Vaster Vision, Marpa Network & health
February seems to have rushed by but it's beautiful to see all the spring flowers and get a real sense that spring is on its way, it’s a lovely time of year. I've spent quite a lot of time down at Ty Pren and have been very lucky that it's been sunny and clear skies, beautiful weather. I could sit outside a lot, looking out to sea, looking out to Bardsey Island, feeling very refreshed and nurtured by that environment.
Vaster Vision Theme
We had the Mahamudra group retreat this past month and we were really firming up ideas about how to take people's practice deeper, in meditation, both shamatha and vipassana. But also in understanding the context of devotion; what that means, why it's so important. Why it’s so important to have this sense of needing to receive the adhisthana of the mandala of awakening…of meeting that in our own heart and experiencing and seeing that as the essence of the practice… that the various techniques for trying to gain stability and insight are integral to that devotion and to connecting to the adhisthana, to meeting the Buddha… that these all work together …and how there is a need for a great deal of general preparation in order to be able to arrive at the right view. This is often expressed in terms of accumulating punya, which is also something that we'll be looking at this year when we're talking about the vaster vision and what that might be. I'm looking forward to teasing that all out and also looking at these Mahayana Sutra Principles as we connect to the vaster vision and seeing how the MSP and the teachings of DHB and THB all feed into each other. So, I'm happy that there are a number of THB mentored groups happening, including training people to mentor. There's also people running study groups on the Mahayana Sutra Principles book using the recorded commentaries I made this year on the Mahayana sutra principles.
I've been listening to the Lotus Sutra over and over and also the Vimalakirti sutra, these are two are available on Audible, and here they are on Youtube (Vimalakirti + Lotus) but I do really like the narrator Taradasa on the Audible versions. I have been getting used to the whole way that these sutras present the Mahayana Sutra Principles and how they illustrate how they work together in a kind of narrative. And how the emphasis is always on how right view is what produces punya, but it's also punya that produces the conditions in which we can connect to right view. So, I think we'll be talking about that a lot this year!
Hermitage News and Activities
In Hermitage news, Lhamo the puppy is growing fast. Tara is very happy looking after her and it's strengthening our connection with our neighbours who are very interested - most of them have dogs that they walk and so it's a talking point and a way for people to relate to us through the dog, which is quite interesting.
As I mentioned last month we've got Damzig here now and also Nick, an old friend of Eli's who's now signed up on DHB and he'll be here for six months alongside Damzig. And they're really getting on with cutting the hedges and burning old brambles and doing a lot of yard and garden work on site, it's very nice to have them both here to help out. Nick was our lead chef for the Mahamudra retreat and will also be cooking for the upcoming Gana Gathering so we are very well served in that department. Thank you both!
Of course this month we celebrated Losar, the Tibetan New Year, the year of the Water Hare. We had a Losar celebration with a fire puja, Damzig used a new fire wok to great effect. Lots of people joined us online, which was lovely, as well as coming in person - we had people from far and wide and that was great. We recited the Samantabhadracharya Pranidhana and held a light offering at the stupa; we also did the purification ritual and put up new prayer flags, it was a really lovely day. Here are some photos.
And then there was my birthday, first of March. It was Guru Rinpoche Day, so we did the Guru Rinpoche Rain of Blessings Puja and there were quite a few people that joined online. And then in the afternoon, we had a wonderful big chocolate cake that Damzig made, and presents, including a very fine custom-made ottoman that is going to be very useful down at Ty Pren as sitting on the floor there is a bit cold, and to be raised up a bit will be perfect (here are some pictures). I also received a huge bouquet of pink and white tulips from Rigdzin Shikpo which was quite impressive and a very nice message from him thanking me for all I do for the Dharma, which is lovely... “All my love, and thank you for all you do for the Dharma”… I was very happy with that.
Khenpo Rinpoche and Marpa Network
My birthday coincides with St David’s Day of course, but it's also Khenpo Rinpoche’s birthday! So, at Losar I made an offering to the nuns at Tek Chok Ling because they do a lot of offerings and celebrations that you can sponsor, including the lighting of butter lamps and doing prayers and offering meals and so on. I sent a donation from us all and Ani Dechen wrote back and thanked me for that and said she would use it for the expenses for Losar, but also for Rinpoche’s birthday, which was coming up soon after. And then on his birthday, I sent him a message and she said she would pass it on to Rinpoche; she sent pictures of their celebrations which was really lovely.
I realised something when we were talking about the Marpa network - a couple of students are talking about going out to Tek Chok Ling to be near to Khenpo Rinpoche to at least make that connection with him, even if they don't actually see him, when the nunnery holds a gathering at the end of March, beginning of April. And I realised that many people don't really know what the Marpa Network is. The Marpa Network is all the students of Rinpoche's from around the world. He didn't really organise a sangha as such but there are different groups like us, who are run by his students. Some of them are in the Far East, like Taiwan and Malaysia, some in Europe, like Spain, and us, and some in America including Nalanda Bodhi, the sangha of Ponlop Rinpoche. So we all form a network of Rinpoche's students, it's called the Marpa Network, so I want all of you to realise you're all integral to that. When you see “Marpa Network”, you could think, oh, that's us and they've got a website, and you can go there and see what other students of Rinpoche are doing. You can see what's happening with his nunneries, you can sponsor prayers, you can sponsor nuns, you can sponsor the digital library and other aspects of Rinpoche's activity. When we talk about Tek Chok Ling, for those who don't know, it’s where Rinpoche lives, it's one of his nunneries in Nepal, he's got another one in Bhutan, and another one in Tibet. And Tek Chok Ling has a guesthouse and you're always welcome to go and stay there. I'm sure if anyone wanted to stay there and help in some way that that would probably be possible. It's a good way to make a connection with Rinpoche while he's still alive.
Sangha News
I've been able to check in on Dashon as I do each month, and he's doing well. Of course, time is passing, as he said, it's getting into the single figures now, he's only got nine months more to go. It's really inspiring talking to him and discussing the view and meditation and different aspects of the Dharma, encouraging him in his studies and his practice. I've had the opportunity to talk to Katie and to Elizabeth Callahan about future plans for the various teaching areas, and also to Dashon about his ideas about how to carry things forward once he comes out of retreat, so I feel very encouraged.
I was also very impressed by the mentors meeting we had. There were over 20 mentors present and we were able to discuss various issues and think about how we want to take forward the training of mentors in various ways. So I feel very pleased - and we were celebrating the fact that last year we ran 44 courses for students, which is amazing.
There's been a lot of illness this year, I've been struggling and many others as well… As for my own health all the tests have come out positive, but I've had another ECG monitor for a week to see if there's anything they can detect that might be causing my tiredness I hope to get the results in a few weeks. I've also now started homoeopathy, so that might have a good effect, we'll have to see. I'm always hoping that I'll have more energy so that I will be able to give more time to my students and not feel so exhausted so quickly. But it's okay… I mean, the level of energy I have at the moment is still quite, okay… It's been a struggle for a lot of us…but in spite of that we've been able to accomplish a lot.
I think that's all for now. I hope you've all had a good month. This mointh it was a very special full moon day as it was also Chotrul Duchen (Day of Miracles), and it was Milarepa day the previous day, so during the Full Moon feast we sang some Milarepa songs. And as you probably know, the first month of the Tibetan New Year is considered a very holy month and a time to really concentrate on our practice and making pranhidanas, always an auspicious thing to do. So thank you to everybody who turns up regularly at the two morning pujas and the evening puja. I really enjoy seeing you there, for those of you online, I feel you are really very present in the shrine room. And so those who come regularly, who help to keep the whole thing going, and to those people who are able to just drop in from time to time, I'm always very pleased to see you. Thank you very much for your solidarity in that, for helping keeping that going and, as well, to those of you who were keeping it going through the month retreat in January when the rest of us were not there in the shrine room as usual. So thank you. May your practice deepen, and your love and compassion expand and your sense of joy on the path to awakening continue to increase.
Love Shenpen