TaraNet
October 2, 2009

Dear Friends,

I woke up this morning thinking about fall at Tara Mandala, and feeling like I wanted to communicate more personally about the teachers who are coming and the retreats they are teaching.

Tsoknyi Rinpoche, in my opinion, has made a successful transition from teaching "Tibetan" Buddhism and the deep practice of Dzog Chen, the highest and most profound teachings in the Tibetan tradition, to teaching Dzog Chen in the Western context. He entered teaching in America through Western Buddhist teachers, and his students include Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg, who have been deeply inspired  and influenced by his teachings and those of his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. So, Rinpoche adopted the format of Vipassana retreats of silence and a lot of meditation practice.

Tsoknyi Rinpoche was the first Tibetan Lama to teach at Tara Mandala. He taught in the Kapala meadow, in a grove of wild oaks that makes a natural circle, with the sunlight dappling the grass in the center. A Nepalese Vajrayana dancer, Prajwal, spontaneously arrived and danced in the grove, and a Native American elder attended. Rinpoche was very interested in talking to him. This was the summer of 1994. Since then, he has periodically returned to Tara Mandala. Last year he was so excited about the temple and the way we are establishing authenticate teachings in the Tibetan tradition at Tara Mandala, he promised to come back again and again. It was his idea to teach from Yeshe Tsogyel's Dzog Chen teachings, and he has never taught from her writings before. This is a unique opportunity to hear this first ever teaching on Tibet's great Yogini, Yeshe Tsogyel, by an eminent Buddhist teacher. The retreat will have practice as well as teachings.

Lama Pema Dorje is our next visiting teacher, offering "Bestowing the Glory of Deathlessness," October 16-22. He will teach Tibetan yoga, a form of yoga connected to Machig Labdrön's teacher Phadampa Sangye. Lama Pema Dorje is considered to be an emanation of Phadampa Sangye, who is very connected to our focus at Tara Mandala. I also have a personal connection to him because he stayed with one of my root Lamas, Apho Rinpoche, in Manali for 2 years right after I was there. Apho Rinpoche was a very profound, married yogi known for his student's accomplishment of the Six Yogas of Naropa. He was the grandson of the famous Drukpa Kagyu yogi, Shakya Shri. I had a very close relationship with Apho Rinpoche and his family when I was a nun and lived near them in retreat in 1971-72, and so it is like we are from the same family. I am so happy to welcome him and his consort Kunzang to Tara Mandala. Besides teaching yoga, he will give the empowerment and teachings for a short White Tara sadhana by HH Dudjom Rinpoche. For long life and blessings in meditation, it is important to do a White Tara practice, and she is the chief yidam for many great Lamas including Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. It is said his mind resides so profoundly in the ground of being, he doesn't distinguish between day and night. This is an extraordinary opportunity to meet one of Tibet's great yogis.

Finally we have an unscheduled visit from Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche. He was one of the Lamas who recognized me as an emanation of Machig in 2007. Three days before our group arrived back to Kathmandu from Tibet, he had a dream in which Machig appeared surrounded by her whole lineage and said, "In three days I will be there."

Lama Wangdu came to Tara Mandala in 2008 and taught the Chöd and the dance connected to it for three weeks. He is a joyful, effusive Lama, and we very much look forward to showing him the temple. The last time he was here we sat in the snow and did the fragrant juniper sang offering at the temple site, praying for the funds to complete it. I have asked him to teach the Rinchen Trengwa, also called the Tsogle, the practice that most directly traces back to Machig herself through Karmapa Rangjung Dorje. This is an essential piece of Machig lineage, and important for all those interested in receiving her lineage. The retreat will be held Oct 26-30, right before I go to the East coast for Kapala I and Chöd at Kripalu, and teachings in the Boston area, from where I go to Amsterdam for the first European teaching on November 21. I'll be back at Tara Mandala December 10, after teachings in Munich, Frankfurt and Zurich.

Over winter solstice weekend, December 17-20, Tulku Sang Ngag Rinpoche will come back to teach the Dentog Chigma (Liberation on One Seat) from the Dzinpa Rangdröl, the same cycle as the White Dakini we did for Drubchen. Tulku Sang Ngag Rinpoche will come back again April 15-25, 2010, to teach further on Dzinpa Rangdröl. For those who have finished Ngondro requirements he will teach the White Dakini. For those who have finished both the Ngondro and the White Dakini accumulations he will teach the Tsa Lung. The teachings will be given to the two groups at different times of the day, and he will also teach on the Chöd for anyone, no prerequisites, at another time of day.

All this is on our website, but I somehow wanted to give you a more personal sense of these teachers and what they will be teaching. Let's feast together on these beautiful Dharma offerings!

With love,

Lama Tsultrim