An Introduction to Dzogchen Meditation with Menri Shedrup Khenpo Geshe Nyima Dhondup Rinpoche
Where: Serenity Ridge Retreat Center and online
Khenpo Nyima Rinpoche, the Abbott of the Dialectic School of Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India will guide us in ancient techniques designed to help transcend ordinary dualistic perception and tap into the inherent wisdom and compassion that is our true nature. Through a combination of guided meditations, teachings, and discussion, we will cultivate a state of non-dual awareness that is both expansive and deeply peaceful.
Serenity Ridge offers a scenic and supportive environment to reconnect to oneself and others. Whether you’re new to meditation or seeking to deepen your practice, this retreat is a special opportunity to unlock the transformative potential of Dzogchen meditation and carry its benefits into your everyday life.
Menri Shedrup Khenpo Geshe Nyima Dhondup Rinpoche is abbot of the Bön Dialectic School at Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India. He was born in 1978 in Delhi, India. His birth name, Tsering Dhondup, was bestowed on him by Tsondue Rinpoche, one of the greatest Bön masters of the 20th century. After completing more than 15 years’ study of Bön sutra, tantra, dzogchen and the five major and minor sciences of the Bön tradition, Nyima Rinpoche received his geshe Degree in the spring of 2006. In 2008 Rinpoche was enthroned as Menri Shedrup Lopon, the principal master of the Bön Dialectic School at Menri Monastery, where he has been teaching for more than 15 years. In February 2012 he was enthroned as the Menri Shedrup Khenpo, the Abbot of the Bön Dialectic School. Rinpoche has served as invited speaker for several major Bön and Buddhist conferences. He is author of three books covering the main philosophical teachings of Bön, and has contributed several articles to Bon-sGo, the journal of Menri Monastery in India; and the Himalayan Bön website in Tibet. He has taken on additional responsibilities as General Secretary of the Governing Council of Menri Monastery, and since 2011, as director of Menri’s official website, www.theyungdrungbon.com. In 2014 he visited Tibet and blessed many Bön followers and practitioners.
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Upcoming Ligmincha Learning Courses
Ligmincha Learning is happy to invite you to attend several online prerecorded courses with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche this February and March 2024. 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.
The Three Heart Mantras
February 23-March 31, 2024
The Three Heart Mantras are used in many different meditations in the Bon tradition and play a major role in the ngondro practices. They are said to be the essence of enlightenment in sound and energy, and as we sing or chant the mantras our awareness is transformed to be in union with the buddhas. They are used for purification, protection and as primary practices toward self-realization.
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Ngondro, The Foundational Practices
March 1-December 15, 2024
The ngondro teachings are a set of nine practices that offer complete instructions for taming, purifying and perfecting the suffering mind. Although these practices are considered the foundation for entrance into the five-part cycle of Tibetan Bon dzogchen teachings, Bon’s highest teachings on the nature of mind, many practitioners adopt the ngondro as their main meditation and complete the nine sets of 100,000 repetitions over the course of a lifetime. Within each is contained the entire path to liberation. They are considered to be the foundational practices for the entire tradition.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche rarely teaches the ngondro and recommends it for dedicated practitioners who feel a strong connection to the Bon lineage. Within the ngondro are found practices that are used within many other practices, such as the guru yoga prayer, bodhicitta prayer, refuge prayer, prostrations and the three heart mantras, so the ngondro supports and deepens all other meditation practices.
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Meditation, Breath and Movement: Tsa Lung External, Internal and Secret Practices
Tentative: March 1-31, 2024
With Alejandro Chaoul
Tsa lung is a series of ancient yogic practices that brings balance and harmony to our physical body, energy and mind. The term tsa lung can be translated as the energy-winds (Tibetan lung, Skt. rana, Chinese qi) in the channels, for these practices are designed to open the subtle channels, guiding the healthy flow of the energy-winds so that we can enjoy good health and reconnect with more calmness to a quiet, peaceful mind.
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Sleep Yoga, The Yoga of Clear Light
March 29-April 27, 2024
The course will introduce simple techniques to enter into sleep in a healthy, balanced way. Even if we do not consistently enter into clear light sleep, we can benefit from a refreshing, relaxed sleep that gives us deep renewal. This is supported by breathing techniques, physical postures and guided visualizations. Tenzin Rinpoche also will provide meditations to wake up in a beautiful way, feeling the blessings of sleep and stepping into our day with serenity. Through these simple practices we can transform our sleep to be one of tranquility and awareness.
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The Five Elements, Healing with Form, Energy and Light
March 29-May 12, 2024
In this course Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche explores how each of the five elements relates to our daily experiences, emotions and relationships. Rinpoche guides meditations for each of the elements, designed to help clear our obstacles and bring balance to our lives.
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Free courses; enroll at any time. Starting a Meditation Practice; The True Source of Healing; Living with Joy, Dying in Peace
Learn more at ligminchalearning.com
Join 3 Doors Retreat on Self-Transformation December 2 and 3
Everyone is welcome to join The 3 Doors community on December 2 and 3 for a dynamic weekend retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche as he explores the topic of self-transformation. Rinpoche, Tibetan meditation teacher and founder of Ligmincha International, founded The 3 Doors in 2010 to support people to transform their lives through meditation.
December 2-3, 2024
The Heart of Self-Transformation: Exploring the Medicine of Breath, Awareness and Being
An Online Weekend Retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
This online retreat, offered on Zoom, is open to everyone. Participants will be supported to reflect on habitual patterns that limit health, vitality and the expression of goodness that is inherent to us all. These habits can show up in our bodies as tension or exhaustion; in speech that is divisive or judgmental; and in our minds as fears and insecurities.
Through simple meditation practices that have been used for centuries, we awaken the natural medicine of breath and awareness as we open the doors of our body, speech and mind. Translation available in Spanish, French, German, Hungarian and Portuguese.
Winter Retreat: Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung, Part 4
The Experiential Transmission series, the centerpiece of Rinpoche’s dzogchen teachings, is presented each year at the Serenity Ridge winter retreat. This December, Part 4 of the five-year cycle of teachings focuses on overcoming obstacles to realizing the nature of mind.
You can attend the retreat in person at Serenity Ridge or online through Zoom. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche encourages people to attend in person if possible, to create a more intimate time to connect with one another and with the teachings.
The Experiential Transmission retreats allow Rinpoche to continually guide and nurture a growing community of practitioners devoted to the authentic Tibetan Bön dzogchen path handed down from the masters of Zhang Zhung, a lineage unbroken from ancient times to this day. The concise and essential practice manual of the Experiential Transmission, the Chag Tri, by the great adept Drugyalwa Yungdrung, provides complete instructions for those aspiring to the practice of dzogchen, the path of self-liberation.
As Rinpoche has been doing throughout the year, the focus of this retreat will be on practice. Last year, he gave descriptions of the practices that support trekcho and togel and eventually dark retreat. This year, participants will explore, enhance and reinforce the practices of the five postures, the five gazes and more.
Live translation will be available in Spanish.
Prerequisite: This retreat is open to those who have received the teachings for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche either in this current teaching cycle or previously.
The teachings will begin on December 26 at 7:15 p.m. EST (New York time), and conclude by 2 p.m. EST on January 1, 2024.
Those attending in person may wish to consider staying on for the Tummo Practice Retreat with Geshe Gyatso January 4-11, 2024.
New 2019 and 2020 Biennial Report Published
Check out Ligmincha’s 2019 and 2020 Biennial Report, recently posted on the Ligmincha website. The report shares highlights of what has been happening with Ligmincha International and Serenity Ridge, Ligmincha’s headquarters in Virginia, US, during these two years, along with plans for the future.
Global 24-Hour Prayer Session for H.E. Yongdzin Rinpoche Begins July 9
All are warmly invited to join Bön lamas, Ligmincha instructors, and other members of the Ligmincha International community as we engage in a 24-hour session of prayers and mantras on behalf of H.E. Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, the most senior teacher in the...
Wednesday, June 30, 2021, 11:45 a.m. New York time: Long Life Prayers for Yongdzin Rinpoche
Join Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and members of the CyberSangha and Ligmincha International communities for a one-hour session of prayers on behalf of H.E. Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, the most senior teacher in the Tibetan Bön tradition.
New 3 Doors Academy Begins in Person at Serenity Ridge in October
The sixth 3 Doors North American Academy will begin in October 2021 in person at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Shipman, Virginia. The program includes six group retreats at Serenity Ridge, with online practice and mentoring sessions in between, via Zoom. The Academy will be taught by 3 Doors senior teachers Marcy Vaughn and Gabriel Rocco.
Using meditation, including various breath, body and sound practices, this intensive 3 Doors training will provide participants with the opportunity to engage deeply in the process of self-discovery
Summer Retreat on Dream Yoga and Sleep Yoga Online June 20–July 3
Dream Yoga and Sleep Yoga are profound teachings from the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition to support the realization of one’s true nature. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will teach on these topics during this year’s summer retreat, offered online via Zoom. Dream Yoga will be offered June 20–26 and Sleep Yoga will be held June 27–July 3.
All are welcome to join us for one or both weeks of these retreats, sponsored by Serenity Ridge Retreat Center and supported by Ligmincha International. A discounted rate is available if you register for both weeks.
Rinpoche’s Free Online Program: ‘A Year of Body, Speech & Mind’
In the Tibetan tradition, body, speech and mind are known as the three doors to enlightenment, for they are the only tools we have for progressing on the spiritual path. Through these doors we either exit and become separated from our true nature, or we enter into the fullness of being, realizing and manifesting our capacities in this life for the benefit of others.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is launching a yearlong online program related to these three doors.
A Message for the New Year from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche wrote the following letter to Ligmincha sangha members and friends. Rinpoche is on sabbatical until February.
Two Zoom Retreats in February on Sherap Chamma and Tsa Lung
Ligmincha is offering two live Zoom retreats in February—”Sherap Chamma: Mother of Wisdom and Love” with Marcy Vaughn and “External, Internal and Secret Tsa Lung” with Alexandro Chaoul-Reich. All are welcome to attend.
Year-End Letter from Ligmincha President Rob Patzig
We are living in a time of such great uncertainty, challenge and transformation. Isolation and loss in the face of Covid-19, separation across political and social justice issues, and the biodiversity crisis can seem overwhelming. How fortunate that the teachings of enlightened beings and realized masters of the Yungdrung Bön tradition are available to us!
Lishu Teachers Share Spiritual Stories from Zhang Zhung Online
In the Bön tradition, spiritual stories are a traditional form of teaching. They inspire devotees and practitioners to develop and strengthen their faith in dharma teaching. Join Lishu Institute teachers Geshe Sherap Lodoe and Dr. Sangmo Yangri on Zoom December 19–January 3 for Spiritual Stories from Zhang Zhung.