After a long international flight to Kathmandu, I was looking forward to receiving teachings and studying two ngondro texts. One was the Short Barchey Kunsel Ngondro, and the other was the main ngondro for the Tsoknyi Lineage called the Ladrub Kunzang Tuktik Ngondro. It was very exciting to have the chance to study these two beautiful texts that emanate from both the Tsoknyi and Chokling Tersar lineages. The goal of the trip was to gather enough information to produce two forthcoming ngondro manuals for our Pundarika sangha.

Upon my arrival, I learned that Tsoknyi Rinpoche was about to begin teaching at a three-day retreat at Nagi Gompa. During the retreat Rinpoche gave wonderful teachings on Mipham Rinpoche’s The Lamp That Clears Away Darkness. Our very own Adam Kane translated masterfully. Rinpoche’s skill at these kinds of teachings always blows me away. After the teachings, Rinpoche was back to work at Tsoknyi Gebchak Ling nunnery, meeting with architects, volunteers, and a Feng Shui master. The amount of energy and skill being put into the nunnery was an incredible site to rejoice in.

The ngondro studies began amidst this flurry of construction on Chobar hill. Over the course of a few weeks, Khenpo Könchok Palden (one of the main lamas at the nunnery), beautifully taught the Kunzang Tuktik ngondro to me and a few others. Khenpo-la has a wonderful “Khampa” presence and has studied and practiced the Tsoknyi lineage in depth in Nangchen, Tibet. It was a real gift to listen to the wonderful qualities of the Tsoknyi lineage directly from such a deep practitioner. Amidst the teaching environment, Tsoknyi Rinpoche could be seen almost daily at the nunnery engaging in intense architectural contemplation meditation. It was wonderful to see the depth of Rinpoche’s commitment to his nuns. Eventually the nuns will have a truly astonishing place to study and practice on Chobar hill.

February in Kathmandu offers a unique opportunity to spend Losar (Tibetan New Year) in a place where the Tibetan diaspora has built firm roots. And Losar 2013 definitely did not disappoint. Leading up to, during, and after Losar is a time period in which most Tibetan Buddhists focus on purifying old negativities and collecting merit. Most monasteries and nunneries host long prayer and meditation gatherings with these in mind. Tsoknyi Rinpoche participated in an eight-day Drupchen at Osel Ling monastery during this time, and it was a powerful experience to witness all of the lamas and monks practicing together. Tulku Urgyen’s Yangsi came at the end of the Drupchen to officiate, and it was precious to watch the Yangsi’s ease and skill amidst such a complex Drupchen. There were other notable multi-day prayer ceremonies going on at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling (Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s monastery) as well. Watching Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche and Pakchok Rinpoche engage in Lama Dancing was an unforgettable site, and the Gyutor ceremony culminating in a huge bonfire where symbolic representations are burnt representing all of our collective negativities was extremely moving.

Following Losar, it was time to start my studies on the Barchey Kunsel Ngondro. Lama Tsultrim Sangpo, a senior lama at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling skillfully taught the ngondro text. Lama Tsultrim was extremely kind in helping with any specific questions about the ngondro that we had. I had previously studied with Lama Tsultrim, and I’ve always been inspired by his humbleness and depth of experience. Toward the end of the trip, Tsoknyi Rinpoche gave the empowerments for Barchey Kunsel and Vajrasattva to a group of westerners at Chobar. Shortly after the empowerments, Rinpoche and the nuns started another eight-day Drupchen practice.

Alas, as all composite things must change, I had to say farewell to Nepal. All in all it was an incredible opportunity to seek out the precious jewels of the lineages to which Tsoknyi Rinpoche belongs. Ultimately it is our responsibility to serve, study, practice, and eventually embody these lineages, as well. I would like to make fervent aspirations that we may all be able to accomplish this. And that the Buddha Dharma may remain and be authentically practiced in this world for countless years to come.

Sincerely,

Tenzin Namsel

We hope you enjoy the photos offered by Jonathan Finegold taken at the Wisdom in Aging retreat recently held in Northern California at the Mount Madonna Retreat Center.  Click here to access the photos, and here are Jonathan’s thoughts on the retreat:

“By the end of the retreat, I came away deeply moved by his vast compassion and dedication in attempting to address and heal our peculiarly Western suffering and neuroses. Subtle body dis-ease and lung energy disorders have become endemic to Western culture, and they now exist on a vast scale; and while it is not Rinpoche’s job to fix this problem, he clearly sees that it is an obstacle to effective practice, and I for one am very grateful that he is addressing this subject.”   ~ Jonathan Finegold/photographer

We survived 2012, and the world didn’t end! What a relief! Finally we can relax, and I hope in this coming year we will all increasingly become healthy human beings.

According to dharma, every day is a new day and each day can be used in a meaningful way. Just as every day can be used meaningfully, each year can be used in a meaningful way. The new year time is an opportunity to contemplate and reflect on this. Think about how to use this coming year, how to make it meaningful. Learning to appreciate each day is the basis for the teachings on the precious human life.

A year, after all, is just a collection of months. A month is a collection of days. A day is a collection of hours. An hour is a collection of minutes. So how we are going to spend our year depends on how we live each moment, each breath, each heartbeat. So I want you to take care of each moment, each breath, each heartbeat. Take care of the present moment. If you want to make this year a positive one, use each moment well. If you want to change, you have to transform this present moment. Then the change will take place properly, as we learn to live each moment properly.

What I have been doing:

I’ve been in Kathmandu almost two months now, working very hard on the development of the Tsoknyi Nepal Nuns project. I feel it’s like a baby growing. It’s growing very well so I am quite happy. Right now the project is at the teenage stage. I need a lot of patience and understanding to be able to help the project grow in the right direction so it can fully develop and bloom into a mature nunnery. I will be in Nepal for another month. My teaching tour starts March 10th. Hopefully I will see some of you around the world.

My best wishes for a new year full of dharma, transformation and taking good care of this precious human life.

Tsoknyi Rinpoche

The Yogini Project is dedicated to directly supporting the greater emergence of realized women in our time through diverse media projects and retreat sponsorship. Please visit their web site at:   http://www.theyoginiproject.org and visit their Facebook page!

Rinpoche taught on the timeless and ever relevant “Naturally Free Wisdom Mind” text by Patrul Rinpoche for 20 days, going deeply into Dzogchen practice and the detailed meditation instructions given by Patrul Rinpoche. The setting at the Yoga Barn on Martha’s Vineyard was serene, quiet and beautiful, accented by the powerful and wild storms (including Hurricane Sandy) racing over the island.

(Mystery group photo taken at end of the month-long)

(Scarlet and Rex, our hosts and owners of the Yoga Barn)

To amplify the text and provide context, Rinpoche clarified key terms and their experiential meanings, such as prajna, salwa, nangwa, machuppa (non-modification, fabrication) and taught extensively on rigpa expression, the three levels of interdependence, co-emergence, mother and child luminosity, the five wisdoms in relationship to the five kleshas, and the union of the two truths. This retreat, coupled with the prior 10 days on Bodhicitta and Mind Nature, wove together intensive practice with integration in daily living on the island (students lived in rented houses, mostly in groups, all across the island).

Also, many helpful and clarifying discussions took place on cognitive science and science in terms of understanding the nature of attention, the brain correlates of consciousness, and the concept of randomness or unpredictability. As is customary at the close of each month-long retreat, students gave enjoyable and gutsy performance offerings at the tsok feast on the last evening of the retreat, revealing musical, movement , storytelling, and singing abilities unsuspected and unseen in the 29 days of silence.

(Tulsi sings about the gypsy path)

(Jen listens to her melody during the tsok)

(Paul playing the clarinet)

We are happy to announce that Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s 2013 teaching schedule is now on the web (www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/retreats/) for your future planning! All the information we currently have about each program is on the web now, so if you see some information missing, please check the web site link in a couple of weeks. We will be updating information as it comes in.

By popular demand, three more screenings of the film When the Iron Bird Flies will be held at the Rubin Museum of Art (NYC) in December, as well as the Rosendale Theater in New York in January. Additionally, there will be five showings of the film at the Baedecker Theater at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, CO, January 16-19. For specific screening information, please visit www.chariotvideos.com

Dear Friends,

As 2012 draws to a close, I would like to let you know about some of the work that Pundarika Foundation and the new International Friends of the Tsoknyi Nepal Nuns have achieved over the past year.

Someone recently asked me if any of my teachers ever thought about retirement or at least time off. I replied, definitely not. Their continuous joy is knowing they can always and in all ways benefit others who may be suffering. When I reflect on the lives of my teachers and then their teachers and so on, what I see is benefiting others has no end.

Tsoknyi Lineage Nuns of Nepal and Tibet

Tsoknyi Lineage Nangchen Nuns, Tibet
One of my chief responsibilities is to provide the spiritual and material support for more than 2000 nuns in Nangchen, Eastern Tibet and over 200 nuns in Nepal. The first Tsoknyi Rinpoche initiated this legacy in the mid-1800s and began the tradition of creating and sustaining a vibrant network of practice centers and hermitages that would allow thousands of women to strive for the fruit of Tibetan Buddhist practices: great love and compassion, and profound freedom. This system was renowned in Tibet for the commitment and deep realization of its practitioners, with many great masters attesting to their excellence.

After seven years of fundraising and careful investment, we have succeeded in closing the $2.3 million endowment fund. Distribution of these endowment funds will begin next year, under the auspices of the Bridge Foundation, one of the most respected and effective NGO’s in Eastern Tibet. Funding will be prioritized by need to the more than 26 nunneries, retreat centers and hermitages where these extraordinary women live and train. To learn about the lives of the Tsoknyi Lineage Nangchen nuns in Tibet, please visit www.tsoknyirinpoche.org/monestaries/the-tsoknyi-lineage-nuns-of-nangchen/

The International Friends of the Tsoknyi Lineage Nepal Nuns
Over the past 20 years, scores of Buddhist nuns have made the arduous journey from Nangchen, Tibet to Nepal to reconnect with me as their lineage teacher. In early 2010, a home for these exceptional women was found at the abandoned Chobhar Monastery outside of Kathmandu. In the spring of 2011, they were joined by 82 girls from ages 6 to 14—all from my home village of Nubri in northern Nepal. By the fall of 2011, over 135 adult nuns, young girls, and live-in teachers began to experience the opportunity of a secular and religious education for the first time in their lives.

Chobhar Monastery was designed to house 35 people, and the aging facility was overwhelmed. It became crucial to address this situation, and The International Friends of the Tsoknyi Nepal Nuns was formed as a result to help support the vision of continuing the Tsoknyi Lineage of educating, supporting and championing female Buddhist practitioners. By early 2012, architectural drawings and site plans were completed for the building of a nunnery and integrated educational facility called Tsoknyi Gechak Ling. Our vision is to train nuns to become among the most accomplished Buddhist practitioners and Dharma teachers in the world. I envision them being particularly skilled at teaching the importance of loving kindness, compassion, and how to become healthy human beings. They will inspire students to work on a variety of social causes such as the environment, medical needs, education, and community health.

Please visit the newly created International Friends of the Tsoknyi Lineage Nepal Nuns website: www.tsoknyinepalnuns.org for up to date information, to make donations, or to request prayers. For further information contact Julie Green at juliegreen@tsoknyinepalnuns.org or call (970) 846-1016.

Tsoknyi Gargon Ling Nunnery, Muktinath, Nepal

In 1991, when they learned of a Tibetan lama from their own lineage, three senior nuns from Tsoknyi Gargon Ling Nunnery high in the Himalayas in Muktinath, Nepal, walked hundreds of miles over mountainous terrain to Kathmandu to request my instruction and help.Twenty years later and as a result of your generosity, construction on a kitchen, dining hall, and a beautiful new shrine hall was completed. Due to these improvements, seven nuns were able to begin a three-year retreat in November of this year.

The October 2011 Consecration of Tsoknyi Gargon Ling was a joyous occasion attended by thousands of villagers, renowned teachers, and students from around the world. Jean Chang, a long-time student, is to be congratulated for her dedication to and support of this project along with all of the other students who helped the Muktinath Nuns receive a beautiful home and shrine hall.

I will be visiting Tsoknyi Gargon Ling in Muktinath April 21-28, 2013, along with any students who wish to make the trip. It will be a time to receive teachings and do retreat in a very special environment. (Individuals will be responsible for making their own travel arrangements. Please e-mail juliegreen@tsoknyinepalnuns.org for more information.)

Open Heart, Open Mind Book Tour

Between April and July of 2012, and with the help of many of my students, I was able to complete a vigorous three-month tour of the United States. Over 6,000 people attended book events in person and over 20,000 participated by podcast, through our web site (www.tsoknyirinpoche.org), and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Tsoknyi.Rinpoche.Sangha).The tour quickly became an extraordinary love affair with people from all walks of life. So many people were able to touch the Buddhadharma and found themselves laughing with a wondrous, lively, childlike joy, as we defined and explored the teachings of the Buddha for a modern age.

A New Film: When the Iron Bird Flies

A new feature-length documentary film produced and directed by Victress Hitchcock—a long-time student—was released commercially in October 2012 and already has had excellent reviews in film festivals in Amsterdam, San Francisco, and New York. Supported by Pundarika Foundation, When the Iron Bird Flies examines the path of an ancient and enduring spiritual tradition and asks whether Buddhist teachings can help people living in the 21st century to discover genuine happiness and create a saner, more compassionate existence. For more information, please visit the Chariot Videos web site, http://www.chariotvideos.com/documentary/ironbird.shtml

Student Path

We are currently engaged in designing a curriculum that will serve as a means for students who feel connected to my lineage to train in the Buddhist path. We have already assembled many audio teachings, transcriptions, and videos, and as time allows next year, we will focus on organizing this treasury of teachings and making it available.

Yeshe Rangsal Retreat Land

The very special 55 acres that comprise Yeshe Rangsal have been blessed over and over by many rinpoches and lamas through teachings, prayers, and practice, and the land is protected by Dorje Yudronma. Because our efforts have focused on cultivating support for the nuns in Tibet and Nepal, development has been slow. However, we are making some progress toward fulfilling our vision of a Three-Year Retreat Center for about 15 students, as well as individual retreat cabins. Each year we make small improvements, anticipating a time in the near future when we can develop this “dharma land” to its full potential. This coming spring, for example, we are constructing new bathrooms for retreatants. And our motto is: “from portalettes to porcelain.” This project will be completed in time for the August 2013 retreats in Crestone and will eventually serve as permanent facilities for longer-term residents of 15 retreat cabins spread across the land.

Of course, support for the Tsoknyi lineage nuns and other projects would not be possible without your kind and generous contributions. Please take the time to consider this opportunity to become involved in these compassionate projects to educate girls and women in Nepal. We are looking for an architect and grant writer to volunteer their time. Please contact Julie Green at juliegreen@tsoknyinepalnuns.org if this is something that you may be interested in helping with. As the year 2012 comes to an end, funding to complete the nun’s shedra and residence building is urgently needed. Your donations ensure that the Tsoknyi lineage of accomplished nuns will continue and that women practitioners will have the chance to increase Dharma throughout the world. (All donations are, of course, tax-deductible.)

My very best wishes and prayers to all of you in the coming year!

With deep love, respect and gratitude,

Tsoknyi Rinpoche

Rinpoche completed a very wonderful retreat on November 2nd, which began with excellent teachings and group practice on how to deeply relax and “be” in the body. This was followed by his detailed instructions and demonstrations on how to bring down lung to allow the subtle body to regenerate itself, especially after so many retreatants traveled so far to get to Martha’s Vineyard. This practice accelerated everyone’s ability to “show up” for his laser-like presentation of the three aspects of dependent origination or interdependence before he explored, in the depth and spontaneity of a true master, the nature of mind and bodhicitta. Half-way through the retreat, Hurricane Sandy enabled everyone to practice whole-heartedly (winds were up to 80 miles per hour in gusts in a wild display of the power of nature), and Rinpoche gave specific instructions for practicing on that day.

This photograph was taken by Ani Konchog Lhamo of Norway and is comprised of most of the participants in the Bodhicitta and Mind Nature retreat who were not staying on for the entire month-long through November 20th.