Hermitage news, a conversation with Rigdzin Shikpo, & Khenpo Rinpoche's health
It's been a long time since the last newsletter was sent, just before Christmas, I think it was even before the solstice! Lots has happened since then.
Hermitage News
We've just finished our annual month-long January retreat for Hermitage residents. Norbu has joined Gendun in Germany and we really miss her, she's been extremely helpful here at the Hermitage as the resident volunteer for the past 6 months. And we have two new 6-month volunteers who just arrived, Damzig and Nick, so we are looking forward to them being here. Gendun has been working on my book Mandala Principle so I'm looking forward to seeing the results of his work, and will then make a decision about how to take that project forward.
We're also continuing to discuss the big space project. In a way it is a temple, although it's really more of an assembly hall, maybe that's the right word for it. In the sutras, they talk about assembly halls and that's basically what we're creating. We're still discussing things with the architect and finding a design that the Shrimalagana likes, then it can be put to the rest of the Mahayanagana to get everybody behind the whole idea of the project. A sangha of our size should have a decent size assembly hall of its own I think.
I'm looking forward to hearing more from Katie, Younten and Ziji about the online Ordinary Magic January retreat that they've been doing on last year's theme of everyday life. And then we have the upcoming Mahamudra retreat starting tomorrow. Lots going on.
We celebrated the winter solstice with a magnificent blazing fire puja and lots of singing and dancing around the stupa, and drinking tea around the fire as the evening set in. There were quite a few people online and about a dozen of us here – it was a beautiful still and clear evening for offering candle lights on the stupa. Sudhana had just finished his three-month retreat and we were celebrating Dashon’s first year of retreat. It all felt very auspicious as we marked the turning of the year and the returning of light!
In December we had a celebration at Christmas with Tara, Norbu, me, and Jenny Kenyon – Jenny's refuge name is Karuna so we will be using that name for her from now on. Eli, K-Tso and Jayasiddhi were away visiting family over the holidays.
And we had a very special New Year's Day. Our initial plan was to do a community pilgrimage. Well, in fact we did do a pilgrimage to the Faery Glen first, and then we set off to a farm where they had advertised a litter of colipoo (collie/miniature poodle) puppies. Karuna (Jenny) had decided that she would like to get one of the puppies as company for her dog and then suggested to Tara that if she would like to get one as well she would help her train it and would look after it when Tara wanted to go away or was busy, and so on, it was a hard offer to refuse! Tara wasn't well on the day, so I went with Norbu and Karuna to pick up the puppies and since her puppy arrived Tara has been quite occupied, working with Karuna to begin training her new puppy – who is quite delightful. Her name is Palden Lhamo, Lhamo for short. And Karuna's puppy is named Tenzin Palmo, Palmo for short. Lhamo and Palmo have been giving us all a bit of a run around, but it's good to have black dogs in a practice centre. Black dogs are always thought to represent the Dharma protectors and we offer black dogs and black animals generally to the Dharma protectors - that seems to be what they like or what they think are appropriate offerings.
Conversation with Rigdzin Shikpo
Later that evening, I had a call from Rigdzin Shikpo. We had a very interesting conversation as we discussed various Dharma points. What I thought was particularly interesting was that, right at the end of the discussion, we started talking about distance learning. I told him about how we have set up the curriculum in the AHS and our spiral learning approach, and explained how our AHS students know from the beginning that it’s a spiral process, that they know what they are spiralling around, and so come back to the same practice and teachings again and again quite willingly, and not just because they've been told to. This conversation came up in relation to people in other sanghas being told to do 100,000 prostrations. Rigdzin Shikpo said that it makes a tremendous difference when you come back to something that you haven't done for years, and sometimes suddenly it's quite fulfilling in a way that didn't happen originally - which I agreed with. I told him how this concept of spiral learning that Aurthur Rodius gave me has really taken off in our Sangha, and my students talk about it all the time: about how it's the same course again and again but because it's spiral learning it's good to do, and keep coming back to it. Rigdzin Shikpo thought that it was a nice attitude if you can get students to have that view. Otherwise, you’ll get students who simply say, Oh, we've done all this before… I said well that's not our culture in the Awakened Heart Sangha, we're all up for spiral learning and Rigdzin Shikpo chuckled. I went on to tell him how I said it means people can join the Sangha at whatever stage they are at. People who've been practising for decades can join and participate in the same discussion group as someone who's only just started practising. Although they're starting the spiral at a completely different level, somehow, it really works. Rigdzin Shikpo suggested it could be the adhistana from the older people to the younger ones. I told him that's exactly what is happening actually, and that it really works on all sorts of levels. I said it was like when he and I are talking how we often realise that we've been thinking about the same sorts of things and having the same sorts of insights. I told him how this is happening right through our whole Sangha. For example, Dashon and I might be having an insight, and then my students come to me having a very similar insight, all at their own level, so it has to be the power of adhisthana, doesn't it? Rigdzin Shjikpo agreed. I think it's how the power of mandalas works, as it were, joined together, and the power increases by the power of adhisthana. He said “I think that what you're doing in spiral learning is a way of creating a whirlpool of satisfaction. I'm sure.” So, I'm very enthusiastic about that. Rigdzin Shikpo went on to say, with a chuckle, "a swirl of joy", how wonderful I said, and I thanked him for that.
As we reached the end of our conversation, I asked him to send my love to Sally, Mandala Mother. He said that she was there, and that he was sure we were strongly connected to each other. I agreed and said I really felt that and that it could hardly be otherwise, could it? He replied - it couldn't be anything else. I expressed my thanks and wished him a Happy New Year and he responded saying that Mandala Mother sends her love to you and your students. I told him how all of you are always very happy to know when he rings and very happy to see us both together as it gives them that sense of lineage and connection so said thank you from all of you as well. He responded saying, good, I'm happy also about that.
I also talked to him about Manfred. Those of you who are in Trungpa Rinpoche's Sadhana of Mahamudra group will remember him, he is from Longchen Germany and joined us often, I think he was the chairman; he recently died unexpectedly. Rigdzin Shikpo was talking about him and how, just before he died, he managed to come and get an abhisheka from him. Apparently, Manfred had some condition that you wouldn't normally die from but then he suddenly got sepsis. So, we've all been praying for him and he is on the dedications list. Another person who's been on the dedications is Sister Barbara; some of you will remember her, anybody who was at the Priory in Edgeware will remember Sister Barbara. She was the elderly nun and was very sweet. She died in December and we've been doing prayers for her too.
Dashon and Pati
Some of you will have heard about how we've been very worried about Pati's health. Since October she was feeling very unwell and had concerning test results. However after further scans and examinations during her stay in hospital, it seems that actually her body's healing itself. This is good news and it means she won't need an operation after all. But during this time of uncertainty I gave permission to Dashon to transfer his retreat home so that he could look after Pati when she needed care for a couple of weeks. She herself was also trying to continue practising so they were supporting each other in their practice all the way through. Dashon is now back in his solitary retreat at the Hermitage and Pati makes slow but steady recovery. Dashon feels that it hasn't actually been a major interruption, which is all good news. So, he's all set now to finish his second year and we look forward to seeing him emerge on the solstice of this year.
I've been discussing with Dashon the teachings that Tulku Sherdor has been giving. Dashon has been following the course and discussing those teachings with Tulku Sherdor, and passing on some of what he's discovered to me as I am just not getting time to follow that up. Similarly, with Elizabeth's teachings on shamatha, I'm just not getting the time to follow it up but am learning from the rest of you and getting a general overview. I'm finding it very stimulating and exciting to get these different aspects of the Dharma into perspective so that we have a vision for how to take our curriculum and study programmes forward over decades, perhaps even centuries to come.
Khenpo Rinpoche
During this period there's been a lot of uncertainty about Khenpo Rinpoche’s health. I've had a couple of emails from Ani Dechen over the last month saying that his health has really stabilised and he seems to be quite comfortable, and she's told me that she had read a couple of my emails to him, telling him all our news about what we’re doing as a Sangha. She says she's always delighted to hear about what we're doing and says, Oh, your Sangha is tsondru, which is virya, you really practise and you're really doing Dharma and she really rejoices in that every time. I was very touched that she'd actually read my letters to Rinpoche and hope that gave him some cheer as well to know that we're doing well and practising well.
I've been considering the idea of going out to Nepal to join the Sangha gathering towards the end of March but there's various reasons why I'm hesitant to do that, part of that being my own energy levels. There will be an online celebration of Rinpoche’s birthday on 2nd March - we will share the details as we have them - and I hope we’ll all be able to join that in strength to show Rinpoche that with we still feel very connected to him and appreciate the power of his blessing and his staying in this world for our benefit. As I said to an Ani Dechen the other day, if the relics of a great guru are so precious, and we have them in stupas and revere them, how much more so is a teacher who's alive in our world at this time. Even though we might not be able to see him or her, or, like Rinpoche, they aren't able to speak or teach Dharma, well, not through words verbally. But the power of his adhisthana is perhaps even stronger in the state that he's in. I wonder… there's a state of being called chopala jukpa (spelled phonetically). And towards the end of his life, Trungpa Rinpoche was in a very strange state for years, I think Khenpo Rinpoche and the Sakyong were discussing this when we were at the Rocky Mountain Dharma Centre, Rinpoche was saying that this often happens as a stage in a yogin’s practice, it's almost as if they are somehow between all worlds, and they could go any way. And it’s the faith, devotion and the love of the beings that hold them in one place rather than another. So that's why we continue to say our prayers, because that keeps that connection with our world very strong and very alive. We don't need to worry about thinking - oh, well, maybe he would be more useful somewhere else - because who knows what is possible, maybe it's possible for a great yogin to be in more places than one at one time. So, we don’t need to think in terms of our ordinary ways of thinking - oh maybe he should be with someone else - it's not for us to think that. We need to simply show constant appreciation and joy in the connection and to have faith that that's being received and appreciated, and that the adhisthana is able to flow because of our love and devotion and our constant prayers for him to remain.
Thank you for all for your practice this past year and over January, its very inspiring!
Love Shenpen