The United States

NGӦNDRO: THE FOUNDATIONAL PRACTICES

Online Workshop with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

The ngöndro 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 Bön dzogchen teachings – Bön’s highest teachings on the nature of mind – many practitioners adopt the ngöndro 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 ngöndro, and recommends it for dedicated practitioners who feel a strong connection to the Bön lineage. Within the ngöndro 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 ngöndro supports and deepens all other meditation practices.

Registration continues to be open after the start date.

SPRING RETREAT: DISCOVERING THE MELODY OF SILENCE—ONLINE

with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Join us for Rinpoche’s first-ever online-only retreat April 3, 4 and 5. To make this retreat available to as many people as possible, we are using a new, tiered pricing model letting you pay an amount from $0 to $300. Pay what you can. See below for how to choose your payment price when registering. Simultaneous translation will be offered in French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will guide us to discover and listen to the inner melody of silence that lies within ourselves, and to rest in its healing power. Marcy Vaughn will guide practice sessions. This retreat is open to all. If attending this retreat we strongly encourage you to participate in all sessions and to take a break from social media, news and entertainment, as much as possible for its duration.

Schedule (New York time):

Friday, April 3
10:00–11:15 a.m.: Teaching
11:15–11:45 a.m.: Break
11:45–12:45: Practice
12:45–2:00 p.m.: Break
2:00–3:15 p.m.: Teaching
3:15–3:45 p.m.: Break
3:45–4:45 p.m.: Practice

Saturday, April 4
10:00–11:15 a.m.: Teaching
11:15–11:45 a.m.: Break
11:45–12:45: Practice
12:45–2:00 p.m.: Break
2:00–3:15 p.m.: Teaching
3:15–3:45 p.m.: Break
3:45–4:45 p.m.: Practice

Sunday, April 5
10:00–11:15 a.m.: Teaching
11:15–11:45 a.m.: Break
11:45–12:45: Practice
12:45–2:00 p.m.: Break
2:00–3:15 p.m.: Teaching

To register for this retreat, click the “Learn More and Register” link, below and to the left. You can select the price you can afford to pay by using a discount codes below:

$300                No Code Required
$200                Spring200
$100                Spring100
$ 50                 Spring50
$  0                  Spring100%  

24-HOUR FULL MOON PRACTICE OF SHERAP CHAMMA—ONLINE

On Wednesday, April 8, 2020, and each subsequent full moon of 2020, join Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche online for meditation followed by a 24-hour mantra recitation session. This is a precious opportunity to engage in the healing practice of Sherap Chamma, Mother of Wisdom and Love. Each session starts at 10 a.m. New York time on the day of a full moon and ends at 10 a.m. the following day. Rinpoche will be supported by Ligmincha International’s global community of practitioners. Note: Most of these 24-hour sessions will begin with a 20-minute meditation guided by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche; on April 8, the initial meditation will be guided by Marcy Vaughn. In all sessions Rinpoche and Ligmincha lamas will take opportunities to join participants throughout the 24 hours.

Unlike Rinpoche’s CyberSangha® Facebook Live broadcasts, the 24-hour full moon practices will take place via Zoom, in an online meeting space. There is no cost to participate, but registration is required in advance of each 24-hour session; full details and instructions for participating are at https://cybersangha.net/24-full-moon/.

SUMMER SERVICE RETREAT PRIOR TO SUMMER RETREAT

Join us at Serenity Ridge March 28–April, 2020 for a special service retreat just before the annual Summer Retreat. Registration is on June 14 starting 8 a.m., with work beginning promptly at 9 a.m. The retreat ends June 19 at 4 p.m.

Participants will be given a credit of $10 for each hour of service work performed, to be applied toward the cost of registration for the Summer Retreat on the topic of “Tummo, Part 3,” which begins the evening of June 20.

A typical work day consists of six hours, broken down into three-hour morning and afternoon sessions. If you cannot participate in the full retreat, any amount of time you can offer will be appreciated. Service retreat participants who work the full six-hour day will be provided with free dormitory accommodations and simple meals.

This is a wonderful time to share with the sangha and to be of joyful service. 

Each day of the work retreat includes daily meditation, vigorous work periods and free time to walk along the Serenity Ridge grounds or the Rockfish River.

If you would like to participant, please email the Serenity Ridge Office.

NOTE: REGISTRATION HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED FOR THIS RETREAT.
LOOK FOR MORE INFORMATION SOON.

TUMMO: INNER FIRE OF REALIZATION, PART 3

with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Tummo is an ancient method for cultivating inner fire—the joy, bliss, and warmth of our being. We all naturally have these qualities within us, but they are often unreliably available because we have not learned to access them or stabilize our attention in open awareness.

In tummo practice we unify body, breath and mind through specific breathing exercises, visualizations, postures and meditation. The practice has many benefits, among them the purification of subtle and gross obscurations of anger, attachment and ignorance. As the channels and energy centers of the subtle body open, our clarity and concentration improve, and we experience greater well-being and vitality on physical, mental and emotional levels. Positive qualities of love, compassion, joy and equanimity manifest more fully within us as we come to embody stillness, silence and spaciousness.

This retreat is the third of a series of three. It is open to everyone, and you may attend one or both weeks. For those attending only one week, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche recommends that you attend the first week. Newly entering students and those who missed either of the past two summers will need to participate in online courses and guided practices included as a part of this retreat. Information will be sent following registration.

Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche has been teaching in the West for more than 30 years. He has a unique ability to convey a fundamental understanding of spiritual practice in the context of modern Western life. His ability to make these once-secret teachings accessible, while maintaining the purity of their transmission, allows students to move beyond conceptual understanding and bring authentic experience and realization into their lives.

In this retreat, Rinpoche will teach the practice of Tummo from the text Ku Sum Rang Shar (Spontaneous Arising of the Three Kayas), a text by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche, a Bön meditation master who achieved the body of light, or rainbow body, in 1934.

Week 1: June 20–28, 2020: The retreat will begin Saturday, June 20 at 7:15 p.m. and will end Saturday, June 27 at 1 p.m. Check-in for accommodations begins Saturday, June 20 at 4 p.m.

Week 2: June 28–July, 2020: The retreat will begin Sunday, June 28, at 9 a.m. and will end Saturday, July 4 at 1 p.m. Check-in for accommodations begins June 27 at 4 p.m.

If Serenity Ridge accommodations are sold out, there are many local inns and bed and breakfasts for you to choose from within a 20-minute drive.
Visit the Nelson County Tourism website

TIBETAN MEDITATION: ACHIEVING GREAT BLISS THROUGH PURE AWARENESS

with Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

This interactive online workshop, offered through GlideWing, allows you to learn and practice from your own home, at your own schedule, with personal guidance from Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Its video-based teachings offer a direct introduction to the nature of mind. Rinpoche will guide you through each of the five steps of meditation in the Fivefold Teachings of Dawa Gyaltsen — an 8th century dzogchen meditation master — helping you to enter the state of pure awareness that leads to peace, joy and ultimately, to self-realization.

Website: GlideWing (https://www.glidewing.com/twr/meditation_home.html)