Dzogchen Retreat for Inner Transformation

Last week a group of 34 participants of many walks of life and professions gathered together at Kundrol Ling (Khadiravana) to attend a 4-day teaching of Dzogchen.

This is the first time the foundation held such an intensive training consisting of talks on ngondro preliminary practices, Dzogchen history and transmission, A-tri introduction and meditation method, tuklung breathing, and mantra recitation.

Each day we got up early to meditate, prostrate and walk to cultivate humbleness in our heart. After breakfast, we learned to relax, let go, and let things be the way they are.

Daytime, we learned the real meaning of preliminary practice, which is in fact an advanced teaching that needs to be conducted till the rest of our life. And at night we walked to the Stupa site reciting the Matri mantra of love and compassion.

Before the retreat was over, Rinpoche handed over a picture of the A sacred syllable representing primordial mind. This A meditation will lead us to joy and inner peace. But we won’t be attached to it, as it cannot lead us to enlightenment. We need to have one-pointed concentration before we go further to do more practice of thekchod (discovering the nature of our own mind) and thogal (understanding visionary experiences in life and integrating them with the natural state of mind).

We are grateful to Rinpoche for his clear and profound teaching and will look forward to the second retreat which will be conducted next year. In the meantime, we will meet once a month to renew our friendship and recite the Matri mantra together.

Thanks to Nong, Phii Pornpen, Phii Morokot, and mother for their love and rejoicing hearts which can be tasted in their delicious cooking and food.

We appreciated Nong’s dedication which made everything go smoothly. Thanks are due to On for his wonderful photos and for helping out with many other things. We thank all the volunteers, including Little Tan and Lala, and the participants (Dzogchenpa) whose contributions and presence made this Dzogchen teaching a precious experience.