Kagyu Ngondro Retreat The General and Special Preliminaries
November 24-November 26, 2023
"Prostrations is a world of its own process, and it doesn't really matter at all if you find yourself confused or upset. In fact prostration practice has a lot of aspects. In the beginning it is very difficult and tiresome and a lot of emotionalism comes up. I remember when I was doing prostrations and particularly when my tutor wasn't watchng me, I used to do them very hard and just break into tears without any reason. Those things just happen. You should see what happens from experience, rather than trying to get the whole thing explanined in a logical way before you begin. Thamel gyi shepa is like ignition: it sparks your surrendering and comes to you as awareness of the need to surrender; so you begin to develop a sense of prostrating all the time throughout the day. Thamel gyi shepa is like a pilot light, transparent, which causes all kinds of other awarenesses to come to light. It might come as intense emotionality, for instance, in realizing the fragility of our lves. While we are doing the four foundation practices, the basic attitude to have is that you are a millionaire because you are bankrupt already and don't have a penny. The sense of being a penniless mllionaire happens all the time in daily life. It is complete surrender, like throwing yourself off a cliff. And you never get anything in return, but somehow you acquire things on the path. Without this attitude there are possibilities of becoming Rudra.
It is important to remember the vastness of what we have to learn, how little time we have to learn it, and that all kinds of difficulties and obstructions could come up to interrupt our practice.
Trunpga Ripoche 1974
"All the vidyadhara siddhas agree unanimously that the root of the entire Buddhadharma is to gain mastery over our own mind. And yet, there are many people who immerse themselves in a view and meditation made up solely of dry words, or who cling to a blank meditation state that is an exercise in mental fabrication. It is therefore of chief importance to guide qualified disciples in accordance with their different capacites and faculties, such as the gradual, instantaneous or skipping-the-grade types. First of all, they should persist in the general and special preliminary practices until the signs appear."
Tsele Natsok Rangdrol
$195.00
