What’s the news ? Tell me
what’s happening.
The website for the retreat is being sponsored in Vancouver, B.C. by
Eric and Celia Dodds, parents of one of the retreatants, Rachel Dodds.
As it is in the process of being set
up, the only up to date information is from emails we have received
from Rachel, and we quote from them.
April 2007
Dear Friends,
Sorry that I have not updated for sometime!
Especially sorry to Emily’s dear Mom!
Since September we have been doing Tummo practice. Tummo is part of the teachings of the Six Yogas of Naropa.
It is a yoga practice that involves breathing techniques, physical
yogas or postures and visualisation. It is more demanding on the
body than other meditations, so we must eat a lot of protein and
nutritious food – which is sometimes hard in India!
Tummo works by producing a blissful heat in the body which purifies the
energetic or subtle body and creates more subtle states of mind that
are conducive to meditation.
In December, we had our second fire puja of Vajrayogini. It was
much easier than the first as we knew a bit better what were doing! We
even got on National Indian TV!
Our winter this year was very mild until February then we had about one
month of cold weather with a big snowstorm. In January we moved
into our new retreat complex.
There are fifteen rooms each with its own bathroom, kitchenette and big
windows. Some even have balconies. They are very nice, but
as they were just built, the concrete was not fully dry so they were
damp over the winter and everything got mouldy.
Spring arrived in Mid March as did Lama Champa, who was travelling to teach in South America and Europe over the winter.
Now the old retreat complex is available to students who wish to do
shorter retreats. And, the next three year retreat will likely start in
December of this year!
Information about the retreat will be posted soon on this website and a new email address will be made for inquiries. .
For the time being, please place your inquiries on our website at
www.drikungthreeyearretreat.com
Rachel.
September 2006
The rainy season is finally over. It seems all our flowers
are out now. Things are quite relaxed in this section. We have more free
time. I am working on translating the Second Fire Puja which we will do in
October or November. It will be a bit shorter than the first one, and we
will still have the hearth. However, it is starting to look somewhat green
and decrepit. Lama Champa will be returning at the beginning of October.
Everyone seems to be doing well with the new practices – the tummo
preliminaries. Zango, our old cook, is still not back. We hope he will return
next month. His operation went well, but he is a bit slow to recover as it
was a big incision through many of his leg muscles.
August 2006
Well it is wet! All our clothes are damp and it takes days
for anything to dry. Thankfully for synthetics fleeces are the only things
that are dry and warm. Morning now are cold, damp and foggy and afternoons
and evenings warm and muggy with heavy rains on and off.
Some of us are about two-thirds done with the mantra recitation – we
have to do 500,000 each plus 300,000 short mantras. One can achieve 10,000
in a day – it takes a few weeks to get used to it. The mala, similar
to the rosary, is what we use to count. It has a system of beads that you
use and can count up to a million. Sooooo, these malas are not just neck
beautifiers – they are high-tech calculators! But, of course, they
have their defects as sometimes a clip falls off or the counters slip, or
you forget if you already moved the beads!
July 2006
We have just finished Mahamudra and are now starting
Dedication – the
final section of the Five Fold Path of Mahamudra The Path will have taken
one year and ten months. The rest of the retreat will focus on the Six Yogas
of Naropa. We have been blessed with few obstacles and we are all in good
health. Now it is the beginning of summer and it is hot!
Every evening around 5 p.m. a lightning storm arrives with a little rain.
Today we had hail stones the size of quarters! The monks have gone a bit
wild with planting flowers this year. We will have plenty of marigolds, sunflowers
and dahlias around.
We had a nice visit from His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche, the head of our
lineage. He gave us teachings on the Shamata and promised to return soon
to give us an empowerment. He came also to give teachings to seven Yogis
who are doing a Hevajra Retreat in the temple here/ All of them have previously
completed a three year retreat either here or in Lapchi, where the Drikung
Lineage has another retreat centre.
H.H. Chetsang Rinpoche authorised the building of 16 new retreat huts on
this property. They will be individually complete with kitchens and bathroom
in each one. If they are completed on schedule, we may move into them in
our third year and our dormitories will be open for Westerners and Himalayans
to do short term or long term individual retreats.
The conditions are basic but adequate and very reasonable financially for
long term retreats with instruction in English. For more information contact
Drupon Champa Rigzin Rinpoche at the address given on this website.
July 25/2006
Greetings from India.
I hope everyone is well. We finally completed the five fold path of Mahamudra
and now started all the preparations for Vajrayogini yidam retreat. We
are all very excited to begin that. We all got a chance to help make the
Sand mandala again and are getting somewhat more skilled! The monks were
a little less worried about our participation than last time! Rolf worked
on it all for over half a day and then Emily, Jay Simpa and I all had a
go. The empowerment was very beautiful and elaborate. Lama Champa is very
knowledgable about all the rituals. We then had 3 days of teachings. During
that time the yogis who were here doing Hevajra retreat for many months
finished and we got to met them. Most had completed a Drikung 3 year retreat
either in Lapchi or in Nepal at the retreat center in Tatopani. Jay has
been there as said it is sooo quiet and remote, but there are no facilities
up there and you need someone to go down the mountain four hours to go
shopping for you. Lapchi also sounds incredible, there is also a Drikung
Retreat center there, but it is also just as remote and people live on
pretty much tsampa(barley porridge)! But the blessing of Milarepa is so
strong one monk said it permeates your mind the entire time. One yogi we
met named Shenpen Nyima reminded me so much of Abo Lama and he spent many
years in Gar Monastery in Tibet and was Rinpoche’s attendant for
some time. He gave me a lovely recent photo of Garchen Rinpoche, just after
his eye operation as he has to small band aides on his temples. The work
is progressing on our new retreat huts, and four are almost complete structurally.
They look very nice and the view will be lovely and less noisy from the
road.
Everyone is well. Zangpo, one monk with us here from Ladakh had to leave
for a month to get an operation on his leg. It was an old injury that returned
an was becoming painful and dangerous, so he had to leave for a brief time,
but will return. We will try to find some sponsor help for him as the operation
cost is a little expensive and he has few resources. The summer weather has
been very mild, and we are now almost in rainy season without having any
major heat wave, which we are thankful for. Last year was so cold in the
winter and so hot in June, so we got a nice break this year, but who knows
what next year will bring.
All the best to everyone.
Rachel.
May 25/2006
Now we have all been cooking for ourselves for the last
month or so. It has been quite fun, and we are all learning Indian /Tibetan
Cooking - Chapatis , Fried Bread, Thukpa (Noodle Soup)and Curries . We usually
cook in pressure cookers as it saves time and gas. I can also make most of
my usual stuff -spagelt, stir fry, even pizza!! Ute even baked a cake yesterday
for Linda s birthday . For an oven she put her aluminium trunk on her stove
and it worked !! It cost a bit to set up all of our kitchens. I will send
you some pictures of mine ! Now things should be quite cheap as veggies are
very inexpensive . I am learning to cook faster so as not to take time out
of my practice. I usually eat the same thing for 2 or 3 days. We have a fridge
now too.
February 14/2006
Now we are doing the last practice of the 4 Kaya(or bodies) Guru Yoga. The
4 Kaya Guru Yoga is a very beautiful practice where one starts from the outer
level of seeing the Guru or teacher outside oneself and looking at all the
wonderful qualities of all teachers and developing faith and devotion to
them. Then slowly each step of the 4 Kayas one brings the Guru closer and
closer and finally in the last step one comes to understand the essence of
one’s own mind and the Guru’s mind is no different and that by
developing love and faith and practicing the instructions of our Gurus, their
qualities will naturally arise in us and then we too can be of benefit to
all beings. We have a Russian man here for a few months doing his mandala
offering practice in the temple. He is not staying on our side of the fence,
but during the fire puja we could talk with him. He is from a town near Moscow.
He said he and his ex wife are the only Drikung Kagyu practioners in Russia!
He met Garchen Rinpoche in Russia last time he was there a year or so ago.
It is interesting how so many people around the world are all connected through
Garchen Rinpoche. The Russian man, Igor, is very jolly and jokes a lot with
Lama Champa. Lama Champa jokes with him that he is not allowed on our side
of the fence as that is the boarder between enlightenment and non-enlightenment!
(I’m not so sure which side is suppose to be which!) . Igor surprisingly
does not think we are all crazy and actually is inspired to do a three year
retreat too. He will go down to south India for a while where the Dalai Lama
is giving the Kalachakra Initiation, a deity practice he offers several times
a year as it is very powerful in promoting peace throughout the world. After
that he hopes to return here for a few more months and continue his practice.
Everyone is doing quite well here. Unfortunately two retreatants had to
leave briefly to go to get dental work done. In Rishikesh, about 10 hours
from here there is a very good dental clinic that has all modern western
facilities and the dentists learn western techniques and also incorporate
holistic practices into dentistry. It also is sponsored largely by the government
and is very cheap. So we are all thinking to go there after our retreat for
any dental work we might need. In the future if I needed major dental work
it would probably even be cheaper to fly to India and get it done there,
than do it at home! Rishikesh was made famous by the Beatles as their Guru’s
ashram is there, and now many yoga and other various ashrams and religious
centers are there. Samten, one of the monk’s who joined us later and
was doing the 3 year retreat on his own schedule,had to go back to Nepal
to renew his visas. His hometown is Lapchi. Lapchi is famous, as Milarepa,
one of the greateset Yogis (saints) of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism,
spent much time there in caves meditating. He left his footprint imbedded
in rock there, which is now a place of pilgrimage for many devotees. Garchen
Rinpoche gave us a photo of it. The winter it is very difficult to leave
Lapchi, his hometown, as it is completely snowed in. So at least he will
not return until February or March, but perhaps he will try to finish his
retreat in Lapchi as there is a Drikung retreat center there, although the
conditions there are a fair bit more rugged than here, and far colder! But
he must be quite used to cold.
January 16/2006
Written Nov 15/05
We are now on a kind of extended break. We are doing the First Fire Puja,
which concludes the deity practices. It purifies mistakes and obstacles.
It is a more relaxed time where we can talk and actually relatives and friends
can visit. However, it is not a very practical idea as we are busy from 5
a.m. to 5 p.m with the fire puja, which only leaves a few hours in the evening,
and we cannot leave the centre. The monks friends and relatives may come
from time to time.
Lama Champa returned from his travels. He said there was a lot of interest
everywhere and he was very busy.
We will spend about a week preparing for the fire puja. We had to build
a big hearth from bricks and mud. It was fascinating to watch and participate
It looks great. It is about ten layers of bricks, about four feet high. We
will paint it ornately. In the base are two sand mandalas. One Simpa and
I did all by ourselves. We drew it and filled it with coloured sand using
two pipes. By twisting the pipes the sand slowly pours out and you direct
it to the correct place. It can be very enjoyable! The mandalas are inserted
in the base of the fire, like pizzas, and then sealed in with mud.
The idea is that all that is offered in the fire \endash food, grains, flowers,
wood, incense, etc. is offered to the mandala, which is the deity, their
palace and retinue. The actual puja will take about three weeks.
We heard from Garchen Rinpoche. He was in Europe and had two operations,
one on each eye. They were successful. He will go back to the States and
then must return to Tibet. He will try to visit us next year. We are expecting
a lama from the U.S. to visit us during the puja, which will be nice.
A few people felt a bit of a shake during the earthquake in Pakistan, but
nothing much here. It seesm the earth is finally rebelling against all the
damage we have done to it! But, as we always seem to see, there is always
great suffering. However, change is natural and not inherently bad or good
despite how it may appear. Good comes out of bad and bad out of good, so
it is best not to get too attached either way. Often people come together
and realize deeper meaning in their life out of suffering.
Returning to the fire puja. We must do a lot of work each day preparing
the offering and altar. We require one hundred butter lamps and set up outside.
The hearth must be repainted each day if it cracks. It is all made of mud
and bricks. It is nice to practice outside, even though from 4 a.m. when
we start to 9 a.m. it is rather chilly. We can bring blankets. The fire puja
has many rituals. Many things are offered into the hearth and each represents
a symbolic purifying of various negativities whilst increasing various positive
qualities.
Today, I got the job of attendant and ran around al day getting all the
offerings for Lama Champa and putting them in the fire. I had to do everything
including lighting the fire and keeping it going. We have a make shift torch
which went out on me. Finally I got a small flame going and barely made it
to the hearth before it went out. I was just praying it would light quickly.
Of course, everyone was watching and it was great entertainment for the monks
to see me running around doing their job. It was very interesting, but I
am exhausted, b ut it is a bit hard to follow the chanting and meditation
when you are preoccupied with what needs to be done next! I will do it again
and then the others will have a go!
The monks are so work oriented. They are very efficient, but we are always
rushing, rushing. Sometimes it gets crazy. They are used to it though and
we are not! They do the fire ceremony and chanting so fast we cannot keep
up, but we are just happy to have the experience. The main part is the mantra
recitation which we can do.
Some of the local Tibetans who are Buddhist and follow Tibetan customs come
for a short time each day to prostrate and sit. They bring the whole family,
and onle little girl, only two or so, was prostrating. It was very cute.
Our thanks to Rachel for this report.
December 5/2005
We are all well here. Our New Year and Ladahki New Year fall on
the same day this this year, so maybe Lama Champa will let us have a little
celebration although we will be in silence!
Our fire pudja went very well and was very interesting and enjoyable once
we got into it. Now we are doing fine, I mean just meditating without
visualizing or mantra. It is bliss!
As part of the chakrasamvara practice we had to make a sand mandala which
also represents the palace of a deity, but ultimately represents symbolically
the enlightened qualities of buddhas and indicates the path to follow to
reach buddhahood..This practice is very intense and most people had a very
powerful experience.
The rainy season has been letting up and we can start to
dry out. Everything
was taking 4 – 5 days to dry. With all the dampness mold can be a problem.
Lama Champa was travelling from August to November teaching in Chile, Austria,
Austria, Germany, Estonia and Hungary. Ingrid is in Switzerland at present
and will be returning soon.
September 6/2005
Life is good here. We past the one year mark! So we have experienced all
the seasons, none of which was too bad. Now all our flowers are blooming.
My window opens to bursts of red dahlias and yellow sunflowers.
At this point there are few questions arising. We seem to have an idea of
what we are doing and just need to practice.
I have a new neighbour – a little bat. He’s
quite cute and very quiet. I decided he can stay, although he leaves a
fair number of droppings. He certainly sleeps a lot, about 14 hours a day,
but he seems to like me, although when I first discovered him he flew around
with us screaming below. His wing span is huge. However, he came back the
next day, so the experience cannot have been too traumatic!
June 28/05
It
is officially the rainy season, Half of my floor is a puddle. I used to
try and mop it up with rags, but now I just let it evaporate as it is
still hot. That’s the nice thing about concrete floors –
there’s no stress about spillage!
Lama Champa had a funny
story to tell about his experiences in Europe. In Ladakh, Tibet, it is
the custom to throw water/tea etc. behind the door of the house as a kind
of “sink.” Out of habit, he threw the remainder
of his tea out the back of his guest’s house – you can imagine
their reaction!
Things are well here. We are well into the practice of Chakrasamvara.
From time to time we all have our share of stomach problems, but all in
all there are few problems.
We had quite an exciting
event recently – actually a couple. Due to
the heavy winds one of the windows on the temple roof blew out and collapsed
on us as we were in teachings. Luckily it was only plexiglass and no one
was hurt. Then we had a couple of tress blown down. One just missed Lama
Champa and Ingrid’s new car!
Then, the biggest incident – Ingrid said, “Now we really have
a story to tell!” Our whole retreat centre almost burned down. We were
in the middle of practice and it was very smoky outside, which is often the
case as a result of the locals burning garbage or the pine needles that litter
the forest floor. It is insane! The locals seem to light uncontrolled fires
throughout the entire forest, which we are in the midst of, and just let
them burn. Granted the needles burn quickly and rarely do the trees have
time to catch fire, but it seems utterly crazy. So, what happened, is there
was a strong wind and the “brush” fire skipped over the gate
between the forest and our property on which we have very dry piles of wood
from trees that got blown down, plus many dry plants as it had not rained
for a month or so. All went up in seconds and we had a massive fire right
next top one of the dormitories.
Manuel’s room was closest and he had to escape with nothing as it was
so smoky, and he could not tell where the fire was. He also did not have
time to get his propane tanks, which all the monks have in their rooms.
So we were all out with buckets of water trying to control the fire, but
it was too big and smoky. I really thought that would be it for our retreat!!
Just then, a huge hose came over the fence and they got most of the major
flames. I guess it was a fire truck. We then had to continue fighting the
small fires and coals, and we finally ran out of water and had to refill
our tank from a tank outside that they brought – the old fashioned
way – passing buckets in a line! We were having fun by this point!
Lama Champa happened
to be away shopping at the time on the major fire. He returned an hour
after it started and ordered us back to our rooms as there were now dozens
of firemen ? police? and civilians “helping?’
We are not supposed to
see anyone outside of our fellow retreatants during this two month practice,
but now there were at least a dozen people in our retreat space. The fire
was pretty much out in our property, but some trees and bushes were lit
just near us, so the “firemen” – who
did not look like they knew more than us on what to do – tried to pull
the hose over but no water came out, so they nonchalantly used branches to
swat the fire, but mainly just stood and watched.
Finally a real fire truck showed up about one and a half hours too late.
They had to flag it down as it looked like it was going to fly right past
the fire.
Needless to say, that
afternoon’s meditation session was a bit difficult,
but we were blessed not to have any injuries or major damage.
A great advantage of the location would appear to be the variety of wildlife
and the opportunity to observe them at close hand. For example:
“Our resident woodpeckers had triplets. We just found out when they
flew the coop today. They already had one baby two months ago and may try
for a third batch! They’re a busy couple. They use a hole right across
from my room as a nest, so I watch them every day. I don’t think they’re
officially woodpeckers as they only peck at the ground!”
“Yesterday I was
blessed with they beautiful sight of a lovely young fox or maybe a jackal.
Although it looks like a small dog, its movements were far more agile and
graceful. It seemed so at peace and natural. It frolicked in the wet grass,
did a few somersaults out of sheer joy and bounced out of sight. Dogs it
seems have lost their connection to nature for the most part. We have trained
them to be like us, lacking in awareness and finesse.
Many lovely birds are returning too.”
June 15/2005
We
are now in April and it is already feeling rather hot! May and June are
the hottest and driest months here. Probably it feels so hot as we are
prostrating again.
We
began the last section of the Ngondro Bodhicitta practice. Before we
started this practice we took the Bodhisattva Vows in a beautiful
ceremony which was more elaborate than anything I have experienced
before.
We spent the day before
preparing tormas, which the monks taught us. It is like being a child again
and playing with play-do. One of the monks with us, Zangpo, is a Torma
master at his monastery in Ladakh â?" he can make anything you request
out of the barley flour or lard they use for tormas here. We also decorated
with garlands of rhododendrons which we hand string, incense, saffron water
juniper sprigs, and hundreds of butter lamps and water bowl offerings.
It was so lovely.
All the monks wanted photos of themselves in front of the altar!
Tashi,
our cook, took a one month holiday to see his family in Nepal. They are
allwell despite all the turmoil there. As a result, Ingird and three of
the previous yogis who came to study English with her all cooked for
us. We got spoiled! They were all very good cooks. We had momas every
week, (Momas, if you have never had them are dumplings filled with eat
or veggies.) and Ingrid made real spaghetti sauce!
Bodhicitta Practice starts with one week's meditation on Loving Kindness,
then one week on compassion, and finally one month's recitation of the Bodhisattvas
vow with 100,000 more prostrations. We can do half prostrations instead of
full ones now.
This is our last set of prostrations!! It certainly is less painful than the first time.
Bodhicitta is really the heart of all Mahayana Buddhist practice. It
means the mind or thought of gaining Enlightenment for the sake of all
Sentient Beings. It is the heart teaching of Garchen Rinpoche and all
our precious teachers.
Rachel.
Feb 25/05
Hello friends,
We are all well here. It is finally Spring. Yeah! Winter was cold. Lama
Champa said it was the coldest winter he had ever felt here!!
Aren’t we lucky! He kept aplogizing to us for the cold!! We had
quite a lot of snow which was lovely. We made a snow Buddha! Even the
monkeys were shivering and cuddling in the trees to keep warm.
We
have no form of heating and concrete rooms – a new experience for
most of us. But as with most things it is never as bad as one imagines
and one comes to just accept the situation and move on.
Mandala
was certainly challenging as we had to cip our hands in water each time
and with the freezing temperatures our hands got cold blisters and
swollen. All wonderful purification Lama Champa would tell us!
We
just finished Mandala and now have started Guru Yoga. Lama Champa tells
us the hardest part is over! And although many times we all struggled I
think we all feel a sense of accomplishment and stability. If we
survived Ngondro in freezing cold, we can do almost anything! Guru Yoga
in blissful spring is, needless to say a joy!
We
have heard several times from our precious Guru Garchen Rinpoche who
has called Lama Champa from Tibet. He is well and thinks of all his
disciples every day! We feel his presence here watching over us.
Robert
decided to leave in February/ We were sad to see him go. We have all
become like family. So now there are 16 of us including the monks.
Anila,
Manuela and Sirje had to go to Nepal for Visas. Nepal is having
political trouble. The “Maoists” who are basically rebels
have taken over everywhere but Kathmandu so we were worried for them to
travel there, but all went well. They stayed with Lama Sonam Jorpel
Rinpoche and were helped by many people there. Now we all have
five-year Visa’s and the government officials here have kindly
allowed us to stay the full retreat without having to leave every six
months as most people have to.
One
of our monks is from Limi, in Nepal, and also our cook Tashi is from
Limi, and his family is still there. Most monks and nuns have left Limi
they said as they would have been recruited for the rebel army.
Families and monasteries must pay large amounts to the rebels. It could
be very bad for the Tibetans in the rebel Maoists take over Kathmandu,
although in the last few weeks things seemed to have settled down a
little.
Well everyone, that’s all the news for now. All the best to everyone, Rachel.
Feb 2/05
At present, we are unable to
access the website, but we are encouraged to hear that it appears to be
successful. Rolf asked us all to pray for his brother’s
success on his opening night at the opera – Wagnerian we
believe. Apparently it worked as he got ‘rave’
reviews!
Christmas came and went without
much fuss. Rolf gave us all a package of cookies. A kind that is
worth eating! We also received some surprise gifts from Garchen
Rinpoche. Ari, his disciple, who was with him in Tibet, showed up here
with photos, prayers and donations for everyone.
Sirje, our retreatant from
Estonia, also gave us a treat. On Christmas Eve she dressed up in
a robe all hunched over and with a long pointed nose made out of
paper. She knocked on all our doors asking us for a
“mantra” recitation in return for a cookie. Kind of
Hallowe’en in reverse! She was just going to all the
foreigners, but Emily convinced her to knock on the monk’s doors
too. Their reactions varied from shock and wonder to surprise and
confusion.
We ended our practice of
Vadrasattva, a purification practice, on December 31st. so we had a
little New Year’s Party. Manuela, from Chile, made
tortillas and we invited the monks. They started asking us to
sing, which we eventually did, reluctantly, but they refused to sing in
return. Finally, we convinced one young happy social monk to
sing, but his fellow monks seemed to find his efforts amusing and had
to leave the room!
A few days later we started our
next practice – Mandala. Mandala practice is where we offer
to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas everything in the universe as a means
of reducing selfishness and egoism. We use rice and barley,
mounded on a plate, and visualize this as the universe and everything
desirable in it. We had to wash seven bags of barley and dry it
out in the sun. This was quite a production. We were helped
by some Tibetan participants. There were 25 people plus the cook
helping – washing, carrying passing to the rooftop and spreading
the barley on blankets. At this point, some of the monks started
to sing – obviously singing and working go together. Once
the barley was on the roof, our challenge was to keep the monkeys away,
so the next few days were spent guarding the barley. It also
seemed a fine time for a huge storm – wind, hail, snow. So
our barley is well weathered. The monkeys don’t come at
night, but were there in the early morning before we arose – they
love barley.
At times, one can visit the temple
when the monks are doing their ‘puja.” It is very
beautiful and they have so many hand ‘mudras’ or gestures
to remember. It is something we will learn later.
It is still beautifully clear
here, except for the one storm. Mornings there is frost and the
sun rises about 7.20 a.m. so our first session is rather chilly.
Our thanks once again for all your
support. It is important to us, and makes it so much easier
knowing that we have your support and prayers.
Jan 29/05
We all appreciate receiving
mail
– it is wonderful to get it. Whenever a CARE package
arrives, homemade chocolate, cookies, we share with everyone. Rolf said
they are the best things he had tasted in five months!
It’s still very cold
here. We had a big snowfall two days ago and made snow buddhas.
One of the monks is very playful and enjoys a snowball fight.
However, the snow melts fast and now it has gone. It is a little
warmer today.
As mentioned, we have been working
at Vadrasattva which consists of 100 syllables repeated 100,000 times
and can take us up to forty days. The monks are able to complete this
way ahead of us – no doubt through practice and the fact that the
prayers are in their own language.
These preliminary practices are
the equivalent of “boot camp!”
We don’t have the use of a
thermometer – olive oil is the thermometer. When it is
solid and does not come out – it is cold! When it is thick
– it is bearable; and when its normal oil we will be happy again!
No doubt most of us have lost some
weight, however, we have definitely improved our muscle strength as a
result of all the prostrations!
As far as food is concerned, our
main diet consists of beans, rice and noodles, so the occasional
serving of meat helps break the monotony.
January 11/2005
For Christmas, we will be in silence. Lama Champa
appears to
avoid social gatherings and celebrations. For a retreat, at least,
silence makes sense.
A Birthday Party was organised for Lama Champa, but he did not come! A
retreat is not really for social events. They become a big distraction,
and organising them while in silence is time consuming – so best
to let all that go. We do enjoy having a few extras in the food
department for birthdays and such. We order cakes or something a little
special which makes us all happy. This way we don’t feel so
deprived.
The website sounds wonderful. Please send me the address as people here
are dying to tell their relatives and friends about it.
Unfortunately one of our number, Sara Bergstrom decided to leave. After
struggling over the matter for some time, in the end, it was felt that
Sara had made the right decision. Garchen Rinpoche says there is
enormous merit in supporting the retreat practitioners, and by doing
so, individuals will share in the positive energy that is being created!
Dec 6/04
Here we will be in silence
for
Christmas. For a retreat it makes
sense. Such events become a big distraction and organizing them
in
silence is time consuming.
We do enjoy having a few extras in
the food department, so for
birthdays and such we order in cakes or something special which makes
us all happy.
Garchen Rinpoche believes there is
enormous merit in supporting retreat
practitioners and by doing so individuals will share in our positive
energy!
November 25/04
We finished prostrations
which
most of us are quite pleased about. We have now started
Vadrasattva practice which is a purification practice. It is
practiced in a sitting position, which is nice, but Lama Champa said we
will soon be tired of sitting and wish we could prostrate again!
Two women, new to Buddhism have
decided to leave, and perhaps did not realise what they were getting
into. To commit oneself for three years needs a very strong commitment
as it would be easy to give up at any little difficulty, of which there
are many.
We are trying harder to be silent
now, which is better for practice.
It is starting to get colder
now. Morning time until noon our rooms are freezing! It will get
colder and wetter over the next two months.
November 11/04
We are nearing the end of prostrations. Some of us
worry
about the numbers, which is frustrating, but by focussing on the
mindfulness it is possible to overcome this.
Garchen Rinpoche has advised that circumambulating the stupa can also
be of value.
One of the monks finished 100,000 prostrations in one month! Whilst
rejoicing in his merit, we were also, perhaps, a little envious.
His Holiness Chetsang
Rinpoche has been here for ten days. He came to do a puja , (prayer
ceremony) with the yogis from the last retreat. Every day we hear them
chanting and playing the ceremonial instruments – drums, cymbals,
horns, bells, etc. It is so wonderful to hear. It sends chills down the
spine. We will also learn to play the instruments which we are looking
forward to.
We got to meet with his
Holiness briefly, but he will come again later to give us teachings.
With all this activity it has been a little hard to concentrate.
On the day His Holiness
arrived, ten eagles came and circled above the temple clockwise, the
direction we follow when circumambulating the stupa. It really felt
that they were honouring him as we rarely see them. Two also appeared
on his last full day here !
Garchen Rinpoche often says Bodhisattvas can be manifest in animals to
benefit beings.
The eagles also came on our first day of retreat.
October 17/2004
We are on day 23 of prostrations. It is physically the
hardest thing I have probably ever done. Every day now I am doing
around 1800 prostrations – (full bows where you stretch out on
the floor and come back up) I would never have thought I could do this
many. We have two months to finish, so I actually have to try and get
up to 2100 per day!
Several of us have experienced difficulty as a result of working so
hard. Tibetans call it “lung”, too much wing energy. I
don’t know if we have a medical word for it in English, but
“exhaustion” seems close. It involves dizziness, chest
pain, an inability to concentrate and insomnia. So you are probably
thinking, “What is the point ?” On a simple level it builds
physical strength and purifies the body and energy channels for the
more difficult yogas and practices. It is also the gateway to the
Buddhist Path as one is prostating to the Buddhas and intimately to the
compassion and wisdom of ones own mind. It also combats pride, and I
have found it takes a lot of patience, effort and faith just to keep
going. I am learning to balance effort with gentleness. It has also
shown me that the mind is the biggest obstacle. If one believes they
can do something, it can happen, but if they believe they can’t,
it will never happen.
It is Fall here now. There
are so many beautiful birds around. My backyard is a veritable bird
sanctuary. There is a flock of green parakeets ( about twenty or more),
brilliant red and yellow birds, woodpeckers, chickadees, and black and
white birds with lovely long tail feathers. We also have a tribe of
monkeys who are very aggressive in coming onto our property, even
though Lama Champa’s main job seems to be chasing all the animals
away! – monkeys, cows, goats, etc.
The monkeys can attack so we have to chase them away with rocks even
though the babies are so cute and swing from our windows and ride on
their mothers’ backs. They are like chimpanzees I think - one big
male and the rest look like females with their young. About forty in
all. They run all over the roof and make a lot of noise!
The monks have finally
arrived. There are four of them from Ladakh, Lama Champa’s home.
They are very reclusive, which is natural on a retreat! They cook for
themselves as our diet does not suit them.
All together there are
seventeen of us plus two more due in December.
His Holiness Chetsang
Rinpoche, the Head of our lineage, is also scheduled to come for ten
days from November 1st. Ingrid and Lama Champa are busy preparing . All
the monks from the last retreat are also coming to see His Holiness. We
don’t know where they will all sleep. We have heard that Garchen
Rinpoche is, so far, safe and well in Tibet.
My neighbour is a Chilean
lady, a nun, who has almost no English. So now I’m wishing I had
studied a little Spanish myself. She is very funny; very matter of
fact. She has two daughters and one granddaughter. She became a nun two
years ago.
We sometimes find it
difficult to keep full silence. When we finish each section we can
talk, but occasionally one can get carried away and needs to be
reminded to show respect for others who wish to be silent
September 3/2004
“It is the rainy season now, but not too wet. It is damp
in the
air and cool in the morning and the night, but no monsoons really
–more like the Vancouver rain. Apparently May and June are hot;
July, August and September are wet; October and November are nice and
clear; December and January are cold and February and March are nice. I
can see that it will be cold in winter so I have bought some warm
curtains and mats, but I like my room. It has two big windows with a
nice view of the Himalayas, although we are yet to see them.
Everyone has arrived now.
There are eleven of us. Two more will join in December. In addition
there will be four monks, two people from Nepal and twenty three from
Ladakh in North West India. Lama Champa is from there. We have started
daily teachings and will begin the retreat in about a week. From then
on contact will be through the mail.
I am very pleased with the
way things have turned out and look forward to starting.
August 31/2004
Almora is very beautiful. Our retreat centre is in a pine
forest, but
it is very different from the rain forest in Canada. The ground is all
grass and all the lower branches of the trees are cut for firewood, so
it looks up looking very interesting but beautiful. We have an amazing
view of the Himalayas, and we are on a ridge with valleys on either
side.
I am fixing up my room a
little, but not worrying too much. Lucky they aren’t too high.
Almost everyone has arrived
so far. Just two more Singaporeans who should arrive soon. We shall
start the teachings tomorrow for one week and then go right into the
practices. Most people have a good base of practice…
I am very happy with the
group and think the retreat will be wonderful. Lama Champa is very
jolly and joking a lot and he helps us so much with everything –
shopping and fixing everything. So far, I have no complaints.
Ingrid, his assistant, is also lovely and very intelligent and kind.
August 26/2004
“I am now in Almora and made it safely. It ia lovely here,
so
lush and green and very cool and rainy now. The hot season is mostly
April to June. Our retreat center is fine. The rooms are bright and big
– all concrete so a little cool. We have an Indian style toilet,
but with a faucet to flush and a tap for a shower with a hose. Only
cold water, but good enough. The kitchen is very basic…but it
works. No fridge and just a gas burner and a tap on the floor for
washing. We will have a cook from September.”
Lama Champa and his assistant, Ingrid, are very kind and light-hearted,
and we are always joking and enjoying time. There three other women
here now – a lady from Germany, who has been working non stop
since she arrived, painting and fixing her room. Manuela, from Chile,
is a nun and has little English. And Emily, who I know from the U.S.,
and we are good friends. Tomorrow some others will arrive.
August 21/2004
“Delhi was not quite so intimidating as the first few
times. It
was actually quite amusing driving in the crazy traffic. There is no
such thing as lanes in India. We were on a two lane highway that had
three and sometimes four lanes going and everyone honking as if someone
was pushing into their lane, but where the distinction between the
lanes was, was anyone’s guess.”
“Lama Champa our
retreat master has a friend here (in the Delhi Tibetan Refugee Camp)
who is helping me get to the bus station safely tonight. I should get
to Almora in the morning. I guess India is about 12 or 13 hours ahead
of Vancouver.)
There are already three of
the retreatants there now, and the rest will arrive by September 1st.
It seems there will be ten of us, and one or two starting later.
