buddhist world; The main places of interest are the Mahabodhi Temple, containing a replica of what is said to be the first statue of Buddha ever made, and the Bodhi Tree, a descendant of the pipal tree under which he attained enlightenment; These two are found in a wonderful garden also containing many centuries-old stupas and monuments; Like a sacred city where pilgrims from all Buddhist countries converge, every corner of this place is vibrant with spiritual energy, not only because of its past, but also due to the practitioners keeping alive their traditions through prayer, ritual and meditation.
14 Oct: Morning visit to Lodruk Kawa, the nearby place by the shore of Nairanjana River where Buddha spent six years practicing asceticism
15-17 Oct: Teachings
18 Oct: Morning drive to Rajgir (2 hs) to visit the Vulture’s Peak, where Buddha taught the Prajñaparamita cycle, therefore initiating the Mahayana with the Second Turning of the Wheel of Dharma; Walking down the path from this peaceful place, there are caves where Ananda and other teachers practiced; Then visit Nalanda University archeological site (45 min); Return to Bodh Gaya.
19 Oct: Leave Bodh Gaya for onward journey
Bhutan Short
19 Oct: In Bodh Gaya, transfer to airport for flight to Kolkata. (If at that time there is a direct flight Gaya to Paro this deviation through Kolkata will be cancelled and this day would added to Bodh Gaya.)
19 Oct: Flight to Paro in the morning
20 Oct: Arrive in Paro. City tour. Visits include the Paro Rinpung Dzong (Fort), the present administrative seat of Paro, Kyichu Lhakhang, one of the holiest temples in Bhutan built by King Songtsen Gampo of Tibet, and other places in the Valley
21 Oct: Trek to Taktsang (Tiger’s Nest) Monastery built by a cave, perched on a rocky ledge with a sheer drop of nearly 800 mts, overlooking the Paro Valley and river; Guru Rinpoche meditated in the adjoining cave for three months in the 8th century; Afternoon drive to Thimphu (1.30 hs).
22 Oct: Full day sightseeing around Thimphu valley
23 Oct: Drive to Punakha (3 hs), the ancient capital of the kingdom; Visits to Punakha Dzong and Drukpa Kunleg (the Divine Madman)Temple.
24 Oct: Drive to Paro (4-5 hs)
25 Oct: Leave Bhutan for onward journey to Bangkok, Delhi or Kathmandu
Bhutan modules can be adopted with individual direct arrival in Paro on 20 October.
Bhutan Long
Up to 23 October, same as Bhutan Short
24 Oct: Drive to Bumthang (5-6 hs), on the way visit Trongsa Dzong
25 Oct: Visits to (1) Kurjey Lhakhang, together with Paro Tatsang they are the two most important sites of Guru Rinpoche in Bhutan; (2) Jambay Lhakhang, together with Paro Kyichu Lhakhang, they are two of the 108 temples built miraculously by King Songtsen Gampo around the Himalayas for the consecration of the Tibetan land; and (3) Tamshing Lhakhang, the most important Nyingmapa temple in Bhutan associated with the Bhutanese Terton Pema Lingpa.
26 Oct: Visits to Tarpaling, the seat of Longchen Rabjam and to Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche’s Stupa
27 Oct: Drive to Pobjikha or Punakha (6 hs)
28 Oct: Drive to Paro (5 hs)
29 Oct: Leave Bhutan for onward journey to Bangkok, Delhi or Kathmandu
DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE TENTAIVE ITINERARY HERE
Tour Coordinator:
Gerardo Abboud: gerabboud@gmail.com
February 5, 2019
Tsoknyi Rinpoche Losar Greeting 2019
Enjoy Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s New Year’s message from Nepal!
December 15, 2018
World Economic Forum 2019
Rinpoche will be teaching about happiness and leading morning meditations at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, from January 21-25.
December 12, 2018
There is No Perfect
Please enjoy this video clip from the archives of Chariot Videos. It was filmed in Crestone several years ago and never seems to lose its veracity.
